It's almost that time of year again - are you ready to celebrate?? I literally cannot wait for NYE - it's one of my favourite nights of the year because I get to celebrate with all of my loved ones under one roof! Over the past couple of years, my friends, family and boyfriend have all spent New Year's Eve at our local pub and it's been such an incredible evening! What is your NYE tradition?

Something that gets me so excited for seeing the new year in is the outfit! I love seeing what different people wear - dresses or suits, casual or glam. For me, I enjoy going above and beyond - fake tan, lashes, nails, full beat makeup...THE LOT. It really is that time of year that you can go all out with your look, and for a fashion enthusiast like myself, I love to take that on board. Thus, here are my favourite trends and pieces that I think would look amazing on NYE 2019!

SHOP FEMME LUXE
SHOP FEMME LUXE DRESSES
SHOP FEMME LUXE NEW IN 

*The dresses above were gifted by Femme Luxe; however, all opinions are honest and my own*

It's that time of the year again. Christmas is one of my favourite times to hop back on my blog and share some of my fave brands/products that I think would make amazing gifts for your loved ones. Unfortunately, third year has taken its toll on my mental health, time and general wellbeing so I'm super sorry this is later than usual. I suppose this enables my post to be titled 'LAST MIN CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS' at least, haha! I hope you're all doing well, sipping hot choc by the fire and attending as many Christmas markets as humanely possible. I cannot wait to be heading home from university tomorrow to see my loved ones, spend quality time playing board games and FINALLY get into the Christmas spirit!

Anyway, enough of my rambling and moaning, it's time to share with you all the amazing products I've found this year...

 
For The Beauty Lover

No doubt about it, there will always be a beauty fanatic sat around your living room this Christmas. I definitely used to fall into this category and would LOVE a good makeup gift. Something I feel like people forget about, or neglect, are makeup brushes. You can NEVER have too many - especially for a lazy gal like me who can never be bothered or have the time to clean their brushes daily/weekly. This set from Lily England is to DIE for; the black marble and rose gold accents give the brushes a luxurious essence and I honestly adore how they all match. Accompanied by a matchy-matchy makeup bag, this set makes the ideal beauty lover's gift this Christmas. I would be extremely happy if I woke up to this beaut set of brushes on Christmas morning!

Shop the Brush Set HERE

Make sure you order no later than the 20th December to make sure your parcel arrives in time for the big day!

    

For a Sustainable Change

Embedding sustainable products and recycled materials into my lifestyle is something I've made a priority in 2019 - giving back to this wonderful planet is definitely something that's been on my agenda as I've become exposed to the extremities of the climate crisis. Thus, if you know some people in your life who need to get a lil more carbon friendly or want to change some of their everyday lifestyle choices to more 'eco-friendly' ones, here are some products for you. First up is a bamboo toothbrush - they are biodegradable so won't contribute to landfill like your standard plastic toothbrush and are contained in completely recyclable packaging. My next change has been makeup removal with reusable cotton pads! Face Halo do wonders at removing all makeup, just by adding a bit of water and popping into your washing machine weekly to give it a deep clean. Finally, the rCUP has been a saviour this year. I've become addicted to coffee and I find myself popping into Caffe Nero too often to pick up a latte. The rCup is made of 100% recycled cups and helps you avoid opting for disposable plastic cups!

Shop the Bamboo Toothbrush here
Shop the Face Halo here
Shop the rCup here


For The Loved One Who Has Everything

There is always that one friend or family member that seems to have it all. Subscriptions are always a fun alternative to your standard Christmas gift. If they love finding new flavours and snacks, Degustabox is a wonderful box to introduce you to next foods. Alternatively, Glossybox is fab at presenting new beauty products, like skincare, makeup and haircare, into your life! You could even gift someone a Netflix or Spotify subscription to help them save a few pennies through the year!

Shop Glossy Box Here
Get Spotify Here
Shop Degustabox Here
Get Netflix Here


For a Personalised Touch

A meaningful present is my favourite of them all - something you've taken the time to create or deeply think about to make someone's day that little bit brighter. For me, I've utilised my new puppy to the extreme and popped him on all sorts of gifts this year - he's our new family member after all! Printfields are an amazing personalised sock company - you can get pictures of your ACTUAL pet printed onto your socks with your choice of colours and/or style. I've even got this incredible canvas with Barney's head printed as a monarch, which I thought was alternative and hilarious. My brother is honestly going to LOVE it, haha!

Shop Printfields Socks Here
Shop Paw&Bone Canvas Prints Here

For the Tech Enthusiast

Finally, some practical gifts are ideal for an adult into their technology. Whether that's an extra camera battery to avoid the stress of keeping full charge at all times or having an extra SD card to hand incase it corrupts whilst you're on a trip. These are perfect practical gifts that someone like me would definitely appreciate, and not to be dramatic...save my LIFE on some days. Also, a ring light or studio light might be an interesting idea if your giftee loves their photography stuff!

Shop Ring Light here
Shop SD cards here

Which category do you fall into? What type of gifts are your favourite to give at Christmas?

Lots of love


Some affiliate links have been used above - for Degustabox, Glossybox and Ebay.

Yep, that's me! The biggest white gal in the world. If you know me or watch my vlogs, you will know how obsessed I am with smoothie/acai bowls. Therefore, it was obligatory to drag my boyfriend to all the pretty places in Bali and indulge in smoothie bowls. Here are my personal top 5 places to visit in Ubud, Seminyak and Gili Air for the best smoothie bowls in Bali...

Alchemy

Kynd Community

Balibola

Gili Bliss

Auras Bowls

Finally, Aura Bowls had to be the most authentic, adorable little place on the island. This was another place on Gili Air, and OMG were these bowls amazing. Set in a small, family-run little hut, this mini warung was the perfect spot for a Balinese smoothie bowl. The family worked so hard to provide the most incredibly tasting fruity bowls of goodness, and I'm still so grateful for their work. They went extremely overboard with the toppings too...which I'm certainly not mad about!

10/10. A wholesome smoothie bowl filled with my favourite fruits and the kindest service.

Do you love smoothie bowls as much as me? What's ya fave fruit??

Lots of love

I recently returned from the trip of a lifetime to Bali, one of the beautiful islands that make up Indonesia. I've never travelled so far East and so far away from home - 24 hours of travelling later, my boyfriend and I arrived in Denpasar airport. The 16 days we spent exploring Indonesia has positively affected the way I think, feel and look at the world. Thus, I thought I'd share this lil blog post pinpointing 10 of the many reasons I'd return to Bali. It's way more than just a pretty island you see on Instagram...


Carefree Nature

One of my favourite things about visiting Bali HAS to be everyone's carefree nature. ANYTHING GOES. The people were super lovely, everything is executed so effortlessly and no-one seems to worry about the little things I always find myself thinking about when in the UK. For instance, something as small as my skin breaking out would have caused me so much distress at home but when the long flight caused a spot eruption all over my face, I seemed to adapt to the nature of the Balinese and didn't give a F*CK! Their love and anxiety-free ways were super infectious, leaving me relaxed and pleasantly mindful after returning home.

Value

The most-asked question on my Instagram during my Bali trip was - 'how expensive is it to go?' Money seems to be the biggest query for anyone lusting to travel to Bali, and to your delight, you'll be happy to know that it is more affordable than you probably think! The flights are definitely the biggest expense - we paid roughly £700 at the beginning of September and I'm sure it reaches the £1000 mark in peak season - however, I believe if you're smart, buy tickets in advance and scope the web, you'll be able to pick up some reasonable flights along the way. Once you've saved for flights, you'll be able to head over to Bali in no time! The food, accommodation and everything in between can be done on a super low budget - many activities seem to be negotiable too on the island.



Versatility 

When picking a holiday destination, you always think of a specific type of place or things you're looking for - e.g. a relaxing two weeks on the beach, a fun city break sightseeing or a bit of both. THIS IS A HUGE REASON I'D RETURN TO BALI. You can have all of your favourite types of holidays rolled into one - Ubud is ideal for visiting lots of interesting temples, Seminyak is perfect for party/nightlife and the Gili islands are sensational for that relaxation holiday of dreams. Bali is, for sure, the most versatile place I've ever visited and it's one of the reasons I'd recommend it over anywhere else I've travelled in the world.




The Food

Oh MY G O D. Balinese food is to die for - I always thought that the Instagram expectations would exceed the reality but WOW. You need to go, just for the food. I didn't realise how much I love Asian food until this trip; trying so many different dishes, exploring new textures and tastes was so fun! Aside from the delicious-ness, the presentation did not disappoint. Every place we visited, from the small family-run warungs to the tourist favourites, all the staff were pleasant and presented our food in the most extraordinary way. My favourite dishes had to be Nasi Goreng and the unreal variations of chicken skewers.

Community Feel

Something I adore about travelling and experiencing different cultures is discovering the majority of collectivist communities there are. I always find that the UK has a strong individualist community and is something I dislike and feel brings about bad personal traits. I love the idea of giving to the community and helping others who live around me. In Bali, I felt extremely welcomed and adored how everyone around you would smile, help and assist you. Something I found so lovely was the amount of people on the side of the roads helping you to cross safely when the traffic was super busy. This community feel just added to our stay and positively impacted our time on the island.

Coffee

Soooo this time last year I despised cof...coffe...I can't even say it. Bali grows some of the world's most incredibly tasting coffees and some amazing places surrounding Ubud offer the chance to visit their plantations, tasting what these family run businesses have to offer. I adored the Bali coffee and continued to drink it at many an opportunity throughout our trip. I'm not usually one to drink hot drinks in hot climates but Aidan and I felt like we couldn't resist! The best coffees we had were definitely at Coffee Cartel in Seminyak and B52 on Gili Air.



Consistent Weather

Yes to consistency. I love a bit of consistency in my life, especially when it comes to weather. The UK weather is soooo awful in summer in terms of consistency and you can NEVER rely on planning a sunny BBQ day with family or going for a picnic with your friends. My plans always seem to flop in England so knowing you're going to get amazingly consistent weather when you're on holiday is a DREAM. You can definitely count on Bali to stay sunny throughout your stay, if you're going September - December then you won't have to worry at all.

Nature

Being able to admire the different plants, animals and lots of species of flowers was something I thoroughly enjoyed during our time in Bali. Seeing new sights that I'm not used to is so special and I can honestly stare at sunsets and landscapes for hours. Breathing in the fresh air from the forests, watching the monkeys run around the sanctuary and getting to bathe in lots of beautifully smelling flowers on our spa day, just made me appreciate the diversity of Bali's nature. If you're a nature lover, or enjoy seeing new things, Bali is the place to go.



Location of Island 

If you are a keen traveller, the location of Bali is ideal when hopping from one country to the next. In the near future, I'm hoping to go travelling all down the East of Asia, meaning heading back to Bali is definitely on the cards. A lot of travellers or people in Bali that we met or overheard were talking about how they'd just come from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand etc etc. I was super jealous of all of their travelling stories and couldn't stop thinking about the perfect location of the island. I'd also love to explore more of the Indonesian islands too.

Sustainability

Something I loved when travelling through Bali had to be the extreme care and passion when it came it sustainability. Most of the island seem to have gotten on board with reducing unnecessary plastic packaging, plastic straws, using sustainable resources when cooking and mainly using ethically sourced foods. It was so lovely being surrounded by people who wanted to spread awareness of the current stress on the environment and the negative impact human's are contributing to the atmosphere. I'm not saying Bali are 100% sustainable, as the amount of fumes from the mopeds/motorbikes is definitely not ideal, but they've made a huge effort to cut down on plastic usage and using locally sourced goods.

To check out my Bali food recommendations, the best hotels, things to do + the cost of travelling, check out my ULTIMATE BALI GUIDE VIDEO!!

Don't forget to check out my Bali vlogs too - here is my BALI PLAYLIST.

Have you ever visited Bali? What was your favourite part? Is it on your travel bucket list?

Lots of love

One of the things I like to pride myself on whilst at uni is my outfit choices. Over the last three years at university, I think I've finally figured out my style; now I find myself opting for clothes that make me feel good about myself and accentuate my figure! You can check out all of my current fashion faves and styling posts on my Instagram - @charlotteemilyprice - but I thought I'd share a few casual to evening outfits that I've been loving at the minute. All these amazing clothes were kindly gifted by the wonderful people at Femme Luxe; however, all opinions are honest and my own. I absolutely adore the Femme Luxe website and find the best deals on there...if you're looking for a bargain and need some new night out clothes, Femme Luxe is the site to visit!

Casual clothes are a MUST at uni. I find myself reaching for cosy knits and turtle necks, especially during the current season. I adore this grey turtle neck ribbed piece from Femme Luxe loungewear range - so many beautiful sets that are affordable and great for everyday wear. You can also style them up or down with other pieces from your wardrobe like I've done about - this day I decided to pair the turtle neck top with an oversized knit cardi and some jeans for a smart-casual look. 

Shop the Grey Loungewear Set here

Soooo I've decided to leave this showstopper for last - if you've got a fancy event, winter ball or you're just feeling the glitter vibes then you have to grab this dress from Femme Luxe. A gorgeous purple-grey glitter dress that sparkles endlessly under the lights - I literally cannot deal with how stunning it is! The thin straps are such a gorgeous touch and the material isn't irritating as expected. The bodycon style is very accentuating, fitting perfectly against all of my fave features. I cannot wait to get this out for a fancy event or a glitter party, and for £15 you cannot go wrong! Someone invite me already?!

Shop the Dress here

Which was your fave university outfit? Are you more of a clubbing girl or would you rather keep it casual?

Lots of love

*clothing gifted by Femme Luxe but all opinions are honest + my own*

If you know me well, you'll know my love for skincare and finding new products to help my skin survive through the seasons. I'm prone to extremely dry skin and dullness, especially during this time of year. To bring the life back into my skin, I'm always looking for serums, moisturisers and creams to help my complexion recover. Dermaworks have released a Hyaluronic Acid Serum that will give you that beautiful effortless glow, as well as all the benefits the products inside obtain. Here are some of the reasons I've popped this Dermaworks dream into my everyday skincare routine...

If you're wanting to try this out for yourselves, don't hesitate to use my discount code CHARLOTTE10 for 10% off this amazing skincare wonder. I'll also be sharing a skincare routine at the end of the month using the product so you can see it working in action. 

What is your favourite serum? Do you need to add anti-ageing products into your routine?

Lots of love

*This product was gifted by Dermaworks; however, all opinions are honest and my own.