Everything Erin

During the lead up to Christmas, each day I would recieve a new surprise from my No.7 beauty advent calendar. I had so much fun opening every day to another little treat, so today I decided I would show you my favourite items from the calendar.

First of all, the mascaras. No.7 mascaras retail at around £12 each, and the advent calendar included 2 of them. This is such great value, since the advent calendar itself cost £38 (the contents were actually worth over £100!) Although I seem to have accumulated quite a few mascaras recently, these ones look really good and I can't wait to try them out.
The lip crayon was another proudct I am very excited to use. I love lip crayons, so I was very pleased when I opened one of the doors to find one. I think I will get lots of use out of it!

 The eyeshadows in the advent calendars are gorgeous, wearable shades. I can't wait to use them also.
The advent calendar also included 3 eye pencils - 2 smaller ones in brown and black and a longer one, in the shade bronze. I have used the bronze one so much already since I got it and I am so impressed by it. I look forward to using the other two as well.
I'm also looking forward to using some of the skincare products included in the calendar, such as the eye makeup remover and the exfoliator. Both of which look very good and especially because I have never tried an exfoliator before I am hoping it helps my skin.

Have you ever tried a beauty advent calendar? Let me know in the comments!

How is it only 2 days until Christmas already? This year has gone so quick! So today I decided to share with you my winter playlist. I have included my Christmas favourites and also some non-Christmas related songs that I have been loving recently.

Recently I was tagged by the lovely Meet Me In Melford to do The Christmas Tag so I decided to give it a go for you all!  Thank you so much for tagging me!


1. Ever had a White Christmas?
Only once, when I went up to my grandparents house in Scotland for Christmas, but that was quite a few years ago.

2. Christmas song you could listen to on repeat?
The Vamps Christmas album! Their version of Jingle Bells is my favourite.

3. What's your outfit for Christmas this year?
I'm planning on wearing this blouse from New Look and this skirt from Miss Selfridge. I enjoy wearing something nice for the occasion!

4. Does your Christmas tree have a theme?
Our Christmas tree decorations are blue and silver themed because that matches with our living room. This year we've also added touches of rose gold because I think it is so pretty.

5. Christmas Film of Choice?
I would have to go for A Muppets Christmas Carol because I love the songs in it. I also watched Miracle On 34th Street yesterday for the first time and really enjoyed it.

6. What Advent Calendar do you have?
This year I have a No.7 beauty advent calendar and it has so far revealed so many good things such as lip crayons and eyeshadows.

7. Have you bought all your Christmas presents yet?
Yes! I hate being last minute!

8. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Me and my younger brother usually open each other's presents on Christmas Eve.

9. How much effort do you put into wrapping?
I was really proud of my wrapping this year! I love adding ribbons and bows.

10. What are you looking forward to this Christmas?
Everything! I love the excitement and not only recieving presents but giving them too.

I would love to hear your answers to some of the questions in the comments!

Recently I have been loving The Vamps latest album, Wake Up, so I thought I would do a review for you all.

The title track and first single released from the album, Wake Up is one of my favourites. It is catchy, feel good and the perfect way to start the album. Wake Up is followed by Rest Your Love, their latest single.

Volcano, the third track features Silento (yes, that is the guy who sings 'Watch Me Whip, Watch Me Nae Nae). I wasn't sure I how I felt about this at all but I think it has grown on me and I find it quite hilarious to be honest.

Million Words is beautiful slow song featuring only a guitar and Brad's breathtaking vocals. He performed this at their Manchester fanfest I was lucky enough to attend and it was an amazing moment.

Other favourites on the album include Be With You - another song they performed at the fanfest which is amazing live, fan-favourite Cheater and Worry, a song I really hope they decide to do on their tour next year. I think Worry could be like Risk It All from their debut album - a song which is really powerful live.

Wake Up has to be one of my favourite albums to be released this year and I definitely recommend you take a listen. I can't wait to see the songs off the album I haven't seen live yet at their tour next year.

Gift guides are always my favourite type of post to read during the festive season, so today I decided to do one for those of you who are on a budget, or if you were after a smaller gift for someone like a friend. I have compiled a list of my favourite gifts under £10 that would be the perfect present for any female relative or friend.

Today's post is a collab with the lovely Emsi Rose, as part of her Collabmas. She is posting a collab every day of December! We decided to share a few reasons why we get excited for Christmas... here are mine!

How is there only one month of the year left already? Today I'm sharing with you all the things I have been loving this month.

First of all, Benetint from Benefit. I got this in a set for my birthday and I wasn't expecting much from it, however I really like. You apply it to lips with the brush and rub it in, it gives colour to your lips yet doesn't feel like you have anything on them. I have really enjoyed it this month.


I also recieved Benefit's Roller Lash in the set and I have really loved that too. It is my favourite mascara at the moment and makes lashes look amazing.
I bought a scarf from River Island this month. It is really warm and soft and I love the autumnal colours so I've been wearing it a lot - especially to school in the cold mornings! 

I also put some fairy lights up in my room recently and I think they look really pretty and festive so I thought I'd show you in my favourites post! I think they look really cute.


It is the time of year when all of my favourite bands release their new albums, so I have had a lot to listen to this month. 5 Seconds Of Summer's Sounds Good Feels Good has been played a lot this month, as has One Direction's Made In The AM.
Late this month The Vamps new album Wake Up has also been released and I am really enjoying it, so far my favourite songs are Rest My Love and Be With You.
 
What have been your favourite things this month?

Those of you who read my blog often will probably be aware by now that I am a huge fan of One Direction and their music. So, it will come as no surprise to you that when their new album, Made In The AM, was released, I bought the Ultimate Fan Edition. It comes with an exclusive wristband and 4 lovely photocards, as well as the deluxe edition of the album that I will be sharing my thoughts of in this review.

The powerful Hey Angel is the perfect start to the album. It has been described by Harry as "this album's Clouds" (one of my favourites on their previous album) and I have to agree. Hey Angel is followed by smash-hit singles Drag Me Down and Perfect.


Infinity, the fourth track on the album, is a song the boys themselves are especially proud of. It is an incredible song with beautiful lyrics such as "How many nights does it take to count the stars? That's the time it would take to fix my heart".

If I Could Fly is a slow song, sang to a piano accompaniment. I love the lyrics and I think it is a really stunning song - probably the the song I'm most likely to start crying at if they sang it live.

Never Enough has definitely grown on me since I first heard it - I wasn't overly keen on it at first, but not it might actually be one of my favourites, so catchy! It's also Niall's favourite because of how different it is to anything they have ever done before.

I was very impressed by Olivia at first listen. This is possibly because Harry's vocals sound amazing in it - although don't they always? I think the bridge of this song after the little instrumental might be one of my favourite parts of a One Direction song ever and that says a lot.


Love You Goodbye is a lovely, emotional song which Louis described as being very personal to him. I Want To Write You A Song has really cute lyrics and sounds very acoustic, another of my favourites.

I feel History is a message from the boys to us, the fans. "We could be the greatest team that the world has ever seen" reminds me of being a team with the boys because we got them to where they are today. I love History because it shows they will still be here for us through their break and we will still be there for them.

The deluxe edition of the album also features some great extra tracks - such as fast and fun Temporary Fix, and the wonderful Walking In The Wind, two songs that I would class as two of my personal favourites of the whole album.


I would love to hear your thoughts about Made In The AM in the comments. I have also recently set up a new Twitter account especially for blogging, so if you would like to hear when I publish a new post, follow me here: @Everythingxerin

Sophie Kinsella's books are usually aimed at adults, therefore I had never read anything by her before I read Finding Audrey. My mum however, had read some of her books so she thought I would enjoy her latest release - a young adult story about a teenage girl called Audrey who struggles with a severe anxiety disorder.

Audrey's disorder is so strong the only time she leaves the house is to visit her therapist. She also wears dark glasses all the time, even in the comfort of her own home. The book tells the story of Audrey's recovery; a recovery which isn't an easy ride.

The family are great characters who I fell in love with immediately.
Audrey's mum, Anne, is a hilarious and amazing character. She is very protective of her children and I feel the book also follows her journey of accepting her children will eventually grow up. She provides the laugh-out-loud moments in the book.
Audrey's four year old brother Felix is adorable and I wish we got to see a little bit more of him in the book.
Frank, Audrey's older brother is obsessed with computer games and it drives his mum mental. Frank is a great and supportive brother to Audrey and I liked his character also.

The story really kicks off when Audrey meets Frank's friend Linus, possibly my favourite character of the book. He helps Audrey to become herself again and gain confidence. He seems like a selfless person and the letters shared between him and Audrey were very cute.

I really enjoyed the scenes of the book where Audrey films her family. It is a lovely idea and we get to find out more about their personalities. The book has a really lovely story and the central character Audrey is a really likeable character.

Sophie Kinsella did an amazing job with Finding Audrey and I hope she releases another young adult book in the future. Let me know if you have read any good books recently in the comments!

For my birthday last Friday, I recieved from my parents tickets to see 5 Seconds Of Summer next year along with their new album, Sounds Good Feels Good. I really enjoyed their debut album so I was very excited for the next.

Sounds Good Feels Good is honestly one of my favourite albums. Ever. There isn't a single song I dislike and I think each song is amazing in its own way. 5 Seconds Of Summer's sound has definitely matured since their last album - in a good way. I think I prefer Sounds Good Feels Good to their self-titled debut, which says a lot because I love their first album; especially Don't Stop and Everything I Didn't Say.
The album features some faster paced, feel good (hence the name of the album) tracks such as Fly Away and Money, yet also has some amazing slower songs such as The Girl Who Cried Wolf. If you enjoyed Amnesia from the first album, you will love Invisible. Invisible reminds me a lot of Amnesia with its acoustic sound and powerful lyrics.

Sounds Good Feels Good proves how talented 5 Seconds Of Summer are and I would definitely recommend this album to anyone.

I spent the past week waiting to read Zoe Sugg's new book, Girl Online: On Tour. It was released on Tuesday, so you can imagine my excitement when on Friday, my signed copy finally arrived on my doorstep.

I started reading it straight away and, as usual with most good books, I didn't want to stop reading it. Therefore, all my other possible plans on that Friday were out the window, and I spent the day reading Girl Online: On Tour.

Girl Online: On Tour had a lovely storyline. Penny joins her boyfriend Noah as he is the supporting act for a very popular band The Sketch on their European tour. Penny is looking forward to exploring European cities with Noah but between his unfriendly bandmates and crazy schedule, does everything Penny hoped for go to plan?

I was impressed by the theme through the book of Penny work out what she wants to do in her life and find herself. This was comforting and relatable to not only me but many other people unsure what they want to do when they are older.

Although I already loved all the characters in the first book, the sequel included plenty of new ones along the way. Larry provided a giggle, he is a loveable character who you will instantly like. However, I think my favourite new character is Leah. She was mentioned in the first book but we only meet her in Girl Online: On Tour. I think I liked her so much because I was surprised by her - at first I thought she wasn't going to be a friendly character but I was proven wrong. I loved reading about the unexpected friendship between her and Penny.

Girl Online: On Tour is a great book for female young adults even if you aren't a huge fan of Zoella - I think I would enjoy reading this book just as much if it was written by anyone else.

Recently I have been nominated to do the Versatile Blogger Award by two lovely bloggers; Meet Me In Melford and Free Spiritized. I was also nominated a while ago Emsi Rose who's blog I also love - I'm really sorry that I forgot to do the tag when she nominated me! Their blogs are all amazing so you should definitely check them out!

• Thank the person who nominated you at the start of your post and link their blog somewhere in your post.
• Tell the person who nominated you 7 facts about yourself.
• Nominate 15 blogs that interest you or that you have recently found and like.

On Saturday 3rd October 2015 I went to see One Direction perform at Manchester arena. I'd been to see them twice before and they were really good both times, so I was excited to see them again.


Their setlist was the longest I've ever seen for a concert, about 25 songs! They performed huge hits such as Best Song Ever and Little Things, and also performed a few less known songs from their last album Four, such as Fireproof and Stockholm Syndrome (two songs I absolutely love).


Was the concert different without Zayn? Apart from his high note in You & I (I'm sorry, Liam just doesn't do it justice for me), I barely missed him. Maybe this is because I've always been a Harry and Niall girl, but the boys put on a fantastic show as a four piece.


I loved the runway set up of the stage. I'm a bit disapointed they didn't have a B-Stage, but the runway still brought them close to me sat in block 105, and they performed on it quite a lot during the show.


Although there is noticably less 'banter' between the boys than there is at a McBusted show, One Direction still had plenty of fun with the crowd. Louis and Liam's water fight was hilarious during the encore - they were soaking wet by the time the show finished.


You should definitely be excited if you're going to see them on tour this year, One Direction always put on an amazing concert. However be warned, the screams of the fans will leave your ears ringing for days afterwards.


Have you seen One Direction live before? I'd love to hear about your experience in the comments!