Lighthearted Beauty and Lifestyle... Honestly.
Scrolling aimlessly through Twitter one day (you can follow me if you like random retweets and nonsense) I noticed a few popular tweets talking about stereotypical bloggers. Use rose gold, marble, fake flowers and bits of gold jewellery in a flatlay? Be overly positive about […]
“NEW YEAR, NEW ME” is in every other Instagram caption, like a new number on the end of the date can automatically change someone’s personality. You sigh, knowing that the 1st of January is just another day and has no significance on people’s lives, despite […]
In December, I always reflect on the past year and think about the aspects of it I’d like to change for the year ahead. Usually this just means writing resolutions (‘Lose Weight’ has been top of my list since 2008) but this year I want […]
Concealers are a tricky one to find if you’re as white as a ghost like me. It gets even more difficult if you’re after a more affordable, drugstore option. Shade ranges are definitely improving (expansion of existing shade ranges and new launches with both paler […]
Links are affiliated but opinions are my own A new year, a new box! I was looking forward to receiving a box of goodies this month, as the post-Christmas blues is definitely a thing. Despite having a lovely festive period previously, with nice food and […]
I’ve mentioned before how I want to create more goals for myself in 2019, and how important I think resolutions are for my personal growth, even I don’t stick to them. I think 2018 was a bit of a ‘practice run’ for me; I didn’t […]
December flew by, which was a little frightening when it reached teens of the month and I hadn’t done my Christmas shopping yet. Luckily, I managed to finish before it became too much of an issue (thank you, Amazon Prime free trial), but every year […]
I love a good dupe and I’ve talked about Revolution dupes in great detail before, reviewing countless products from one of their brands that take inspiration from other, more high-end products. I thought it would be beneficial to probably quite a few people if I made a list of […]
THIS MONTH’S THEME: CHRISTMAS! Links are affiliated but opinions are my own This month marks two years of my LookFantastic Beauty Box subscription! I’m obviously pretty happy with my subscription if I’ve received 24 boxes with no doubt about renewing the subscription for another year. […]
In December, I always reflect on the past year and think about the aspects of it I’d like to change for the year ahead. Usually this just means writing resolutions (‘Lose Weight’ has been top of my list since 2008) but this year I want […]
Is it just me, or did November last almost as long as January did? January seems like a thousand years ago, but also this year has gone quick at the same time. Not sure how that works, but that’s how I feel. Except for this […]
Bronzers are notoriously tricky to find for those of us who are pale AF, especially from the drugstore, where shade ranges are often not great. However, I’ve accumulated my personal favourites under a tenner that should work for most paler skin tones. I’ve also done a […]
Links are affiliated but opinions are 100% my own, as always! In a surprise drop, I Heart Revolution launched the Cranberries & Chocolate palette, which was previously only available to buy within the Chocolate Vault. They were originally not going to be sold separately, but […]
Hi! I’m Holly, also known as Hollife. I’m 24 and I’m married with six (animal) children. Honestly, Holly started with the intention of being honest, relatable and fun. I hope I’ve succeeded. Have fun browsing my posts and don’t forget to check out my YouTube channel!
December flew by, which was a little frightening when it reached teens of the month and I hadn’t done my Christmas shopping yet. Luckily, I managed to finish before it became too much of an issue (thank you, Amazon Prime free trial), but every year it’s a close call. I do love December, despite the stress and panic-buying, but it’ll be a bit of a relief once it’s all over.
At the end of every month, I’ve decided to create my monthly Edits – a mixture of product favourites, other things I’ve been loving, a life update and any other bits and pieces I want to include. It’ll be a great way to summarise my month and something interesting to look back on in the future. Links are affiliated.
SHOP MY FAVES
EYN palettes / Beauty Bay / £8 or £12 each
Identity Colour Theory palette / Beauty Bay / £25
Beauty Bay released a new collection of palettes and makeup brushes (I tested them out in a video) and I fell hopelessly in love with the three 9-pan matte palettes. I’m hoping that they release new colour schemes with these palettes, as the formula of the palettes are amazing, especially for the super affordable price. I also absolutely love the Colour Theory palette in the Identity shade (shade? palette?), which has some beautiful neutrals and pops of colour. I am in LOVE with Beauty Bay’s eyeshadows.
Usually this is where I’d talk about my Lifestyle Favourites, but as it’s the end of the year (and actually marks one year of these monthly edits!), I thought I’d talk about the things I’ve achieved in 2018.
As I’d hope, my makeup skills have improved considerably since this time last year. In December 2017, I did my first eyes-before-face look and my mind was blown about the whole application process. But improvement is never a straight line – there has been plenty of times where my makeup seemed to take a few steps back, but I feel like I’m finally at a place where my makeup – if I don’t completely fail – looks good, every time I do it.
In March and October, I was invited to the Revolution birthday and Halloween events, which were by far the best nights of the year. I felt so honoured to be invited, and I bumped into so many awesome bloggers, youtubers and instagrammers that I’d admired from afar. I met Sophdoesnails, CarmiMUA and Tammi Clarke (all absolutely lovely, by the way) and spoke with Adam Minto, the founding director of RevolutionBeauty.
In January, we bought a house, which should probably be the ‘biggest thing’ of 2018, but it didn’t feel like a huge deal to me. We’ve been living in the house since early 2016, and we bought it for a lot cheaper than market value, which meant we didn’t have to pay any deposit. I know we’re incredibly lucky and hardly anyone gets the same opportunity as we did, which is why I don’t really like mentioning it.
What I am proud of, however, is the fact that we renovated one of the rooms completely. The only thing we got outside help with was replastering (an unexpected expense) and part of the deal on our carpet was free fitting, so obviously we said yes please! We stripped the entire room to the bare brick and floorboards, then built it up again. I’m proud of what we did! You can see the transformation here.
I’ve been thinking a lot about 2019 this month, as I’m sure we all do before a new year. I’ve been trying to decide what I want to do with my year, how I want to move my content forward, how I want to live my life. I will make a separate blog post on what I’ve decided (or thought about deciding), but let’s just say, it’s been a bit of a game-changer for me.
I’ve given up Facebook. Well, that’s a lie. I’ve partially given up Facebook… I was feeling a lot of stress due to the arguments and hate I was seeing daily on my News Feed; when I got a notification about a post I’d commented on, I would feel a bundle of nerves in my stomach about what I might see. I’m also not a huge fan of how Facebook is censoring things that needn’t be censored, but allowing things that definitely should be censored to pass through the filters. Admins of Facebook groups favouring certain people and topics, even if they’re problematic and causing harm to others, but shutting down comment sections of innocent posts. It just isn’t the place for me right now. I deleted the app, unfollowed/left a couple of groups and only check it every so often rather than multiple times a day.
YOUTUBE
Review Update: I ♥ Chocolate / Beauty Glazed Saturn Review / Best Eyeshadow Palettes of 2018 / Lipstick Collection / Makeup I’ll Be Rebuying in 2019 / Makeup I Won’t Be Rebuying in 2019 / Review Update: Chocolate & Peaches / Festive Chatty GRWM / £140 Makeup Haul / £400 Makeup Haul Update / Beauty Bay EYN Palettes Review / Review Update: Flawless 3 Resurrection / What I Got For Christmas / Worst Makeup of 2018
BLOG
My Beauty Goals for 2019 / LookFantastic Beauty Box Unboxing / Every Single RevolutionBeauty Dupe
WATCHING / Black Lightning (currently like half-way through) READING / I got an Amazon Prime free trial, so I’ve had a few eBooks downloaded whilst I get them for free / PLAYING / Chris got a few games for Christmas… / WEARING / Festive jumpers (before Christmas, anyway) and sparkly earrings / USING / My skin is SO dry! I’ve been slathering my face with as much moisturiser as possible / EATING / Christmas chocolate. Christmas food. Everything / LISTENING TO / Before Christmas, my ‘Bangin’ Christmas Tunes’ playlist on Spotify, but now it’s a bit of Marina and the Diamonds – I used to love her Electra Heart and Family Jewels albums!