Turning your University Room into a Home

It's that time of year when students all across the country are heading off to university, moving into student accommodation and enjoying their new life.
One big part of moving into halls of residence is turning it into a cosy, happy place where you will enjoy spending time for one year at least.
Here are a few things that I would consider essentials when it comes to creating that perfect spot for relaxing and working.

Candles:
Nothing creates a soft, homely feel in quite the same way as candles.
I find that if I'm stressed, fed up or want to relax, then I always want to start off by lighting a few scented candles to help me find my happy place. I like to go for sweet smells such as vanilla, but my total favourite is Yankee Candle Fireside Treats.

Fun, quirky stationery and work spots:
By filling your study space with fun, pretty things, you make it much more appealing. Lets face it, if you're going to be spending a lot of time studying, then you want it be doing it in a pleasant environment. Cute notebooks, stickers and a well laid out but visually appealing planner are perfect for keeping things positive and organised at the same time.

House plants:
Good for the mind, the air, and also very pretty, a house plant or two will brighten up the room perfectly.
I really like seeing plants grow so we have plenty dotted around our little home. Cacti and succulents are a good choice for dorm rooms because they're small and need little attention. Peace Lilies are another good choice because they are one of the top 5 air purifying plants, don't need much sun light and are near impossible to kill, meaning that even inattentive owners should manage to maintain one.

High quality bedding:
Nothing makes a bedroom feel more special that luxury bedding that feels amazing when you climb in after a long day, or can enjoy a long lie in. Companies such as Parachute offer beautiful luxury bedding that looks lovely and lasts a long time. Parachute also have a scheme in place where $10 from every sale of their Venice set is used to fund malaria nets in developing countries which I think is a lovely gesture.

What would you say are the university room essentials? What will you be taking?

Annie xx

The Yankee Candle Christmas Style App

I spend way too much time on facebook...way too much.
Today I stumbled upon a cute little app that was added to the Yankee Candle Company page by the Yankee Candle elves to help you get to know their Christmas collection and suggest the fragrances that you might enjoy.

The app works by asking you simple multiple choice questions to determine what best fits in with your idea of a perfect Christmas (one question asks you to select your favourite Christmas film. It has to be Home Alone, right?!)

It then uses the answers you give to generate an answer as to whether you are more of a Christmas Past or Christmas Present type of style and tells you a little bit about some of the fragrances from the lovely new Festive Range that would be likely to appeal the most to you.

As a little extra incentive to give the app a play and spread the word, for fans of the Yankee Candle Company Facebook page who share the app with their friends either on Facebook or Twitter, there is also the chance to win one of 50 large jar sets of the new Spring 2015 range which I have heard tell smell beautiful.

You can find the Yankee Candle app *here* if you fancy giving it a go. I thought it was just a sweet and fun way to show people the winter collection and you guys already know how much I love Yankee Candles so I just had to share with you :)

Let me know whether you are Christmas Present or Christmas Past!

Annie xx

Costumes, Candles, Cake and Cold

I love autumn. I think it's probably my favourite time of year, especially around November because there's so much excitement in the air, the evenings are dark and cold and warm hats, coats and scarves are brought out.
There's been lots going on here in Bath lately. I really feel at the moment like I am living a truly great life :)

For Halloween I visited a wonderful friend in his cabin in the woods for a cosy gathering with pumpkin pie, dress up, The Nightmare Before Christmas, drinking and dancing and it was magical. The fake blood took a while to remove but it was so worth it ;) I think this is possibly the only decent photo of me though as it was taken before the amaretto came into play hehe

Now the evenings are dark once again, there is nothing more relaxing to me than snuggling up under a blanket or duvet with my beloved Yankee candles burning away, Christmas Cookie has always been a favourite. Its warm vanilla and sugar scent fills the house with the smell of freshly baked biscuits and when burnt with Merry Marshmallow which has a gooey melted marshmallow scent, it smells like memories of childhood Christmases. Nothing makes me happier than that!

Another reason I've been feeling festive! On Friday I spent the day with my mum baking our Christmas Cake and Christmas Puddings. I love this day with my mum every year. We get sticky, over excited and put too much brandy in everything and yet everything always turns out perfectly. Next stop is cake decoration day :D

I took this photo at around 9.30 this morning on my way to assist one of our courses for work. It shows Pultney Wier which is right in the middle of Bath, yet on this cold Monday morning there was no one about. Bah is such a beautiful place and I will never get bored of living here, but it's times like this one when it feels extra special,

Finally, taking up a lot of my time at the moment (outside of working full time and working on my college course) are the rehearsals for Snow White, which are in full swing ready for the how to begin in December. We had the photo shoot recently and that apple was so red and shiny that it didn't make it to the end of the afternoon before me giving in and taking a bite...followed by a few more... ;)

So that pretty much sums up my life recently. I have so much going on t the moment that I don't get regular chances to post but I have got some bits and pieces lined up, including more candles, decor, beauty and a couple of DIY Christmas posts.

Catch you later,
Annie xx


PS: for lots more photos of candles, cats, makeup, picturesque places, cookery and pretty stuff, find me on instagram @threelittlebuhos

Yankee White Chocolate Bunnies Candle

Now Christmas and Valentines Day are out of the way, focus is moving onto spring, warmer weather and Easter. Yankee Candle have recently released two scents for Valentines Day; Bunny Cake which is returning from last year and White Chocolate Bunnies which is a sweet new scent for 2014.

As you can probably guess, White Chocolate Bunnies has an amazing white chocolate aroma that fills the room with a smell similar to that of melted milky bar chocolate. The scent is lovely and strong without smacking you in the face and being too sickly. The jar is also super cute! I love all things cute and the soft, creamy colouring fits right in with my girly decor although I think it would look at home in most places.

To top off my jar I've been using my new Whiskers on Kittens Illuma Lid which was released as part of the My Favourite Things collection. Don't those kittens look smug about their big, bold whiskers! For those who may not know, the purpose of an Illuma Lid is to reduce the effect of draughts on the flame which helps to give a more even burn.

This is a beautiful candle and would make a lovely gift for a Yankee Candle fan, or a treat for yourself if you're after a little something to spoil yourself with. It's only available as a large jar, but you can pick up White Chocolate Bunnies for £19.99 *here*

Annie xx

Feeling Cosy with Yankee Candle

So, I am currently pretty much bed bound with some horrible flu like bug hence the lack of beauty posts, but when you feel like poop there are some things that just lift you and make you feel that bit better. With me, it's lighting a few beautifully scented candles, snuggling down under a blanket and watching a film or reading a book.
(I apologise now for the Instragram low resolutions photos, I just haven't had the energy to take better the last few days!)

There's something so therapeutic about the soft glow of candles and  I am totally hooked. My favourite scents have always been the sweeter, foody smells like the Christmas Cupcake and Merry Marshmallow offerings above. Although, until recently I stuck to offerings from the likes of Ikea and Primark which gave off very little scent.

However, I am now a Yankee Candle convert. I picked up a large jar of Fireside Treats when I was recovering from my tonsillectomy and the long burn time and the strong, room filling delicious scent was enough to leave me wanting more.
Since then I've picked up quite a few others, including Butter Cream, Whoopie Pie, Gingerbread Cookie, and my very favourite; Christmas Cookie.

I am so in love with the scent of Christmas Cookie! Described by Yankee as smelling like "buttery rich, vanilla scented holiday cookies" I'd say that it's pretty much true to its word although the reason I rank it above other cookie scents from Yankee is that it doesn't have that weird, artificial biscuit smell that some do, its just pure vanilla, buttery goodness.
At the moment I'm also eagerly awaiting White Chocolate Bunnies from the Spring collection, a Candy Cane Cottage swirl and a Moon Pie swirl so I'm pretty excited.

I'm thinking about adding a few more lifestyle posts to my blog between the beauty posts to break things up a bit. Would that be something you'd enjoy seeing? I'm thinking decor, recipes, organisation, books and more Yankee candles. Let me know :)

Annie xx

Lately I've Been...#2

It's been a strange couple of weeks and an awful lot has happened, changing my life in some big ways. It hasn't been a bad time exactly but it has been tough so I've been taking some time to really appreciate the little things that make me smile :)

I'm no longer working at the bubble tea shop so this means I've had the chance to really throw myself into makeup work, designs and filling my head with inspiration. I might show you my book properly in a few weeks time but it is full of sketches, magazines snippets, designs, swatches and all things makeup artist-y!

Organising! One of my favourite things to do is take stock of all the beautiful things I'm lucky enough to have and the other day I sorted through my nail polish storage and had a mini reshuffle and brought some of the colours I wear less to the front of the shelf so that they get their turn :)

I've been spending time with some very lovely people. One of my resolutions this year is to take some time out and socialise. Some of my friends have been really great the last couple of weeks and it's meant a lot and definitely kept me laughing.

Relaxing with a kindle and burning lots of sweet, warming candles is what January is made for right? Well its how I'm spending cold, rainy evenings. I'm currently reading a book called The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul and it's brilliant! I haven't written a book review in a while because I haven't read anything I've felt warranted it but this is so fascinating and well written that I'll be sure to pop one up when I'm finished reading.

What have you been up to so far during January? Anything exciting?
Annie xx

Lately I've Been...

Its been a strange old week and next week is already looking totally manic so blogging is having to take a back seat just for a little bit. I'll try and schedule a couple of posts tomorrow evening but Three Little Buhos might be a little quiet this week!
Anyway, I've been up to lots lately and thought I'd share a few of the nicer bits :)

1. Got the house ready for Christmas! I love eclectic decorations. This year I've added 2 pretty owl ornaments to my collection :)

2. Burnt lovely cosy smelling candles to fill the house with warming sweet smells.

3. Visited the Bath Christmas market with two of my favourite people :) Cold and busy but sooo worth it!

4. Received some exciting post ready to enjoy over the festive period. I cannot get over the beauty of th Naked 3 palette!

5. Become hooked on Aspall mulled cider. It is so warming and tastes just like Christmas in a mug. Seriously good stuff!

I love the lead up to Christmas. It may be overly busy and weirdly stressful but you just can't beat it. The atmosphere, the lights, the food...so good!
What have you been up to lately?
Annie xx

Roses Are Red Etc Etc

Feliz Dia de Saint Valentin Three Little Buhos lovers!

You probably know if you've been reading my blog for a while that I'm a member, and actually, recently was lucky enough to be added to the admin team, of Beauty Box Swaps, a facebook community for beauty addicts to trade and sell their unloved beauty items.

For Valentines day I took part in a box swap with a lovely lady from the group. We set a £10 budget and also added items that we already had and put together a nice box of valentines treats for one another. Because I'm not actually in the UK this valentines day Jemma was very nice and sent my box a little earlier so I could open and enjoy before going away, hence I am able to show you my valentines pressies today :)

Jemma totally spoiled me, as well as all the goodies above she also sent me a some bits and pieces that went straight in to my suitcase before I took these photos including a gorgeous scarf and another pack of Cath Kidston tissues :)

The combination of fluffy socks, Soap and Glory and shiny things is so me, and its clear that she really thought about what I've said I like :)

How pretty are all of my lovely treats? I loved everything that Jemma was kind enough to send me from the floating candles, to the Cath Kidston brooches, from the Benefit minis to the hair pins. There isn't anything that won't be used and loved. So thank you hugely :)

What are you up to this Valentines day? Dan and I are both in Tenerife with my family to celebrate a birthday so we don't have any special plans but are going to find a nice restaurant to have dinner in. Whatever your plans, I hope you're enjoying you day :)

Annie xx

*ps, I'm away until 17th and this post is scheduled so if you comment and don't get a reply, I promise it's not that I'm ignoring you! <3*

Finkleberry Candles = Yum

Today has been lovely. I spent some quality time with Daniel (and owned him at bowling), ate delicious food and managed to do some productive stuff too! Good all round I would say.

Today I wanted to tell you about a relatively new brand on my radar but one that has excited me rather a lot.
Finkleberry Candles is a company who make beautiful scented candles. They're based in Virginia but ship worldwide so us peeps in the UK are able to take advantage of the lovely smells too. Every month they also donate 5% of the money made from their their candle sales to a worthy cause which is something that really made me smile.

However, what drew me to Finkleberry candles is their fabulous create your own service. You are given the option to choose your scent (there are 144 to select from!), double up the strength of the scent, choose your colour (13 options!), select the lid style and even name your creation and all for $16.99 (+$1.75 for double shot) which with the current conversion rate is £10.53 :)

When I got in touch with Finkeberry to check that they were happy for me to write this post they were also extra lovely and offered me an exclusive code to share with all my lovely Three Little Buhos readers. All you have to do is type "Annie" in at the checkout to receive 30% off your order.

I really do recommend giving Finkleberry Candles a try. The staff are lovely, the candles are beautiful both in looks and scent and even with international delivery the large create your own cost less than a large Yankee jar so its worth giving a go. Treat yourself.

Annie xx
ps. I thought I should mention that whilst I sound a bit like a fan girl, I wasn't asked to write this post or try the products for review, I just really like them <3