Every year I seem to reach this point, the last week before Christmas, and I’m still trying to figure out what on earth I’m doing with shopping... It‘s not that I deliberately leave it to the last minute, it’s just the way that it always seems to end up!

I have a few explanations for this. The first is that I always really want to get people something that they will love. I can spend weeks agonising over what to get someone, the perfect gift for that person. Not only that but it needs to be something that they will love which will also fit into my budget, which (being a poor impoverished actor) is never as much as I’d like it to be. Especially when my car insurance is always due mid December. And the final reason is that I actually need to find the time to GO shopping! Having done Christmas performance work for the last 5 years I tend to be rushed off my feet and working some pretty ridiculous hours over the festive period. I’m currently performing every day for two weeks straight in this year’s pre-grotto show!

To make matters even trickier this year, my family have decided that we are no longer going to buy each other novelty gifts or things that we don’t need or won’t use. While this does make me very happy in terms of being more sustainable and eco-friendly, it also makes it more difficult to decide what to get each other for Christmas. I love the idea of giving time and doing things together as a present, but often these experiences or days/evenings out come with a bigger price tag. That being said I have almost finished deciding what I’m going to do and buy for most of my loved ones, but I just have to figure out the others and then how I’m going to wrap and present said gifts in as eco-friendly a way as possible.

I do love Christmas and for me it has always been about family time and coming together more than anything else. It’s great to spend time with one another and to show each other how much you care. Next year I hope to be a lot more ready and prepared but this year for me has essentially been a year of working hard to prepare for the rest of my life, so I’m ok with being a little bit disorganised for now! But next year I will be ready and I won’t STILL be Christmas shopping with only a week to go until the big day and no days off between now and then. At least I hope I won’t...

So some of you who've been following my work and vlogs for a while (thank you so much, you are awesome!) may have noticed that I didn't do a lot of acting in 2019... There is actually a reason for this! From May I kind of took 6 months away from acting. I say "kind of" because I didn't actively look for work, go to festivals, or attend networking events. But I did take any acting jobs that just came up. This was so that I could throw myself into working as many "normal" job shifts as I could find, including working 7 shifts in 3 days at 3 different locations around the south of England (and no, it was not 1 location per day) which was probably a bit too much it I'm honest. Won't be doing that again if I can help it! However it has all paid off as I succeeded in my goal to save up enough for the deposit to buy a flat! Which I'll hopefully be doing next year!

I'm so SO excited I can't actually express it in writing, so just imagine me doing a bouncy little happy dance. It has been very hard to make the sacrifice of not getting to act for most of this year because I really really missed it and it's something that I have been doing and chasing since I was only 6 years old. I've felt pretty isolated from the industry and my industry friends at points, and I've felt very frustrated at not being able to move my career forward. Felt stuck even. But I am happy to have achieved what I set out to do and hit my flat deposit goal. It is a really big deal for me, especially in a career full of uncertainty and instability.

Next year will be the first time that I'll be able to really knuckle down and go after my goals with my acting career. It'll be the first time that I'll actually be able to afford to go to the casting director workshops and film festivals. To go to classes to work on new skills and get better at the ones I already have. To take time off for auditions and workshops without worrying how the time off (because there's no holiday pay when you're self employed) will affect my ability to pay my rent.  In this crazy creative world I will have something that I wasn't sure I would ever have... some financial stability. And the freedom that comes with it to actually move my life and career forwards.

I'm so so happy and excited about this, so although it was tough to pull back on the acting this year, in the long run it is an investment in my career and in my life. I'm really looking forward to 2020 and the opportunities it will bring. I also want to take this moment to say thank you to those of you who support me and my work, it really does mean the world to me and I'm very grateful for it. I hope to bring you many characters that you will hopefully enjoy!

The pads are also slightly bigger than cotton wool pads are and I like this because I found them easier to use and remove my makeup with. It also means that you need to use less of them each time you take your makeup off and so don't have to do so many washing loads.They are really lovely looking but I did accept that they weren't going to stay that way for long once I started covering them in all my makeup! But one thing that I found to really help with the cleaning process is to quickly give them a rinse and a rub between my fingers straight away before putting them into the laundry bag.

Another thing that I liked about them is that they're soft and double layered, so not only do they feel good on my skin but you can also really use both sides as they don't soak through with the cleanser. Although you get 18 pads in a pack (so 36 sides) to remove your makeup with, I found that with my bust lifestyle I was going through them faster than I was putting on washing loads. Luckily Eco Panda also do another pack containing 16 pads, a laundry bag, and a face cloth. So I'm going to get myself one of those to top up what I'm already using. I'm really glad that I got to try these and now use them every day! Next up I'll need to find a sustainable alternative to my bottles of cleanser and toner...

If you'd like to have a look, or get some for yourself then just follow this link and click HERE.