I’ve fully embraced the onset of winter now and accepted my fate of pitch black mornings and stumbling over my own feet in terrible attempts to get ready. Oh and the cold outdoors, melancholy bare branches, the crunch beneath your steps and fairy lights everywhere. Christmas is fast incoming and I’m again devoting large portions of my day to opening up Advent calendars. Multiple.
To continue the wintery festivities, enjoy a A Beautiful Mess app’d* photo and my adaptation of the Sweater Weather tag. I wimped out of filming a version – must try harder next year.
1. Favorite candle scent?
Throughout the winter, I mostly burn warm and woody scents. Currently I adore Muji’s Log Fire and Japanese Pear tin candles. So affordable and they leave a gentle, not too overpowering scent to the room, although I’m yet to try burning one in a larger room!
2. Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?
All three please! I’m a hot drink fiend and if you ever meet me in real life, I’ll probably be holding a cup, drinking a cup or talking about getting one. I’m more swayed to a coffee at this precise moment in time though.
3. What’s the best fall memory you have?
… I have an awful memory overall, so I’ll go with one of my friend Katie and I sprinting through the parks in Southampton while at Uni. They sweep the fallen leaves into huge mounds so we couldn’t resist! And then they were slippery underneath so we ended up faceplanting while the other saner students strolled merrily back to halls. And let’s not talk about the fact we were already aged 19 at that point.
4. Which makeup trend do you prefer: dark lips or winged eyeliner?
I wear a winged eyeliner look all year round but I love getting out the darker red lip in the winter. I’ve been leaning to Rimmel Kate Moss in 111 for my red lip of choice: with my dark hair and light olive skintone, it lends itself to a more flattering hue.
5. Best fragrance for fall?
I’m using Roses de Chloé at the moment which just about surpasses the hitting point for AW fragrances. Ideally I’d wear a muskier scent for the winter but I just love it too much to switch away! Something sandalwood-y would be just right.
6. Favorite Christmas food?
It’s gotta be pigs in blankets, right? Guilt-free if eaten on the 25th, they were my (cough cough, Iceland’s…) speciality at Uni when my housemates and I served up a festive meal. For non-British readers, pigs in blankets are mini sausages wrapped in bacon. Normal… I’m also a HUGE fan of roasted parsnips. I could talk about those for hours, but I’ll save you from that this year!
7. What is autumn weather like where you live?
The autumn in England is a mixed bag. Typically quite mild and non-coat weather to begin with, we’re really unlucky in that the weather turns really quickly and suddenly you’ll be wearing coats and scarves with each and every outfit post! Autumn is my favourite season though, so there’s that.
8. Most worn sweater?
This is a toughie because I’m a knits obsessive. I’ve definitely been getting my money’s worth of my Eudon Choi for River Island jumper though. The cut out kinda front hem and two-tone finish make it really easy to wear with so many things: it adds a bit of grit and texture to simple jeans or skirts, but looks amazing clashed with prints too.
9. Must-have nail polish this fall?
Hands down – see what I did there?! – my current go-to is Models Own Champagne with any ol’ glitter sploshed on top. Festive and sparkly, it makes for a fun typing session. Because, y’know, I’m 5 and like seeing the sparkle catch the light/festive candle. For something a little deeper and darker, Essie A List is a mid-dark red. Those super dark, black cherry reds are reserved for toes as they’re pretty harsh against my skintone day to day.
10. Football games or jumping in leaf piles?
Jumping. In. Leaves. See point 3.
11. Skinny jeans or leggings?
Ooh this is a toughie! Oldies of Daisybutter will recall my mission to buy and wear every dress in the world, but today I’m a firm lover of separates. For a sneaky hybrid, my AG Jeans ‘The Legging’ jeans are a winter essential, but a full post on that is shortly incoming…
12. Combat boots or Uggs?
Neither: I’m a chunky soled flat boot girl for autumn/winter. Biker boots are really my style and Uggs get blacklist treatment from me – sorry! I quite enjoy studded numbers paired with a heel, but most of the time, shoes and boots keep with the whole girly with an edge aesthetic that my wardrobe has.
13. Is pumpkin spice worth the hype?
N-o. Imagine my disappointment when I mistakenly ordered one on the first Red Cup Day thinking it was a Gingerbread Latte. Ah life.
14. Favorite winter TV show?
I’m A Celebrity. I’m not much of a TV viewer aside from my weekly Made In Chelsea intake. I usually watch series from across the pond or from way over in Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan! But once Ant & Dec and their menagerie of rainforest floor creatures sidle up on the screen, I know the countdown to Christmas is on.
15. What song really gets you into the winter spirit?
Nothing beats a 1st December singalong to Wham!’s Last Christmas, am I right or am I right?!
* The A Beautiful Mess app is now available on Android! Whoop! I highly recommend it and you can download it right here ladies. Oh, and I wasn’t sponsored to write that – just sharin’ the love.
