Our 2015

What a year 2015 has been! So much has happened and I really wanted to do a post to give an overview of the year, but this blog would be nothing without my fabulous guests (and also Lauren. D who you can find here and here) so I've invited them along to join in our little celebration of 2015!


New things we've experienced in the past 12 months:

'Driving' - Ella 

'I have experienced a few new things in 2015, some sad and some happy. A new experience for me that was sad was loosing someone who meant the absolute world to me and learning to live everyday knowing she's not there for me anymore, to go alongside this I've had to learn how to deal with special holidays such as Christmas and my Birthday for the first time without her there. 

A happier new experience was kind of finding who I am and morals I now hold and strongly believe in, I've experienced a feeling of not being afraid to fully be myself because the people who truly love me will stick by me no matter what.' - Emma. W

'Something new I've experienced in 2015 is taking my gcse exams and collecting my results. It was such a nerve wracking experience but I definitely think it has helped me get over my fear of going into the exam hall and given me the confidence that if I set my mind to something and work hard, I can do well.' - Lauren. D

'Taking my GCSEs and starting A-levels. It was very scary taking my exams but I'm so happy with the results I got. Going into Year 12, I was excited but also apprehensive, it was a big change but I was ready for one. I've made new friends, and started to pursue subjects that I really enjoy.' - Kate 

'A new experience for me was starting my job back at the beginning of March, it's allowed me to earn money and be able to treat my family and friends to Christmas presents I feel they deserved and I  probably wouldn't have been able to buy before I got my job, and I've also bought myself quite a few things too...;) I've made new friends and talked to so many people I would never get the opportunity to talk to if it wasn't for my job!' - Emma. C

'Concerts. I've been to 8 this year and I don't think I'll ever get over the noise of an audience screaming back the lyrics to a song you've listened to on repeat for almost 4 years.' - Lauren. M

Things from 2015 that will always make us smile:

'Being prom queen' - Ella 

'Prom!' - Emma 

'Prom, even though I was scared and spent a couple of months saying that I wasn't going to go, I'm really glad I did in the end!' - Lauren. D

'My holiday in East Sussex this summer. Despite it being far from our planned holiday in Mexico, this week exceeded my expectations and I really enjoyed myself! I got to spend a week in the sun, with my cousins, and we had a fabulous time. :)' - Kate 

'All the times I've spent with my friends on birthdays and just days together! I say this a lot but I really have incredible friends and any time I spend with them is time I know I will look back and smile about! Like some of the other girls, prom will make me smile, despite the food not being too great, it was a lovely night that I didn't expect to enjoy as much as I did!' - Emma. C

'I became friends with an old friend again. I forgave her for the things she did that caused our friendship to break. The night we spoke about it we both cried of happiness to each other on FaceTime; I guess that will make me smile!' Lauren. M

Things we've learnt this year that we will use to enrich our 2016:

'That if I push myself I can do things, even if I struggle at the time I feel better afterwards, and it will help me because I know I can do things now that I wouldn't have dreamt of before or wouldn't have felt able to do.' - Ella

'That life is very fragile and one person who is there one day may not be there the next so you must cherish every moment you have with people, whether it's someone you've known years or someone you've just met.' - Emma. W

'That if I work hard and have confidence, I can accomplish anything.' - Lauren. D

'To keep going and don't give up, even if you're finding things difficult, things will always work out in the end!' - Kate 

'I've learnt or been reminded of a few things this year. Keep making sure that you find the positives in negative situations. Always take time to put yourself first, if you're ill, take the time you need off. As many teachers rightly pointed out to me, you have all the time in the world to do whatever you want, but you won't have that time without letting yourself get back to health. Health is so important to everything in your life, don't ever let it slip to the bottom of your priorities. And finally, life is unpredictable and you never truly know what's around the river-bend! Take every opportunity that comes to you in order to enrich your life, but don't be afraid to face changes and challenges that lie ahead of you. Go through life with courage, determination and you'll be able to get through any tough times you face on the Rollercoaster that is life.' - Emma. C

'I've learnt to accept my state of mind and that I will feel down, but there will always be someone or something to bring me back up.' - Lauren. M

One thing from 2015 we'd travel back in time to do again:

'I would travel back in time to do prom because it was an amazing night, to my GCSEs to try better or to the summer and tell myself that I should enjoy the experiences I had more than I did' - Ella 

'Summer, it was so long and great and I had so many memories with so many different people, who I now no longer speak to as much or have drifted away from. I miss then! It was so simple and there was nothing to worry about (especially all of these A Levels that have now my full attention).

 I'd also make myself make even more memories than I did and take up more opportunities that came my way.' - Emma. W

'The long summer holiday, it was amazing to spend some time to switch off and relax after doing my GCSEs, it allowed me to spend some time on my blog and start a YouTube channel. I also spent some time working and had fun with my friends, it is definitely a time I would love to re-live again.' - Lauren. D

'I'd travel back to repeat the summer again. We were off for such a long time, without the worries of any exams or school work. It was a nice break before the pressure of A-levels.' - Kate 

'As with everyone else, I'd also go back to the long summer holiday. I think we ended up losing track of how long it had been since we'd actually learnt anything and everyone was so relaxed and happy! I'd also quite like to travel back to when I went to see S Club 7 in May with my friends. It was such a fun night, I felt so nostalgic and it was such an amazing evening! I'd also want to travel back to seeing The 1975 again. It was incredible but I'd definitely rethink footwear and try to push to somewhere that I could see more than just the backs of the people in front of us! I know it isn't one but I'd travel to one of the three haha!' - Emma. C

'The 1975 Concert on the 24th November. Never have I felt more alive.' - Lauren. M


A summary of the year in three words:

'Fun, difficult, eye-opening' - Ella

'Eye-opening, life-changing and a rollercoaster' - Emma. W

'Scary, eye-opening and fun' - Lauren. D

'Challenging, enjoyable, happy' - Kate

'Rewarding, challenging, positive' - Emma. C

'Craziest year yet.' - Lauren. M


Summarise your year in three words, we'd love to see how your year went!

Thank you for sticking with us for another year, we appreciate all the kind comments we get from you and hope that 2016 will be an even better year for the blog! 

From all at Our Blog For All Things Lovely, Happy new year!

Festive Gingerbread!

There's nothing quite like walking through the front door to meet the smell of freshly baked gingerbread at this time of year, and baking gingerbread is fun for everyone! Get your Christmas playlist on loud and get baking!

Ingredients:

• 350g plain flour (and extra for rolling out)
• 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 125g butter
• 175g light brown soft sugar (I only had dark but it worked just as well!)
• 1 egg
• 4 tbsp golden syrup

1. Start by sifting together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and cinnamon and mix together.
2. Add the butter (in smaller chunks to make it easier) and rub in (use the tips of your fingers to mix in the butter with the dry ingredients) until the mix looks like fine breadcrumbs.
3. Stir in the sugar.
4. In a separate bowl, lightly beat your egg and golden syrup together, or at least attempt to, we all know how golden syrup can be hard to mix in! Add this to the rest of the mixture and combine them to get your dough.
5. Wrap this dough in clingfilm and put in the fridge for 10 minutes.
6. In this 10 minutes, preheat your oven to 180 degrees and line your baking trays with greaseproof paper.
7. Take your dough out of the fridge and onto a floured surface, roll it out. Use whatever shape cookie cutters you can find or go crazy and make freehand shapes and place on a baking tray (not too close together!). 
8.  Bake these for 12-15 minutes (or until golden brown) whilst dancing around the kitchen to various christmas songs you know every word to;)
9. Once the gingerbread has cooked, leave them to cool before decorating!

I hope you enjoyed this little baking post! Gingerbread is so easy and fun to bake and everyone enjoys it!

If you make any gingerbread don't forget to tweet me a photo or tag me in a photo on instagram (both @_emma__c), I'd love to see your  bakes!

Lots of love (and festive cheer!),

Emma xxx

Christmas Inspiration!

As a very Christmas obsessed person, I've been browsing Christmas ideas on pinterest for months and pinning on a few different boards just dedicated to christmas!

So, for anyone wanting any Christmas inspiration, follow these boards, I'm still adding to them!

Christmas:

This board is for all things Christmassy - decorations, cute, cosy Christmas scenes!
Follow it here!

Christmas Baking: 

This board is for all things baking (festive style!) so you can wow everyone with an amazing Christmas spread!
Follow it here!

Christmas Gift Ideas:

This board is looking a little empty at the moment, but I'll be adding lots of gift ideas for those of you who don't know what to buy someone!
Follow it here!

I hope these help you get into the Christmas spirit and give you some ideas!

Lots of love,
Emma xxx

Friendship and Support

Having good friends, in my opinion, is a key aspect to a happy life. They are there to support you when things go wrong, smile with you when things are going write, and who you turn to with your problems.

I felt the need to write this blog post, because a lot of stuff has happened in my life recently (which I'm not going to go into detail) which has meant I have needed a lot of support from my friends, and where better to post it than here, as this blog has so many lovely 'authors' that i class as some of my closest friends. (Hello mad hatters)

Having being removed from school for health reasons, I don't get to see my friends every day, something that I'm struggling to cope with. I hate being at home on my own and having no interaction with anyone, quite frankly it sucks. Teenagers are supposed to be going out all the time hanging with their friends and having parents who say 'you never spend anytime at home' but my moms desperate for me to be able to go out, go shopping and see my friends  but i mentally cant bring myself to do it, i do try. This means i rely on having friends who make an effort to come and see me, and I'm so thankful i do. I have some lovely friends who message me everyday and see how I'm doing, and include me in things even if i say no each time, its nice to feel included. they could have easily left me and not bothered, but they haven't and I'm so grateful.

*source*

Having the right support network is vital when your trying to recover from something such as mental health,people don't realise how hard it is to socialise, I'm lucky enough to have friends who understand and invite me round or on a walk as they know i struggle in places with other people. I have Philippa who texts me everyday, calls and asks if she can come round (to which she comes with chocolate, top best friend right there)and face times me all the time. I make sure i tell her how much having her support means to me, because without her i don't know if i would be where i am.

Of course things like this make you realise the people who cant handle you at your lowest point- I'm not going into this- but although its hard that's okay. why have people around when your on a high, for them to disappear when you are on a low. 

What I'm tying to say is, look at your friends and whoever is there for you constantly, text them, thank them, tell them how much you appreciate their love, make them appreciate you.

Have happy thoughts, Ella

*this blog post is dedicated to Pip, Charlotte, Issy, Tilly, Hannah, Emma, and Molly.

MAC Lipsticks!

Hello,
Today, as i'm wrapped up in blankets in my room with the fairy lights turned on, one of the dogs cuddling with me and listening to a long playlist full of christmas music, with snow forecast later in the week, I felt like I should try and get a blogpost up! I want to do plenty of Christmas posts over the next month (in case you don't follow me on instagram I love christmas, it's my favourite time of year!) but didn't know where to start! I'm sure a lot of you love a good lipstick just like me, and so I thought I would show you my MAC lipsticks today! You could put a lovely lipstick on your christmas list or even buy yourself or a friend one as a present!

I have four MAC lipsticks, they are £15.50 so I try to resit buying them but sometimes you should reward yourself for the hard work you do!

Creme Cup

Creme Cup was my first lipstick from mac, it's a beautiful pinky nude with a cremesheen finish so it's quite moisturising on the lips! It's a staple in most people's collections and you won't find many people who haven't heard of it.

Kinda Sexy

Kinda Sexy is the lipstick I wore to my y11 prom. It's matte so it's very long lasting and is my favourite nude, that i'd say (after comparing swatches people have done) is a pinker version of Velvet Teddy.

Studded Kiss and Ruby Woo

Ruby Woo is a classic blue toned red (it makes your teeth look very white!) that is another staple in many people's lipstick collections. It's retro matte which means it's even more matte than your usual matte formula and  therefore is even more long lasting!

Studded Kiss is a beautiful dark red, perfect for berry lip lovers! It's a matte lipstick so, like the others it's going to last well, this is great for if you're going out and don't want to have to constantly be checking and reapplying your lipstick!

I hope you enjoyed this blogpost, what are your favourite MAC lipstick shades? Please leave me some christmas blogpost suggestions so we can all get into the christmas spirit together!

lots of love,

Emma xxx

Autumn at Yorkshire Sculpture Park

As today is Remembrance Sunday, and the Poppies you might remember from the Tower of London last year are in Yorkshire Sculpture park at the moment, I thought it's be the perfect time to share some of the photos I took when I went to Yorkshire Sculpture Park a couple of weeks ago. It was a beautiful day.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my photos from the Sculpture Park, I took a lot more and you'll see me post some of them on Instagram (@_emma__c and @autumn.skies_) so make sure you're following! If you get the chance to visit Yorkshire Sculpture Park, please do, it is lovely!

Don't forget to buy a poppy to pin onto your jumper or coat as well, it's an important cause to support.

Lots of love,
Emma xxx

Berry Lips and the Perfect Highlight!

Hello, sorry for the lack of blogposts. Perhaps an update post is due, I'll try and get one up sometime this month, and maybe my guest bloggers can too!

This blogpost is a quick one about berry lips and the perfect highlight (as you will know from the title!)

I recently bought two lip products in darker, berry shades. I wanted to try something new and bold for autumn, having loved dark lipsticks on others I thought maybe I should just try it for myself!

Maybelline Colour Drama lip crayon in the shade 'Berry Much' is a beautiful, deep berry shade (as watched below). It's crayon form means it is easy to apply! 

Makeup Revolution Salvation Velvet Lacquer in 'Rebel' is a deep berry too, it isn't as dark as the Maybelline crayon, although looks more purple on the lips (don't worry - it isn't a full on purple!) It dries to a velvet/matte finish and hopefully this will mean it will be long lasting but I'll have to try it out more and let you know!

I recently rediscovered two eye shadows from Natural collection that together (or separately) make beautiful highlight shades!

The shade on the left is 'Barley' and the shade on the right is 'White Opal'. A little of each of these applied to the tops of your cheekbone, inner corners of your eyes, and wherever else you want to highlight gives you a gorgeous glow!

Natural Collection is very affordable, everything is £1.99 or under (unless they've changed that since I was a bit younger and used to be excited to get some eye shadows on 3 for £5).

I hope you enjoyed this very quick post!

Lots of love,

Emma xxx

Go-to Autumn Makeup

So, autumn has rolled around once again and it's is one of my favourite times for beauty and fashion! I have spent probably too much money on autumn/winter clothes in the past few days, but I won't regret it when I'm nice and cosy in the coming months. I decided to show you some of the products I reach for most often when I'm getting ready in the mornings!

Base Products

L'Oreal True Match Foundation has been on my list of foundations to try and I can't believe I waited this long. It has a good medium but buildable coverage, which you can sheer out with a moisturiser if you aren't looking for too much coverage, but I have quite problematic skin so it's perfect for me! The finish is more on the matte side of things, however I always set it with a powder so you could probably get a less matte finish if you want to. I believe the colour range is quite wide however smaller Boots or Superdrugs will have a smaller range of colours. It costs £9.99 which I think is an amazing price for such a high quality foundation!

This is the powder I've been using recently,  this one isn't anything extraordinary but it does the job!

If you've been following me for a while you'll have seen this palette before. The Sleek Blush By Three palette in Lace, which costs £9.99. The formula of Sleek blushes is absolutely incredible, they are insanely pigmented and very easy to blend. I could not recommend them more!

Eye Products

You will have heard about how much I like these products to define my eyebrows if you've read any of my posts before! Eyebrows really do change up your whole face so, although my eyebrows are dark, I like to fill in any sparse areas and set them into place with Soap & Glory Archery and L'Oreal Brow Artist Plumper!

MAC Painpots have been mentioned in my posts many times before, so I won't go on and on, but they're the perfect bases for eyeshadows and they do not crease (a problem I had with Maybelline Colour Tattoos). The colours I have are Rubenesque (at the front) and Soft Ochre (at the back) and they cost £15.50 each, but it's worth it!

I love the Molten Copper shade of Accessorise Eyeshadow. The red tone makes my eyes look really green and I just love copper really! I have no clue whether they still sell this colour but a copper eyeshadow is a must for autumn/winter!

Bronze and gold eyeshadows are also essential for autumn/winter. I love the Nude Bronze palette from Collection.. Just like the Sleek blushes, they are so pigmented and easy to blend, at a very low price!

Lip Products

The revlon Lipstick in the shade HD Rose is a beautiful pink-nude that combines high pigmentation with a moisturising formula, which is perfect for autumn and winter when you find your lips can get quite dry.

One of my very loved MAC lipsticks, and a perfect nude, Kinda Sexy. This is a matte formula, so although it can be quite drying (applying some lip balm before helps) it is long lasting! I wore it to my Prom and it lasted most of the night.

I never really got much use out of this Lip Butter, but I've rediscovered it and I'm so glad! Macaroon is a beautiful berry shade but more on the pink side than a deep berry! Again, the formula is super moisturising, so perfect for the colder months!

I decided to include some swatches of the lip products and blushes I mentioned! from left to right - Revlon Lip Butter in Macaroon, MAC lipstick in Kinda Sexy, Revlon HD Rose, Sleek Blush By Three in Lace.

I hope you enjoyed reading about some of the products I've been drawn to when doing my makeup recently! What other autumn/winter blogposts would you be interested in reading?

Lots of love,
Emma xxx




I've been revisiting songs and albums I love recently, and I've been listening to Pixie Lott's album Turn It Up a lot, I loved this when it came out around 6 years ago, it brings back lots of memories!

Meditation

Sometimes life can be quite stressful. This can be for various reasons, which differ from person to person, but I'm sure you can imagine the situations I mean.

Whenever I talk to people who are worried or stressed about things going on in their lives, one of the things I always recommend is meditation. 

Why did I start meditation and how has it affected me?

I used to get quite stressed out about exams, especially the time of the exams I took in year 10, so in year 11 I decided to do something about it. I struggle to switch off, especially at night, which means I can find it very hard to get to sleep sometimes. I consider myself as a positive person any way, so I wasn't doing it for that, I just wanted to be able to relax more easily. Before the start of exam season, I started meditating every night before bed, I felt more relaxed and found it easier to drop off to sleep. During exam season I remained, cool (as a cucumber), calm and collected, and I managed to get plenty of much needed sleep. 

Meditation is something that doesn't have to take up long in your day, but the impact it makes on your life is amazing.

How do you meditate? Simple, there are plenty of apps these days that will guide you through meditation. My personal favourites are Headspace and Calm.

Headspace is an app with a ten minute a day, ten day programme (although you can take the sessions again after you finish the full ten days, and there's more if you're willing to pay for subscription). The sessions are by a man called Andy, who has the kind of voice that is very inviting and calm!

Calm is another guided meditation app, there are choices of relaxing background sounds (my favourite at the moment is Celestial Sunbeams) and you can choose how long you want to meditate for.

Its good to remember that it won't drastically change your life after one ten minute session. Stick it out for a few weeks and see how it goes! Meditation might not be for you but it's definitely worth a try!

I hope you enjoyed this post, and found it helpful! If you have any questions, feel free to contact me and if there are other topics you'd like me to write blogposts about let me know!

Lots of love,

Emma xxx

Summer Pop of Colour!

I know, I know, the summer is nearly over but that's not stopping you from from experimenting with fun makeup looks! I was actually meant to post this ages ago (don't kill me) but I didn't have chance to write it before I went on holiday. Better late than never!

In July, I had some of my friends around to help me with some photos for art (they couldn't resist the offer of pizza and Maltesers) and I did their makeup and took photos. On Izzy, I used a blue underneath her eyes, and i really liked the way it looked so I thought I would use that for a look on myself for a blogpost!

I used a more copper toned than bronze and also made the blue stand out a bit more!

I started by using MAC's Pro Longwear Paint pot in Rubenesque as a base, I have mentioned this a lot before because I absolutely love the shade!

When I was sorting through the photos for this post and editing them I realised that I kept switching between two different lenses, so if they look different to you, that might be why! The lighting wasn't the best either!

Next I used an Accessorise eyeshadow which I believe is in the shade Molten Copper, they might not sell it any more but most brands sell gorgeous copper shades. I love copper because the red tone makes my eyes look very green, most of the time I have no clue what colour my eyes are (it changes I think). Make sure to tap off the excess eyeshadow to avoid fall down because as you will see in the next photos I forgot.

I used a Barry M Super Soft Eye Crayon in a metallic blue colour (that doesn't have a shade name) on my lower lash line, this helped to intensify the next eyeshadow but of course if you're wanting a more subtle look you can skip that (I don't think a blue eyeshadow will ever be that subtle though!)

I then took a Rimmel eyeshadow that I also don't know the name of (I'm such a bad blogger, I apologise, but I doubt they sell it any more!) and put it on top of where I applied the pencil/base. Yes the look is really as easy as that!

I then curled my eyelashes (not very well) and applied my new favourite mascara Maybelline Lash Sensational in the waterproof formula as usual. I promise you it usually looks a whole lot better than in the photo above, my lashes were not cooperating. The packaging also matches the look so it makes everything better!

To finish the look, I decided on a bright lip (on Izzy I used Mac Kinda Sexy for a nude lip), using the Rimmel Kate Moss lipstick in 16 (I only know the shade because I checked Kate's Recent Beauty Buys post so thank you Kate;) )

So that is the complete look!  

This is an accidental collab with Lauren (again) but for her youtube this time! We happened to have done similar looks so made it into a collab, what a great coincidence! I absolutely love her videos so be sure to check out her channel and subscribe! 

For Lauren's video, click here!

I hope everyone who has started school this past week has enjoyed it, and if you're starting this week, good luck with the early mornings;)

Lots of love,

Emma xxx

My song for the post is Can't Sleep Love by Pentatonix. This song is so catchy and I could listen to it on repeat all day! Definitely give it a listen, you'll love it! Also, if you haven't listened to Troye Sivan's EP WILD, also give that a listen!