So I've Fallen Out With Suncream...

...But there's some other SPF formulas that I'm loving right now.

The sun has (finally) started to show it's face in Manchester, and it's actually been almost too hot. When I went on my annual trip to stock up on suncream I decided to stray away from my usual traditional suncreams and my P20 options in favour of some newer formats and I'm really impressed.

The format that I've been enjoying the most is one that been around for a while: oil. I like oil-base sun protection because generally they're even more moisturising than the traditional cream/lotion based formulas and they're basically goof-proof when it comes to white-casts and streaky application. The oil I've been enjoying this year is the Golden Protect Protective Oil Enriched with Shea Butter from Garnier's Ambre Solaire range. This is a light, non-greasy formula that is water resistant and moisturising on the skin. It comes in multiple sun protection factors, personally I generally go for a factor 30 across the board. I also like that this formula has a subtle sheeny finish to it that gives the skin that glow that we all want in the summer.

Nivea have a brilliant range of sun protection products and the one that really caught my eye was the Protect and Refresh Cooling Sun Mist. This is a super fine formula that is applied to the skin via an aerosol spray can. At first glance I thought that this product would be the perfect answer to the problem of topping up facial SPF throughout the day without disrupting makeup but I was a bit disappointed to find that the directions specify that you can't spray this directly onto the face. I'll still get enough use out of this since it's nice and refreshing on the skin for reapplication but I'd love to see something along the lines of this that is completely safe for use on the face.

The last sun care product that caught my eye this time around was Nivea's Lip Care Sun Protect SPF30. Again, I love Nivea's sun protection range and they're also known for their lip balms so I figured this was a pretty obvious choice. The formula is light but nicely hydrating and the scent/flavour is nice but not overpowering as well. I even really like the packaging with the pop of summery yellow and it's a great one to slip into your handbag.

My Experience with LoveLula

We've seen a couple of beauty subscription boxes around here already but I've been really interested in trying some more recently. (For more info click *here* for my post about LoveMeBeauty and *here*, *here* and *here* for my various posts on Birchbox. I've been toying with GlossyBox and I'm definitely going to try it out one day but, for now, I've gone for LoveLula. For two main reasons:

1. It's a smaller box - I don't see a lot of people hyping it in the beauty community, it's something that needs to be tested and talked about.

and 2. Their values are amazing. They pledge to provide a box full of high quality products that are sustainably sourced, that aren't full of chemicals, that aren't tested on animals and they fully support promoting lesser known brands and small companies. It's just ticking a lot of the "yes please" boxes for me.

I signed up with LoveLula with my first box being the March 2016 box. I've received 2 boxes from them now and it's a nice, clear set up. You can pay monthly (which I chose to do) by direct debit, or can buy 3 or 6 boxes at a time (to be dispatched monthly), I should note that unlike some other box subscription services, there is no discount for ordering multiple boxes at a time. The boxes are always dispatched around the 10th of the month and both boxes were on time, packaged nice and securely and all of the products have arrived 100% in tact.

The stand-outs in the March box were the Skin Blossom Gentle Cleansing Milk (a lovely creamy cleanser that leaves skin soft and hydrated) and the Turbliss Bioactive Peat Mask (which seems to just draw all the impurities out of my skin, love). The March box also contained 3 mini Urban Veda products, the Facial Wash, Exfoliating Facial Polish and the Day Cream from the "Turmeric + Botanics - Radiance" range. They also included sample sachets of the John Masters Organics Blood Orange & Vanilla Body Wash and the Madara Sun Flower Golden Beige Tinting Fluid. So the box was made up of a full sized cleanser, a 3 step skincare routine, a face mask and some extras and everything seemed to have a place.

By comparison, the box I received in April didn't seem so well thought out in terms of the range of products included. The April box contained another 3-step minis collection from Urban Veda (again the Facial Wash, Exfoliating Facial Polish, and the Day Cream, just this time from the "Neem + Botanics - Purifying" range. Another good sized Skin Blossom product - this time the Nourishing Face Moisturiser, a (seemingly) full size of the PHB Ethical Beauty Natural & organic Brightening Eye Gel and a Barefoot SOS Repair + Renew Light Moisturising Lotion. So while the products are still nice, I feel like the Urban Veda stuff is nearing on a repeat (and a month later? So soon!) and then an eye cream and 2 big moisturisers? Even if one had been specifically a night cream it might have worked? I'm not sure.

The boxes are £12.50 including shipping (which seems to be the price that most beauty boxes are) and the boxes seem to contain at least one full sized item and one deluxe sample each month in addition to trial sizes. They also include a 20% off coupon for the brands included in that months box. The boxes 3-6 month subscriptions are also available outside the UK with an additional charge of £5 shipping on each box.

All in all I've decided that I'm going to continue my subscription with them for now and will keep you updated on the products I get and how much I like the boxes going forward.

December Favourites

So first things first: Happy New Year everyone! As you read this, I will be nursing a hangover and begging the boyfriend to make me tea and bacon butties for breakfast (there is nothing like a brew and a bacon sandwich to nurse a hangover).

So with December being over and done with, I figured it was time for my December Favourites. I've still chosen to do a December favourites as well as my 2015 favourites because there's some new stuff I've been loving this month that wouldn't make it into the yearly favourites and I don't want them to get missed out.

In the spirit of Christmas, I spent most of December sporting various shades of red and berry on my lips, and to compliment that I've been going for quite an understated, neutral eye and the Soap & Glory Lid Stuff Palette in "What's Nude" has been perfect for that. It has a matte cream, a matte dusty pink, a matte medium brown and a shimmery pinky-taupe shade. These do kick up quite a bit of fallout but they're easy to blend and the shades are so wearable.

Another product for the eyes that I've been reaching for a lot this month was the Clarins Instant Light Brush-On Perfector in the Shade "00" - the lightest shade. I've loved everything I've tried from the Clarins Instant Light range so far so I really need to go and pick up some more of it. This one is kind of like the YSL Touche Eclat but stepped up in terms of coverage. A great under-eye concealer that covers and brightens effectively.

On the topic of glow-givers an absolute steal of a product that I've loved this month is the Revolution Radiance Palette. This is one of their 3-shade highlighter palettes and they've been coined as being dupes for the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders. Now I haven't tried any of the Hourglass powders yet to compare but the Revolution ones are really nice. I don't use the darker shade as I'm really pale but the far left shade works great as a face powder for me and the centre shade is my highlight of choice lately.

I've been cheating on my Dove Invisible Dry Deodorant with the Mitchum 48hr Anti-Perspirant & Deodorant. I tried a Mitchum spray-on in November and really liked it so I thought I'd give this one a go. It's not my favourite in terms of texture but it's more effective than the Dove, I think I'll have to experiment with which formula I prefer but this looks like a winner for me.

And finally, I have a confession to make. December has been a real lazy month for me. My skincare routine went completely out the window for a good week when the Christmas shopping blues hit me. Between working full time and Christmas stuff I wasn't getting an awful lot of sleep so I traded in my skincare routine for extra minutes in bed and just did a quick morning cleanse with the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water. I wouldn't recommend using this all the time but for lazy days it's better than nothing.

The (More) Affordable Beauty Gift Guide (£15-£35)

So I feel I need to prefix this post with a: this is my "more affordable" gift guide because my next one is £35+. So while I know some people wouldn't call up to £35 "affordable" it's more affordable than my luxe guide, if that makes sense?

If £15-£35 is out of your budget, head back to my Friday post from last week which focusses on beauty gifts that are under £15, and if you want to spend a little more I have a luxe list coming up this Friday so check back for that/ I just wanted to make sure that I've got most peoples budgets covered in this series. I was trying to keep these posts to 10 items but this category had a lot of really amazing bits and I just couldn't whittle down the list that much so while the other instalments are 10, this one is 15. So lets get going.

I mentioned them in my "Under £15 Gift Guide" and I'll mention them again, for the girl who loves a nice relaxing bath: the Aromatherapy Associates Bath Jewels is the medium instalment in their Christmas releases this year and it's lovely. With 3, 9ml bottles of their amazing bath oils this is a nice treat for £28. The set includes the scents "Deep Relax", "Revive Morning" and "De-Stress Mind".

If you're wanting to gift a simple but lush set of skin saviours, the Kiehl's Pamper Yourself Body Gift Set has you covered. For £30 you get a 125ml Créme De Corps, a 75ml Ultimate Strength Hand Salve, a 30ml Ultra Facial Cleanser and a 30ml Ultra Facial Moisturiser.

Now the Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G Mini Lipstick Trio nearly had a place in this lineup but after seeing it, while the mini lipsticks are cute and the packaging looks great, the shade selection it includes is (in my opinion) pretty poor. "So Marilyn" "Penelope Pink" and "Bitch Perfect" are the shades included and the only one I personally would wear out of the 3 is "So Marilyn", so maybe check the colours out first. I personally think if you're wanting to gift some Charlotte Tilbury this year, one of her full sized lipsticks would be a way better choice, her Matte Revolution Lipsticks and the K.I.S.S.I.N.G Lipsticks are both available for £23 a piece and you can pick the perfect shade that way.

I've loved the Soap & Glory "Sugar Crush" range ever since it launched so I was super excited to find their The Zest A Girl Can Get set for £16 in Boots. It contains a 300ml bottle of their Sugar Crush Body Wash, a 300ml pot of the Sugar Crush Body Butter Cream, 100ml of the Sugar Crush Body Spray and a little pink rubber duck. I think it's really great value for money compared to the Get A Smooth On set (the larger "Sugar Crush" gift set this year) simply because that one is £35 so £19 more expensive and for that you get 1 extra product, and then a bit more of the Body Wash (200ml more) and the Body Butter Cream (50ml more).

If the lip lover in your life prefers a lip gloss, my favourite lipgloss range ever has been made into a Christmas quartet this year and it looks amazing. The Lipstick Queen Galactic Gorgeous set contains 4 of their Big Bang Lip Glosses in the shades "Infinite", "Energy", "Black Hole" and my personal favourite shade "Creation". The lip glosses are miniatured but considering for the full size you pay £22 and here you get 4 minis for £20 I think it's a great deal. These lip glosses are smooth and balmy on the lips and shimmery but not chunky, love.

For the lip lover who wants a bit of everything the Clarins Lip Collection "Perfect Lips" set is lovely. For £20 you get a mini (1.4g) Rouge Eclat Lipstick in the shade "13 Rosewood," a mini (2.5ml) Gloss Prodige in "04 Candy" and 2 mini (5ml) Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector lip balms in "06 Rosewood Shimmer" and "01 Rose Shimmer".

I love the Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliners and their christmas set is always something that catches my eye. This year there's two collections of the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eyeliner Set and they're £25 each. The "Delirious" set comes with their "Perversion" (matte black), then "Muse" (brown), "Accuse" (blue), "Zodiac" (green) and "Delirious" (purple). If neutrals are more your thing, the "Cosmic" set includes "Zero" (slightly lighter black), "Stag" (dark brown), "Supply" (medium brown), "Trick" (copper) and "Cosmic" (white).

Another pick from Clarins would be their Body Care Collection "Spa Treats" Gift Set. For £30 this contains a full sized Tonic Bath & Shower Concentrate, 30ml of the Tonic Body Treatment Oil, a 30ml tube of their Moisture Rich Body Lotion, a 100ml bottle of the Exfoliating Body Scrub and a 50ml Hand and Nail Treatment Cream. The Bath and Shower Concentrate is £20 alone so when you break it down the set is a really good value.

NYX has finally made it over to the UK while it's not a Christmas release, I think that their Butt Naked Eyes Palette would make a really great gift. For £20 you get 4 blush shades, 2 highlights, a bronzer and 15 shadows. It's every colour cosmetic you need in one compact palette.

Then my final makeup gift for this category would be the By Terry Ombre Blackstars. At £29 each they're a proper treat type product, but they're lovely and if you know someone who's into eyeshadow, they need to at least try one of these. Anyone looking for shade recommendations: "Misty Rock", every time.

I have two candle picks for this post and the first is the Jar Candles from Yankee Candle. Depending on the size you go for these will set you back up to £21.99 a piece but can often be found on some kind of deal. My favourites are "Christmas Cookie", "Candy Cane Lane" and "Fluffy Towels", but they do a whole host of scents so there should be something for everyone. They also have sets of Two Medium Jars this year for £27.99.

If you're looking for a more indulgent candle option then the Diptique Scented Candles, they have 3 holiday released this year "Sapin", "Oliban" and "Liquidambar" which are all £28 for the 70g size. Alternatively, their standard collection candles are £20 for the 70g, my favourite is their "Tubereuse" scent but I know "Figuier", "Baies" and "Ambre" are all popular scents in the line.

Now for skincare gifts, I struggled in this category. Brands this year have really gone to town with their miniatures and their tree trinket gifts but the majority of these are under £15, and then for the most part the actual sets are above that £35 price limit, but I did find a couple of nice bits. The REN Pure Glow Trio Kit is at the top end of the budget at £35, and contains 100ml of their Rosa Centifolia Purity Balm, the Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask and their Flash Rinse 1 Minute Facial Mask. I've only seen this on Space NK and I'm not sure if the picture is just misleading but the desciption says you get 50ml of the Glycolactic and 20ml of the Flash Rinse, but in the picture the Flash Rinse seems to be the 50ml product and the Glycolactic seems to be 20ml. Either way, both are great.

Skyn Iceland have a lovely little skincare set this holiday season in their Skin Hangover Kit. So if you know someone who could probably use a hangover remedy on Boxing Day morning this might be a nice pick for them. At £17.50 it's a decent price and you get a nice selection of Skyn Iceland products. The kit includes two pairs of the Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels, an Icelandic Relief Eye Pen, two Fresh Start Face Masks and an Antidote Cooling Daily Lotion (which conveniently isn't sold separately, thus the lack of clicky link).

And then really, I thought that this price bracket was a good one for just getting a full size of something for the skincare lover in your life. Loads of my favourite skincare items are in the £15-£35 bracket like the Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel (£28), Indeed Labs Hydraluron (£24.99) or the Pixi Glow Tonic (£18).

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.