Miss Patisserie - Queen of Hearts Bath Bake

Hello all!

At CSI we regularly wander the shops of Cardiff, but only occasionally do we go into the arcades which is a shame as they have lots of wonderful shops.

Over Christmas me and my mum wandered the arcades in search of gifts that were a bit more special and we came across Miss Patisserie.

Miss Patisserie was created by Charlotte Ridgwell in 2009. She broke her leg and was forced to take 6 weeks off work and decided to keep herself busy by making bath bombs for family and friends. They loved them so much that she took them to craft fairs and Miss Patisserie began!

During my visit I couldn't resist but pick a few things up for myself. The Bath Bakes are beautiful, and the Queen of Hearts one was exactly what I was looking for - even though I didn't know it!

How beautiful is it!!

The Queen of Hearts Bath Bake contains notes of pomegranate, citrus zest and blackcurrant with a few extra floral scents thrown in for good measure.

What I love about these bath bombs is not only the beautiful cupcake design, but the fact the bath bakes work as a cake and icing - two separate parts with two separate jobs. The cake is the bath bomb itself, and the icing is a scrub to be used as an exfoliator once the bath bomb has fizzed away. It's a genius idea and it works so well.

Baths are not a regular thing for me but I was really excited to use this one. Peeling off the cupcake wrapper was a little weird, but only because normally when I do this it's to eat the cake and I certainly couldn't do that this time!

I absolutely love the design though, pink and swirly icing and bright red glitter. I'm like a lot of people and I love Alice in Wonderland, I have multiple copies of the books and many prints and handmade designs on the walls of my house, so this bath bake is very much appealing to me, don't you agree?




Below is a picture of the bath bake fizzing around the water, I loved that it stays upright whilst it spins around and the icing on the cake stays on the surface. My bathroom smelled absolutely wonderful, and as my house is rather small so did my entire house after I had finished in there!
I'm not a huge fan of strong scents as i seem to have a sensitive nose and if I smell something really strong i can't smell anything else for hours afterwards - I could smell this all evening.



So it fizzed around like a charm and smells amazing, what about the scrub? This was also pretty impressive as i expected it to crumble in my hands straight away and not be much use, but I managed to use the entire of it without it crumbling into mush on my feet, legs, knees, elbows, arms and actually my entire body and still had some left for my shower the next day. It wasn't abrasive and felt like a fine powder when it did crumble, I was very impressed.

Generally as my first product from Miss Patisserie I am very Impressed and especially for £4.50. As a Welsh girl I also feel quite patriotic about the fact they are made locally in Cardiff!

Have you visited the shop too?? I love it and have visited there twice since, if you're lucky enough you will also meet Charlotte and she is so lovely to chat to!

I have a few more things to try including a perfume, face mask and a candle and will be sure to post them soon. In the meantime you can check out the website by clicking here, and join me in making a huuuuuuuuuge wishlist!

Bath bomb selection box is next for sure - even I have vowed to work my way through them all and try out the Bath Pastilles too, they look just like macaroons!

L xxx

Diorshow Iconic Overcurl Mascara Set

Hey All

Towards the end of last year we were invited along to the Dior counter in Debenhams to see the Launch of their Christmas range (post here). Annoyingly buses meant I was a little late so missed some of the demonstration but L told me that this mascara was applied and it looked amazing. I'm a total mascara junkie and as I hadn't tried any Dior mascaras yet I decided it was time to change that.

I love when companies do mascara sets that come with something else. I usually treat myself to one of the Lancome one's that come with either mini mascaras of eye make up removers. I love that this one comes with a little eyeshadow set. I'm a make up on the go type of girl (which translates to I'm too lazy to get up early in the morning so I'm the person doing my make up on the bus!)

The colours in the mini palette are so handy for everyday looks and have all the colours you could need. The brown in the middle is the perfect crease colour and the dark black is great for lining the eyes. I'm really impressed with the quality of these and can't wait to try more Dior eyeshadows! A girl can never have enough right?

So onto the mascara! I love the packaging, it's metal esque simple and feels weighty which I like as it makes me think more high end. Black and silver is always a great combo and looks classy as I'd expect from Dior. I love the brush. I'm a traditional mascara brush type girl over plastic any day. The wand also has a slight curl to help lift those lashes up!

C has a new even fancier pants camera now so I managed to recruit him to take photos for me so he could play with his new lenses. My lashes naturally are fine, fair and have a slight curl.

The thing I love about this mascara is how black it is. I love super dark lashes. This is after one coat of mascara. As you can see my lashes are well separated and slight more lifted up from the roots.

After two coats the lashes as super dark, with a good amount of volume and thickness to them. I love how thick my lashes look at the roots.

I can see from the photos it makes my lashes look nice but I really can't put my finger on why I'm not loving this mascara. I don't know if I just wanted more. I felt like this about YSL shocking (review here) at first though so think it may just need to be one that grows on me . I personally find I prefer a mascara once they've been used a bit so they aren't as wet and new. (is that just me?)

This set is still available from Debenhams here for £25 which basically means the eyeshadow palette is free as it's £25 for the mascara alone!

Have you tried Diorshow Iconic Overcurl? Did you love it? 

Love M

xxx

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