round up of 2013

As something different for New Year's Eve, I thought I'd look back on this year by looking at a few of my most popular posts. I've written a lot of posts in 2013 (the majority written in my pjs and a candle lit - preferably Yankee Candle's Baby Powder) and all were thoroughly enjoyed. Not-so surprisingly, all of the most read posts are beauty related so have a look, a cup of tea and enjoy!

MAYBELLINE BROWDRAMA

MAYBELLINE COLOUR TATTOOS

KATE MOSS 107

MAC REBEL

NAILS INC BIG APPLE RED

MAC MSF SOFT AND GENTLE

RIMMEL COCKTAIL COLOUR HAWIIAN PUNCH

So, there we have it! The seven most viewed posts on this blog. What was your favourite to read? What is your most-viewed post?

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sharing the love

I'm a self-confessed blog lover. I could easily spend hours upon hours with a cup of hot tea and a blanket reading anything from the latest must-have beauty product to the newest addition to someone's camera collection. It's strange, though, because I can't stand reading books. Blogs, on the other hand are my obsession. Here's a selection of the ones I check daily and love to read.

VINTAGE TEAPOT

The lovely Celine who writes Vintage Teapot has been writing one of my favourite blogs of all time. She posts everything from fashion ideas, beauty must-haves and makeup tutorials and is one of the loveliest people I think I've ever spoken to! Her photography is lovely and she's always on Twitter if you're looking for a question to be answered.

THE LONDONER

The Londoner is also a blog that I check up on daily. I remember discovering it sometime last year and becoming completely obsessed, spending about 3 hours reading it from start to finish. She blogs about her travels all over the world - my favourite was her trip to Fiji. Her photography is dreamy and I also love the way she writes. She also owns Louboutins... Another reason to be jealous of her!

VINTAGE VANITY

The lovely Eleanor at Vintage Vanity writes one of my favourite blogs of all time. I love her blog design, and the way she writes, too. I've spoken to Eleanor on Twitter quite a few times and again, is one of the nicest girls that I've spoken to through blogging. Definitely worth a read!

PARIS IN FOUR MONTHS

Talking of dreamy photography, Carin from Paris in Four Months is an amazing photographer and blogs about her time in Paris and Stockholm. I only discovered her blog about 4 months ago (no pun intended!) and she also does some of the photography behind Nicole's blog. Definitely one of my favourite reads of this year!

ELLALOGY

Ellie writes Ellalogy - one of the very first blogs I really got into. She posts about beauty and fashion with the occasional travel and food post which are all amazing. As with all of these blogs, Ellie's photography is absolutely incredible. Eva the Cavachon is also another reason to head over to Ellalogy. She's honestly adorable.

What are your favourite blogs of this year? Link me to yours, too! 

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best of 2013: skincare

Yesterday I published my favourite makeup products of 2013 and promised that I'd show you my favourite skincare products of this year but I've also popped in a cheeky hair product because it was too good to leave out. I've really gotten into skincare and put myself in a strict routine, especially over the past few months and I can safely say my skin has gotten so much better and healthier. For reference, I have combination skin!

As you can see, there are a lot of products so I'll first start with face-related skincare. I've been loving the Bioderma Sensibo H2O solution this year and it's definitely my favourite makeup remover that I've ever tried. It's for the face and eyes and doesn't burn like crazy when you accidentally get it in your eyes! It's only £11.60 for a huge 500ml bottle which I think is amazing value for money. My favourite spot cream/anti-perfection corrector is the La Roche Posay Effeclar Duo. Yet again, everyone loves it but rightly so. It reduces redness and the appearance of blemishes, as well as making pores minimized.

Soap and Glory's Scrub of Your Life has been my favourite facial scrub for a nice, deep cleanse. It removes dead skin easily without feeling like you're rubbing a full bag sugar on your face and smells lovely too. Yummy. Their Sugar Crush scent is one of my all-time favourite scents - I could literally use this as a perfume and be perfectly happy. Their Sugar Crush Body Wash is really hydrating and moisturizing and it's one of my favourite finds of the year.

Burt's Bees is a brand I'd never been interested in until I got their Essential Kit. The Beeswax Lip Balm has been in my bag constantly as it's so rich, moisturizing and smells good too. Can you see a theme occurring here? I also love their Almond and Milk Hand Cream. Yet again, rich, moisturizing and smells good. My L'Occitane Shea Butter has been a life savior for my cuticles this year as they get so dry and dehydrated.

Finally I've added a cheeky hair product that was too good not to show you. John Masters Organics Sea Salt Spray has been my go-to hair product if I want loose, wavy and beachy hair that's easy to do. Simply get out of the bath, spray this in your head and style however you want for volume and texture. It smells of lavender too... Why can't I resist good smelling products?

What's your favourite skin/hair care product of 2013?

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best of 2013: makeup

 With it being one of the last few days of 2013, I thought I'd do a little mini-series on the best products I've found this year. Today's is makeup and tomorrows is skin/hair care - all of which will include products from both the drugstore and the high street. You'll have probably already guessed my top makeup picks for this year if your read my blog - I seem to rave about them constantly!

First of all is my MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NW10. I love this foundation and it's fastly become my all-time favourite - partly because it's one of the only ones I've found to match my pale skin tone almost perfectly! It's a medium to full coverage foundation and covers my awful freckles and blemishes. It also has an SPF of 15 which is great for the Summer months also.

Collection's Lasting Perfection Concealer is one that I've replaced many a times before and has been my favourite concealer for a few years now. It's one of them where you have about 4 dotted around everywhere because they are so cheap and do the job so good. The only thing I hate, though, is the bottle - the packaging rubs off so easily and they roll everywhere... Down the side of cabinets, behind radiators, everywhere! Another reason why I have so many!

Two of my favourite lipsticks of this year are very very similar. Rebel by MAC was one of the very first bold lipsticks I'd ever tried and I love wearing it all throughout the year. My mum actually got sick of the sight of this because I got so obsessed that I wore it for about 6 days in a row, haha! I also recently got Kate Moss' lipstick in 107, one that's been raved about in the blogosphere for a long time now. This is slightly redder than Rebel and matte but I also love to wear this one too!

I really couldn't resist adding the Naked palette to the top products of this year. Even though it didn't come out this year, I still love it. My favourite combinations are Virgin and Hustle in the outer V. I've also been loving the Collection Eyeshadow Pencils for an easy everyday all over colour. They're very blendable and great also for a base colour.

What's your favourite makeup item of 2013?

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beauty bargains

Post-Christmas tradition is always to have a nosy around various beauty websites keeping your eyes peeled for a bargain, with a hot chocolate and Terry's Chocolate Orange in hand. This year on Boxing Day I made one of the silliest decisions of my life - to go to one of the biggest shopping centers with around 10,000 people cramming in to hunt down the best of the bargains. I think I lasted 30 minutes and had to get out... I can't handle that many people in a small space!

Okay, so I may have splurged a little but it was well justified... Emma Hardie's Cleansing Balm has been on my lust-list for so long and I couldn't resist FeelUnique's discount and free shipping. I've been really getting into my skincare and I also love the look of this Bath and Body Duet in Creme Brulee by Laura Mercier. This is half price at the minute at just £15... How amazing is that?!

Every year I look for a new perfume to buy - there's no point asking for perfume for Christmas because it's up to half price the next day! I love the Philosykos perfume by Diptyque and it's also half price at just £34! I can't handle all of these bargains - my bank account is seriously in need of some TLC. One of my all-time favourite perfumes is Daisy by Marc Jacobs and there's a tenner off this too!

Now for nails because no one can resist a good old nail bargain. Ciate have their Neon Mani Kit in Foam Party at a discount price in Selfridges - one of the best beauty bargain websites I've come across this year. They also have the Illamasqua Blizzard nail polish on sale, too; one I've been eyeing up for a long time now! OPI's Christmas nail polishes are also at a huge discount - I think there's going to have to be another order placed there. Woops.

Some bonuses that I've spotted are the Clinique Black Honey beauty set and the Philosophy Raspberry Glazed lip shine. With amazing discounts on both I think I'll buy them. By the time they've been delivered, I'd have thought of an excuse... 

What are your beauty bargains of this year?

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luxury lush pud

My obsession with Lush bath bombs is fastly spiraling out of control. There's a bag in my bedroom with about 10 of them in and every time I go to Lush, I buy about 5 more. Their stores at Christmas are some of my favourite stores in the whole entire world - especially the ones where you can smell the shop from 8 shops down! As always, I couldn't resist going in and trying one of their Christmas bath bombs.

This is one of the largest bath bombs I've tried from Lush and smells gorgeous. The colour it makes is stunning - there are small solid bits of different colours that make the yellow, green and blue colourings but the overall colour is a gorgeous deep purple. The bath bomb does not create the bubbles - I added that to make it a little nicer! By the time I'd finished my bath, the bubbles popped and it felt like I was bathing in Ribena.

It's also very cheap - at £3.40 you're not breaking the bank and it is worth the small amount for a gorgeous-ly coloured bath! It's not the most hydrating of bath bombs and you do need to moisturise after so it's one to be wary of if you suffer from eczema or dry skin. Surprisingly, it doesn't stain your skin or the bath which is great for if your mum yells at you for staining the tub pink! I'll most definitely be picking another one of these up before it's gone until next Christmas!

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the christmas tag

With Christmas being my favourite time of the year, I couldn't resist doing the Christmas tag sometime near Christmas Eve. Today I'm spending all day having a lazy day - hot chocolates, Christmas films and pyjamas it is! Inside I'm desperately hoping for a white Christmas but that looks highly unlikely where I live :( I got this idea from the lovely Stacey at Beautiful Solutions so here we go..

Image source here. Edited by me

Do you prefer a real or synthetic tree?
Considering I've never had a real tree (because my mum doesn't trust my younger brother with it) I'll have to go with synthetic, although I would love a real tree one day. They smell delicious.

You're in a coffee shop, it's December, what do you pick?
I've really been loving Costa's Black Forest Hot Chocolate and also their Chocolate and Orange Mocha Latte. Yum.

Giving or recieving?
Both! I'd be lying if I said I don't love opening presents but I also love seeing the looks on people's faces when they see what I bought for them. I'm so excited to give my mum her present this year - I think she'll love it :)

What's your traditional Christmas lunch?
The usual - turkey, stuffing, roast potatoes, gravy and gorgeous sausages with bacon. I hate Christmas/Sunday dinners but the sausages and bacon make it a lot nicer!

Christmas day fashion
Pyjamas, no makeup and cosy slippers.

Favourite Christmas films?
It has to be Elf! Every year I watch it and also get forced to watch The Polar Express - my mum and brother are obsessed with that film.

Open presents before or after lunch?
Before, definitely! My mum gets so excited in the morning and wakes us all up at 6am because she can't wait to see us open our presents, haha!

Well that got me in the Christmas spirit! I've not been feeling very Christmassy lately but this has made me so excited for tomorrow! I hope you all have a lovely Christmas :)

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christmas nail art

Every year I promise myself that at Christmas, I'd try out some new festive nail art and every year I fail miserably. This year I invested in some nail art dotting tools and below is what I managed to create with them. I'm well aware that they are no where near the best - you can put that down to my awfully shaky hands! I got inspiration for these from all sorts of various nail art blogs and think they turned out well for me!

I got these handy (no pun intended) little nail art wheel from eBay for 99p and they're honestly lifesavers. At the minute my nails are really dehydrated due to this awful weather and they're amazing to practice on! My favourite has to be the cute little reindeer. I love reindeers - they're so cute. The middle was supposed to be a Christmas pudding and the last was a Santa. Can you believe it's almost Christmas? It doesn't even feel like it - I've had so much going on but I'm just looking forward to relaxing and eating lots and lots of chocolates :)

What are your plans for this Christmas?

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meet meenie!

 Introducing, the newest addition to the Dopson family - the new little kitten! I mentioned that I had her in my last post here but have been waiting for her to settle in until I blog about her. Her name is Rosimena, (pronounced rose-ee-mee-nah) or Meenie for short and is the most beautiful kitty I've ever seen. She's 8 weeks old and I even think my mum spends more money on her than herself...

If you have a kitten yourself, you'll probably know how difficult it is to get a good photo of them. She's either sleeping and dreaming away or pouncing around the house. Her fur is the most gorgeous brown with ginger parts and loves getting stroked! My mum got her for me to cheer me up and I literally love her so much. I first saw a little white kitty that I wanted but then saw her and couldn't leave her in the petshop. I mean come on, how can you resist that little face?

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rimmel black cherries

There's nothing I love more than a gorgeous deep nail polish to stick on my nails all through the Winter months. If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you'll know how much I love this one in particular. 'Black Cherries' has been my go-to nail polish for a good few months now (and looks amazing paired with MAC's Rebel lipstick!).

The shade itself is a really beautiful burgandy/blackcurrant with the tiniest hint of shimmer. It looks black under certain lights but looks gorgeous with a vampy attire. The formula is one of the best I've tried - second to none other than the Bourjois 1 Second polishes. It's not too gloopy and although it doesn't give full coverage with one coat, another will definitely make it opaque. It also doesn't chip that much on me and there are no streaks - two of the things I look for in a good nail polish.

I've found that the wider the brush, the better it is to apply the polish. Rimmel's Lasting Finish range has one of the widest brushes I've seen in any drugstore which adds to the reason why I love it so much. It is also so so cheap - only £3 from Superdrug which is incredible. I'd happily pay more for it as I have nothing to fault!

What's your favourite Winter nail polish?

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this week #3

It's not really until you do weekly roundups that you realize how fast the weeks are going. This time next week we'll be only a few days away from Christmas... How crazy is that? I still need to buy more presents! As always, leave me your Instagram name in the comments and for the third time, here is my week in photos.

@elise_dopson

Meenie is so small she can fit in my hand // I love The Trafford Centre at Christmas! // She sleeps in the most uncomfortable places

Nails Inc - Big Red Apple // Yet again, she sleeps in an awkward places! // Winter style inspiration

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nails inc big red apple

Nails Inc has to be one of my all-time favourite nail polish brands but I can't collect them as often as I'd like. £11 is quite ridiculous for a small pot of coloured gloop (but gorgeous ones at that). Glamour magazine had 4 new Nails Inc shades in their December issue and I couldn't resist buying this gorgeous shade. £11 down to £2 meant I couldn't really say no.

There were four shades to chose from; a glossy black (which I was considering to go back and buy the magazine again for), a glittery silver and a glittery gold but I opted for Big Red Apple. You'll know by now that my obsession with glossy, red nail polish is not a secret. There's just something about a classic true-red nail that really appeals to me and the gloss which finishes this just tops it all off. Above shows the nail polish with two coats (above) and one coat (below). I can even wear this for days with just one coat and it has no signs of chipping.

The colour is the perfect 'postbox red' and is perfect for the festive season - another reason why I picked it up. One of the most amazing things about getting this in a magazine is that it's full size. It's not one of those lah-de-dah two nails and it's run-out kinda things and you can really get a lot of use out of it. I can safely say I have nothing but love for this nail polish and it seems to be replacing my beloved Rimmel Black Cherries for the Christmas period.

What's your favourite classic red nail polish?

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winter style inspiration

Winter is always my favourite season for fashion. The cosy knits and the extra thick tights are somewhat appealing to the freezing weather. I'm much more of a winter snood kinda girl than shorts and t-shirts. I look forward to wearing cosy and wooly clothes, and of course, the bold makeup to go alongside. 

All images found on Pinterest

The deep colours and knitted clothes that accompany the cold weather are one of the best things about the coldest season. Although I'm not too keen on the snow, I don't mind going shopping for a whole new Winter wardrobe. I especially love the last burgandy boots - the colour would look gorgeous against the snow we're anticipating! Ok, that's enough talking from me. The kitten's asleep on my arm meaning I'm left with a dead arm. Great.

If you're a Pinterest lover like me, click here!

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