5 Favourites: Lush.

♥ Dark Angels Cleanser: This is an amazing exfoliator made with charcoal to absorb any excess oils. It's quite fine & abrasive so I only use it once every two weeks but it really smooths over my skin, making it brighter and softer. It's black, of course, so can be a bit messy. Sometimes I blow my nose two days later and black stuff appears (grim) so you need to clean it all off but totally worth it.

♥ Honey I Washed the Kids Soap: A gorgeous soap with the most amazing smell, I have been using this for years. I'm sure everyone has tried this, it contains toffee and honey. I buy a big block, cut chunks off it and leave them near any sinks in our flat.

♥ Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter: This was recommended to me by my favourite blogger Charlene & its lovely. I have really bad cuticles, so I massage some of this in at night and they're getting better. It's a bit greasy for day use, but great for night time. It's also meant to be good for dry patches - knees, elbows etc.

♥ Catastrophe Cosmetic Face Mask: My all time favourite face mask, made with blueberries (rich in antioxidants) It cleanses and soothes skin really well, and I think it's the best one for blemishes. It dries like a clay mask, absorbing oils on the skin and drawing out impurities. My skin feels lovely afterwards & it always improves my complexion. Definitely recommend this!

♥ The Olive Branch Shower Gel: I've mentioned this little lovely before, but I feel I should mention it again for good measure. The scent is gorgeous, and lingers in my bathroom after showers. It contains olive oil to soften and nourish skin. A winner with me!

What are your favourite Lush products?

Lush Tiny Hands Solid Hand Serum.

My hands have been awful recently, I never ever look after my hands and nails (especially my cuticles) so I was going to buy Lemony Flutter after hearing how well it helps cuticles.
However, I got this lovely new product from Lush, Tiny Hands: a solid hand serum which contains the finest natural ingredients to help working hands.
I've tried a few of Lush's solid products (which means no preservatives or packaging are required!), I used to have a worrying obsession with the Buffy solid body butters so I was keen to give this a go.
The hand serum contains cocoa and shea butters (two of my favourite moisturising products, known for their low melting temperature which makes them perfect for this product as they literally melt into your skin) along with aloe vera (soothing), argan oil (softening), talc (smoothing, yet helps ensure product isn't greasy).

As it's a Lush product, I'm sure you can imagine what it smells like! Very flowery with hints of vanilla, much like the signature natural Lush scents.

To use this product, simply hold in both hands to warm the butters which melt into your skin. It takes seconds to create a lovely serum which can then be massaged into the skin. The first time I tried this I held it for a few seconds too long (it's quite a hot day today, which is probably to blame) and it was a bit oily and I had too much of the product. After rubbing it in and letting it absorb, I really loved the outcome.
It's really smoothing and gives quite a matte effect, my hands felt lovely afterwards. It feels different from a hand cream, more concentrated and not at all sticky. My cuticles and nails looked moisturised too.

I'd recommend this product, it's does exactly what is desired (moisturising and nourishing hands, nails and cuticles) without leaving a greasy residue & it absorbs quickly. However, the smell lingers which may not be to everyones taste. I'd say it's good value for money, £3.95 for 60g (working out cheaper than most tubes of handcream), usually with Lush products I cut a bit off each time to use, as it means it lasts longer & nothings going to waste.
One thing I would say about the solid products is to possibly keep them in the fringe during the warmer months. My flat can get really warm around this time of year and I wouldn't want to risk it melting.

You can buy this product online now.

March Loves.

Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion

I have rediscovered this little lovely after leaving it in Scotland for a few months. It's really moisturising but also dries in seconds, making it a good makeup base. 

I've had this product for about a year or two and to be honest I've never been that interested in it before, I'm not sure why. I guess most people have this, it's just one of those products isn't it? This really is a dramatically different moisturiser, more like a gel than a cream and not greasy at all. 

Kiehl's Amino Acid Shampoo & Condition

I've had this sitting in my cupboard for a while now and not even noticed. Graeme was on tour in America last year and he collected up all the hotel miniatures for me. I thought they would be your usual lavender scented rubbish, but he'd actually uncovered an amazing miniature Bliss collection! I'd never heard of this shampoo so it was pushed to the back of my bathroom cabinet, that was until I was in Space NK recently and I saw the bottle there! 

So I've been using it recently and it's absolutely amazing, both the shampoo and conditioner make my hair so soft, shiny and really lightweight. I know I shouldn't have, but I definitely judged this product by it's horrible, plain cover. Has anyone else tried this? It's amazing! I haven't seen the price of a full size bottle though... 

John Frieda Luxurious Volume Thickening Blow Dry Lotion

I've been using this for a while now, and it's definitely one of my favourite volume boosting sprays. I have to wash my hair everyday or I feel yuck, so my hair is always soft and sits flat. I would love to have big, voluminous hair but it's just not meant to be. This does put a bit of volume into my flat hair, without being greasy or crispy. 

Clinique Even Better Foundation

Another Clinique product! I've had this for a while, and it's a really great foundation. I have some marks where past blemishes haven't quite faded so I got this to help. It's just the right coverage and easy to blend. I actually use MAC Pro Longwear concealer underneath to make my skin look heaps better. I know you're not meant to put on concealer before foundation, but I think if it works for you then it's okay. I've actually never really checked to see if it helps the marks on my face as they seem to disappear on their own after a while anyway, but I think it probably does help. 

Lush The Olive Branch Shower Gel

The smell of this is absolutely gorgeous. I would describe the scent as "musky" but i'm terrible at describing scents so it probably isn't musky at all. The smell stays on for ages afterwards, and my whole bathroom smells of it. Such a lovely product, it's a lovely strong smell to wake me up in the morning too. Love this! 

I'm sure there are many other products I've been reaching for recently, but these are the ones I can remember at the moment. Tell me your favourites! 

Currently loving: Breakbot - Shades of Black. 

LUSH Alkmaar Soap.

I was lucky enough to get this lovely little Alkmaar soap from Lush in America from my boyfriend. Graeme was music-ing in the US and went to Lush and asked for something you couldn't buy in the UK. Really sweet of him, not sure where he got that idea from... it's not typical Graeme behaviour, usually I get socks or fridge magnets.

I thought I would do a post on this because there's probably not too many people with it (unless your boyfriend also has random acts of kindness or you live in America). The soap is named after the cheese capital of the world, Alkmaar in Amsterdam. The reason for this being not because it contains any cheese (although that would be interesting, Stilton and Camembert bath bomb pls) but because of the way Lush soaps are sold. They are displayed like large blocks of cheese, cut on cutting boards, wrapped and weighed like a cheese market/deli.
The soap contains honeysuckle and jasmine, which means it smells gorgeous. I think Lush soaps always have that sort of same scent that lingers that makes them unique.
I love the smell of honeysuckle and the smell actually lasts a while after use as well. I've had this soap for a while but I don't want to use it up because it's hard to get (although, Graeme is back in America again in a few weeks!).

I love all the Lush soaps, they always make my skin feel lovely and aren't drying like most soaps. Alkmaar is also vegan too, I don't specifically buy vegan products so it doesn't bother me but it's a plus for any vegans.

A lovely product. Any suggestions as to what I can force Graeme to buy me when he's in America next month?

Weekend Haul.

Yesterday I headed into Superdrug to get some lipbalm, and ended up leaving with all this. I've raved about my love for this Neutrogena Scrub before, which you can see here. I was always going to repurchase this, because it really is amazing. 

I also got some Batiste Dry Shampoo for dark brown hair. I'm one of those people that has to wash their hair every day, I couldn't just leave it so this dry shampoo is more for adding volume to my hair than "washing" it. I have really soft hair, and it's impossible to do anything with. Backcombing won't hold, and my hair goes flat in minutes, so Batiste gives it that sort of dirty feeling that not-washed hair has, so I can work with it more easily. I have the original version, but I could never use it as my hair is too dark and the white powder could be seen. Even when I rubbed it in properly and brushed it through, I was still paranoid throughout the day that it was showing! 

So you can't imagine how pleased I was when they released a brown version! My hair absolutely loves this, I am actually sporting a top knot today which I could never achieve before because my hair just fell out of place. 

The smell is divine too! I'd definitely recommend this, especially for instant volume and body. It also comes in a few different varieties, including Original, Silver Shimmer, Gold Shimmer, Fresh, Nude, Brit, Tropical, Blush and Boho which you can purchase here.

I also bought this Garnier Body Intensive 7 Days Ultra-Softening Lotion as I'd heard good things about it. I got the version for dry to extra dry skin, but there are others including one with Aloe Vera for normal skin and Mango for dry skin. There are a few others which you can check out here. 

The product is quite viscous which I think is important in a body lotion because it seems more appealing. It has the most gorgeous smell which lingers on your skin for a while. It reminds me a bit of suntan lotion. It rubs in easily and my skin feels moisturised and supple afterwards. I often get dry skin around my ankles so I'll need to see how it works there.

It claims that skin feels "hydrated for 7 days" but i'm not sure how this claim holds up as i've only had it for one day. It contains glycerin which is a humectant and a main ingredient in moisturisers as it increases the water content in the skin cells meaning skin isn't dry and dehydrated. 

I'm looking forward to seeing how this works out for me, as I love a good body lotion. 

I also bought some nice things from Lush a while ago, including my favourite Honey I Washed The Kids soap (I did buy double of what is pictured but I cut pieces off and use them quickly) I adore the smell of this soap, it's gorgeous! 

I also bought this 'Its' Raining Men' shower gel, which was from the Valentines collection. Although it seems it is still available online (the online store is back up, having semi-recovered from the hacking). It's meant to have the same scent as Honey I Washed the Kids, and I've heard other bloggers raving about the smell, but I just don't like it! It does smell similar to the soap, but it has a funny after scent which is putting me off a bit, hence why it's hardly been used. 

Has anyone else bought this product and not fallen in love with the smell? 

Finally, I got the Catastrophe Cosmetic face mask, which is my favourite! This has actually all been used up, but I'm keeping the packaging to take back to the shop. It contains blueberries which are really rich in antioxidants and are just amazing for my skin. If you haven't tried this, I really recommend it because it's gorgeous! 

Christmas & New Year

As promised, here is a post about my christmas presents and I've added on New Years Eve. I had a good Christmas at home with the fam, usual chilled out, eating myself into a coma stuff. 
Here are a few of the things I got for Christmas. 

Soap and Glory boxset! This was this Offer of the Week at Boots, reduced from £60 to £25! I knew I had to have it. It's so lovely, I love all their products. They smell incredible!

Fisheye 2 Lomo Camera and a heap of film! Really happy I got this, I'm really into photography, especially film photography and this camera is so much fun. I'll post the photos once their developed. 

Okayyy so I got a mac sleeve for my Macbook pro as the one I had is grey and orange (vom!) and I also got Chloe perfume (no one else seems to like this but I think it's amazing! It smells like sunflowers) and a Lush boxset - I am a massive Lush fan, it smells so good! And a cute little pink filofax. 

I got a Wii! With New Supermario bros, Wii Sports Resort and Wii Party. I've been addicted to Supermario bros. but haven't really played the other games because no one will play with me haha. Going to take it down to my boyfriends house in Leeds when I next go, so I can beat him. 

I got some cosmetic and beauty related books (and a copy of Vogue) I got the Jemma Kidd book which has excellent tips on applying makeup from the makeup artist herself. I also got the 21st Century Beauty Bible which is really good, it lists all of the best products from each category. I aim to get as many of the products in this book as possible. I got two Bobbi Brown books (although only one is shown here) which also has good makeup tips and the Liz Earle Skin Secrets. I am obsessed with trying to get nice skin so this book is really great for tips and advice. 

My lovely boyfriend got me a box of Mac goodies for my birthday and Christmas. He also got me Harvest Moon for Wii, a topshop voucher and a chocolate making kit. So cute! Totally in love with this Mac giftbox though. I got the pro longwear concealer, strobe cream, mattifying cream and pro longlash mascara and a foundation brush! 

So lovely! Really happy about all my new Mac products, the foundation brush is incredible. I really love the strobe cream and mattifying cream too. I will review this as soon as possible!

Okay so now you have seen some of the lovely things I got for Christmas, I will tell you about my new year. My boyfriend is a DJ so he was asked to play the biggest Hogmany party in the world (apparently) which is Edinburgh! The Edinburgh street party is (outside... chilly!) a really big thing, at midnight they let off a massive amount of fireworks from the castle on the hill. It's truly amazing. I was a bit excited as Biffy Clyro were playing the Concert in the Gardens too. 

Overall, I had an amazing new year. Graeme, my boyfriend, was interviewed live on BBC News which was cool. He then played to approximately 60,000 people (possibly more). 

There he is. What a cutie! I got some pictures from the front of the stage as well but I spent most of his set dancing in the front row. It was awesome to see so many people loving his songs. 

Here's a terrible picture of me taken in our lovely posh hotel room. I've wanted this Topshop dress for so long, but it was sold out online and going for over £100 on ebay. I somehow managed to get a Petite size 8 and fit into it! I really love it. 

Here's a bad quality picture of me before we went out. The light was bad in the hotel room :( 

After Graeme played we watched a bit of Booka Shade who were playing after him, drank the booze from his rider and went to his sisters house for the bells, drink champagne and watch the fireworks. Overall a really amazing night!