Review: OGX | Coconut Water Shampoo & Coconut Milk Conditioner

OGX - Weightless Hydration Coconut Water Shampoo £6.99 for 385ml - Nourishing Coconut Milk Conditioner £6.99 for 385ml

Over the past year or so I had heard good things about the brand OGX and so when looking for a new budget shampoo and conditioner at the end of last year I picked up two products from the Coconut range which sounded like they would be perfect for me. This was before my pledge to use more natural hair care products so these do contain sulfates.

Lets start with the Weightless Hydration Coconut Water Shampoo, which I'm afraid to say ruined my hair. For a few weeks now my hair has been looking and feeling really dry, frizzy and unmanageable and the colour has been looking very lack lustre and dull. I had no idea what was going on until I realised that the only thing I had changed in my hair routine was these products. 

I had high hopes for this shampoo because it sounded perfect -  coconut water appealed to me as it sounded hydrating yet light and it promised to transform 'dry and parched hair into silky shiny perfection.' When using this shampoo my hair felt very stripped and I had to use a lot of the conditioner to make up for this. However the conditioner couldn't do much to rectify it as whether I left it to dry naturally or blow dried my hair it would look so frizzy and dry and it actually started to make me feel really self concious! Due to this I have had to use a lot more heat styling when before I could leave my hair natural 90% of the time, which in turn creates even more damage. It did nothing whatsoever to hydrate or nourish my hair and actually made it more dry and parched than it was before. After switching to a much more nourishing shampoo, even after the first wash my hair was looking better. 

The Nourishing Coconut Milk Conditioner was again quite bog standard and was definitely not 'luxuriously creamy'. It smells good, although the scent doesn't linger on your hair, and it made my hair feel more soft after use in the shower but like I said above the effects didn't really last as soon as my hair was dry. 

Overall I think it's pretty safe to say that I wouldn't repurchase these and advise you not to waste your money either. It has put me off the brand and I'm not sure I would be willing to try any other products from the company. I am putting in an order to get this amazing duo from Paul Mitchell right now instead!

I would love to know if you have had a similar experience to me or have loved another range by OGX - let me know in the comments! xxx

Recipe: Nutella and Salted Caramel Stuffed Cookies

When you've been with someone for nearly 3 years, it isn't often that you get any more 'firsts'. However on Saturday afternoon, Matt and I made cookies together for the first time. It was really fun to share something I love doing with him and I thought cookies would be an easy thing to start off with. These are packed with two of our favourite things: Nutella (yum) and salted caramel (double yum). 

We used this recipe that I've had pinned for ages - the only thing we changed was omitting the chocolate chips, purely because we didn't have any in the house and didn't fancy popping to the shops. The recipe gives you a lovely squidgy cookie with a melt in the middle surprise center and the sprinkle of salt on top brings everything together. The recipe is Nordic so the measurements are in cups rather than grams.

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup of butter

*1 1/2 cup of light brown sugar

* 1/2 cup of cocoa powder

* 2 eggs

* 1/4 tsp salt

* 3/4 tsp baking powder

* 2 cups of plain flower

* sea salt for sprinkling

* Nutella

* Salted Caramel (we used a ready made pot but you can make your own)

Method

001. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius (fan) and line two baking trays with baking parchment.

002. Melt the butter in a sauce pan. Take it off the heat as soon as it is melted so it doesn't brown or burn. In a separate bowl mix together the eggs and sugar. Mix in the melted butter until well combined.

003. Add the cocoa, salt and baking powder and stir until well combined.

004. Sift in the flour and mix well.
005. Take a tablespoon size amount of mixture and drop onto your tray. Make an indent in the middle large enough to fit a teaspoon of Nutella and a teaspoon of the salted caramel in.
006. Layer the Nutella and salted caramel on top of each other in the indent. Cover the filling with more cookie dough, making sure to seal all the edges.
007. Sprinkle the top of each cookie with a little salt.
008. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
009. Leave to cool on the trays for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling off.
010. Dust with icing sugar (optional!)

Let me know if you try this recipe by tweeting me! xxx

You Can't Live A Positive Life With A Negative Mind

Blogging can be so therapeutic sometimes. I wrote this post when I was feeling emotional about something and it really helped. I wasn't sure whether to post it but maybe it will help you if you have been feeling the same way.

For the past two years, a lot went wrong for me - I had a lot of bad news, health issues and seemed to always attract toxic people who made it worse. Over the latter half of last year, I really tried to focus on the positive and start on the right track to a healthier and more positive mind. I know that sounds totally cliche and vom worthy but its true.

Excercise helped when I was feeling low, and sorting out my diet to include lots of healthy clean foods also aided my well being. I read a few self help books, went to some counciling sessions which did the world of good and tried to train my mind to be more positive which was the hardest part. I failed many times, and even sunk lower than I had before but towards the end of last year I was getting the hang of trying to put a positive spin on things.

I got the confidence to cut out negative people, I put more effort into the good and positive people who surrounded me and I made the effort to change jobs when I wasn't happy where I was anymore. Rather than sitting there wallowing which is so tempting to do, I went out and did something about it which made me even more confident and positive. It is a very good cycle which is very hard to build. I also found that quotes really helped too. Again that sounds so Pinterest and cliche but whenever I was feeling low, I could always find a quote that really fitted how I felt and gave me a boost or push to change it.

I guess why I'm writing this all down is because after looking back at the past two years and how far I've come I feel so so proud of myself and I think that positivity and strength is starting to shine through and I;m getting back to me. Unfortunately there seem to be a a few people left in my life who don't seem to like this, maybe its because when someone is worse off than you it makes you feel better but that is such a toxic way to look at things.

I'm not going to lie - I used to feel like that sometimes too but honestly, praising someone for doing well or giving the tiniest of compliments really makes you feel so much better than being bitter about someone else's success. There will always be people who are better at other things than me in so many ways and those who are not but at the end of the day it is only myself who I can compete with.

Now I've finally had the epiphany and I've felt my mindset change, I can finally let myself enjoy my successes and not doubt myself or worry about whether or not I deserve it.

If you have tried your best and you work hard and you are kind and positive you are winning already and I hope no one ever makes you doubt that xxx

The Best Winter Hand Cream

Garnier 7 Day Intensive Restoring Hand Cream - Shea Butter - Currently £2.13 at Boots - 100ml

When it comes to hand creams I tend to choose high end brands like L'Occitane or Crabtree & Evelyn due to the light consistency, the dreamy smells and the fact that they sink in easily while still moisturising effectively so you can get on with your day. However now the weather has turned quite bitter they aren't cutting it anymore and I've been searching for something deeply moisturising that repairs and protects.

Recently my hands have been dry and the skin around my finger nails has been peeling and cracked. I've been using The Body Shop's Hemp Hand cream which is great for before bed as it is quite sticky and takes a while to sink but it doesn't last throughout the next day and the formula isn't great for day to day business.

In comes Garnier's Intensive 7 Days Restoring Hand Cream. I only picked this up after using a colleagues and being seriously impressed. A few years ago I enjoyed using the 7 Day Intensive Body lotions (review here) but never thought to try the high street for an intensive hand cream as I thought they just wouldn't be up to standard. I was so wrong though as this is literally the best intensive hand cream EVER and for such a good price too.

I chose the Shea Butter formula due to being suitable for dry and chapped hands, the scent of which is light and inoffensive. It is a relatively light formula which sinks in very easily and leaves your hands feeling soft, smooth and supple and instantly my hands looked soothed and more hydrated. The hydration even lasts through washing your hands so you don't need to keep on reapplying which is awesome. I've noticed such a difference to the appearance of my hands over just a few days, which says a lot as I was constantly reapplying some of my favourite high end creams and didn't notice any difference.

This is now a staple in my hand bag and on my desk and I urge you to try it if you are looking for something intensive that won't break the bank.

What is your favourite hand cream? xxx

Makeup of the Day #1

I tend to switch up my make up look on a day to day basis (with the exception of a few favourite products of the moment) to match my mood, outfit and generally because I like to play around with it! I thought it would be a nice idea to put up a few looks every so often to encourage me to 'shop my stash' more regularly and maybe it will give you an idea on a new way to use a palette or help you get out of your make up comfort zone.

This particular look may be too dramatic for some people in the day due to the heavy(ish) eyes but I wore it during the day no problem. I wish my camera picked up my base products a bit better but I think that's because I need to play around with the settings - if you are good with camera settings please help!

Base:

I started with the Tea Tree Flawless BB Cream by The Body Shop in 01 which gives good coverage without being heavy or clogging up the skin, buffing it in with my buffing brush from Real Techniques (best brush ever). Next I did some concealing - tackling the dark circles under my eyes by blending Bobbi Brown Corrector in Light Bisque just in the inner corners with my ring finger. I concealed any blemishes and under my eyes with Revlon's Colour Stay Concealer in 02 Light, which is a little too yellow toned for me but fine once blended out. I always set my make up with a decent oil controlling powder and at the moment that is Maybelline's Matte Maker in 20 Nude Beige. This can go a bit cakey so you need to have a light hand with it. My really old but newly re-discovered  Avon Bronzing Pearls gave me some colour applied to where the sun naturally hits and then finished off with my new favourite Benefit Havana Blush combined with the highlight from the centre of Sleek's Contour Kit on top of my cheekbones. 

Brows:

I find brows quite difficult to master due to finding the right shade and not having loads of hair to work with but since getting the Anastasia Brow Wiz in Taupe/Ash Brown it has literally changed my life in terms of eyebrow game. It's the perfect shade and easy to work with - totally a new holy grail product. To set I used Maybelinne's Browdrama in Medium which is too dark but I've never been able to find a light shade so I just have to use it sparingly.

Eyes:

For my eyes I used a variety of shadows from the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette: Chopper all over lid, Tease in the crease, Snakebite in the outer corner and finished with Foxy in the inner corners and brow bone to highlight. I used a mix of Tease and Snakebite smudged under my eyes, stopping about half way and Blackout as a thin liner on top using an angled liner brush. Finally I used a few coats of the curved version of MaxFactor 2000 Calorie mascara - I still like the formula but hate the brush so will definitely be going back to the original once this runs out.

Lips:

Because the eyes were so dramatic I wanted the lips to be quite neutral. I chose MAC Creme Cup which is not only one of my favourite nudey lipsticks but one of my all time favourite MAC lipsticks. Over the top I added Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector in 02 to keep my lips hydrated and glossy. I love this lipgloss/balm hybrid so much and its perfect for fuss free lips.

Whats your favourite make up product of the moment? xxx

Review: The Body Shop | Tea Tree Flawless BB Cream |

The Body Shop - Tea Tree Flawless BB Cream - £8 - 40ml

The Tea Tree BB Cream is the first make up product I've bought from the Body Shop in years. The first BB cream that they bought out just wasn't right for my skin type so it was great when they bought a version out suitable for oily and blemish prone skin, and I decided to give it a go seeing as it was under a tenner.

A lot of high street BB creams are much more like tinted moisturisers and I tend to be a satin finish, medium to high coverage kind of girl. The texture of the product is a lot thicker but not stiff in anyway and blends out to be quite sheer and skin like while still evening out skin tone very well in addition to being buildable. I tend to use my fingers, a buffing or a stippling brush to blend this in depending on how heavy I want the coverage to be. You will need a concealer for extra coverage on blemishes and under eyes.

The shade range is pretty poor with only 3 colours - I picked up the lightest which I was afraid would be a little too pale but once it's blended out it adapts to your skintone, so even when I was more tanned in the summer this still suited me just about! Not only is the coverage impressive for a BB cream, I love that it is really long wearing too and also quite good at oil control without being drying. A lot of BB creams either oxidise or slip and wear unevenly throughout the day but I've never had any problems like that with this product.

I normally tend to mix all my bases with a liquid highlight, purely so my face isn't flat or dull. For the purpose of this picture I didn't do that so you could see the true effect of how it looks on the skin, but you can see this post here where I'm wearing it mixed with Seventeen Skin Wow.

I've used the Tea Tree BB Cream practically every day since the beginning of the year on both weekends and long work days in the office (think bright lights, air con etc) and it's been a really reliable base without being heavy or detrimental to my skin. If anything, the inclusion of tea tree oil has helped keep my skin as blemish free as possible.

It is one of the best BB creams and bases that I have used from the drugstore and I would recommend it to anyone who has the same skin type as me.

What kind of base to you like best - foundation or BB cream? xxx

Maybelline | Colour Drama Lip Pencil in '310 Berry Much' |

Maybelline Color Drama Lipstick in 'Berry Much' - £4.99 - Boots

To be honest, when these lip pencils were launched I wasn't desperate to try them. Lip products are my weakness but after collecting many different types of lip crayons I thought these looked a bit lack lustre. First of all they are much smaller than the jumbo lip pencils you can get from brands such as Bourjois and Revlon and I thought the packaging looked a bit cheap, although I do love that the colour of the product is on the end of the pencil.

However, I absolutely love both the colour range and formula of the Colour Drama Lip Pencils. Berry Much is a deep red berry colour which I would compare to Revlon's Kissable Balm Stain in 'Cherish' but is darker, more intense and and a thicker, more opaque formula.  The application is a breeze with the pencil gliding on easily, there is no bleeding throughout the day and the staying power is amazing without being drying on the lips. I do top up with lip balm throughout the day now it is much colder but compared to other mattes it does a great job of hydrating your lips. They also smell quite fruity without being over powering. The product is also an actual pencil so you will need a chunky pencil sharpener to keep the point.

I'm super impressed with the quality of the formula and will certainly be picking up some more shades as soon as possible!

What shades would you suggest I pick up next? xxx

Strip Teas Teatox | Review

Embarking on a Teatox has always intrigued me. I feel like its the perfect place to start if you are a bit too lazy to start committing to juicing every day but want to kick start your health regime. For an avid across the board tea drinker this kind of detox is something I can get on board with. It is great for winter as you get a guaranteed 3 warm mugs of tea a day, and it also helps with your hydration, skin and metabolism.

The Strip Teas (great name) Teatox lasts for 14 days, and you get three very cute packages of tea for morning, day time and night. The bags are also ziplocked at the top which is very handy at keeping the contents fresh as well as featuring cute quotes on the back of each sachet. Each tea bag consists of loose leaf herbs housed in fully biodegradable pyramid bags, which look quite swanky and let the tea move about so it tastes better. It is worth noting that for the Daytime Teatox you can choose between Original, Berry Burst or Vanilla - I chose the latter.

Lets start with Morning Wake Up*. Normally I need a strong cup of Yorkshire Tea before I can even speak first thing in the morning and I was worried I would miss my caffeine hit by drinking a herbal tea, but I needn't have worried. The ingredients included in this tea are: Chinese White Tea, Yerba Mate, Lemongrass, Liquorice Root, Orange Peel, Ginseng, Ginkgo, Eucalyptus and Spearmint. I'm not a fan of liquorice normally but it didn't over power the tea, instead the flavours of spearmint, eucalyptus and lemongrass were most strong for me. It did a great job of waking me up and getting my metabolism going gently.

The second tea of the day is the Daytime Teatox*. You are meant to drink this shortly after your main lunch time meal - I like it mid afternoon around 3pm when I'm starting to feel sluggish after lunch and would normally reach for a coffee. The ingredients include: Chinese Oolong Tea, Fennel Seeds, Cinnamon, Pu-erh Black Tea, Schisandra Berries, Black Peppercorns, Calendula Petals, Sunflower Petals, Orange Blossom and Vanilla Flavour. The floral scents of this stand out for me and you get a smooth vanilla undertone. This tea is meant to aid digestion which is definitely does and also reduced bloating for me as well as aid fat burning by keeping your metabolism high.

The final bag is the Sleep Tight* tea. Obviously, you drink this before bed to help you relax and unwind for a good nights sleep. The ingredients include: Rooibos, Ginger, Ashwagandha Root, Chamomile, Lemon Balm, Peppermint Leaves, Hawthorn, Vanilla Pieces, Lavender, Vanilla Flavour. Normally night time teas don't do much for me as I dislike Chamomile, but the flavours were balanced so it didn't put me off. It was nice to have something comforting which wasn't heavy or caffeinated after dinner.

With all these teas I would advise not to over brew - 3 minutes is plenty to get a well balanced and delicate taste that won't dry your mouth out. The best thing about these teas is that they aid an overall healthy lifestyle - there are no laxatives included, instead using natural ingredients to amp up your metabolism and supress appetite.

I've really enjoyed the process of this Teatox and would recommend you to try it if you're looking for something different to kick start your healthy regime.

If you would like to try it I have a discount code for 10% off: LILMISSLIFESTYLE10 which you can enter at the checkout. Remember to let me know what you think!

December Favourites | 2014

While picking up people's Christmas presents, I inevitably picked up a few presents from me to me (hopefully I'm not the only one to do this!) December's round up therefore consist of a few new purchases with one or two re-discovered favourites.

001. Soap & Glory Hand Maid Cleansing Gel - £2.50: This has been raved about by a lot of people, but I always thought how good can an antibacterial gel actually be? Well it turns out, pretty damn good. This sinks in quickly, is compact for your hand bag and the scent is delicious and lingers after application. It also looks cute too! This will be really useful when I start using the tube every day for my new job.

002. L'Oreal EverPure Intense Mask for Coloured Hair - £7.30: If you read my previous post you would see that I want to use more natural products when looking after my hair. I bought this back in November and it has proved to me that products free from sulphates do actually work. The main ingredients are rosemary and mint oils which gives the mask a spa like scent. Although the mask is thick it doesn't weigh down my hair at all while still giving me sleek, shiny and soft locks. I would love to try the shampoo and conditioner from this range too after sampling this. It is normally on offer too - currently at Boots for £3.65.

003. The Body Shop 'Glazed Apple' Shower Gel: A new purchase from one of their Christmas ranges along with the matching bubble bath. This smells so good - like apple sweets - without being overly sickly, although it isn't very moisturising. It is quite zingy so great for cold winter mornings when you need a pick me up and the scent is also uni-sex so great for sharing with Matt. I like the bright green of the gel too and the sleeker packaging than the original shower gel line up.

004. Lush 'Hot Toddy' Shower Gel: Another shower gel that I just couldn't resist! The Christmas products from Lush are always amazing and this is a refreshing change from Snow Fairy. The gel is bright red with flecks of glitter, so very festive, and the smell is amazing. It honestly smells like mulled wine and the scent is super strong and lingers like you would expect from a Lush product. I wish I had got a larger bottle because I will be really sad when this is over.

005. L'Oreal True Match Foundation in 'W1 Golden Ivory' - £9.99: This gives a light to medium coverage which is moisturising without being oily and blends out so well so it looks like your skin but better. I also found that it was quite luminous too and didn't sit flat on your face and was easily buildable for more coverage. I did find that my t-zone did get shiny more quicker but it is quite long wearing and great for evening wear.

006. Maybelline Colour Drama Lip Pencil in 'Berry Much' - £4.99: I'm planning on putting up a detailed review of this in the next week or so, but basically this is the perfect lip product for the colder months. The colour and pigmentation is gorgeous, as is the wear time and ease of use. A really great product which I will surely be getting in more colours.

007. Bobbi Brown 'Sand' Palette from the L.E. Surf and Sand Collection - £48: First of all, this palette just looks gorgeous. The packaging is weighty and great for travel and the pans of eye shadow are good sizes. The colour selection is fantastic, with a mixture of matte and glitter golden neutral shades that can create a variety of looks. A few of the lighter shimmer shades were a little disappointing with not a lot of colour pay off, but over all I love this palette for day and evening looks. Although it is a lot of money for a palette, I think the shades and amount  you get in the palette make it worth while. I've been reaching for this most days of December.

008. Molecule 01 Perfume by Escentric Molecules - £65.50: The scent of this is so different to anything else I own or would normally pick up. I got this for Christmas about two years ago and think its perfect for this time of year. In essence, the USP of this perfume is that it smells different on everyone by working with your skin's chemistry and is great to layer up with other fragrances. I'm not sure if the first claim is true as I have smelt it on other people and have known exactly what it is. However, the claim that everyone will want to know what you're wearing is valid. I always have compliments when I wear this scent and have convinced quite a few people to buy it! Reported fans of this fragrance are Kate Moss and Daisy Lowe which is always a good endorsement and it is very long wearing to boot.

009. YSL Parisienne Eau De Parfum - £47 for 30ml: Another perfume I have been enjoying this month and that works well with Molecule 01. It is a deep floral scent which is rather long lasting and always brings back good memories for me as I received it for my 21st birthday.

What are your current favourite products? xxx

My Beauty Resolutions for 2015

Pinterest

After spending New Year's Day writing about my general wishes for 2015, I thought it would be a good idea to note down some beauty goals for myself as well seeing as this blog is predominately beauty based. There are a few bad habits I need to break as well as some fun goals that I would like to achieve. Hopefully buy putting them out there for you all to read, it will give me some extra motivation to achieve them.

1. Drink more water: Quite a simple goal, but something I am absolutely terrible at! Normally most of my water intake is with meals but in between I am awful at drinking anything. I enjoy herbal teas so will try and drink more of those and am planning to use my water bottles that are gathering dust at the back of a kitchen cupboard.

2. Wash my make up brushes more often: Something I am very lazy with. I do spot clean them regularly but deep cleans take a lot more time and then I hate having to wait for them to dry. Hopefully Sundays will become my new deep cleaning brush days as there is nothing better than clean brushes and I think they apply make up so much better.

3. Invest in products: There are loads of great brands available on the high street, but in 2015 I want to discover some of my holy grail products, particularly in skin care. There are loads of higher end brands which I have lusted after and put off purchasing but I think it is worth investing in one amazing product rather than lots of mediocre ones. Skin care brands that I want to explore more are Rodial, Caudalie and Sarah Chapman and for make up brands I'm thinking of Dior, Laura Mercier and Chanel.

4. Be kind to my hair: I'm normally pretty good at looking after my hair with various products, but again I want to invest in some more natural products rather than those stuffed with silicones and sulfates. I want to use more oils and also try and get more regular trims to keep it in good condition, as normally I leave it months and months to get my colour re-done and even trim my hair!

5. Try some beauty DIYs: There are a whole host of pins on my 'Beauty' Pinterest board that are waiting to be used and following on with my natural theme I think this year would be a good time to give some a go. A few things that I would like to try are a DIY body scrub, hair mask and face masks.

What are your beauty resolutions? xxx

Goodbye 2014, Hello 2015

Similar to most people this year, I feel like 2014 has flown by. At the start of last year I was still looking for a full time job after graduating from Uni in December, although I wasn't sure exactly what path I wanted to take. I thought it would be good to concentrate more on my blog which I did do very well at the beginning of the year and I started my YouTube channel too. However, fast forward to 4 house moves (the first which was leaving home for good), embarking on my first full time job and having Reuben join our family unit to name just a few land mark points to have happened in 2014, what I thought was going to be achievable was not.

I ended up feeling drained, stressed and really worried about the small details in  life rather than looking at the bigger picture, as well as feeling guilty that because of all this I couldn't dedicate time to the hobbies and people I enjoy. 

A lot can change in a week but it wasn't until I looked back at the year and saw how much I have actually achieved and been through that I realised I was being way too hard on myself about the little things I didn't do. 

One of the best things I have achieved is changing my thought process, although I still  have a long way to go. I feel as though I am stronger at removing negativity from my life and try harder to be more positive and kind at times when I am at my lowest.

After looking back at everything that has happened in 2014, I feel like I'm in a good place to set some realistic and positive goals for the new year. These will be flexible and are small steps to my overall goals because 2014 has taught me that  life gets in the way and you can't always be perfect, no matter how hard you try.

1. Read more: My commute to and from work used to be the perfect time for me to catch up on reading but since I started driving I have found it really hard to find any time at all. Reading is one of my favourite hobbies and now I am starting a new job and will have to commute on the tube I am hoping that I can pick this up again.

2. Stress less: Since moving into our own home I have become really controlling and almost obsessive about everything looking and being perfect, which has in turn extended into other parts of my life. Being away and spending time at both our families homes has really put things into perspective. I want to spend more time on my hobbies, relaxing and making memories than obsessively cleaning and worrying about stupid things.

3. Focus on my health: Quite a broad resolution but I want to continue working on my mental health and positive well being as well as building on our healthy eating and exercise plan. We tend to eat quiet healthily anyway, but we want to invest in a juicer and make a bit more of an effort. Exercise wise I was doing nothing because I couldn't find the time but now I'm going to make time as much as possible, even if its just going for a brisk walk through the fields with Matt.

4. Spend more 'me' time: Like I said before, I seem to spend most of my spare time looking after the house and our little unit and feel guilty when I spend anytime doing something for me. I'm going to put my happiness first and start doing more hobbies. I want to learn to sew properly, do more crafty things in general, blog and youtube more among other things. At the same time I am not going to pressurise myself at consistently posting here as it was making me quite unhappy when I wasn't fulfilling the targets I was setting. This blog was always for fun and I want to keep it that way.

5. Make more effort with family and friends: Spending more time with our families over the festive period has really put things into perspective. Its so easy to get caught up in your own life, especially as time goes so quickly at the moment. I'm going to make more of an effort to text back (I am so awful at this), give loved ones a quick call when I can, and pencil in diary dates to see people.

This has been quite a serious and personal post, but I've always felt like this blog is a bit like a personal diary which I can look back at and see all the wonderful memories I have made and what I have achieved. I am really looking forward what 2015 has to offer including starting a new job later on this month!

Thank you for every view, comment, tweet and like in 2014 - I look forward to interacting with you more over the coming year. Please leave me links to your own youtube channel or blogs so I can take a look!

What are you looking forward to in the near year? xxx

All pictures are from Pinterest