Click on a month if you want to see what I was loving at the time:

January Favourites // February Favourites // March Favourites // April Favourites // May Favourites // June Favourites // July Favourites // August Favourites // September Favourites // October Favourites // November Favourites // December Favourites

I'm kinda proud of myself for not missing a single month of sharing my Favourites, whether it was in video or blog post form and that's because I love doing them so much!



Overall, some of my favourite beauty discoveries of the year were the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish (review), the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge (review), the Maybelline Color Tattoos (review) and the CND Vinylux Weekly nail polish (review). I don't know about you but I'm excited to discover more in 2015!

So that's it! As 2015 draws to a close, I want to know what your absolute favourite things & experiences of the year were. Get involved in the comments below and let me know!

What was your favourite thing in 2015?

Thanks for reading,

Maeve

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So there you have it, my December Favourites! Here's to making new favourites in the new year.

What have you been loving this month?

Thanks for reading,

Maeve

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The first half of 2015:

January Playlist // Woah, it's so cool to be able to pinpoint exactly what I was listening to nearly a year ago and exactly when I discovered Catfish and The Bottlemen & Royal Blood! I was also head over heels in love with the then recently released 'The Pinkprint' album by Nicki Minaj which is still a staple album I always return to.

February Playlist // This was when I listened to a mixture of Hozier & Kanye West on repeat pretty much non-stop, I remember it well!

March Playlist // I went back and rekindled my love for Tinie Tempah's debut album and my love & respect for Kanye only grew stronger!

April Playlist // On the 1st of that month I went to see my absoutely ultimate favourite, Nicki Minaj live in concert. To this day, I look back on the completely euphoric experience with true happiness so of course I listened to her a LOT in April! I also discovered the French producer/DJ, Madeon on a great recommendation.

May Playlist // Quite an eclectic bunch of tunes in May's Playlist - I was listening to Snoop Dogg, Ed Sheeran & Rihanna amongst other artists!

June Playlist // At the beginning of Summer, Florence & The Machine and Ariana Grande had my full attention - clearly it was a time for powerful female vocals!



The second half of 2015:

July Playlist // I was listening to a wee bit of this, that and everything in July. Years & Years and the Empire soundtrack were the most memorable!

August Playlist // Apparently I had a serious One Direction moment during this month because let's face it, 'Drag Me Down' and 'Steal My Girl' are tuuuunes. Salt 'N' Pepa were thrown in the mix too!

September Playlist // Basically I just played both James Bay & The Weeknd's albums on repeat in rotation and they made September sound so good!

October Playlist // When I think of October, I think of 'Hotline Bling'! My faves, The 1975 also made their return to the scene with a new single, 'Love Me' which is the bomb dot freaking com.

November Playlist // If you'd have told me a year ago I'd be listening to Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez & Ariana Grande LOADS at any given time, I might not have believed you. That's exactly what I did in November though, alongside a couple of songs by Lucy Rose and Oh Wonder!

December Playlist // Last but not least, the most recent! I listened to lots and lots of Christmas songs of course, and I also couldn't (and still can't) get enough of The 1975's newest song, 'UGH!'

So there you have it, a recap of everything I was listening to in 2015! My ultimate top five for the year would have to be Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, Hozier, The Weeknd and... hmm The 1975!

Now I want you to get involved in the comments below and let me know what you listened to & loved this year!

What did your 2015 sound like?

Thanks for reading,

Maeve

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I find it so interesting to look back and see how my style has progressed from the first one in February to the most recent at the start of December. There was a 'grand total' of 11 OOTDs here on Thrift O'Clock which, quite frankly, I can't help but be a little disappointed with - I wish I'd done more! At least now I know it's something I want to work on in 2016. I'm excited to play around with different backgrounds and try new things!

My personal favourite outfits were:

90s Kid OOTD // This was a collab with Boohoo which I was over the moon to be a part of. Not only that, I absolutely adore every single aspect of it, especially the denim jacket!

The Pinkprint Tour OOTD // Looking back on it, I don't actually love this outfit but it was what I wore to Nicki Minaj's concert. She's my ultimate favourite and it reminds me of that experience. The sentimentality of it has a hold on me!


First Ever Vlog OOTD // A little bit of sentimentality again, this was what I wore the day I first ever vlogged! Squishy feelings aside though, I do truly love that kimono to bits. I mean, look how happy I was in the photo!

Camel Coat OOTD // There was something about wearing such a neutral toned outfit that made me feel good about myself and in my mind, every piece of the outfit seems to fit together like they were made for each other! That and I've worn that coat & those jeans SO much since I got them, a ridiculous amount. They've become my go-to's!

Now this is where I'd really appreciate your opinions! Get involved in the comments below and let me know if you'd like to see more OOTDs in the new year & if you have any ideas, suggestions or requests! Should I pluck up the courage to maybe do a fancy edited lookbook on my Youtube channel?

Which was your favourite outfit of 2015?

Thanks for reading,

Maeve

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This week . . .

. . . started out with my sister's arrival home from uni on Monday for Christmas! We all spent the morning watching The Amazing Spiderman 2 and chatting away with numerous cups of tea. I went to see it in the cinema last year and am so pleased to have it on DVD now to watch whenever I want because it's one of my favourites. It was so good to see it again!


The rest of the beginning of the week was spent in equal parts chilling out & frantically getting ready for Christmas. I rediscovered a computer game from my childhood, Zoo Tycoon when my brother found it in his room after about 10 years. We both loved playing it again and it's got me in the mood to get finding all those old games we used to play so we can relive the magic!


On Thursday night my family and I had a Christmas Eve party to go to, hosted by one of our neighbours. I really wasn't feeling well so didn't get to enjoy it as much as I'd have liked to but it was still lovely to get the countdown to the big day going amongst friendly faces. When we got home, our stockings were laid out and bedtime beckoned!

I woke up on Christmas morning at 5:47am feeling even more sick & exhausted - I lay in bed until just after 6am then put on my bravest face and the day begun! I went into my brothers room to see if he was awake and was greeted with the loveliest cuddle which truly made my day/year. Then we three siblings peeked into each of our stockings, compared the contents and delighted in tiptoeing downstairs to 'see if Santa had been'. And he had!


We honestly had the most fantastic day; unwrapping presents, going to Mass, visiting our granny (who has an adorable new kitten called Patricia!) then coming home to have The Best Dinner Of The Year and slob around the house watching Christmas TV, pulling crackers with rubbish jokes inside and spending some glorious time together as a family. Despite not being well and it being my first Christmas as a chronically ill person, I honestly think it came out on top as one of the best Christmases ever. I don't think I've ever laughed as much as I have in the past few days! I didn't actually write a Christmas list this year, nor did I expect anything much with regards to presents yet as it turned out, Santa knows me very well and somehow figured out exactly what I'd love without me even knowing. I'm now the owner of very cool new camera & a freaking lava lamp amongst other lovely things!


I had all the intentions to wear something fancy and take outfit photos for a blog post but when the actual day came around, all I wanted to wear was my new fluffy pyjamas. They are the cosiest ever!


As for yesterday, we just did more of the same; food, films (Inside Out is amazing!), more food and family time. Dad got each of us a lottery ticket and although none of us won (obvs), my dad and I both got two numbers which apparently means we get a free entry for the upcoming rollover draw on Wednesday - woohoo!

So that takes us up to the present day, Sunday! Now it's your turn to get involved in the comments below and let me know what you got up to this week. I want to hear all the details!

How was your week?

Thanks for reading,

Maeve

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Rudimental ft. Ed Sheeran

I really should have included this song in either last months playlist or the month before as I've been listening to it since September but I somehow forgot to add it! Better late than never I suppose, I've been loving Lay It All On Me. Ed Sheeran is one of my favourites and I think he and Rudimental come together well to create fun, uplifting music. More from the pair please?

Coldplay

I'm not a Coldplay fan. People don't believe me when I say that but generally I don't like their music much (apart from Violet Hill, love that song) so I wasn't expecting to enjoy their new single, Adventure Of A Lifetime at all. And I didn't at first, then all of a sudden it grew on me! Not quite enough to tempt me to listen to their whole album but the mix of pop & funk for this song works for me.

The 1975

Teasing us with the second single from their forthcoming album, The 1975 released UGH! this month and I am obsessed. It's definitely my favourite song of December! Unconventional and irregular, inspired by 80s pop - what's not to love? I am very eagerly anticipating the album release in February and kinda wish it would hurry up already; we The 1975 fans are ready!

Nathan Sykes

The amount I miss The Wanted being together reached an all time high this month so I had to go back and essentially binge-listen to all of their old stuff. I'm so pleased Nathan is going solo though because his voice is incredible. Not only that but he plays piano & can write a bloody good song too! Over and Over Again is your classic love song and I'm not adverse to that every now and then, especially when it's Nathan. I'm not sure which I want more, for the band to come out of hiatus or Nathan's album!

Christmas songs!

From the 1st of the month, you'd best believe I've been playing Christmas songs on repeat! Michael Buble's album never gets old and I'm loving Ariana Grande's Santa Tell Me this year.

So that was my December Playlist! Get involved in the comments below and let me know if you like any of the songs I mentioned.

What have you been listening to this month?

Thanks for reading,

Maeve

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I got a Graze box! I don't think I'd ordered one since Summer so when I saw Shona review one on her blog this week, I got straight on the Graze website and arranged for one to come on Saturday. I'm yet to try anything but am very excited to, especially as I'd rated everything as 'send soon' so I'm expecting to love them all. Let me know if you'd like a blog review!

Aside from that, I've also been trying to sort out the bedroom because my sister is coming home for Christmas tomorrow! I'd let the room get into a ridiculous state and I'm not gonna lie, it's still not tidy but it's getting there!

So that was my week! Get involved in the comments below and let me know what you got up to!

How was your week?

Thanks for reading,

Maeve

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This week . . . 

. . . was pretty much spent trying to recover from how exhausting last week was so this Weekly Reflect is gonna be quite short but sweet! Even though I wasn't very well I wasn't going to let that stop me from putting up our Christmas tree on Tuesday. I wrote a whole post about the process & our traditions so if you haven't seen that already but would like to you can read it here! Also the bunch of films we ordered to watch over the Christmas holiday arrived so now we're all feeling really excited to just chill and spend time with each other.


Two food 'firsts' this week (which couldn't be more different from each other) were homemade kale crisps and Santa jelly babies! I still can't get over how much kale crisps are just like normal crisps and I'm loving experimenting with putting different flavours on them. The Santa babies are obviously not just as healthy but you have to admit, they are pretty cute!



Also this week I realised I now have 600 followers on Instagram! It's funny to me because this time last year it was my least active & least followed social media but now it has my second highest following and I'm loving it more than ever!

Get involved in the comments below and let me know what you got up to!

How was your week?

Thanks for reading,

Maeve

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I left a few of the spoonie 'brain fog' moments in because a) I couldn't really edit around them and b) I think they're kinda funny. I hope you enjoy the video!

Watch it here:


And yup, I've been living in those Cookie Monster PJ's ever since I got them!

9) What's your favourite Winter scent?

I don't usually go in for traditionally seasonal perfumes but I got Nicki Minaj's The Pinkprint fragrance at the start of this month and I think it's lovely for the time of year! It's got notes of grapefruit, bergamot and orange blossom and I can definitely smell something slightly spicy in there too so if you get the chance to try it in a shop, you might be pleasantly surprised!

10) What are your favourite Winter movies?

I'm planning on dedicating a whole blog post to my favourite Christmas films very soon so I won't reveal them just now! If we're talking about films that aren't necessarily festive, I always seem to want to curl up and watch the Harry Potter series as soon as the nights get darker and colder. There's just something about them that lends themselves to Autumn & Winter!

11) Do you like the snow?

I absolutely love it!

Get yourself involved in the comments below and let me know your answers to these questions! Don't forget to check out Megan's lovely blog too to see what she's put.

What do you like about Winter?

Thanks for reading,

Maeve

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 The DETAILS

Unlike lip colours, I don't tend to really experiment with different blush shades a whole lot so I went for what's in my opinion the 'safest' option, Seductive Pink. It's an infusion of a light pink and a deeper almost purple which when swirled together create a beautifully natural yet noticeable flush - my kind of shade! I tend to favour marbled blushes as they give less of a blocky colour than plain ones do. They're also designed to allow for a lot more versatility in the sense that you can work with them to achieve a very light sweep of colour, a striking pop and anything in between.

This particular shade of Creme Puff blush looks very shimmery in the pan and when I swatch it on the back of my hand it has quite a bit of (very) fine glitter but that doesn't seem to translate when it's on your cheeks. Instead you get a glowing luminosity which I absolutely love. It's one of those blushers you can skip the highlighter with! I'm also impressed every time I use it because there's next to no fallout.

I was very tempted to go and buy some of the other shades until I double checked the price. When I bought this it was £6.99 and I mustn't have realised that was a discounted price as I've just found out they usually cost £8.99! I suppose everyone has a different budget and if you're used to paying more then these will seem like absolute bargains to you, but to me, almost a tenner for a drugstore blush seems a little steep. I probably would repurchase this particular shade again now I know I love it but I don't think I'll rush out on a whim to try some of the shades which I'm not 100% sure would suit me - y'know what I mean?

Get involved in the comments below and let me know if you've tried the Max Factor Creme Puff blushes & what you think of them!

Would you try these blushes? Should I try another shade?

Thanks for reading,

Maeve

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