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!

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

Urban Decay Black Magic 24/7 Eye Pencil Set

It's pretty obvious that Urban Decay has claimed a good few hundred of my pretty pounds this year. Their palettes are pretty amazing and good value for quality products and their gift sets are always worth picking up.

The Black Magic 24/7 Glide on Double Ended Eye Pencil Set is one of those!

If the packaging hasn't already drawn you in with its really cool neon coloured watercolour effect in the background then the 4 double ended pencils in wearable colours will.

With 4 black ends and 4 coloured ends you are sure to find ones that will suit you. I always find these sets are the best for finding colours that you might not have tried but are actually your favourites. Having tried Smoke previously in another travel set I know now how much wear I'll get from it, and won't need to worry about it disappearing now that I've got another....

Let's be honest, if you ever wear an eyeliner it is likely to be a black one isn't it?

That was my thinking for picking up this set and knowing how much usage I'd get from it. If I'm likely to use colours in my eye make up it's green and purples, which was how i knew this set was for me.

Granted I still want the other Christmas set with Ten of the pencils with their infamous Perversion liner and Grindhouse sharpener, but this one was definitely the one for value for money for me.

So how do the colours match up?

Zero is paired with Demolition. Zero is classed as a zealous cream black and Demolition is a deep brown matte.

I have Zero from a palette I've bought previously and it's a pretty good black liner, though not the same as Perversion. Demolition is a colour I wouldn't have picked up but actually it's a really good alternative to black for those days when you're wearing nudes. It gives a much softer look and I know I'll be wearing it for work days. There are swatches at the end of the post for each pencil if you'd like to skip to them.

Perversion needs no introduction but in case you haven't used it it's the blackest of matte black liners that you will ever use. LSD is a navy shimmer with a bright turquoise micro sparkle. I wear a lot of this colour on my eyes so I'm already looking forward to getting this out during the party season.

Black Market is described as a charcoal black satin. If I'm honest I didn't realise so many liners could be created for one colour but now I've used these I can see differences in every one. Tornado is a dark eggplant pearl colour, I love wearing purples as they bring out the green in my hazel eyes and liners like this make it an easy addition. This colour is so pretty and subtle that I would consider wearing it to work with grey nudes.

Black Velvet is a rich smoky black matte and it is paired with Smoke is a deep grey matte. I've already written about it previously in a post here.
I've been wearing it to work a lot of days since I bought the mini set and will probably wear it more now I know i have a spare as back up!

The four pencils are a really good addition to anyone's make up bag but particularly if you like black liners and creating smoky eyes. I think these would also be great for adding a bit more definition to a nude eye design that you would wear to work every day. I'd take these in my handbag if I was going from work out for food or drinks as it would be an easy way to change your look along with a swipe of lipstick too.

You can see the blacks all on the left of the pairings and the colours on the right. Demolition is a lovely brown and the micro sparkle in LSD is clear to see in the centre. Tornado is the purple at the bottom which is hard to see but definitely catches in the light and Smoke is on the furthest right hand side.

This set would be great as a gift and costs £27 for the four pencils meaning they cost £6.75 each or £3.40 per colour. Seeing as a full size pencil retails at £15 each you really are getting quite a bargain if you know you won't use the full size pencils, and can always upgrade to the full size if you know it's a favourite.

I've got my eye on the TEN Christmas set now too as it has Perversion in full size plus 9 other never seen before shades with a Grindhouse sharpener that i also need as I've not found another sharpener that has the ability to sharpen the 24/7 pencil concealer.

What do you think of the double ended 24/7 pencils? Do you think it's necessary to have so many different types of black eye pencils?
Which is your favourite from the Black Magic set?

L xxx

Christmas Gift Guide

Happy Sunday morning!

I expect by now most of you have started to turn to the brochures and internet adverts that have suddenly been making its way into our inboxes and shopping baskets.

I have had loads of fun making wishlists and my own Christmas list from the Debenhams, Boots and Space NK Gift guides. So without further ado here are my picks of products that you might want to add to your wishlists or buy for fellow friends or loved ones.

Starting off with Boots, full of amazing product goodness that it would take a rather strong individual to ignore.

Smashbox always have some cracking products out for Christmas and I've always got my eye on the miniature primers. I've heard they're amazing and for £25 for the trio it's a good way to try them out.
The On The Rocks palette is also an extensive range of eye shadows for a bargainous £49 and would make a great gift.

Benefit gifts are extremely popular and it's not hard to see why, they're beautifully packaged and usually contain a great variety of their products as the perfect trial of something that may be new to you or as a travel kit. The above is the perfect pick me up for on the go make up or a cohesive travel kit, all you're missing is your base products and you're good to go! For £29.50 the Sexy and Scrumptious gift set is amazing.

Liz Earle have never sold their gift sets anywhere other than John Lewis. I think it's great they've gone more mainstream by selling at Boots and this gift set contains their infamous Cleanse and Polish followed by a skin tonic and eye cream. All have very good reviews and contain natural products so would be an ideal gift for someone new to the brand for £19.75

These pages are my favourite! It's like a perfect mix and match section; Nails Inc polishes ranging from £15/16, Benefit's Hoola bronzer, Lancome mascara and YSL Touche Eclat. All of which have rave reviews and anyone would be happy to receive. 

Ted Baker produce some amazing gift sets also and i particularly like their designs this year. I'm a fan of coral anyway but the bottles lined up in different colours as above remind me of being on holiday in Southern Italy on the Amalfi Coast as the houses are similar colours and this makes me happy.
The UpTed Abbey set above looks like a lovely gift and I would imagine it will be on offer as a star gift at Boots sometime soon.

Origins also have some great gift sets where the value can be worth around £30 more than the price it is on sale for. The set below costs £40 though is worth somewhere near £68. Ginzing is one of their most popular ranges and this gift set is the perfect range of products for someone who deserves a pamper via a skincare set packed with vitamins and minerals.

So what do Debenhams have to offer?

You can never go wrong with a bit of sparkle in the form of a piece of jewellery. Watches are a classic item and rose gold is a popular choice at the moment, although silver and gold are still the classics.

The Clarins palette contains a gorgeous selection of eyeshadows that anyone can wear, especially over the Christmas season and would be perfect in time for New Year's Eve. The ten shades are a great basic palette for £35, meaning it's only £3.50 per eyeshadow which is pretty good value for Clarins!

Lancome sets are also really good value for money and the larger set has a massive variety of trial sized products and an eyeshadow palette:

It is hard to even think about Debenhams without considering Urban Decay. They have plenty of products available year round but this year their Christmas sets are awesome. The limited edition Vice 3 palette is sure to sell out and the eyeliner and lipstick sets are musts in every beauty addicts collection. I've got Vice 3 and the Black Magic eyeliner set already, the others are sure to find their way into my life too! These products range from £27 to £42.

Lastly L'Occitane are another brand where you just cannot go wrong with gift sets, especially with scents such as Shea Butter as they're so soft and light that anyone would be happy to receive it and you just cannot go wrong, especially for £20 or £35.

I couldn't complete these Gift Guides without a mention from Space NK, my latest favourite store. Having never bought from them before until a few weeks ago I'm now a constant browser of their site and some gift sets have particularly caught my eye:

Nars Virtual Domination cheek palette; £45 but worth £117. I really need it but cannot afford it; I need to find someone who can afford to buy it for me! A lovely present for any female who loves good quality blushes.

This is nicely followed up with the Digital World Lip Coffret also from Nars featuring 5 lip pencils, 3 of which are limited edition all of £32. They also allegedly come in an acrylic style box for future storage which I always thing is a good idea.

GlamGlow have a gorgeous skincare set out containing three different mud treatments for £50. With a huge following for its tingling and cleansing muds this one is sure to make a skincare obsessive extremely happy!

In fact i imagine at this rate I will be producing another Gift Guide in a week or so with other new products that I've found!

Do you find it easy or hard to buy for fellow females are Christmas time?
I think I could quite easily do it but may come into problems when a budget is required and also stopping myself from buying one for me too!

What are on your Gift Guides?

I've got another 'product free' gift guide coming next week!

L xxx