2015 Goals | December & Happy New Year!

I can't end 2015 without completing my 'Goals' series. In January, I always write a post with several things I want to achieve throughout the year then, quarterly, I write updates. I did this in 2014, 2015 and I intend to continue in 2016 too! You can catch up on 2015's posts here:

January, April, August

I think since 'goals' seems to have acquired a new meaning this year I'll just call them resolutions next year!

So, let's have a look at what I've achieved this year...

1. Be more online

As I said in August, I'm pretty active on Twitter these days (@MystNeonLights) I'm always tweeting random thoughts and pictures. In Summer, I made a few YouTube videos because it was the holidays and I had lots of time to spare but since then I haven't really done a lot.

But, if anything, I think I've become less online throughout 2015 which is pretty sad. My blog has been sorely neglected over the last few months so I hope in 2016 I'll feel more inspired! (Hence light bulb)

2. Be more confident

I'm definitely more confident these days, especially with speaking to other people but I think that's because my job requires me to have a bit of confidence. I don't think I'm ever going to be one of them overly-confident, fearless people, I'm far too much of an over thinker! Maybe I should learn to accept it and move on?

3. Buy a coffee machine

This is definitely my most failed goal of 2015. Still no coffee machine for meeeeee. I'll have to wait until we either have a new kitchen or I have my own house...

4. Save up



...Which brings me on nicely to my next point! In August I had nothing to report, I hadn't saved a dime and now I can proudly tell you I HAVE SAVNGS! I was inspired by that post to make my first payment into a savings account and since then I've saved, saved, saved.

I want to open one of them Help To Buy ISA accounts next year so I'm glad I've saved a good amount to open one :) It's definitely not before time that I started saving for a mortgage.

5. Go to more places

Very pleased with this goal too! This year I have been to: Liverpool x2, Amsterdam, Chester, I've been to Yorkshire and done the 3 Peaks Challenge (read about it here), London and Stuttgart for the Christmas markets which I'll write a post about soon.

I hope that next year I'll visit more places because I just love seeing other cities. I'd absolutely love to go to New York. There's always hope.

6. Do more cooking 

My cooking skills have really improved this year and I'm so proud. I'm no chef but I've got frozen food down to a T, I make a mean bacon butty and I can concoct a decent dinner pretty well which is better than not even knowing which knob turns the oven on. I hope that next year I'll start cooking things from scratch, like pasta. I love pasta. :))))

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So that concludes my goals for 2015. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the progress I've made, particularly with numbers 4, 5 and 6.

I've got a few posts planned for next week, including a Christmas/Boxing Day haul and a Stuttgart photo diary. I've also ordered an Erin Condren Life Planner in an attempt to plan/scrapbook my life throughout 2016 I'm hoping that it'll motivate me to plan blog posts because I used to thoroughly enjoy scrapbooking and crafty projects!

Anyway, that's everything for 2015 from me!
I hope you all have a spectacular New Year and 2016.... See you on the other side!

Leanne x

Black Friday Sale Haul!

I'm always just a bit behind the trend. Black Friday - almost a month ago and here I am with a haul. Downton Abby - almost finished and here's me considering starting to watch it. What can I say? Always behind the trend.

I actually totally disregarded Black Friday until someone mentioned that ASOS had a good sale on plus 20% off your bill so I had to take a peek. Then the dominos started falling and before I knew it, I'd spent up. 

I'm just going to show you what I bought in no particular order and since I've had these for a while I'll be able to give you some reviews along the way. 

I went on Look Fantastic and picked up this Ole Henriksen 3 Little Wonders gift set. It was £18 and came with a 'free' cleanser as well. In all honesty I've heard a lot of people talking about this brand on YouTube etc. and I just wanted to give my face a little winter treat. I doubt I'll ever actually buy anything full size.

So far, I really like the night time gel (in the green tub) and the moisturiser (in the blue tub) my skin felt very smooth and soft after just one use where I used it very sparingly. I've also tried the foaming cleanser once but my skin was very dried out the day after so I'm not sure whether to use that again.

I can't find this exact gift set online but here's a similar set.

Next I payed my favourite nail polish website, Nail Polish Direct, a visit. They had a sale on which included some really good deals. I picked up two China Glaze colours which I'm yet to use and two glitter polishes from a brand I've never heard of before called Cuccio.

These were discounted to about £3.50 from £9 and when I googled some pictures I loved them. I've worn them both and I'll definitely write a post with swatches soon.

You can easily find them online but I've just found this awesome gift set which I'm now eyeing up for myself.

Sheer Glow is a foundation that's been on my wish list for a long time. However the £34 price tag kept putting me off but on the Black Friday weekend I found a sale which had it on offer for £24! AND in the shade Siberia which I matched myself to via google images. It's not on sale anymore but the website is called HQ Hair and you can see it here. (They currently have a 15% off code too)

As I was already ordering one item I was feeling a bit frivolous and bought a NARS blush too in the shade OASIS. I did some googling and this was my favourite shade. I thought it was very wearable and fitting for the season. This was £18.

I've worn it every day since I received it and I love it. Only from the slightest tap of a brush you can achieve a full colour, I can see me having this forever because it's just never going to run out.

I have really ventured out of my comfort zone with this haul as far as websites are concerned because next I made an account with Illamasqua. They had some really good offers in the sale as well as 20% off site-wide.

I picked up a nail polish in the sale for £4.50 called Charisma this is a deep pink colour with a slight shimmer I haven't used it yet but since these polishes are supposed to be about £15 I'm looking forward to trying it!

I also bought two intense lip glosses for £7 each. After searching some images online, I decided on Belladonna (pink) and Boost (purple). I've worn Belladonna on a night out and it was a lovely, deep pinky/red colour, very long wearing and pigmented, only downfall is the applicator which isn't very precise.

I actually first saw this Illamasqua Celestial palette on MissBudgetBeauty's YouTube channel. It looked so stunning that I had to have a look if it was in a sale anywhere. The cheapest I could find it was £30 on Debenhams and I still can't believe I bought it at that price especially after seeing it on ASOS for about £24 a few days ago.

Despite the high price tag I'm glad that I picked it up as I'm determined to get my wear out of it over Christmas and my Birthday. As everyone seems to be saying, the rose gold colour is definitely a stunner.

This must be tan number 157 on my tried and tested list. Being as pale as I am I'm always open to tan suggestions. I bought this after seeing it in a video of SprinkleOfGlitter's, she always looks perfectly bronzed and I want that to be me. I found a really good deal on eBay for a tan, mitt and a pair of gloves for £19.99 so I snapped that up.

I've used it a few times since buying it and I have to say it's quickly becoming a very expensive favourite of mine. It's an instant tan but does develop slightly too. It doesn't irritate my skin and the best bit? It smells like marzipan! No more horrible biscuit-y tan smell. Yay!

Moving onto the final part of the haul, are the bits and pieces from ASOS. I wanted to buy a dress to wear on my birthday which is in January and I also wanted a few tops I could wear over Christmas. I always wear black leather pants with heels so I picked these up with that in mind.

Vila Sleeveless Shirt in Blur Prink - £12
Minimum Shimmer Boyfriend T-Shirt - £20

The shimmery t-shirt looks silver online and I was a bit sad to find it's more of a gold colour. I thought that was a bit deceptive. Also, I bought it in a size X Small and it's still pretty big.

Sister Jane Emperor Dress - £40 AX Paris Sequin Swing Top - £22 Girls on Film Metallic Cut Out Top - £15 Again, the dress looks more silver online than it is in reality which is annoying. It's still a very pretty dress though. Also, I can't actually wait until I can wear that sequin top - it's stunning! So that's everything I picked up in the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales. I hope you enjoyed reading this and I'm sorry it was so long winded! Hopefully my next post will be showing you my Christmas decorations :) See you next time,  Leanne x