Lush Happy Hippy Shower Gel

Hey there!

I've been crazy busy the last few weeks and haven't any chance to get any posts up, I will be making a huge effort to catch up this week to redeem myself.

A few weeks ago on a Lush spree I picked up the Happy Hippy shower gel. I can't believe I have never tried this before as the scents are my absolute favourite!

Citrus is the best scent to wake up to and I love it, so finding a shower gel infused with fresh pink grapefruit juice, grapefruit water, grapefruit oil, bergamot oil and frankincense oil was absolutely perfect for me!

It's an amazing refreshing and uplifting fragrance and super perfect for getting up in the mornings.

I picked up the 250g size but there are also 100g, 500g and 1kg available. For shower gel these are pretty expensive, I know these are vegan but I can't really justify spending over £8 for 250g of product all the time so this is definitely a treat.

I couldn't ever imagine spending £22 on 1kg of shower gel - even if it is absolutely fabulous!

Also, I love the tips on the use of the shower gel!

In short I love this but it would have to be a treat purchase for me. Have you tried Happy Hippy?

What other shower gels do you recommend from Lush?


L xxx

Oliver Bonas Sale Picks and What I've Purchased

Hey All

Oliver Bonas is a shop I'm loving lately and when I passed through Reading station a few weeks ago I couldn't resist popping in. They've got a great sale on so I thought I'd share my purchases and the bits I'm still eyeing up.

Image from Oliverbonas.com

The first thing I saw was these Silver Stud and Chain Drop Earrings. I love how simple they are. I've worn them most days since I got them and had so many compliments on them already. They're also a bargain £5 (I paid £8 gutted!).

Image from Oliverbonas.com

When browsing the full price I couldn't help grabbing a few extra things including the Tan Josie Cross Body Bag. This was £38 and I love it already. It's great for weekends. I've been after a small tan weekend bag as mine is getting old now and this is perfect. It fits in sunglasses, keys, make up and my new card holder and is easy to through over my should to pop into town. It can also be used as a clutch so great for when I'm travelling to see family and friends and trying to appear less high maintenance then I am!

Image from Oliverbonas.com

My last purchase was the Grey Confetti Print Travel Card Holder. This was £10. I couldn't resist this when I saw it and had wanted one for a while as my everyday purse is rather large and takes up a lot of room in small bags. I like the idea of just taking a few cards with me. It's been used loads since I got it. I had orignally hoped for a tan one to match my bag but actually I prefer this better. I keep it in my big purse during the week then in smaller bags on it's own at the weekend! 

Image from Oliverbonas.com

After my purchases in store I couldn't resist browsing more on the train. The Black 3D Rectangular Collar Necklace caught my eye straight away. I love how funky it is and will be purchasing soon! I think it makes a great statement necklace for £8.

Image from Oliverbonas.com

The last piece of jewellery I was eyeing up was the Gold Pozo Howlite Open Shape Ring. I love the design of this and rings are probably my favourite jewellery items! at £10 it's the most expensive of my picks but still a bargain!

Image from Oliverbonas.com

A classic trench coat is something I've been after for a while and the Beige Livvie Trench Coat caught my eye as I was browsing. I love the buttons on this one and for only £40 it's reasonably priced. I've had a few clothes items from Oliver Bonus and have been impressed with the quality.

Image from Oliverbonas.com

The furniture is something else I love about Oliver Bonas. They have amazing desks and chairs and the Pebble Coco Chair really caught my eye! I'd love this in my dressing room, the grey is an amazing shade!!

There is a massive selection of bowls, martini glasses and mugs i'm eyeing up but my OH was having none of it as apparently our cupboards are full (in his defence they are but you can never have enough pretty mugs!!)

Have you shopped much from Oliver Bonas?

Love M

xxx

Seventeen Blush Powder in Nude

Hey All

I love shopping my stash from time to time, it's so easy to forget long lost products after a favourite comes in and takes over. When I found Seventeen Blush Powder in Nude in my stash I didn't think much of it. It didn't jump out at me and I couldn't even remember buying it, but on the skin this blush won me over. Plus it's a bargain £2.99 (here) and usually on an offer or two. Plus seventeen have just bought out some amazing looking matte lipsticks. I also believe Seventeen is cruelty free (if you know otherwise please let me know as I'm finding brands I'd previously read were now aren't!)

The nude blush is an amazing everyday shade. It's a great neutral that isn't too pink or orange toned. It just gives a natural flush to the skin. It's not a shimmery blush either so very easy to wear.

My camera was having trouble picking up the swatch as on the skin it doesn't show as much but on the face it transfers well. It blends softly to give a natural colour on the apples and isn't overly pigmented that you have to worry about over doing it.

For £2.99 I'd definitely recommend picking this one up. I've had it ages and still love it. I'll be grabbing a new on when I grab some of the new lipsticks! Have you tried any yet? Any shade recommendations?

Love M

xxx

Phee's Make Up Shop

Hey All

This is a post I've been meaning to write forever and never gotten around to. A while ago I order a set of eyeshadows from Phee's Make up Shop. I'd been following Phee's blog for ages and when I saw she was releasing some highlighters and eyeshadows I couldn't wait to try them. The range started with loose highlighters and when phee made shadows too I couldn't resist an order. Since then I've place too other orders.

Top Row - Pressed mariposa, pressed orignal, pressed lasaia and eyeshadow dead weight

Bottom Row - eyeshadows - polilla, peppered, sphrix and iris

Here are the first three of each row swatched on the finger, the quality of these shadows and highlights are unreal, they are super pigmented and so soft to touch. Plus they are all hand made and cruelty free which obviously means I can still repurchase more. Totally eyeing up bellini glow and tie dye sunset glow.  

Here you can see swatches, apologies for the not great quality photo but I wanted to show how amazing the pigmentation is with just one swipe!

The eyeshadows and highlights are sold in pan form and are magnetized so stick in any palettes. Phee has now released some compacts too. The pans are great value for money are they are only £6.50 and come in 37mm pans. 

Here I've used the original highlight to the inner corner. It really is an amazing inner corner colour. I find myself reaching for these highlights over most of my other hightlighters now. I especially love the purple tones of mariposa.

Here I've used peppered as a lid colour! You can really pack the colour on of these if you want full shimmer or go for softer with a softer brush!

Have you tried phee's make up products? If not I can't recommend them enough!

Love M

xxx

Miss Patisserie Fizzy Orange Bath Shard

Hey All

It's pretty obvious by now L and I are massive Miss Patisserie fans as we share a lot of products here and the blog and both our bathrooms are fully stocked. One thing I couldn't resist trying out is the bath shards. They look amazing and I couldn't wait to try them out in the bath. I loved the look and smell of the Fizzy orange but can't wait to try the rest of the range.

The bath shards are packed full of cocoa and shea butter so they are really moisturising and melt into the bath. Fizzy orange also has sweet orange essential oil and bath crumble so it fizzes a little.

I love adding a bit of these to a bath that I've added a bath bomb to as they leave my skin feeling so soft afterwards. 

You can see the oil melting off of them. I only add a piece this size to each bath and it really makes a difference to my skin. 

For £2.80 it's a bargain and I get about 4 baths out of mine. I want to try the rose next as it's so pretty!

Love M

xxx

Coldra Court by Celtic Manor

Hey All

Travel posts are some of my favourite to write lately. I love going away and exploring somewhere whether it be for a night or longer! Recently C and I decided we deserved so me time so when he got back from one of his four week trips abroad we booked in to stay at Coldra Court.

We booked one of the dinner, bed and breakfast deals online and went for Coldra Court as it was much cheaper than the resort, still looked lovely and if we wanted to we could have headed up to Celtic Manor for beauty treatments!

Coldra Court is Celtic Manors newest addition to the chain and is only 10 minutes away from the main resort hotel. They also run a shuttle service so you can make use of it all. As I was away for some us time I do have to apologise as our food was amazing but I didn't snap away during dinner!

We stayed in a standard room and everything was decorated beautifully. The space in them was amazing too. I love the nudes and the classic furniture. It all just feels luxurious. The only thing I would say is the rooms didn't have air conditioning. I do think even though it doesn't get massively hot in the UK it's nice to be able to control the temperature of the room. You could open the windows (which we did) but there was road noise this didn't bother us though.

One thing I thought was great was that the plug sockets had USB ports. This meant that there wasn't a fight for the sockets and they were positioned well within the rooms layout. The bathroom was lovely with Elemis toiletries. I do love that Celtic Manor has these throughout the resort. 

As part of the rate we booked we also had a three course meal in the restaurant. There was a wide variety of choice and also the option to have a buffet starter, carvery and buffet desert. We both opted for the al la carte menu and it didn't disappoint. The pork belly was amazing! Breakfast in Seasons restaurant was also great, there was a wide selection of hot and cold food and service for tea and coffee to the table was quick.

We popped in for a quick dip in the pool and hot tub. It is smaller than Celtic Manor Resort but still has Sauna, Hot Tub and Steam Room as well as the pool and was clean and tidy. 

Overall we loved the stay there and would definitely go back. I still want to stay at the main resort so think we'll do that next time. They do great deals on stays that include dinner and breakfast so I'd recommend signing up to their offers. We stayed on a Friday as it was cheaper and I'd definitely do it again. It was nice to finish work head there and just chill.

Have you stayed at the Celtic Manor?

Love M

xxx 

Beauty Rehab

Gooooooooooood morning! 

Today's post is so well overdue that I can't believe I didn't overflow my house with empties. This is in fact not even all of them as some were doubled or tripled or even more and I couldn't possibly photograph them all! I've also tried out a new photo idea but I'm not sure it's going to work out, so let's get to it and I promise I'll try harder next time...!

New CID I-Groom

Hey All

This is a post is one I've been meaning to write for ages. When we went to the Salon Success event a while back this was one that was in our goodie bags. I was so excited to see it as it was a firm favourite a few years back and you can see it on the blog in the early days. The New CID I-groom in neutral is a great one as it works on all skin tones so after raving about it I was excited L would get to try it too!

The first one I had come in a white packaging but the mirror shine silver looks even better. It's simple and all you need for a brow pencil. It's also double ended with a spoolie on one end. 

The neutral shade is a grey colour which initially scared me but it really does work great for all hair colours and somehow blends in. As someone who has multiple hair colours it's perfect for me as it always goes with my current hair colour. The lids are also really secure which means you don't end up losing them as I have on my other brow pencils that have eyeliner esque lids!

The shape of the tip makes it fool proof and easy to apply (it actually reminds me of the new benefit goof proof in shape!) being thinner at one end makes it easy to get a nice crisp edge to the brows. It's also applies smoothly but is hard enough that it will last a while.

You can see the colour on me here. It's easy to make it look natural and the spoolie on the end makes it easy to soften the shape at the front.

This is definitely one I'd recommend. 

Love M

xxx

Antipodes Grapeseed Butter Cleanser

Hey All

I've been meaning to write this post for ages but there has been so much going on lately I haven't got round to it. Antipodes contacted us to see if we wanted to try out some of their cleansers and as we are both big fans of Antipodes (L has written some reviews here). After going cruelty free (you can see some bits I've been buying recently in this haul) I've moved away from buying more high end beauty products as I hadn't done my research yet so was excited to see that antipodes is not only certified organic but also vegetarian society approved.

Budapest!

Hi all!

A few weeks ago I went to Budapest on a hen weekend, it was so much fun and I loved visiting somewhere that I hadn't been before. I decided to share some of the photos I took whilst I was there in case anyone is going soon.

We had a whirlwind trip with lots of activities planned, so I'd love to go back and see the rest of the city and do some more exploring particularly of food places!

Our first evening was spent on the River Danube, one of the most infamous rivers in the world. We cruised around for a few hours whilst wine tasting, it was a lovely start to the weekend and a great way for us to be introduced to other members of the hen who we hadn't met before.

The wine tasting was also very generous! There were 7 types in total and definitely 125ml glass of each...which led to a lot of tipsy women!

Unfortunately I can't drink wine so I delegated my glasses to other people but it was a really great idea and we had some lovely views of the city from the water as the sun was setting. Below shows Buda Castle:








There were many selfies taken that evening!

Everything was lit up and the buildings and bridges were beautiful. My favourite building was the one in the image below, absolutely stunning with its Gothic features and I want to go back so I can see it in more detail.

The next day we went to Heroes Square which was a short walk from our apartments, my Fitbit was well used this weekend and we did many steps which was good to combat the food and drink!

Once we'd had a wander around we then went on the 'beer bike' which is a huge contraption whereby multiple people can sit and pedal a vehicle whilst drinking beer at the same time! It was a lot of fun but also hard work so keep this in mind if you are going to be trying it out!






One of my favourite meals (obviously!) was visiting a pancake house. Genuinely the biggest menu of pancakes I have ever seen and we decided as this was our last day we would spend the rest of the kitty and go all out. Most of us paired up and shared a savoury dish and then had our own sweet ones knowing that this was brunch and we wouldn't be eating until much later.

The savoury pancakes were filled with Camembert, seeds and salad with a tomato relish type dip. The melted cheese was just perfect and cooked to perfection!

For the sweet pancakes I decided to go for Nutella and summer berries, both were absolutely amazing and I managed to finish my portions with a little bit of effort!

After fuelling up we wandered over Chain Bridge which we had previously seen lit up at night, and up the hill to wander around a variety of different sights. It was a bit confusing at times as I hadn't had chance to look up the different sights before visiting but we did walk over to Matthias Church which is absolutely beautiful, the roof was stunning in the sun!





We also visited the baths whilst we were there which are another big attraction to the city but we were all very hungover and required food so we didn't stay long and pictures were limited!

I would love to go back and wander around the city, it was beautiful and there is plenty more things to be seen but this was a lovely taster. I'd definitely love to go back to the baths and take advantage of the various temperatures of water without a hangover!

Have you been to Budapest? What did you think?

L xxx