Christmas is coming!

Where are the days, weeks and months going? 2016 has literally flown by and I can't believe how close Christmas is! The fact that I have a Christmas jumper on shows how close christmas is..

I am extra excited for this Christmas as I get to spend it with all my family and the people I love, also I have actually had enough money to buy everyone presents this year and I can't wait to watch people open them! Even more exciting though- I am doing Vlogmas this year for the first time and I cannot wait at all- I will be Vlogging things such as the Christmas Market and also Ice skating at Nottingham's Winter Wonderland, as well as everyday, Christmassy kind of things in December!

I also have some Christmas collabs going up with one of my good friends, but I won't give too much away as you'll have to go and watch them yourselves.

I have a Christmassy makeup look going up on my channel soon so keep your eyes out for that- I am wearing my new Christmas jumper in it!!

I just though I'd keep you updated on what I'll be doing over Christmas as I am SO excited! Keep up to date with my blog and youtube channel which I'll link here: life of a Blonde 

Thank you for all of your continued support with my blog and youtube channel it means a lot!

Home from Holland!

long time no blog! So after shortly returning from my holiday to Volendam in Holland I thought I would catch up with you and share a few photos that I've taken, If you've been watching my vlogs on my new YouTube channel Life of a Blonde then you will have seen what I've been up to and how beautiful it was there!

Over the week I saw so many beautiful and authentic places: windmills and gorgeous harbours as well as experiencing the buzzing, alive city of Amsterdam. Volendam itself is such a cute little fishing town filled with lovely harbours, cafes and many bikes! I would love to live there with a view of the beach and just bike everywhere, especially on this bike (my personal fave)

The first day we visited some beautiful windmills, if you ever visit Holland (near volendam/Amsterdam) then make sure you go to Zaanse Schans windmills, especially if you're into photography.

They're surrounded by water, you can even get a boat around them, it is so peaceful here.

Before visiting here I had never really been close to a windmill and when I was close to them I realised how much I love watching them go round...weird? Probably.

We also found a little gem of a place, like I said in one of my vlogs- my new favourite place in Holland. It is so beautiful and tranquil there and the lighthouse...

We hired some bikes and had a leisurely ride down to this little beach, we loved it here so much we visited twice!

One of my favourite things about this place is the little lighthouse, how cute!?

We all braved it and went into the sea, as it was about 25 degrees it was just bearable but once we had all adapted to the cool temperature we had so much fun!

Another thing I loved about Holland was the houses; each one backed onto a harbour and consisted of so much detailing and colour! I could live there!

I loved everything about this holiday: the people, the houses, the atmosphere and the scenery.

If you are ever considering going anywhere in the Netherlands, DO NOT hesitate, there's so much more than just sea and sand there and it is so beautiful to explore!

If you want to see more of my holiday then be sure to check out my brand new YouTube channel- Life of a Blonde 

That's all for today and I will be back soon with another post!

Autumn/Winter Beauty Essentials

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As the weather gets colder we need to take extra care of our skin, hair and lips as everything becomes dryer and in need of extra moisture, so i thought i would put together some products that i typically use in the colder months to keep my skin, hair and lips looking healthy!

First on my list is a body lotion/butter, this is used all year round however it is an essential when it comes to winter as we sometimes forget about our skin in the colder months as we tend to be wrapping up more efficiently and our skin becomes duller and dryer. 

I have been using a loving a Baylis and Harding body butter enriched with vitamins b and c ensuring that my skin stays bright, firm and healthy. I love the overall feel and result of his product as well as the smell,mandarin and grapefruit. 

also highly recommend the soap and glory body butter as it has such a nice consistency and is absorbed quickly!

My next essential is a lip balm, having dry, chapped lips is almost unavoidable in the colder months however using a lip balm regularly really can give your lips thr boost of moisture that they need.

Burts Bees lip balm is my holy grail when it comes to winter! It really is a good product as it is made of bees wax, moisture rich vitamins and other natural ingredients such as Acaf berry. Bees wax helps seal moisture into your lips and keeps your skin conditioned. I really recommend Burts Bees products as they stand out from all the other products! 

Before applying lip balm a lip scrub really helps to soften and plump your lips, I use this sugar based scrub from lush, it works a treat and the best part is you can just lick your lips afterwards!

 

 

Another of my winter must haves is a refreshing/setting mist from the body shop, this is a very versitile product as it can be used to initially set your makeup or just for a refresher, I love this throughout all the months however it's great to give our skin a moisture boost in the colder seasons as our skin can become dry and no longer has the glowy sun kissed look! Vitamin E is very important for tissue repair and moisturising our skin.

In winter our hands are prone to becoming dry and in need of some tlc so a hand cream is a must have, I can recommend several hand creams, firstly the almond hand and nail cream from the body shop, this is amazing for softening your hands and cuticles it is a really nice consistency and also a very distinctive but nice scent. 

If you are looking more of a high end hand cream then I recommend the lemon and coconut hand cream made by the jojoba company, enhanced with jojoba oils this hand cream really does make a noticeable difference to your hands and nails however is a little bit more pricey at £15!

The hand cream I am using at the moment is one that I picked up in tescos, it's the vanilla swirl cupcake hand cream by the brand happiness, firstly I love the cupcake scent of this, although this isn't quite as good as others I have tried I do like this product and will proceed to use it .

To finish I couldn't resist to mention this product again, it's the Aveda damage remedy leave in conditioner, I find that when the harsher weather comes along my hair can become a bit more brittle and dry and therefore this product is a perfect autumn/winter essential, I use a tiny bit through the lengths of my hair every other day, usually in between washes. At £7 for a 25ml bottle there are much cheaper leave in products however if you want the amazing results of this product I would say go for it! 

Also I would highly recommend that you give the R&B hair mask a go (from lush) as it made such a difference to my hair condition and also helped promote my hair growth! 

That's all for today- Lauryn x

Some of my autumn/winter favourites this week

Tonight i decided to pick out a few of my autumn/winter fashion favourites to share with you, The colder months have to be my favourite for fashion as the shops consist of beautiful Aztec patterns, the warm orange/red tones and not forgetting the comfy winter boots, i have not hesitated to update and add to my wardrobe over the last few weeks however i will shortly do a try on favourites with more of my winter wardrobe additions!


Firstly a couple of weeks ago i purchased these lovely wool lined ankle boots, they instantly caught my eye as they are so wintery and i love the unique shade of brown that they are. They were £42 which i thought was fairly reasonable considering they are from Topshop and an amazing quality. They are so comfortable and i would definitely recommend them! I pair them with anything from high wasted jeans to skater skirts, they complete every winter outfit.

My next favourite has to be this turtle neck top in my favourite seasonal colour-Rust, this orange toned top goes perfectly with my cord A-line skirt and also compliments my favourite ripped jeans. This colour has dominated all the high street shops and really is hard to avoid. It brightens up any plain outfit and really does make a statement whilst being minimalistic. I got this from boohoo.com at a bargain price of £10!

This next favourite is significantly different as I didn't purchase it from a shop and it is unique, when my grandma passed away I had a look through her wardrobe and I was delighted when I found this beautiful, intricately detailed Aztec cardigan, it is perfect for making an outfit more prominent and also for layering! It is made out of wool so I have to wear it over other layers as it can be slightly irritable but I really love this original item. You can find cardigans like this in high street stores!

The clasps on this really are beautiful.

And finally, although this isn't a new addition to my wardrobe I have been loving this brown, faux leather satchel bag this season, I have found that it accessories plenty of my autumnal looks and it is a perfect everyday size as well.

Despite the fact that I have loads of other favorites to share with you I have decided to put that into an additional blog, so that's all for today.

Lauryn x