Independent Shops Tour in FarGo Village

When I travel and visit new places there are always a couple of things in particular that I look out for when I’m there, good food and drink and AMAZING geeky shops to visit and spend all my cash at!

When Amy (Writing into the Ether) asked if she could take me around FarGo Village in Coventry on a little tour, I couldn’t say no really. Although my boyfriend is from Coventry and we often ventured into the town centre when he lived there, we never really went to FarGo Village. Why? I don’t actually know!

We’ve been since, but Amy took me around everywhere, which was so much fun!

In return I recently took Amy on a tour of my favourite places to visit in Birmingham, which she’s written about and posted today on her blog! I’ll link her post here so you can go and read where we went. Birmingham is amazing for geeky shopping, as well as amazing Asian food and drink, so much so we are planning another trip to tick off the places we didn’t manage to go.

FarGo Village is classed as Coventry’s creative quarter and from photos I actually thought it was bigger than it is. I feel like that due to the fact they’ve made so much use out of all the space, which is amazing. It reminds me of the Custard Factor in Digbeth Birmingham, which is somewhere I practically lived in as a student and in my early 20’s.

FarGo is an artistically re-purposed industrial space in Coventry City Centre, designed exclusively for creative, independent businesses and like-minded visitors. Located on Far Gosford Street, a recently regenerated area with a rich cultural heritage.

We are fiercely independent! We have an eclectic mix of over 40 independent businesses based here, including a craft brewery, artisan food, vegan shop, printing , a museum dedicated to Sgt Bilko and a Crossfit Box!

Quote taken from FarGo website

FarGo Village isn’t just a place to go shopping but is also great for food and drink! As of yet I haven’t actually eaten in FarGo Village, although I have eaten at places on Far Gosford Street. I’m sure in the future I will have something to eat at FarGo Village!

They so have SOME geeky things, including some Studio Ghibli art books which you can pick up from TAG! Artwork.

FarGo Village isn’t full of geeky places to shop, but it does have a lot of amazing independent shops to visit, with some already becoming must have shopping destinations for whenever I visit Coventry moving forward.

The first place we ventured to was Sgt Bilko’s Vintage Emporium which was pretty cool! It’s a vintage memorabilia shop with various different geeky bits and pieces, from Doctor Who, Star Wars, Marvel and more! They had loads of comic books in there where you could grab 10 for £10, which Amy took advantage of. I’m not a comic book girl myself and much prefer manga. This being said, the shop still had some amazing geeky pieces though, a definite must place to go if you’re into vintage geeky films and TV shows, I’m more of an otaku girl. 😛

We popped into Budda Boutique where I picked myself up some incense cones, which I have since used and have made my house smell gorgeous. This is the perfect place for hippies to visit, as it is a holistic shop that sells various different products ranging from clothing, healing crystals, jewellery and more! I loved collecting and using healing crystals growing up so whenever I venture into shops like this it really does bring back some nostalgia for me. This is a lovely store and one I will go back to time and time again when I visit FarGo Village.

We ventured onto the opposite side of FarGo Village to have a look at some of the stores I love the most in Fargo Village.

TAG! Artwork is definitely one that has caught my eye due to the cute and quirky books they sell! They do also sell art supplies too but I was in there for the manga! They sell quite a bit of manga to be fair, which is really nice. However, a lot of the manga they sell is also faded from the sunlight, which is a bit of a shame all around but mostly due to the fact they’re selling these for full price too. :S I’d want a discount considering they’re technically “damaged”. They also sell some quirky books and I regret not picking up the book Japanese Floaty Food Guide as I would love to have this for when I go to Japan. Next time I’m in FarGo Village I plan to pick it up!

Container No.8 is full of some right little gems and it’s a shop I would love to buy something from, but both times I’ve been (once with Amy and once with Dane) I’ve always wanted to be good. If I had of splurged a little, I think I would have ended up getting one of these cute little dinosaur necklaces by Bekbek Makes. Honestly, I always eye these cuties up whenever I go in but I just never buy one. 😦 I really love the green triceratops pin badge that I saw, but again. I left him behind. 😦 Bekbek Makes does have an online shop, which I have linked back to under the sellers name here. 🙂

Check out some of the items I love from Bekbek Makes:

Stegosaurus Necklace Large – Pastel Purple & Blue

Triceratops Pin Badge- Dark Purple & Green

Stegosaurus Pin Badge – Pink & Green

Container No.8 was a bit of a mix match of local sellers produce and items, which I really like! It means there is one shop with all sorts of different goods. These cute little honey bar bottles were too cute to not snap a photo of.

I’m not a vegan, hell I’m not even a vegetarian but The Green Unicorn Vegan Store is an interesting little store and I actually picked something up from there during our shopping trip. This gorgeous little store is promoting not only vegan produce but also for people to cut down and stop using plastic, which is something I would like to stop doing and I’m trying to do. The Green Unicorn Store is perfect because you can bring in your own jars, bottles and more to fill up with goods and take away. I ended up buying some cloth bags which I now use when I’m out shopping and want to buy fruit. I feel good not using plastic one use bags. 🙂

The last shop we ventured into before we decided to get a drink was, and I LOVED it so much! Fantayzia Designs is a retro style store that creates things out of stuff people bring in, as well as sell some of those items too. For example the owner has created lamps out of old cassette tapes, which looked really cool! I’m gutted I didn’t take a photo of them to be honest.

I love how the entrance to the shop has some chairs and vintage games on old TV’s. Anything like this attracts me straight away and when we went inside I made sure to have a look at what vintage games, consoles and more that they had on offer. I’m a console collector so I’m always into finding gems like this. Due to this however, it did break my heart a little to see this Game Boy Pocket turned into a clock… 😛 That being said, it was pretty cool all the same. ^_^

When we were shopped out we decided to head to my favourite place in FarGo Village, Bubble Boba for some must needed drinks and natter. I ordered the Red Velvet cheesecake, which was AMAZING! Definitely my favourite drink from there now. I visited Bubble Boba for Mockail Party and Masterclass recently, which was organised by Bubble Boba and Amy, which you can read about here.

It had started to rain not long after we sat down outside Backhaus & Co with our drinks so we finished chatting, drank up and headed for shelter in The Big Comfy Bookshop.

I really love The Big Comfy Bookshop and this was my first time visiting. I haven’t ventured into FarGo Village since me and Amy did so I haven’t been back, but honestly that place is perfect for anyone who just wants a bit of piece and quiet to write on their own, or with friends. I wish there was somewhere like this near my home so I could venture there after work to grab a coffee and do some blog writing.

The thing I love the most about The Big Comfy Bookshop is how all the books they sell second hand books and let you sit to read them too. I found a gem from my teenage years and it made me so nostalgic! I still own the novel Guitar Girl which I still love and read occasionally (maybe I’ll write a story post about this book in the future?). I also found some amazing cookbooks for sale! They also have a selection of manga on the shelves, which they need more of. 😛

We stayed for a drink, a bit of cake and some more natter before we parted ways. It was a lovely day and I really enjoyed the little tour Amy gave me of FarGo Village. I really want to go again when they have an event on. They had a car related event on this day which to be honest annoyed me. People were revving their cars occasionally which just ruined the relaxed mood for me. I can’t moan about that too much however, as I know this doesn’t always happen in FarGo Village.

We didn’t managed to pop into some shops, as I have a feeling due to it being Sunday, they were shut. I think this is such a shame as it means if people work in retail and get Sunday’s off, they miss out on all the gems in FarGo Village.

Some of the places I’m sad we missed out on are:

Olivia Thomas Handmade – I don’t recall if we saw this or not, or if we did and it wasn’t open but the handmade pieces by Olivia Thomas look and sound gorgeous and I’d definitely love to go in the future to pick some pieces up for myself, as well as for friends and family as gifts.

Oshin Art & Craft – This place reminds me of Japan and I don’t know why. It just looks so crafty and kawaii inside, but I feel like when I went in before it just wasn’t for me. I’d love to go again to see what it’s all about!

The Drawing Room – A tattoo shop where (obvs) you can get tattooes done! I know a few people who have a few pieces done here, especially by Kerste Diston (kerste_tattoos on Instagram). Her pieces are gorgeous and she recently posted a photo of design she drew of Haku from Spirited Away.

Overall I loved the little tour Amy took me on of FarGo Village! I don’t think I could have asked for anyone better to take me around. Amy is so passionate about FarGo Village and it shows constantly. I can understand why she loves it so much, it’s such a quaint little place full of unique shops and little treasures. I really want to venture to FarGo Village more in the future, especially when there are events being held there.

Oh by the way, look at how famous Amy is in The Big Comfy Bookshop! 😛

If you’re ever in Coventry will you be popping into FarGo Village? Do you have anything like FarGo Village where you live? If you do, please let me know about it! 😀

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having a lovely morning so far.

Auntie Anne’s Pretzel Party*

If there is one thing I really love it’s food and if there is another thing I love it’s making food. So when I was invited by Coventry Bloggers to attend the Auntie Anne’s pretzel party last month, I definitely couldn’t turn it down!

In Birmingham we don’t actually had an Auntie Anne’s, although we used to many years ago before Grand Central was finished and this amazing little pretzel place was taken away with the rest of The Pallasades shopping centre. So for me it’s very nostalgic to go into Auntie Anne’s whenever I visit Coventry, as well as a MASSIVE treat.

There are a couple of Auntie Anne’s stores in Coventry, one in the Ricoh Arena Park Shopping Centre as well as West Orchards Shopping Centre too, with the Pretzel Party being in the latter!

We were told we would get the chance to make our own pretzels and although I’ve made my own at home in the past, I didn’t quite know what to expect when it came to making pretzels with Auntie Anne’s!

I was so excited for the event and made my way to Coventry nice and early to make sure I got there in good time, which I did. Me and the Cov Blogger girls got talking before the event and it was a lovely start to a Sunday afternoon.

This was a gifted experience for promotional and reviewing purposes, so all views on this post are entirely my own.

We were told we would each get the chance to make a sweet pretzel with either vanilla sugar or cinnamon sugar. As I’ve only tried the latter I was excited to give vanilla sugar a go!

We went up individually to the table and was shown how to roll out the pretzel dough and then do a special technique to get that pretzel shape we all know and love.

I was really nervous about this at first, but after watching Amy (Writing into the Ether) give it I go, I was confident enough to go next!

It was so much fun and I was so pleased that I got my pretzel shape first time around! Apparently I did the best out of everyone and due to this I featured on the live video that day over on the Coventry Bloggers Instagram page.

Once these were all done, they were put on a tray and ready to be put into the oven! Whilst the first group of us were waiting for our goods to bake we were give an amazing little goody bag each, as well as some new sweet goodies to try.

In our goody bags we either received Cinnamon Nuggets* or Vanilla Nuggets*, I received the latter and they were so yummy! So bite sized and perfect for on the go if you want something sweet to snack on. These were lovely and warm when we were given them too so I made sure to eat as many as I could whilst they were. I did end up taking half of the pot home to share with Dane. We also got a cup of their Fresh Lemonade* which was so damn refreshing and yummy! I’d never tried it from Auntie Anne’s before and I really did enjoy it. I could have easily had another cup.

We got to try one of their new sweet treats which is a pancake/crepe shaped pretzel dough mixture with loads of chocolate drops inside! It was okay, but a little too chocolatey for me…

I’m not a Twix fan but when I saw that they had wrapped pretzel dough around one, I knew I had to give this a go. That was good! I really enjoyed it to be honest with you and would definitely pick it up again if I fancied something really sweet.

After we got to try those sweet treats, it was time to coat our cooked pretzels in yummy sugar goodness! I opted for the cinnamon sugar as I intended on giving Dane my cooked pretzel. He loves them just as much as I do, especially the cinnamon sugar ones. Due to this I sadly never took a photo of the pretzel… 😦

Shortly after this and as the event was beginning to come to a close, I decided to grab some yummy food to eat around Coventry and then headed home.

I honestly love Auntie Anne’s so much and whilst I’m talking about it, I’m seriously craving everything, especially my favourite – the little hot dog rolls. I also love the dutch ice (Slush Puppies to you and me!) and was sad that I didn’t pick one up that day, as it was really warm!

Overall I had SO MUCH FUN at the pretzel party and was delighted to take part in the live stream too!

Do you like pretzels? Have you been to Auntie Anne’s before? Let me know your favourite flavour of pretzel. Mine is either sesame or pepperoni and cheese.

Until next time all, take care and I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

June Favourites ’19

How are we at the seventh month of the year?! In 6 months time not only will I be 30 but I’ll be getting ready for one of the biggest events of my life – my holiday to Japan.

June has been such a morbid month, what with the weather being so crappy. I was also skint after loads going on at the start of the month what with Games Expo (which you can read about here, as well as see what I picked up!) and Manchester for mine and Dane’s 6th anniversary. However the weather has had a much needed turn around and we’re now graced with gorgeous sunshine… But also sweat in places you didn’t know you could sweat in! 😛

Aside from this, June went by quickly and I actually had a bad mental health patch – which I’m through thankfully. I forgot how bad my mental health could be though to be perfectly honest with you. I’m glad it’s definitely not as bad as it used to be, that’s for sure.

I’m glad it’s July to be honest with you, as I am craving some nicer weather. I want to do my garden up this year ready for all the BBQ’s and evenings in the garden writing with Dane and playing games. I plan to try and get so much stuff done throughout July and August!

Anyhoo, let’s go into the items I was loving throughout June.

• Original Source Mint & Tea Tree Shower Gel.

This is a shower gel I rediscovered recently when me and Dane went to Manchester for a few days. We bought a little travel sized version of this to use whilst we were away and it was just so refreshing! Not going to lie though, I forgot what this does to your bits… If you know what I mean? 😛 We’ve just bought a MASSIVE 500ml bottle, which was pretty cheap for £2. This shower gel has kind of reemerged back into our lives at the right time considering the hot weather. Yesterday I woke up feeling sticky and unclean. After my shower I felt fresh again and it’s purely because of this shower gel. If you’ve never tried it, I really do recommend it! Due to the menthol in the mint it leaves you feeling tingly and cooled down, perfect for the hot humid weather we have right now.

• Nails Inc Ocean Ever After Nail Polish.

I really do love painting my nails, but I find I don’t do it as often as I once used to, or should for that matter. I don’t know if it’s because I don’t give much of a toss the older I get, or just because I’m too busy doing other things… Although a mixture of both, it’s definitely more of the latter. I painted my nails quite a few times last month and I found more often than not that I was reaching out for this shade in particular. With summer (well now at least…) in full swing I thought I would reach for a colour that reminds me of holidays abroad and swimming in the pool and ocean. I honestly love this shade and feel like I haven’t given it the love it deserves! I really do like the Nails Inc duo kits and the mermaid one is perfect for summer, whether you’re going on holiday or not.

• GeekyClean Bard Soap.

As I mentioned recently in my UK Games Expo haul (which you can read here) I stumbled across the brand Geeky Clean, which I have fast fallen in love with! If there is one product on this list this month that I have reached out for the most, it’s definitely this one. It smells JUST LIKE LUSH SNOW FAIRY for a fucking fraction of the price. Like seriously – how the fuck do Lush get away with it! This foams up lovely and doesn’t leave that horrible feeling on your skin after using soap against it. It comes in the tin, so it’s really easy to keep in the bath or shower. I plan to write a review about both the soap and the bath bomb with the Bard scent. Honestly I cannot get enough of this right now, especially considering what an amazing dupe it is of Snow Fairy (and the Godmother soap if you’re a Lushie).

• Revolution Onyx Primer.

Okay I was in dubious about this primer. I wasn’t able to test it when I bought it and as I was out with my mom at the time she said, “Sod it! Just get it and if it’s no good I’ll have it.” Bless her. 😛 So obviously I picked it up and OBVIOUSLY I liked it, because it wouldn’t be on my favourites if I didn’t This is obviously black and just to say if you don’t rub it in properly, your skin WILL go grey. This is also a thick primer too so a little goes a long way. The reason I was dubious though is it claims to mattify the skin. When you first put this on, it’s oily AF! Like seriously, I was pissed off when I tried this on the back of my hand in my mom’s living room. I tried it the next morning when I got home and after I put my power over the top – that oily look and feeling vanished and I was left with perfect airbrushed skin. I was shocked! However, I wondered if due to the original oily feeling it would cause my skin to break out… I waited and have been trying this for most of June now and I can report not a single issue! If you’d like a review of this product, please let me know by the way as I would be more than happy to! Especially if you have combination skin like I do. 🙂

• Britney Spears Midnight Fantasy EDP.

This is one of my favourite perfumes and I honestly always forget just how much I love it, as well as how many memories it brings back. This is such a cheap perfume but for what it’s worth it really does make me happy. If you’ve never smelt it, (I’m pretty sure you will have – even if you didn’t realise it…) it smells just like blueberries and sugar. It’s gorgeous and although sickly for many, it’s perfect for me. I’ve been reaching for it lately as I just love the smell! Since starting my new job in April I’ve been binge using Dior’s Poison Girl and whilst I like it – it’s really grown off of me. I might just give it to my mom as I really don’t enjoy wearing it anymore… This being said it is a gorgeous perfume but my tastes have dramatically changed the past two years and I’ve really moved away from certain scents and grown to love others.

So now my beauty favourites are done, time to talk about the miscellaneous favourites of the month!

Image taken from IMDB

Favourite TV Show – Hitoshi Matsumoto Presents Documental Season 3.

I cannot tell you enough how much I love this show but also how much I hate the fact the other four seasons are going to take FOREVER to come out over seas and be translated for us English speakers. I’ve mentioned this show on my blog many times in the past and I swear to God, I never laughed so much at the third season of this hilarious show. Basically it’s about ten Japanese comedians who are all locked in a room for six hours with the goal of winning 10 million yen (just over £73,000) by being the last person in the room who hasn’t laughed. They do some pretty normal things to make each other laugh, but then on the other hand they can be really extreme with it, which is the best part! Season 3 had some of the funniest things I have seen to date and after (what I thought) was a disappointing last season, this made up for it so much! It’s on Amazon Prime so if you have a subscription, I highly recommend you go and check it out!

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Movie – Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

If there is a film I think I actually regret not going to watch in the cinema, it might just be this one. Me and Dane were recommended by out D&D Dungeon Master to check out this film as it was amazing, mind blowing and more. It was certainly enjoyable to watch and had so many awesome points in it, including the one in the gif to be fair. It was really colourful too and the animation felt unique and worked well for the style. It was very stylised to look like the comic books the story of Spider-Man have of course come from. Not going to lie – I’m shite when it comes to reviewing things like this. It’s out now on DVD and Blu-ray to go and buy it. It’s so worth the monies. 😛

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Book – Erm…

Fuck sake man. My reading manga game is shite lately and it actually makes me so sad. I have so many volumes from at least 5 series to catch up on and I’m so pissed that I am neglecting that. It’s honestly due to the fact I like to play Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp during my lunch break at work (which I’m not doing today because I’m writing this instead :P) so reading has taken a back shelf. I seriously plan to spend this weekend reading and catching up. Sorry though guys – no manga mentions this month. 😦

Favourite Music – PVRIS – White Noise.

This is a band I mentioned falling in love with last month, but in all honestly this is a band I have fallen hard for and especially their first album White Noise which I downloaded from iTunes onto my phone in June – as well as their second album. The song “Fire” that I mentioned last month is what led me to discover PVRIS – as well as this album, but my favourite song from the album has fast become “Smoke” which I listen to over and over again on repeat. As and when this band tours the UK again, I WILL be going to see them! I know they’re playing Reading and Leeds this year but nah I won’t be going to a festival. 😛

Favourite Game – Trover Saves the Universe.

I feel shit for not mentioning Persona Q2 this month but honestly this would beat even Persona 5 hands down if I’d been playing that last month. This game is fucking hilarious and EVERYONE needs to play it! This game is by Justin Roiland, the guy behind Rick & Morty and the VR game Accounting. This is a VR game with the aim being to get your two pet dogs back, who have been stolen by a cross between a penguin and Patrick from Spongebob Square Pants. It’s fucking hilarious to play and the best thing I like with it is you can sit down as you play! Usually with VR games you’re standing up and it can get a bit tiring if you plan to play for hours on end… Even though we do it anyway! The comedy behind it is hilarious (as always from Roiland!) and fun to play. I cannot wait to continue playing it over the weekend.

So that’s everything this month in regards to my favourite items for June! Again, June whizzed by to be honest with you and when it came to thinking what content I needed up on my blog this week – I was shocked that it was time to be writing my two monthly posts. Crazy, huh?

What were you loving throughout June? Whether it be beauty, lifestyle or even stuff in general! I’d love to know. 🙂

Until next time all, take care and I hope you’re all not as tried as I am after the warm weekend. 😛

May Favourites ’19

I cannot believe we are officially over halfway through 2019! The year is flying by, but I feel the past two months really have flown since I’ve been at my new job. It’s been amazing so far and to be honest with you the end of May and start of June have been amazing for so many reasons!

After years of wishing to go, on Wednesday me and Dane FINALLY booked our trip to Japan! I still cannot believe it’s happening and the sooner it sinks in, the better. I’ll be writing all about this in June at some point. 🙂

I’m off work next week which I’m really excited for as I haven’t actually had any holiday since my birthday in January. Me and Dane have loads planned, including going to Manchester for a few days and even going to see The Book of Mormon there! 😀

Anyhoo, I’ll try and give a massive life update post soon on my blog instead of using my monthly post to give you guys TOOOO many updates.

On with the monthly favourites! 😀

• Colgate Naturals Charcoal Toothpaste.

If there’s something I love, it’s a toothpaste that tastes sweet, foams loads and leaves my teeth and mouth lovely and clean. This is a new charcoal toothpaste by Colgate so on a food shop at the start of May I saw it was on offer so decided to pick it up. Well, I picked a couple of these because I do love a charcoal toothpaste. Since buying it I really do love using it morning and evening. If anything, it’s a pleasure to use. It doesn’t go black when brushing with it, which is fab! I know some people don’t like that when it comes down to charcoal toothpaste – this is nothing like that!

• Lime Crime Wet Cherry Gloss in Cherry Bomb.

In the Easter sales I ended up grabbing some bargains, including the Lime Crime best of red lips and this was one of the four products inside of the set. Out of the four this is definitely my favourite to be honest, which took me by surprise! I’m not going to lie – whilst I thought the wet cherry glosses looked amazing, for £16.00 I thought they were a rip off for something you could pick up on the high street for half of the price and less! I’ll admit it. I’ve now eaten my own words, these lip glosses are definitely a game changer. They’re so light, not sticky and so much more pigmented than I thought they were going to be. If I fancy a bit of colour, but don’t wish to wear anything heavy I’ve been reaching for this. The wet cherry glosses also smell AMAZING! They remind me of the Yankee Candle Cherries On Snow and I can only image this is what an American cherry pie must smell like.

• Decleor Hydra Floral Everfresh Hydrating Wide-Open Eye Gel.

Since I started my new job, I’ve been seeing my mom more – which is so lovely. We tend to pop to the shops together after I finish work or relax. On one of our shopping trips I picked up a new eye gel for myself, that isn’t this one however. The one I bought was anti-aging and BURNT MY SKIN! It was horrible and I was beyond gutted in so many ways. My mom gave me this eye gel as she knew how I was after a new one. So far this one has been amazing and I haven’t had any issues. It’s a lovely cooling gel and even though I’m sure it isn’t anti-aging but I feel like it does help with brightening my eyes a tad.

• Optex Intensive Eye Drops For Dry Eyes.

I really do love using eye drops, especially during he cold and hot months especially. Depending on the type of eye drops I buy, depends whether I repurchase them again or not. I don’t feel like I’ve ever really enjoyed eye drops as much as I have with the Optex ones. I find these work really well for me, especially as the hayfever season has officially started. These really help my eyes first thing in the morning to wake me up, as well as refreshing my eyes. I make sure to use these daily to keep my eyes from drying up whilst the weather is on and off of what it wants to be! 😛

• L’Oreal Men Expert Pure Power Black Charcoal Face Wash.

IDGAF is this is a product for men, I’m still fucking using it! 😛 It it works for blokes, it’ll definitely work for me. 😉 If you know what I mean! This is actually Dane’s face wash, which he loves to bits! He’s had this since about March/April now and around the time he first got it he recommended I give it a go to see what I thought of it. I LOVE it! A little bit of it goes a long way and it goes REALLY creamy and with loads of lather. It gives a lovely cooling feeling on the face, which is great when the weather is really warm. I give this a go once a week to once a fortnight and it really does give my skin a bit of a boost.

So now my beauty favourites are done, time to talk about the miscellaneous favourites of the month!

Image taken from GIPHYGIPHY

Favourite TV Show – Attack on Titan Season 3.

I was so happy for Attack on Titan to be back for the rest of season 3 at the end of April and weekly me and Dane have tuned into Crunchyroll or Funimation to make sure to watch the latest episode. We’re caught up so far at the moment and each episode has me on the edge of my seat and by the “to be continued” at the end of the episode, I am already craving more! Dane knows what’s happening throughout the series at the moment as he’s all caught up on the manga – so he’s always one step ahead of me in regards to what’s going to happen… Which sucks. 😛 One of the episodes recently was really emotional for me and I really need this weeks episode soon!

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Movie – Detective Pikachu.

I have been so excited for Detective Pikachu since it was announced months ago so as soon as tickets were released for this film at my local cinema I made sure to get our seats booked! It was an awesome date night out to be honest with you and I couldn’t have been any happier as I left the cinema after watching this. It was everything I wanted and more and I would love to go and spontaneously go and watch it again. I played the 3DS game of this and it was completely different with the story line in various ways. I honestly enjoyed the film more, because whilst the game had more information about Tim’s father and clue searching the film had more about what happened to Tim’s father. Recently Nintendo announced that there is going to be a sequel to Detective Pikachu on the Switch, which I am SO EXCITED FOR! 😀 Honestly if you haven’t been to watch this film yet, go and see it before it’s gone from cinemas.

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Book – A Polar Bear In Love Vol. 4.

I love this manga series so much and I was so scared that volume 4 was actually the last volume in the series! Thankfully this isn’t the case, but this volume was really emotional and it really tugged on my heart strings. I’ve mentioned this manga series on and off in the past on my blogs monthly favourites, but it’s about a polar bear who falls in love with a seal pup. Of course polar bears eat seals so the love is seen as strange, especially by the seal who at first is constantly scared that the polar bear is going to eat him. Along the way they start to travel together and even make some friends along the way. This manga has been turned into a mini series, which I really need to watch more of! 😛

Favourite Music – I Prevail – “Bow Down”, PVRIS – “Fire” and Grimes – “We Appreciate Power”.

If there are three songs I couldn’t stop listening to this past month, it was definitely the three shown above. I discovered all these thanks to listening to KERRANG! Radio during the week at work and I’ve fallen in love with them all! “Bow Down” has some screaming singing in there, as well as some normal singing. I love the combination between the two singers and it works really well! I love singing along to it on my way home from work, as well as in the evenings when I’m chilling out. PVRIS are a band that I feel I’ve discovered too late! I now really want to get their albums to listen to, as I really love their songs, especially this one. It’s so damn catchy and I always find myself singing along to it, especially if it comes on when driving. Finally we have Grimes “We Appreciate Power”. I’ve always listened to Grimes on and off over the past 7 years and I do rather like her music. Another artist whose music I need to download and listen to more!

Image taken from Tumblr

Favourite Game – Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp.

This is a game I have not been able to stop playing whenever I have a moment to pick up my phone to play it. I play it in the morning when I wake up, if I have a spare 10/15 minutes before work, during my work break and then in the evening on and off after work. I don’t know how I have suddenly grown so addicted to it, but I have and I’m loving it! 😛 Even talking about it now, I’m going onto the app to see if there is anything I need to do! I am so excited for Animal Crossing to come out on the Switch and I’m keeping fingers crossed that Nintendo will announce information at E3.

So those are all my favourites from May! Again, I cannot believe it’s June already. The start of June is always a busy month for me and Dane, including celebrating when we bought our house as well as our anniversary. We’ll be 6 years together this time next week and it’s crazy how time flies when you’re having fun. 🙂

I’d love to hear what your favourites were from May! Make sure to let me know in the comments down below. Do you have a busy month ahead of you? If so, let me know about that in the comments too.

Until next time, take care all and I hope you have an amazing weekend. 😀

 

February Favourites ’19

First of all I do apologise that my monthly favourites for February is a couple of days later than it usually is! I’ve been really busy at the moment so I haven’t been able to get this post written until today. Better late than never though eh?!

I can’t believe we’re 3 days into March already! The year is already flying by so quickly and I just want time to slow down a little. 😛 I think that’s how I ran out of time for writing this post, considering there’s only 28 days in February. 😛

Anyhoo, let’s get on with the post!

• Aveeno Daily Moisturising Lotion.

My eczema has been so bad recently, so much so that I resembled a peeling snake at one point. I’ve heard nothing but good about Aveeno and decided to pick a bottle of it up to see for myself what good it can do. I’ve had some mixed thoughts about it, as I expected it to be thicker in consistency but to be fair it really has give my hands some much needed moisture after washing my hands. I’ve yet to try it on my body but for such a moisturising lotion it’s not thick at all!

• Original Source Sweet Apple & Vanilla Shower Milk.

This isn’t the first time I’ve used this shower milk and it certainly won’t be the last. With the gorgeous weather we had towards the end of February I wanted something in the shower that smelt fresh but also left me feeling clean and soft. The Original Source shower milks are perfect for this and don’t cost a fortune. I love the apple and vanilla scent as it’s so fresh and yet creamy smelling too.

• Laneige Two Tone Matte Lip Bar in Red Velvet (review here).

This is by far my go to lipstick at the moment and I adore it so much! I reviewed it in February and it did really well. This is such a comfortable lipstick to wear throughout the day at work and it looks gorgeous. It’s perfect for all seasons too, from spring to winter it’ll wear fabulously. Go check out my review if you want to know more about it. 🙂

• L’Oreal Paris Hydra Genius Liquid Care in Normal to Combination Skin (review here).

I’ve mentioned this product on my blog on and off and I think it’s obvious it’s now my go to moisturiser. I’ve been using this for nearly 2 years and I haven’t replaced it with anything else since. Well… Apart from the normal to dry skin version which was AWFUL! This is why this has come to be on my favourites this month. I opened a new bottle of the skin type that I prefer and it’s really improved my skin. It’s not dry in patches, I’m not breaking out as much and to be honest I just feel like it’s doing its job. If you want to know more about this product make sure to check out the review.

• Baylis & Harding Oatmeal, Milk and Honey Cream Hand Wash.

This is a cream hand wash I’ve had my eye on for a while as you can buy a three pack for a cheap price from Amazon. I do really love Baylis & Harding hand washes as they’re always good for my skin, so when I read how this oatmeal, milk and honey one was good for eczema prone skin, I knew I had to order some! It’s really creamy when you’re washing your hands and smells amazing! I really do love these sorts of scents, so to have this on my bathroom sink is lovely.

So now my beauty favourites are done, time to talk about the miscellaneous favourites of the month!

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite TV Show – Mr. Pickles.

Recently Adult Swim merged with All 4 to bring their shows to us through the app! One of the shows on there is Mr. Pickles and is one I’ve wanted to watch for ages after Dane told me about it ages ago. It’s about a demonic border collie who goes around the town killing (what I think anyway!) bad people to fulfil his demonic needs. He has a sort of dark dungeon in his kennel where he keeps a gimp named Steve, as well as a more. The only person who knows about what Mr Pickles is up to is the families grandfather, who constantly updates the family on what Mr Pickles has done in the town. It’s hilarious but very dark. To be honest I hate gore, but this doesn’t bother me in the show due to the fact it isn’t real. Give it a go and see what you think, I personally think it’s hilarious!

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Film – Erm…

I didn’t actually watch a film on February! I’ve mostly been watching Shameless and Mr. Pickles in all honesty and if I’ve not been watching TV shows I’ve been playing games. It sucks but meh, no films this month to mention I’m afraid.

Image taken from Amazon.co.uk

Favourite Book – Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid.

I’ve not been great with keeping up with reading manga lately, purely because I’ve either been too busy or too tired. I’ve been trying to catch up this month however with my priorities being on Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid. Volume 7 focused on so many things that I loved reading about! Including Kanna travelling to New York and making a new friend. I do really love reading this series, as well as the spin off series about Kanna and the new one about Elma which I need to read soon.

Favourite Albums – Coldplay Parachutes and A Rush of Blood to the Head.

If there’s a band that (in my mind) changed for the worst it was definitely Coldplay! I still love SOME of their newer singles, but overall I LOVED their first two albums. I grew up listening to both of these albums and they always remind me of the spring and summer when I’d listen to them the most. I started listening to them recently to and from work and they’re really helped me relax in the morning during the school traffic and on the way home during a long day and rush hour. I know a lot of people can’t stand Coldplay, but I honestly feel like those first two albums were amazing.

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Game – Pokemon: Let’s Go Eevee.

I feel like I haven’t played Pokemon: Let’s Go Eevee for ages and that sucks in itself! Don’t get me wrong, I LOVED the game and still do but I just go too busy with stuff that I had to stop playing it. So I spent a couple of evenings in February cuddled up in bed and played loads of this! I’m on my way to the Elite Four now but I’m also trying to search everywhere for Pokemon I haven’t caught yet as well as legendary’s I need to catch. I’ve only caught Articuno so far but I’m sure I’ll get the other two bird Pokemon soon. 🙂

Finally those are all my favourites from February! The month didn’t stick around long enough to be fair and that’s not even including the fact it was short a few days… It kind of sucks lately as I feel like I’m “running out of time” to do stuff I want to, you know?

How was February for you guys and what were your favourite items? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time, I’m off for a lovely relaxing bath and then some major gaming time! I hope your Sunday is as good as mind. 🙂

10 Basic Confessions Tag

Image taken from GIPHY

Damn I’ve not long got home from work and I AM SOAKED! I get soaked running to my car and then soaked running from my car to the front door. Urgh, why did I forget my umbrella this morning? Well, I won’t tomorrow, that’s for sure. 😛

This must be the first post of the month (apart from my monthly posts) that hasn’t been Christmassy! Shock horror. 😛

Sarah over at Raiin Monkey tagged me a few days ago to take part in the 10 basic confessions tag. Last week I had a break from blogging, even though I had loads of blog related work up and ready as I’d spent the weekend before last just power writing and getting stuff up and ready.

That break was definitely needed! This week however, I am super busy with work so blogging is something I am trying to do, but my brain isn’t quite ready for it after a long hard day. I am trying though. So of course when Sarah tagged me to do this I just JUMPED at the chance!

The older I get the more I think I’m becoming less of a basic bitch, but I don’t know… I could still be a bit of a basic bitch to be honest with you! 😛

I love how this tag is something a little different and hey, there is NOTHING wrong with being a basic bitch! 😛

Image taken from New Scientist

 Holo

I’ve loved holographic stuff for years, before it became a trend to be honest but this is due to my love of Japanese fashion and other things. Growing up holographic stuff just stole my heart so the fact it’s a massive trend now makes me happy and even takes me back to the 00’s when I was a teenager. I love a good holographic nail polish lately, as well as stationary.

Wearing Vans with trainer socks

I don’t know if this is a basic thing, but I feel like it’s hipster and that still counts to me! 😛 Since the summer I’ve found myself wearing trainer socks with Vans and although I love it, I used to take the piss out of teenage girls and men who did it! I usually wear them with leggings as well, which I think makes me even worse. It’s just so comfortable to be honest and Primark offer a HUGE collection of different trainer socks to choose from! My favourite ones to buy and wear are always Pusheen.

Image taken from GIPHY

Starbucks

I love coffee, I really do. I grew up with my parents drinking coffee like it’s water. I also worked in Costa for two years so I like to think I know a bit about coffee too. Whilst I do still enjoy venturing into Costa and independent coffee shops, Starbucks is always going to be the basic bitches favourite place to venture to. I do really like Starbucks myself to be honest and whenever I’m out with my best friend Gabriella we go in there for caramel macchiato’s. 😛 Also it’s the only place I find that does mint hot chocolate all year around, which in turn makes me happy.

Loving the sick (and rude!) memes

I’m such a sucker for memes and the more they create, the more into them I become! I feel like Facebook is just home to memes, cute animals and food videos that encourage you to cook and gain weight. I’m a definite lover of rude memes though and one page I love for this is Lush Dolly Memes over on Instagram. I love her posts and I think I’ve pretty much liked them all since the page started. 😛 Go and check it out if you’re rude and crude like I am and then come back and tell me how damn funny their posts are.

Image taken House of Harris Gifts

Burning candles

I don’t know what it is, but during the summer months I’m not arsed about burning candles, but throughout the cold winter months the candles are lit daily in my house! Yankee Candles are my choice nine times out of ten to be honest, with Woodwick Candles being a close second. I just love scented candles so much, they add a lovely scent to the home, especially if you have guests. I currently have Cherries On Snow by Yankee Candle burning and I do really love it.

Table books

I do rather love books you can have in your living room either on/under your coffee table or on the shelf. People’s reactions to certain books is always good, whether it’s a comical book or about something you’re interested in. When I was a student I used to love going into places like Urban Outfitters and looking at the various different books they sell in there. I have all sorts of books myself now including books about The Book of Mormon, Persona 5, Pewdiepie, Deadpool etc. Table books are great and I recommend them for everyone!

Image taken from GIPHY

Mermaid leggings

These are definitely a basic bitch item BUT at least I buy mermaid leggings by the brand that kick started it all, Black Milk Clothing! I have almost a handful of different coloured mermaid leggings now and I love them all so damn much. Unicorns and mermaids are so basic bitch things it’s a joke! I’m not a mermaid or unicorn person really, but mermaid leggings I’m definitely a sucker for. 😛

Fairy lights

I LOVE fairy lights so much! Not long after me and Dane got together I bought some battery operated ones and wrapped them around my bed. I loved having them on late at night whilst I read books before bed. Since moving into the house we now have some colourful fairy lights (well our Christmas lights actually…) around the stairs and some fairy lights behind our sofa in the living room, which we’ve wrapped around some of the artwork we have framed and hanging up. Yeah they’re basic bitch lights, but I love them anyway! I’m actually hoping i have some more for Christmas to hang behind the bed.

Image taken from GIPHY

Sex and The City

Apparently this is a basic bitch thing… I had to Google what classes as being basic as at this point in the tag I DO NOT HAVE A CLUE! Apparently owning the box set of Sex and The City is basic. I don’t personally think this but meh. I watch every single season and even the films of Sex and The City, in order at least ONCE A YEAR WITHOUT DELAY. Honestly, not even joking. Sometimes I just get the urge to watch it from start to finish and it makes me so happy. Now I’m talking about it, I feel like I really need to watch it again!

I genuinely don’t think I’m a basic bitch

Of course this would be something a basic bitch would say, but I genuinely don’t think I am. I just like things that this young basic bitches discovered 10-15 years later! I’m 29 soon and have been watching Sex and The City since I was 16… Sex and The City isn’t a basic bitch thing, it’s a necessity for all women out there! Mermaid leggings are just amazing and so damn comfortable. Who doesn’t love scented candles? Man I could go on. 😛

So I have come to the end of this tag post! It was something different to do, but I have realised from taking part in it that I am definitely not a basic girl. 😛

I want everyone who reads this blog post to take part in the tag and make sure to link back to me when you’ve written. I want to see what basic things you are as well. xD

Again, I want to say a MASSIVE thank you to Sarah for tagging me to take part in this post!

Until next time all, take care. IT’S ONE WEEK UNTIL CHRISTMAS! 😀

Surviving The Christmas Party – Guest Post

Christmas is just around the corner so me and Estelle over at Estelleosaurus decided it would be fun to do another collaboration post together! We did one in the summer about rainbow fashion (you can read her post here and my post here) and I LOVED it so damn much! 😀

I’ve spoken about great gift ideas for people who love gin and Estelle (as you’ll have guessed from the title!) is talking about how you can survive your Christmas party.

Right without further ado, I’ll hand it over to Estelle! 😀

For a long time, my only reference for the office Christmas party was what I’d seen on TV or in a film. The party was usually held in a very large office and all the staff partied there. Someone would inevitably photocopy their genitalia. Someone dressed as an elf would cop off with someone in a Santa hat in the stationery cupboard!

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been to an office Christmas party like that. Even if I had, I’m fairly confident I couldn’t get on top of the photocopier to photocopy my bum anyway.

The office Christmas party can be a tricky event to navigate whether it’s held in the office or not, so here are some tips to get you through the festive season!

Planning

These days it is much more likely you and your work colleagues will go out to a pub or restaurant for the Christmas party. If you are really lucky, you will be the chosen organiser (I strongly suggest you try to avoid being the organiser). Your job will be to think of somewhere to go – usually more than one place because people like a choice. You will need to make sure you’ve covered allergies, dietary requirements, vegetarians etc. and then send the menu’s out for everyone to pick where they’d like to go. I cannot stress enough how important it is to do this early. Getting everyone to make a decision as to where they’d like to go is like herding cats. You will have to chase them, repeatedly. Once you have managed to get everyone’s restaurant preference it will be your job to call the venue, check they’ve got a table on your chosen festive night.

You will usually have to pre order and pay a deposit during the Christmas period, so next comes the fun task of collecting the deposit and getting a pre order choice from then. Once you have let the restaurant know the pre -orders you can relax until the big night. Definitely keep a list of what everyone ordered though, because they will forget and insist they ordered something different when the meal arrives in front of them!

What to Wear

It seems to be a given that you should wear something sparkly for the entire Christmas period, which quite frankly is fine with me. But not everyone will feel comfortable, so what should you wear? Honestly? It’s up to you. Where what the hell you want. Obviously check your venue doesn’t have a dress code – you should try not to wear flip flops and a baseball cap if the dress code is smart casual! It is important to be comfortable and if you are already suffering from anxiety, worrying about what to wear or what you are going to look like is the last thing you need.
Christmas jumpers are all over the place at this time of the year and you can pick up some really funky ones very cheaply at places like Primark. If you don’t have the spare cash or don’t want to spend money on something new, pinching a bit of tinsel off the tree and putting it in your hair or wearing it like a scarf can give you an instant Christmas look.

Once you are comfortable and ready to go it’s time to navigate the party itself.

The Big Night

As an anxiety sufferer the actual party can be quite stressful. It’s important to try and relax as much as you can, but give yourself a backup plan. If you need to leave, then do so. If you feel you can’t leave without an excuse then invent a sick friend, relative, dog, cat, goldfish that you need to get home for. Most people understand if and why you need to leave, but you will find one or two occasionally that don’t get it (usually the same people who are offended if you choose not to drink). If you need to go, just go. Your mental health is more important than seeing Angela’s knickers when she falls off her chair during desert.

If you want to have a drink then do so. Personally, I love a cocktail or a glass of prosecco. If you don’t want to drink, then don’t. Don’t feel pressured into drinking or going on to a club or doing anything you don’t want to do.

Try to sit at the other end of the table from Angela too, especially if she wants to talk about work all night!

Try to enjoy yourself, it is Christmas after all and hopefully you’ll be getting some really nice food and company.

The Day After

I don’t like to drink too much when I’m out, especially when I’m with work colleagues. Getting smashed and lairy can be really embarrassing when you have to go back to work on Monday. It’s obviously your choice at the end of the day, but I would advise caution, especially if you don’t want to be the talk of the office for the next year and be reminded of your dancing on the table at every office get together for the rest of eternity.

I like to have a relaxing day the day after any social event, just to calm myself from all the anxieties that lead up to the event, stress can be exhausting and can make you ill, so it’s important to debrief your body afterwards. For me, this involves going over ever single thing I did or said that may have made me look like a fool. I wouldn’t recommend this though!

Final Thoughts from Estellosaurus

This time of year can be tricky for some people for various reasons. Try to be kind (as you should all bloody year actually). If people don’t want to drink, or prefer not to come to the Christmas party then respect that, don’t try to force them to join in.

Enjoy the festive season, rock those antlers, jingle those bells, be merry and bright and if someone suggests you photocopy your fanny, then politely decline!

Thanks Nat for having me! Merry Christmas Everyone!

Aww I love those final thoughts from Estelle so damn much! They’re so important and so many people forget that not everyone wants to drink or even come to the Christmas party!

I LOVED Estelle’s post so much! It’s always good to have a plan when it comes to the Christmas party. 😛 I want to also say a MASSIVE THANK YOU to her for writing this Christmas post for me, she’s such a star and by far one of my favourite blogging girls. 🙂

Have you had your work or friends Christmas party yet? My work one is due in almost a week and I’m so damn excited! 😀

Make sure to let me and Estelle know in the comments your thoughts on Christmas parties.

Until next time all, take care and I hope you’re having a lovely evening.

The Body Shop Peppermint Candy Cane Bath Bomb – Review

CHRISTMAS IS COMING! Move over Scrooges because it’s officially less than a month until Christmas now. I don’t care how “early” it is to be talking about Christmas related stuff, I’m doing it. 😛

If there is one brand I am loving this Christmas it’s definitely The Body Shop. They’ve introduced three new scents to their Christmas range and I am LOVING THEM! There are three new scents, Berry Bon Bon, Vanilla Marshmallow and my favourite Peppermint Candy Cane.

I really want to pick up more of the range but at this moment in time I’m really skint and I’m not even halfway through my Christmas shopping yet. Meh.

When I went to London at the start of the month I popped into The Body Shop with my friend Sophi and we picked up some bits and pieces. They had some bath bombs in there and as I have fallen head over heels in love with The Body Shop’s bath bombs and bubble bars lately, I decided to buy a couple of each scent.

I recently and finally tried Peppermint Candy Cane’s bath bomb and I just knew I had to review it for your guys. As always on my blog, my reviews are honest there’s no BS here. 😛

So without further ado, let the review begin!

The one thing that bugs me the most about the bath bombs The Body Shop have brought out with the Christmas scents is that they don’t stock them online. I’ve only seen them in store and even then they fly off the shelves so quickly! When we were in the London store we had to ask if they had anymore of the Peppermint Candy Cane scent left as the shelf was empty. Then me and Sophi practically wiped the shelf clean of the other two scents.

I couldn’t wait to get home to give them all a go and the first one I decided to use is my favourite scent out of the three!

All of the bath bombs have colour schemes to match their scents as well as animals that are on the front of advent calendars. Berry Bon Bon is red with a fox, Vanilla Marshmallow is yellow with an owl and Peppermint Candy Cane is green with a deer. A lot of people are confused about whether the Berry Bon Bon bath bomb is a fox, a wolf or a raccoon. I can only assume it’s a fox as that’s the animal on the most expensive advent calendar box.

Each bath bomb costs £2.50 and you get 50g of product. The normal range of bath bombs cost £1.50 and you only get 10g. Such a bargain really when you think about it!

The character designs are all so cute, which makes these perfect for children and teenagers.

When it comes to bath bombs I usually break them in half so I get more for my money, aka Lush bath bombs. These are perfect though for just using in one go, which I really like.

In the packaging and as a whole the scent of this bath bomb isn’t in your face and strong, but it isn’t light enough that you cannot smell it.

The only way I can describe Peppermint Candy Cane is a fresh and minty scent with a warm sort of comforting smell too. Not like a fresh peppermint scent, but comforting and soft. That’s the main thing I love about this scent, it really does remind me of Christmas and I don’t feel like many places actually have peppermint scented things at this time of year. SO a massive thank you to The Body Shop for FINALLY doing it. 😛

Sadly when the bath bomb had finished fizzing and I got into the bath, I smelt NOTHING. Not a single thing and I was so disappointed. I sniffed the water, my skin, even when I finished bathing and went in and out of the bathroom I couldn’t smell anything. I don’t know what happened considering in the plastic wrap it smelt rather strong of the Peppermint Candy Cane scent. It’s to be honest, a bit shit.

I don’t even feel like this nourished my skin either, which was even more disappointing! It left a lovely pale green colour in the water, which was pretty but that’s pretty much all it was which for £2.50 is such a shame to me.

I bought two of these bath bombs and although I did wonder whether to give the second bath bomb a go to see if it was just a case of a had a dud bath bomb, I shouldn’t have to. What if I had just bought one? I’d be disappointed regardless, you know?

Sadly the only thing I really liked about this bath bomb was the way it looked and smelt BEFORE I decided to use it, which sucks.

Now if this had cost more than £2.50 I think I would complain more, but considering it didn’t break the bank I’m not surprised really. I’m just disappointed.

I feel like you would need to use this with either/or the bath foam, shower gel, body scrub, body lotion or even the body butter to feel the full effect of the peppermint scent. This in itself is annoying because as we all now, The Body Shop isn’t cheap.

I’m a bit miffed about the fact you can’t pick this up online considering the staff member in the London store told me it’s online. It’s really not.

Overall whilst this was a lovely idea I was left feeling meh about it and I just hope the other Peppermint Candy Cane bath bomb, as well as the other scents I own have a better pay off! If they do I’ll definitely update at the end of this post.

This bath bomb would be great for people with sensitive skin, children and teenagers. If you’re used to strong scented bath products like Lush and maybe even Bomb Cosmetics, then this is a no go for you.

Have you tried the Christmas bath bombs from The Body Shop? If you have, how did you get on? If not, will you give them a go? Let me know in the comments down below.

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having a great week so far!

Win A Lindt Bear Advent Calendar*

Wow this week has flown and I already can’t believe it’s Saturday morning. I’m pretty sure you guys must feel the same!

Can you believe it’s only 2 weeks until the 1st December? I honestly can’t! November feels like it’s dragging, but flying by so quickly.

The important question is, have you bought yourself an advent calendar yet? Whether it’s food, or beauty related? Well if not, I’m going to tell you why you should pick up the Lindt Bear Advent Calendar and if you keep reading, you could even try and win one! 😛

The lovely people over at WOW Free Stuff have kindly sent me over the Lindt Bear Advent Calendar* for me to show you guys, as well as tell you all about a competition they’re hosting so that you can one for yourself.

Last year I had quite a few advent calendars as I was gifted two by my workplace, which was lovely! This year I now have THREE! Wow… WOW! I may just have to share the Lindt bear advent calendar with my boyfriend Dane. 😛

The Lindt Bear Advent Calendar is definitely luxurious and perfect for people of any age. What really sold me with the advent calendar is the cute little gold bear peering through the window of the door. Of course this door is for Christmas Eve!

Throughout the advent calendar you get various different chocolates varying from Lindt teddy and gold reindeer milk chocolate, Lindt Swiss milk chocolate Napolitains, Lindor Mini milk chocolate truffles with a smooth melting filling and Milk chocolate Snowdrops with a creamy double milk filling.

YUM!

So, how can you win one of your own you’re asking?!

WOW Free Stuff are currently holding a competition to offer you the chance to win 1 of 10 Lindt Bear Advent Calendars! All you have to do is click this link and follow what you need to do to win. The competition closes on 24th November 2018, so make sure to get in quick to be in the chance to win yourself this adorable advent calendar!

Terms & Conditions

This competition ends on the 24th November 2018

By entering you agree to sign up to WOW FreeStuff Newsletter

Must be over 18 and based in the UK

Are you going to give this amazing competition a go? Make sure to let me know in the comments. Also if you’ve bought any advent calendars yet, which one(s) have you bought?

Until next time all, take care and I hope you’re having a lovely weekend!

2018 Christmas Advent Calendars You Should Buy!

December is now less than a month away and the closer it gets to the 1st December, the more people frantically run around the shops and online for advent calendars. Whether they be chocolate, tea, beauty or even alcohol everyone is after the perfect one for Christmas, not even just for themselves.

For years now I’ve always looked out for unique and amazing calendars that appeal to me and this year I feel like I’ve seen quite a few I’m keen on. So I thought I would share them on my blog.

I don’t care if people are still thinking, “Nat! It’s too early for Christmas!” Well no not really. It’s a month until December and people usually start opening advent calendars on the 1st so…

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this post! At the time of writing I’ll pop prices too, as well as links to the product.

• Baylis & Harding Beauticology Special Delivery Red Calendar – £9.99 (link)

I actually heard about this advent calendar from someone I work with and it is RIGHT up my street! I love all the scents of the products in there such as peppermint swirl, candy cane and vanilla icing. The scent range actually reminds me of what The Body Shop are bringing out this year. I always eye up the Baylis & Harding stuff at Christmas and regret not getting anything, but I think I am going to treat myself to this this year. I mean, why the hell not?! Spoiler, I’ve already bought it! 😛

• Cath Kidston Christmas Town House Advent Calendar – £40.00 (link)

The past year I’ve really grown to love Cath Kidston, after years of wondering what the hype around it was! I’ve been eyeing up the advent calendar they’re bringing out this year and I really like the look of this one, but I put that down to all the cute alpaca stuff they have in it. You get loads of different bits and pieces in this including body lotion, lip balm, hand cream, bathing salts, cuticle cream and body scrub. I just love all the different things you get! I’ve found this really cheap online so I may have to treat myself to it to have at work or something. I’ll see. This would make an amazing gift for a teeanger, or anyone who loves Cath Kidston.

• The Body Shop 25 Days Of The Ehchanted Deluxe Advent Calendar – £65.00 (link)

This was one of the first advent calendars I saw this year and I was so close to ordering it, BUT urgh the price. It hurts my soul. I’ve never had a beauty advent calendar before and this year I felt like going all out, but not for almost £70! This looks so good though and has a large variety of products in, perfect for anyone who is looking for new products to try, or even people who want to try The Body Shop but aren’t sure where to start. I’m not a massive fan of some of the products in all The Body Shop advent calendars but I’d gift those items to people, my mom and my best friends being the main ones, you know like little stocking fillers! I may keep my eyes peeled when these go down in price to pick them up but I just can’t justify the price.

• Disney Snow White 12 Days Beauty Advent Calendar – £14.00 down to £7.00 (link)

I saw this advent calendar a while ago when I was bored on my lunchbreak and was after an advent calendar. I know that this is aimed at children, but it just looks so basic and simple I love it! This would be great to give to a teenager or child 12 days before Christmas and for the price you could buy loads of them too! I may have to grab one of these at some point if I still feel like getting it. The items in the calendar have a fresh apple scent. You get a nice range of products in this like hand cream, body lotion, body wash, lip balm, bath fizzers, nail file and a body puff. This is more for children and teenagers.

• MUGLER Angel Advent Calendar – £115.00 down to £103.50 (link)

This is definitely an advent calendar I’d love to buy but fuck me the price is crazy! This is something I’ll be keeping my eye on however as it’s just such a bargain for all the goodies you get. Angel was one of the first perfumes I owned and it was my mom who bought it for me. I don’t wear Angel as much as I used to for vairous reasons, mostly because I’m trying to use up my older stuff to make way for my favourite stuff. This is only for 12 days so I’d start it more towards Christmas. I just love all the little bits you get in here and especially the fact you get two refillable bottles, one in a 15ml and one in a 25ml! I’d gift my mom the latter as I have a refill size at 25ml already. I’m praying this goes down in price more as I really would like it, even after Christmas!

• Baileys Advent Calendar – £18.00 down to £16.20 (link)

There’s nothing wrong with an alcohol advent calendar, but not when they cost a bloody fortune! This probably isn’t worth £18.00 when you can buy a bottle of Baileys for the same money. I like the idea of opening little minatures each day to pop in your coffee and hot chocolates! I’d want to pick this up for a cheaper price though, not going to lie.

• M&S 12 Days Of Christmas Socks – £18.00 (link)

My manager at work actually found these and they’re such a unique and cute idea! I love the idea of opening a new pair of socks for 12 days, especially Christmas socks. I’m actually tempted to buy this as a gift for someone myself, but I’m unsure. BUT if you know someone who loves a good pair of socks, you could definitely pick this up for them. My favourite pair in the box is definitely the Christmas llama ones. 😛

• I Love Christmas 12 Days Of Christmas Advent Calendar – £12.00 (link)

This is the last gift set on this list and it’s definitely a cute one, for an affordable price. This is definitely a great advent calendar to pick up for a child or a teenager due to how cutesy it is. Not only do I love all the kawaii animals on it, but I also love what you get inside the gift set itself! You get hand cream, bath salts, bath fizzers, a body puff, nail file, lip balm, body lotion and body wash. They’re all scents that are right up my street too! For £12.00 I feel like this is a complete bargain.

So those are my picks for advent calendars! I’m sure there are so many more out there that may appeal to loads of people, but these are the ones I like the most!

There are some really awesome advent calendars out there! This is the first time I’ll be treating myself to a nice advent calender too. I’ve already bought both me and Dane Reece’s Peanut Butter advent calendars and I’m so excited to open it. 😛

Are you or have you bought your an advent calendar yet? If so which one have you bought, or which one(s) are you planning to pick up? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having a great week so far