Winter Skin Care Routine // Blogmas 2015

Winter is mostly my favourite time of year but it poses one huge problem for me: it makes my skin go crazy. I usually have combination/oily skin and I get a few breakouts. But, come Winter time, my skin is as dry as the Sahara and if I slack on any of my facial skin care routine I pretty much end up in break-out city. Eurgh.

This year I think I've actually come up with the code to unlocking nice skin for the winter time!

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#Bubblebeard for Decembeard // Blogmas 2015

I'm sure many of you have heard about the campaign Decembeard, where guys grow a beard in the month of December to help raise money to beat bowel cancer. Bowel cancer is the second biggest cancer killer in the UK so it's a really important cause that we all should be aware of. I personally would really struggle to grow a beard so I've always felt like I've missed out on this campaign... that is until now!

Bathstore have teamed up with Decembeard to challenge every single person in the nation to grow a beard for charity - there's no excuse as we all can grow our own Bubblebeards! I had a go at this challenge to grow my very own, majestic bubble beard and, working in a shop that is known for it's bath bombs and bubble baths, I was very much up for this challenge!

I have to admit, bubble beards are much harder than I first thought...

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How to make festive Hot Chocolates at home // Blogmas 2015

Hot Chocolate is the perfect drink for this time of year. For me, it's the ideal comfort drink for the colder weather, or just before bed time. I have two ways of making delicious hot chocolate, and I'm going to share both with you today!

One is the Luxury hot chocolate, and the other is the easy-peasy flavoured hot chocolate, but you can mix and match the recipes to craft your own perfect hot chocolate!

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Reality of doing #Blogmas // Blogmas 2015

I started this month with the aim that I would take part in blogging challenge Blogmas, which is the concept of blogging every single day throughout the whole of December in the lead-up to Christmas. Sounds wonderful, right? But sometimes it's not and it can be quite hard to keep up with yourself!

I've put together some tips and tricks for anyone who is thinking of trying Blogmas, or just wants to know what it's like doing daily blogging, and how you can make your Blogmas run more smoothly.

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How to Unwind during Christmas // Blogmas 2015

This time of year is hectic - especially to those who are not huge fans of Christmas time! It is important to give yourself time to relax this time of year otherwise you don't reap the benefits of having a few days away from your regular schedule.

Unless you want to run around like a headless chicken, then please take a few moments to chill out and treat yourself! I've suggested a few ways that I like to unwind and spend my Christmases, and ways that help me make the most of my time off.

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Make your own Christmas Eve Box // Blogmas 2015

A Christmas Eve box is something that I have always considered a lovely idea. The premise of a Christmas Eve box is a little pack of pre-presents to alert you that Santa is on his way and it's probably time to snuggle up in bed before he comes.

These Christmas Eve boxes are the perfect extra gifts for loved ones; Imagine heading up to bed and seeing this cute little surprise parcel at the end of the bed! Here are some ideas on what you can include in your own Christmas Eve boxes.

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Christmas Sugar Cookies // Blogmas 2015

Every Winter, my Mom makes delicious sugar cookies in festive shapes. It's kind of a tradition to decorate them in the least professional way because nothing beats the home made look (although this year we actually made a piping bag out of greaseproof paper!). And you always have to put a bit of a strange looking one in there, right?! Not every bake can be Mary Berry approved - we are only human haha!

Sugar cookies are really simple to whip up and can be made last minute as they don't need a huge amount of ingredients or time. They are fun to make too, especially with kids or friends.

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DIY Christmas Wreath // Blogmas 2015

After posting a picture of my Mother's Christmas wreath on Instagram, and getting flooded with comments on how lovely it was, I thought it would be nice to share how she made it!

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Christmas Candle Haul // Blogmas 2015

I have accumulated quite the collection of fragranced candles for the festive season. I'm not 100% sure when I will get chance to burn them all but I'm gonna try my hardest! I've put together a list of my favourite scented candles for you this month - these are perfect for the colder nights!

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10 Life Lessons from 'Elf'. // Blogmas 2015

Elf / New Line Cinema

I am obsessed with the Christmas film Elf. Will Ferrell is hilarious in the film and he captures Buddy the elf's personality so well! I think I watch it about 10 times every year in December and I'm pretty convinced that Buddy is my soul elf. Is soul elf a thing? It is now! ...

Elf actually has some great life lessons we could all learn from in this day and age so, without further ado, I present to you the ten life lessons we all learn from Elf.

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Christmas at my House // Blogmas 2015

I love it when I'm walking down the street and having a quick peek into people's windows to see their Christmas decorations. My Mom always picks little themes for our rooms to fit with Christmas but this year she has stripped back a lot of her decorations. It still looks beautifully festive, so I thought I'd share a few of my favourite decorations we have this year.

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Christmas Party Make-Up Inspiration // Blogmas 2015

Christmas parties are the perfect excuse to get glammed up and pull off a brand new make-up look you wouldn't usually wear. One of my goals for next year is to do more make-up tutorials on my YouTube (I used to do loads years ago before losing confidence) so I've been watching a lot of the beauty gurus on YouTube for inspiration.

As far as party make up goes, I tend to opt for smokey eyes, dark lips or glitter looks. I like pushing boundaries but I still like to wear make up that is easy to pull off! I have picked out three beauty looks that I adore for the festive party season and popped in a link so you can recreate the looks for yourselves!

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5 Christmas things you HAVE to buy from Lush // Blogmas 2015

Lush Cosmetics never fail to deliver with their Christmas product range and 2015 is no difference. Although I was disappointed with the lack of new bath bombs, I was impressed with some of the other products in various ranges around the store so I have put together my top five products you cannot miss out on this year from Lush.

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The Christmas Tag // Blogmas 2015

It's the most wonderful time of the year! If you hadn't guessed already, I'm pretty Christmas obsessed so when I came across this Christmas tag online I knew I had to do it! It's all aout how I spend my Christmas, so I'd love you guys to join in the tag too and let me know your answers :)

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Clothes Show Live, 2015 // Blogmas 2015

This year I was lucky enough to get tickets to the Clothes Show Live again. I actually won a competition by Paper Dolls who gave me two free tickets so I took my friend Jodie along with me fo a day of shopping and fashion. Last year, I was really dissapointed with the Clothes Show because the shopping area wasn't too good so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect this year.

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My Memories of Birmingham // Blogmas 2015

Living so close to the city and being a frequent visitor, Birmingham has always been a place I hold close to my heart. I remember as a child being taken there for days out shopping with my family and then, as I got older, catching the bus into the town to do some shopping with my friends. I travel through it every day now to get to work!

But what never ceases to amaze me is, even in the twenty or so years I've been visiting it, how much Birmingham has changed and evolved. The most obvious, and somewhat recent hot topic of Birmingham tourists and residents, is the new Grand Central terminal at New Street Station. As I pass through the centre of the city every day, I can't help but reflect on all my memories made in Birmingham and how amazing the city really is.

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Peppermint Cookie Bark recipe // Blogmas 2015

Peppermint bark has always been an illusive treat I have been wanting to try for what seems forever, not realising it's actually incredibly easy to make yourself! After trying a few recipes and tweaking the ones I liked, I came up with this easy one for Peppermint Cookie Bark. If I do say so myself, it tastes absolutely delicious!

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Christmas Decoration Wish list // Blogmas 2015

Decorating the house for Christmas is something I take extremely seriously! Each yearh I pick a theme and lust after all the beautiful decorations I see in the shops. Here are a  selection of some decorations on my wish list this year...

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Luxury Advent Calendars - Are they really worth it? // Blogmas 2015

It’s that time of year again – December means advent calendars! This year Nick and I have gone all out for our advent calendars. 

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#ManOnTheMoon & Age UK: No One Should have No One // Blogmas 2015

This year’s #ManOnTheMoon advert by John Lewis tugged at the heart strings. Every year I cry at the advert (yeah I’m that soppy) but this year’s subject really hit home on a topic I feel a strong attachment to. No one should have no one, especially the elderly.

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Why I Love Christmas // Blogmas 2015

It’s December which means that here on Geek Gets Glam it’s #GGGDoesBlogmas, meaning I there will be a blog post every day of December! It also means it’s the magical month of Christmas… a word you’re either over the moon to hear or sick to death of seeing already. 

I have to say, I am one of those super annoying Christmas-loving people. It’s funny really because my family aren’t religious and there is no special occasion around Christmas that I also celebrate (apart from my sister’s birthday on the 19^th). I just love being annoyingly festive. I am a real life Will Ferrell Buddy the Elf, and there are so many reasons why you should be too!

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