Lush Ultrabland Facial Cleanser

Hey all!

Happy New Year!

What better way to start the year than with a new cleanser?

I recently picked up Ultrabland on a trip to Lush, and I've not looked back.

It's a well known cleanser and for good reason. It currently has a full 5 stars on the Lush website which just goes to show how many people love it.

It's based on a Greek formula of almond oil, rose water beeswax and honey and feels as gentle on the skin as the ingredients portray. I try and remove my make up with a face wipe first and then slap this on. You can clean it off with warm water and a cloth as soon as you like but I tend to leave it on for a good 20 minutes to allow it to draw out impurities.

It's super smooth and creamy and initially I was worried about using it on my sometimes oily skin. However I've had no issues whatsoever and use this every couple of days to keep my skin under control.

It seems to remove impurities yet doesn't over power my skin with oil, it's fabulous and as soon as I can get back to Lush I will be purchasing more so I don't have to be so stingey with it!
I will also be snapping up Full of Grace serum and Mask of Magnaminty, they are my favourites and I can't live without them. Maybe I'll have to find another item to add to my list too!

The Ultrabland cleanser comes in at £7.50 for 45g, and £11.95 for 100g.

Have you tried Ultrabland? Are you a fan like everyone else?

As someone who isn't a super fan of bath bombs I am certainly finding plenty of products i like from Lush! And now I'm even partial to an indulgent bath too....how things change!

L xxx

Etsy Crane Hair Pins

Hey All

I've been meaning to share these for a while but never got around to photographing them, so when C went away on his latest work trip and I was left with his DSLR and the 35mm lens I took to sorting out my photos for the blog. I'm so pleased with the improvement over the last few posts of mine. We've booked ourselves onto a photography course in the Brecon Beacons in the new year so hopefully I'll get better. 

L and I actually did a photography module in university but that was ages ago. I really need to did my notes out so I can get back to shooting in manual! Anyway another rambling from me. When I was browsing etsy for my friends birthday presents I came across the seller Entirely Crafty who sold various origami jewellery items. I ordered my friend a pair of earrings and couldn't resist the hair pins for myself!

They came in pretty boxes so make perfect gifts (I probably should have gotten the post up before Christmas but now maybe you can be inspired and be ready for birthday's/mother's day!)

I was totally blown away by the detail of these. You can get them in different sizes, patterns and different carriers such as pins, earrings, necklaces and brooches. I love these when I've got my hair in a curly updo to just poke out of it. I always get questions when I wear them too!

I do love supporting handmade companies too and love that this person's adventure started after making bits for her wedding! They are also really reasonably priced at only £4 for the set!

Love M

xxx

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

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

L and M xxx

Life!

Well it has been a pretty long time since I've done a Life Update - so make a brew, take a seat and browse my recent happenings with me!

Of course, I've been stuffing my face with street food as that's generally what I like to do with my spare time. This time it was the Winter Social from Depot Cardiff and *finally* I was able to see all of the umbrellas in their glory!

How pretty are they?! I love the snowflakes hanging from them.

I shared a few different dishes with a friend and we had a Merry Cheesemas burger (Wensleydale and cranberries on a burger, yum!), Crab Flatbreads (also yummy with so much garlic) and finally a pulled pork bun with winter slaw. I was very full at this point but clearly i still had room for one of my favourites - Science Cream!

I'm not one of the biggest fans of ice cream but the offerings from Science Cream are just perfect, the ice cream is made in front of you with fresh cream and liquid nitrogen. The result is the smoothest ice cream in existence, so I chose Sticky Toffee Pudding on this occasion and it really did have hot sticky toffee pudding with it and a dollop of salted caramel sauce, so much drool.

I had to go home and lie down afterwards.

I've also been changing a few things with my look. By that I mean, I bought a new palette and got my hair cut - I'm not one for drastic measures!

The Gwen palette is outstanding, both outside and in. As expected the Urban Decay eyeshadows are the most pigmented and silky as always and the colours are beautiful. Our post is here if you'd like more info!

As for my hair, I had a fringe cut in! It's taken some getting used to - mainly as if my hair is a mess I usually just scrape it back but now i have to do something with my fringe....I've bought lots of dry shampoo to cope though!

It normally looks a bit fuller than this, I was going for the Zooey Deschanel look so I need to wait for it to get a bit messier and relaxed. I definitely like the change though!


I've also been keeping busy with papercutting, although I haven't shown much on the blog or twitter. My latest creation is for my bedroom and is a classic Paper Panda design, you should checkout her website. I've been planning on making this for an entire year so I'm pleased that I've finally got to the framing stage, now it's just time to decide where on the wall it needs to go!

I'm thinking a gallery wall which probably means that I will need to make a whole lot more before I can put anything up!

Another paper related hobby I've been getting into is colouring. I have a fair few books now but you always need a few topics to keep you interested. The Harry Potter one is a current favourite, though it is taking me forever to complete each page.

Lastly I've been on a real health kick the last few weeks. I'm really missing having more control over my diet and exercise, and the thought of Christmas eating filled me with dread. That and if I indulge too early I will unfortunately make myself ill, so I need to control myself and then I can enjoy Christmas Day itself.

So I've been roasting loads of veg and making cous cous with soy sauce in batch. I then pair this with tuna, chicken or feta cheese for my lunches so with a good breakfast and this for my lunch I knew I wasn't going too wrong.

I've also been trying to exercise as often as possible. M gave me her spare 30 Day Shred DVD so I've been doing it as often as I can. 20 minutes is not much to ask and I know I have at least that to dedicate to myself every day and keep my eating in check. It's haaaaaaaaaaaaaard work don't get me wrong, but I've decided to just get stuck in and not wait until January to make changes.

In an effort to try more healthy recipes I have also finally made Cauliflower Pizza!

It was a really long process to make, not only to grate the cauliflower but to dry fry it for 15 mins and then bake it for 40 mins before even adding the topping........I was starving!

It did really taste like a pizza though so I was impressed, I just wouldn't make this for myself on my own and would probably just save myself for a real pizza!

It's been such a busy few months and I'm looking forward to a few days off over Christmas with my family. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

L xxx