What I Got For Christmas 2016 (Better Late Than Never)

First of all happy new year everyone, I hope you had an amazing time over the Christmas holidays. Christmas went by so quickly and I was meaning to get my present post up between Christmas and new year, but I was so busy and enjoying myself that I decided to take some time off from blogging. I've been working in retail for around eight years, if you work in retail too you will know that theres no time off at Christmas which is just the most depressing thing ever, but as I'm still on maternity leave I was able to enjoy every minute of it. It feels a bit weird getting a 'What I got for Christmas' post up now that its January, but really Christmas wasn't that long ago and I love reading these kinds of posts, it gives me some good inspiration on what I can spend my Christmas money on.

When I was asked what I wanted for Christmas this year, makeup was on the very top of my list. Since having Archie I've not had the spare cash to treat myself to anything a little more high end and theres been so many amazing makeup releases during the year, so as you can imagine I've had my eye on quite a few items. As a beauty blogger, theres a lot on my list of makeup items that I want in my makeup stash, so every year without fail this list comes out and gets handed around to family members, does anyone else do this or is it just me? lol. I feel pretty lucky as the three makeup items that I really wanted to try where gifted to me by James, he probably knows because I've been dropping hints over the last couple of months.

Starting off with foundation, I've been eyeing up the new Urban Decay All Nighter foundation for ages, this foundation is meant to be amazing at making your skin look flawless which is just what I need. I've heard so many great things about this foundation and I'm so happy that I've now gotten the chance to finally try it out. It's meant to be full coverage, with a matte finish and oil free which is just the kinds of foundation that my oily skin needs. I've used this a couple of times since Christmas and I'm seriously blown away, one words comes to mind which is WOW. I'll have a full review coming up of this very soon, so keep a look out for that.

Sticking with Urban Decay, their eyeshadows have to be some of my favourites, the original naked palette will always be a holy grail item of mine. I was so happy when I unwrapped one of my presents to find the new Urban Decay Ultimate Basics All Matte All Naked palette. I've seen so many pictures of this palette floating around on Instagram and it looks so stunning. When it comes to eyeshadow, I always prefer mattes over shimmers, so this palette is me down to a T. I've not tried this yet as I've only just gotten around to taking pictures of it (blogger problems right here). Honestly I just cant bare to dirty it up yet, I'm more than happy with just looking at it. When I do get round to actually using it, I'll be sure to let you know how well I get on with it and how it compares to some of the other Naked Palettes.

The last makeup item that I got is pretty special and something that I've been wanting to try out for so long, its the Becca by Jaclyn Hill Champagne Pop highlighter. Again this is another one of those makeup items that right now is way to pretty to use. I've not tried this yet, but already I think this could be the prettiest shimmer that I've ever seen. I feel like I'm carrying a little bit of sunshine in my makeup bag and at the moment I'm quite happy just keeping it there, looking at it and keeping it all pristine. Please tell me I'm not the only person to get makeup just so I can look at it lol.

Moving on to beauty, Christmas time is the time of year where I seem to stock up on a lot of Elizabeth Arden. The Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour skin care range is my favourite and I'm so obsessed with it. When it comes to moisturiser it's the only one I use, whenever I don't use it my skin always looks so dull, dry and I break out, so I always have to use Elizabeth Arden. Theres always loads of Christmas gift sets around with sample sized Elizabeth Arden products and this year my mum and James got me two, so I've got some more to keep me going for a few more months. One set is the Eight Hour Beauty Must Haves which comes with a miniature sized All Over Miracle Oil, the Eight Hour Hand Cream, Eight Hour Lip Protectant and the original Eight Hour Cream which is my favourite. I was so excited to get this set as I've actually never tried the oil or lip balm before and so far they've become great additions to my skincare routine. I also received a box of two miniature versions of the original Eight Hour cream which are perfect for my handbag and for travelling. I feel very lucky indeed.

My mum knows that I need to get my life a little more organised and I'm forever making lists. Most of the time my lists are written down on scrap pieces of paper and usually end up in the bin before I can even check everything off. This present was actually chosen by my mums boyfriend as he surprisingly knows who Zoella is when my mum doesn't! I had completely forgotten that Zoe had brought out lifestyle products and honestly I hadn't really looked too much into them. But I was more than excited to see the Zoella lifestyle planner and pencils when I unwrapped them. The planner is so beautiful and will work perfectly with my list style of organising my life. I love the design with the marble, pink, grey and copper colours used, I've already started filling this in and I'm hoping that it will encourage me to blog a lot more this year.

Its standard every year that I get a new pair of pj's, my mum treated me to some gorgeous yellow and grey ones from Next that have cute little bunny rabbits on them. I have lived in these since Chrsitmas. Don't worry they have been washed lol. I don't know about anyone else, but whenever I'm at home whether thats in the daytime or evening you can guarantee that 99% of the time I will be wearing pj's so these are perfect. I was also really lucky as I recieved my first set of Calvin Klein underwear. I have been wanting these forever. When everybody was snapping themselves in their Calvin's last year I was heavily pregnant and I made a promise to myself that as soon as I felt comfortable in my body again I would get some. James knows how hard I've been working to get my pre pregnancy body back, so this was such a thoughtful gift. They are so comfortable and I can see what all the fuss is about. If you've got some Christmas money thats burning a hole in your pocket, I would definitely treat yourself to some of these.

Last but not least, James mum bought us one the large candles that you can pick up from Next. I have been obsessed with burning candles recently, I just love the way they make me feel instantly cosy and the lovely smells they fill my home with. The one we got is scented Magnolia and Honeysuckle, it's so lovely and calming. I've been burning it every evening and it just makes my room smell gorgeous.

So that's everything, I feel really lucky with everything that I've been gifted this year, especially as my family and I decided that we weren't going to go crazy this Christmas. In no way am I trying to brag about what I got in this post, I just love reading these posts and having a nose at what everyone else got, so I thought you all might like to read mine too.

If you have a post up thats similar to this, then leave me your link below. What did you get for Christmas?