Every family does Christmas differently, each with their own traditions and specialities. My family does Christmas in quite a big way, we've always had lots of extended family to our house and so it's very busy and filled with people. As it's Christmas Eve I thought I'd share a few traditions of Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing day, both old and new.

In my family, we use Christmas as a bit of an excuse to spruce ourselves up for a few days and make a real effort. Which I'm pleased we do, it's always nice to look back at photos and think well at least my outfit was nice! For me, this of course, means taking my makeup into consideration, I want to look quite festive, yet be something that's going to last well and doesn't need too much done to it during the day. Whilst for the actual day I still haven't quite decided what lip option I'll go for, this is a look I've already worn a few times and I know it's a safe one to whip out for all the festivities. Golden, defined eyes and a matte lip with a perfected base that lasts all day.

As I've said many times before in these blogmas posts, I love Christmas with a passion. What's been especially is nice this year, is counting down the days with so much festive content to be catching up on. It's so nice to see how other people prepare for Christmas, and oh those gift guides are helpful! I've rounded up 6 of my favourite festive blog posts, just in case you're in need of any pre-Christmas Eve reading.

Mince pies and a cup of tea or mulled wine are the perfect treat for counting down to Christmas. And what's better than mince pies - homemade mince pies. This is my Mum's trusty recipe with a sugar topping to make them go extra crispy, buttery pastry and they're dairy free/vegan too! Delicious hot out of the oven with a dollop of brandy butter.

Christmas trees are definitely a favourite thing about Christmas. I mean they smell like Christmas, we've always had a real tree in the hall way and so when you come in the house is filled with the scent of pine. We nearly always decorate the tree together, depending on when I'm home from uni. This year we decorated the tree all together with my boyfriend and my brother's girlfriend, we spend ages on it as every decoration has a memory and of course we end up fooling around to Christmas music. I've picked out a few of my favourite decorations to share in the run-up to Christmas.

There's nothing like a fresh manicure to make me feel put together. Whilst I only paint my nails myself, it still makes me feel pampered and looking like I've got myself together. The festive season is definitely a time for wanting to look put together. I see a lot of my family around Christmas, and there are several things going on in my village that it's important for me that my nails are looking festive too. I've gathered my six favourite nail polishes that are perfect for the festive season, a mix of bolds, glitter and more neutral there's something for everyone.

I've shared the things I love about Christmas, and I do love Christmas. I've always been one of those children who was way too excited for Christmas and now I'm an adult who's way too excited for Christmas. But there's one thing that just gets on my nerves, and I have to say it's been growing as the years go by - commercialisation.

Nothing will make you feeling more festive than a bit of Christmas music. There are some great Christmassy songs, and some not so great, but they're guaranteed to make you feeling Christmassy, and it's always hard not to break into a little dance or song when you hear them. I've gathered my top favourites, as well as a few that have become traditions in my household, for my ultimate Christmas playlist.

Hello, my name's Emily and I'm a self-confessed Christmas addict. It's my favourite time of year, I get excited about getting excited about Christmas. For me, mid-November is the countdown to advent, and that's when things start to get really Christmassy. As it's blogmas, I'm sharing my top five favourite things about Christmas, as if I need to feel any more festive.

There's something about hot chocolate that feels festive. I know it's a cosy drink perfect for a winter's night, but what's better than a steaming mug of hot chocolate and a Christmas film? Maybe it's the hot chocolate song from The Polar Express that does it for me. Before I found out I have an allergy to dairy I just thought I didn't like hot chocolate. Having perfected a deliciously decadent hot chocolate recipe that's dairy free I can confirm I want to drink them all the time.

In my family, Christmas is a big deal and so in my first year of university, I found it difficult to get into the festive feel during Advent, knowing I was away from the usual traditions of home. Chances are you've got deadlines looming, and the end of term is approaching much faster than you'd like with work piling up. Plus you've got to factor in any Christmas shopping and not wanting to feel like a total scrooge. Now I'm in my third and final year, I've come up with several hints and tips to getting myself feeling festive away from home, all of which can be on budget and will have you feeling festive in no time.

Christmas is definitely one of my favourite times of the year, everything is so cute and cosy and I love the build up to spending time with lots of family. Last year I dabbled in a bit of blogmas (which you can read here) and decided that this year I'd plan more and do as much as possible. Realistically, I just don't have the time to daily blog the whole time whilst studying so I'm compromising with 12 Days of Blogmas. I know that technically the 12 days of Christmas don't start until Christmas day, but we'll forget about that for now! My schedule is a little weird so I recommend keeping an eye on Bloglovin' and Twitter to see when new posts go live, but they're going to be twice weekly on Wednesday's and Sunday's from today until the 18th, and then every day for the final 6 day countdown to Christmas Eve. That's the plan anyway, if anything changes it'll be on Twitter. Kicking off the 12 Days of Blogmas is my cosy Christmas wishlist, because Christmas jumpers and pjs are essentials in Advent.