It's that time of year again! I absolutely love Christmas, but thank god it only comes once a year - otherwise we'd all be bled dry by spoiling our loved ones!
Talking of spoiling, this gift guide is your answer this Christmas to what I believe are the perfect gifts for all of the women in your life, be it you're a boyfriend looking to spoil his girlfriend, or a mother buying for your daughter - I've got it covered. ;)

To make it a little easier for you, I've broken up this gift guide in to different categories; Beauty, Clothing & Accessories, Jewellery, Watches and Home. All of the links on this page are shoppable links that will take you straight to the product itself - all you have to do is click on whichever item you like.

​I'll keep this post short and sweet this time - I know you've got a mission to complete!

Beauty products for Christmas are an essential for every woman, but also an easy pleaser too. There's not one woman that doesn't LOVE to receive a makeup gift set at Christmas (and this is also the time to shop THE best gift sets too - you get so much more for your money!)

Who doesn't like getting a nice dressing gown and some cosy slippers? Or maybe a nice new bag and keyring? Below are my favourite clothing items and fashion accessories that every lady will love.

Jewellery is also an amazing gift to give this Christmas - it's thoughtful and sentimental. Below is a selection of items from the most popular jewellery brands this Christmas; Pandora, Tiffany & Swarovski.

Looking for the perfect watch but don't have a clue where to start? I've included a wide selection of different watches below, ranging all different colours and styles.

Last but not least, homewear. Candles are a classic Christmas gift, but no-one wants a candle that loses its scent - so below I've included a range of candles that I've tried and tested, and are AMAZING. There's also some gorgeous towels and bed sets for you to browse too.

​IT'S CHRISTMAS!!!!! 
The most wonderful time of the year... and also the most stressful for some! But have no fear, I'm here to help you with all your gifting needs (except gift wrapping, label writing, none of the manual labour). I know that sometimes stocking fillers can actually be the hardest, as they're those 'inbetween' Christmas prezzies that aren't big enough in size to be put under the tree without being lost, but they're also still tiny, amazing gifts that have a lot of thought and meaning behind them. 

Below are my recommendations for amazing and essential stocking fillers for her for this year!
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Elizabeth Arden Plush Up Lip Gelato - £22

Lipstick is a stocking filler classic and Elizabeth Arden have released some amazing new lipsticks this year. With 20 different sheer shades to choose from, you really can't go wrong - but if in doubt, go for "Plum Perfect". An amazing sheer nude/plum colour that looks amazing on all skin tones.
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EOS Lip Balms - £6.50 each

No woman can live without lip balm, and what's better than getting her the prettiest lip balm on the planet? In convenient egg shaped packaging, this will NEVER get lost in the depths of her handbag.
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Tangle Teezer Classic Hairbrush - £10.50

This hairbrush changed my life - and now you can change hers too. It's the only hairbrush to detangle hair pain-free without pulling out hair from the root. Life = saved.
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Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Nail Varnish - £14.99 Duo Pack

I was introduced to this line of nail varnishes two months ago, and I haven't used another brand since. The nail varnishes are incredibly easy to apply and dry before I've even finished the other hand. The lasting power is also incredible and doesn't chip for at least three weeks.
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Bronnley Zealous Flower Rollerball Perfume - £10
​Pack of 6 for £25 here

Another thing that will please every woman is perfume. But we can't always carry around a full sized bottle in our bags - and these Bronnley roller ball versions are the perfect handbag size. "Zealous Flower" is a personal favourite, a beautiful floral scent.
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CoLab Dry Shampoo - £3.50

Every woman uses dry shampoo at least once a week - so give her a top up!
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Bourjois Healthy Mix Anti Fatigue Concealer - £8.50

This is an incredible concealer that really awakens you when you apply it. Goodbye bags and tired eyes!
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Chanel Les Beiges Bronzer - £42

One of my favourite ever bronzers. Each shade is incredibly natural and the round compact brush it comes with makes it easy and accurate to apply.
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Hotel Chocolat Milk Chocolate Mini Santas 3 pack - £2.50

Who doesn't give a stocking with chocolate in it?! There's no better way to get festive than with mini santas!
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Bobbi Brown Glow Stick Highlighter - £26

Every woman uses highlighter and this shade gives a gorgeous, natural and healthy glow to the cheekbones.
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Victorias Secret Passport Holder - Available in airport shops only

Simple Cleansing Makeup Wipes - £2

THESE. ARE. ESSENTIAL! The best makeup wipes EVER invented - they never dry out (no matter how long you have the packet for), and they're able to remove even waterproof mascara.

Elizabeth Arden's Eight Hour Cream.
If you haven't heard of this cream, then I really don't know where you've been since 1930 (yeah, I know the majority of us reading this weren't even born in 1930 - figure of speech and all that). This is THE original moisturiser that will go down in history as a beauty classic (if it hasn't already), and was created by Elizabeth Arden HERSELF. Yep, that's right, THE Elizabeth Arden - and it's been awarded over 115 beauty awards worldwide.

So, what is it? Eight Hour Cream is a petroleum based formula used to protect, soothe and moisturise the skin. But this is something I believe every woman should own - and why? BECAUSE IT DOES EVERYTHING.
It is SO much more than just a moisturiser, it's a balm, a healing agent, a skin saver... be amazed below by 8 different ways you can use this product!

Okay, so for me, I think this is one of the holy grails of this product. I have never really suffered from bad skin or a lot of spots, but if I did get a spot, boy would it be big and angry. However now I'm an adult, I find that when I go through times of stress, I tend to break out on my chin, with really stubborn, under the skin blemishes. The first time I tried this product I applied it all over my face (as I'd already heard it works amazing on spots), but was hesitant to do so, as spots are not usually an area I would moisturise.
When I woke up the next morning, my spots were SIGNIFICANTLY better. Not gone completely, but they were definitely on their way out and there was a significant improvement.

After the first use of this product, I was shocked to find out that it actually reduces redness. On the patches where I suffer from Dermatitis, not only would it be smoother (you can read that below), but also far less red and angry in colour. This is a miracle for me as I've been searching for a while now for a non-steroid product that can reduce the redness of skin conditions.
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You can use this product to protect your skin from anything like windburn to after sun - it will create a protective barrier whilst also soothing and rehydrating the skin. It's also incredibly soothing on minor sunburns and relieves that itchy sensation you can get sometimes when your skin is healing. With this in mind I think the Eight Hour Cream Sun Creams are next on my list to try.
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Many make up artists use this product as a shine factor within their looks. As the Eight Hour Cream is not a fast drying product and lingers for 8 hours, it's amazing to add to things like pigment to create a 'wet/glossy' looking eyeshadow. Another trick is to use it on your body (for example legs, arms, and collar bones) to add a shiny effect.
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Although you can buy a lip balm version of Eight Hour Cream, you can also use this product on the lips to help smooth dryness and prevent irritation.
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If the eyebrow product that you're using doesn't come with wax, or if you've forgotten your usual eyebrow gel, you can add a tiny amount of the product to slick your eyebrows to how you like them to look.
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I do suffer on and off from Dermatitis around the corners of my nose and eyebrows, which was always a massive issue for me when it comes to applying makeup, because I would find it would stick out like a sore thumb because my makeup would stick to it. But using Eight Hour Cream kept these areas smooth and hydrated all night, meaning when I woke up in the morning I wouldn't have to deal with any dry patches.
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This product is meant to be an absolute god send if you're flying on a mid to long haul flight. Many women apply this straight away when they get on the plane or during the flight, as the recycled air they use in-flight can really dry your skin, lips, and throat out. It will last you for the duration of your flight and many women will remove any access product left over and re-apply their makeup before landing, so it creates the perfect smooth base.

So today's post is a personal one, all about finding myself; finding happiness again and finding health again.
The truth is - although you may think you know someone because you follow them on social media... you really don't. Being a full time blogger, my job is about being brutally honest, in the hopes that some of you can understand, or maybe you're here because you can relate?

Shop the blazer here.

​This past year has been a particularly difficult one for me, but if you don't speak to me personally, you'd have no idea about this. It's hard for me to write this without starting to cry (sorry if it makes you cry, too); but not because I'm in a bad place now (because I'm not), but because it brings back memories that I'd rather push to the back of my mind.

Lets rewind to September last year - I'd just started my final year at uni, and my precious nan had just gone in to a care home 45 minutes from home, which I would drive every week to visit her. This was difficult for her to accept - she was an INCREDIBLY strong woman with all of her marbles, but body wise, she was a very weak and ill woman. Her husband died before I was born, so she'd been living on her own for 21 years, she had heart failure, water retention, and was loosing her mobility. My mum gave up her job to care for her just so she could stay where she lived and have her independence, but this was becoming difficult, and took an emotional toll on my mum. When is enough? My nan would get stuck on the toilet in the middle of the night and have to wait hours for help, and let me tell you, that still kills me now to think of her there so helpless. It got to the point where we could no longer give her the help she needed.

​After she went into a care home, her health deteriorated rapidly. Within one month, she was completely disabled - she had to be hoisted if she wanted to move, which broke my heart as she was so fragile she'd cry in pain. She had told my mum she wanted to die, that she didn't want to live this way anymore. This now meant she also had to be fed too, so when mum and I would visit, we would feed her - although within a few months, she didn't want to eat. By January, she was completely bed ridden and could hardly move. For four months, I basically watched her dying in front of my eyes, which really affected me, I knew it was time for her to let go; but I also knew she so badly wanted to hold on until I graduated. The last month of her life, she was so weak that she could barely even speak, or was barely even awake.
The last time I saw her she was dying, but I was so blinded my emotion that I didn't even realise it until the morning after, when we got the call that my beloved nanny had passed. The last thing she ever told me was that she loved me, and I'll cherish that forever, I just will never accept the fact that I didn't realise at the time - I have so much regret over the things I never said. She died 10 days before my 21st birthday.

​That same day I went to the press events I had planned just because I knew my nan would have been angry if I didn't; and pretended everything was fine. Looking back now I admire my strength to be able to do that, however I shouldn't have done it, and should have taken time for myself to grieve. I had booked months in advance to go to Disney Florida for my birthday and I still went. It was amazing and I lived in a bubble of happiness for 10 days, but when I got back, I feel like everything caught up with me and hit me like a tonne of bricks. I had to cope with my grief, cope with my mums grief, plan a funeral, blog full time, work part time, as well as finish my final uni work by the deadlines. I said to myself I wasn't going to apply for extenuating circumstances - but in the end I had to because I couldn't cope much more. I broke down with emotion constantly - I cried in the shower most of the time so my mum didn't see me cry, I wanted to be strong for her. It broke my heart that she'll never see things like my wedding day, my first child. She had been my bestest friend (apart from my mum) and was absolutely everything and more to me. I loved her so so much.
I hadn't had chance to grieve as the people around me at the time hadn't let me - no one (except my best friends) understood how I felt; everyone expected me to just get over it and move on (I even had that said to me.)
The fact that I didn't deal with my emotions and grief at the time really affected me - after I had finished uni, I didn't even want to get out of bed, let alone leave the house - everyone was asking friends where I was. The fact that she died for a long time impacted me more than if it had been a quick death, and I felt angry and disappointed because the people who I thought would be there for me, just weren't. 

​Shortly after this, my dad had a serious heart attack one week before my graduation. This put me back 2 steps, I had to then deal with how he felt and how that affected us as a family, and it also taught me life lessons. We weren't sure if he was going to be out of hospital by my graduation day, but I picked him up the day before. This was a particularly emotional day for me - I'd managed to overcome everything so far and graduate with a high 2:1, but everything that happened the past week was hanging over me.
NOW LET ME TELL YOU - do not EVER let ANYONE tell you that you're wrong to spend as much time as you need to grieving, and that you're "emotionally unstable" for crying it out. CRY IT ALL OUT GIRL because you need to deal with everything and process it your own way.

​I really felt like I was drowning, I just felt so, so sad.
It took me until August/September to get to a place where I was finally starting to feel happy again. I started to live again; I left my part time job to become a full-time blogger, I sat whenever I needed to and took in how I was feeling, and I threw myself into what I enjoyed. I really think a big part of my healing has been by doing a job that I love and am passionate about - when you're that "in to" what you're doing for a career, it distracts you. I stopped saying "yes" to everyone else and started saying it to myself instead - it was time to put ME first, and that's all that matters. It takes a long time to get back to a good place, but the only way I was able to do this was by looking after number one - be selfish with your time! If you want to stay in and watch the Kardashians - do it! Masking your feelings doesn't make anything better and I learnt that the hard way. Having a dog was a massive part of feeling better, and this certainly helped my mum - it took her mind off of how she was feeling.
​I took time to deal with my nan's death by sorting through every memory I had of her (I waited until I was ready to do this, though), and put it in a special drawer, so it sort of felt like closure. Strange things around the home happened in the week she passed (hairdryers turned on, etc) so I knew she was around, and speaking to her in my head made me feel better. I visited a psychic/medium who I felt really helped me (she knew things she couldn't have possibly known), so this helped my healing as I realised that those we love, never really leave.

​It just feels like we haven't seen them in a long time.