The Ginger Sparkle Collection from the Body Shop

Ginger has to be one my all time favourite scents, so I was really looking forward to trying out the Ginger Sparkle Body Polish and the Ginger Sparkle Body Butter from the Body Shop's Christmas collection, both have a lovely festive zingy ginger fragrance that lingers on the skin. The body polish is the perfect in shower exfoliator, I massage this into wet skin and then rinse, it removes any dead skin cells and leaves my skin feeling really soft and clean. After my shower I apply the body butter to dry skin, it sinks into the skin really well and again leaves me feeling super soft and moisturised.   

The Christmas collection also includes Vanilla Bliss and Cranberry Joy and I cannot wait to try these. Have you purchased anything from the Body Shop's Christmas collection?  

Hunting For Treasures in Arundel

Living so close to Arundel I find myself going there a lot, it is the perfect place to go to if you want to do a spot of shopping and grab a tasty lunch. If like me you are into your vintage clotheing and pieces for around the home then I would definitely recommend shopping in this sweet historical village, it is full with antique shops and independent boutiques.On my most recent trip I also noticed how many of these wonderful shops are selling vintage and designer jewellery. We stopped for lunch at Sparks Yard, a home wear shop with a wonderful little cafe on the second floor, their cakes looked incredible.

Where's your favourite place to go shopping? Have you ever been to Arundel?

The Whats in my Bag Post

Today I thought I would share my handbag necessities with you, I love seeing what people carry round with them on a daily basis so here goes... the star of the show is definitely my absolute bargain of a bag from Zara, retailing at £19.99 it is perfect for work and I can fit all my gym essentials in too. It also has a good sized inside pocket so I am never hunting around for my keys or phone. So what is inside the bag you say? ...

First up is my current read: Damien Echols, Life After Death - Eighteen Years on Death Row. If you haven't seen the Paradise Lost films or West of Memphis then I really recommend you do, it is about the story of three teenagers falsely accused and sentenced for killing three eight year old children, one then teenager Damien Echols was sentenced to death by lethal injection and this book is his memoirs and his writings from his time on death row.

Onto slightly more light hearted matters my other essentials include Sun Fresh eau de toilette from the Body Shop, I love this perfume for the day time, it is a really fresh and feminine fragrance. I also always carry my iPhone with me along with the headphones, recently I have been loving the new EP by Parquet Courts. I like to carry around a notepad with me at all times, you never know when inspiration may strike, this notepad is from Waterstones and I love the pattern. My Pull and Bear bracelets are always in my handbag, I wear them to work and then take them off for the gym, I love the mixture of colours in this set from Asos. My pretty floral hair grip comes in handy if I need to take my hair out of my face, speaking of face I like to keep a few products with me in case I need to touch up my make up, ill be doing a seperate post on the contents of my cosmetics bag.

My last few essentials are my gym locker padlock and my purse which is this cute owl design from New Look, dont forget to look out for my whats in my make up bag post. What are your essential items?

Bourjois Java Rice Powder

We have been getting all nostalgic using the Bourjois Java Rice Loose Powder, a cult classic from 1879 it has been re-formulated and released back onto the beauty market, So.. thoughts? This delicately scented, easy to use loose powder is perfect for setting make up, it smooths my complexion and the touch of shimmer gives a really illuminating and radiant finish, and if that is not enough to convince you.. well this cult beauty product retails at only £9.99, the Java Rice is marketed as a transparent powder so one shade really does suit all.

I have been reaching for this powder for nights out just to give my skin that extra glow, have you tried this powder yet?

The Glossy Wishlist

 As per usual I was very excited to open this months Glossy Box, and once again I was impressed with the contents. The sample fragrance from Connock London called Kukui Eau De Parfum has a very woody, grown up yet romantic scent with notes of gardenia, jasmin and calla lily. I also received the Elegant Touch nail polish remover pads, I dont normally use the pre-soaked pads but these are perfect for manicures on the go and the little pot fits nicely into my make up bag, these are also acetone free and leave my nails feeling clean and nourished. Another on the go product I cannot wait to use is the Yves Rocher Raspberry hand cream which smells lovely and promises to be ultra moisturising.

Next up is the Emite Make Up Micronized Eyeshadow in the shade Nect which is a gorgeous whitish cream with a lot of shimmer, this looks super pretty in the inner corners of the eyes or underneath the waterline. Lastly it is the Vichy Idealia Life Serum which promises to help transform the appearance of the skins quality and protect against stress, pollution and smoke, I received three 3ml samples in a sweet little organza bag. I have been using this serum in the mornings under foundation and in the evenings after cleansing, it helps to give my skin a radiant finish when worn under my make up. 

Overall I think I will definitely get a lot of use out of all the products, the stand out one for me is the eyeshadow as it is such a pretty shade and I can see myself wearing it a lot. What was your favourite item in the November Glossy Box?

The Home Post: Ikea Love

Up until just before I got married I had never been to IKEA, I know right... how it took me twenty years I have no idea. In the car on my first ever IKEA expedition you could say I was pretty excited, you could even say I was ecstatic. Since then I have been back several times to feed my Swedish meatball addiction and to look at all the lovely home bits. On the last trip we picked up a few things for the bedroom which included a real Mad Men 60's style side table, it was the Lovbacken side table and it was £40, we got to the section where you go and find your beloved item all flat packed and they had run out! So after going back to the beginning and begging the lady in the lounge department we ended up walking away with the display table for £28 and it had already been built, result!

We also picked up these lovely perfume bottles for the bathroom but decided they looked nicer on the new table, the pack of three was around £8, money spent I thought. Another purchase was the lovely pink mug for a weeny £1.70, it makes the perfect house for fresh flowers.

I can't wait for the next trip to IKEA, just need an excuse to go now, and if you were wondering the candle pictured is Clean Cotton and it smells incredible.