Zoe's Musings

(4 days till Christmas!)


So, as you've probably noticed I haven't posted in a fair few days..

If I'm honest, life got a bit in the way, and I had coursework and an exam to revise for so blogging, once again, got put on a shelf for a little while until I sorted it all out. But now ladies and gentlemen and everyone in between, I am back.

The Christmas holidays have begun, I'm coming home for Christmas, and I couldn't be happier. I've had a rough old time the last little while and being surrounded by family over Christmas is just what I need.

I can't wait to begin regular posts again! I've missed it so much. I really do apologise for my failure at uploading at least twice a day. As a sorry, I have 2 posts going up today (1 at 4pm and 1 at 5pm), and 2 going up tomorrow. Hope you are all having a wonderful December!

(16 days till Christmas!)

Hi everyone! Today I thought I'd share my Christmas playlist with you all, with all of my favourite Christmas songs of all time! I made it on Spotify if you'd like to give it a listen! I'll be adding to it in the days up until Christmas.

Hopefully you've all mailed off your letters to Santa by now (lol), but in case you haven't, here's what I'm lusting after to help inspire you!

Source

1. A FujiFilm Instax Mini 8
Every blogger seems to have this adorable polaroid camera, and I've wanted one for years. I've recently really got into disposable cameras/photography, so a polaroid camera seems right up my street.

2. White Dainty Low-Top Converse
Again, I think I seem to be the last one on the planet to get these. They're so pretty, and I'm having to chuck out a load of my old canvas shoes because they are completely battered, so it'll be nice to replace them with some really pretty white converse.

3. Benefit RollerLash
I can't bring myself to fork out £20 for a mascara (that's about as much as I pay for a week's food shop so it seems a bit excessive, but everyone raves about it so much that I need to try it!

3. Naked 2 or 3 Palette
Can you believe I've never tried any of the Naked palettes?! Yeah, me either.. So this year I've asked for either naked 2 or naked 3 (as I couldn't quite decide which one I liked better!)

4. Baking Equipment
I'm obsessed with baking, I absolutely love it, but at uni I don't have any baking equipment of my own, so a few times I've made cookies by completely guessing the measurements. They've turned out surprisingly well each time, but it's still not quite the same as if I had proper scales and measuring cups of my own.

5. Comfy bedding/cushions/throws for my room
I love my bed, it's the first time in my life I've ever had a double bed, but it's not the comfiest because it's definitely lacking in the cushion/throw department, so I've asked for some nice cozy blankets and pillows to make it even more comfy!

So these are some of the things I've asked for for Christmas and my birthday, I'm not really a big one or asking for loads of things, but these things I've lusted after for ages!

I've never bought any lush products before this. Yep, I know. A blogger who's never tried anything from Lush.

I find Lush very overwhelming whenever I go in. All of the colours and smells are very overstimulating and I find myself walking away with nothing whenever I go in there because I don't know where to start. I love watching Lush hauls, but there are so many products I've found it hard to get into Lush as a brand. Until now.

I've been needing a new face mask for the longest time, as I suffer from pretty rubbish skin and spots and I find the only things that really help are good face masks. As I'm a poor uni student I don't have the money to buy something high end, and I find that it's difficult to find high quality masks that work on the high street.

I did my research on Lush face masks and decided that the Mask of Magnaminty was a good place to start, as it's got many ingredients that calm and exfoliate the skin. You can read the full description on the Lush site here.


The way I use the mask is I cleanse my face first, and dry it, and then put a decent layer of the mask on, and leave it for about 20 minutes, or until it becomes stiff. Then I wet my hands slightly and scrub the face mask to make the most of the exfoliating properties, and wipe the rest off with a clean washcloth. I then tone and moisturise my face as normal. It leaves my skin feeling soft and smooth, and very clean but without feeling scrubbed raw.

I find it also works very well as a targeted spot treatment, as I put it on specific areas of my face where I can feel a spot coming, leave it for a bit and then scrub it off and my skin feels much less inflamed and looks calmer, without feeling at all tight or dry. The only thing that puts me off a bit is the smell, it's pretty strong, and also it can be quite hard to get off!

I would definitely recommend this face mask, as even though I bought the smaller size pot it's lasted me for quite a while, and it's relatively inexpensive too. So a big thumbs up from me, and I can't wait to try more Lush products!

(20 days till Christmas!)

November has definitely been a challenging month. As I mentioned last month, October/November are two of my hardest months for school/uni. Unfortunately this month I had the added trouble of relationship drama as well as just suffering mentally being able to cope with everything that was piling up around me.

So far unfortunately that has spilled into December, and while I hope things will calm down once I go home for Christmas I'm not too sure it will.

This month my main aim is to make sure I'm happy and healthy over the Christmas holidays. I've been perpetually unwell this last couple of months due to stress, so some time off over Christmas will be amazing.

I'd also like to enjoy a stress-free Christmas day, surrounded by family. I can't wait!

My next goal for December is to try and start revision for exams, I'm definitely not going to leave all my revision to January if I can avoid it!

My last goal for December is to really make the most of Christmas and my birthday this year, because last year I feel like I blinked and it was over!