Boxing Day Sale Shopping

Did you do any Boxing Day sale shopping? I don't usually venture out into that madness but I was really hoping to pick up a few things from the Lush 50% off sale and after the website meltdown that happened my sister, mum and I decided to take a little trip into Wimbledon so that we could go into the store instead and have a look around a few shops while we were there. I was a little disappointed that a lot of what was on sale on the Lush website wasn't also on sale in the store but I managed to pick up a few things still.

Starting with Lush, who had a 50% off sale on their Christmas stuff (and more on the website) I picked up a few bath bombs (Northern Lights, So white, Luxury Pud & Shoot for the Stars) but now thinking on it, I wish I had picked up more! I also picked up the smaller bottle of Happy Happy Joy Joy conditioner. I wanted a few Sugar Scrubs and the Squeaky Clean shampoo bar but those weren't on sale in store.. I will grab them another time. 

We popped into Next and I found this simple grey jumper for only £7 down from £18 and then in Boots I picked up a No7 polish in 'Moon Shimmer' which wasn't on sale but I had a £3 off voucher so only paid £4

Finally I grabbed one of the No7 Illuminated Make-up Mirrors which I have been wanting for a while now but never actually got. It was £19.99 down from £49.99 but are they ever actually sold for £49.99?!

So, as you can see I didn't get too much but I was really pleased with what I did get and was glad I managed to make it to the Lush sale since the site was down until early in the evening. 

I'd love to hear what you picked up if you've been to the sales!

You can click here if you'd like to see what I got for Christmas!

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What I Got For Christmas 2014

Hey guys! I hope you all had an amazing Christmas, got to spend some time with your loved ones and ate lots of yummy food! I thought I would get on here quickly and share with you what I was lucky enough to be given this year for Christmas. I apologise now that these aren't the best photos; the last couple of days have been crazy busy and I had already lost the sunlight for the day but I hope you get the gist of what I'm trying to show you!

In the Lush bags are Golden Wonder and Northern Lights bath bombs (Northern Lights is one of my faves) and Christmas isn't Christmas without a box of candy canes!

Have you made your own Christmas post? Please leave me a link, I'd love to see!

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Festive NOTD: Essie Jag-U-Are & Maybelline's Knitted Gold

I thought, since there are now only 6 days until Christmas, that it was time to do something a little more festive. I've been really enjoying scrolling through Instagram looking at all the amazing Christmas nail art but unfortunately I don't have the patience or skill to create anything like that so I just went with the more simple option.

To me Essie's Jag-U-Are screams Christmas with its red shimmer and I decided to add some sparkle with Maybelline's Kntted Gold which is a chunky glitter. Essie polishes are always great but I do find that reds always seem to chip quicker than other colours and this is no exception. As for Knitted Gold, it took me three coats to get it as opaque as I wanted it but it's pretty vibrant gold which catches the light beautifully.

How are you showing your festive side on your nails? 

Merry Christmas! 

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Scrub Series: Boots Mango Sugar Scrub

Ugh! Today's scrub is the Mango Sugar Scrub from Boots and to put it in simple terms: I do not like it at all. It smells good, really good actually with it's sweet mango scent and it's a fun bright yellow colour but not only does it fail on the scrubby-ness factor (very gentle) but it left my skin feeling disgusting. I used this on my arms and legs and when I got out the bath and got dressed my skin felt like I had rubbed butter or vaseline all over it. It felt like an oily sticky mess, I almost got back into the bath again to try and wash it off. It also left my bath looking really grubby. Usually, no matter what products I've used, my quick once over of the bath is enough to keep it looking clean between actual cleans but this stuff just wouldn't come off. On top of that, other products I had used stuck to wherever it was and just ended up looking a huge mess. The scrub is incredibly thick, if you run you fingers over it to feel the texture, it doesn't even leave any kind of dent.

At £8, it's not exactly a cheap scrub either. I've used this only once and the only reason I will use it again, if at all, will be to try and use it up to not waste it. Have you used this scrub? I'd love to know what you thought about it..

Bloglovin' | Twitter | Instagram Some past scrubs: Soap and Glory Sugar Crush Soap and Glory Pulp Friction

Lush Haul: Halloween/Christmas 2014

To say I wasn't excited about the Lush Halloween/Christmas releases would be a lie and a pretty big one at that. I have been SO excited and I'm not really sure why. So of course I went into my local Lush the day they were released to pick up the few things I knew I definitely wanted, I then made an order online for some of the items I wish I had picked up but didn't and I then went back into the store this week to get yet more (and would like to point out that I still would like to get the Halloween Pumpkin bubblebar, Lord of Misrule bathbomb and Snow Angel bath melt, eek).

Anyway, I thought I would share what I got!

Top L-R: Dashing Santa bath bomb, Luxury Lush Pud bath bomb, Baked Alaska soap, Candy Mountain bubble bar

Bottom L-R: Melting Snowman bath melt, Snowcake soap, Cinders bath bomb, Golden Wonder bath bomb

I couldn't resist the Snowman fun and on my second trip back into store, decided to grab one of the Snow White bath bombs.

I made the mistake last year of only buying the smaller bottle of Snow Fairy, so I had to get the bigger bottle this time around. I did get the smaller bottles of both So White and Hot Toddy though since I haven't used them before..

Speaking of Snow Fairy, I picked up one of the Father Christmas bath bombs since that along with Candy Mountain all have the same scent!

As for the Halloween collection I only picked up two things; Northern Lights bath bomb and the Wizard bubble bar. I ordered Northern Lights online and as you can see, it arrived broken which is a shame..

So that was my little haul of the Lush Halloween/Christmas goodies. 

Have you picked anything up?

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Scrub Series: Soap and Glory - Pulp Friction

I seem to be slowly working my way through all the Soap and Glory scrubs, deciding which ones I like and which ones I'm not too keen on. Today's is Pulp Friction, which is described as a 'foamy fruity body scrub'.

As far as the scrub goes, I really like it. It's sand like texture is really gritty but not too abrasive or harsh, it feels good on your skin and it lathers up really nicely, almost enough to act as a scrub and wash 2-in-1 product. I actually rate this as one of my favourite scrubs I have come across so far. What gets me is the smell, I think I may be getting used to it now but at first I really didn't like it. This may seem harsh but it reminds me of the way that the soap you get in public bathrooms smell. My tube has the new 'Fruitigo Fragrance' to it, so I would have been interested to see what this smelt like before, I assume, they changed it over. Peppermint oil is listed as one of the ingredients (which I would never have guessed had I not read it on the front) and I so wish that it one of a the more dominant scents because then I would absolutely love this scrub! 

One thing that I can never get my head around with S&G are all the funky terms they use for their ingredients that they list on their products - 'lemonade tree liquid' WHAT? 

Anyway.. Have you tried Pulp Friction? Do you like it as much as I do? What about the smell? I'd love to know what you think about it!

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Dead Sea Spa Magik Bath Salts

Since I have started to work out more often recently, I inevitably seem to have constantly sore muscles in some part of my body or the other and particularly, sore knees. So I decided I would try Epsom Salts because I know they are meant to be good for sore muscles and joints and thought maybe this would help with the soreness I feel after I work out. My problem was that I wasn't sure where to actually get any Epsom Salts but then between deciding I wanted some and actually researching where I could pick some up, I was in Debenhams and just happened spot these bath salts from Dead Sea Spa Magik.

Dead Sea Spa Magik is a brand that I have used once before and liked, so I decided to try their version instead. I bought the 1kg bag for £5.50 which I didn't think was too pricey but there was also a smaller bag for £3.50 if you'd be more interested in that. As you can see above, you literally just sprinkle a handful of the salts into your bath and soak depending on exactly what you're using the salts for. I am a little confused about the amount you should use for aching joints and muscles though.. I've just been adding a couple of handfuls to my bath while its running but I have no idea if that is right. I was a bit worried that the salts would all be at the bottom of my bath and be annoying but by the time the bath has finished running and you get in, all the salts are dissolved and I didn't feel any. I was hoping the salts would be scented but they literally just smell like salt, although you can't smell them at all once they're in your bath water.

I find that this is the type of product where it's hard to tell how effective it actually is because I have no way of knowing how achy I would or wouldn't have been had I not used the salts. I haven't noticed much difference though (although, who knows if two handfuls is actually the amount I should be using?) in how much I ache after a work out but I have found that these salts leave my skin feeling incredibly soft and smooth which is a nice result all on its own.

Have you tried these bath salts? What did you think? They have sparked my interest into the Dead Sea Spa Magik brand! You can also buy their products in Holland and Barrett. 

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Friday Favourites

Bit of a different Friday Favourites from me this week, I'm throwing in a couple of non-beauty related things that I have been loving recently too!

Primark Neon Pink PS Polish - I've only just talked about this on my blog a few days ago (click here to see it on) but I just had to mention it again in a favourites because I'm still loving the super bright colour of it and I'm still impressed with how good it is when it only cost £1!

Twistbands - I know twistbands were a huge craze last year but I've been using them since then and I'm still loving them. They're much more comfortable in your hair and don't snag as much as your standard hair bands do. I'm still finding them pretty hard to get in the UK though (I made the ones in the picture myself) but I know Accessorize sold them not too long ago but they were pretty pricey.. I'm waiting for Primark to maybe bring out a cheaper take on them!

Caudalie Hand Lotion - I picked this up as part of a set with one of the Caudalie lip balms and was surprised at how much I liked it, along with the lip balm which I also really liked! It's one of the most quick drying hand lotions I have ever used and since I tend not to use hand creams too often because I hate the sticky feeling that they leave behind, this one is perfect for me.

Infused Water - Infused water is everywhere lately and it's right here too! I just fill a jar/mug with water and stick in a few lemon/lime slices (cherries or cucumber are some other variations I like to do). I find that after a while the lemon or lime start to curl up and then I just switch it out for some new slices. You can put pretty much anything you want into your water but I found that strawberries seem to go mushy really quickly..

Mangajo - I randomly came across these 'detoxing green teas' in Waitrose and fell in love with them! They come in lots of flavours (click here to check them out) but my favourite is the Sicilian Lemon Presse flavour. I'm not a huge fan of iced tea (or even fizzy drinks for that matter) but the taste of it in these is very subtle. They also come in glass bottles which are a non-fizzy alternative but with a motto of 'Happy Healthy Days', you feel like you're drinking something good!

What have you been loving recently?

Earlier Favourites:

one, two, three

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Summer Brights - Polish Picks

Summer is finally here and I've been digging around in my nail polish collection to sort out my more brighter shades to wear now that the sun is finally shining and over the course of the summer months..

Sally Hansen Caribbean Coral - I'm not the biggest wearer of coral nail colours but this one leans more on the red side and the slight shimmer, although harder to see on the nail than in the bottle, just give it that extra something for me.

Sally Hansen Bubblegum Pink - I'm a sucka for blue-toned pinks and Bubblegum Pink is just that with a subtle silver shimmer to it.

I love the Xtreme Wear line from Sally Hansen, the brushes are longer than most polish brushes which makes for an easy application, they apply nice and smoothly and I find that these are some of the most chip resistant polishes that own. 

OPI Bright Lights Big Colour - One of my all time favourite polish colours and perfect for summer! It has a pretty golden shimmer to it which translates well on the nails

Maybelline MNY 261 - This is the darkest of the shades I've chosen to include but I think the strong blue tone in this one makes it that little more bright and summery!

Barry M Blueberry - As you can see, this one dries a teeny bit streaky which is a shame and unusual for Barry M who are usually always pretty good but for me, the gorgeous blue colour makes up for it and I can forgive the odd streak

Primark (no name) - Trust me when I say that the picture does not do this polish any justice in terms of how bright it is - my camera just couldn't seem to handle the brightness of it and this was the best I could do. If you're looking for a neon pink then this will be it and although it doesn't have a name, if you go looking for this polish in Primark you will be able to spot exactly which one it is. The brush is unfortunately wonky which makes it a pain to apply but for just £1 and for the amazing colour that this is, I'm not going to complain too much.. This is definitely going to be my go to shade for summer!

What colours will you be wearing through the summer? I'd love to know!

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Scrub Series: Soap and Glory Sugar Crush Bodyscrub

Phew! Exams are over for me now, which means I'm not spending every spare second I have studying and so I thought I would take this chance to finally start a new series on my blog - the scrub series! I have been really enjoying using body (and face) scrubs recently and I thought why not share my thoughts of them all over here on my blog? As you might have guessed from the picture above, I'm starting it off with Soap and Glory's Sugar Crush scrub! 

Sugar Crush has a similar scent to the Sugar Crush body wash just much stronger (in my opinion) which is a pleasant smell of limes and not at all like the typical Soap and Glory scent. It always puts me in mind of the chocolate lime sweets you can get! It's fairly scrub-worthy but it's incredibly thick which I wasn't too keen on. You have to get this wet otherwise it's just far too thick to spread out over your skin and it doesn't lather very well which is something I like from scrub. I also wish it came in a tube (although, I understand why it dosen't being as thick as it is) because I find the tubs really big and getting water in the tub when I go to scoop some out has become a pet peeve of mine!

Do you like Sugar Crush? What are you favourites scrubs? I'd love to know!

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Lush Dark Angels Face & Body Cleanser

After looking at it almost every time every time I've been into a Lush over the last few months, I decided to finally pick up the Dark Angels face & body cleanser. 

The cleanser smells like mud (not surprising since it contains mud) which at first, I found a bit off-putting but I was willing to look past that if the product itself worked well. Which for me, it didn't..

Directions tell you to mix the mud/charcoal mixture with water to form a paste and then apply it to your skin. It was easy enough to apply and I found it spread out across my skin nicely but it dries incredibly quickly, so if you want to add more to a certain area of your face, the rest underneath is already dry. I then rinsed it off like I would any other face cleanser/product and looked in the mirror to make sure it was all gone. I found that it had sunk into all of the pores on my face making them look huge and dirty (keep in mind this is a black coloured product) and that I had a pretty big black streak along my jaw and up to my cheek. So, overall it left my face looking dirty and dull. I tried to wipe it off with a wash cloth to no avail and it this point I was worried it had stained my skin! I decided to completely re-wash my face with my normal cleanser and luckily it removed it all.

So, pretty disappointing. I guess this would be okay if you are someone who always double cleanses but I wouldn't recommend this if you don't. Now I really wish I had just ask for a sample of this one before I went straight ahead and bought it! 

I gave half of it to my sister to try and she found the same thing happened to her, so I would love to hear if anyone had the same experience with it as we did..?

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NOTD: Seventeen - Bijoux Baby

Hey guys! Today is another polish that I feel is a lot prettier in real life than how it comes across in pictures. I'm not usually ever a fan of the textured polishes that I see pictures of on-line because they always look too grainy and not something I personally like. While this one from Seventeen is grainy, it's not quite as obvious as how it looks in the pictures and from far away, I don't think you'd be able to easily tell that it doesn't have a smooth finish.

Bijoux baby applies really nicely and evenly and dries to leave a super sparkly blush/pink colour on your nails. It feels rough to the touch like textured polished usually tend to do but I found that it chips like crazy and in huge chunks.. I've found after wearing it for just over one full day, it's chipped more than enough to make me want to take it off which is a shame.

Do you like textured polishes? Have you tried any of this range from Seventeen? They're £3.99 in Boots.

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My First Lush Bath Bombs!

Hey lovelies, Happy Easter!

If you have read much of my blog lately, it's clear to see I'm currently going through a slight (more than slight) obsession with Lush and my most recent purchases, which I had never tried before, were a few of their bath bombs or 'bath ballistics'. I spent a pretty long time in the shop, as I always do, sniffing everything to see which items I like the best and I ended up with these four!

Fluffy Egg - (Part of the Easter collection) I bought this one because I loved the smell of it in the shop and it doesn't disappoint once dissolved into your bathwater either and leaves it a pretty vibrant pink colour. I've since gone back to Lush and picked up a couple more of these because I'm expecting them to be gone pretty soon and love them!

Space Girl - For some reason this one has never really appealed to me but I liked the smell of it and so ended up with it in my basket. Apparently it contains popping candy but had I not read that on the description, I would never have known. Space Girl leaves your bath a purple/pink colour but most importantly it leaves it smelling amazing - I didn't want to use any other bath products in case they masked the smell of it! I also found this one to be one of the more stronger/long lasting smelling bath bombs that I've tried so far.

Secret Garden - While I think this is one of the prettier bath bombs that Lush do (in general appearance and in the way it looks whilst dissolving), I was pretty disappointed. Mine just didn't seem to end up quite as pretty in my bath water as what I have seen in pictures over on Instagram, it also ended up under the running water, so I had to push it out of the way which messed up any pretty-ness that it had made. When I first put this one in, the water just looked dirty but after a while it ended up being quite a deep green colour and it left little flower petals floating about. I expected them to clog the plug or for me to have to wash them all away but they did flow easily away with the rest of the water. The biggest disappointment though was that there was NO smell at all once I put this one into my bath.. So this one was a waste of money for me!

Sakura - I wasn't expecting too much colour wise from this one as after I had bought it I saw other people say it doesn't really change the colour of your water - which it doesn't. Sakura has the same scent as their Rub Rub Rub scrub, which was pretty strongly scented and I could smell it on my skin after I got out. So scent wise, this one is good but colour wise it doesn't do anything!

Do you call them bath bombs or bath ballistics? Which are your favourites from Lush?

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Spring Time Pastels

OPI - You're Such a Budapest, OPI - Pink Friday, Essie - Pink A Boo 

The sun is shining and my favourite flowers are in bloom, so even though we have officially been in spring for a while now, it's finally starting to feel like spring too. I definitely reach for pastels and bright colours when the weather warms up but I can never go too long without reverting back to a dark purple or maroon colour on my nails, even in the middle of summer. I do enjoy digging through my collection to find the lighter or brighter shades I wouldn't normally wear during the winter though and always look forward to see which pastel shades nail polish brands bring out each year!

What are you favourite colours to wear when the sun is shining?

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NOTD: Barry M - Birthday Superdrug

Hey guys! Well I'm sure you have heard that it is Superdrug's 50th birthday and to celebrate Barry M have joined up with them and created this new polish.

I first saw pictures of this polish a couple of weeks ago and to be honest, I wasn't very keen on it but I decided I would still pick it up in order to not face disappointment later wishing that I had since it's a special edition. On first application (last night) I still wasn't very impressed - it applied pretty sheer and the glitters/sequins were a pain to get even on my nail but once I had applied the second coat, it all started to come together. The glitters were more evenly spaced and it didn't look at all sheer. Then in the daylight today, I noticed what a pretty deep pink colour the base colour is and that the polishe catches the light beautifully. I just constantly kept looking down at my nails all day!

So I've come to the conclusion that this is one of those polishes that just doesn't photograph very well and that you need to see for yourself on your own nails to see how pretty it really is. I'm glad I decided to pick this up and it was only £2.99!

Have you/will you be grabbing yourself a bottle of this polish too?

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Soap & Glory No Clogs Allowed Face Mask

Hey guys!

I tend to stay away from face masks because I have super sensitive skin which means I like to stick to the few tried and tested products that I have which I know don't irritate it but I heard about this self heating, deep pore detox mask from Soap and Glory and thought I would see how it goes..

I read a lot of reviews on this product before I bought it, firstly to see if anyone else mentioned that it seemed to break them out and then generally, if people thought it was any good!

Directions state to rub a 'grape sized' amount of the mask onto your face, wet your hands with water and then rub the mask into your skin until it turns blue and heats up. Then leave it on for 5 minutes and wipe off with a warm cloth. 

The mask blends out really nicely on your skin and has teeny-tiny exfoliating beads in it. Once you wet your hands and rub it in it definitely heats up, to me it goes beyond a warm sensation to feeling actually quite hot but this literally lasts a few seconds until it turns blue and then quickly cools down. During the 5 minutes I leave it on, it then starts to feel really cool on my skin, the way products with peppermint in them make your skin feel. I then wash the mask off as opposed to using a wash cloth like the directions suggest because I find it easier and like I said, since my skin is sensitive I like to make sure it's all removed from my face. I was disappointed to find that it no longer comes with a little sponge to use to wipe it off like it used to do before it was repackaged. 

As for unblocking my pores, I'm really not sure. At first, after the first few times I used it, I felt like I was seeing a difference but now having used this many times, if there is any difference in my skin its a very little one! It does leave your skin feeling soft and clean though which is nice and it's a nice addition to use on a pamper evening.

This mask sells for £11.50 but at the time of this post it is currently £7.67 on the Boots website.

Have you used this mask? What did you think?

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