Favourites of 2011

Well another years has whizzed by and here we are nearing the start of 2012!

I have been blogging on and off for the whole of 2011 (in fact 01/01/12 marks the first anniversary of my blog) and I wanted to do a favourites post detailing my top 10 favourite products of 2011.

1) Urban Decay Naked Palette

Urban Decay Naked Palette £35.00

I have never written a post on the Naked palette - mainly because there's already a million floating around out there in the blogosphere and mine is so well loved it looks pretty disgusting (can we all be in agreement that velvet is a horrendous choice of casing for a make up palette?!) - but as far as I'm concerned this is ultimate make up palette, I love the selection of eyeshadows and use it near enough everyday. The Naked Palette 2 looks gorgeous although given that I already own the original I'm not totally sure whether I will purchase it, in a way I wish I could pick and choose colours from the two and combine them to make my own ultimate Naked palette! 

2) Bourjois Delice de Poudre Bronzing Powder

Bourjois Delice de Poudre Bronzing Powder, £6.99

I'm a huge fan of this bronzer which I blogged about here. I am not blessed with beautiful olive skin so any help with bronzing is much appreciated, Bourjois have come up with an inexpensive matte bronzer that is well loved by beauty bloggers far and wide and has become my go to bronzer.

3) Viktor&Rolf Flowerbomb

Viktor&Rolf Flowerbomb Eau de Parfum, £46.50

A gorgeous sweet smelling perfume packaged as a pink grenade, see my review here. This lovely, if not slightly expensive perfume can be worn day or night and leaves you smelling sugary sweet.

4) Naked Bare Faced Cheek Softening Face Wash with Rose Oil

Naked Softening Face Wash with Rose Oil, £4.49

After years of using heavy creams and cleansers to remove my make up this face wash by Naked has become my staple make up remover. I use Bare Faced Cheek every night to cleanse my face and I still can't get over how super soft it leaves my skin feeling, I love the rose scent of this product and am now on my third bottle. This face wash is great at removing all traces of make up including eye make up and given that it is 97% natural is also very gentle on skin.

5) Batiste Dry Shampoo in Brit

Batiste Brit, £2.99

Batiste was always going to feature on this list as I rely on it so heavily in between washes. Brit is my favourite Batiste scent and is exclusive to Superdrug. As with all Batiste products Brit is great at mopping up excess grease and freshening up hair, the scent is gorgeous and I find it smells similar to a Chloe perfume. 

6) Clean & Clear Morning Energy Moisturiser

Clean and Clear Morning Energy Skin Brightening
Moisturiser, £3.99

I'm really surprised this product made it onto the list as I'm really not a fan of Clean and Clear products. This moisturiser surprised me as not only does it smell lovely and fresh but also leaves my skin feeling moisturised and hydrated and makes a perfect base for make up application. I must really like this product as I've repurchased it a couple of times.

7) Deborah Lippmann Nail Polish in Happy Birthday

Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday, £16.00

The first of two nail polishes that feature on this list. This is probably my favourite nail polish ever, it's so colourful and sparkly, I absolutely love it even if it is a complete nightmare to remove! Stay tuned for a Happy Birthday nail look coming up.

8) Chanel Nail Colour in Black Pearl

Chanel Black Pearl, £17.50

I lusted after this polish for a long time before I finally took the plunge and bought it. This polish is beautiful, the milky, grey colour with a petrol shimmer looks gorgeous on the nails and feels classic and sophisticated.

9) Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer, £4.19

Well done Collection 2000 for bringing out such an amazing quality concealer at a very low price, a definite contender for product of the year. This concealer is fab and gives excellent coverage, I've heard many people compare it to Estee Lauders Double Wear Concealer and for such a low price it really is fantastic, I'm already on my second tube!

10) Tangle Teezer

Tangle Teezer, £10.20

Finally, whilst not particularly exciting I had to include a Tangle Teezer into this list. I use mine everyday without fail as it's the only thing that can un-knot my long hair without pulling half of it out. 

Royal Wedding

I told myself I only wanted to watch for the dress but I ended up being completely glued to the royal wedding coverage. Everyone was dying to see the dress and Kate's Alexander McQueen choice did not disappoint, she looked radiant and beautiful. The Grace Kelly-esque dress was a perfect choice for her, I loved her lace sleeves and simple veil, combined with the Cartier tiara she really did look like a Princess!

No 7 Summer Collection 2011

No 7 Summer Collection 2011 via Lisa Eldridge's Twitter

Today Lisa Eldridge posted a sneak peak of the No 7 Summer Collection onto her Twitter page, follow her here.

She says: Presenting my 'Jerry Hall holidaying in Mustique circa 75' summer no7 collection to the press today.it's V glam.

I have to say, she's not wrong... it looks gorgeous, I love the palm tree design! I have definitely got my eye on that beautiful eyeshadow quad and the red lipsticks look very interesting. No 7 is a great brand and I can't wait to have a proper look at this collection. It launches in stores on May 18th.

Stuff

I took advantage of the last few days of my Christmas break to have a nosy round my local shopping centre.

The shops are a bit of a mess at the moment...sale items everywhere, including the floor, and a weird mix of winter and summer clothing.....bikini in January anyone?

I picked up a few items....nothing of much interest, but I thought i'd share them here.

2011 Diary - WHSmith

The all important 2011 diary, this is actually really teeny....even smaller than A5. I buy a diary every year, whether I get round to using it is a different story. I chose this one because its handy size makes it perfect for shoving in my handbag, and I'm feeling pretty committed to being organised this year!

Clutch bag -  Zara

There was absolutely no need for me to purchase another clutch bag - particularly one made out of a material that will inevitably find itself covered in my grubby fingerprints. I had previously lusted over this bag on the Zara website, so when I saw it on sale for a mere £9.99 I grabbed it. I love the vibrant hot pink colour, and it comes with a detachable chain....yes I am a pro at justifying my purchases.

Cream blush in Neon Rose - Topshop

I've read good reviews on this and thought i'd branch out from my usual nude colour blusher/highlighter. I love the packaging of these products, so simple and cute.

Purse - Topshop

I have been on the hunt for a new purse for months. I hadn't come across one I liked, but with my current purse practically falling apart it was time to bit the bullet and pick one. I chose this leopard print number from Topshop. I don't think I'm completely sold on it but it has all the required compartments.

Et Voila!

New Year's Resolutions!

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My goals for 2011:

♡ Read and learn as much as possible.

♡ Laugh more.

♡ Worry less.

♡ Enjoy, appreciate and spend more time with my family.

♡ Make new friends and build stronger friendships.

♡ Actually start to buy some of the items I have saved on my Amazon wishlist...I put those items in my basket for a reason!

♡ Invest in more expensive clothing choices, rather than spending money on cheaper, disposable garments which always leave me wondering why I bought them a couple of months later, or worse...stay hanging in my wardrobe with the tags still on.

This year I feel it would be a good idea to set myself goals or tasks at the start of each month. That way I can hopefully achieve more rather than ambling along aimlessly through the year. My aims for January are:

♡ Perfect the art of natural makeup. I would like to take a more natural approach to my makeup this month rather than always reaching for the black eyeliner.

♡ Look into the possibility of running my town’s half marathon....something I’ve always wanted to do but never got round to doing.

♡ Finish reading Eat, Pray, Love. I am really enjoying the book, but the latest issue of Marie Claire/Grazia keeps enticing me away.

♡ Try not to spend so much time on the computer (perhaps a little crazy given that I have just started a blog). The internet sucks away such large sections of my time without me even realising, my aim for January is to use the internet constructively rather than spending hours faffing around.

When you think about it isn’t it crazy that we spend most of our day hooked up to a computer whether it’s at work, school, college, home or from a mobile phone?!

Happy New Year!

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Hi I'm Aimee, welcome to my new blog :o)

I can't predict exactly how this is going to turn out but expect rambles, reviews and pretty pictures.

Here's to a fabulous 2011....Happy New Year!!