Happy Halloween

Halloween is one of my favourite holidays - carving pumpkins with my Dad, trick or treating with nieces and nephews, dressing up with friends and scaring ourselves silly. I like to pretend I'm a night child and Halloween is the perfect excuse to prance around dressed as a vampire, a corpse bride, anything remotely dead and depressing and have the time of my life. I was told that Halloween is an evil holiday and to celebrate it is to tempt spirits and encourage the worship of the Devil himself, to that I smiled and politely replied; I'm already going to Hell, so I might as well enjoy the ride.

Happy Halloween, you beautiful creatures.

- Charli, xo

Make Up Revolution - The Nail Edit

A couple of weeks ago, I put in my first order with Make Up Revolution. This is a brand that has literally been taking the beauty world by storm and has come from being a company I had never heard to, to a company I thought just made cheap make up, to a company that I will be purchasing from again and again and again.

#FABBirmingham

I can now say, I have been to my first blogging event and oh, was it an event to remember. I received my email a few weeks back and brought my ticket straight away. No one was given any clue as to what to expect which I guess made it more exciting, but it also made me nervous. I'm really not a people person and even though I've been dreaming of having the chance to attend one of these events, I was genuinely terrified.

So, on Sunday morning, the beautiful Sian and I began our drive to Birmingham. She told me we were meeting 3 other girls before the event and that made my nausea around a trillion times worse. I don't do meeting people well, especially other girls. I'm too sarcastic for most people but I can honestly say, all nervousness was gone the moment I met them. Frankie over at EffStar Beauty, Sarah from time to see the stars. and Hannah from hannerking are three of the most wonderful people I have ever set eyes on and I am genuinely happy I got the chance to meet them all. 

So, we arrived at our Destination. Alfie Bird's in the Custard Factory. Sounds like a right weird place?! Anyway, we were greeted by the beautiful Ray and Tor and were given an (absolutely-full-to-the-birm) goodie bag and told to go up to the next floor. On the next two levels of the venue were a variety of different brands, some of which I had heard of, some of which were completely new to me. So, we began our journey (clearly think I'm some sort of hobbit here) and got to know the brands, got A LOT of freebies and just literally had a wonderful time. I did take some photos, yes they are awful but look guys, it's my first event and even though everyone had their cameras out, I still felt very self-conscious with my shitty little Kodak and so I didn't take that many. I also can't edit photos. At all.

Fall in Love

I seem to appreciate Autumn (or Fall if you're over on the other side of the pond) more and more as I get older. I used to associate it with going back to school or University and being bloody freezing all the time. However, now I'm beginning to fall in love with it a little more each year. The beautiful Megan Jane over at Seek My Scribbles tagged me in her 'Fall in Love' post - so here is my version. 

What is your favourite fall scent?

Uhm, I'm not sure what you would class as an Autumn scent? Leaves? I'm not a fan of the damp leaf smell if I'm being totally honest. I'm currently burning several different Yankee's (the candle, not the baseball team, that'd be horribly wrong of me) which include Sugared Apple and Berrylicious, I wouldn't class them as fall scents but I like them right now!

What is your favourite fall drink?

It's gotta be a hot drink, right? Well, I don't like hot drinks. Unless it's a hot chocolate, covered in a mountain of cream, from Starbucks. But I will settle for a Costa version, I guess.

What fall trend are you most excited about? 

Dark, vampy lips and nails. I'm a goth at heart and I love having the excuse to go around wearing purple lipstick and pretending I'm a vampire. 

The Playlist // October

Another month brings another play list. I've actually spent the last few weeks continuing to listen to my Menorca playlist that I created in August. This week I decided I wanted to listen to something a little different, so I made a new list!

Another month of chart music for me - what is going on?! I can't decide on Taylor Swift's new song, so I thought I'd slap it in a play list for me to play it a little more. I also really don't like Ed Sheeran's new album but I adore this song and I adore watching him dance in the video. Love me a ginger. I also decided I hated One Direction's new song but the next day I had it on repeat. No will power whatsoever. This month it's mostly a mix of stuff that's being played on the radio, which seems to be my thing at the moment. I'd just like to say, that when I saw that MKTO - American Dream was FINALLY on Spotify, I literally squealed like a child. I have been waiting for this to become available for weeks and weeks - fan girl moment. 
What are you listening to this month? Anything I should add?
- Charli, xo

#tamethatmane

BONUS POST

In the last year, the amount of hair on my head seems to have doubled. Most days, such as when I'm at work or when I'm trying to clean and do something productive, having a mass of mane drives me insane and I constantly threaten to cut it all off. However, on the rare occasion that I venture to somewhere other than my mum's or work, I love having thick, long locks that I can curl and attempt to style. It's one of the only things I love about myself and having good hair gives me the most amount of confidence. 

As I said, most of the time having long hair is a ball ache, but I have recently really started to attempt to take care of it. Today I thought I'd share with you a few tips. I don't know if you can call them tips because you might read them and think - she is doing that so wrong - but these seem to be the things that keep my hair big and beautiful. I have also included a few #tamethemane selfies - basically to brag that I sometimes I have nice hair. 

1) I do not brush my hair. You heard it here first, I'm a first class tramp. The only time I brush my hair is either before I get in the shower (rarely) or when I'm out the shower and I'm just about to blow-dry my hair or let it air dry. I condition it well, so it's not like attempting to brush through a bush of Hell, but I do find that brushing my hair any other time makes it flat, greasy and I get too wound up when it's knotty and I can't get the brush through anyway. So there you have it, the girl doesn't brush her locks.

Beauty Protector | Protect & Oil

Magic Wand

Firstly, let me apologise for the photo quality of this, I took this picture last minute last night before I grumpily jumped in the bath and didn't speak to anyone for an hour. But at least I did think to photo it, that's gotta count for something, right?

Magic Wand is one of my all time favourite Lush products - mainly because it's on a stick, so my fingers don't get burn when I shove it under the hot tap. I purchase this EVERY Christmas, I literally physically can't go a year without this in my bath. Snow Fairy is one of my all-time scents. For those of you who are as Lush mad as I am, you'll understand what I mean, for those of you who are Snow Fairy virgin, if you like candy/sweets/bubblegum, then why aren't you queuing up in Lush to purchase this, right now? WHY?! 

So Magic Wand is a bubble bar, which means you hold it under your hot tap and watch the bubbles magically appear. I think I like bubble bars more than bath bombs because you get so much more for your money. Whilst I love Lush, I do think it can be overpriced. At £5.95 this is one of their more expensive bubble bars, but I can easily get at least 4 baths out of this. Or two MAJORLY (and I mean spilling over the top of your bath) filled bubble baths. 

I like that they only bring this out at Christmas because even though I adore it, the scent would probably become too sickly if I used it all the time. It's nice to have a product to look forward to at this time of year. I do think everyone should give the wand a try, it's good value for money and it smells divine. So what are you waiting for already? Jeez.

You can find Magic Wand over at Lush HERE.

- Charli, xo

3 Things

Okay, so lately I have been feeling pretty glum. Not for any particular reason, other than the fact that I have a tendency to get like this sometimes - miserable, morbid and downright depressive. So get myself out of thing funk, I've been attempting to focus on the positives around me (which should be easy, as there really are no negatives). I have come up with 3 things that always, always make me feel that little bit better, even when I (over-dramatically) feel like my world is falling apart. 

1. Bear - I have to admit, the majority of the time, he makes me want to drown myself in acid. However, this boy is the one thing that keeps me together. I will rant and rave, about everything and nothing and he listens (in his own way) to it all, he's honest with me when I'm being ridiculous, which let's be honest, is 99.9% of the time and he's there with me when I'm crying in bed because I have to wake up at 7am the next morning. He is my all and my everything and he gives me a reason to wake up each morning and man the fuck up. I love him, I love him, I love him.

2. Bath time & Bubbles - Is this classed as two things? I don't know, but a piping hot bubble bath never fails to make me feel better. No phone, no distraction, just me, my bubbles and my book. Whether I'm sad, angry, happy - I love climbing into the bath, with my Yankee friends and a good book, lying back and relaxing. I could quite easily live in the bath, prunes and the lot. It's also my time to myself, my time to think. It's where I either tell myself I'm being stupid and that I need to grow a pair, or it's where I sit and stew and over think things. Either way, it's my place and it makes me feel better about all situations. 

3. Reading - It doesn't matter how hectic, crazy, drama-filled your life gets, isn't one of the best things in the world to be able to lose yourself in a book? In someone else's world? What could be better than taking a step back from your day and reading about Magnus Bane and Will Herondale? (Cue Mortal Instruments fan girl). Reading is one of my favourite things to do, on the bus, in the bath, on my lunch break, before bed, on the bog. Everywhere. If I'm having a bad day at work, I'll go on my break and as soon as my nose is in a book, I feel calm. If I'm pissed at someone, I'll (go make them on the Sims and then remove the pool ladders whilst they're having a midnight swim) go pick out my favourite book and read a few pages and feel calm. You can always rely on a good book to make everything seem that little less dramatic. 

So, there you have it, the 3 biggest things that never fail to make me feel better.

What are your 3 things?

- Charli, xo

September Through Instagram

I really wanted to keep up with my Instagram posts that I used to do - then I realised, I barely post any photos, as I don't really have a life. But today I have enough to do a whole post ;) here ya gooo...

Boyfriend | Pout | Luna

Friends | Food Festival | Sian

Selfie | Wedding | Bear

So I went to my cousin's wedding, which was one of the most beautiful days I have experienced to date. I also ventured to a nice little house party, held by the one and only Sian, for her partner's birthday - which was a barrel of drunken laughs. I took a few selfies and I also visited a Food and Drink Festival which I will definitely be returning to next year with a purse full of pennies!

All in all, September was a quiet month for me. I am going to be doing another one of these posts next month because I have so much planned, I will definitely have lots to show you! 

What did you get up to in September? 

- Charli, xo

Hello October