PokéCrate Review*

I LOVE Pokemon, my regular readers will be very much aware of this and it’s something I have had a huge love and passion for for as long as I can remember… Or just since it was launched about 20 years ago. God I feel old saying that!

I also love subscription boxes, and PokéCrate have brought two of my loves together, by giving their subscribers a box every month full of Pokemon goodies.

I approached the company and asked if I could review a box for them, which they were happy to do, so today I will be reviewing their September PokéCrate*.

I was so excited to receive this box as I just couldn’t wait to see what goodies would await me when I opened it. It only took a 7-14 days for this to arrive from America, which I thought was reasonable. I’ve had it a week now, so I wanted to make sure I looked and tried everything that arrived in the box before reviewing.

The PokéCrate works in an easy 3 step process.

1. You choose which size t-shirt you would like, ranging from (men’s sizing) small to 3XL.
2. Although only 1 month plans are available to buy, 3 and and 6 month plans are coming soon to the store, exciting!
3. Finally you get your PokéCrate which will have a tracking number for it when shipped, and if you live in America they say it’ll take a week, as I have previously said it took two for me due to being in the UK.

That’s all you have to do to gain access to this awesome and cute subscription box! Now onto what I actually received in my box.

The box is pretty cool to look at, blue with a Pokeball sticker on the front, which straightaway gives you an indication what it is. Upon opening I was indeed greeted by plenty of goodies, six to be exact.

The first thing I noticed in the box was this squishy Pokeball (which was wrapped in plastic but I took it off and threw it away) which is pretty good quality and a realistic shape of a “real” (if you class the anime as real…) Pokeball. It’s actually a key ring, but I don’t know what I’ll use it for personally. Will probably keep hold of it for future conventions and cosplay.

The second thing I noticed in this box was a deck case, something I’ve never bought in my life, and certainly something I probably won’t ever use. It’s dark blue with a silver dragon print on it. These are for Pokemon Trading Cards for the game with the same name. I used to play it when I was a kid, but I haven’t for years now. Although I am a huge nerd and have contemplated playing it again… We shall see.

Speaking of Pokemon Trading Card game, there was a pack of those in here, as well as an old school card from back in 2000, which was 15 years ago… Crazy huh? It’s from a collection that I used to collect, which has just made me feel super old! It comes in a little card protector which I think is really good. I’ll be keeping this card for sure.

The pack of cards I got are new and from the X-Y Furious Fists collection. I’m not familiar with it much, other than knowing it’s one of the newer expansions. This pack came with ten cards with one of them being a rare card, which is pretty awesome! These will go in my old Pokemon card tin alongside my old school cards from 15 years ago.

Probably my favourite item from this box is an awesome little pin badge, which is meant to be a gym badge from the original Game Boy games, Red, Blue and Yellow. This one is the first badge you picked up, the Boulder Badge. I will be sticking this to my backpack at some point in the future, as it’s just too cool not to use!

The final thing in this box I was super excited for because I thought it was a t-shirt and due to the cute design, I got giddy. However as I pulled it out of the box it revealed it wasn’t what I thought it was, and it was in fact a mouse mat… Something I’ve actually needed for ages, and who can complain when it has this adorable Vulpix on it? You can’t really can you? Plus it is really good quality too, so this was probably the most expensive piece in here.

So that is everything I received in my PokéCrate! What’s my overall view on the box itself?

Just to say, I am being honest here, and not in a nasty way either…

The crate is described as being. “Do you love Pokémon as much as we do? Subscribe today and start receiving stuff you cannot find anywhere else. We are working hard every day to bring you all Pokémon items, all the time! Don’t delay your PokéCrate awaits you.” which personally from being a huge Pokemon fan, is really inaccurate. Apart from maybe one item, there was nothing in here that I couldn’t find by looking on eBay, buying from a Japanese store, or even finding at Hyper Japan or a convention. So to be honest, this box whilst had some awesome items inside was disappointing at the same time. For $15.00 (roughly £9.71) it is a pretty reasonable price, but I guess I expected more for such a big claim as “start receiving stuff you cannot find anywhere else.” seeing as it is such a bold statement.

This being said PokéCrate do offer special subscription boxes, which I would like to look into purchasing in the future, as well as a really good store where they do sell some items you can’t find anywhere unless you order from Japan or have a friend there to buy/send you goodies.

I just want to thank the guys over at PokéCrate for sending me the latest box! It was lovely of them to do so, and I can’t thank them enough.

Are you interested in PokéCrate? Or just have some questions for the guys over there? Then you can get in contact with them through many platforms online, which I’ll link down below:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Reddit

Until next time all, tale care and I hope you all had a great weekend!

Disney x Vans 2015 – 101 Dalmatians Collection!

If there is a collection I am super excited for, it’s the Disney 101 Dalmatians collection that Vans will be bringing out this fall! I squealed when I saw this collection being announced last week and I have my eye on pretty much everything from it.

As well as 101 Dalmatians, Vans will also be releasing The Jungle Book AND Alice in Wonderland collections too. Do I hear excited squeals? I think I do!

Vans have previously worked with Disney to bring out a collection in the spring and summer which included Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Disney Princesses, as well as Disney Villains. Good eh?

Vans have been bringing out some amazing collaborations the past couple of years, the last one being Star Wars, and the one before being Marvel. As well as that they have also teamed up with Iron Maiden and The Beatles to bring out some cool collections.

I remember however when the first Disney collection was coming out, and I hoped so damn much that 101 Dalmatians would be included, so when it was revealed and there was nothing of the sort involved, I was gutted. So you can imagine my joy when this was announced, and it has been nothing but be what I imagined!

I am excited to share with you all the collection that has been revealed so far, and how damn excited I am for it. I was like this when Adventure Time teamed up with Dr Martens, and I’m just as happy with Vans and Disney bringing out this collection… If not more excited!

Image taken from hypebeast.com

This is the teaser image that Vans leaked just before the actual press release about the collection itself. I didn’t see this until after the press release, but isn’t it just so cute??? Little dalmatian chewing on a Vans slip on? Be still my beating heart…

Image taken from business.transworld.net

Image taken from Vans official Instagram

As you can see the collection is pretty red, white, and black which was pretty obvious to be honest. There will be two variations of shoes out and whilst both look awesome, I’m opting for the red pair which will look cool all year around! I am hoping to get these before I go on holiday to wear throughout that. The high top pair look cool too and if this happen to go cheap enough in future sales, I may have to pick them up…

Alongside the classic Van’s trainers, of course there are some apparel and accessories with this collection which I am so happy Vans are bringing out, which as you can see are just as adorable as the shoes.

There are two backpacks coming out, one which is black with a repeated pattern of the dalmatians on it, as well as a red one with cute little pictures of dalmatians on, I’m loving the latter myself as it isn’t so in your face as the black one. But both are just as cute! There is also a hat sharing the same pattern as the black bag, this isn’t really my thing but I’m sure loads of people will be rocking it! I’ve also heard rumours around that there will be a keyring coming out, but I haven’t seen this on any of the promotional images yet.

With the apparel there is a raglan tee, as well as a sweatshirt that I both want! You can never say no to cute t-shirts and such like this, and me being a huge 101 Dalmatians fan, I would totally rock these throughout the year. As well as those there will also be some cute socks being released, and by the look of it some boyfriend boxers, very cute!

I think out of the three collections coming out that this one is the best one. It’s just so adorable and cute, and fans of all years will fall in love with it.

Sadly I don’t know a date that the new Vans Disney collection will come out in the UK, but if it’s anything like America I can imagine at the end of October, if not in November at some point. Perfect timing though with Christmas just around the corner!

I apologise for not talking about The Jungle Book and Alice in Wonderland collections, but I don’t really have much interest for those. There are plenty of blogs and websites around talking about those if you just Google though!

So, do you have your eyes on the next Disney X Vans collection? If so, which one? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time, take care all and I hope you had a great weekend!

Lush Halloween & Christmas 2015 LEAKED! Part Two – Christmas

It’s here! Part two, and it’s going to be a long post. There is more information about the Christmas products than there is about the Halloween ones. Apart from the gifts, everything that is on offer looks to have been leaked, which is pretty exciting! I don’t know what September 15th will hold, but from what I have read from official UK Lush stores on Instagram, the winter range (Halloween and Christmas) will be out at the start of October, SO we have less than a month to wait! Exciting huh?

Without further ado, I’m going to share with you all what we’ll be getting awesome for Christmas this year.

Bath Bombs (and one Bath Melt):

Ignoring the bath melt at the bottom, this is the line up for the bath bombs! Not including Lord Of Misrule (as that’s a Halloween product) there are 10 bath bombs all together, 2 of them being new, whilst the rest are returning products.

I am of course really happy to see that So White is back for another year as it’s my favourite bath bomb from Lush and always reminds me of Christmas time. I remember when it was teeny, but it’s really evolved over the years, which is great to see. Alongside that I’m happy to see the return of Shoot For The Stars, as I loved it when it first came out, but never got to try it last year. I’m also glad to see that Father Christmas and Golden Wonder are back, as I got to try Golden Wonder thanks to the Boxing Day sales, and luckily have one left, which I’ll be using soon! It’s such a gorgeous bath bomb and I’ll be stocking up as and when I can. As for Father Christmas I wanted to try that so much last year as it shares its scent with Snow Fairy, my favourite from Lush! I’ll be making sure I try it this year.

The one product I am SUPER excited about is Yog Nog. Oh my GOD! I loved the soap last Christmas and bought myself some when I did some shopping in Lush, and you know what? I STILL own it. I haven’t used it, and it’s still in the packaging. I intend to start using it soon, but now that there will be a bath bomb out with the same scent, I’ll be buying these up as much as possible. Inside the bath bomb there is a luxury bath oil and also contains some bubble bar grating so this bubbles up when popped into the bath. Isn’t that just the perfect bath bomb???

There is only one bath melt being released this year, which is of course Snow Angel. I’m quite sad to see there will only be one as I really wish Lush would bring back the old Snow Fairy Bath Melt. That was probably one of my favourite Lush products from Christmas in 2009/2010 and they never brought it back. Sad faces all round.

Bubble Bars & Resusable Bubble Bars:

I’m really excited for some of the newbies that are coming our way with the bubble bars! There are 5 altogether, 3 of them being new and all of them sound amazing! I always love the bubble bars that Lush come out with, but this year they just look and sound really lovely.

Every year I love that Lush bring back Candy Mountain, even though it is just a nicer looking version of Creamy Candy. There are quite a few bubble bars that have gone this year, so Lush have had to make sure they replace them with goodies, which they have done! I’m going to be trying ALL the new ones. Five Gold Rings sounds really creamy and delicious, and looks really nifty too. I just hope it isn’t too glittery, otherwise I may just have to leave it… I hate when bath products are glittery, I get covered in it! Peeping Santa is another one which sounds delicious! It sounds like it’ll smell of yummy strawberries, and you can never go wrong with something like that. It would probably go really nice with So White Bath Bomb to give you a fruity bath! Finally the other new bubble bar that I am excited about is Bar Humbug. I’m not the BIGGEST fan of liquorice scents, but I’m pretty sure with Christmas around the corner this will be perfect. I’ll definitely give it a smell before I buy it mind, just incase I don’t like it.

I love reusable bubble bars, and I’m super excited to pick up Magic Wand! I’m sure this has been out previous years but sadly I’ve never bought it before, something I’m going to make sure I do this year! It’s said to share its scent with Snow Fairy, so I can’t pass this product up!

FUN:

I can’t say I am the biggest fan of FUN. I’ve used it before and enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong and really liked it, but I would prefer to pick up other products over FUN. The main thing I love using it for is to shave with. I recently used some of my boyfriends Pink FUN and I loved it. So maybe I’ll see if I like the look of one of these. I can’t really imagine how any of these will smell to be honest, but I’ll be giving them all a sniff, and see what I think. I love how creative you can get with them all though! It makes for something cool to pop into a friends stocking, something I might do with my friends and family.

Shower Gels & Jellies:

If there is one thing that I get excited for every year it’s Snow Fairy Shower Gel. Ever since I can remember I’ve bought at least a tiny bottle of the good stuff to keep me going. I still have my bottle from last Christmas, something I’m probably going to keep for when I go on holiday as a treat to wash with in the evenings before nights out.

I’ll be picking up loads of huge bottles of Snow Fairy to keep me going throughout the year! I’ll also be keeping my eye on it in the Boxing Day sales, I missed out last year, which was a shame. Alongside that I may pick up one of the jellies, I’m unsure at this moment in time as I’ve never been that bothered about Snowman, but Santa’s Belly does sound rather nice for winter! I’ll give them a sniff and see how I feel!

Soap:

I’m never a huge fan of the soap from Lush, as the majority of it leaves me with bad allergic reactions, however there are a couple of the Christmas soaps that I can get away, and I can’t resist either to be honest! There are 5 soaps, only one being a new face this year. Last year I picked up Reindeer Rock and Yog Nog, two soaps I LOVED so much and ones I’ll be picking up again this year. Reindeer Rock smells of The Comforter Bubble Bar, which is really comforting. Yog Nog reminds me of cheesecake, which again is comforting. Old Father Time is the new soap this year, which really isn’t something I’ll be buying, sad to say.

Shower Products:

Bar the roulade, I love everything on this page! Christingle Body Conditioner sounds like a gorgeous and menthol mint conditioner, which will be good for cooling down in the summer, and maybe even in the winter. I love mint scents, and Intergalactic Bath Bomb (review here) will work perfectly with this one before I go out for Christmas parties, or maybe even after a day of Christmas shopping. Either way I really can’t wait to pick this up and I can see me stocking up so I have enough to last me through the year. The Salt And Peppermint Bark Shower Scrub looks and sounds amazing, not to mention delicious. This would be great to use alongside Christingle and Intergalactic to give me a proper minty scent and feel! Icing On The Cake does sound delicious, but I’m not a huge fan of the roulade, so I’ll more than likely give this a miss.

Body:

I’ve never used Dusting Powders before but I’ve always wanted to. Last year I was going to pick up First Snow, but I left it as I didn’t think I would use it in the end. Now that Lush will be bringing out Fairy Dust I’ll be making sure I pick some of this stuff up! I would wear it before nights out, and for days out with my boyfriend. I’d be tempted to buy it and take it on holiday with me to wear in the evenings, something I still might do. I’m so excited to give Fairy Dust a smell though! I can see it flying off the shelves alongside Snow Fairy.

Face & Lips:

I’m not all that fussed about the face and lip products this year, but that’s mostly due to the fact I already own both the lip products from last year and the year before. Although I would love the Santa Baby Lip Tint in the new tube form! I may just pick this up to replace my old tin version. I might try and grab a sample of the Cranberry Festive Fresh Face Mask as I don’t feel it will do much for my skin but it would be lovely to try.

Sadly those are all the Lush Christmas products for Lush 2015! As I have said previously, I can only imagine what America get is exactly the same as what we get too. I hope so anyway as there are some gorgeous products that I can’t wait to get my hands on.

So, now you know what products are out for Christmas, what are you most looking forward to buying? I’ve already stated mine, I want to hear yours. Make sure to let me know your thoughts on the 2015 range in the comments section.

Until next time, take care all and keep those eyes peeled for Lush news!

Lush Halloween & Christmas 2015 LEAKED! Part One – Halloween

I’m super excited to write this post at the moment! I had recently discovered the leaked Halloween products, but in the past ten or fifteen minutes I’ve heard about Christmas leaks, and boy are they good! I haven’t been this excited for Lush Christmas products since 2009! I know it’s probably naughty sharing leaked products with you all, but honestly I am just too on the edge of my seat to wait for an official announcement.

As these leaks are from America, I’m not even 100% sure if we’ll get these over here in the UK, but I’m pretty sure we will, and maybe more considering Lush is from the UK originally. But I just couldn’t help but share, I know a few blogs from over the pond are at the moment, so I don’t see the harm in doing the same. I’ll be talking about which items I’m excited about and why.

I want to say thank you to Golden Glamor for all the pictures and information on these leaks, she’s been very thorough about everything, which is amazing and due to that I have copied and pasted some of her information here, as she just explains it all better than I do! You can read her Halloween post here, and her Christmas post here.

So here it is, Lush Halloween and Christmas 2015, let’s start with Halloween first for part one of this two part post.

I apologise that the picture for this isn’t that great, but it’s the only one that is lurking around the internet at the moment. Lush Halloween this year is mostly Lord Of Misrule themed, which I should have seen coming to be fair! As usual, the bath bomb will be making an appearance, which I think is staying around until after Christmas. There will also be the Oxford Street exclusive shower cream and Aliens and Monsters FUN coming to stores, which is pretty exciting! I’ve never been a HUGE fan of Lord Of Misrule I’m more into my sweet scents, but I want to give it a chance this year. I really do like the smell of the shower gel. Alongside those three there will also be Sparkly Pumpkin Bubble Bar which I’m sure came out last year and has a boozy citrus scent to it. The one product I am most excited about though is the bat shaped shower jelly Nightwing! No one knows quiet yet what it’ll smell of… Hopefully not Lord Of Misrule! 😛 There are rumours it will replace Sweetie Pie for Halloween and smell of blackcurrant. It would be pretty awesome if that were the case, AND if it is I’ll be picking up multiple pots to last me for as long as possible!

So the list includes (thanks to GG for this list):

Lord Of Misrule Bath Bomb
Sparkly Pumpkin Bubble Bar
Lord Of Misrule Shower Cream
Nightwing Shower Jelly
Aliens and Monsters FUN

Of course there will be gift sets too (thanks to GG for this list):

Pumpkin Heebie Jeebie – includes Sparkly Pumpkin and Lord Of Misrule Bath Bomb
Bat Heebie Jeebie – includes Nightwing and Lord Of Misrule shower cream
Firecracker – includes Cinders, Experimenter, and Lord Of Misrule Bath Bombs
Full Moon KnotWrap – a super adorable, spooky knot wrap with a purple moon and bat outlines.

I’m pretty damn excited for Halloween! I don’t know when it’ll be out in the UK, but I imagine towards the end of this month. I know where my earnings will be going. 😉

So now we’ve spoken about Halloween, we can talk about Christmas… BUT due to how big that post is going to be, that will be up on my blog tomorrow. I feel mean making you guys wait, but oh well, it’ll be worth it! It’s going to be a very Lush themed week on my blog this week, but is that really a bad thing?

What do you think of the Halloween products that Lush are bringing our way this year? Are you a Lord Of Misrule fan and mega excited about all the goodies? Or do you hate it, and wish Lush had brought out something different? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time though, take care.