Thursday 29 January 2015

Winter Skin Saviours

This is a piece I wrote for the St.Davids Cardiff blog in which I am the resident Beauty and Lifestyle blogger. I thought I'd share it over here too for those who aren't from Cardiff too!

January is the coldest month of the year and this plays havoc with our skin. 

Today I am sharing with you the best of the best to help you get a great Winter skin routine underway for face, hands and body. These products are little miracle workers that will keep your skin hydrated during these frosty mornings and dark nights and keep you looking and feeling great during the January blues. 

The Body Shop - Drops of Youth Sleeping Mask.
This is brand new from The Body Shop, it's a light face mask to be kept on overnight using memory shape texture to replenish your skin and get it looking bouncy for the morning.
Crabtree & Evelyn - Pomegranate Hand Therapy.
These Crabtree hand lotions are incredibly hydrating, quick to absorb and smell amazing! This is my personal favourite scent however there are SO many to chose from it's best to pop in and smell for yourself.
L'Occitane - Shea Light Comforting Cream
Brand new from L'Occitane, this incredibly hydrating face cream is made with 5% Shea butter, it great for sensitive skin and lasts upto 48 hours!
Jo Malone - Pomegrante Noir Body Creme.
This is the ultimate in luxury skin care. This incredibly rich cocoa based body creme will keep your skin smooth and soft and is perfect after a hot soak in the tub. Again this scent is my absolute favourite however there are many to choose from, Jo Malone have incredible staff who will help you find your signature scent. 
Lip Conditioner - MAC Cosmetics.
This is the Queen of keeping your lips hydrated and a little goes a long, long way! I've used this since I was a teenager and never fail to go back to it everytime. Using Almond oil, shea butter and Avacado extract this repairs and seals your lips with the moisture it needs.


These incredible products are sure to see you through these cold months keeping your skin hydrated day-to-night!

X

Tuesday 27 January 2015

The Body Shop Argan Body Care - review.

the body shop argan body range

You may remember me writing about some of The Body Shop's Wild Argan range before. I still swear by the lip balm I featured there, it's the only thing that has kept my lips super soft and smooth after a dry spell I'm currently still battling with, and it repaired them really well and also really fast.

So when a couple more new products turned up on my doorstep I was excited to put them to the test too.

the body shop argan body butter review
The Body Shop Wild Argan Oil Body Butter* - £13 200ml.

The body butter now comes in a bigger size of 200ml instead of 50ml which is obviously much better value and will now last forever as you only really need a small amount. The body butter is really creamy but also quite solid (i'ts not called 'butter' for nothing) so using only a tiny amount and then just taking the time to work in into your skin really goes far. It's really perfect for troublesome areas like knees and elbows. I also use it on the tops of my arms on my healed tattoos. Also, this stuff smell incredible! It's definitely not a subtle scent but it's really gorgeous and lingers for a long time.

the body shop argan exfoliating scrub review
The Body Shop Wild Argan Oil Rough Scrub* - £13 200ml

I'm usually pretty dubious about using body scrubs as they can sometimes be really rough on the skin, this one is actually really soft and the 'grainy' type feeling is coated with a kind of gel, I suppose is the best way to describe it. It's alot 'looser' than other body scrubs I've used but feel really gentle and also does the exfoliating job. I've used this a few times but it's one for the shower as I hate being left with the remnants of an exfoliator in the bottom of the bath!

Using the Rough Scrub in conjunction with the body butter is the best way to get the best of both of these two products for extra soft skin - obviously!

Have you tried any of the Argan range? What is your Body Shop must-haves?

X

Sunday 25 January 2015

John Lewis Home Inspiration: Fusion

Hello!

I've been a little MIA last week, I hadn't been feeling totally myself and thought I'd rather rest up and take time to myself to feel relaxed rather than focus on anything else! Last night (if you follow my Instagram you will have seen...) I fulfilled a childhood dream and got to see Slipknot and Korn play live. It was so loud, so heavy and SO good! I had a blast but I'm feeling pretty wiped out today so taking it easy so my Monday isn't one big yawn! Anyway, moving on...

I love John Lewis homewares, although pretty pricey they always have some unusual pieces and great, simple designs and I particularly love their 'Fusion' range.

I was given a £50 JL giftcard for Xmas from my Auntie (thankyou!!) which I have yet to spend, I'm on the look out for either the perfect piece to invest the £50 towards of a couple little bits that add upto £50ish.

So here are my top faves from the Fusion range:

john lewis home
Pols Potten Porcelain Plate - £7
These plates come in 4 different colours, I love this blue the most though! I love a good mish-mash of plates.
john lewis homewares
Oriental Bowls - £25
These set of 4 are so cute, I think they are pretty small but perfect for some soup or a little cereal snack.
hanging circle mirror inspiration
Round Hanging Brass Mirror - £45
This would be lush in a living room or office. It looks huge in the inspiration photo too!
john lewis cushion
Fusion Embroidered Cushion - £40
I hope for the price this cushion is HUUUGE but it's so so pretty! 
miko pouffe
Miko Pouffe - £160
I'd love a pouffe, although I think this is a small sized one maybe Prince could make it his own little sofa :p!
Pandora Glass Light Shade - £170
This would be such a beautiful living room piece. It's out of my price range for light shades however it is such a gorgeous design.
john lewis home inspiration
Hanging Terrarium Tealight Holder - £16
This is such a cute idea, love myself a Terrarium and this is for tealights - perfect!

What do you think of John Lewis homeware?

Hope you had a great weekend!

X

Monday 19 January 2015

Flamingo Gifts

flamingo gifts blogger

Hellooo!

I am so so excited to share this post with you all, as you may have noticed my obsession with homewares has been present on this blog since the very sweet beginning and only grown bigger! 

As soon as I spied Flamingo Gifts on my two fave blogs (Temporary Secretary and Sara Waiste) I fell in love, they sell little bits from different designers at super affordable prices. What drew me in was it reminded me of all the little stores I love back home in Devon that sell lots of different interesting pieces from all over, for example the Folklore Teapot, my Mum actually bought for me as a gift last year from a similar store and I really love the print on this - it's so me and hold so much tea!

So basically Flamingo Gifts got in touch and asked little ol' me to pick some of my faves from the website and they would send over a selection. I was so excited, I spent so long on the site and my list was definitely too long but there is so much cute stuff! Here is what I was sent (and so thankful for!): 

kawaii cat bag
Wu & Wu Kitten Cosmetic Bag*
I adore Wu & Wu's Kawaii style and this kitten is no exception.
pyro pet candle pink
Pyro Pet*
Ahhh I've been after a Pyro Pet candle for so so long! It's much bigger than I thought it would be which is a pleasant suprise. I haven't lit it yet as I love the shape of the cat but I also really wanna see the skeleton underneath!!
folk blue owl mug
Folk Blue Owl Mug*
This mug is HUGE which is good because I only like massive cups of tea. The detail is gorgeous and the duck-egg colour is just my ultimate fave right now.

A couple other things I want to mention on their site that I adore/want/need:

flamingo candles uk
There is a HUGE range of Flamingo Candles.
I'd never seen this Aromatherapy one before to help you relax - Lord knows I need this.
Plus I'm already a huge Flamingo Candle fan :)
A floor cushion shaped like a doughnut! Necessary? No. But I lovee.
retro telephone
This beautiful Trim phone would make such a great side-table piece. This day and age most people my age don't have house phones but you can definitely use it for decoration!
Siamese cat salt pepper
Best salt and pepper shaker I've seen. Hands. Down! 


What do you think of Flamingo Gifts? I can't wait to see what new stock they bring in this year!

X

Thursday 15 January 2015

High n' Dry - outfit post.

rains raincoat mac yellow blogger

Hello, Hello, Hello!!

Well this weather is freaking gross! I've been swept sideways every day, had NO snow and been soaked constantly!

Lucky for me I bagged myself a Rains rainproof coat for Xmas so I'm dryyy (well my top half anyway!). The coat is short enough to look good with a skirt, tights and boots but also long enough to cover me enough if I'm wearing leggings and a baggy top to work with trainers.

rains raincoat mac yellow

I also got a Fjallraven Kanken backpack which I featured in my Christmas post.
This too hold off the rain keeping my essentials totally dry.

uk style blog kanken
uk style blog outfit post
"If you want a Rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain!" - Preach it Dolly! 
cheap version of timerlands
I got these rip-off Timberlands from Primark for a quarter of the price. They serve me so well and also keep the rain off!

I'm currently having such a positive week which feels amazing, I know we all get down days but if you apply a little positivity to your day and start off feeling good then the rest of the day goes by smoothly :)

Hope you are having a great week!

X

Monday 12 January 2015

LUSH Sale Haul

LUSH sale video haul

Hello!

Today I want to share my latest video which I filmed last week when I received my LUSH January sale purchases. I got super excited and decided to film it all!

I got a few stray sales bathbombs and then the Merry Christmas set and the White Christmas set too:



So my videos keep coming out a bit blurred, they are in focus when I start filming and when editing on iMovie they look totally fine but as soon as I upload them to Youtube they got all weird :( It's getting me down and getting in the way of me having patience to vlog. I'd love any advice anyone can give me!

Anyway thats my LUSH Haul and I'd love to know if you picked up anything in the sale too?

X

Saturday 10 January 2015

Bathroom Accessories Haul and Bath Time Routine.

blogger bath time

Guten Tag! 

I gave my bathroom a little re-fresh this weekend, just a few little bits that need updating after a while like bathmat etc... which I will show you in a second. 

 I love having a bath, I love pampering myself a little and just relaxing with a good book. I'm currently reading the book shown above 'Where are they buried? How did they die?' it sounds morbid as hell but it's actually very interesting. It's about celebrity grave-sites and gives a brief run down of their life, career and death also giving great directions to where they are buried and where their plot is located in the specific cemetery. 

I bought my bathroom accessories from Tiger, I've featured them before HERE when they send me over some stuff to try out and have been hooked on their shop ever since, It's so cheap and so unusual and gorgeous! As well as the things below, I also got the bath mat pictured above and a toiler brush in a metal casing in the same colour theme (but ain't nobody want to see a picture of that!).

pastel cat door hooks Tiger
Cat Shaped Hooks - £1 each.
The colours go with the theme I was going for and, well, they are cat shaped!
Our hooks on the back of the door were old and falling out when we moved in so I replaced them with these.
Bath Head Rest - £2
This was in the colour I was going for and ESSENTIAL to bath-time relaxation! This is so much better than my old one as it was the little head hole bit so you fit in perfectly.
Bathtime isn't bathtime without a LUSH bathbomb! This is the Golden Wonder bathbomb that I got in the after-Christmas sale. It smells divine, the water goes that beautiful turquoise colour after exploding with bubbles of pink, green and yellow leaving you with a gold shimmer too! 
Lights off, candles on!
My new fave is this gorgeous Wild Bluebell from Jo Malone that I got for Xmas, it's true luxury.

Don't get me wrong, I love to party and see my friends but right now in my life I feel like I'm kinda done with doing it every weekend and I'm a little scared my friend and I may be heading in different directions as partying most weekends is their bag. See, I'm a homebody at heart and call me as boring as you like but staying in is what I love! I love a good walk about in nature during the day or doing some chores and then sitting in at night, reading, practicing my wall hanging with a cup of tea, Netflix and candles on - oh and of course my snuggly Prince by my side. I feel maybe I'm a bit of a cross-roads in life with where I am and where I am going/want to be but I do know feeling awful with a hangover every Sunday is not where I want to be!

Anyway, I  hope you are having a great weekend, I've had such an exciting day that I had to have a 4 hour nap in between :p Also got the M&S 2 dine for £10 using a gift card I got for Xmas too which was lush!

X

Wednesday 7 January 2015

How A Shaggy Rug Can Make A Room

shaggy rugs uk

Hello there!

Today I want to share with you my favourite thing EVER - my new rug! I mentioned this and showed it off in my 2014 roundup video but I wanted to share it on here aswell and use some better images to show its true beauty!

(wow I never thought I'd be 25 and be ecstatic over homeware instead of clothes and make-up...)

uk soft rug shag grey

My shaggy rug is from 'The Rug Retailer', they have literally the biggest collection of rugs I've ever witnessed so I took about 3 days deciding on the perfect rug. Recently my mum bought me a sheepskin rug, which is being kept for my *fingers crossed* eventual new house, but in the mean time I settled on the 'Whisper' rug in Tungsten

Aswell as having an astronomical range of different rugs, these rugs also come in loads of sizes too! I went for a wild guess and got a 4ftx6ft which actually fits perfectly on my living room floor and I think any smaller would have looked silly in this room. 

When the rug arrived I was so excited, I rolled it right out and it was so, so soft I couldn't help starfish it with joy! It's really plush and furry but didn't leave any fluff on my clothes which is such a plus because now it's become my little spot. I sit there with a cup of tea, cosy lights on and work on my wall hanging on my softy rug - it's my little slice of heaven! 


Even Prince has been getting in on the rug action, and like the faithful companion of mine that he is, settles down beside me in the softness :)

I really feel that a big rug makes a room so cosy and now I have my very own!

X

Monday 5 January 2015

The Library of Fragrance 'Moonbeam' Review.

the library of fragrance moonbeam


The Library of Fragrance are "single scent" cologne sprays that are set out to remind us of our favourite, most unappreciated every-day scents. Most fragrances are just a scent using many different 'notes' however these are linear and don't change over time on the skin and just simply smell like what they are set out to - which makes them all pretty much Unisex too!

For example if you love the smell of Baby Powder - then they've got a fragrance just for you!

Now, there are some very weird ones such as Mushroom, Holy Water (wut?) and Pizza (nooo girl!) that I don't want to try. There are also some interesting ones that I definitely do want to try such as Steam Room, Fireplace and Thunderstorm.

There are over 101 scents to chose from and you can layer and experiment with them all to create your own unique scent which is pretty awesome!

Anyway, what the hell does a Moonbeam smell like?!

Let's set the mood, imagine looking out at a huge lake on a clear, warm Summer night in a wooded area, there is a full moon hanging low in the sky that almost seems to meet the water creating a shimmering path. This beautiful sight is very magical and delicate much like the fragrance so I can totally see how this got it's name.

Moonbeam is a very subtly sweet scent with a deep base so it's very hard to describe. The website says it was inspired by a Shelley poem and 'wanted to capture the dual nature of the moonbeam, reflecting elements of both the innocence of light and the passion of night...' which I definitely get from this scent!

Moonbeam is available at Boots and is £15.

Have you tried any of the Library of Fragrance?

X




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