My Autumn candle collection

As the leaves start to change and the temperature drops (at least, hopefully: WHY was it 23 degrees yesterday?!), it's time to dust off the candles because finally you want that extra bit of warmth and light and cosiness in your life again.

5 Top Festive Candle Picks

Christmas is SO close now, eeeeek! I CANNOT WAIT. So, in between writing my food shopping list for early tomorrow morning (yes, I am braving the supermarket on Christmas Eve) and wrapping the final few presents, I thought I'd share my five favourite candle scents of this time of year with you.
1.) Next's Festive Spice. Omg, I need this bottled for me. This has been my go-to throughout December, and I'm surprised at how much is left considering how often I've used it!
2.) Christmas pillar candle from Tiger (or Flying Tiger online). This is the white candle with small hearts and one Christmas tree on it. It is scent-free but I love the simplistic design.
3.) Wooden tealight holder. This is the only thing I've found in Homesense this Christmas that I loved enough to buy. This has been sat on my desk for the past few weeks and is the perfect insta-worthy festive accessory. 
4.) Yankee Candle's Snowflake Cookie candle. I bought this for my sister last year and fell totally in LOVE. At the moment I just have a mini version of the candle, but I'm hoping that Santa leaves a full-sized one under my tree ...
5.) Yankee Candle's Candy Cane Lane candle. I bought this in the Christmas sales a couple of years ago and it's one of my favourite scents all year round. It smells sugary, vanilla-y and full of a touch of peppermint, just like your first lick of a candy cane.
Watch my festive candle picks video:

What are your festive candle picks this year?
Follow me on Bloglovin | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Youtube

September Favourites and Life Update

Another month has absolutely flown by hasn't it? Now I have a little confession to make: this post was definitely meant to go up right at the start of October, but I've been so behind that I've only just got it up now. One of my October goals is going to be to catch up on blog posts and to make sure that everything goes out when it's meant to!
September has been a pretty exciting month for me. My sister came to visit me in my new town, and we had the best time shopping and exploring a local eatery. I've been feeling really lonely here as I still don't know anybody yet, so having her here for a few days made me feel a lot better. I also headed back home to spend a couple of days with my mum for her birthday at the end of the month. 
Speaking of family related things, me and my boyfriend have also been knuckling down to house hunting. Us, the hamsters and Ted the bunny are moving into a more central location in the town, which could not come sooner for me - I'm just not a countryside kind of girl. We've got a few house visits coming up this week, so hopefully within the next week we might have got our very own place to live! 
Right, on to the favourites. First up are my three tsum tsums from The Nightmare Before Christmas which I am ecstatic about. I have got Jack, Sally and Zero and had to completely restrain myself from getting Sandy Claws Jack. I had these out the other day to watch the film with me and some jelly tots. It was basically the best way to spend an evening, especially as they're starting to get colder and I'm wanting to do more indoor activities. 
On a similar note, my Cedarwood and Myrrh Primark candle (you can't really go wrong with a £1 candle) has joined my horde of candles to make our bedroom feel a lot more cosy in the Autumn chill. This was the first Autumn candle that I bought this year, and to me it signified a shift away from Summer. I've also started to rely more on tea to keep me warm on chilly mornings, so I've got back into the habit of kick starting my days with lemon and ginger tea. I've gone for Clipper's Organic Lemon and Ginger Infusion and it's really been making me feel less bloated all day.
Now onto beauty. I've got some real gems this month that I was a little overexcited about. Whilst I was getting all excited about my Zoella Lifestyle order, I realised that I hadn't tried anything from her beauty ranges before. So, I picked up a few pieces from the Sweet Inspirations set (which I will be chatting about in more detail soon). This Sweet Inspirations body mist has been my go-to on the way to work, as it's fresh and subtle. I can't wear heavy perfumes to work because I work with food, so this is a fab alternative. 
I've also been switching up my skincare choices in the past month as I'm trying to use up all of the long forgotten items that have sat in my bathroom for months. The Body Shop's White Musk Body Lotion mini is something I've been ignoring for over a year. I don't tend to go for musky scents, as I'm a bit more of a sweet fanatic, and so this hadn't really appealed to me. But when I started using it I fell a little bit in love. It made my skin so soft and I smelt lovely all day - something which I haven't found from using body lotion in a while. I think this one may have to make its way onto my Christmas list. 
Another mini that surprised me with how much I loved it was my Simple Kind to Skin Moisturising Facial Wash. This made my sensitive skin incredibly happy, and calmed down all of my breakouts. This has been sat in my cupboard for almost a year now (whoops) and I think when my skin starts to get out of control again, I might have to repurchase this to resettle it. 

What were your favourites this month?
Follow me on Bloglovin | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Youtube

Winter Favourites

So, this post is a bit overdue, but hey, it's still winter, and these are still my favourites, despite any new bits and bobs I got for Christmas. 

A friend recommended cranberry green tea to me at the beginning of the Autumn uni term, and since then I've been hooked. This and my Carmex lip balm have seen me through about three bouts of colds/coughs and a myriad of uni stress over the last couple of months. 

Over the past month or two my hair has gotten super long, almost to an "I-don't-know-how-to-cope-with-the-amount-of-time-it-takes-to-wash" length. V05's Revive Me Daily shampoo has been a godsend. Keeps away the split ends and has ensured my hair hasn't gotten too dry during the windswept days of standing waiting for the unibus.

Finally, my Yankee candle. I always have this on whilst I'm doing a spot of reading for a seminar, or writing a blog post. It's really made my rather sparse uni room feel a bit more like home. Plus, any Yankee candle is a win, right? I'm going sales shopping in London tomorrow and am so excited to grab a new scent at the Yankee candle store. Any suggestions?

Love and Light

Steph

**All photos are property of Sophie Hartley**