Bath Time Essentials

My must have products for the ultimate bath time experience...

When it comes to it nothing is quite as relaxing as a hot bath especially one filled with fragrant luxurious bubbles, I love the Lush bubble bars as they not only fill the bath with a mountain of bubbles but they leave the skin feeling super soft and moisturised afterwards. Two new bubble bars I have been trying are from the Lush Christmas collection, first up is Holy Golightly - shaped like a Christmas pudding and covered in silver glitter this is perfect for a festive pamper evening, this bubble bar is packed with spicy Christmas scents like clove leaf oil, cinnamon leaf oil and sweet orange oil. Another Lush bar I love is Candy Mountain, this sweet bath treat is packed with comforting vanilla scent and turns the bath water a beautiful shade of pink. 

The Body Shop's Honeymania Bubble Bath Melt is also another bath time favourite, the perfect mixture of honey and wildflower give this bath melt a gorgeous fragrance, the creamy bubbles leave a rich layer of moisture on the skin. My final bath time must have is The Body Shop's Early Harvest Raspberry Body Scrub, this stuff smells incredible and the seed like texture lifts away dead skin helping to improve the body's circulation.

What are your favourite bathtime products? Have you tried anthing from the Lush Christmas range yet?

Disclaimer: Although I work for The Body Shop, this is no way effects my opinion.

Mini Lush Haul

There is nothing quite like a Lush bath bomb at the end of a long day, here is what I picked up on a recent venture into Lush...

I love Lush products, their Karma scent is one of my all time favourite fragrances and the solid perfume stick is super long lasting, another favourite of mine is the Big Salt Shampoo - the most amazing shampoo if your looking for a voluminous beachy style. On my last trip I picked up two of the Bath Bombs, the first one was Butterball, this smells incredible, literally good enough to eat... I didn't, don't worry. This is perfect for dry skin as it contains some super moisturising ingredients like cocoa butter which soothes and softens the skin, it also contains ylang ylang which adds a sweet floral aroma to the bath water. Although this bath bomb didn't give my bath water a spectacular colour it really did leave my skin feeling wonderfully soft.

The other bath bomb I picked up was Honey Bee. Unlike Butterball this one did turn my bath water a gorgeous yellow hue as well as producing a few bubbles. The three main ingredients in this are Rhassoul Mud - a clay mud that cleanses and softens the skin, Honey which hydrates the skin and gives the bath bomb its lovely scent, and Aloe Vera which soothes the skin. It also contains Sweet Wild Orange Oil which adds to the refreshing fragrance.

What are some of your Lush must haves? Next time you pop into Lush be sure to purchase the Charity Hand and Body Lotion!

New Favourites - Beauty

You know the moment you try out a new product and fall instantly in love with it and want to tell everyone just how great they are? Well that is what todays post is all about - newly acquired instant favourites that have been added to my ever growing collection.

First things first though how perfect is my new clutch bag? Neutral shades with a pop of neon making it perfect for spring/summer, and this baby is from Primark and retails at £6... but before you run to your nearest store to grab this bargain have a read of what else I have been loving lately... let's start with the high end purchase, enter the Nars Eyeshadow Duo in the shade Silk Road, I had been looking for an everyday high end shadow but I didn't really want to go all out on a palatte, so I went for this neutral shimmery duo, Nars are famous for great shadows and these are no exception, really pigmented, long lasting, not a crease in slight. Both shades have a warm undertone which suits my skin tone really well. If you are looking to dip your toe into the world of high end shadows then these duo's are a great option. Next is the Karma Komba Solid Shampoo, although this looks a little unusual it is perfectly simple to use, wet your hair as you normally would then rub this onto the scalp in circular motions, then using your fingers massage the product in to create a rich, foamy lather. This shampoo is made with Lavendin Oil, which gives the bar its gorgeous smell, it also contains orange oil, pine and patchouli which all help to soothe the scalp. This is great at really cleaning the hair and getting rid of product build up, so I find it is great to use the day before a night out as it gives the hair lots of volume. Last but not least is my favourite of the bunch, the Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet Lipstick in the shade Frambourjoise, a stunning, deep raspberry red. These formulas are matte, they are incredibly long lasting and pigmented and the applicator makes it easy to be precise when applying. The collection boasts six bold colours with pinks and reds, this shade just caught my eye as it is a little different. It is also really wearable. I literally haven't put this down since purchasing it.

What are some of your favourite new beauty finds?

Lush Wonder Woohoo

Lush is one of those shops that you just cannot help but be tempted into, you can smell it from a mile away! I love their fresh handmade products and the brands ethics are very admirable. I hadn't made a Lush purchase in quite some time so I couldn't resist one of their limited edition Mother's Day Bubble Bars, I went for Wonder Woohoo, inspired by Wonder Woman this bar smells incredible, it is full of Brazilian Orange oil and Sandalwood, the overall scent is warm and fruity. The bar is covered in a gold glimmer lustre that sends shimmers running through the bath water. I got two uses out of this bar and I crumbled it under the running water, it created yellow bubbly water that was really moisturising on my skin leaving it so soft.

At £3.95 these are great value for money, a bubble bar can last up to three baths depending on how big the bar is! I cant wait to try more of their products out!

Winter Lip Care

I don't know about you but winter really seems to play havoc with the condition of my lips, the combination of the cold and central heating really takes the moisture out of my lips so I have been on operation renew recently and for that I have been using the Lush Bubblegum lip scrub religiously, this smells divine and it has been helping the give my lips a new lease of life, to help keep them moisturised I have been using Maybelline's Baby Lips, I love the Intense Care one as it really does make my lips feel brand new.

Does the weather effect your lips? What are your go to products?

The Bathroom Cupboard

I thought I would give you a sneak peak into my bathroom cupboard to see what products I keep handy for my daily skincare routine. My skincare products are always on rotation but at this point in time this is pretty much what I have been using. I have already reviewed a few of these products like the Botanics Rosewater Toner and the L'Oreal Micellar Solution and you can find those reviews here on my blog.

Today I am going to talk about a few skincare saviors that I can't live without, to start with it's the Simply Essentials Make-up Remover by Garnier If I have been wearing my L'Oreal Telescopic waterproof mascara then nothing can make it budge like this, with other removers I have to rub and scrub to get it off but with this one I just apply a small dap to a cotton pad and press down onto my eyelashes and its gone!! The consistency of this product is abit like oil (you have to shake it to blend the liquid) I prefer to use this just for eye make-up so I stick to a cleanser to remove foundation etc, I either like to use The Body Shop Aloe Vera Calming Facial Cleanser or the Botanics All Bright Gentle Cleanser, both have a lotion consistency and work in the same way. Apply with a cotton pad and wash away along with your make-up, if I had to pick one I would go with Botanics just because I love the smell.

Also one of my favourites is the This Works Perfect Look Skin Miracle, this does everything, it hydrates, moisturises and covers slight imperfections as it has a slight tint to it, I wear this alone as a tinted moisturiser or as a primer under foundation if I need a little more coverage.

I'm thinking of doing a make-up inspired post about looks I am currently loving or my daily make-up routine... let me know what you think!

Love Danielle

Face Mask Low Down

There is nothing more relaxing than getting into a hot bath with a few scented candles and a face mask. I like to use a face mask once or twice a week as a real deep clean for my skin. After trialing a few brands I have come up with two of my favourites:

Una Brennan Superfacialist Tea Flower Pore Purifying Clay Mask 125ml £8.99 from Boots, this mask promises to remove dirt, excessive oils and toxins that can lead to breakouts, I like to use this when my skin is relatively good, I apply a thick layer using a brush then sit back and relax. I normally leave this mask on for around ten minutes and then wash off gently with warm water. This makes my skin feel so refreshed and clean, however if I am having a bad skin day I like to use a mask that is abit more heavy duty! and for that I use Lush Mask of Magnaminty £8.75 for a good sized pot, this smells devine. It is very minty and fresh due to the peppermint oil used which helps to return the skin to tip top condition and clear any spots and breakouts, this mask is perfect a couple of nights before a big night out! Again I apply this using a brush as it goes on thicker.

I can't recommend these two masks enough!

Love Danielle