Christmas 2012 in Pictures!

We hope you all had a very Happy Christmas with your loved ones, and Santa bought you all you wished for! Now that it’s over for another year, we thought we’d share some photos from our day – we don’t know about you, but we love having a little nose into other peoples photo albums! 

We also want to take this opportunity to thank all of our readers for sticking with us since we launched on 3rd November this year. It’s been a manic few months, but everyone has been so lovely, we’ve already met so many wonderful people and found so many new, exciting brands that we can’t wait to share. 

Thank you again, here’s to a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2013 for everyone!

xxx

 

 

Christmas started off with a good night out with the girls.

Wearing a slick of black liquid liner and bright red lips with our Velvetine from Lime Crime!

What do you think?

 

 

 

 

It wouldn’t be Christmas without a few of the traditional decorations that have been around for years! 

 

 

 

  We know it’s a tad Circa 1970,

but we love Snowballs!

It doesn’t feel like Christmas

until we’ve had the first one of the year!

 

 

 

Of course Christmas is all about spending quality time with loved ones, and this year we felt that more than ever, but we were lucky enough to get a few lovely gifts too! Here are some of our favourites:

Love these shoe & handbag chocs, very us! The Toasted Marshmallow scented candle from Jelly Bean smells delicious…

 

 

 

We’re starting to get the feeling that we pong a bit,

as these were just one set of smellies

that we got this year! 

 

 

You can’t go wrong with a bit of colour,

and we love all of these W7 nail polishes!

Has anyone used W7 before?

What did you think? 

 

 

 

This Rose and Silver bracelet is one of our favourites, we love anything sparkly and the rose gold complements our Marc Jacobs watch!

This Logik Ultra Thin Keyboard Case for the iPad is actually a godsend! It will make writing pieces for thebeautyobsession so much easier without having to boot up the laptop! 

 

 

We got a few Nip & Fab goodies,

these lip balms smell lovely.

 Has anyone tried them before?

 

 

 

 

We’ve been after a glass nail file for ages,

so Santa came up trumps with this crystal

one from Leighton Denny!

The present that made us cry award goes to this Sister picture frame, with photos from childhood to the present day! Really love this one!

 

 

 

There was lots and lots of food!

In fact how much cheese do four people need?

Well, this much it appears! 

 

 

 

 

If anyone else loves Marmite,

you’ll appreciate this gift.

If you hate it, you won’t!

 

 

 

 

 

We ended Christmas day at about 1.30am in the garden looking at a spectacular Lunar Halo. Did anyone else see it? Apparently they’re more common that you’d think, but we thought it was amazing and as it’s the first time we’ve ever seen one, we’re taking it as a good omen for things to come! 

 

We’d love to see links to your Christmas posts, please leave them in the comments box so we can go and have a nose! 

Although Christmas is now technically over, you can win yourself some more great prizes by entering our December Beauty Box Giveaway and our Cheer Up January £50 ASOS Voucher Giveaway! 

We love how simple this fun look is to recreate!

Check out The Beauty Department blog for loads more inspiration, they’re one of our favourites!

There are some very talented nail artists out there, many of them bloggers. We thought we’d bring you the best of the best for the next few weeks, all with a festive theme! First up it’s these stunning nails by Dressed Up Nails, check out the blog for more pics and info on how to recreate it yourself!

We’re launching our #XmasANTIdiet today!

At thebeautyobsession, we firmly agree that everyone should look after their health to ensure that they’re not piling on the pounds and risking illnesses like diabetes and heart disease. BUT, and it’s a big but, we believe that Christmas should be a time for family, friends and fun and that you shouldn’t spend the last month of the year saying no to every mince pie and Quality Street that passes under your nose, just so you can squeeze into your Xmas party clothes!

That’s why we’re launching our #XmasANTIdiet! This isn’t a diet at all, it’s about how to make yourself feel the best you can, which is what we think is important. Over the next few days we’ll talk you through the basic principles, and in the weeks up to Christmas & New Year, we’ll be bringing you updates, tips and encouragement to help keep you going!

The important thing to remember is that these aren’t rules – we don’t like rules! At the end of the day, it’s your body and it’s entirely up to you what you eat and how you behave. We’ll give you some tips which we think will get you feeling great, and hopefully you’ll be inspired to carry on until you feel comfortable in your own skin.

Today we’re going to start with the first of our three key principles…..

Body Beautiful….

The first thing to think about is how you treat your body during the Winter months. What you put into your body is very important, but during the cold, wet and darker months of the year, many of us have a tendency to neglect ourselves. Anyone else live in opaque tights, boots, jumpers and scarves? Anyone else let their body beauty routine sleep as they’re too cold and tired to keep it up? Rather than revelling in the freedom that covering all parts of our body in woollen materials gives us, giving up on your body beautiful plan can often make you feel sluggish, grumpy and dare we say it unattractive. So rather than jump straight on a crash diet, focus on these easy things first:

• Scrub-a-DubDub – Your skin will dry out and become flaky and dull as the temperature drops. We know how tempting it is to get your morning shower over and done as quickly as possible so you don’t stand around shivering, however taking 2/3 minutes to use a body brush on your skin really will invigorate you. As well as helping to wake you up, it will help you look radiant and make your skin much softer. If you really don’t have a spare couple of minutes, you could use some exfoliating gloves in the shower rather than your usual body puff or sponge. You’ll be amazed at how much better your feel in your skin when it’s soft and silky!
• Soften Up – Often people neglect moisturising in the winter, after all if no one is going to see your pasty legs then what’s the point? Well, winter is the worst time for your skin as we’ve said, and using an intensive body butter or moisturiser once a day will help your skin look it’s best – which means you can start feeling your best!
• Get Grooming – Ok, admit it, how many of you get a bit lax on the old grooming routine during the winter months? We’re not saying there’s anything wrong with letting your body hair grow freely if that’s what you want, but if you wouldn’t be seen dead in the summer with fuzzy legs and other more, ahem delicate parts, then why do so in the winter? Ensuring you’re as fuzz free as you would be on your summer holiday will remind you of lazing on beaches and will mean you’re not so shy about showing anything below the ankle from November to February! 

Take some time today to think about how you can start making some of these very simple changes, and we promise that by Christmas you’ll be amazed with how good you feel in your skin, and let’s be honest, that’s what’s important isn’t it? Check back tomorrow for our next Key Principle; It’s all in the Mind!

Follow us on twitter @thebeautyobsess and use #XmasANTIdiet to share your thoughts and progress!

We didn’t want to say the C-word yet, but this made us……

CHRISTMAS!

Naughty, we’re not sure what you were thinking! We can’t believe that Christmas has come around so quickly, and we’ve decided to kick off our Christmas features with this little beauty! Luxury advent calendars are all the rage now, with Liz Earle, Lancom and other brands selling out fast. However, what we particularly like about this one from Latest in Beauty & YOU, is the fact that it contains so many different brands – you’ll be finding new products you love well into the new year!

The other rather tempting thing about this box, is the price. Worth over £200, you can pick it up for £59.95. But get in there quick, we don’t think these will be around for much longer!

For more info, visit Latest in Beauty.