Best of 2016 | Beauty and Lifestyle Favourites of 2016

The time has come to shout about my all time favourite products and new discoveries of the year. So many great new things to share with you all.

I'm not planning on doing a video on my 'Best of...' this year. I don't think I created one last year either, but I definitely did do one the year before. Anyway, instead, I'm going to write about my favourite discoveries of this year. A mixture of beauty and lifestyle goodness.

I won't be going in to too much detail, apart from raving about my all time favourite product of this year. So without further a do... here is my bullet-pointed list of faves.

Beauty:
Best Foundation: Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation
Best Concealer: NARS Creamy Concealer (favourite since 2014)
Best Powder: Laura Mercier Loose Setting Powder
Best Blusher: Hourglass Blusher in the shade Dim Infusion (review here)
Best Highlighter: The Balm, Mary Lou Luminizer Manizer (favourite since 2014)
Best Eyeshadow Palette: NARS Virtual Domination Palette (favourite since 2014)
Best Eyeliner: Bobbi Brown Long Wear Gel Eyeliner
Best Mascara: Lancome Hypnose Drama Mascara (review here)
Best Lip Liner: Charlotte Tilbry in the shade Pillow Talk
Best Nude Lipsticks: Charlotte Tilbury in the shades Bitch Perfect (review here) and Stoned Rose (review here)
Best Red Lipstick: Charlotte Tilbury in the shade Red Carpet Red (review here)
Best Lipgloss: Chanel Gloss Volume Plumping Lipgloss
Best Lip Balm: Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Lip Repair Lip Balm
Best Lip Scrub: Lush's Mint Julips
Best Setting Spray: Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray
Best Make-up Brushes: Real Techniques (an old favourite)
Best Cleanser: Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish (an old favourite and re-discovery)
Best Toner: Environ C-Quence Toner
Best Moisturiser: Environ AVST Moisturiser (currently on level 4)
Best Facemasks: Environ Revival Masque and Antipodes Aura Manuka Honey Treatment Mask
Best Beauty Tools: Liz Earle Muslin Cloths and Environ Cosmetic Roll-CIT
Best Perfume: Jo Malone, Wood Sage and Sea Salt

Best Product of 2016: Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Liquid Foundation

I actually discovered this one fairly recently, I'd say since October time. I was in search for a new light weight foundation for my wedding and a friend had recommended this one.
I haven't stopped wearing it since. It provides the most beautiful light coverage, however, is build-able. It makes your skin super glowy and radiant, and I just love it so much.

I'm planning on doing a full review of this little baby in the new year. But I just wanted to share how much I love and rave this foundation. It's one of the best, on par with my other favourite Estee Lauder Double Wear.

(above: Best Nude Lipstick of 2016: Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G Fallen From the Lipstick Tree in the shade 'Stoned Rose')

Lifestyle:

Favourite country visited: Burano - Venice (read about it here)
Favourite local discovery: Hitchin' Lavender Farm (review here)
Favourite TV series: SUITS, Homeland, Originals, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (too many to mention...)
Favourite Documentaries: Making a Murderer, Minimalism: A documentary about the important things, Louis Theroux - Drinking to Oblivion, 'Happy'
Favourite Albums: Beyonce - LEMONADE, Drake -Views, Bring Me the Horizon - That's the Spirit
Favourite Books: Estee Lalonde's Bloom, Sarah Knight, The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a Fuck, and my Hygge books
Favourite Films released in 2016: Deadpool and Captain America: Civil War
Favourite Films discovered this year: The Big Short, Inside Out and Gone Girl
Favourite Restaurants in London: Bob Bob Ricard and Honest Burgers (review here)
Favourite Afternoon Tea in London: Sketch (review here)
Favourite place for Brunch: Thomas' (review here)
Favourite Cocktail Bar in London: The Bling Pig (an old favourite)
Favourite local coffee shops: Fred & Ginger and Harris and Hoole
Favourite London coffee shops: Soho Grind and Monmouth Coffee
Favourite life-changing product: Advanced Nutrition Programme's Skin Omegas+
Best Moment of 2016: Zoey and Joey wedding of course! (watch our wedding video here!)

So that's all my favourites of the year! What is your holy grail product of 2017? Or what has been your favourite thing in 2017, this could be a location, tv series, restaurant and so on? Let me know in the comments below as I'm always intrigued to see, do and try new things!

Anyway, hope everyone has an awesome New Years' Eve! 2017 is going to be a cracking year :)! Enjoy!

Want to see what I'm up to daily? Connect with me: Instagram: @zoeyoliviablog, Twitter: @zoeyoliviablog.

2016... What a year!

2016... What a year! So many amazing highs and challenging devastating lows. But we made it through, despite facing hundreds of hurdles, and seeing and hearing about the terrifying things happening in the world. Too many to mention and wrap my head around, however, I'm going to sit quietly and not dwell on the awful things that have happened this year.

What I do know is that I consider myself very very lucky. And, I have remembered a few things a long the way. It's important to be there for those in need, support people where you can and most importantly be kind to everyone.

Any who, I have split this blog post up into sections of a reflection on life, travel, people and blogging and YouTube. I thought this would be a better way of summarising the year. And, it's always lovely to look back on the positive, and overcoming some difficult times of the year.
I also just want to say a HUGE thank you to other half Joe, my best girl and male friends (they know who they are), my family and those who support me and my blog or YouTube channel. You are the ones that keep me going, so I'm truly truly thankful for everything.

Life: Well let's start with the biggest, most life challenging moment... I got married this year! 6th November, twenty sixteen - this was honestly the best day of my life by far. I still can't quite get my head around being married to my best friend, soul mate (cheese) and partner in crime. And, we got to share the day with those closest to us, what a dream! I will cherish every moment forever and always.

If I scroll back through my Instagram page back to the start of this year, I cannot forget to mention seeing my work on the big screen at 'Proud Cabaret' for my work's belated Christmas do in January. This was a proud moment, tear.

Anyway, the earlier months of twenty sixteen were a bit of blur to be honest with you. There was so much intense wedding planning and I was dealing with so much personally.

Moving swiftly on to Summer, I passed my driving test back in June! I took an intensive short course with a lovely lady called Barbra and I passed first time. I can't quite believe I managed to pass and I don't know why it had taken me twenty six years of my life to defeat one of my fears, but I did, hooray :). When you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything!

I also remember the warmer months being seriously addicted to Pokemon Go and I would walk for miles and miles to hatch my eggs and catch rare Pokemon. I still play occasionally! I also remember becoming massively obsessed with anything Hygge. I wish I was Danish, they lead such cool and calm lives.

I had the most incredible Hen do in London with some of my best friends at the end of September! And, Joe and I also celebrated our sixth year anniversary at Thomas' (Burberry) restaurant at the end of September too, what a perfect day.

I also cannot forget my birthday weekend with Hanna and Fee (two of my closest and dearest friends) walking around Regents Park catching Pokemon, drinking cocktails and having the most incredible food at Dirty Bones.

On my actual birthday, halloween. Joe took me to one of my food wish-list dreamy places, Bob Bob Ricard. We spent a fortune and I'm still yet to review that place on my blog. But it was incredible!
He also took me to a cool cocktail bar, Cahoots, and we also saw Aladdin in theatre.

I cannot forget our dramatic honeymoon at the end of this year too, which I will touch on in my next paragraph!

Travel: I love travelling and next year I plan on doing more and more. Anyway, around the end of February, early March, we travelled to Venice and Burano for Joe's 29th birthday. A beautiful break wandering the streets of Venice, riding on the boats and eating amazing food. I wrote a blog post on our trip here. And created a short vlog here.

In November, after the wedding, we travelled to Bali, Lombok and the Gili islands for our honeymoon. Incredible and beautiful places but we had a challenging time from start to finish shall we say. I will write some future blog posts on our honeymoon experiences, but, I'm still slowly catching up on happenings in October... I promise I will though. I also have video footage that I need to edit and put up on YouTube, bare with, bare with (*hangs head in shame*).

Bali was my favourite of the lot. We stayed in a beautiful hotel in the jungle Ubud. And we didn't do anything but relax for three days straight, it was heaven.

Speaking of other travels, we also stayed at a beautiful apartment in Haslemere for Joe's Christmas work do this month. This was a lovely break visiting the Christmas market and relaxing and eating/drinking with Joe's work friends. Merry merry times. Sometimes I forget how beautiful other parts of the UK are, there's so much to experience and explore and it's something I want to do more of in 2017.

People: As mentioned a little earlier, I am super fortunate to have some incredibly lovely and caring human beings in my life. The ones that keep me sane.
But, I just wanted to touch upon something that I have realised this year. Not everyone who you think is your friend is actually a 'friend'. These people love to take advantage of your kindness and it's heartbreaking to realise it.
Just because you are kind and would do anything for anyone, does not mean that it will be reciprocated. You're kind of fooling yourself to think 'people will be as kind as you.'

My heart has been broken by a few people this year, I won't mention any names but I have lost quite a few people close to me, including a family member. I could probably count ten people in total that have severely upset me this year. As well as loosing two people in my life this year was enough to deal with...

Anyway, at the end of the day, life is too short to hold grudges and be bitter. Keep your head high, smile always, and be around those who love, make you laugh and support you. Because at the end of the day, that's all that matters.

Blogging and YouTube: This year I have slowed things down quite a bit. It's hard to manage a full time design job, freelance work and my blog at times. But I still love absolutely everything that I do.

I've realised that it's quality over quantity. And, I will always speak from the heart on here, write things that I'm truly passionate about and create fashion and travel video diaries that I love.

The love and support I have received this year has been overwhelming and quite frankly, amazing. So thank you to everyone who has paid an interest in my blog or channel. It's people like you that keep me going. So here's to another year of creating fun content!

If you've read this far, then wow! Thank you so much again and have a wonderful, happy, lovely, exciting 2017. Love, me x

Feel free to follow me on Instagram: @zoeyoliviablog, or tweet me: @zoeyoliviablog. I'm forever responding and interacting on those platforms :).

Our 1920s Barn Wedding Video

Joe and I tied the knot on the 6th November 2016 at South Farm in Royston. And, we are so excited to finally share our wedding video with you all :). The lovely Tim Spatz filmed our special day and this is the final version that got sent to us. We really hope you enjoy watching it just as much as we did.

In other wedding related news, I'm currently doing a wedding planning series on my blog. You can read the first post here, this is all about our initial ideas. The second post is on bridal hair and make-up, which you can read here. And my latest one is on the stressful period with 8 weeks to go. I'm planning to do more wedding related blog posts in the new year.

Any who, hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas. Mine has been delightful! If you want to keep in touch and see what I'm up to daily, you can follow me on Instagram: @zoeyoliviablog or tweet me: @zoeyoliviablog. I'm forever responding and interacting on those platforms :). 

Wedding Planning #3 | The stressful period, 8 weeks to go!

If you follow me on social media, you may know that I'm already officially married, hooray! We tied the knot on the 6th November 2016. And, time has got away with us again... I can't quite believe it's almost Christmas. 

Today I thought I would re-visit my wedding planning series. In my previous posts I wrote about mine and Joe's initial ideas, my dress, the colour schemes, the cake, my hair and make-up and much much more. And, there's lots more that I want to share with you over the next coming months that you might find somewhat helpful if you're planning your wedding, planning your honeymoon, ideas for a hen do in London, or you're just interested in reading about my honest wedding experience.

In this blog post I want to discuss the planning stages with 8 weeks to go. So let's rewind a little bit. Let's go back to early September...

In this period, I had (in no particular order) my hen do, Joe's stag do, multiple dress fittings, deciding on my veil, my hair trial, a make-up trial with two of my bridesmaids, lots of bridesmaid enquires, ordered more bits and bobs for the wedding, final paperwork with our wedding venue and registar were due, a shiz load of payments were due, table plan was to be decided and planned, chasing up RVSP's, deciding on the music for the aisle, music after the ceremony, ideas for signage, booking and organising the honeymoon, ceremony and reception final touches, gyming twice a week and attempting a diet, family dramas, deciding on final final wedding make-up, deciding on wedding readings, ordered and had wedding rings made and going back and forth with chosen suppliers to discuss ideas. 

I'm sure there are a bunch of other things I've forgotten about, but you get the jist of things... it was pretty intense, especially if you work full-time and have a busy role.

When I look back, I barely had any time to think about my wedding whilst I was at work, likewise with Joe. So we conquered everything when we got home. Staying up till 1am or later almost every night was pretty awful, but all those late nights paid off.

Stay organised

You're ticking off about 1000 things (quite literally) off your to do list. I don't mean that in a scary frightening way. But, yes there is a lot to be done and everything needs to be perfect, and run smoothly... But just make sure you are keeping on top of things and ticking off bits and pieces every day, even if it's something small like ordering 'the bridal/bridesmaids hangers'. It's one thing completed out of many.

On the day, you do forget the stresses and enjoy the big day, well after the ceremony... That might just be my experience though. I'm sure there are brides out there who don't care too much about the little details and love the idea of the ceremony. But for me, it made me a nervous wreck. Walking down the aisle with everyone looking at me and having to read my vows for everyone to hear, it was lovely, but no thank-you. Not my cup of tea at all.

Anyway, sorry, I'm waffling... What I found really really helpful, was to print of a wedding checklist. I found this one really helpful to keep on top of things. But there are tons and tons of of checklists out there.
I also had a wedding planning diary that Joe's sister, Emily brought for me when we got engaged. It was this exact one from John Lewis which was really helpful too.

Joe's idea of keeping on top of things was creating lots of 'google sheets', the amount of spreadsheets he had was insane, but it did help us a lot. We had everything from a wedding budget sheet to a guest list sheet to a range of supplier options and things we liked or wanted, i.e: bubbles for the ceremony from Amazon or blocks of cheeses from Waitrose. There were many many tabs on that one!

So, the best bits of advice I can give on keeping on top of 'the wedding to-do list' is to be organised, plan in advance, delegate tasks (wish we had done more of this), do a task every day or every other day, even if it's small. And do print off that check list! 

What I also thought you might be interested in hearing about is my hen do, my dress fittings, my diet, my hair trial and last minute bow tie changes. So I'll go into more detail about them.
If you do what me to go into detail about anything else of the above mentioned, do let me know and I'll happily write about them in my next post, or I'll reply in the comments section below. 

My hen do.

My lovely bridesmaids surprised me with a weekend away in London. Only twenty minutes for us on the tube, but it was really nice to get away from my home town. 

We all met at Euston, dropped our bags off at a nearby hotel and went to this gorgeous pub called 'The Hourglass'. As we were running a bit later than expected, they had given our table away, however, the guy in charge arranged a table for us in no time. The food was stunning and I loved the quirky-ness of the pub.
It was a shame we were only there for a short amount of time and had to rush our food a little, but we enjoyed it none the less.
I actually want to go back and take Joe there!

After lunch, we headed to a 1920's inspired photoshoot, this was really cool and great fun for us girls. 

After that we headed to Piccadilly Circus for a private cocktail making class, this was so much fun! We got far too drunk in short period of time but was brilliant. 

Time got away with us a little bit, so we headed back to the hotel to get ready. We met up with a few of my other friends and headed out for dinner at 'Jamie's Italian'. After wards we went back to the club in Piccadilly and had a great time... although a few dramas occurred. But what's a hen do without drama, eh?!
We ended up wandering around London for about an hour, realising that no-one would let us in as it had gone past 3am, so we called it a night and headed back to the hotel.

The next day, was fairly chilled and much much needed. We sat down for a few hours at Euston and didn't leave our spot. We met up with Joe's mum, and headed to 'The Shakesphere Globe', a place I had never heard of before. It was this gorgeous exhibition, artsy building with a restaurant called 'The Swan' attached to it. Near London Bridge way. It was beautiful.  

We enjoyed a Midsummers Night afternoon tea with my family and friends. It was really really lovely. And I highly highly recommend it to anyone.

My dress fittings and 'The diet'

Leading up to the wedding, I knew that I wanted to loose weight, not much but I knew that I wanted to be a size 8 again. So, I ordered a size 8 dress (at the time I was a 10) from Eliza Jane Howell, from a bridal shop, Morgan Davies in Hitchin.

I previously tried my dress on three times before deciding it was the 'one'. And I still to this day, absolutely made the right choice. At the time, I tried on the design in a 14 and it was super baggy, but I actually really liked the fit of it. I didn't quite realise how snug it was until the day it arrived. But that was ok, it just meant that I needed to consider underwear carefully, tone up a little bit and loose a bit more weight.

If there's one bit of advice that I will give for 'finding your perfect dress' is that when you know, you know. It might take a while and you feel like nothing suits you, but then you find something that fits you like a glove, so do be patient and wait.

Anyway, when my dress arrived, it was quite loose around certain areas and needed to be altered slightly. It needed to be taken in at the bottom, lifted at the top (near my shoulders). But overall fitted really really well. And was so beautiful and delicate.

The shop didn't do alterations, so I had to find a local seamstress which was surprisingly quite easy.

I visited my seamstress on several occasions, 3 weeks before my wedding, 2 weeks before and 2 days before. The process was really easy but we did have an accident on the 2nd dress fitting which I can laugh about now.

When I was trying on my dress, I noticed a pool of blood on the floor. I immediately panicked as it got on my dress and shoes!! What had happened was that I caught my foot on some of the beads on my shoes, sliced my foot open without realising and bled everywhere! Oh the dramas, only me eh! Luckily, the blood came out of the dress and shoes really easily. Otherwise let me tell you... I would not be laughing.

Moving swiftly on, by the 3rd fitting. I had lost a little bit more weight and my dress fitted perfectly, however, was a little gapey near the belly, but I didn't mind so much. I then took it away and hung it in my wardrobe away from Joe. The temptation not to get it out every five minutes was incredibly hard.  

Also, I know some of you may be keen to know, so I thought I'd mentioned my 'diet' on here.
I didn't do a hardcore diet by any means, but I had a lot of soup for lunch or dinner during the week. Ate fairly healthy, ate fish a fair bit and had the occasional salad too. I tried to avoid sugar, but couldn't resist on occasions. And, I did treat myself quite a bit at the weekend. Sometimes you just need a burger in your life, it's called balance. 

On the final week of the wedding, I was really good and did a juice diet, as well as eating soup and lots of fish. I also had a lot of coconut water which helped my skin 'glow' and look super hydrated.

The hair trial

I almost immediately knew what I wanted. 1920's soft curls, yes please.

My hair stylist was incredible, I cannot recommend and thank her enough, Denise from D&D Make-up. She's done lots of bridal hair in the past, and some amazing editorial styled photo-shoots for big brands such as M&S. 

I went to her house and she trialled my hair. She got it spot on first time round. And, I really enjoyed listening to her experiences in the fashion and beauty industry. What a hell of a job she had! Sounded like a dream. 

She also did my bridesmaids', my mum and nan's hair on the big day. Everyone's hair looked incredible.

I highly recommend booking a hair trial, I know it seems a little bit expensive, but believe me it's worth it! You could pay for a hair stylist package up front and absolutely hate it when she does the trial, so, it's good to be selective. And then again, you could get lucky like I did and flnd the perfect one.

Bow tie changes

This was a bit of an odd one, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
We found finding the right bow ties for our groomsmen so difficult. We originally wanted grey to match the bridesmaids, but it didn't pop and the bow tie sizes were either 'too large' or 'too small'. We must of ordered around 15 different styles of bowties and none of them were right, it was really frustrating.

Until one evening I popped into Brent Cross shopping centre, paid a visit to Hawes and Curtis and found the most gorgeous burgundy silk bow ties. They were pricey for sure, but after weeks of not knowing what to do, I decided it was worth paying a little bit extra to get this detail just right.

I don't know why burgundy hadn't crossed my mind before. It was perfect, autumnal and they went really well with the flowers. They looked awesome in photo's. 

Ok, so there we have it, the stressful period of 8 weeks to go! I hope this was at least helpful to one person or you enjoyed reading about our wedding experiences.

When I look back, the one thing I would have done differently was I wish we had delegated more tasks to family and friends. Me and Joe put a lot of pressure on ourselves as we are both perfectionists and like being a part of every single detail. But we could have saved ourselves a lot of time and stress before the big day.

And, it's true what they say, you really do feel like eloping in the last 2 or so months... but it was all worth it in the end. Our wedding day was beyond perfect and more than what we could of ever of hoped for.

As always feel free to follow me on Instagram: @zoeyoliviablog or tweet me: @zoeyoliviablog. I'm forever responding and interacting on those platforms :).

PRIMARK December Haul

I know, I know, I've just recently filmed a PRIMARK haul... but, I just adore what PRIMARK bring into stores around Autumn and Winter time. I love all the cosy knits, fluffy socks and scarfs, and they are all really affordable too!

Since filming this, I have yet again popped into PRIMARK. *hangs head in shame*, so I can do another haul if you would like, or would that be a bit boring for you guys? Let me know either way :).

Any who, hope everyone is having a lovely Sunday. If you want to keep in touch and see what I'm up to daily, you can follow me on Instagram: @zoeyoliviablog or tweet me: @zoeyoliviablog. I'm forever responding and interacting on those platforms :).

Let it go... A reflection on this year!

For me, this year has been mentally challenging as well as being physically exhausting. I don't like to start my blog posts off in a negative light, but I have come to the realisation of a lot of things that have happened to me this year.

However, having said all that, I will continue to smile, be compassionate to the world, and most importantly work hard to achieve my goals in life, because let's face it, if there's one thing that I know about myself... it's that I'm one truly passionate individual who can put my mind to anything, even when I'm not feeling 100% myself.

Anyway, I had one of those 'let it go' moments fairly recently (literally, came home singing 'Let it go' at the top of my lungs) and it was deeply satisfying. And, quite frankly, I've never felt freer (is that even a word) or happier.

"It's time to see what I can do,

To test the limits and break through,

No right, no wrong, no rules for me I'm free!

Let it go, let it go, 

I am one with the wind and sky, 

Let it go, let it go, 

You'll never see me cry!"

Sometimes the simple, yet most beautiful things in life are right in front of you. The crisp golden leaves, the cold fresh air, cups of tea, strangers walking their pets, old couples holding hands, friends laughing so hard at the stupid silly stuff and the warmth of a fireplace. I could go on and on and on, but you'd probably tell me to shut up.

I'm not quite sure what direction I want to take this blog post. But, I guess I was just inspired to write. Writing makes me happy you see. Oh so very happy. I'm so excited to go home from work and explode my thoughts, my passions, my ideas and to share it all with you on my little blog bubble (That's not to say, I don't enjoy or love my job, because I fucking do, pardon my french).

So, if you ever feel like you're a bit stuck, feeling really challenged, or you feel like life really isn't your friend anymore. Let it go. Let it gooooo. Don't hold back anymore. Be yourself, be who you're meant to be. And most importantly breathe and enjoy your life. Live it to the full because you only have one!

Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend! Psst... you can follow me on Instagram: @zoeyoliviablog or tweet me: @zoeyoliviablog. I'm forever responding and interacting on those platforms :).

Stoned Rose

Oops, I did it again... I picked up another one of Charlotte Tilbury's beautiful lipsticks. This time, I chose 'Stoned Rose'.
I was actually planning on wearing this shade for my wedding day, but changed my mind at the last minute, as you do...

Stoned Rose is a gorgeous browny-rose shade. And, is part of Charlotte's K.I.S.S.I.N.G Fallen from the Lipstick Tree range. These lippys are enriched with Tilbury's 'secret ingredient', an anti-oxidant that naturally protects the lips from UV damage and external pollution leaving them cashmere soft. As well as this, they use special waxes and clever light-diffusing pigments for full-bodied perfect lips.

The lipstick guilds on to the lips beautifully, as do all of Charlotte's lipsticks. The longevity is great too. Her lipsticks tend to last 5 hours on me, depending on what I've eaten and drank that day. And, as always I'm super impressed with the beautiful rose gold art deco inspired packaging.

This one ticks all the boxes from me, 5 stars! It's the perfect autumnal, winter nude shade. Great for every day use.

Also, if you're interested in my other Charlotte Tilbury reviews... Here is one gigantic haul. Here is another lipstick review on 'Kiss Chase' and 'Between the Sheets'. And last but not least, my all time favourite, 'Bitch Perfect' lipstick review.

Right, time to get offline. Hope everyone is having a lovely week! Not long till the weekend, woop woop. And, as always, you can follow me on Instagram: @zoeyoliviablog or tweet me: @zoeyoliviablog. I'm forever responding and interacting on those platforms :).

Elizabeth Arden | the Red Door Experience

Last month I paid a little visit to Debenhams on Oxford Street, as I heard about the 'Red Door Experience' by one of the bloggers I follow. I have never actually tried any of Arden's products before, nor did I realise they do facials too! But of course, I had heard of some of her cult products. 

Any who, I had the Red Door Experience and thought I would share my thoughts with you.

So what is the 'Red Door Experience' you ask? Well, Elizabeth Arden took over Debenhams' flagship London store for a few weeks, with the idea that you can pop in for a 15 minute facial, receive a goody bag and get £20 off any purchase in store, all for £15. How brilliant is that? And with my wedding vast approaching I jumped at the chance! Such a bargain!

Before the facial, you have a skin consultation and you discuss your concerns, then they scan your skin with some type of machine. I was fortunate to be told, 'I had great skin, and that she could tell that I really looked after my skin'. And then it was time for the facial...

It was a really cool experience as the lady performed an 'oxygen blast facial' on me.

It's not a relaxing lay down facial by any means. You sit in a chair with your eyes closed, and this tool blows out all these fab ingredients on to your skin.

And, I did see the results straight away, my skin was glowing afterwards. And it did last a few days, even after my wedding which was great.

Afterwards, the lady gave me a goody bag with lots of exciting and versatile products for me to try, and told me I could get £20 off any purchase in store. So I treated myself to one of Arden's cult products, the eight hour intensive lip repair cream which came to £5, total bargain. And, I haven't stopped using it since I bought it, it's amazing!

(What I got in my goody bag: Always Red Femme Eau de Toilette Spray, Grand Entrance Mascara, Eight Hour Cream, Prevage Anti-Aging & Intense Repair Daily Serum, City Smart and Super Start.)

The Red Door Experience was a huge success, and I believe they extended the offer to run for a couple more weeks due to popular demand.

I thought it was such a cool idea, and I instagrammed about it at the time. So, apologies for typing this up a little later than expected. But hopefully you can forgive me as I've been ridiculously busy... 

I just love the idea that women on the go can pop in store on their lunch break and have an instant facial. It's such a clever idea, and for a really affordable price too. 

I would love to go back and try one of their other facials that last a bit longer, and see the full effect of it.

Overall this was a fab experience from start to finish. Perfect for the busy ladies out there, or for those attending an event or wedding and want their skin to be in fabulous condition. 

Of course, I popped into Cafe Nero on the way home. The Christmas cups are too adorable, I just had to share. Anyway, as always, you can follow me on Instagram: @zoeyoliviablog or tweet me: @zoeyoliviablog. I'm forever responding and interacting on those platforms :).

Top 5 MAC Red Lipsticks for Pale Skin

Hi everyone, sorry that I've been a bit absent on here recently... Some of you may know (if you follow me on Instagram or Twitter) that I got married early November, and that took up most of my time! But I'm back and I'm in full blogger mode. I'm actually really excited to get back into the swing of things, and I'm really looking forward to 2017. Lots of exciting, cool things ahead...

So, I finally got round to filming my Top 5 MAC Red Lipsticks a few months ago, but I only got round to uploading it recently 'cause as you know, life gets busy sometimes...
Anyway, I own quite a lot of MAC lipsticks, in fact far too many. Especially reds. But I've narrowed it down to five of my ultimate faves. The ones I get the most wear out of.

Here are a few snaps of me wearing one of my faves, Opera. Sadly this one is limited edition. But it's very similar to Russian Red as an alternative. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the video as much as I enjoyed filming and editing it. These are my favourite kinds of videos to make at the moment... alongside my travel vlogs of course!

Anyway, time to get off the interwebs. Hope everyone has had a lovely weekend! 
And, as always, you can follow me on Instagram: @zoeyoliviablog or tweet me: @zoeyoliviablog. I'm forever responding and interacting on those platforms :).