Lush Needles and Pine Shower Jelly

Good morning!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend, me and M went to our friend's beautiful baby's christening this weekend and also indulged at the Celtic Manor's Festive Afternoon Tea - post coming very soon!

Today's post is from a shopping trip a few weeks ago to Lush - I picked up quite a few goodies and have been working my way through them. I was sold on Needles and Pine Shower Jelly as soon as I heard it was inspired by Game of Thrones!

Needles and Pine smells of Finnish woodlands and pine trees, courtesy of the Pine Needles and Cypress Leaf Infusion. The smell is so calming and refreshing, it's just like showering outside amongst a forest full of Christmas trees. If you've ever seen the Hunger Games and remember the window that Katniss chooses in the Capitol to look out of during the first film, that's exactly the image you get in your mind.

It also contains Cedarwood Oil and Grapefruit Oil to tone and uplift, it's generally a very refreshing experience!

 A tip that a lot of Lush employees suggested was to freeze the shower jelly, I haven't tried this yet as it has been so cold but I can imagine in the summer this would be a lovely way to start the day or cool down after a day of sunbathing.
It is a bit of a weird item to use though, a ball of jelly that really is squishy and slippery - I've ended up chasing it around my bath and shower quite a few times! It's just like being a kid again with novelty bath items but this one smells much more grown up and why shouldn't you make showering more fun?!

They have a few different Shower Jellies in store including Refresher and 93,000 Miles from their standard range. They also have a special Christmas edition of Santa's Belly, a wonderfully red and glittery shower jelly, and also Snowman which as you can guess is white and shaped like a Snowman. They're pretty good and won't be available for long so snap them up!

The standard range is £3.75 and the festive range is £3.95 each.

Have you tried the Shower Jellies? Will you be picking up one of the festive range?

There are still so many things I want to try from Lush and their seasonal ranges are so good!

L xxx

Life Lately

Hey All

Sorry for the lack of posts. I've recently moved house so I'm without internet. That will be changing on Saturday. Can't wait to have it back sorted. I've also managed to catch a cold so feeling a little under the weather. I've got so many posts I've been wanting to write but I thought I'd just do a little catch up post!!

On Monday it was one of my brothers birthday's so I popped home for the evening to see him and catch up. I also made him a cake as I'm now out of shared accommodation I have room for all of my baking stuff. It didn't turn out exactly how I wanted but it wasn't too bad!

L and I have been lucky enough to head to a few events the last week so we will be sharing some bits from these next week. First up we went to see the new products Dior have released for Christmas and then off to Lush. I couldn't resist some purchasing from both places and I've definitely discovered a few amazing new bits!

As I've just moved in with C we're enjoying making our new place feel homely. We've got most bits from Ikea or TK maxx. I still need to grab a few bits. These are the pots we got for the bathroom. I love the colour and look of these and they were a TK maxx bargain. One was £3 and one was £4. An even better but was the fact they are candles so I lit the candles every night till they were gone and then cleaned the jars. Candle pots are so pretty when I couldn't find what I wanted in the bathroom section I thought I'd check there!

 

Now I'm in a new place I'm hoping I can get a pet. I just need to convince C I should get one. This little guy won me over and even convinced C we can go and look together!

After resisting the urge to dye my hair for two months I couldn't wait to get some colour back on it. I really do love my hair purple but it always disappoints me how quickly it fades out. I need to decide what to do with it next. I think I need something more low maintenance for now.

I also had a great whirlwind weekend in London catching up with some of my closest friends from back home. We opted for London so we could see our amazing friend in Mamma Mia. He's sky in it at the moment. The show is awesome and it was amazing to see him on the big stage again!

L, C and I all headed out for Halloween. He was lucky to get stuck with us for the night ;). We originally got tickets for the Splott Warehouse Halloween party but after queueing for over an hour to get in, being squished in the process then being totally disappointed when we got in (you had to then enter a massive queue to get tokens to then queue again to get drinks!!), spending the night queueing in ridiculous queues didn't appeal to us so we headed into town and ended up having an awesome night!

I'm now counting down till C gets back from his latest work trip! The house does feel strange without him there but I'm hoping to change the colour scheme in our bedroom whilst he's away to make it pretty! ha!

It's been a crazy busy few weeks and with Christmas fast approaching it's not slowing down! I'm so excited for Christmas this year though and luckily I'm off to Copenhagen for new year. If you have any travel tips let me know :).

Love M

xxx

Vichy Dermablend Corrective Foundation and Setting Powder*

Hey All

A few weeks ago L and I were sent some the Vichy Dermablend Corrective foundation and Setting Powder to try out. I couldn't wait to get my hands on it as it's been a firm favourite of L's for a while now but one I've not gotten around to trying. You can see L's original post on the foundation and how it looks on the skin here.

Since then the packaging has changed from black to white which I think looks better. And plus messy foundation fingers don't look as bad on it. I also love that it's in a squeezy bottle. Something about glass foundation bottles does look better but practicality wise a this is better for controlling how much foundation you want and getting every last drop out.

L already knew she was the shade Opal so I went for this too as we are pretty similar in colours. I think I could probably do with picking up the new shade porcelain to mix the two in as I get paler over the winter. If you are pale this is a great foundation to try! There are 8 shades in the range and they do have a mixture of shades from light to dark.

As soon as L gave me it I couldn't wait to get it on my face! So far I'm absolutely loving it and find myself reaching for it most days. I find with this I need less foundation then other products as a little goes a long way. It seems to blend with every brush I've tried including traditional foundation, real techniques expert face and buffing brush. It leaves my skin looking like skin but perfected. Considering it's a more full coverage foundation I love that my skin doesn't feel masked or looked caked on. I should have listened to L's recommendation sooner!

The setting powder is also right up my street. I prefer loose powders lately and I know some people don't like the mess but I find it gives my skin a better finish. This one comes with a puff in the top which I do like as it means it's one I can take with me and use on the go. The first thing I have to say about this is how amazing the texture is. It's the lightest, softest texture ever!!! If you've felt the By Terry Hyaluronic Hydra Powder it really reminds me of that. It buffs into the skin and doesn't make the skin look super powdering or disturb the foundation under it. It just makes the make up last look and controls my shine!

I'm totally sold on both of these and my beloved Laura Mercier Mineral Powder foundation has definitely been replaced with the setting powder!

Have you tried Dermablend or Vichy products?

Love M

xxx

As M has mentioned I have been a long standing fan of Vichy's Dermablend Corrective Foundation and couldn't tell you how many I have bought over the last few years. I just love the finish it gives my skin and the pigmentation is so good it covers really well - even some of my acne scars just disappear.

Another factor I love about it is the SPF 35 it contains, I don't need to apply many layers of products as I know this will cater to my needs and leave my skin looking flawless for the whole day.

I have been using the foundation for a while however I was yet to try the Setting Powder, and I was not disappointed. As M said it's very similar in texture and finish to an extremely well known powder that's received rave reviews - and I can tell you now that it is completely comparable. I love the finish and it really sets my face for the day, and I am 100% impressed.

The Fluid Corrective Foundation costs £18, and the Setting Powder is £16. Both are worth every penny and both will be staying firmly on my purchase list for a very long time.

Maybe a primer will be the next product on the books??


L xxx

Palace of Versailles

Hello everyone!

Happy Sunday morning!

I've been away with work yet again - November is going to be an extremely busy month but as I am yet to finish posting about my trip to Paris I though ti was best to start there.

I wrote about my whirlwind trip to Paris here, and have already written a post on the Gardens of Versailles here. This is the final instalment and consists of the Palace of Versailles itself - it's simply exquisite, and that's not a word to use lightly!

I mean just look at those gates, every tiny bit of it is genuine gold and you can see why there was such a revolution when the people of Paris were starving and dying outside.

When you get inside the gates the luxury and grandeur does not stop there either, it's breathtaking and just walking in and standing there is enough to keep you quiet for a little while!

I was extremely lucky with the weather on the day that I had free from work, it rained before and after this so my trip was planned to perfection. The Palace is beautiful and would be whatever the weather, but this kind of blue skies and sunshine scenario makes it even more amazing.

And don't even get my started on the interiors - who doesn't love a massive chandelier!

I'm also a big fan of windows, massive floor to ceiling windows with draped curtains and even better, a window seat. I've always dreamed of having a window of this size and having the ability to sit at it and read - it's a must-have on my dream home list.

Even the mirrors on the interior walls are dressed like windows to add to the grandeur of the palace. I also love seeing the mirrors when they are aged, a bit greyer and with a few cracks within the glass itself is even better in my opinion.

I'm one of those people that can't ignore a ceiling, I have been to a few places around the world that have fantastic ceilings including the Sistine Chapel. They are all amazing in my opinion and there's nothing better than twirling around in a room and staring at paintings on the ceiling.

The one place in the entire Palace of Versailles that I had seen and heard of before that I was very excited to see was the infamous Hall of Mirrors. It's pretty explanatory but take one of these amazing rooms and add in an excessive amount of chandeliers and mirrors, and this is what you get:

Just how fabulous is this room!

There was so much sparkle and luxe in one room that it was simply breathtaking, there were so many things to take photos of from different angles but I've narrowed it down to a few ;)

I did try to take a few mirror selfies - I mean who wouldn't at least try! But they didn't turn out so well on account of the windows showing so much light in the background!

There were so many rooms to see throughout the palace that it would be impossible to share them all with you but this one was another that was particularly interesting for me:

Look at that ceiling!

I've recently painted some of my furniture grey using chalk paint, there is a lot of detail on these pieces also so I have recently bought a gold paint to add some of the detail back in just like this ceiling. It's great finding inspiration from genuine palaces like this!

All in all it was an amazing day - the Gardens were breathtaking and a surprise to me as I didn't expect them to be as exciting as they were. However the Palace of Versailles itself lived up to every expectation, it was superbly luxurious, covered in gold and chandeliers and just fabulous.

I'd fully recommend that anyone visiting Paris also visit the Palace of Versailles, it will take you an entire day from 9 until late afternoon to get around everything including Marie Antoinette's Palace and Gardens too. I practically ran around the whole thing, I was excited and also fearful of missing anything before it closed. For a more relaxed day you may want to skip Marie Antoinette's section however it was my favourite area!

Have you visited the Palace of Versailles? Did you think it was a wonderful as I did?

Will you be planning a visit after seeing these photos?

L xxx