*Halloween Party Ideas

Images from Pinterest

Halloween is almost here! I used to go to so many Halloween parties as a child *and Halloween discos were a thing for me as I grew up in the 90's*. I was always a cat for some reason even though I don't really like cats but I did love Halloween discos and dressing up. In England, trick or treating isn't really a thing so watching Halloween films, going to friends Halloween parties and my school Halloween disco were our Halloween activities but as an adult I don't really do anything for Halloween. However, I want to throw a Halloween party this year, even though it's on a Monday, and Festive Lights have a great post full of ideas for an adult Halloween party! This is a collaborative post.

Costumes & Makeup

For the past couple of years I have been creating Halloween makeup looks for my blog which is one of my main Halloween activities around this time of the year and it's SO fun! You can't have a Halloween party without costumes and halloween makeup. I have quite a few ideas on my blog for makeup looks including the Cheshire Cat,  a mermaid, a sugar skull and much more - my most recent Halloween look was a vampire witch look! You could create a costume or makeup competition and whoever has the best or the creepiest makeup or costume would win a prize.

Snacks & Drinks 

Festive Lights and also Pinterest have amazing Halloween food, drink and snack ideas! Festive Lights have some fantastic cocktail ideas such as 'freak show lemonade', 'Witches Coven' and more all of which are inspired by the TV show American Horror Story (I really need to start watching it). I have one Halloween recipe on my food blog for Vegan Coconut and Chocolate Muffins with Vegan Jelly and I also have some more healthy Halloween food ideas on my blog too.

Decor 

Halloween decorations have to be some of the best homeware decorations ever, can you tell that I love Halloween? Wilkinsons and Amazon have some fantastic Halloween decorations at great prices. Also you could go down the DIY route and use the templates on the Festive Lights Halloween party PDF to create a creepy bat silhouette on a lamp shade which would be so easy to do but so effective.

Games & Music

We never did apple bobbing as children at school but you could make a more adult version using punch or cider instead of water. Pumpkin carving competitions, telling scary stories and drinking games would be perfect for a adult Halloween party. Halloween music is an essential; here are some of my Halloween music picks: Monster Mash by Bobby Pickett, Thriller by Michael Jackson, Time Warp from the Rocky Horror Picture Show film and Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Jr.

Films + TV Shows

Now for more of a hygge inspired Halloween party were it's more intimate with close friends and family. A Halloween TV/film night with candles and spooky snacks would be perfect for me, here are some of my recommendations: Beetlejuice (it's one of my favourite films!), Hocus Pocus, Sleepy Hollow (the Johnny Depp film version) and Pan's Labyrinth. My TV recommendations: The Strain, The Frankenstein Chronicles, The Living and the Dead, Sleepy Hollow and my favourite Halloweenesque TV show which is Penny Dreadful - it's quite distributing at times!

Definitely check out the Festive Lights Halloween Party PDF! 

What do you think of these ideas? What are you doing for Halloween this year? Any Halloween TV show recommendations?

Read More

Book Review: Heap House

The colder autumnal and winter months are perfect for spooky, dark and quirky reads; I've already read quite a few creepy books so far this month and this is one of them although even though it does have creepy elements, it's definitely more quirky, atmospheric and unusual - think Tim Burton.

I was very kindly sent *Heap House by Edward Carey (£7.99) by Hot Key Books which is the first book in the Iremonger trilogy. I adore the cover, it's so unusual and unique - it also looks quite gothic. The Hoy Key Books I have all have a pie chart style symbol on the back depicting the main themes and topics within the book which I think is a fantastic idea! For this book the themes are stated as friendship, gothic, revenge and escape.

The book follows the massive Iremonger family including Clod Iremonger who are all very eccentric. They've created a frankstein's monster of a house all full of the family and distant relatives, the house is pretty much a character of it's own...The majority of the family and plethora of distant relatives who act as servants, never leave the house as it's surrounded by the heaps which are gigantic, mountain like structures of rubbish. New servants are brought in every so often, including a curious girl called Lucy Pennant and she makes an unlikely and adorably cute friendship with Clod.

The Iremonger family are more than a little unusual and one of their main eccentricities are their birth objects; when an Iremonger is born, a member of the family gives them a 'birth object' which can be anything from a bath plug to a fireplace. Poor, sickly (but cute and delightful) Clod can hear birth objects and he knows that something is wrong, not just with the birth objects but the house in general and he endeavours to find out what has caused the disturbance and the odd peace the family have found for themselves in their own unique, topsy turvy world.

I love the writing style, it's incredibly easy and quick to read and I also love the illustrations throughout the book even though some are a little creepy to say the least. You get so many points of view from the family members and servants, each one with an illustration, so it can be a little confusing just because there are SO many characters but it is an unusual, essenctric and easy read that has such a fantastic quirky and victorian atmosphere. There are a few twists and turns all of which are a little predictable and I wasn't massively happy with the ending but I would definitely recommend it - I think it would be an incredible film, if done correctly and if Tim Burton directed it as this is definitely Tim Burtonesque already! I definitely want to carry on with the trilogy! Overall rating: ★★★★☆, 4/5.

Have you read anything from Edward Carey? What are you currently reading? 

Read More

Unwash Conditioner + Hair Mask

When it comes to haircare, 99% of the time, I usually just go for the cheapest or the nicest smelling products I can find but as I do have dry, thick and colourtreated hair, I do need to look after it more than I am currently. So when these gorgeously packaged products arrived, I was interested to give them a go and see if they can improve my sometimes unmanageable hair!

*Unwash Bio-Cleansing Conditioner (£20, 400ml)

Firstly, I have to say that I adore the packaging! I love the design, the shape, illustrations and the squeezy rubberised bottle. I also love the ingredients list as these products don't contain any harsh chemicals; there are gorgeous ingredients included such as organic evening primrose oil, keratin and hemp seed oil. The scent is lovely, it has a light and fresh *almost salon like* scent to it. I've been using it constantly since I received it and it is fantastic; it leaves my hair smooth, soft, moisturised and detangled but it doesn't irritate or weight my hair down! Overall rating: ★★★★★, 5/5.

*Unwash Hydrating Masque (£16, 190ml)

Again, I love the packaging and the ingredients; the masque contains organic argan oil, quinoa (yes, quinoa) and restorative oils. I have dry hair most of the time but especially during the autumn and winter months when the weather and having drying central heating on all of the time can cause havoc with my skin and hair so a hydrating hair mask is an essential. I haven't been as diligent as I used to be with hair and face masks but I'm making the effort to use them more regularly again. The masque smells light, fresh and almost fruity to me and it leaves my hair smooth, moisturised and soft but as with the conditioner it doesn't seem to weight my hair down, irritate or leave my hair feeling greasy. I use hair masks on dry hair as I find they work better that way! The only negatives I have about these products is the slightly high price point and they don't seem to be widely available in the UK just yet. Overall rating: ★★★★★, 5/5.

Have you tried anything from this brand? What haircare products are you loving recently? 

Read More

Jacamo Mens Gift Guide

Yes, it hasn't been Halloween just yet and I'm already talking about the C word...Christmas! I do love Christmas but I think the build up to Christmas is actually more magical and exciting than Christmas Day itself, is it just me who thinks like this? Anyway, I like to build up to Christmas early, particularly on my blog because for those like me who buy gifts and wrap presents REALLY early, it's good to have gift ideas a couple of months before the Christmas shopping rush!

Out of all of the family and friends I buy presents for, my dad is the worst! He doesn't like chocolate, football or sport in general, he doesn't read that much and he is frustratingly picky when it comes to clothing but I bought him a couple of formal work shirts and more casual shirts from Jacamo last year and he loved them!

Jacamo Stripe Polo  -  Burberry Aftershave Offer/Set  -  Bewley & Ritch Lambert Shirt  -  Black Label Shirt  -  Original Penguin Socks  -  Williams & Brown Tie  -  Jacamo Cargo Pants

This is a sponsored post but as I've already given my dad some items from here and he loves them, I would be already recommend them to you anyway. Jacamo has such a wide range of clothing, accessories and sportswear for such a wide age range, size range and styles; additionally they have a small range of aftershaves and gift sets too. I actually bought my dad the two blue shirts above, or two very similar ones, last year and he wears them so much for work so I'm definitely getting more this year. Also the aftershaves in this post are on offer - if you buy the Burberry Weekend aftershave, you will get the Burberry London aftershave for free! Also it's coming up to Black Friday so stay tuned!

Have you bought anything from Jacamo? What will you be buying your male friends and family this Christmas? 

Read More

Neal's Yard + Deliciously Ella Skincare

Neal's Yard is a brand that I have wanted to try for so long so when a beautiful package arrived with two new products from their collaboration with Deliciously Ella, I was incredibly excited and I couldn't wait to try the products! Ella wanted to create a beautiful blend packed with some of her favourite ingredients including lime, rose and cucumber; both products are so beautifully packaged and they smell incredible! After trying these products and loving them, I hope they bring out more products with this scent, a candle and bodycare range would be amazing!

*Neal's Yard & Deliciously Ella Rose, Lime & Cucumber Facial Wash (£16, 100ml)

The facial wash contains so many amazing ingredients such as avocado oil, lime oil, cucumber fruit water, coconut oil, blueberry seed oil and more, some of which are organic and naturally derived. The box packaging is so beautiful but also classic and simple. The bottle is gorgeous and made of unique blue glass so aesthetically it would make a lovely christmas gift - I know my aunties and my mum would adore these products.

I have sensitive and dry skin and when I just started using these products I still had a couple of small areas of eczema but neither of these products irritated my skin at all (my skin loves products with natural ingredients). The facial wash is creamy, rich and when using it with my Foreo Luna Go, it gives my skin a deep cleanse without stripping my skin. The cleanser leaves my skin clean, smooth and soft. Also the scent makes it such a lovely experience to use, it's almost an aromatherapy and relaxing experience!

*Neal's Yard & Deliciously Ella Rose, Lime & Cucumber Moisturiser (£25, 100ml)

Again, the packaging is just gorgeous and so luxurious, as all Neal's Yard products seem to be! The moisturiser is my favourite product of the two, although they're both wonderful, as it is so rich, comforting and sumptuous to use. I have dry skin all year round but especially when the colder months come around so this moisturiser will be an essential for me. The moisturiser leaves my dry, sensitive and somewhat annoying skin comfortable, smooth, moisturised and incredibly velvety soft - it's basically the moisturiser version of a cozy blanket! I adore this moisturiser and the floral, light and uplifting scent just makes it nicer to use. Overall rating: ★★★★★, 5/5!

Overall, for my first experience of Neal's Yard skincare, I am very impressed with not just the quality and packaging but the ethics too as Neal's Yard is a cruelty free brand and both of these products are suitable for vegans. Both of the Deliciously Ella products are wonderful and perfect for my dry, sensitive skin, particularly around the autumn/winter months. They are very luxurious, sumptuous and opulent to use and have on my vanity. I cannot recommend these two product enough, you can buy them individually or as a duo as I have for £49.

Have you tried any products from Neal's Yard? What do you think of the Neal's Yard and Deliciously Ella collaboration? 

Read More

Landon Tyler Candle + Diffuser

Candles are such an essential for me, especially during the colder months as they not only provide a gorgeous scent but they make any room look incredibly cozy and homely; also candles and warm cozy lighting is essential for the feeling of hygge. I was very kindly sent a couple of products from the lovely people at Landon Tyler to try out.

*Landon Tyler Chesil Beach Candle (£8)

Landon Tyler has a range of scents but the one I chose was Chesil Beach which contains woody notes as well as lavender, bergamot and spice. I mainly chose this range because of the lavender, I'm obsessed with lavender as to me it is such an incredibly relaxing and calming scent. The candle looks much more expensive than it actually is and it smells amazing! To me the scent is musky, floral and rich - it would be perfect for the spring and autumn months. I adore the scent but I think to some it could be a little powdery/old fashioned. I always have candles burning in the office at home but as they are on a windowsill they never tend to burn 100% evenly but that is easy to counteract by turning the candle every so often. The scent is stronger than I though it would be as cheaper candles tend to be very subtle but this one isn't. I'd definitely recommend this candle, it's inexpensive, it smells lovely and it burns well. The only negative is that I seem to be burning through it very quickly! Overall rating: ★★★★★, 5/5.

*Landon Tyler Chesil Beach Diffuser (£10) 

I am definitely more of a candle person but as my mum is a bit...paranoid about candles, I am always looking for diffusers that don't look really cheap and that actually give off a scent. I have tried quite a few and most are very subtle, they don't last long and they look really cheap but this one is fantastic. As with the candle, it looks a bit more expensive than it actually is and the scent is the same as the candle - musky, floral and gorgeous. I have the diffuser at the front door and I can smell it half way up the stairs which is impressive (even my mum is impressed!).  Overall rating: ★★★★★, 5/5.

Have you tried anything from this brand? What is your favourite candle brand/scent? 

Read More