Christmas Gift Guide: Stocking Fillers- £25 and under

Illamasqua "Cameo" nail polish:

Full review (here). The most beautiful blue winter shade. Buy for $17 (HERE) US readers and for £14.50 (here) UK readers. 

Rubiks Cube USB Speaker:

COOLEST PRESENT EVER. One for everyone, although it's a little pricey at £ it's big so will fill up a lot of the stocking! Buy for £16.99 (here)

Juice cube:

The handiest little invention ever. Holds 100% worth of charge and has lots of different adaptors so it can work with many electronics. Buy for £24.95 (here).

Little Things inital necklace:

My best friend got me this for my birthday and I absolutely adore it. So subtle and pretty. Buy for £10.13 (here).

 Frosted Willow Music Note bangle:

Another gift from a good friend, again for my birthday, there are different designs to suit everyone. Made of sterling silver and comes with a handy polisher. Buy for £10.73 (here).

L'occitane hand cream and lipbalm set:

Gorgeous scent and products that keep me hydrated all day. Buy for £16 (here).

Balance me Rose Otto Oil:

Perfect for the colder months, leaves your skin feeling hydrated and with a lovely glow. The bottle is massive so will last you all winter. Buy for £24.50 (here).

Lindt Advent Calendar:

THE BEST ADVENT CALENDAR AVAILABLE. EVERYONE SHOULD GET ONE. None of that synthetic chocolate taste, just gooey goodness. Buy for £6.99 (here).

Dr.Lipp 'nipple' balm:

My favourite lipbalm during the colder months. Clear upon application and although it is sticky at first when it has sunk it your lips are hydrated all day and no need for reapplication. Buy for £11.50 (here).

Burts bees Lemon cuticle butter:

Full review (here). Another essential for the colder months. An absolute must have if you love having hydrated nails. Buy for £5.50 (here).

Lanolips Banana Balm:

Another great lip balm, need for reapplication but it feels so luxurious to use it's completely worth it. But for £8.99 (here).

Lush "Whoosh" Shower Jelly:

Refreshing soap, who doesn't want to play with jelly?! Buy for £3.50 (here).

MOA green balm:

Full review (here). The only moisturiser i ever use on my face. I'm prone to breakouts on my forehead when using moisturisers but this has tea tree oil in it which targets the spots instead of causing them whilst moisturising. Win win. Buy for £9 (here).

Lily flame "Party Time"candle:

This candle holds the exact same scent as Taylor Swift's "Wonderstruck" which i absolutely adore. Buy for £8.50 (here).

Birchbox UK november 2013

Birchbox, you've done it again.

Laura Mercier Fresh Fig Body Butter:
Hands down my favourite product in the box. How lucky are we to get another Laura Mercier product! The products smells strongly of, as the name suggests, fresh fig. The smell lingered for 3-4 hours on my skin, personally i loved the scent but, if you don't like strongly scented products i would steer clear of this. The product sank in almost immediately leaving my skin soft and silky smooth. You only need a tiny bit so the sample should last for 1-2 weeks depending on how much i use it. The butter retails for £26 and is worth every penny. Buy (here).

Weleda replenishing oat shampoo:
First up: the scent. Oh, the scent. This product holds the "typical" Weleda smell. Fresh and uplifting. The most prominent scent, to me, is the jojoba oil which i love. My hair was left soft and my scalp nourished- will be reaching for this all winter to keep the dandruff at bay! Buy for a very reasonable £8.95 (here).

Chella highlighting pencil:
I've never been sold on highlighting pencils, they're fiddly and most of the time they are far too pink, *cough* Benefit Eye Bright *cough*, but i was completely taken aback by this one. In the pencil the product looks as if it has a pink undertone but when swatched on the skin the product glides on leaving a creamy flesh toned colour. I applied it to both the inner and outer corner of my eyes to look more awake and had compliments on how energised i look all day! Buy for £15.95 (here).


Spa Find sculpted silhouette intensive bust firming extract serum:
This is the sort of product i would never buy for myself but turns out to be blooming amazing when you try! The extract isn't sticky and leaves your, ahem, breasts feeling refreshed. I use 5 drops per breast and I still have a lot of product left which will allow for a good trial period. Incredibly interesting product that I am delighted to have received. I will keep you updated on whether it does actually "firm". Buy for £26 (here).

English Laundry signature for her eau de parfum:
Classic "clean" smell. It reminds me of Yankee Candle's "Clean cotton" candle. Buy for £16 (here).

Pukka herbs selection of teas:
I received three teas:
- "Three cinnamon"- the smell is the typical 'cinnamon' smell but the taste is not at all like normal cinnamon. Whilst there are hints of cinnamon it's mainly sweet with a bit of spice. Perfect for christmas. Buy for £2.29 (here).
-"Earl grey"- classic earl grey taste. Buy for £2.29 (here).
-"Elderberry and echinacea"- my favourite of the bunch, i ordered it as soon as i tried it. Spicy, yet fruity. Truly intriguing and like nothing i've ever tasted before. Buy for £2.29 (here).

Birchbox pencil sharpener: 
Super handy, it can sharpen large pencil highlighter we received in the box. Nice touch, Birchbox. Buy for £3.00 (here).

To get the box PLUS AN EXTRA SAMPLE TRIO just pop "BBXTalisa" into the promo code box when you checkout! Subscribe for £10 + £2.95 p&p here: http://birchbox.co.uk/?raf=8120

I popped over to tescos to pick up my new favourite tea, Pukka's Elderberry & Echinacea, and i just had to post a photo of the beautiful box the sachets come in. Kudos to 'Pukka' who satisfy all of their customers needs!

Chapstick Lipsations Shimmer in Berry and Tropical

You can never have to many lip balms, so when the new Chapstick Lipsations* popped through my letter box i couldn't wait to try them. They come in two shades: Berry and Tropical. Berry is a shimmery pink and tropical is clear with subtle shimmer.

I find if i put a thick layer on the shimmer builds up a little too much and can occasionally make me look a little washed out with Tropical. I recommend wearing them under/over lipstick to avoid this.

Tropical, to me, smells like the hubba bubba tape which i personally really like. It also has hints of coconut. Berry smells, as the name suggests, like berries. They aren't sticky, hugely moisturising and really affordable at £1.99 each. Available at all good drug stores.

Illamaqua "Cameo"

I've been in search of this colour my whole life. Periwinkle blue is such a gorgeous shade that is so, unbelievably, hard to track down. I literally jumped for joy when i saw this in sephora.

The polish goes on easily and is opaque with 2 coats. I found the wear time was around 5-6 days with a top coat.

Buy for £14.50 (here).