AW14 Lush Haul

Going back to basics this week with a super exciting Lush haul, full of Hallowe'en and Christmas themed treats.

I definitely spend too much of my sort-of-hard-earned cash on bath products. I went into Lush this week with the intention of 'having a look' and ended up leaving with well over 10 items.

Have a look for yourself at what I picked up!

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Dashing Santa

Make a dash for this moving Santa bath bomb with a cheerful and uplifting scent of satsumas at Christmas. Watch Santa fly about your bath as his golden boots fizz away, releasing toning mandarin oil, bergamot oil and orange flower absolute that help put a spring in your step, too.

Luxury Lush Pud

Unwind (or calm down excited children) with this soothing bath bomb. Perfect before bedtime, drop this in the bath and watch it create pastel-coloured islands in the pink water as it fizzes and froths. Sharing its fragrance with Twilight bath bomb, the comforting tonka absolute, ylang ylang, and relaxing lavender oils will help banish tension.

Candy Mountain

Make bathtime an even sweeter time with this pink peak of a bubble bar. Crumble this under running water for mountains of glistening bubbles topped with a magical pink mist. The candy scent wafting through the steam includes Fair Trade vanilla absolute, wrapping you in a comforting embrace. If you like the fragrance of our Rock Star soap and Creamy Candy bubble bar, you're in for a treat. 

The Christmas Hedgehog

If you're feeling prickly this festive season, indulge in a soak with this softening bubble bar made with organic shea and cocoa butters as well as soothing essential oils. Crumble under running water and unfurl in the silky waters as the rose absolute and ylang ylang essential oil get to work on frosty moods.

Sparkler

A crackling and fizzing Rose Jam-scented bath bomb that makes bath night fireworks night. The soothingly-fragranced bomb fizzes and crackles in an explosion of colour, spinning around the bath turning it into a fiery, shimmering display.

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Holly Golightly

Come on in out of the cold and wrap yourself up in this comforting Christmas blanket of a bubble bar. Break the generously-sized pudding into two and crumble under running water. Its festive spice fragrance is like bathing in a hot toddy, perfect for getting you in the Christmas spirit. 

Golden Wonder

If you're wondering what's inside this golden bath bomb, give it a shake and drop it in the bath to reveal its glittering contents. Soak in its soft citrus fragrance as the vibrant gifts inside unveil themselves and make you feel as if you're bathing in luxury. The uplifting blend of sweet orange, lime and cognac oils will leave you feeling cheerful.  

Northern Lights

Escape into relaxation with this bath bomb that gives an impressive display no matter where you are in the world. As the ends fizz away, the middle slowly dissolves to reveal blue and neon green, turning your water into a calming jasmine and ylang ylang-scented swirling night sky scattered with stars. 

The Christmas Penguin

Pop in The Christmas Penguin for a mood-boosting bubble bath that will set you up for the festivities. The beautiful blend of orange flower absolute, Sicilian mandarin and lemon oils will revive and refresh your mind and skin. Crumble under running water to create bubbly glaciers and snow drifts.

Wizard

Cast a Jingle Spell over weariness with this shimmering bubble bar that makes bath time magic. With energising tangerine oil and purifying juniperberry and fennel essential oils, the Wizard banishes stress and helps you recover. Perfect for those occasions when you've over-indulged, the Wizard will disappear after Halloween, so grab enough to see you through the party season.

Sparkly Pumpkin

Have a ball in the bath with this warming and cheerful bubble bar that adds a bit of sparkle to a cold night. The energising blend of juniperberry, lime and grapefruit oils packs a punch. Perfect for a long, lingering soak, just make sure you get out of your bath by midnight...

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I've tried most of my purchases before and Candy Mountain is my all-time favourite Lush bubble bar. I'm a sucker for that signature sweet scent!

I also tried Northern Lights in the bath on Wednesday night and was surprised at how good it actually was. The purple and blue fizz made bath-time that little more special.

I'd recommend a trip to your local Lush ASAP as it seems like most people in there are fighting each other for what's left on the shelf. The new additions this year also bring much more excitement rather than going into the shop knowing what you want.

I'm also a huge fan of their Christmas sets or making up my own by being a bit DIY friendly, so this assortment of treats would be the perfect stocking filler without emptying your pockets!

If you're not a fan of baths, then this probably wasn't as much use to you but as it's the 31st, I'm definitely going to try out that Sparkly Pumpkin tonight... 

Thanks for reading and Happy Hallowe'en!

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Goodbye Acne, Hello Confidence

Ever since I can remember, I was kicking about school in questionable outfits, trying to detract attention from my acne prone skin.

I think as soon as I hit puberty, spots were out to get me. Not just your average whiteheads or zits, but those of the raw, painful variety. I definitely wore the wrong kind of coloured foundation to cover it up and looking back at photos of me at around 14 years old, I cringe at how much it actually bothered me.

I probably shouldn't have been plastering my face with make-up from such a young age in the first place, but now I realise that it was only a small factor in how bad my skin got.

Skin is a very personal thing to each individual and affects both genders physically and mentally. I know as a teenage girl, that the way I looked to others was very important, which I think is something I now realise I've let go of since becoming an adult.

These tips and my skincare story may not apply to everyone, or even anyone and shouldn't be taken for absolute fact, but I thought I'd just share a few things I find helpful and give some background info on dealing with acne.

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There are sort of three parts to this blog post. The first, is how I used to deal with having really bad acne. 

It used to be the end of the world as I knew it should I get a small spot on my chin or near my nose. Little did I know, that it was only the beginning and my skin would become much worse over the years.

No amount of make-up would cover my skin up, no amount of face-masks and so-called wonder products would work the miracles I had been promised.

You always get that one really awful spot when you're going out or doing something special eh? Well I had about ten of them and what was worse, was that I would totally go straight to the mirror and pop them. (Disgusting, I know!)

If there's one piece of advice I could give my younger self or any fellow acne sufferer, it would be to leave them be. Sport that whitehead proudly, with the knowledge that you won't end up with reddish-purple scars for life.

Today, though I've learned to accept the odd spot here and there, the scars are the things I find most difficult to cover up.

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After years of feeling rubbish about my face and losing a lot of the self-confidence I'd always had, I was put on the controversial drug 'Roaccutane' for some time during 2013/14, both for my acne and another skin condition.

I would advise against it.

Before going on the drug, which I believe is banned in the US, I watched tonnes of YouTuber stories and read a billion blog posts of people's experiences on the drug. All of them seemed pretty positive, so I had no worries about going on it.

In Scotland, GP's aren't allowed to prescribe the drug. You would have to be assessed by a dermatologist first and then pick your prescription up from the hospital each month, also attending regular check-ups and if you are female, taking monthly pregnancy tests.

I was made extremely aware of the possible side effects (you have to sign an agreement that you have understood the risks) - which I thought wouldn't apply to me.

The drug is partly so controversial because of the side-effects, which include deformity in infants, should you get pregnant whilst taking it, and it has often been linked to depression.

The documentary below is definitely worth a watch if you want to learn more or have ever thought about taking Roaccutane.

I found myself starting to become depressed fairly quickly after starting my course of Roaccutane. 

I, of course, neglected to tell the dermatologist this, because I was striving to clear my skin. (I can't stress enough how idiotic of me this was!) 

Because I was feeling worse about myself, I began isolating myself, becoming angry about the smallest things for no reason and having bouts of laziness where I would want to stay in my bed and do nothing all day.

My joints got very sore and my back would ache so much that after sitting or lying down at the end of the day, that was me. I wouldn't be able to get back up and sometimes needed help to stand up to go to the bathroom.

Dry skin was another thing. I constantly found myself wondering about how my skin was supposed to clear up when my skin was crusty as all hell. My lips were so chapped, they split often and the fact that it was mid-winter was not helping! I would constantly carry around an emergency moisturiser and lip balm.

Lastly, a continuing issue I had, was the weakness of my skin. Any small cut or graze would bruise and then scar. Even now I have tonnes of marks on my arms and legs from the tiniest of things - even paper cuts (not even kidding.)

So, was it worth it?

Absolutely not. Yes, my skin got 10% better (mostly reduced redness) after 8 months of treatment, but I felt crap, I have continuing side effects and I still get spots anyway, so what was the point really?

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My skin is in no way perfect to this day, but I've literally tried every tip or trick in the book and found loads of helpful products, treatments and every day things that can help control the scarring from previous spots and prevent new ones from appearing.

Having done the medication thing, I can honestly say, my skin looks better now with the proper care I've given it, instead of when it was being medicated. Below, you'll find my holy trinity of products. Moisturiser, Cleanser and a base - hopefully you'll find one of them just as useful to you!

#1 La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo [+]

Literally my favourite product in the entire world. I'm not sponsored by La Roche-Posay but I feel I should be just for the amount of recommendations I've given to people and the million tubes of this thing I've bought for myself and as presents for others.

I use it as a substitute for moisturiser as my skin is mostly oily and using both tends to give me a shiny hue. It's about £15 but Boots always have it on some offer and for Christmas I know I'm getting a new one in a set with the moisturiser and toner because let's not break the bank.

Give it a go for yourself, but this is my ultimate skincare product.  No break-outs, no oily residue, soft skin. Perfect.  Plus, I own a lot of La Roche-Posay stuff and I haven't yet found a product my skin doesn't agree with.

#2 REN Rosa Centifolia Cleansing Gel 

Unfortunately, most cleansers break me out and I just wanted to find one that didn't agitate my skin and left it looking somewhat less rosy. It's ironic that I should find REN's Rosa Centifolia range the best then.

I previously mentioned this cleanser in my Autumn Monthly Favourites and it really is my favourite every day 'need to get my face looking nice' product.

#3 Liz Earle Sheer Skin Tint

Never in my life would I have imagined using any kind of foundation-like product with the word 'tint' in it, but there you go. I use the lightest shade 'bare', because let's face it, I'm from Scotland.

This is something I got in a Liz Earle set as a freebie and then repurchased three times since.

A lot of YouTubers and bloggers will go on about great foundations like Rimmel Wake Me Up and NARS Sheer Glow - which are both good - but this is a seriously underrated product. It gives a lot more coverage than the name suggests, especially if you use a bit of concealer under the eyes (that internet famous Collection Lasting Perfection one works a treat) and a bit of powder to set it - Rimmel Stay Matte works perfectly.

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Yes, I still complain about the odd spot, but that's life. Everyone has different experiences and unfortunately a large number of us do have gripes about our skin.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed the post!

(I have got to stop rambling on with these!)

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Autumn Favourites 2014

If there's one thing that always seems to happen at the end of the month, it's shopping.

As soon as payday hits, I feel like it's some kind of ritual you have to go through and I have to make stops at all of my favourite places, like Lush and Boots.

This month I was buying loads of stuff for Autumn and rediscovering old favourites as the leaves got crispier and the nights got darker.

I quite like it when the air gets colder because it tends to dry up my skin a little, whereas normally I'm sporting a shiny face from the get-go!

So, here's a small handful of products, old and new, that I've been loving this Autumn so far...

Zoella Beauty - Soak Opera & Fizz Bar

Soak Opera & Fizz Bar

Last week, blogger and YouTube vlogger Zoella launched her own line of bath products in Superdrug stores across the UK and online. Having watched Zoe's videos and been a fan of hers for about 3 or 4 years, I had to get my hands on some stuff ASAP!

Unfortunately, I was sad to see that pretty much the entire line was sold out the four times I tried to purchase items from it, so I had to time it pretty carefully.

Eventually, as you can see above, I got my hands on the 'Soak Opera' bath soak and shower cream and my favourite thing ever this month, the 'Fizz Bar'. As soon as my order arrived I ran a hot bath and was pretty damn pleased with the result.

I'm often sceptical about the quality of these kinds of 'celebrity' products, but I wasn't disappointed! It may as well have just come from Lush! 

Smashbox Full Exposure Eyeshadow Palette

Smashbox Full Exposure Eyeshadow Palette

I'm a pretty hardcore fan of my Naked 3 palette and Urban Decay eyeshadows in general, but I thought it was time for something new. This palette has about a billion looks in one. In terms of colour, it is extremely similar to a mix of the Naked palettes, it being neutral tones, however I think I actually prefer this set of shadows!

The texture and colour pay-off is so pretty, plus in terms of the shimmery shades, there's none of that clumpy glittery effect, nor the 'I feel like there's nothing going on' result.

I'm really loving mixing the pinks and browns at the moment and the creamy white in there is an excellent brow and inner corner highlight too.

It's not much of a cheap investment, however I really feel like this is a staple that could do you well for a long time to come.

Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate

Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate

With this product, a little will go an awfully long way!

I'm usually shit-scared about putting anything oily on my face, because my skin is so oily all-year-round, but this is something else. I picked this same bottle up in Space NK about a year ago and keep forgetting I have it.

Weirdly, whenever I get a particularly bad breakout, this is what I reach for. A couple of drops on your face in the most affected areas before you go to sleep and there you go. As soon as you wake up you can tell the difference!

REN Rosa Centifolia Cleansing Gel

REN Rosa Centifolia Cleansing Gel

I'm so bad at trying new cleansers, so this comes as more of a trusted, reliable favourite than something new this month.

For the longest time, I would use my Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish and then I found this. It smells nice, it feels nice, it does the job.

I use this every morning and most nights, unless I can't be bothered and I go for my Garnier Micellar Water.

My skin has never broken out because of this and although it is pricey, it's worth the money if you're looking for a high-end treat you can get a lot of use out of!

Fudge Urban Iced Tropical Cocktail Miracle Ends

Fudge Urban Miracle Ends

Fudge in general, are fantastic when it comes to haircare.

The Fudge Urban range however, hosts all of my favourite ever hair products. I swear by pretty much everything from this range, but this is a relatively new find that I've only used in the last few weeks.

I own their 3-in-1 Moisture Stuff which is quite similar, though this comes in more of a gel cream. Everything Fudge smells bloody amazing and this is no different, it honestly gives you that all-day pleasant aroma!

In terms of what it does for your hair, I've always found my split ends a lot easier to hide with this - and believe it or not, my hair seems to get a lot less greasy after 2 days of wear and tear. Hmm...

Paolo Nutini - Iron Sky

Paolo Nutini 'Iron Sky'

I'm pretty sure anyone who knows me can vouch for the fact that I fricking love Paolo Nutini.

From debut 'These Streets', I've always been a huge fan of his, so when he disappeared for about 4 years, I was so disappointed at the lack of new music from him.

A good while ago now, he re-appeared with a few new songs and the instant I watched his Abbey Road performance of Iron Sky, I was completely sold.

The thing I love about Paolo is the raw emotion and feeling in every single lyric he writes and sings. I saw him, quite drunkenly, at T in the Park this year and will be seeing him at The Hydro, Glasgow, near the end of October.

He is the best live and this song means so much right now, ah, if I spoke internet, I'd be going 'I can't even'...

Hot Chocolate

Cup from my Secret Santa at work last year

It's a bit random, but as soon as the weather gets colder, I get this urge to be constantly cosy with a mug of tea or hot chocolate to hand.

Unfortunately my local Starbucks have neglected to bring back my favourite and the best drink ever (disclaimer: this has not yet been confirmed) yet, Salted Caramel Mocha's, so I've had to make do on my own!

I made this at work on Monday and oh my god, it was the best thing ever.

I'm a Cadbury's fan, and to me, what's better to perk your afternoon up if you're feeling a bit down in the dumps?

'Dragon, Fly!' App

Dragon, Fly! (Free)

Lastly, another random one.

About 2 or 3 years ago, I was obsessed. I had to get to the next realm.

This app took over my life and last week, I made the mistake of downloading it once more and now, again, I can't stop playing it.

I got the free version because I'm a cheapskate and have never paid for an app on my phone in my life. Not even sure how it works to be honest, but I think this is available on Android and iPhone's for free or you can buy the full version.

You probably shouldn't, it's really addictive.

Random Favourites

TV: CSI - it's back in the states and the new series looks so fricking good!

Music: Paolo Nutini - I'm seeing him at the end of October for the 3rd time.

Film: About Time - I came across this in my DVD collection and I love Domhnall Gleeson.

Food: Mashed Potato - my craving for it has returned and Tony Macaroni's do a good'un!

Drink: Lipton Ice Tea - I am obsessed.

Well, anyway, this has been a long one, mainly 'cause of images, but oh well...

Hope you enjoyed the post and thanks for reading!

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