Life Update | Megan

Hello everyone! So these last few months have been kind of crazy for me and I thought it was about time that I sat down to share with you all what's been happening and let you know about the exciting new chapter that I am about to begin. Here in New Zealand it is the beginning of another school year and as most of my friends are starting their last year of school, I am lucky enough to say I am not one of them. The last few years of school for me haven't been the best. When I was younger I absolutely loved going to school, I loved learning new things and being with all my friends. But as the years went on I found myself becoming extremely bored and unhappy with school and I realized that the school environment just wasn't for me. As much as I disliked school, I wasn't prepared to ruin my future by dropping out of school so instead I started looking at other options. University for me has always been something I knew I was going to do. When I started looking at other options I found out that it was possible for me to go to Uni a year early and begin my degree instead of doing my last year of school (if I got the right grades). Naturally I did everything I could to make sure I had the best chance of getting in, I worked hard and figured out my goals for my future. I applied knowing that my chances were slim and there was a very high chance I was going back to school. About a month ago I got an e-mail from the university congratulating me on my acceptance. I couldn't have been happier! Going to Uni is a a huge thing but I know it's what I want to do! This also means that I will be moving out of home (what???). Moving into the university halls will be a huge challenge for me that I am super excited and nervous about! I've never really been away from home for that long and moving out at such a young age absolutely terrifies me! But in a weird way, I can't wait. I think the craziness of it all makes me even more excited. A few years ago I would never have even thought I would be able to do this, but luckily I've grown up a lot in the past few years and this is definitely a challenge that will be good for me. Although, I am not near enough ready to be a grown up and having to do everything independently and acting like an adult has already been a major struggle for me. These next few weeks are going to be super busy with the move in day fast approaching (Sunday!) and getting everything organised for my first week at Uni, but I honestly couldn't be happier. I finally feel like I can start living my own life and figure out who I want to be. I can't wait to start living the Uni life and figuring out who I really am. I really feel like this is my year!

The University campus is right in the heart of the city. I've always wanted to experience the city life and so it couldn't be a better location. However I recently discovered a Starbucks cafe right across the road from where my apartment is which means I'm going to be losing a lot of money and Starbucks is going to be making a lot of money. It also means I will need to join a gym. It's also about a two minute walk from the main street of the city where all the main shops are which again means my bank account is going to suffer a lot. With all the excitement of moving out and beginning a new chapter also means a lot of stress and a lot of things to do! I now have to 'act like an adult' and do 'adult things' which is highly unlikely as my maturity level is probably about the same as a two year-old. It also means I won't be seeing Gabby everyday at school anymore which is terrifying considering we spend literally everyday together and have been together for the majority of the last few months. Luckily the city is only a short bus ride from the shore and she'll definitely be visiting me pretty much every weekend! And my phone bill is going to be ridiculous with the amount of times I will be calling her. But besides that everything is going great in my life and I've never been more excited about the future! I'll be keeping you updated with future posts to let you know how I'm doing and if I'm surviving being independent! Oh, and I'll still be uploading posts all the time! Focusing on our blog is still very important to me and writing is one of my favourite things to do. Sorry for all the rambling but when I get excited I can't stop talking and then this happens! I hope your're all having a lovely day and have many exciting things planned for they year ahead as well!

Love,

Megan xx

January Favourites

How crazy is it to think that we've already finished the first month of 2014! We can't believe how fast it went, it feels like yesterday that we were standing on the beach watching the fireworks for the new year! But despite the fact it went so fast, with the end of the month comes our list of things that we just couldn't get enough of this month.

In terms of beauty products, this month hasn't been too big, we haven't really got around to trying a lot of new products but of course we do have a few. With it being summer we try to keep what we are putting on our skin as light as possible and we really try to keep it healthy so we have been loving using BB creams instead of foundations, we've been using the maybeline BB cream for oily skin as we both have slightly oilier skin and it has been great for us, it doesn't give a lot of coverage but it does what we need it too! Keeping with skincare two things we relied on heavily this month was our cetaphil daily moisturizer and natio mud mask, these really helped to keep our skin feel healthy after being out in the sun all day. Another thing that could be classed as skincare (we think!) is the cocoa butter hand sanitizer that we picked up from a local drugstore and it is amazing, when you are out on the beach all day or around town you're going to want a snack and we don't know about you but we hate the thought of all the things we might have touched throughout the day, so a handbag sized sanitizer is perfect and the cocoa butter scent is definitely a bonus! In our summer essentials post we mentioned our love for pastel nail polishes and one in particular has been a must have for us this month, that is a Revlon nail polish in the colour 85 Minted, it is a beautiful mint green that is everything we want in a summer polish. We like to keep things bright when it comes to lips in summer and this month we have found our favourite shade yet, the Topshop lipstick in Ohh La La is the perfect mix of amazing colour and creamy texture that is all we could ask for in a lipstick! Our last beauty favourite of this month is our perfumes that we were both extremely lucky to get for Christmas and they are Dot and Daisy by Marc Jacobs, after wanting them for so long we cannot stop using them although we are trying to because we want to make them last!

Now onto our non-beauty favourites and we'll start with our favourite movie of this month which is Frozen! We're sure most of you will have heard about this movie, it has been talked about a lot since it came out and quite rightly, we absolutely loved it! It is a classic Disney movie with characters you fall in love with, the cheesy happily ever-after story and the songs that get stuck in your head for days, it's everything you could want from Disney and it really is good! But moving on to something slightly more grown up we have been really loving taking photos of anything and everything we see and after Megan bought a Samsung front facing smart camera in the boxing day sales this love has grown so much and we now have way too many photos clogging up our hard drives but oh well, we'll look back on them all one day and be glad we took them! It's not every month that there will be a handbag in our favourites because sadly our collection isn't quite big enough for that yet but this month we do have one, Gabby recently got a Kardashian Kollection bag in a bright blue that we both are loving and can't get enough of, it's big enough to fit everything she needs and adds a perfect pop of colour to her usually monochromatic outfits! Finally we have to mention our favourite foods of this month and a big one recently has been watermelon, after being out in the sun watermelon is the best way to get refreshed as well as being super healthy so that's a bonus! But our second food (well actually drink) favourite is definitely on the more unhealthy side but it's too good to turn down, the Starbucks coffee frappacino with a pump of hazelnut is our go too summer drink whenever there's a Starbucks near by, which unfortunately for our bank accounts, is way too often! We seriously recommend this drink to any of you coffee lovers especially if, like us, you love everything hazelnut!

That's it for this month! We hope you enjoyed reading this post and hopefully got some ideas of things to try out, talk soon lovelies!

xox

Valentines Day

We don't know about you but to us the thought of valentines day makes us want to stay in our rooms and watch cheesy romance movies that make you cry every time (titanic anyone?) but even though we're single we want to make it as good a holiday as any. Ideally we would gather up all our girlfriends and have a girls night in or go out and party but if, like us, your friends all have boyfriends and plans for the night you're going to need an alternative, preferably one that doesn't involve tears! When we sat down to think of tips and tricks to survive valentines day we started thinking about what valentines day actually is, and really all it is is a chance to show someone that you love them but it doesn't have to be your partner, we should use it as an excuse to tell our family and friends how much we love them too because the truth is none of us do it enough. So, that's our tip for this valentines day, take the chance to tell the people you love that you love them! Bake them cupcakes, make them a card, cook them dinner, buy them a present, it can be anything, even the simplest things can make their day so much better, just let them know that you really appreciate them and everything they do for you. It's such an easy thing to do and you'll find that it will make your day better too (and distract you from feeling sad about all the happy couples around you.) So instead of spending valentines crying alone in your room eating that second tub of ice-cream (because we all know one isn't enough when it comes to the valentine day feels), spread the love and be around the people you care about and you'll have a much better day. Don't get us wrong, we love the traditional valentines day dinners and having pink and red hearts around the city so if you can have that for valentines go for it! Have that special day with your partner and enjoy every second of it but remember to show love to the people close to you too. <3

Happy Valentines,

Megan and Gabby

xox

<3

A place to get away

Sometimes when life gets super busy and your stress levels soar through the roof it's good to take some time away and relax for a little while. A few months ago (before we had finished school) we were both extremely stressed prepping for exams and feeling overwhelmed with our work-loads that we had no time to sit and relax to think about things and let ourselves breathe. We felt like things were moving at a million miles per hour and we decided that enough was enough. Unfortunately we couldn't just stop and quit school (much to our disapproval) but we did decide that we needed a holiday and something to look forward to so we could stay focused and motivated for our exams. We decided what better time than to go away for new years and make the start of 2014 as best as it could be! So with that in mind, we decided we'd go camping! Now we know that camping is a very different kind of holiday and not many people would enjoy it, but as students living with not much money this was the most affordable and logical way of saving our money whilst still being able to get away for a while. Personally I love camping, it reminds me of my childhood as my mum was a very spontaneous mother growing up and liked to travel a lot so we found ourselves camping quite a bit. Gabby however, had never been camping before but was just as excited (and a little nervous) to go! The place we stayed in was right on the beachfront in a small holiday town that was filled with tourists and lovely people. It was a beautiful town on the Coromandel and was buzzing with an exciting holiday atmosphere! We knew as soon as we drove over the bridge that we were going to have an amazing week.

The views never failed to be beautiful no matter where we went!

The campsite itself was quite small, but the people around us were lovely and the town was just around the corner and the beach right across the road which was perfect! A few of our friends were also staying in the same town for New Years which is why we chose that particular campsite. We spent most of our time soaking up the sun and enjoying the freedom of being away. The first few days were spent exploring and enjoying the beautiful views. On New Years eve we went to the beach to join the celebrations and to watch the fireworks, the beach was absolutely packed with people! The fireworks were amazing. The company was great. It was a perfect way to start the New Year and we couldn't have been happier. 

Soaking up the sun outside the tent.

You have to have treats whilst camping, it doesn't get better than smores and ice-cream!

The shops were exactly what you'd expect from a small seaside town, cute and colourful.

Being at the seaside, with no parents and no responsibilities, was absolutely perfect. It was just so nice to be away from reality for a bit and not have to worry about the real world, we were truly able to just relax and enjoy some time off and clear our minds. We spent a lot of time reflecting and discussing our futures, talking about where we want to be this time next year and what we want to achieve. It's amazing how a bit of fresh air, relaxation and sun can make you feel so good! 

Cooking on a little portable stove outside on the grass for dinner!

We made a friend! This little cat named Tomtom wondered into our tent one afternoon and we of course had to have few cuddles! (Don't worry, he was returned to his owner!)

There's nothing better than late evening strolls especially when you have view like this!

On New Years day we decided to start it off well by climbing Mount Paku, of course a soon as we started our hike it started to pour down with rain which left us soaked through walking up muddy paths but it was well worth it, we had a great time and we can now say we had our heads in the clouds!

Whilst at the top of the Mount we thought it would be cute to set off our New Years resolutions in balloons, we guess it was our way of leaving all the stuff from last year behind us and looking ahead to the year coming and we're so glad we did it, it was a great way to start the year.

On our last night in Tairua we went to watch the sunset, cheesy we know, but it was so beautiful and the perfect way to end a brilliant holiday.

This holiday was amazing, filled with hours of laughter, smiles, amazing people and amazing memories which we will never forget. We met some great people and learned a lot too (and I don't think we stopped laughing the whole time we were there.) 

If we could have stayed longer we definitely would have. We can't wait to plan our next holiday and maybe this time we'll splash our for a hotel (who knows!) 

Love always,
xox

Get to know me | Gabby

Hey everyone! It's Gabby now and I thought it was about time you got to know me better too so that's what this is but with a slight difference, after reading Megan's post I sat down to write my 25 facts about me I got about 7 and couldn't think of anymore, when it comes to writing about myself I find it a whole lot easier to just write like i'm talking to you because, well, I like to talk (there's a fact!) so that's what i'm going to do, just talk and hope you don't get bored! 

Okay so where to start? I was born in England and lived there for 13 years before moving over to New Zealand with my family in 2010, I have 2 younger sisters who I generally get along with but not without our fair share of arguments! My mum is French so I grew up speaking both English and French although after not speaking it properly for a long time it's safe to say i'm no where near being fluent in it. I have an unhealthy addiction to the internet, i'm on it constantly! Whether it's checking Instagram and Twitter or sitting down to watch YouTube videos or TV shows for hours at a time (don't judge me!). I LOVE everything beauty related, I could go on for hours talking about all things beauty and can easily get sucked into standing at a make up counter looking at every product on the stand and saying how much I want it! Although it does fall under my love of beauty, one thing in particular I just can't get enough of is nail polish, it's very rare that you'll ever catch me with nothing on my nails! I'm really into art and drawing although I cannot paint at all (seriously, I suck!) I tend to stick to sketches and water colour although I still have a lot of practicing to do before they are any good! I am hoping to study Architecture at University next year but who knows if that will happen, I hope it does! I can be extremely stubborn sometimes but don't worry, i'm working on it, I absolutely hate running (I don't know how Megan does it) but put me in a pool and i'll swim for hours! I'm one of those people who loves getting lost in a good book but I am also one of those people who can go months without picking one up! I have a slight (okay quite big) obsession with purses and handbags, it is a very bad idea to take me anywhere near them! I love photography and the idea of going out for hours to take photos makes me very happy, i'm still learning but it's something I already love doing! I have absolutely no idea what my style is and i'm guilty of spending an hour in front of the mirror swapping outfits trying to decide what to wear (and that's not an exaggeration!) Oh and I am completely useless at saving money which is not good as one of biggest dreams is to go travelling. 

Anyway I have rambled on for way too long, if you've managed to get to the end of this post thanks for listening to me get lost in my own head! I hope you did enjoy reading all bout me and maybe you feel like you know me a bit better, after all of that I think I know myself better! Like Megan said, thank you for all the support on our blog, it really does mean a lot, we love you! 

Talk soon guys!

Gabby

xo

Review | Urban Decay Naked2 Palette

Hello Beauties! This post won't come as a surprise to any of you as this product is known, talked and raved about all the time in the beauty world and this is no exception. It has become our go-to palette for an everyday eye and we reach for it above any other eyeshadows. Urban Decay is a well known brand when it comes to eyeshadows and it definitely lives up to it's reputation. The consistency of these eyeshadows is amazing and the pigmentation is beyond perfect. Despite the packaging being quite large and not exactly handbag friendly, it's brilliant for those days where you're unsure what look you want to go for as everything you need is in one place. The mirror inside is perfect if you don't have another mirror around you, it's bigger than a pocket mirror which is always handy as sometimes pocket mirrors can be just that little bit too small and you can't see the whole effect of the look you are creating. The palette also comes with a double ended brush which is brilliant if you are just starting your brush collection, who doesn't love a two in one?

The palette has 12 neutral colours, mainly gold and brown based shades that are shimmery with 3 matte colours included. The neutral range of shades makes it perfect for all eye colours and it allows you to create many different looks for both day and night with just this one palette. The pigmentation of these eyeshadows is amazing and they last all day which is great as no one has time to redo eyeshadow throughout the day. The amazing quality of these shadows makes it easy to blend shades together and achieve a flawless makeup artist quality look even if you are just starting out with make-up. Whether you are going for an everyday casual look or a more intense night-out look, this palette is perfect for all occasions! Although it is on the more pricier side, we can definitely say it is worth every cent! You can buy it for around NZ$70.00 (about $55 US dollars) which makes it a high end product, but like we said, it is totally worth it if you are willing to spend a few extra dollars and we highly recommend the Naked 2 Palette. We absolutely love it!

*

We hope you like this review and found it helpful in some way.

Love,
Megan and Gabby

xoxo

Summer Essentials

Summer's finally here in New Zealand and that means we're going to be in the sun, on the beach and relaxing by the pool, it's perfection. When it comes to summer there are a few things we just cannot live without so here are our summer must have's!

1. Sandals

Obviously summer has hotter weather so you want to keep it simple when it comes to shoes and we think a good classic sandal can compliment any outfit perfectly, whether they're healed or flat they can add either a touch of glam or make an outfit beach appropriate and casual, a definite must-have for the summer months.

2. Sunscreen

Yes, this is pretty standard and you should have it anyway but over here in New Zealand you can burn very quickly even when it's overcast so this is a step we are careful not to forget. Personally we hate having to rub in sunscreen (so lazy we know!) and having greasy skin and hands for hours so this year we went out to find one that is less annoying to use and we found it! This SPF 50 sunscreen is a clear spray (leaves no white marks!) and is water resistant so is perfect if you're like us and burn easily! We love it, you just spray all over and that's it, easy and perfect!

3. Loose tops

We hate that feeling in summer when you get a bit hot and sweaty and your clothes start to stick to you, not pleasant at all. We've found a whole range of loose fitting tops that are perfect for both our styles, things like slightly over sized printed tee's, simple chiffon cami's and baggy crop tops. There really is something for everyone and trust us when we say they're worth it!

4. Sunglasses

We're sure that sunglasses are on everyone's summer essentials list but if they're not they should be! Obviously sunglasses are great for protecting your eyes but we found it impossible to leave the house without them this summer, on those days where it's just to hot to do your make-up nicely sunglasses will be your best friend, throw on some tinted lip balm and concealer if you need it and no one will notice any difference!

5. Pastel Nail Polish

When it comes to summer style we think think light and bright and while neons aren't really our thing we hopped on the pastel train straight away, we love all of them! You can never go wrong with a pale pink, mint green or a classic white in the summer, they go with everything and are a simple touch to brighten up any outfit!

6. Denim Shorts

Summer isn't summer without your favourite pair of denim shorts, no matter how many years go by and how many trends come and go the denim shorts will always be there to fall back on and we love them! There's nothing better than having your summer tan, throwing on your shorts and showing of your legs, and denims are the perfect way to do just that! 

7. Rompers

Rompers are perfect for any summers day! They are so nice and can be thrown over a bikini after a day at the beach. They are the perfect fashion item for summer and can be worn with a few bracelets and some casual sandals or can be dressed up with a necklace and wedges. 

8. Shift Dresses

Now when it comes to fashion essentials for the summer, everybody has different ideas of what they think is essential for summer and as the trends are always changing it is often a difficult task trying to find must have fashion items but we think shift dresses are probably the dresses of the season. Although sift dresses don't suit everybody and can often be unflattering, when you find the perfect shift dress you'll have trouble taking it off! We personally love floral ones, but we also adore the simple ones too.

9. Festival Shorts

These have definitely become a major trend this season, we love the simplicity and chic style of these shorts and they are perfect for a day at the beach or if you're going to a music event or festival.

10. Floppy Hats

We are so guilty of falling in love with every floppy hat we see at the shops. We just simply can't walk past one without stopping to admire them. Although they are very subjective and you either love them or hate them, we happen to absolutely love them! They are perfect for pretty much any outfit and keep the sun out of you're eyes (what else do you need!)

We hope you liked this post and found it helpful, let us know if you have any requests on what posts you would like us to do. Enjoy your summer guys!

Love,

Megan and Gabby 

xox

25 Facts About Me || Megan

Hello Lovelies!

It's Megan here! I hope you all had a wonderful new years and are having a fabulous start to 2014! Today I'm getting a little personal and thought I'd share some interesting facts about myself. In our last post we mentioned that one of our new years resolutions was to blog more in the new year and to really focus on writing and updating our blog, lately we have been so busy and although we have been spending a lot of time together we've found it hard to find time to focus on writing a blog post together with all the chaos and busyness that's been going on. In order to keep our blog updated as frequently as possible we think it would be best to post personal (individual) posts as well as our usual beauty posts that we do together. So from now on you may notice a few posts written by only one of us. We feel this way we can write even more and make sure our blog is the best it can be! I thought I'd start my first post by letting you get to know me a bit better by sharing 25 facts about me. Hope you enjoy! 

1. I definitely drink too much coffee

2. I have an absolute obsession with makeup

3. I love hot summer days

4. I also love cosy winter days

5. I am a really slow eater

6. I always love a good book

7. I am obsessed with feeling happy and healthy

8. I take a lot of photographs

9. I'm kind of obsessed with fashion and nothing makes me happier then a wearing a nice outfit and feeling good in it

10. I used to live in Brisbane

11. I'm always singing (in the shower, the car, in my room, with my friends, if you ever see me I'm probably singing)

12. I love listening to the rain and being snuggled between loads of cosy blankets

13. I love going on road trips

14. I'm a huge adrenaline junkie, I'm always looking for new adventures to get my heart racing. I love the feeling of adrenaline and excitement

15. I spend too much time on the internet (who doesn't)

16. I love the beach

17. I am completely useless at texting people back (oops!)

18. I love running

19. I hate milk (unless it's soy)

20. My dream job would be in the fashion industry 

21. I've never had a job

22. I own way too many candles

23. I want to move to London for a few years and then move to miami (or cali)

24. I love lazy days but I way prefer being busy and always active. I can't sit still for too long or I go crazy 

25. One of my biggest goals this year is to get into writing and fashion 

I hope you liked this slightly more personal post! We'll be posting more posts like this in the future, hopefully you enjoy them! Also want to say a quick thank you for all the support you've given us! It means a lot to see that a lot of you are reading and enjoying our blog! Thank you. :)

Love, Megan. x

Welcome 2014

New year. Fresh start. Bring on 2014.

So it's another year, another chance for a fresh start and we're excited. We've been spending a lot of time lately thinking about the new year ahead and of all the things that could happen and as 2013 draws to a close we want to make a list of all the things we want to achieve throughout the new year and the changes we want to make. 

2013 was in some ways one of our best and worst years so far. We've had some amazing experiences throughout the year and we've shared some great memories. We've had a lot of laughs and a lot of tears also. There have been some not so good times and we've had our fair share of obstacles this year that have made it a more difficult year but looking back now, I guess we can say that the good times definitely outweigh the bad. So to end the year on a high note we've decided that this next year is going to be great! We're going to make it the best year of our lives and of course we are going to smile the whole time! So here's what we are hoping to accomplish in the new year.

Be more positive

We are both extremely guilty of allowing ourselves to only focus on the negatives, things that we haven't achieved, things that didn't go as we'd planned etc. and we have a horrible habit of complaining about them, a lot. So this year we are going to focus less on the negatives and more on the positives and start seeing the good in the bad instead of finding things wrong with everything. We think a positive outlook on life is the best way to start the year!

Appreciate the small things

We have spent way too many days focusing on the big things this year and trying to be happy that we forgot to take a step back and take in everything around us. We all need to take a break once in a while and notice the beauty all around us and appreciate everything in life because sometimes it's easy to get caught up in all the drama that we forget what's really important. This year we plan to make the most out of every situation and be grateful for all the small things that make life beautiful.

Be more confident

Being confident with who you are isn't easy and we often find ourselves missing out on a lot of opportunities because we feel unhappy with ourselves or let other people make us feel less confident about who we are. This year we have decided to not let that happen. In 2014 we are making a promise to learn to love our flaws and embrace things that make us who we are. Being happy with ourselves and caring less about what people think of us, will definitely make us more confident and will allow us to enjoy everything that life has to offer and not let anything get in the way of our happiness.

Find our style

Feeling confident in your clothes is a big step in learning to love who you are.  Our style trends this year have changed drastically and we feel as though we haven't yet found our own 'style' instead we have been following the latest trends in fashion. We hope to discover our own fashion sense this year and find our style icons and inspiration and maybe even start our own trends!

Be more adventurous

This is one of our main goals for this year. Taking more risks and being adventurous is something we can't wait to start doing. We feel as though so much time is wasted sitting on the sidelines waiting for things to happen or watching others go on adventures so we decided that this has to stop. We're stepping off the sidelines this year and going on our own adventures, being less afraid and living more!

Blog more

As we've only just started this blog and are still new to the blogging world, we want to make it one of our resolutions to continue updating our blog as much as we can and blogging the year away! So far we have loved writing this blog and it's becoming a massive part of our lives. We have thoroughly enjoyed writing posts and can't wait to keep writing in the new year.

Meet new people

Surrounding yourself with people that bring out the best in you is a great way to ensuring happiness. One thing that we have learnt in 2013 is that life is too short to waste chasing after people who don't deserve to be in your life. We're hoping to meet new people this year that bring out the best in us and help us be nothing but ourselves. Meeting new people is always fun and exciting and could lead to a lifetime of friendships.

So that's it! We can't for the new year and we are super excited to see what 2014 brings. We both have a good feeling about this year already! We're planning on making the most of this year and we already feel great! We hope you're all as excited for the new year as us!


Megan and Gabby xox

Holiday diy gift ideas

So it's that time of the year again when we all begin frantically planning presents and gifts for our loved ones and spending hours coming up with that one perfect gift idea for that special someone! This year we have decided that instead of spending loads of money (that we don't have) on gifts for our friends and family and dragging ourselves from one busy shop to the next trying desperately to find the perfect present, we are going to attempt to create our own unique gifts for everyone! We got some inspiration from other bloggers and websites which gave us inspiration and ideas for what types of presents to make and we decided on a beauty hamper gift (obviously) as we think it is so cute and who doesn't like a beauty hamper right? As you probably know by now, we are all about beauty, fashion and trying new things, we love putting lot's of thought into people's presents and making them look cute and unique and with it being our summer holidays we have a lot of free time so why not fill it with DIY projects especially if we are using them as gifts!
Christmas is so exciting for us and we love the idea of making our own presents and feeling the great sense of satisfaction of seeing people smile when they open their gifts (hopefully)! Here are the recipes for the things we have made as well as photos of the finished product!

Vanilla Brown Sugar Body Scrub:
We thought that body scrub would be the perfect thing to add to a hamper or even give as a simple gift by itself and we were right! The scrub was amazing and ridiculously easy to make! It smells like Christmas and looks good enough to eat! We highly recommend making this if you need that extra something to add to a present and don't want to spend a lot of money!

Ingredients (makes 2 medium sized jars)

- 1 cup brown sugar

- 1/2 cup coconut oil

- 1/2 teaspoon vitamin E oil (you can also use bio oil)

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. After all the ingredients are well-mixed, place in the fridge for about half an hour. (this step is optional - we found that this made the mixture a little thicker and easier to apply as a scrub) After removing the mixture from the fridge you may find that it is hard, if you leave it in room temperature for about ten minutes it will start to soften and will need to be mixed together again before becoming the perfect consistency! After you're mixture is the right texture, transfer it into a jar or tub of you're choice with a lid. Now you have a perfect inexpensive simple gift to give to a friend or family member! 

Bath Salts:

Everyone loves a good, relaxing bath especially when it smells amazing and leaves you feeling completely refreshed when you get out. It fits perfectly with the style of this hamper and is so easy to make that we thought we had done something wrong! But whether you use it as a gift on its own or as part of a hamper like us it is a perfect cheap and easy gift to give to your friends and family.

Ingredients (makes 1 medium sized jar) 

- 1 cup sea salt

- 1 cup epsom salt

- Any essential oil 

Mix your two salts together in a bowl and gradually add your essential oil mixing it well to make sure all the salt is covered. You can also add in dried herbs or extra scent if you'd like, just grind them to a powder before you add it to your salts. Put the salt mixture into a jar or tin (we got ours from a local dollar store), screw the lid on and you're finished! That's all it takes, like we said, super easy! We decorated our jars with lace but whether you do this or not is completely up to you and you can always change the decorations depending on what you like or what suits the person you are giving it too. Keep the salts sealed and sprinkle a few spoons into the bath to use it and there you go, a simple and extremely cute gift for anyone who likes a good bath, which really is everyone! Enjoy!

Candles:

In our eyes a hamper isn't complete without candles. Personally we are obsessed, we won't even try to count how many we have, lets just say it's probably too many! Although it is summer here and it isn't a traditional cosy Christmas there is always room for candles in a gift, whether you decide to wait until winter or use them right away everyone loves a candle in their rooms. You'll be surprised at how easy they are to make, we were apprehensive at first, we thought it would be too complicated but it turned out to be as easy as our other diys, and you only need a few things.

Ingredients:

- Tea lights (you can use any colour or scent)

- Candle wicks
- Hot glue gun (optional)

- Jars

- A small pot

- Any essential oils 

Before you start making any candles you will want to prepare you jars, we got ours from the local dollar stores. To prepare the jars you just need to remove any labels stuck to the glass and put the wick inside, we got a length of candle wick from a craft store and cut it to the size we needed. We found the best way to secure the wick to the base of the jar was using a hot glue gun but if you don't have access to one sticky tape will work too. Once the wick is stuck to the base you need a way to hold it up and in place whilst your candle sets, to do this we tied two wooden kebab sticks together with elastic bands and had the wick secured in-between them to hold it up. 

Now that your jar is prepared you can move onto the actual candle. Firstly you need to remove the tin and wick from your tea lights, we got a big bag of unscented, white ones from the craft store (the tin should come off quite easily and you can then take the wick out from the bottom on the candle). Once you have done this you need melt them, to do this you will need to boil some water in a medium sized pot and place a smaller pot on top of the water (preferably an old or cheap pot that you don't need as it will get wax on it) and essentially create a double boiler. Once the water is boiling turn the stove down to a medium heat and add your tea lights to the smaller pot, using an old spoon or like we did, a wooden kebab stick from the pack we bought, stir the candles as they melt into a clear liquid. As the candles melt you can add a few drops of your essential oils to add your scent assuming, like us, you bought standard unscented tea lights, if they are already scented just leave the candles to melt.

Now the exciting part, once your candles have completely melted you can pour the wax into your prepared jars. We advise doing this inside an old container or on an old tray as it's likely that the wax will spill and it can be hard to remove. Being careful not to burn yourself pour the wax into the jar, without moving the wick if possible, until it is as full as you'd like it to be and leave it to set. We found that once the wax had set it had left a hole in the candle so if this happens just melt a few more tea lights, add your scent, and re fill the jar, this should fill the hole and once set you won't even know it was there.

When your candles have completely set you can remove the sticks and cut the wick to the right size and you're done. You can add little decorations to your candles if you'd like, we think they look so cute with little lace bows or labels but even by themselves they are perfect!

And that's it! After writing it all out it looks like a long process but once you get going it goes quite quickly and you can easily end up making a lot of candles for your hampers or even as gifts on there own. 

 

We can't wait to give everyone their diy gifts for christmas! We think our friends and family will appreciate the thought and effort put into making these presents and hopefully we'll see a smile on their faces when they open their hampers and enjoy the wonderful relaxing treats inside.

Merry Christmas

Love,

Megan and Gabby xox