Happy Christmas Eve Eve to All!
Another year (nearly ) over, and the opportunity presents itself for people to announce their ‘original’ outlook of ‘New Year, New Me,’ and an opportunity for even more people to mock them for it. 2016 has been declared as a write-off and an embarrassment of a year by a heck of a lot of people. Of course in many ways it has been a huge disaster, may I remind you of Brexit and Trump, and on top of that the heart-breaking mass bombing of civilians in Syria, alongside countless terrorist and racist attacks worldwide. The world can be cruel cruel place.
Going forward in 2017, I think we need a heck of a lot of positivity, hope and a perhaps a good sense of humour!
After all, if we can’t look back on our mistakes and laugh,what can we do? (No laughing at Brexit though, that’s all still pretty shit. And anyway it was 52% of the UK’s mistake, not mine!).
But aside from all the doom and gloom, I am going to look back on my personal favourites of 2016; from beauty to bloggers and back again.
Beauty
I know less about beauty than most gals, when I buy a product I like I normally just stick with it. But thanks to these recommendations from my much more Beauty-Clued up sis, I’ve found a few new firm faves.
- Nars sheer Glow Foundation in the shade Mont Blanc
I am extremely pale so to find a foundation that both brightens my complexion up so I look less Morticia Adams and more of a Glowy Glenda is fab with me. It has a very buildable coverage, perfect for skin that goes through stages of alright-ness then spottiness like mine.
TOP TIP: Nars is available on ASOS for same price as in-stores or online beauty retailers BUT ASOS always offers 10% student discount, and occasionally bumps that up to 20%
2. Body Shop Himalayan Charcoal Purifying Glow Mask
I’m super lazy with skincare, and I’m a student so can’t exactly splash out on the old cleanse and polish, so face wash is normally my lot. When I came home for the weekend, my sister introduced me to this stuff, and it literally makes my face feel like silk.
Travel
This year I’ve been super fortunate to go on a number of trips. My boyfriend and I prioritise money for Holidays over anything else so that we are able to go on a number of adventures every year! In the next month we are off to Edinburgh as our Christmas Present to each other and Berlin for Jacks 21st Birthday Present!
The Black/White Image and Beachy view are both from Wales, believe it or not! Barry Island in fact! For my 20th Jack surprised me with a night’s stay in Cardiff and the Gavin and Stacey tour in Barry. It was amazing, and hilarious. We went there way back in March, I wrote about it in detail in this blog post here!
The other two Pics are pre-airport to and then in Rhodes! It was mine and Jack’s first holiday outside of the UK together, and it was an incredible time. The blog posts from Rhodes are linked here, here and here.
FASHION
I can’t talk about favourites without mentioning what 87% of my money gets spent (some would argue wasted) on. Since starting the blog this year, I have been a lot more courageous with fashion, partly due to a small but influential growth in confidence and also due to so much UNreal inspiration online (namely due to some bloggers I’ll mention later).
Below are some of my fave looks.
Bloggers/YouTube
Not only do I write my own blog, but a lot of my downtime is spent either reading other blog posts, or watching look books and vlogs. Not only to gather inspiration, but also because I truly love them! Some make me cry laughing, and some make me feel like I wanna get my sassiest metallic boots on and take on the world!
I am subscribed to tonnes of bloggers but here I’ve included my 2 stand out favourites of 2016:
Megan Ellaby
Megan is a megababe and EVERYTHING she wears I want to drape myself in and then strut around the NQ pretending I look as cool as she does. Not only is her style fab, but she’s a fellow northern lass, and she’s bloody hilarious! Weirdos unite!
ShotFromTheStreet (Lizzy Hadfield)
Lizzy again is doing it for the Northerners, and she does it in serious style! Her amazing luxe and super stylish wardrobe encouraged me to overcome my fear of jeans! Even though I still don’t look a tenth as good in them as she does! She too is hilarious, lovely and her weekly vlogs are a definite highlight!
Check them both out pronto, but I warn you, be prepared to sacrifice your whole night to their channels!
I will be doing my final post before New Year on my goals for 2017, but for now I want to say Thank you, to each of everyone of you reading this. Those who know me personally will know I have long suffered with a huge lack of confidence and self esteem.
Starting my blog this year was a MASSIVE deal for me and it pushed me right out of my comfort zone, and I am so glad I have done it. Regardless of whether a post gets 1 view (probs from me mam) or 1000, it’s still a really positive step on my journey of self acceptance and pushing myself to do what I love and not give a flying f*ck what others think! Even if it is just me writing about my new shoes!
Thanks so much and have a very Merry Christmas!!!
Love Em x
emilyrosejacko.com 