September Favourites 2016

It's been a while since my last monthly favourites post because I'm just that useless, so I've combined my favourite things from over the last few months for today's post.

These are some of the things I've been enjoying lately...

I have a real weakness for fun novelty brooches, so I couldn't resist treating myself to this cute resin owl brooch from Cath Kidston a month or two back. In fact, I had to buy it the moment I first saw it. In all honesty, I got bored of the owl trend a few years ago, but I think this little guy is adorable, and it's the perfect finishing touch for Autumn outfits. He's really study and well made, and the best part is he was only £8! (Psst! I blogged about him in more detail here).

I know I've not blogged any outfit photos in forever (sadly, I've not been physically up to it in forever), but that doesn't mean I haven't acquired a new dress or two lately. One of my favourite new additions has to be the Brittany blue lipstick and lips print swing dress from Lindy Bop; it's one of the most beautiful dresses I've ever seen or owned. Along with that amazing print it has the sweetest little love heart pockets (yes, it has pockets!), short sleeves, a heart cut-out to the back, and a big flared skirt. Every last detail is perfect. The fit is quite generous, so I'd recommend sizing down if you choose to buy one, but I can promise you, it's well worth a purchase.

Being unable to leave the house much this year, I haven't had much opportunity to wear make up (it seems pointless putting on my face for bed rest), so I've only recently started trying out the Urban Decay Vice 4 eyeshadow palette I got last Christmas... and I adore it! I'm not sure why I'm including this set since it was a limited edition set and it's no longer available to buy, but the colours are so pretty and the shadows so high-quality that I felt it deserved a quick mention. It has an amazing variety of colours, and I love that it has a mixture of brights and neutrals. Of course, the bright shadows are my favourites- especially that amazing emerald green shade 'grasshopper', which I'm rather obsessed with. (Green eye make up is my favourite). I personally think these are some of the best colourful eyeshadows out there. The colour pay off is incredible, they're long lasting, blendable, and feel velvety-soft on my skin. They're perfect in my eyes. Step aside from the Naked range, and try some of Urban Decay's colourful make up, too- I promise you won't regret it!

I've been working my way through the new nail polishes I gained over the Summer, and I've already managed to wear each polish more than once. I have to say, I bloody love all of them! Both brands of nail polish are fast-drying, glide on wonderfully, and remain chip-free for at least a couple of days. The Mavala nail colours tend to be chip-resistant for a little longer than the Sally Hansen polishes, but they're both great quality formulas. Every shade is beautiful, too. The Sally Hansen Salon Manicure polishes featured above are Frutti Petutie, Aria Red-y?, and New Flame, and the Mavala polishes were all from the Shades Of Summer set, which includes Madrid, Sunset Orange, Nice, Osaka, and Bangkok. As I'm sure you can tell, I love wearing reds, oranges, corals, and dark pinks on my nails! 

As usual, I've been busy cross-stitching away, and after finishing my Home Sweet Home sampler in August, I began working on this very colourful patchwork Christmas kit from Riverdrift House. It's been really fun to work on so far, and it's so easy to follow as the entire design is colour-blocked in simple patterns. It's bigger than it looks, though, and the largest I've attempted, but I'm hoping I'll manage to get it finished in time for Christmas. Fingers crossed! 5/8ths down, 3/8ths to go!

I haven't watched a huge amount of new films or TV shows lately, but I've been enjoying Containment, and loved watching The 5th Wave, 10 Cloverfield Lane, The Giver, and The Longest Ride for the first time. All such great films. I was most surprised by 10 Cloverfield Lane; it was so different to what I was expecting, and nothing like the first film at all, but I loved it. Although I'll never look at John Goodman in the same way again; dear God, he's terrifying in that movie!

I've read several books over the last month or so, although I'm ashamed to admit that three of them were Nicholas Sparks novels. I'm not usually one for soppy romance / chick-lit novels, and would generally rather stick pins in my eyes, but for some reason during an August heatwave, I had an urge to read something easy I could read in a day without thinking... and ended up reading three. I must have had heatstroke. Ahem. As romance novels go, The Lucky One, and The Rescue weren't too bad, but The Choice read like a sloppy teenage fan fic. Not necessarily a bad thing if you like that sort of thing, but his books really aren't for me. I did however thoroughly enjoy The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge, and The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton- both great books I would highly recommend. I'm hoping to review them properly as soon as I get a spare second.

I'm now reading Wool by Hugh Howey, which has been on my to be read pile for years, and although I'm only a couple of chapters in, I'm loving it so far.

And last but by no means least, I've been enjoying working my way through the latest book in the Listography series; Spirit Listography: My Inner Self In Lists. Like the other Listography books, it's a fun creative writing book, packed full of listing prompts, with a full page beneath each one for compiling the list, and a pretty watercolour illustration on the adjacent page. As the name of the book suggests, the lists focus on topics about our inner selves; our minds, bodies, and souls; our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs, and what have you. The lists featured include: 'little things I love in life' to 'what I've learned from my mistakes', 'values that are most important to me' to 'what I would tell my teenage self'' and so many more. It has a really interesting range of prompts, that help to get you thinking about topics that are important to you, and ones you may never have given much thought to, and if you enjoy writing lists as much as I do, I think you'll love this book. I personally think it's fantastic. It's actually the seventh Listography book in my collection, but it's definitely one of my favourites, and I'll be reviewing it in more detail with plenty of photos really soon.

What have you been loving lately?