Ahh, it's finally December. Well, I say finally but I think we are all baffled by how fast 2017 has gone. So much has happened yet it seems only yesterday it was the start of the year. Who knows!
For me, December is 'Christmas' as I find the lead up just as good, if not better, as the day itself. The sparkle of Christmas lights both indoor and out, along with feel-good adverts about getting together and giving back adds a lightness to my days. I also feel Christmas is the season where regressing in age is fully acceptable, so I fully intend to be sat by my Christmas tree feeling presents through their wrapping paper while watching Arthur Christmas and eating too many chocolates in the days leading up to the big day. Actually, isn't it funny how we call it 'the big day'?
But what I'm here for other than celebrating the fact it's December is to share with you what you can expect to see on Makeup Savvy over the next month and a little chat about what I will be getting up... because I'm excited!
- Christmas Content
If you're a long time Makeup Savvy reader than you may have noticed that festive content in November was less than previous years. This was a conscious decision as I wanted December to be packed full of Christmas posts... and I mean packed! Alongside my annual gift guides, there will be festive lifestyle posts and lots of beauty related content with a festive twist. As always I'm thoroughly looking forward to blogging through December as it's my favourite time of the year and ideas flow so much easier I find.
- Christmas Gift Guides
Talking of Christmas Gift Guides, this year there will be four, along with a few other smaller posts of a similar style. If you're a fellow blogger then you will know exactly how much preparation and work goes into creating them, which is why I told myself I'd pair them back this year, but alas I couldn't help myself... so you can expect two beauty Christmas gift guides (for varying budgets), a fragrance gift guide and a skincare gift guide! I think this may be one of my best years for these kinds of posts, as each will be packed full of ideas to gift or simply put on your own Christmas list.
- Enjoying My Non-Beauty Advent Calendar
This year I decided to bring it back to having a traditional chocolate advent calendar. Surprisingly I declined more than a few beauty advent calendars this year, I know.. I must be ill, only featuring the QVC Tili Advent in early November, as I personally find being a beauty blogger around the festive period can feel very materialistic. So instead of waking up to more beauty products each day until Christmas Eve, I wanted to keep it simple and more like my childhood with a chocolate advent calendar, I was excited to open each day, well as excited as you can get over an advent calendar as an adult! My chocolate advent calendar of choice this year is one from Thorntons with luxury chocolates from their Continental collection (I picked it up from Tesco FYI) - I'm more than fine about this!
- Christmas Shopping
Although I prefer to do most of my Christmas shopping online I always like to brave the cold and go late night shopping for extras and anything that catches my eye! This year I think I will be finally taking a trip to Cheshire Oaks as I strangely have never visited even though it's only an hour away. I have a feeling I may want to buy more for myself than others I think it will be a great opportunity to pick up some extra special items both discounted or personalised! I'm also simply excited to visit stand-alone shops such as Rituals and L'Occitane... not to mention the Lindt store!
- Mini Manchester Christmas Market
Another tradition I like to make time for over the festive period is visiting a festive market. This is more about the experience than with the aim to pick up gifts, as it just makes me feel so damn festive! I can't say I'm a fan of busy packed markets where you have a job of even seeing the front of each stall due to the sheer amount of shoppers, so I like to visit my local German market. However there is also the hidden gem that is the mini Christmas market/stalls at Manchester Trafford Centre's Barton Square. It's outdoor with lots of little food stands and even a huge lit up Victorian carousel which looks magically at night time as you feast on freshly cooked roasted garlic potatoes. It's also nestled in the homeware square right next to Homesense - perfect! Worth a visit for late night shopping (or even ice skating!) and festive food if you live in the Manchester area.
- Free Festive Printables
Another thing on my to-do list is to spend an evening printing out free Christmas printables - something I make time for each Christmas as not only does it save money on gift tags etc but it's pretty thifty and fun. Although I have my favourite Christmas themed printables (listed below) to find endless designs and downloads simply typing 'Christmas printables' and looking by images on Google will find designs you will want to instantly print out. Along with printing out free gift tags onto white card and punching out the holes with a hole punch, I also like to print out a few festive art prints for free. These go in my existing frames and just make my home look extra festive!
My favourites free Christmas printables - gift tags & gift wrap, modern calligraphy gift tags, animal illustration gift tags, Holiday art prints.
Although this wasn't beauty related in the slightest I hope you still enjoyed the read - let me know!
What do you have planned for December?
Fee xo.
