Showing posts with label lush. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lush. Show all posts

Monday, 3 September 2018

September 2018 Giveaway (UK Only)

September 03, 2018 beauty , blogging 0 Comments

After a great month of stats and social media growth, plus after finishing my summer internship and going back to having more free time to write, I figured it was about time I ran a giveaway! I gathered a few of my fave products, along with some products I've been eyeing up for a while. All you have to do is check out my giveaway tweet HERE, retweet it and give my profile a follow! If you want a second chance of winning, just follow my Instagram profile HERE and reply to the giveaway tweet with a link to your profile! For now, I can only afford UK shipping so this giveaway is UK only!

Prize List



  • Revolution Reloaded Iconic Fever Palette
  • I <3 Revolution Chocolate Elixir Glow Highlight Palette
  • 3x Garnier SkinActive face masks
    • Moisture Bomb Super-Hydrating Soothing Mask
    • Moisture Bomb Super-Hydrating Re-Balancing Mask
    • Pure Charcoal Purifying & Hydrating Pore-Tightening Mask
  • Little Black Book by Otegha Uwagba
  • Hempz Triple Moisture Herbal Whipped Creme Body Wash 
    • (Gifted for this giveaway)
  • Lush Deep Sleep Shower Jelly
  • Revolution Crushed Pearl Pigments in Kinky
  • 3x Primark Nails
    • Squareletto Cashmere
    • Almond Obsessed
    • Almond Silk Grey
  • Candy Kittens sweets in Wild Strawberry (Vegan)

 Have you joined the giveaway?x

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Monday, 23 July 2018

Mental Self Care // Self Care 101

July 23, 2018 advice , chat 0 Comments
Photo by Georgia de Lotz on Unsplash

 Let's talk about self care again! Keeping on top of your mental health is incredibly important and it should be incorporated into your day-to-day routines. Even if we don't think about the implications for our mental health, a lot of the activities we already do in the name of self care have really good effects on our mental wellbeing! Here are a few suggestions of ways in which we can take care of our minds on a daily basis!

 Body Care + Skincare

 Taking the time to take care of yourself physically can work wonders when your mental health is not up to scratch. Just slowing down and doing something that has no purpose other than to make you feel good. This can be done a little everyday, with nice smelling body wash or a really nice cleanser. Something that feels a little pampering in your daily routine. Your nighttime skincare routine is an ample opportunity for this! You can also go out every so often! Do a face mask or hair mask, slather on a lovely body butter or give yourself a hand massage and cuticle pamper!

Photo by kevin laminto on Unsplash

Sleep Hygiene

We all know that getting enough sleep is incredibly important, but we are almost all guilty of finding several excuses nightly to put it off! Whether it's late night studying, a Netflix session or a really good book, there always seem to be so many excuses for late nights and foggy mornings after too little sleep! Perhaps we can improve our sleep by being a little stricter with ourselves. I could take for hours about the importance of sleep, especially as a psychology student with a massive interest in it, but let's keep it simple! If we don't get enough sleep, we may wake up cranky and this is not the best way to go about our day! By waking up feeling more rested, rejuvenated and ready for the day, we could have a great kick start and go about our days in a better mental space. Set up a nighttime routine to get your body ready for a good rest and to wind down after the day. Take more baths to get into that cosy feeling! Have less screen time in the evening and grab a magazine or a book. Listen to your favourite chilled out music. Get on some ambient lighting. Whatever you do to wind down, make it a solid routine and stick with it. You'll be thanking yourself in the mornings!

Journaling

 This is said time and time again, but i'm going to say it again because it's true. Getting your feelings down on paper can be such a good release. While you are writing down what is bothering you or what is happening around you, you are processing it all. You have to think through it purposefully in order to get the words down. I find that when I am journaling, I begin to really look through my issues in a constructive way and I start to come up with solutions or alternative ways of thinking. I then write them down and highlight them so that when I look back at my pages and look through what has been going on, I am immediately drawn to the solutions I have come up with and it reminds me that I can change my thinking.

Photo by Cathryn Lavery on Unsplash

Date Yourself

Sounds weird but hear me out. Take yourself to nice places. Go and have a solitary coffee somewhere or take a nice walk somewhere pretty. You don't need others to enjoy your time and learning to spend time with yourself and growing to enjoy it can be really mentally strengthening. I am living alone over summer and I genuinely hate my own company, but learning to make plans to go out and do stuff without having someone to meet has been a really nice exercise in self discipline. I have the opportunity to cancel my plans and stay at home in bed without really letting anyone down, but I push myself out of my flat and I end up really enjoying this time out alone. I have been discovering places which I have been waiting to visit with other people and now that I have been, introducing others to these places will be even better because I can show them all my favourite parts of the places!

Breaking Habits

 Perhaps one of the best ways to take care of yourself mentally is to break those bad habits of yours. If you think less about breaking habits and more about getting into healthy habits, this will help you to fixate less on the bad habit which you are trying to fix. For example, instead of focusing on breaking my bad eating habits, I have set a goal of cooking proper meals every night and learning to enjoy cooking and learning new recipes. I focus less on getting rid of the bad foods, and more about getting into the habit of cooking good tasting proper meals. It makes it a lot more enjoyable! Here are some of the habits which I am looking to break, and the subsequent habits which I am hoping to build.


  • Less screen time
    • Get back into reading. Find a new favourite author and work at reading all of their works.
  • Less drinking
    • Invite friends over for games and food more (as opposed to just inviting people over to drink). You can cook for them whenever you find a really nice new recipe and enjoy the food with them.
  • Stop staying up too late and oversleeping
    • Fix your bedtime routine and find more nice relaxing hobbies to do before bed. Update your nighttime playlist.

The Magic of Baths

I went a long time without having baths. I thought that they were a waste of time and way less efficient than showering. Then I discovered the most magical elements of having baths. Drinking an ice cold drink whilst in a warm bath (so refreshing). Reading in the bath and losing track of time, only to realise that all of your toes are wrinkled and the bath is starting to get a little chilly. Radox bubble bath or the occasional Lush product. Lowly lit bathroom with relaxing music. After a bath, I always feel sleepy and content. It's truly a place where you have to take some time to yourself to relax.

Photo by Grace Madeline on Unsplash

Not all of us have the luxury of having a bath. When I lived at halls of residence I had a tiny shower. Showers, however, can also be wonderful. Take your time, find the perfect water temperature. Wash your hair with your favourite scent and lather up a lovely shower cream/gel or even a shower jelly! When I was living in halls, I started using the Whoosh shower jelly from Lush and it always left me feeling so relaxed and fresh!

Mindfulness

 The amount of resources out there now for mindfulness are staggering. From apps to YouTube, we all have access to so many guided meditations and they can be so helpful. Mindfulness is about noticing your train of thought. You can notice that you have a thought or feeling, but once you have noticed it, you do not have to accept it. It allows you to change your pattern of thought before it takes over and really has an impact on your mentality. It gives you a bit more control over your own feelings and emotions and it has really helped me with my issues around intrusive thoughts.

Yoga or Light Exercise

 We hear it all the time but your body and mind are both important to take care of and are interlinked. If you are feeling better physically, then you are probably a bit more likely to feel better mentally. I am not suggesting that you need to start going to the gym or take up running as a hobby. Believe me, I don't do that at all. However, a bit of exercise can leave you feeling better by allowing you to ease pressure or feel more awake. There have been countless studies also stating that exercise can have a positive effect on mood and some have even suggested that exercise should be a widely used therapy for some psychological issues.

What do you do to take care of your mental state? x


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Tuesday, 8 May 2018

Healing My Hair // The Products I Used To Improve The Quality Of My Hair

May 08, 2018 beauty , faves 26 Comments

My hair is in the best condition it has been in years and I wanted to do a post all about what I did to improve my hair quality and what products I use every week to keep it in good condition! Expect a rant about how darn good everything smells too! I love a good-smelling hair product!

In the shower!

 So, years of using the same cheap shampoo had stripped my hair of all its oils and goodness and made it look super dull and lifeless! I don't know why it took me so long to switch up my shampoo and conditioner, maybe I was just in a solid routine of buying the same thing without wondering whether or not it worked for me! It clearly didn't. I replaced my shampoo, conditioner and daily heat protector spray with the Garnier Ultimate Blends Delicate Oat range and it has transformed my hair! Using the shampoo and conditioner is lovely because they smell so good and the shampoo lathers up like a dream! This is how shampoo is supposed to feel! Even after switching the products for the first time, I could clearly see that they were nourishing my hair way more than my old hair products!


As for the heat protector spray, it has the same wonderful smell and feels great and lightweight in the hair! I have been trying not to blow-dry my hair or put any heat on it at all lately since the weather has been warm and my hair dries pretty quickly on its own. Instead, I spray sea salt spray onto my hair while it's still wet and it helps to give it some more texture when it dries. I used to use the Fudge Salt Spray (nothing beats the smell of this) but lately, I was a bit more broke than usual and I picked up a Primark Salt Spray for £2, which does the job!


Yes, I dye my hair!

 I decided to finally pay attention to my neglected roots and dye my hair again for the first time in months! I used the L'Oreal Casting Creme Gloss, as I always have ever since I was about fourteen years old! It always leaves my hair looking super healthy and smelling wonderful! I used the colour 'darkest brown' and it looks so natural and glossy! Most importantly, my hair looks way healthier and so many people agreed when they first saw it! Casting Creme Gloss is only semi-permanent so it requires quite a bit of upkeep but it's also gentle on the hair and makes it feel so healthy and smooth!


 Hair masks and pampering!

 One thing I have begun to do is to pamper my hair and not just my skin! I discovered the magic of hair masks and I wonder how I never thought to try them before! There are two that I use regularly and they make my hair feel so SOFT! My favourite hair mask is H'suan Wen Hua from Lush. It is INCREDIBLE! I personally love the spicy deep smell, although I know some despise it, and I love the consistency, which isn't too thin or too thick so it spreads through the hair super well! The other hair mask which I love to use is the Garnier Ultimate Blends Hair Mask, which is a good budget alternative to the Lush mask!


So that's about it! Switching up my hair products and finding what works well for me has completely transformed the condition of my hair and I'm super pleased with how my hair looks and feels now! What are your hair holy grails? x

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Wednesday, 28 February 2018

My Lush Faves

February 28, 2018 beauty , faves 4 Comments

Lush is great! From the company ethics and ingredients to the products themselves, Lush is great! I have been using Lush products for years now and I have loved pretty much everything I have tried! Not even joking, I have not had a single bad Lush experience! In fact, once I met Michelle Visage in a Lush store so I guess I have the best experiences with Lush! (She was absolutely wonderful and bought a bath bomb I recommended)!!

Over the years, I have tried a wide variety of Lush products and i'm going to share them with you now! I don't have all of them currently (I don't have unlimited Lush funds, unfortunately) but I have photographed everything I can and I will link everything so you can check out the products on the Lush website!

Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter

 Listen up! This stuff is magical! I often neglect my cuticles but whenever I use this they appear instantly replenished! It's a miracle! This little tub of lemony goodness also lasts forever because a little goes a very long way! It's not just for your cuticles too! This stuff works super well on the dry skin just about anywhere. In fact, I love to use it on my elbows when they get all dry and flakey! I love Lush potted products too because once you are done with the product, you can give 5 clean pots to your local Lush store and get a free fresh face mask!


BB Seaweed Fresh Face Mask

Speaking of fresh face masks, BB Seaweed is the first on this list! It's a lovely mask full of great ingredients such as seaweed and calming aloe vera. It removes the excess oil from your skin and gently exfoliates, leaving your face feeling super soft and clean! This was the first fresh mask I bought from Lush and it's safe to say that it got me hooked on their skincare products! Bonus points for the fact that you feel like Shrek when you wear the green lumpy mask.

Tea Tree Toner Water

 This toner is a more recent fave. It's a toner spray so it's super quick and simple to throw it on your face to freshen it up! It sinks into the skin super quickly and fights the oil and redness which I usually experience on my face surprisingly amazingly! I prefer this facial spray to any others I have used and I intend to keep repurchasing it once it has run out!


Cosmetic Warrior

 At first, I was super hesitant to try this mask. It contains garlic and I was super sure that it would leave me feeling like I had just covered my face with aioli. However, this mask doesn't smell strongly of garlic and is an absolute wonder for oily and spotty skin! When I have a ton of deadlines or exams on the way, I pick up a pot of this mask to combat the stress breakouts and it does a world of good! It leaves my face feeling super clean and refreshed and really fights the breakouts well! Definitely my favourite mask!

 Sleepy Body Lotion

 Sleepy is a wonderful body lotion which smells strongly of lavender and tonka. When I am having a restless night, I rub this lotion over my arms or just my forearms and the smell sends me to sleep so nicely! It feels wonderful and I cannot emphasise enough how good it smells! No wonder it is so highly rated!


Intergalactic Bath Bomb

 This is the prettiest and freshest bath bomb I have ever tried! It strongly smells of peppermint and cedarwood which wakes up the senses, clears the sinuses and leaves you feeling so refreshed and clean! It is a blue explosion of glitter in the bath and is such a special treat! I used to use this one weekly after a couple of weekend shifts working in a fast food restaurant kitchen. It was the only way I could feel fresh and not paranoid about smelling like the food I had been cooking all weekend!

 Twilight Body Spray

 I had wanted this spray for months and months! The other week when I was feeling like crap and wanted to treat myself, I finally bought it and WOW was it worth it! It smells strongly of lavender (my favourite scent) and tonka and leaves me feeling so relaxed! It would work great before bed but I love the smell too much so I wear this all day every day! It has great staying power and pretty much clings to all of my clothes! A definite favourite!


Whoosh Shower Jelly

 In my first year at university, I lived in halls of residence and had an ensuite shower and no bath. I wanted to still treat myself to some Lush goodness so I picked up this shower jelly. And then I repurchased it again and again! This stuff smells so good, very citrusy! It is perfect in the mornings before uni when you just need to get up and go, feeling energised and refreshed as you jump out of the shower!

 H'Suan Wen Hua Hair Treatment

 This hard-to-pronounce hair mask is a miracle! My hair has been damaged and lacklustre for so long but since I switched up my hair routine, including this and switching out my usual shampoo and conditioner, my hair is so different! After using this, my hair feels so much more healthy and sleek. Plus, it's easier to brush and way less high maintenance! As I said, this stuff is a miracle! It smells lovely and spicy, with hints of cinnamon!


 Twilight Bath Bomb

 A classic! This was the first Lush product I ever picked up! It smells, as you can expect from my previous faves, like lavender and tonka and makes your bathwater look like a beautiful galaxy of purple! Plus, it's so glittery! It looks magical! A bath in this is perfect on a restless night or after a long day when you just need to have a proper relax!

 Helping Hands Hand Cream

 I started using this hand cream when I was working in the fast food restaurant and was washing my hands SO much all the time! Even after work because I felt gross! This hand cream is intensively moisturising and it was originally made with nurses in mind! It takes a little while to sink in and I usually use it at night before bed, with Lemony Flutter on my cuticles so I wake up with lovely soft and moisturised hands!


 My Lush Wishlist

 These are the products from Lush that I am aching to try next!:

Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think of the products I have mentioned and what your faves are! x

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