Lush Haul

I'm never sure what to think when others put up haul posts, sometimes I think it's an excuse to show how much money you have to spend on things you don't need...but then why shouldn't you buy what YOU want with YOUR money?! Maybe that question is a whole post in itself!

I realised I'd bought a few things from Lush in the last few weeks and what other word was there to call it but a haul? I've really been enjoying using them all as they aren't products or scents I have tried before so I wanted to share my thoughts.

L's Christmas Photos 2017

Hi all!

It's been a little while since sharing a post with you, between the two of us we've been moving, attending weddings, working and prepping for the Christmas season so took an unintentional break from blogging. It has been lovely to spend time with family and friends and tuck into the expected stash of Christmas food, so I thought today was the perfect opportunity to share some of these photos with you.

Lush Spa Cardiff: Christmas 2017

Hey All

As you've probably guessed by now if you're regular readers of the blog we love Lush, (here is our lush tag to check out past Lush posts!) so when we got invited to see the Lush Christmas range of course we headed to the store to try out the new bits!

Blogger Secret Santa

Hey All

Long time no post from me. With Christmas and trying to write up some stuff for work, I've been rushed off my feet. Hope everyone had amazing Christmases. I've been meaning to write this for ages. When I saw Serena from Pretty Wild Things was arranging a secret santa I decided to get involved. I've not done something like this before and thought it would be fun!

Sarah From Jester Joker Fool was buying for me and absolutely spoilt me! I've never tried any Asian beauty products but have heard so much about loads of brands so I was so excited to open it up!

Life Update

Hey all!

So my blog posts over the Christmas break did not go to plan - a lot of my family have been ill so I was helping with lots of the food etc and then unfortunately I have got the dreaded flu myself! So lots of sleeping, lemon and honey, and trashy tv has been my plan over the last few days.

The cold part hasn't been too bad but the aches I just hate! The weirdest thing is that it was all in my hands and elbows so typing just wasn't possible - sooo I'm a little behind with my festive posts particularly a recap of 2016 and goals for 2017. I'm hoping to get them up this week!

Without further rambling here are some more pictures of my Christmas break including some of the lovely presents. I didn't take any pictures of all my presents together, I actually didn't get any make up this year and although all of my presents were lovely they consisted of a lot of pyjamas, socks and kitchen items!

Christmas Day 2016

Hey all!

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas - I planned on getting some posts up in time for the Christmas period but it didn't happen because of so much food prep being required for the big day! You'll see what I mean below....

I spend Christmas with my family and pretty much move home for the Christmas break, even though I don't live at home any more I still end up decorating the house too, particularly the trees!

I love doing it but now I have my own and often do the ones in work it can mean decorating up to seven! I do love decorating the fireplace though, the lights and candles seem to make it!

Christmas Eve was spent in the kitchen, I honestly spent over 8 hours in there making various things. We pre cooked the turkey in the oven and the ham in the slow cooker. The ham was then put into the oven with a honey and mustard glaze on top to crisp up - it was amazing!

We also made the pretty popular Nutella Christmas tree, this was fun and really easy for such an effective treat.

All you need to do is roll out the pastry, cut it into a tree shape - I found it easiest to put them together and cut the shape first so they were both matching.
Then you need to spread a thick layer of Nutella onto one piece and top with the other. I also filled the off cuts too, I mean those extra bits almost taste better than the main tree right?

Then you just need to cut slices of equal size into the sides and twist upwards to give a better effect. It smells amazing when it's cooking away in the oven and we just dusted some icing sugar on top for some festive snow.

This tree is dangerous as you can so easily just keep pulling off a branch here and there!

After this we made some gingerbread men and I iced them very haphazardly - I attempted to do some bow ties and dresses but they look like they've had quite a few glasses of wine instead...oops!

For the main desserts we made the James Martin cheesecake (recipe can be found on Asda's website) which was a really easy no bake recipe, and covered with macaroons from the frozen section. We also decided that seeing as it was Christmas we'd also smother it in edible glitter and sparkly sugar, it was so easy and a big hit!

Lastly we made a chocolate torte, this was the BBC Good Food recipe. It was about 9pm by the time we started this so we were pretty tired but once the mixture was done it only took 40 minutes in the oven to cook and we had earned a big cup of tea and a sit down by then.

Christmas Day is my favourite, for the food and also for seeing my dog loving playing with the wrapping paper! He goes mad for it, loves helping people unwrap their presents and then rolling around with the paper afterwards.

My brother bought him a little Santa costume (which he absolutely hated!) but he was too big so it didn't stay on, still cute though!

We went to my aunty's for Christmas Day this year, the table was beautifully decorated with a gingerbread man theme. Isn't it amazing?

I piled my plate high with as much veg as possible (yes I did add gravy after taking this picture for anyone wondering where it is!)

We finished off the day with the obvious games and selfies with props - if you have played His and Hers we played it and even though us females outnumbered the guys we lost miserably!

What did you do Christmas Day? Do you have any traditions that you have to complete every year?

L xxx

Lush Snowman Shower Jelly

Hey all

As you can probably tell from my last few posts I've been loving the Lush Christmas and Halloween range and have lost a lot of my wages to it!!! Today is the Snowman Shower Jelly. I think shower jellies are a love hate. My first pot I wasn't convinced on then by the second I was hooked. I love them. As expected they are slippery little things but they lather up well and smell delicious so I can't resist them! The snowman is no exception!

The Snowman smells so good! I knew straight away L would love his scent but she's not totally convinced on texture. This little guy is packed with lemon, bergamot and buchu oil. It's got an amazing fresh citrus scent to it.

I tend to break my shower jellies up into smaller pieces so they aren't so big and slippery or you do sometimes end up chasing it around the bath tub! I have had one shoot straight out of my bath!! They really lather well and like all lush products leave a great scent on the skin. Another tip you can see on the tub that I like to use is to freeze a few pieces so that after a long day I can massage it into my legs!!

As an extra bonus the tubs also count to getting a free face mask!

Are you a shower jelly fan?

Love M

xxx

John Lewis Christmas Range 2016

Hello all!

Last week we were invited to an event at John Lewis in Cardiff to look at their Christmas range. I'm a huge Christmas fan and was so very very excited to go!

If I could I would spend a small fortune on decorations and this year I want my house to SPARKLE.

Without further rambling, let's have a look at what John Lewis has to offer:

Those mugs are already a favourite of mine. I absolutely need one of them (probably 2 knowing how easily I seem to chip things....) as well as the matching plates and trays, I just need them in my life.

The sign is also beautiful, it would go perfectly in my bedroom and I just need to justify making my bedroom Christmassy, right??

John Lewis have their ranges set out in sections. Shangri-La is a beautiful blue, green and purple colour palette. Think peacocks and you're on the right track.

The colour are beautiful and are my normal colours for my living room at home. The feather wreath is particularly pretty and the cushions could easily be added to any room for an injection of jewel toned colour.

Snowshill was a favourite of both of ours, the navy, white and metallic colour palette was wintery and sparkly but not traditionally Christmas themed. It's very fresh and crisp and you could use a lot of these items year round, good call JL!

We both loved this table setting, the arrangement is beautiful and the addition of the triple sheepskin rug on the seats makes it look and feel much more luxurious.

My other personal favourite was Ruskin House. I love the reds, greens and golds at Christmas time and the traditional colours always have to have a part.

I love tartan prints and natural ornaments such as the wreaths and pine cones - my parents love this kind of thing too so I think I like it because it reminds me of home!

I love the traditional look and the whole layout was very pretty. The armchair and matching foot stool with tartan blanket are gorgeous, I'd love to wrap myself up in the blanket on the chair with a good book!

One of the most interesting collections was that of Ostravia. It is a Pinterest and typical blogger's dream range!

There are lots of pastel colours, metallics and a whole load of decorations that are not your average - think pugs, crowns, perfume bottles and cameras in sugary pink shades! Take a look:

Definitely worthy of Pinterest with all the sparkle and the fairy lights!

I can definitely see these being a hit with a lot of people and I'd be tempted to pick up some of the more sparkly additions - love the baubles.

Next up is the Chamonix range, essentially this is chalet chic so expect lots of fair isle prints in a red and navy palette.
I love this bedding, it looks gorgeous. I never seem to be able to get my own bed to look as good! I obviously need more pillows and blankets!

I love these tree decorations, the little chalet houses are so cute and I'm a huge fan of fair isle so anything with this pattern is something I'm immediately attracted to.

After wandering around the collections we then wandered through the Christmas store itself, there were many things that I immediately wanted to pick up!

The collections of baubles were like a sweet shop! So many available in so many colours and effects, I must go back asap to have a closer look and make a list of what I need.

There really is a range for everyone at John Lewis this year, another I found both a bit random and a little bit cute was the animals. I have to admit I was attracted to the frog prince below because my fairytale tendencies just take over but as a Christmas decoration I can't see the connection....still cute though!

There's literally everything you could ever need. We both personally loved the decorations above with the clocks and keys/glitter in a jar almost Alice in Wonderland style.Christmas seems to be a lot about magic now which I cannot disagree with!

We were also lucky enough to sample some of the food that will be available over the festive period from both JL and Waitrose, the panettone was really good and the little snacks all tasted great (we had to try them all for review purposes obviously!)

I loved walking around the collection and it has made me very excited for the next few months. I can't wait to get my decorations from the attic and see what I need to buy this year - I only bought my house last year so I have a few decorations but not many, definitely room for more but I need to plan it out carefully!

What do you think of the John Lewis range? Are you a Christmas fan?

I absolutely cannot wait for the colder nights with blankets and hot chocolate, I am definitely a winter kind of girl!

L xxx

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

We hope you are having a wonderful day with your friends and family!

L and M xxx

Lush Christmas Collection 2015

Hey All

A few weeks ago we were invited to see the new Christmas collection. L and I are both Lush fans so knew straight away we had to go. I always love the Lush Christmas range as who doesn't want a nice relaxing bath especially when it's all cold outside.

The Christmas range includes a whole selection of products from bath bombs to face masks to shower jelly's and much much.

Christingle is a product we both loved straight away, we always love fresh mint scents and are big fans of Mask of Magmaminty (review here). The body conditioners are a great products as it's applied in the shower and saves having to wait around for body lotions to sink it when it's cold! I love Ro's Argan but this is even better!

The festive face mask is Cranberry which L couldn't resist picking up and we tested them out the other day. It's so lush and smells great. It's a perfect winter face mask as it's nourishing and has lots of antioxidants!

Lush always put amazing detail into everything! How amazing is this soap. The new shop fit of Lush Cardiff also means that you can see the amazing soaps all set up better! I couldn't resist popping back last week and grabbing some yog nog soap! That stuff smells amazing!

At the last lush event we went to we couldn't resist purchasing Lush Shower Jelly's for the first time. You can see L's review of needles and pine here. They have two Christmas specials, Santa's Belly and Snowman, in store they had a giant Santa's  belly. I loved just playing with it!! The shower jellys are such a fun gift and the snowman is actually snowman shaped!

At the event there was also a chance to try making your own bubble bar. You can do parties in Lush and make bath bombs and stuff which would be a great birthday party or hen do event. It was surprisingly hard to make it look as good as they do! L didn't get the chance so I shared mine so she could try it. You easy get two baths out of these! I love combining a bath bomb and bubble bar for the ultimate bath!!

Lush do amazing Christmas gifts! I've been lucky enough to be given one before, I love all there gift sets and they make amazing presents as they're great for lush lovers or for people who aren't there yet to try new products! One of the great things I love is the amazing packaging as it means you can reuse them and it doesn't go to waste! One of my favourites is It's Christmas Deer. How lush is that tin!! 

Have you tried any of the new items yet?

Love L and M

xxx