Beauty: LUSH Melting Marshmallow Moment

On my rather extravagant spree of Lush I noticed this little beauty in the bath section. I was drawn to this particular product becauseI like bright things, I like marshmallows and I loved the smell. It smells like a sweet shop and I love sickeningly sweet smelling things. 

 I thought it was a bath ballistic so would fizz everywhere but it's actually a bath melt. I do prefer the bath melts as they are better for your skin; this one is packed with cocoa butter and almond oil which are well known to be good for you skin. Lush also have also used roots from the marshmallow herb to make this which "is a traditional medicine on cuts, abrasions and skin irritations" (their words not mine).

It's meant to turn the bath water pink/lilac but it wasn't too effective in my bath but it doesn't bother me too much as I like bubbles and the scent more thank weird coloured water. I really liked this bath melt and would definitely buy it again. 

It retails for £3.95 in Lush (Here's a link to save you the trouble).

Fashion: Tesco F&F Haul

Jumper £12.00

Skirt £16.00

Dress £16.00

Bikini - Top £10.00 Bottoms £5.00

Beach Dress £10.00

Waistcoat £16.00

I came to a realisation today when I walked out of Tesco £50.00 lighter that I am slightly a woman obsessed. I didn't realise that over the last 2 months I have bought a number of gems from F&F. I find they become more on trend every season and their prices are so reasonable for good quality clothing. I picked up a few pieces to update my summer wardrobe including a bikini and cover up for my holiday to Spain later this year. The skirt is stunning on and something you would expect Topshop to sell but for £35.00 instead. I really love the waistcoat but have no idea how I'm going to style it yet; I'm think denim shorts and a black vest maybe? It's going to be perfect for V Festival!

What's everyone doing for Bank Holiday? I'm throwing a BBQ at mine so praying the sun has his hat on!

Fashion: Summer Clutch Bags

1. Stella & Dot £45.00
2. Stella & Dot £30.00
3. Accessorize £35.00
4. New Look on ASOS £9.99
5. Accessorize £32.00
6. Oasis £25.00

Can you believe I have only bought one bag this year? After my Kate Spade purchase I felt I couldn't spend any more money on bags these year but the summer clutch bags are so bright and colourful I really need one! So I thought I would share my favourites I've found on the world wide web!

Everything seems to have a tropical or embellished flair this year which I love. The pastel trend is very nice but I automatically go for anything bright. I particularly have a soft spot for number 5 (Accessorize are always on point for the summer months).

Which one is your favourite?

Beauty: Lush Rockstar Soap

I'm much more of a hand wash girl but during my trip to Lush at the #NorthamptonBloggerMeet I fell head over heels for the Rockstar soap.

Lush says "Get into the gorgeous groove with this creamy, sweet-smelling soap. Rock Star takes you on an away day with its nostalgic smell of seaside rock wrapped up in a pink block - perfect for easing sugar cravings. Containing Fair Trade vanilla absolute, this will leave you feeling sweet and comforted."

The smells is stunning. It fills my whole bathroom with this almost sickly sweet candy smell (which personally I love) and the best way to describe it is the same scent of Snow Fairy shower gel; which I am sure most of us has tried. 

The soap itself has rapeseed and coconut oil making it very nourishing for your hands and doesn't leave them feeling dry afterwards. A little goes a long way and although it may not be as foaming as some other brands I find it keeps my hands clean and smelling beautiful!

At £3.40 for 100g (my picture above shows about £5.50 worth) I think it's definitely a treat for the bathroom but I'm really enjoying it and it's lasting forever! Pick it up from Lush here.

I'm planning on having a relaxing bath at the weekend so stay tuned next week to hear about a new bath bomb I picked up!

Health: Slimming World Basics and Introduction

Last Monday a few friends and I took the plunge and attended our first Slimming World session. I've found lately that as much as I exercise and try and eat right I just am not losing as much weight as I would like and feel I need to be a lot stricter with myself if I want faster, more noticeable results. I'm quite lucky that I'm tall and can carry a few pounds without anyone noticing however I long for the days when I was a skinnier bean pole. 

So this post is for all that may not know too much about Slimming World and hopefully this post just gives you an idea of what it's all about so when I update you, you know what I'm chatting about. Also it's a great post to read if you are thinking of joining yourself!

The Basics

All fruit and vegetables are classed as Super Free Foods. You can have as many as you want with no measuring and you should aim to fill each of your meals with one third of these. There are very few exceptions to these rule as my beloved avocados do not count.

Free Foods are also foods you can have in unlimited amounts and should make up around two thirds of each meal. These include;

Shellfish

Oily Fish

White Fish

Meat & Poultry (make sure you trim off any fat & that mince is less than 5% fat)

Eggs

Fat Free Dairy

Beans & Pulses

Pasta, Rice and Potatoes

Drinks wise you can have tea, coffee, squash, diet fizzy drinks, water & bovril in unlimited amounts.

Each day you get 2 Healthy Options; Healthy A is a dairy choice which is measured. This can be in the form of milk such as 250ml semi skimmed milk or cheese such as 30g of cheddar. If you are in rush there's babybels etc. 

Healthy B is a fibre choice which is also measured and can be bread, cereals, dried fruit and even some soups. 35g of porridge oats is good for breakfast or 2 slices of wholemeal bread is what I use for some lunches. 

All foods have a synergy or "syn" value and are basically extras to your diet. So basically the better a food is for you the lower it's syn value. You should aim to get a minimum of 5 syns a day and have a maximum of 15. Just to give you some perspective a rich tea biscuit is worth 2 syns, a bag of Walker's crisps is 9.5 and a shot of vodka is 4. I have only been doing the diet for a few days now but am really learning my way around these. When I see that a penguin bar is 5.5 syns and I'm hungry it makes me not really want it anymore and I opt for something else instead.

So results from my first week? I lost 3.5 pounds! I'll take that thank you very much. The other girls I go with did extremely well; I'm so proud of us! 

Here's a few things I ate:

Prawns, Spinach, Rocket, Tomatoes, Cucumber, Sweetcorn, Pepper & Sweet Chilli Sauce. 1.5 Syns

Curly Wurly & Chocolate Tea - 6 syns if you use your milk as your Healthy Extra A option.

Asparagus, 2 Eggs, Milk, Ham, Low Fat Margarine & 2 slices of wholemeal bread - 1.5 syns if you use milk from your HexA and bread from your HexB.

Rice, Edamame Beans, Sweetcorn, Egg & Soy Sauce - Syn Free!

My one cocktail at the weekend with my sister. Definitely not Syn free (I calculated about 12)! Oops. 

Eggs, Baked Beans, Tomatoes and Bacon with removed fat - Syn Free

2 Banana's, Natural Yogurt and Ice - Syn Free

I've really enjoyed the last week and find that it's not a diet at all. I still get to eat anything I want but focus on really healthy foods whilst allowing myself some little treats with my syn points. It's hard logging everything I eat & drinks but it's rewarding planning my meals and seeing how good I've been all week. I would definitely like to reach another 3 pounds next week and am excited to try more recipes!

Beauty: Empties in May

Neal's Yard Remedies Wild Rose Beauty Balm

I got this 50g pot over a year ago and have used it lovingly and sparingly since. It's around the £40 mark so isn't a budget friendly buy but there are so many uses for this such as a face mask, cuticle oil and moisturiser for dry patches. I mainly used this as a balm cleanser twice a week and a little goes a long way. I feel this is a bathroom cabinet staple in my house now I love how it's so versatile.

Will I repurchase? Yes but only when I have used up some more of my stash.

Palmolive Naturals Delicate Card Shower Milk

Mum popped this into my stocking at Christmas and I only got round to using it in the last few weeks. It's creamy and foams beautifully and leaves your skin feeling moisturised. I love my S&G shower products to the end but this a cheap alternative although I much prefer a fruity/sweet scent.

Will I repurchase? Probably to take away on my holidays or something but I find my other products are better.

Simple Kind to Skin Soothing Facial Toner

I received a little sample pack a while back with a cleanser and moisturiser. It really doesn't do much for my skin as it feels like water. I also find it a little drying. It is one of the cheaper toners out there but I would rather spend money on more effective skincare.

Will I repurchase? I think there's too many better offerings out there for me to bother with this one again. 

Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic

Now this toner beats the last toner's ass. Without a doubt my favourite one I've tried so far. I love the natural, planty smell and how it removes those last little bits of make up effortlessly. It feels so refreshing in the morning and that's just what I need sometimes to give my skin a boost. 

Will I repurchase? I have a couple other brands in my stash I'm excited to try but I know this will end up back on my dresser before the year is out. 

The Body Shop Vitamin E Facial Oil

I have used this for over a year now and my skin has thanked me ever since. Using it alongside my Alpha-H Liquid Gold I think it makes a formidable team! I wake up with my skin feeling plumped and well hydrated. It's one of those products I always thought doesn't get enough hype as it's only £11.00; I considered the Clarins Lotus Face Oil or even Estee Lauder's Advanced Night Repair as more intense alternative but the Body Shop's offering is totally working right now.

Will I repurchase? I already have. Although they have changed the name and formula slightly so I'll let you know if it's still a beaut.

L'Oreal Miss Manga Mascara

The best mascara I have used in year's hands down. Read my review here.

Will I repurchase? I'm already using the next tube I got!

Neal's Yard Remedies Sensual Jasmine Body Cream

I mainly bought this product for the scent and at first found it an intensively creamy formula however it seemed to go off quickly. It became quite hard to sink in (which I know should be a good thing) but it just kinda sat there. It looked rather pretty on my bedside table and was used as a hand cream for a while before it became just a bit too hard for me to use. 

Will I repurchase? Probably not as I feel the formula is a bit too weird for me. I'll still to S&G's The Righteous Butter thanks. 

Beauty: Model's Own Apple Pie

Models Own still remains my favourite nail brand when it comes to colours. They are always on trend and coming out with something really cool (like the speckled nail polishes for Easter; I may have got the purple one). I hadn't bought a single nail polish from them all year and stopped by their shop in Brent Cross recently. And got 6 for £20.00. Oops.

I was really drawn to this colour in the scratch and sniff collection. Of course I don't care if my polish smells (it goes away after like 2 minutes) but I liked the way this is very similar to Essie's Mint Candy Apple and really Spring pastel shade. 

The formula of the scratch and sniff's aren't my favourite; they are very thin and I recommend three coats and I find they chip very easily after 2 days even with a top coat. Luckily I find painting my nails every other night a different colour very therapeutic! That being said I still love this colour so much and I don't regret buying it all. 

Fashion: OOTD with the Primark Necklace

Top: New Look

Jeans: New Look

Shoes: Converse

Necklace: Primark 

Bracelets: Forever 21

Sunglasses: Primark (which shortly broke after this photo was taken)

I found the photos I thought I was missing! I always want to do these but never have a little assistant but Keira took a few snaps when we saw this lovely lake at Woburn. I went for some super casual so this outfit really isn't anything to right home about but it's very much my go to really relaxed outfit. I love the top as it's longer at the back by quite a lot and is a lovely material which is more formal than a regular t-shirt.

As I found the other photo's here are some more animal pictures; just to put a smile on your face.

Lifestyle: A day at Woburn Safari.

Last Saturday Keira (my sister) and I decided last minute to go to our local safari park. Because she'd never been to a safari park and I had to change that! We headed out around 11am and filled up with petrol and treats for the trip. I thought I would share some pictures of the day because who doesn't love animal pics?

After being baked alive by Keira's sauna of a car (I should have taken mine as it has AC but I didn't want the monkeys to damage it); we headed to the foot safari to see lots of other animals. The penguins are always my favourite but I really enjoyed the sea lions too.

I did take a OOTD by the lake but my macbook didn't want to play ball and has literally deleted over 2,000 photos. So that's not happening. I had lots of nice pictures of the elephants up close as well!

It only cost us £20.99 each online and was a really nice day out; we were going to go shopping but knew we would spend at least £50 each so this was a cheaper alternative & created lots of memories instead. I think it makes the perfect date too!

Beauty: River Island London Perfume

I love testing perfumes when shopping and spotted a few the other week when shopping. I didn't need another one but found myself really drawn to River Island's London Eau de Toilette. 

For £10.00 the packaging is really nice and girly. Compared to the other's on offer this is the darkest packaging and it is probably the "sexiest" of all. What I mean is all the other's are slightly more floral where as this is definitely more fruity with a bit of musk; definitely a bit more of a summer night out fragrance (not a patch on my beloved Estee Lauder's Bronze Goddess though).

Unfortunately the ingredients don't really give away what the base notes and other scents are so it's kind of one of those products you will need to go and test and just go with it if you like it. Being a budget eau de toilette and not a eau de perfume the scent doesn't stay on for too long and isn't as strong as more expensive ones but I find it's great in an atomiser to take with you on the go on nights out. 

As I said try this out for yourself first (you may like one of the other's better) but if you would like to buy it online here's the link. I'm definitely going to wear this on my night out to a champagne bar tonight!