Holly Jolly Christmas tag!

1) Favorite Christmas movie?
- The Grinch of course! I think it is such a classic 
2) Are you on the Naughty list or the Nice list?
- I think, well I hope that i'm on the nice list
3) Show us an embarrassing Christmas Card photo!
- I don't have one. We have never been a family to take Christmas card photos
4) Have you ever had a White Christmas?
- No, I live in Australia so Christmas is in Summer
5) Where do you usually spend your holiday?
- We usually spend the day with both sides of the family, lunch with one and dinner with the other
6) Play or sing your favorite Christmas song!
- I can't actually do either via blog post so I will say some of my favourite songs:
   Winter Wonderland
   Rudolph the red nose reindeer
   Dreaming of a white Christmas
and to kick it back to a classic Australian song; 6 white boomers! 
7) Do you open any presents on Christmas Eve?
- No
8) Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph
9) What holiday tradition are you looking forward to most this year?
Watching Chevy Chase' Christmas vacation with my Dad on Christmas eve
10) Is your Christmas tree real or fake?
- Fake
11) Hands down, what's your all-time favorite holiday food and holiday sweet treat?
- Oooh, I always look forward to the turkey and prawns and my favourite sweet treat would be either a pavlova or a cheesecake
12) Be honest: do you like giving gifts or receiving gifts better?
- I of course love to receive gifts, you would be lying if you aid you didn't. But I do also like giving gifts, it's just not as exciting to me
13) Show us your tackiest Christmas attire!
- I don't actually have any tacky Christmas attire. So my Santa hat? if that counts
14) What would be your dream place to visit for the holiday season?
- My dream holiday destination would be somewhere where it snows. So maybe either America or England
15) Does your family have a special holiday recipe you like to help make?
- My Mum and I make a baked ham each year which is always fun
16) Are you a pro-present wrapper, or do you fail miserably?
- I am a very very good present wrapper! Those edges have to be a clean crisp fold
17) Most memorable Holiday moment?
- When I was really little my brother and I got our very first digital cameras for Christmas, it was the most exciting gift to ever receive! I remember I was so excited to show my Dad that I dropped it on the tiles and it wouldn't turn back on for a while. I was bawling I was so upset, but I never forgot it. And hey, it's funny to look back on
18) What made you realize the truth about Santa?
- I had speculations about it nearing the end of primary school, but in the end it was my brother who told me19) Do you make New Years resolutions? Do you stick to them?
- Yes! New Years resolutions are a must and although I do try to stick to them, it rarely happens
20) What makes the Holidays special for you?
- I just like the 'magic' associated with Christmas every one is so happy and it's fun and exciting to see everyone get into the Christmas spirit 

I now would like to tag all of you to do this, leave a comment below with your answers to these Q's I would love to hear what things you get up to during the holiday season.

Speak soon. xx

How I stopped wearing makeup- and you can too!

I went makeup free thee months ago when I left school, this decision was made honestly out of laziness as I could not be bothered to put makeup on every morning, especially when I had no where to go and it was the best decision I have ever made. I know the idea of putting makeup on even when you were spending the day at home would seem ridiculous to most people, and even to myself now to look back on. I mean why would someone put so much time into making themselves look good if they weren't going anywhere, or seeing anyone? Well, this tends to be a common problem for most women out there. You start to become so reliant on makeup to give you that confidence and to make you feel better that you no longer know how to find it from within yourself. Makeup application and removal becomes just as much of an essential daily task as brushing your teeth. 

Now I would now quickly like to mention my secret weapon in getting the confidence you need to o without makeup: moisturiser.

Yes, I know. Moisturising your skin is common knowledge and everyone does it, right? Well no. Many women and men for that matter do not moisturise their skin often enough if not at all. I was one of those people who never moisturised, I just never saw the point in it and didn't think it would make that much of a difference. But I was very very wrong. The day I stopped wearing makeup was the day that I decided to moisturise every morning and night, and the benefits were beyond what I could believe. I was never one who broke out easily and I never suffered from acne, but I did have redness on my cheeks and the areas around my nose would constantly be dry and flaky. 

The first two weeks of going makeup free and moisturising came with both good benefits and bad breakouts. My skin almost instantly felt softer and looked healthier and was glowing. But as this was a total skin cleanse all of the blockages in my pores were beginning to work their way out of my skin causing me to break out like I never had before. Usually if I 'broke out' it would be on or two pimples that lasted a week maximum but this was all over my face and lasted around two -two and a half weeks. I didn't want this at all, it was embarrassing and I didn't want to use any harsh chemicals on my skin to get rid of them because I felt as though it would contradict what I was trying to do, so I used tea tree oil. I used this twice a day after I had used my moisturiser and let me tell you, tea tree oil is the most effective product I have ever used to remove my pimples. They cleared up so quickly and my face felt fresh.

The first two weeks of my current three months of no makeup was horrific. Aside from the breakouts I was facing I had no confidence to even leave my house, I thought that without makeup I looked gross and that everyone would be looking at me and laughing ( did I really rely on makeup to give me confidence that much? that's crazy!) 

Once I got through the first two weeks my skin cleared up and my confidence came back. I started to think that maybe I didn't look as bad as I thought without makeup, which is true. For all women Makeup is a privilege not a right, if you abuse a privilege it will work in reverse or get taken away. Obviously makeup cannot be taken away, but it can work in reverse. Makeup made my bare face look horrid, it was dry and had no glow in it, it just wasn't healthy and even when I did wear makeup I wore it everyday that it got to the point that it wasn't anymore beneficial to my looks wearing it. Since going makeup free however, my skin is glowing, it is healthy and has cleared up completely, and in all honesty I feel more confident now without makeup than what I ever did wearing makeup! Now on the rare occasion that I do wear makeup I can enjoy the process again.

-- Also, as a side note- during these three months there were of course times that I did wear makeup. However there were times in which I had somewhere important to go, which is fine. I wasn't banning it from my life I just was not wearing it unnecessarily. 

I encourage all of you to go three months without makeup. The first two weeks are the hardest, but once you get past that, not wearing makeup feels so much better than wearing makeup. And remember, my results will not be the same as yours, my two week rule may be the first month for you, but I have complete faith that one month maximum of trouble, that the last two months you will be seeing maximum results.

I would love to see or hear about your results, so leave a comment below telling me how your progress is going.

Also, if you are interested in the moisturiser that I have been using and the cleanser I have been using check out my last blog post for more details: http://samanthamersin.blogspot.com.au/2014/10/favourites-skincare.html

Speak soon, xx