The Beauty Stocking Fillers Guide (Beauty Gifts Under £15)

So to kick things off with my Beauty Christmas Gift Guide I thought I'd start with the lower-cost options and move into more indulgent items as we go along. So today we're looking at gifts under £15, on Wednesday next week I have gift ideas between £15 and £35, and if that's not indulgent enough for you, check back Friday next week for my gift ideas over £35.

So the product that kicked off my skincare obsession was the Emma Hardie Amazing Face Moringa Cleansing Balm, and this year she's released a tree ornament gift with a mini 15ml pot of this amazing cleanser for £10. It's cute (if a little bit of an awkward shape to wrap) and contains a decent amount of an amazing product. So if you know someone who's either into skincare and hasn't tried this, or loves the cleanser and could do with a travel size, I think this would be a good pick.

Last year I was gifted a set from Aromatherapy Associates and that's where my love for their products was born. They've released a mini bottle of one of their scents in a tree ornament for the last few years and this year their The Star gift contains a 9ml bottle of their "Revive Morning" scent. For £10 it's a more affordable way to gift someone the Aromatherapy experience and I just love these.

In-keeping with the Christmas tree ornament theme I also have a body pick that you can hang on your tree: the L'Occiatane Verbena Festive Ornament. I haven't tried everything in this set out yet (although I must admit, it's a gift to self) but I have tried the Verbena Body Lotion and it's a lovely thin texture that instantly absorbs but that leaves the skin hydrated. The set also includes the Verbena Shower Gel, the Verbena Cooling Hand Cream Gel and the Soap With Verbena Leaves and the scent on this stuff is insanely good, reminiscent of sorbet lemon sweets.**

** Eek! I picked this set up last week and it's already sold out! Sorry! This one is very similar but sadly just a bit over the £15 limit - LINK and I've linked the individual products above - most are under £15 each.

My last tree-trinket gift is the Philip Kingsley Geranium and Neroli Elasticizer Duo. Does what it says on the tin essentially, it's a little ornament that contains two 40ml bottles of the geranium and neroli scented hair mask. So for £12 you actually get more product in this set than you do in their full sized product (75ml) and that's priced at £18.

Possibly my favourite little kit this year is the REN Glow and Go gift set. For £14 you get a 20ml Flash Rinse 1 Minute Facial and a 20ml Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask. These are two of my all time favourite masks and it would be a great way to let someone trial them.

It's not quite Christmas until Space NK bring back their Shimmering Spice Candle, The 75g one is £15 (but I suppose if you wanted to you could pick up the bigger one for £25) and it just smells like Christmas. It's spicy and sweet with a sugary cinnamon type scent that I just love, and the glass jar that it comes in is so beautifully packaged.

And then the rest of the picks here are just regular available-all-year-long type items that I think would make lovely gifts. For example the L'Oreal La Palette Nude or any of the items in their La Palette range are nice for £14.99. You get a whole host of shades and the quality of the shadows is nice, and they don't look cheap by any means, they could easily slap a high end name on this and it wouldn't look out of place at all.

You could create your own bathing gift with a gift box and a few pieces from Lush's bath range. Their Bath Bombs, Bath Melts and Bubble Bars are lovely and range from around £2-£6 a piece. If you picked out 2-4 from the range that would create a lovely thoughtful gift from under £15.

Similarly to the L'Oreal pick, some of the palettes Revolution have been putting out lately are lovely and quite a few of them look more expensive than they are. These range from £4-£8 and you can pick up everything from eyeshadow palettes to blush and face powders. My favourites are the Highlighter Palette in "Radiance" (£8) and the Icon Blush Bronze & Bright Flush (£4). The Redemption Palettes are also really nice for £4 but I think these look less expensive than the other picks.

And finally, we have another makeup item that looks more luxury than it costs. I think that KIKO's range of lipsticks are amazing value for money. Their Intensely Lavish, Velvet Mat Lipsticks, Luscious Cream, Luminous Chrome and Crystal Sheer formulas are all £6.90 and as well as the formula being top notch, the packaging these are housed in looks and feels so high-end. They have magnetic closures, buttons you push to remove the lids and they're weighed nicely as well. Unbelievable quality for the price. Their Cosmic Starlets Collection also has sets where you get a lipstick and either a lip pencil or a nail polish for £10.90.

The Backpacker’s Packing List for Women Who Struggle To Pack Light

WARNING: Very word-y post ahead. Tread carefully.

I've made it no secret on this blog that last year after graduating uni I went traveling around Europe for a month. It was a great trip where I saw lots of amazing things and while there's definitely somethings I'd do differently (up my budget and maybe see less places but stay for longer) my packing list wasn't one of them. Shock Horror. I'm normally that girl. That girl who's going away for a week and came 3g's under the 15kg baggage allowance. That girl whose cosmetics bag takes up half of the physical space in her suitcase. That girl who packs 2 outfits for each day and often doesn't wear half the things she packs. But not this trip.

From the second my friends and I starting planning and booking things for the trip, I was looking up how to pack efficiently and it definitely paid off. My pack was one of the lighter ones, despite having packed all the full sized shower products that my fellow female traveling partners and I planned to share and there wasn't a single thing I needed that I didn't have, or that I had that I didn't use. My packing list looked like this:

SKINCARE/BODY/HAIR

1. Shampoo 
2. Conditioner 
3. Curl Gel 
4. Shower Gel 
5. Suncream
6. Bio Oil
7. Cleanser 
8. Moisturiser 
9. Eye Cream
10. Face SPF 

MAKEUP:

1. High Coverage Foundation
2. Concealer
3. Powder
4. Eye Primer
5. Multi Purpose Eyeshadow/Cheek Products Palette
6. Mascara
7. Red Lip
8. Nude Lip
9. Pink Lip
10. Black Eyeliner
11. Nude Eyeliner
12. Blue Eyeliner
13. Taupe Eyeliner
14. Angled Blush Brush
15. Double Ended Eyeshadow Brush
16. Small Eyeliner Brush
17. Angled Eyebrow Brush
18. Eyebrow Spoolie

CLOTHES

1. Jeans
2. Shorts
3. Short Skirt
4. Maxi Skirt
5. Vest
6. Vest
7. Tshirt
8. Tshirt
9. Kimono/Coverup
10. Hoodie
11. Short Sundress
12. Maxi Dress
13. Strapless Top
14. Oversized T-Shirt
15. Joggers

ACCESSORIES

1. One Belt
2. Sunglasses
3. One Bikini
4. Six Underwear
5. Four Socks
6. Two Tights
7. Three Bras
8. One Evening Bag
9. One Day Bag
10. One Bum-bag (Would definitely recommend if you're visiting lots of busy cities!)
11. Flip Flops
12. Converse
13. One Necklace
14. One Pair Earrings
15. PJ Shorts

MISC:

1. Microfiber Towel
2. Glasses
3. Sarong
4. First Aid Kit
5. Hand Sanitiser
6. Sewing Kit
7. Travel Adapter
8. Travel Detergent

And it worked. The clothes worked perfectly to create a light but versatile wardrobe and contained enough pieces to ensure that I wasn't constantly doing washing but few enough that it wasn't too heavy on my then very weak shoulders. I found that I had things to wear for all occasions and all weathers and my accessories mixed things up nicely without being so much that I'd lose things.

Bear in mind that we were staying mostly in hostels and often in big dorm-style rooms with people we didn't know so I left all my fine jewellery at home (real gold, pieces of sentimental value) just in case. I found it hard to leave for the airport with just 2 pairs of shoes for the month, but I had everything I needed. The flip flops I packed were quite a nice pair that had beading on them and they worked for day and evening alike and they were a great addition to my pack. I took a pair of converse for a comfortable walking shoe but found that I only wore them when it was quite cold, most days/nights I wore my flip flops.

From a beauty point of view, I took a lot of eyeliners and 3 lip colours as this was the most compact way to give me the variety I liked to have in my make-up and it catered to my every need. I then just packed one lot of base products, knowing that the full coverage foundation could be sheered with a blob of moisturiser or missed entirely depending on my coverage needs. The palette I took was The Balm's Balm Jovi Palette, it was nice and compact and had 12 eyeshadows, a blush, highlight and 2 creamy lip/cheek products (that I don't really like for lips). For skincare, I kept it super simple, cleanser, eye cream, moisturiser, SPF and then if I was feeling burnt or especially dry, I just added a few drops of Bio Oil into my moisturiser. Bio Oil was a great addition to my pack as it's a multipurpose oil, you can use it on your face, body and hair and it's great for dryness and sunburn a like.

Travel Detergent is a must for anyone going traveling on a tight budget. I got a 75ml bottle (more than enough for a month) for around £3 inc. shipping and it saved me so much money on my trip. Quite a lot of the laundrettes charged by item (as much as €3 each) and while hand washing things and having to hang them all over the place for a day to dry wasn't the most ideal, with a €40 a day budget (out of which I was paying for my room for the night, food and attractions) I was realistic and knew that there wasn't space in that budget to be paying to wash my clothes. I will mention that I packed light on underwear, and so hand-washing was really convenient for that, everything was a light material and I'd wash them before I started to get ready in the evening and they'd be dry by morning at the latest.

Another budget-saving item I took was a sewing kit. Just a single needle and 2 reels of cotton so it was super easy to put together. I knew that if I ripped anything, I didn't have the budget to go replacing things so this was great. As it happens, I didn't actually break anything whilst I was away but one of my friends did and so this did actually come in handy. Even if you're taking lots of clothes and a brand new backpack I'd suggest a needle and thread. If worse comes to worse you rip your backpack on day 3 of 40 it'll save you forking out a small fortune in a country you don't know for a new one.

Everyone I traveled with had bought a micro-fiber towel and we all agreed they were great for this kind of trip. They're light, compact and they dry really quickly so they were useful for lots of things. Obviously drying after showering and washing your face, but I took mine to the beach to dry myself off after being in the sea too. Another multi-use item that maybe isn't so obvious is a sarong. I took this everywhere in my day bag throughout the trip and it came in so useful. You can use it as a cover for your shoulders if the sun gets a bit strong, a blanket for if it cools down later, a pillow on the trains traveling from place to place, a picnic blanket, something to lie on at the beach, the possibilities are endless.

And finally, what to pack it all in. I chose backpack. I think it's a more versatile option and while you have to carry the weight with you between destinations, it makes you pack light and if you end up somewhere with lots of stairs, you don't want to be trying to lug a heavy case up them. It also means you'll not pack too many things that are overly valuable (heavy cameras, hair styling tools ect) that may end up lost or stolen. And finally, it's much easier to navigate the train stations with a backpack. The only people we saw struggling to get to the platforms in time for the trains were the ones with wheeled luggage.