March always seems to be one of those blink and you miss it kind of months. Nonetheless it was a busy one on the blog with a bit more lifestyle content making an appearance. There was also two new videos uploaded and even a giveaway. There's another giveaway coming up later in the week but before we get to that, here's a look at what you may have missed in March over on Nana Wintour.

Downsizing The Beauty Stash: We makeup lovers may not want to admit it to ourselves but it is possible to have way too many beauty things. Decluttering is hard but I've worked out a bit of a system to make the difficult task a bit easier. 

Mac SS15 | The Products: New Mac products equal a whole lot of emoji heart-eyed cat feels so it was inevitable that a bit of a love letter was going to make its way here. If you pick up one thing from this post, get the Stormy Pink paint pot. It's a stunner.

10 Things That Make Me Happy: I really love reading list posts on blogs at the moment so I decided to share one here this month. It actually had quite a positive response on here and elsewhere on the interwebs which I wasn't really anticipating. Expect to see more list posts around these parts sometime soon.

My Gratitude Journal: Towards the end of February I started up a gratitude journal/visual journal. It's part diary, part reflective tool. I'll be honest, I got a bit slack with updating this during March but I'll be sure to get back into it during April.

*What posts did you enjoy reading in March?

Two Happy Mail posts in one month? You lucky things. Plot spoiler: the March Happy Mail kit was good, so good in fact that it sold out really fast. Maybe there's a whole world of copper magpie-humans (just roll with it) out there that I never even knew about. I was really impressed with the card selection this month and while this only arrived last week, I've already been putting the cards to use. In fact, some of you guys may find yourselves with them. 

Here's what was in the March Happy Mail along with my musings about all the stationery things...

Observation #1: All the colour! There was really a rainbow of colour in this month's kit which I liked. Here we have another birthday card, which I've used already and a Palm Springs card which I love. It reminds me of those 90's-early 00's cartoon shows that used to be on Nickolodeon or Cartoon Network. Y'know the ones where they had really kitschy, unique looking houses? There was a grumpy cat which I think is the cutest thing ever, and then some stickers/tabs. You could use these along the edge of pages, cards, in those plastic dividers for folders/paper storage. They were the thing I was least excited for this month but I'll still use them anyway.

There was a lot of copper lettering in this month's kit which made me extremely happy. There was another animal themed card, this time with a pug. Side note: I do not get the somewhat universal obsession with pugs. Moving along, we have a motivational postcard-perfect for the old vision board. Then we have the gorgeous dotted notecard which was one of my favourites this month. I also love those neon gift tags. They're great for jazzing up a present, especially if you use plain brown paper. You can also use them in scrapbooking or even make bookmarks if you're in the DIY mood.

Now the main image at the top of this post contains my favourite things from the March kit. The stunning Maya Angelou quote print with the marbled background is already on my pinboard and might even find itself in a frame at some point. I also love that shopping list because lists are my thing and I am terrible at remembering what I entered the supermarket for. The Dolly Parton quote card is another nice one to brighten up someone's day, and who can resist that rainbow envelope? There could've been twenty of those "I Owe You Big Time" cards, they're that useful. Finally we have the "You Got This" card. Another one that's stunning to look at and motivate yourself/someone else with.

So in case you couldn't tell by that essay, I was really impressed with this month's Happy Mail. I really think it's such good value for money. Elsie+Emma and their team obviously put a lot of time into how each item could be used and everything's so practical. I'm definitely going to keep my subscription going.

*Are you signed up for Happy Mail? What do you think of it?

It's that time again! March's Favourites are here and for once I didn't have to think too much about what I was going to include. These beauty and body products have all been standouts for the last couple of months and I can imagine many a repurchase happening when they do eventually run out. There's also a token book in there for good measure and a giveaway! The general gist of that is in the video but I'll write it out again.

Giveaway Details:

-Open to NZ residents only. If you're under 18, please get permission to enter this first as I'll need your postal address if you win.

-Be in to win either the Raspberry Harvest Shower Gel* or Raspberry Harvest Body Butter* from The Body Shop. 

-To enter, leave me a comment down below telling me which you'd like to win. Be sure to leave a Twitter handle/email address so I can contact you if you win.

-This giveaway will remain open for one week and will close next Wednesday 01/04. Good luck! 

*Giveaway prizes provided.

Cinderella: The Update-On Sunday I was lucky enough to attend an advanced screening of the new Cinderella film. Thanks Mac! I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did but it was actually really good. The costuming first off is stunning. I also liked how they didn't make Cinderella all prissy and didn't refer to the villains as ugly. Props to Disney for positive messages. Mac also sent me their new Cinderella Eye Gloss to have a play with. I might pop a review up actually because I'm really liking it at the moment.

A New Shoe Love-The lovely Evie is to blame for my discovery of these loafers. They're from a brand called Croon and if you ask me, I think they're rather swish. It helps that they're bedazzled as well. I would just love to have my feet in some of these this Winter. A girl can dream. If you want to shoegaze with me, head over here. 

Bumble & Bumble's Surf Infusion-I do love the original Surf lineup from B&B, but it can be a little bit drying on your hair if you like to use it a lot. Their newest product has me intrigued. It sounds like a spruced up version of the original surf spray with the added bonus of nourishing oils. If it doesn't leave your hair feeling as dry, this may be one I add to the stash.

Save The Cookies-Moustache Milk & Cookie bar is one of my favourite food places in the CBD. That's a bold claim, because there's some rather rad dining establishments around now but Moustache will always hold a special place in my heart. Heck, Hannah and I used to have regular cookie dates here. Anyway, Moustache sadly have to close their doors. Rather than crying over spilt strawberry milk, which is totally worth crying over, they're reaching out to us. If you love Moustache as much as I do and want to continue to experience their awesomeness skip one of your weekly Starbucks and donate the money here. 

Bookstagram-I feel like it's hard to find awesome book blogs in general. Correct me if I'm wrong here guys. Anyway, this week I stumbled upon this amazing book photography account on Instagram. If this doesn't make you want to lie in bed all morning with the pages of a thrilling novel, then I don't know what will. 

*Have the most raddest of weekend girls and guys. I'm honestly in the best mood right now. This week's been awesome. I've got some neat lil' giveaways lined up for my NZ readers soon so keep your eyes peeled for them. I love doing giveaways. What else..oh I have another job interview on Monday, hopefully it goes okay. Tonight I'm off to Miranda Sings show in Auckland. VIP+I get to meet her, not trying to brag-I'm just so excited. Other than that my weekend's gonna be low key-hopefully with some Disney films in the mix if I can persuade my younger cousins to watch them. x

The title says it all really. Today I'm shining the spotlight on some products which really don't get as much love as they deserve around these parts. In fact, with a couple of exceptions, I'm pretty sure most of these have never been mentioned on the blog before, which is not a good thing! That ends today though as I talk you through some of my daily loves, from two hairbrushes you need to products that smell amazing enough to eat...

Tangle Teezer-I think this colourway is the Sugared Almonds one but it's not coming up online so it may have been limited edition. This was a repurchase as my old Tangle Teezer was getting a bit worn and just wasn't performing as well as it used to. Like the Wet Brush (below), this is great if you have thicker hair that's prone to going a bit unruly or getting tangled up. Funny that..Seriously though, this is another brush which won't make brushing your hair feel painful and for that it gets a lot of love from me.

The Body Shop Wonderblur*-This is a relatively new product from TBS and it reminds me a lot of Instablur. I use it as a primer underneath foundation but you could also use it under something like concealer or a BB cream if you want a lighter base. It helps to smooth the complexion and allows your makeup to sit on the skin better. It's a little bit silicone-like but if that doesn't bother you too much, you should get on well with this product.

Urban Decay 'All Nighter' Setting Spray-This was another repurchase but I opted for the 'all nighter' spray in a trial size instead. The reason being I am off to Australia in May and I know Urban Decay should be available there by then, so I can pick up a full sized one on my travels. Maybe. This spray is oil and paraben free *insert thumbs up emoji here* and seriously does help prevent your makeup from migrating all over your face. 

The Wet Brush-I can't believe this hasn't been mentioned on NW before. This may just look like your normal, run of the mill hairbrush. Believe me when I say, it isn't. I feel like brushes shaped like this are typically notorious for being painful on thick hair but this one is honestly the gentlest brush ever. As the name suggests, it's designed to be used with wet, 'just out of the shower' hair but I find it performs just as well on dry hair, especially with a bit of this in the mix.

Avene Thermal Spring Water Spray-You may have seen me raving about this on Twitter a bit this Summer as I've been spritzing it whenever it got too humid. Aside from being refreshing on your face, it also acts as a lightweight toner of sorts. It's also great for calming angry skin, so if you're one of those people who's prone to ruddy cheeks after exercising or having a hot shower, you need this in your life.

The Body Shop Early Harvest Raspberry Scrub* available March 30-One of my favourite ranges from last year is returning to The Body Shop's shelves again for a limited time. Who didn't love feel obliged to purchase the entire range last year? The scrub is absolutely delicious, as is the body butter, but more on that next week. They're the perfect pairing for hydrated, silky smooth limbs.

-Have you used any of these products before? What did you think of them?

*PR Sample

Public service announcement: I filmed a video and it's online, ready and waiting to be watched. I know I said I'd make more of an effort with YouTube. Life got in the way. A house being built right outside my bedroom (filming room) also got in the way. Excuses aside, I really miss filming and felt so out of practice so a tag was a nice way to ease back into it. I hope you enjoy it and be sure to tell my friends that I tagged 'em because I really want them to do this one as well x.

Last month I went along to Mac's SS15 Trends Presentation. As well as listening to the talented James Molloy and Kiekie Stanners talk makeup, it was awesome to get to take some makeup away with us and put those trends into practice. I've still not had a chance to use everything yet, but what I have used has been well loved and become staples in my everyday makeup routine...

Mineralise Skinfinish in Lightscapade*-I used to own Mac's popular mineralize skinfinish in Soft and Gentle but I sold it on last year because it was just too shimmery for my liking. I'd always thought Lightscapade was limited edition but apparently it is a permanent product. Look at all those colours! Scary right? Don't worry, your cheeks aren't left looking blue or lilac. This is such a subtle product and adds a mere hint of luminosity to the high-points of my face. When I'm not wanting a highlighter as dramatic as this one, it's been my go-to.

Pro Longwear Paint Pot in Stormy Pink*-If you're a regular Nana Wintour reader, you'll know by now that I lovelovelove Mac's paint pots. In my opinion, they're the best cream eyeshadows in a pot. Stormy Pink is described as a muted grey purple. It's stunning on its own but it looks gorgeous layered underneath Misty Rock from By Terry. I can't get enough of paint pots so this was a welcome addition to my makeup collection.

Trend Forecast Spring Lip and Cheek Palette*-This palette was set into the Mac trends forecast book we all received. Cue a lot of excited beauty media. What I like with these colours is that they can all be applied quite sheerly or built up to something more intense. I'm not sure about the brighter red as a cheek colour but the rest of these I'd happily wear either on my lips or cheeks. If you don't own any Mac lip products, these palettes would be a great introduction to them.

Have you tried any of these products? What did you think of them?

*PR Sample

Topshop lands in Auckland-Unless you've been hiding beneath a rock, or are part of the world that already has Topshop, New Zealand finally has a proper Topshop store! It's located in Auckland city, two-levels and gets a weekly drop of 300 new styles. *insert heart-eyed cat emojis for days*. I love Topshop and I'm really excited that we finally have a proper store here. I'll check it out once the excitement dies down a bit-I'm not quite brave enough to venture in just yet!

The Selection by Kiera Cass-If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen me raving a bit about The Selection series by Kiera Cass. Think dystopian fiction meets Gossip Girl. It's quite an unusual combination but it works and these books certainly are addicting reads. If you're into the above, with a touch of romance mixed in then you'll love these. Side note: This song was my soundtrack whilst reading these.

A Lush Shower Delight-Lush is an absolute heaven for people who like bath and shower products+smelling good. You didn't need me to tell you that though, right? Well they've recently debuted a line of new products, including D'Fluff*. It's a shaving soap that's a blend of real strawberries, cocoa butter and a host of other ingredients that are good for your skin. It doesn't lather up as such, and it's better to use it in sections because it does drip a bit if you're not fast enough with it. Otherwise I love using this. It's moisturising and helps to keep your pins looking tip-top. 

Weekday-Anna is to thank for my discovery of this brand which can be found over on ASOS. Good quality basics and well-styled accessories are what you'll find here. I love their tees and the simple chain necklaces. Once those shirts are back in stock I'll definitely be adding one or two to my basket.

The Student Face-As students, you'll often find yourself time poor and perhaps not too spendy when it comes to the makeup department. Lily knows what that's like as well and penned a post featuring her favourite drugstore picks for a daily makeup look. I can vouch that the Soap and Glory Bronzer and the Tanya Burr lipglosses are fantastic. The other products receive rave reviews online as well.

-Have the most fantastic of weekends everybody! I'm off to #brunchclub tomorrow and am looking forward to seeing some of my blogging friends. I might just sneak into Topshop too if it's not looking too manic. Sunday I'm going to a preview of the new Cinderella movie with Amy which'll be interesting. I can't remember the last time I watched the classic Disney film so it'll be interesting to see how it compares. 

*PR Sample

Happiness is so multifaceted and I'm sure that no two of us will have the same ideas of what happiness encompasses. For me it involves so many things, one that I feel at peace and at ease in whatever environment or situation I find myself. As I mentioned last week, I've started keeping a gratitude journal. Today I thought I'd share some of the things I've written down from the last couple of weeks that evoked happiness for me, no matter how big or small they were..

1. Watching Stephen Hawking interviews on YouTube.

2. Blog inspiration striking whilst I'm lost in random thought, i.e. daydreaming. 

3. Reading books in bed.

4. Listening to Florence and the Machine. 

5. Walks in the sunshine. *This has been repeated a few times.

6. Playing Cards Against Humanity.

7. Watching Boyhood and feeling inspired. 

8. Listening to Disney music.

9. Raspberry body butter.

10. Late morning showers. 

*What makes you happy?

Another month, another lineup of books. There's a bit of everything here; memoirs, the weirdest book I've ever read, another from the Hornby archives and of course some YA fiction. All the things I look for in my literary adventures. Here's what I'm reading in March...

Wild by Cheryl Strayed-I really wasn't expecting to like this book as much as I have but I love it. Given I know next to nothing about tramping and the American outdoors I've found it extremely interesting. Cheryl Strayed sets out to hike the Pacific Crest Trail in an attempt to rediscover herself and reflect on the last few years of her life, since her mother's passing. It's a true story which makes it all the more amazing and inspiring. I'm not quite finished this yet as I've found myself dragging it out, but don't be surprised if this is my book of the month.

About A Boy by Nick Hornby-I'm still reading Nick Hornby's book about books that I touched on last month but this is next on my list. If you've seen the movie, you'll know that this story follows Will, a 30-something single, unemployed and too hip for his own good kind of guy. He crosses paths with Marcus, a twelve year old looking after his mother and possessing eccentric music taste. I really enjoyed the movie adapted from this book so I'm looking forward to reading the novel.

A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall-This story, told from multiple perspectives follows the unfolding love story of two young adults who meet in a creative writing class. *insert heart emojis here*. This just sounds so sweet and according to Goodreads, it's perfect for fans of John Green and Rainbow Rowell. I will keep you posted..

The First Bad Man by Miranda July-Where to begin with this book... My familiarity with Miranda July begun 2/3 years ago when she did a project where you'd receive an email conversation from a famous face, like Lena Dunham into your inbox. I wasn't really sure what to expect but I'd been told this would be unlike anything else I'd read, and it was. This book tells the story of Cheryl, a middle-aged singleton who works for a company that produces self defense videos. She finds herself lumbered with her boss's twenty-something daughter who has gone off the rails. They have a rather bizarre relationship, to say the least. You'll have to read this to find out what else happens but this book was bizarre and at times grotesque. I nearly abandoned this but felt obliged to finish it. It has to be one of the weirdest things I have ever read but that made it all the more of an addicting read.

*Have you read any of these books? If not, what have you been reading lately? I'd love some recommendations. 

To know me is to know that I am stationery obsessed. I have always been and inevitably always will be. I'm also a bit obsessed with A Beautiful Mess at the moment. While I lack the motivation to do their DIY's, I love the inspiration their designs and projects bring to me. So when I heard about Happy Mail, I was intrigued and decided to sign up with their February kit...

Happy Mail is a subscription service and each month you receive a kit containing various cards, prints, stickers, stationery and more. Given that each kit is valued at $50 US and you pay around 20 NZD a month with shipping, this is really good value. Each item I received in the February kit was such good quality and I've already sent off a few of the cards to friends and family.

If you're an ABM fan you've probably already seen the contents of this month's kit but there was an art print, an assortment of cards, colourful stickers for decorating envelopes/sealing them, those cute word stickers above and a Taylor Swift-themed pencil. There was a lot of gold foil accents on show this month. You know how I feel about gold foil...I loved the range of cards included too. Those word stickers feature phrases from Mean Girls which made my day and they'd be great for cards or journals. I also spotted one of the cards I sent out on my friend's pinboard this weekend which made me smile. They're such beautifully designed cards that deserve to be shown off.

One thing I noticed was a lot of the cards are more postcard style and only have one side to write on. I don't know if this is a particularly American thing but I like cards that open up. It's not a major by any means, I'm just fussy with stationery. I also like having space to write on because I tend to write a lot in cards.

So all in all, I was really impressed with the February Happy Mail kit. I'm thinking about doing a post about the March kit as well, so let me know if you're interested in seeing that.

*Are you subscribed to Happy Mail? What do you think of it?

Pencilled In x Mac: Mac are on fire with their new collections at the moment and their latest lip launch has me excited. If you know me, you'll know that I love Mac's lip products so the Pencilled In collection, out March 16 is right up my street. A range of Mac's popular lipsticks are being repromoted, along with some new lipglasses and lip pencils. I am loving the Candy Yum-Yum lipglass*. In fact, I'm loving Mac's lipglasses in general at the moment. Would anyone like to see a post about them?

Boyhood: This was on my 'to-watch' list at the film festival last year, but from memory it clashed with my timetable last semester. Well I finally got around to watching it this week and wow. For those not in the know, this story is filmed with the exact same cast over a 12 year period. The story is amazing and each section of life flows into the other seamlessly. I also enjoyed hearing music and the various pop culture references from the different years of the 00's. Mason's love for photography was one of my favourite parts as well. This is brilliant and if you're yet to watch it, make that a priority this weekend. 

The Return of the Raspberry: Last year, The Body Shop made me extremely happy with the launch of their blueberry and raspberry scented products. They were as delicious as they sound, but sadly they were both limited edition. Well, thankfully the Raspberry and Peach scented products are coming back as part of the Early Harvest collection at the end of March. I have the body butter and another tub of the scrub which I love and am looking forward to reusing. Don't be surprised if they're in my March favourites post.

That's Just Fabulous: No really, it is. Faith's blog is one of my current favourite beauty reads. She's a designer as well so her pictures and blog are so aesthetically pleasing. She reviews the best of the best and I could happily while away a few hours on her blog.

An Etsy Store to Obsess Over: I do love me a good Etsy trawl from time to time and this week I discovered Velvet Wolves. She sells prints, zines, stickers and apparel. What I love about them though is that they feature some of my favourite famous women; Alexa Chung, Keira Knightley, Lana Del Rey and Zooey Deschanel to name a few. A little purchase may have happened too..

-As always, have the most awesome of weekends everyone! This week was considerably better than the last, although I'm not gonna lie it was kinda...weird not having classes to go to. The job search is still going and I've applied for a few positions that I really liked. Keep your fingers crossed for me! Other than that I have a bit of a girly sleepover planned this evening and finally filming that video for y'all. Oh-and I booked tickets to go see Les Mis in Sydney when I'm there for a few days in May. If you know me you'll know I'm really quite excited about that. xo

A few of my friends have been converting to using solely cruelty free beauty+body products recently. While I'm not too sure I could entirely commit to that, I am trying to use more cruelty-free beauty products when I can do. Recently, iHerb had a sale going where there was discount across many of their beauty brands. It was a pretty good deal from what I can remember so I decided to do a little haul and pick up some products I'd been wanting to try out..

Deep Steep Brown Sugar+Vanilla Foaming Handwash-After ordering this handwash I received one for review in the post so I'm actually yet to open this one. It was an Alix inspired purchase and I know she loves it so I have high hopes for it.

Physician's Formula Lash Boosting Eyeliner+Serum-A liquid liner isn't something that I'd typically go for, but after hearing Tamira raving about it in one of her videos, I had to try it myself. The pen reminds me of the Tom Ford liner which Anna uses. This is ridiculously easy to use and that's coming from someone who usually ends up with black smudges in their crease. It's crazy long-wearing too and if you find liquid liner a pain, you should check this one out. As for the lash boosting properties, I feel like it has made my lashes longer. I'm not sure how that works, magic perhaps. I love this and will definitely repurchase it.

Hurraw Grapefruit Lip Balm-I loved my Coconut lip balm from Hurraw but it had recently run out so I decided to try a different scent this time. The grapefruit is even more divinely scented than the coconut one. I love these lip balms and how conditioning they are without feeling too heavy on the lips for daytime. 

Deep Steep Foot Stick-This was totally a 'what the heck' purchase. I think I was intrigued by the peppermint scent and the fact it was a stick for your feet. Again, what the heck. Basically you roller this on to your feet, put some socks on and wake up with ridiculously soft feet in the morning. Currently, it is far too hot for donning socks so I tend to massage it into my feet instead. It smells amazing and it certainly makes my feet softer. 

Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge-Now this was a repurchase as I managed to break my first sponge. Props to me. I could've replaced it with the beauty blender but let's be real, that is one expensive sponge. This one's so inexpensive and does an amazing job of blending concealer in seamlessly. I use the flat side around my face and then the pointed edge under the eyes. Gently of course! If you don't own one of these yet, get one. You will not regret it.

*Have you tried any of these products before? What did you think of them?

-I hope your week's going great so far! Mine's been a bit low-key. I'm actually not studying this semester, so I am on the job hunt at the moment. Basically I spend a lot of my time on Seek. Not gonna lie, it's a bit of a frustrating process but oh well. One plus side is it means I can blog a bit more frequently and hopefully film too. Have a great Wednesday and I'll see you all on Friday with another installment of The Week xo.

Sometimes it's all too easy to get caught up in what is going wrong. Whether that be in our lives or someone else's. I have to admit, sometimes I get into a skeptical, pessimistic frame of mind and find it hard to shake. In an attempt to counteract that, last year I started a positivity journal. Each day I had to write one positive thought, whether it be about myself or something that happened to another person. I found it really effective and made me feel more uplifted. Perhaps it was a placebo effect, who knows. Well recently, I've been a bit down, stressed and a manner of other things so I decided to introduce a gratitude journal to my daily routine...

The journal in question is the botanical journal from Rifle Paper Co., a design they don't seem to make anymore. You can find similar styles here though. I'll be honest, this was a rather impulsive buy on a holiday last year. Basically I wanted every piece of Rifle Paper goodness I could find. It wasn't an essential by any means but I am glad I've found a use for it. If you don't want to splurge, look for a notebook among your collection or give a plain old exercise book a makeover. There's so many DIY's on Pinterest these days. 

In terms of filling it in I like to include a positive statement about the day. For instance, above I wrote "there is always something good in every day". Then I like to include a list of things from that day which made me happy. I usually end up with six+ things and it really reinforces that quote. More so if I thought I'd had a shitty day. Something like listening to Florence can make me happy. I then include some kind of visual below. It could be anything really-whatever you fancy! So far I've used the back of a lipstick packaging, photos, calendar excerpts and my own drawings. 

It's only been eight days so far but I'm finding this such a useful tool. Doing this at night leaves me in a better mood before I go to sleep and it reminds me, even if I'm in a bad mood, there's never days where it's entirely like that. I think gratitude journals are definitely something I'll be sticking to.

*Do you keep a gratitude journal?