We’ve finally reached the end of January! It feels like it has lasted about three Decembers but we’re finally here. Last year, to round up the month I would write a monthly mixtape post, but this year I wanted to change things up a bit and share my favourites from other topics such as beauty, books and film too.
To start off my beauty favourites, something I’ve owned for a while but only started loving lately is the Benefit Hoola Bronzer. For some reason, I’ve tried it a few times but never properly until this month when I couldn’t stop wearing it. I’ve used it pretty much every time I’ve done my makeup this month because it gives such a lovely contour and surprisingly matches perfectly with my pale skin tone – I was always worried it would be too orange but it isn’t at all!
For Christmas, I received the MAC Snowball collection Rose Gold palette and it is so gorgeous! I went for a meal the other day which gave me the perfect opportunity to experiment with the ‘dazzleshadow’ shades, which are absolutely stunning! They are really pretty and glittery while being really easy to apply because they’re pressed instead of loose like my MAC glitter. I also love the matte shade it comes with and the satins too – something I am impressed with as I haven’t always got along with MAC’s satin eyeshadows!
I purchased my first product from NARS this month, as you may remember, and I’m so glad I did because their satin lip pencil in Rykugien has been a staple for me lately! I love how easy it is to apply while being so pigmented and comfortable on the lips.
A perfume I have loved this month is Gucci Bloom, which I received for Christmas. How pretty and unique is the bottle? It smells just as good as well so I have loved using it this month, no doubt I will use it for a long time to come as it is definitely my favourite perfume at the moment!
I don’t always have the most time to read books so I was really happy that this month I have finally finished Alexandra Schulman’s Inside Vogue, her diary during the time of being editor-in-chief of Vogue in 2016 when it celebrated 100 years. Because she led my dream job I found it incredibly interesting to read and learnt so much about both the fashion and magazine industry too. It took me a couple of months to read but only because I haven’t been rushing it and reading it on evenings when I had less on to enjoy it even more!
January has been an amazing month for cinema releases. I went to see Darkest Hour, about Churchill at the start of the second world war and really enjoyed it, by far one of the best films I have seen in a while. I realised I love historical films and so also went to see The Post, which stars Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks and is about The Washington Post at the time of the Vietnam War. This one probably required a little more historical knowledge as it was a bit more complicated but as it was set at the exact same time period I am studying in history, I found it really interesting – especially when some of the characters are actually people we have learnt about in class!
Taylor Swift’s Reputation album is one I have played a lot this month, especially the songs …Ready For It, I Did Something Bad and New Years Day. Often when I listen to an album whilst out and about I just replay my favourites and those three are them at the moment!
Another album I have been loving is Niall Horan’s Flicker, which I have on vinyl. I am definitely impressed with Niall’s solo material; his personal style really shines through. My favourite on it is the first track, On The Loose, it begins the album perfectly and I really like it.
January has been a busy month, getting back into college after Christmas and was made even busier because I participated in our college’s French exchange, having a lovely french exchange partner to stay with us for the week. It was a challenge and I felt ridiculously tired but all in all, it was really enjoyable and I can’t wait to go over to France in March. We visited Chester with college one day and it was a lovely city, the buildings are so picturesque!
