My favourite beauty products in 2014: Bourjois, Paco Rabanne, Estee Lauder

L-R Peach Club, Nude-ist, Happy Nude Year

Hello! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas? I certainly did. I decided to pick out three of my favourite beauty products from this year. In terms of beauty, the past 12 months have been good to me. I've experimented, invested and discovered lots of brands (my favourite being KIKO). The biggest 'thing' for me has to be my skin care routine. I'm comfortable with it and it's doing me a lot of good. I'll be uploading a post on that soon. But for now, enjoy! 

Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Makeup - £29.50

No matter how many foundations I try I always end up going back to this one. It provides buildable medium to full coverage, lasts all day, balances the skin nicely and applies evenly. It's very dreamy and I doubt I'll move on to another foundation any time soon.

Paco Rabanne Lady Million Eau de Parfum 50ml - £49.50

My sister bought me this perfume for my graduation and I'm very thankful. It's without a doubt my favourite scent but because it's pricey it's something I've never purchased myself. Now I don't think I'll be able to be without it. Paco Rabanne knows how to do fragrance - they're all delicious. 

Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet Lipstick - £8.99

These lipsticks have changed the game. I've always found lipsticks tricky because they tend to cling to dry patches and be high maintenance, but these ones are a dream. They're pigmented, long lasting, creamy and the most beautiful finish. I have four in my collection (I didn't photograph the red one, but you can see a swatch here) and I know I'll soon own the entire range.

What products have you loved this year?

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Christmas stocking fillers: Burt's Bees Honey Pot Collection

Hands up, who hasn't finished their Christmas shopping yet? I finished mine on Saturday, which is surprisingly late for me as usually it's complete by November. I haven't done any Christmas gift guides this year purely because I don't want my house to be inundated with PR samples, I don't want to buy things I'm not going to use and I don't want to show things that I've bought for others in case they read it. But for those who are still in search of a gift, this one is absolutely perfect. 

I bought the Burt's Bees Honey Pot Collection last week while having a bit of a splurge in Marks and Spencer's beauty hall. I've had my eye on it for a while because it's been doing the rounds on blogs, and as a lover of honey I knew I had to make it mine. First of all the jar is beautiful. It's a glass honey pot and it's currently housing my most-used make up brushes. It also comes to with brand's beeswax lip balm, honey lip balm and mini hand salve - must-haves for winter.

The idea behind the gift is great, the packaging is beautiful and reusable and it's affordable. It retails for £8 normally, but Marks and Spencer currently have it on offer for £5.60 - not half bad at all.

What's been your favourite stocking filler this year? _________________________________________________________________________________ Twitter|Facebook|BlogLovin|Instagram

Life is a journey, and not a destination

Life is a journey, and not a destination. While I hate cliches, this is one that's really struck a cord with me recently. When I was younger I used to think when I hit certain milestones in my life, I'd have reached a destination and that would be that. But as I've matured, started experiencing more and generally just stopped being so naive I've realised that it couldn't be further from the truth.

Education

I remember when I was applying for university and I thought, 'once I've got my degree then I'll be sorted, know everything and be 100 per cent ready for work', but since I've attained my qualification and started working in the media I've realised that was very naive of me to think. I've learnt a lot in the five months I've been at the Post and I know that I still have an awful long way to go. In fact, I doubt I'll ever know everything there is to know about journalism. The media is changing, and the way the public consume media is changing. As someone who has grown up in the digital era it's fascinating to see.

Happiness

This blog post really just prove how naive I've been - and this one is probably the worst. I touched upon this issue in my 1989 tag where I mentioned that I used to think that once I'd found happiness, it'd remain forever. I've realised that now when you're going through a rough patch, it's a part of life. And that is something I've really come to appreciate. We're lucky to be advanced enough to be able to experience such a variety of emotions and feelings, and although sadness, anger and heartache are awful to deal with, they shouldn't be taken for granted. The hard times have made me stronger and I'm forever thankful for them.

Love
I'm the biggest advocate of love. I think it's such a beautiful thing. And there was a time when I thought I'd met the man of my dreams (looking back now I realise how stupid I was). I've spoken about my experience a lot on my blog because I know it's something many people go through and I think speaking about these things helps. But I don't want to dwell on it too much. The past is the past and although it makes you who you are today, some things should be left there. Five months down the line and I know why certain things have happened, especially when it comes to my love life. And although I'm not thankful for the way he went about it, I'm glad it's now over because I realise I deserve better. I'm sure I'll experience heartache many more times (let's hope not though) but in the end I know it'll be worth it and it'll work out for the best.

Let me know your thoughts on this blog post below. I'd love to hear if we share any of the same opinions.

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What it's like to meet and interview Union J

If you don't follow me on Twitter then you probably won't know that this week I got to interview Union J (twice!) and also meet them. You might be thinking, 'great, who cares', but seeing as they're my favourite boy band I thought it'd be nice to write an account from a fan's perspective. You see, I wrote an article for the newspaper as a reporter, and I've written a follow up interview too. But they're just facts, so I've decided to write more of an opinion piece on my blog.

The moment I found out the boys were visiting Nottingham on their single signing tour, I knew I had to be the person who covered it. I've loved them since X Factor - not just because of their dashing good looks - but also because of their music, believe it or not. When I got the go ahead, I was unbelievably excited and even now, I can't believe it's happened (FYI - their tour manager's mobile number lives in my phone, bezzies).

So after a shift at work in the office, I headed over to Morrisons, in Gamston, to speak to a few fans (who had been queuing for hours and were freezing) and meet the boys. I wanted to come off as professional but I knew I needed to get a photograph with them, and possibly a signed CD myself. After speaking to some adorable fans, and chatting about who is our favourite (JJ for me, mainly George for them) I was met by the band's tour manager.

We took a long journey upstairs where I could hear Josh singing. It was beautiful. I got to interview both JJ and Josh - and Jaymi yesterday on the phone - and they were both adorable. Firstly giving me hugs (I died) and an absolute pleasure to interview. They then signed my CD, and I got to record a video of them saying how much they all loved their Nottingham fans, which now happily lives on my iPad. The photographer did his thing and then it was my time for a photo with the quartet.

Heading down to the crowds, the boys were signing Let It Go and Thinking Out Loud. George then met his family downstairs (some live in West Bridgford) and Jaymi tried to sell the crowd a Morrisons reef for £7 - bargain. You wouldn't think they were superstars. They weren't divaish at all. Just normal 20-something lads who were more than happy to be interviewed by someone who had a professional exterior but who was actually fan girling inside. Let's say I have the best job in the world.

 Have you ever met one of your favourite artists? _________________________________________________________________________________ Twitter|Facebook|BlogLovin|Instagram