Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Blogmas Day 4

Gift Guide: For Her // Under £20

Do you find buying Christmas presents hard? I do…! I feel like the older I get, the harder it is to choose what to buy, so this year I’ve been turning to gift guides for help, which has been amazing. I’ve gotten so much inspiration from these that I thought I would join in and show you a few bits that I hope you will love – from housey bits to Christmas PJ’s, I’ve tried to cover a range of areas for you to have a peak at! What’s on your Christmas list this year?.

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Zoella bath fizzers (£9): I’ve absolutely loved trying all of Zoe’s Christmas products. I mean, just look at that packaging – how can you say no to rose gold and ribbons? I LOVE the jar and know I will use it for jewellery afterwards, or maybe a little plant. The balls are so cute and are the perfect size for a bath with a little added luxury. 
Topshop purse (£18): I find it really hard to find a good purse….usually it’s too small or has a hideous inner lining or no card holder bit. It sounds really stupid, but it’s so very hard to find a good’un! I spotted this one immediately as I love anything silver and shiny, as I am a bit of a magpie. It’s a great size, has all the compartments you ever need and I think it’s the perfect pressie for absolutely anyone!
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ASOS mittens (£16): Gloves at Christmas are a must. I don’t think you can ever have too many and every year I somehow manage to lose my pairs from last year – I mean seriously, where do they go? Anyway, I wanted to include this pair of mittens as I think they are super cute.
Paperchase frame (£10):The sentimental route is always a winner as there is nothing better than receiving a gift that has been carefully chosen just for you! Buying a frame and popping a photo inside is so very simple, yet lovely and thoughtful. 
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ASOS pudding PJ’s (£20): In our family we always get new Pajamas at Christmas, it’s a bit of a tradition and one I love as there’s nothing better than putting new pj’s on, on Christmas Eve and feeling super fresh and cosy. I just had to get these shorts, they don’t come with a top but a plain t-shirt works perfectly with them!
Paper Chase writing set (£5): I absolutely love writing sets.  Sometimes you don’t want to email or text, you want to hold something in your hands and know that someone has written it just for you. I thought this set was super sweet, and a perfect perfect gift for someone close.
 
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Lush, Joy to the world (9.95): I mean who doesn’t love Lush? Best gift ever. This one includes a hand cream and Yog Nog soap – great combo. I mean just look at that packaging – it’s all done for you and full of lushness!
Topshop Socks (3 for £8): These, to me, just shout Christmas – glitter, glitter and more glitter please. I chose red, gold and green as I thought they were most appropriate and go soosoo well together.  A great little stocking gift or secret santa!
         

Blogmas Day 3

THE BODY SHOP CHRISTMAS




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Following on from last night’s blog post on the beautiful Tarte christmas gifts, I wanted to enlighten you on the newer bits from The Body Shop this season. The Body Shop is always a firm favourite of mine for fool-proof gifting. There will always be something that someone will love and the extensive range of scents and fragrances mean the choice is almost impossible. Their new scent this year is frosted plum which smells absolutely divine, I’ve been using the body butter (an absolute Body Shop much have) and the sweet, fruity scent lingers whilst keeping your skin lovely and moisturised. They also have some new additions to their makeup range with these adorable palettes with geometric packaging (turns out it’s all about the geometric shapes this christmas when it comes to packaging). The gold eyeshadow palette has some really beautiful shades in it, combining hues of purple and gold for a pretty festive look. It’s probably not the colour palette I would usually put on my eyes, but my mum would absolutely love this! The sparklers caught my eye immediately with their cute little vintage-perfume-bottle-dressing-table feel. I absolutely loved the idea that before a night out, you could spritz shimmer dust over your body for a party glow. This comes in two pretty shades, one in light pink and another with a slight more peachy vibe. I also wanted to include this adorable cherry blossom gift set in this post too, as it’s one of my favourite scents from the Body Shop and to receive this as a gift, would make me very happy. The scent is very delicate but also feminine and not too sweet, making it the perfect perfume, plus the box is adorable and reminds me of an igloo! What are your go-to gifts from The Body Shop? I always think you can’t go wrong with a body butter personally! 

Saturday, December 5, 2015

Blogmas Day 2

MINCE PIES





Okay, so I have to admit i'm not the biggest fan of mince pies. I've tried to like them over the years I really have, but there's just something about the currents and sultanas that I can't quite stomach. This doesn't however stop me from baking them or eating the warm shortcrust pastry once the festive season comes around. I like that some of the mincemeat juice soaks into the pastry to give it a lovely christmassy taste (without actually eating the entire filling). The below is a simple, very easy to follow recipe that I used to make my mince pies this year, and the mincemeat was a christmas spice version of the original and although I didn't eat it, everyone else told me it was delicious! haha. How do you make your mince pies? mp1

SERVINGS: MAKES 12      
DIFFICULTY: EASY

    YOU WILL NEED...

  • 680g Plain Flour
  • 400g Cold Unsalted Butter
  • 4 tbsps Caster Sugar
  • 5 Large Egg Yolks (Keep one aside for brushing the tops!)
  • 8 tbsp Cold Water
  • 1 Pinch Salt
  • 1 Jar Mincemeat – I like Waitrose’s Christmas Signature Spice
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  • Preheat the oven to 175oC
    Sift together the flour and salt into a bowl. Using your fingers, rub in the cold butter until you have a crumble-like mixture. Stir in the sugar and egg yolks, and add the water a tablespoon at a time until the mixture draws together to make a dough. Press the dough into a ball, and wrap in clingfilm to chill for 10 minutes.

    Roll out onto a clean surface, dusted with flour using a rolling pin. Using a round cutter, I prefer ones with fluted edges, cut out circles to fit into the muffin tin. Grease your muffin tin with butter before gently pushing the circles in. Add a teaspoon full of mincemeat into each mince pie. With the remaining dough, cut out little shapes like stars and pop onto the top of the pies. Brush over with the remaining egg yolk. Bake for 15-20 minutes until glossy and golden brown! Best served warm with a christmassy drink or a glass of milk !
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Friday, December 4, 2015

Blogmas Day 1

URBAN DECAY GWEN STEFANI EYESHADOW PALLETE



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Urban Decay are always a brand I get most excited for when there is news of a palette release. I love Urban Decay eye shadows and the Naked palettes are pretty much a staple in my makeup collection as they offer a great range of colours for the nude lover as well as wearing really well and blending like a dream. When I went through my PO Box last week, I was completely blown away by the fact that there was a record player in amongst the various other beauty items. Nestled within the box was the press release, a Gwen Stafani vinyl and a palette. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the palette, but knowing that Gwen Stafani had designed it, I anticipated quite a lot of vibrant and adventurous colours which wouldn’t have been up my street. However, instead I was met with a gorgeous array of nudes, golds and taupes in a variety of mattes and shimmers with only two slightly more colourful options and I instantly fell in love. Gwen actually worked with Urban Decay to create the palette full of all the shades she always wished she had in her makeup collection. Twelve of the shades are brand new to UD and three are already in the eyeshadow collection. The names of the colours are all very Gwen Stefani appropriate and I think this wins hands down for the coolest press release of all time…A BLOOMIN’ RECORD PLAYER I TELL YOU!
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I knew instantly that this palette was going straight into my everyday makeup bag and although the pink and blue shades probably won’t get used as much, when I swatched the blue I was pleasantly surprised by it’s appearance. It has specks of iridescent blue in it, and if I could pull off blue shadow without it looking like a child has raided their mum’s makeup bag, I would TOTALLY attempt to rock this. These are the perfect shadows to perfect some serious smokey, neutral eyes to pair with a festive red lip for this time of year and I cannot wait. This release has also sparked my inner love for Gwen Stefani and the amazing album that is L.A.M.B. It’s full of classics that most people you meet are guaranteed to know the words to. Once I can get this record player up and sorted I will be dancing about my house with perfectly blended eyeshadow to “Hollaback Girl”. The palette is limited edition and available to buy from November 22nd from www.urbandecay.co.uk for £40.
Is this going straight on your christmas wish list? Has this made you want to dig out your Gwen albums too? 

BLOGMAS STARTING ON THE 5th December

Starting Blogmas
..............................................................
on the 5th December 2015 - 25th December 2015

Hello my dearest viewers,

We all know Christmas is coming!
I was thinking about 20 days of theWatchFilter which includes:

  • Amazing Posts
  • Giveaways
  • Baking Videos
  • Sharing my daily journal
  • Q & A  /v.i.a. twitter/
  • And more for you decide on twitter.
What do you think guys?
REMEMBER THIS STARTS ON THE 5th.

Francesca
theWatchFilter 

Saturday, September 19, 2015

So many inspiring people on the NET

Welcome to theWatchFilter


You all must agree to this. There are so many inspiring people on the NET. You mustn't say no. In this blog I am going to give many shout-outs to many different people - for their inspiring DIYs and videos which tend to make people happy.

Let's go
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1st Shout-Out

The first one obviously goes to the vlogger of the year Zoella. Zoella is a 25 year old vlogger + author + beauty critic. She has written the best selling novel of all time Girl Online. And on the 20th October 2015, I am going to have her new book in my hands, Girl Online on tour. Lets give a shout-out for Zoe Sugg (Zoella)

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2nd Shout-Out





My second shout out goes to Pointless Blog. Alfie Deyes, is an internet sensataion with his vlogging channel Pointless Blog. He wrote two books. They are called Pointless Book and Pointless Book 2. His videos are day in life and challenges. Lets give a shout-out to Alfie Deyes (Pointless Blog).

                                                                  

                                     
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3rd Shout-Out







My third shout-out goes to Bethany Mota. A DIY lover, a dancer, and vlogger. She is very appealing and does videos at all times. She does day in life videos, what she is doing, routines and DIYs. She doesn't vlog daily but her vlog always get posted on time.




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4th Shout-Out







My fourth shout-out goes to a teenager who opened up a viral channel named  "Sara's beauty Corner". It has over 110,847,649 views. It has been running from 2012. She has DIYs, make up, day in life, routines, and nail art. She is a very successful teenager.




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5th Shout-Out





My fifth shout-out goes to Emily-Jade, a SAK's channel critic. She also has her own channel. It has been running since 2013 and she has over 6,185,430 views. She shoots all types of videos. Her life motto is "Life holds a special magic for those who dare to dream". She has a passion for fashion, editing and filming.





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These are the 5 most famous vloggers, 3 adult super famous vloggers, and 2 teen vloggers

Friday, September 4, 2015

Autumn ; /fashion, season ext.../

                             Welcome to theWatchFilter
What is Autumn?

Change in google, clothes, make up looks, backgrounds. So much difference. It is only a few days a ways so let us get prepared.

See, I wasn't lying about google

Fall Fashion 2015

            




Autumn Make up LOOks 2015

   

Autumn Food