January Favourites ’19

It’s officially the first monthly favourites post of 2019! Woohoo! Of course with that comes me talking about all the things I loved throughout the previous month, which of course was January.

I usually talk about beauty and lifestyle and it’s something I really enjoy talking about overall. I wanted to think of more things to add to my monthly favourites, what with there being a New Year and all but honestly, I couldn’t think of anything else worth adding! I thought about maybe adding like a favourite fashion piece, but my fashion sense isn’t everyone’s cup of tea… So I think I’ll leave that for now. 😛

As always I’ll talk about beauty first and lifestyle after! I hope you enjoy the first favourites post of 2019!

• Lush Christingle Naked Body Conditioner.

This was something I picked up in the sales just after Christmas. Lush in Birmingham had LOADS of these in stock still and for half of the price they retailed for originally. I’m not as big a fan of Lush as I used to be, but as I had some Christmas/birthday money I decided to treat myself to some of the Valentine’s Day Lush goodies! I use this twice a week at the moment and to be honest with you it’s such a fab little product. I do find it to be incredibly greasy and I have to actually wipe off the excess body conditioner with a flannel as it’s just far too greasy feeling for me. I won’t be repurchasing any of the body conditioners again due to this, but it’s nice to give a go for the money. It makes me feel soft and smell of gorgeous peppermint, so I can’t complain. 😛

• MUA Luxe Inked Lip Stain in Sangria.

If there is a lip trend I have been loving lately it’s the bitten lip look that has come over from Korean Beauty over to us! It’s been around for ages to be honest and is something I have done on and off over the years, but more so lately than ever before. I love these MUA lip stains as they’re super cheap, come in a nice selection of shades and are long lasting! I love to apply it into the inside of my lips to give that bitten look. It’s flattering too if I don’t want to have a heavy lip colour on and as it wear away quiet naturally, I don’t feel like I need to constantly top up. If you guys would like me to show you how I get the “bitten” look, please let me know and I’ll do a post about it!

• Cath Kidston Hand Cream.

I got so many of these hand creams in my advent calendar at Christmas and I LOVE them all so damn much! The Cath Kidston hand creams are really thick, which are a blessing for my eczema prone hands. I use them at work mostly to be fair and always keep a tube on my desk now to use on my hands as soon as they feel dry and sore. I do have some at home too, but I have other hand creams I tend to use here. I don’t know if you can buy the tubes that I have, but you can buy all sorts of versions from Cath Kidston in their permanent range, so if you’re after a luxurious hand cream but don’t want to spend a fortune, I definitely recommend giving theirs a go! The one thing I dislike the most about them is some of their scents. They remind me of scents that your gran would have on her vanity. They’re lovely, don’t get me wrong but they aren’t ALWAYS for me. 🙂

• The Body Shop Drops of Youth™ Youth Liquid Peel.

This is a product I LOVE so damn much and keep meaning to reveal since I bought it before Christmas. I’ll definitely get around to it sooner rather than later. This is a liquid you apply to the face and rub constantly all over your face to remove deal skin. It comes off in balls and chunks, which is gross to admit is your dead skin! 😛 I love using this liquid peel before my tea tree skin wash on my face, as well as before face masks. I use it once maybe twice a week if I feel the need to and it really does help my skin out! 😀

• Rio Sonicleanse Glo Silicone Facial Cleansing Tool.

My final favourite beauty product of this month definitely has to be this facial cleansing brush that my mom bought me for Christmas (which you can see here alongside all the other goodies I was gifted in 2018! I use this facial cleansing brush everyday and I can tell it’s made a massive improvement to my skin. It makes me feel like I’m getting deep into my pores and giving my skin a good clean, alongside getting rid of old and dead skin cells to reveal fresh skin. I’ve been using this for well over a month now too and haven’t needed to recharge the batteries which is amazing! I probably will over this weekend. Again, if you would like me to review this facial cleansing brush please let me know!

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

Favourite TV Show – Inside No. 9.

This is a show I was told about back in the day when the first series came out. I watched some of the second episode and liked what I saw, but never watched anymore of it. During my Christmas holiday time from work I watched ALL of The League of Gentlemen and fell in love. I always found it to be a “creepy” show but after watching it, it’s right up my street. When I wanted to watch more from Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton I stumbled across Inside No. 9 on BBC iPlayer and decided to give it a go. It has fast turned into one of my favourite TV series and I love it! It’s a dark comedy/horror series with episodes about what’s happening to people behind a door, house, room etc with the number 9 on it. It reminds me of Black Mirror but different. It’s not all technology based like Black Mirror is and I like that. Definitely give it a watch if you like this sort of thing though, you won’t be disappointed!

Favourite Film – Mary and the Witch’s Flower.

This is probably the only new film I’ve watched this month and in all honesty it’s the only film that I can think that I’ve watched at all this month! I picked it up on my birthday to watch as it was in the sale for £9.99 for the Blu-ray so I used some of my birthday money to treat myself (you can see what else I got for my birthday here). It’s about Mary, a girl who seems to have moved to live with her aunt and is due to start a new school soon. She doesn’t really seem to have any friends yet, is clumsy and doesn’t like her bushy red hair. One day she discovers a special flower and from there her life changes rather quickly! This is by Studio Ponoc, who are pretty much a sister company to Studio Ghibli. This is their first feature film and it did really well! I love it so much and really enjoyed watching it with Dane on one of our weekends off together.

Image taken from Wikipedia

Favourite Book – I Am a Hero.

This is a manga Dane randomly discovered quite a while ago and every birthday, Christmas and anniversary I’ll buy him as many copies of the manga as I can! Not only doe she read this manga, but so do I. I read a couple of he volumes throughout last month and it’s just getting better and better! I’m up to volume 6 at the moment and the story line is getting really juicy now! It’s about a zombie apocalypse in Japan and we follow Hideo Suzuki as he tries to make his way through it, meeting people as he goes. The art style is amazing as it’s so realistic and gives the zombies something a little different. I definitely recommend you giving it a go if you like zombie related films, shows, books, etc.

Favourite Song – “Promises” Calvin Harris Feat. Sam Smith.

Oh man I love this song so much, so much so whenever I hear it on the radio at work it just cheers me up so damn much! I only recently popped it onto my YouTube to listen to whilst I get ready in the mornings, do blog work, as well as any other tasks throughout each day. Sam Smith has a lovely singing voice and Calvin Harris is an artist I’ve loved since back in the day when he made that song and sang about the 80’s and what was acceptable. 😛 Yes Mr Harris I still dig the stuff you made back in the day! 😛

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Game – Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp.

I was going to talk about Style Boutique 3 this month and although I’ve played it loads, I feel like I’ve played Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp almost daily to be honest since I got my iPhone XR but over the Christmas period and the odd days off I played this game loooooads. I find I play it most before bedtime as I find it relaxes me. I mentioned it a post last month about games I find help anxiety (which you can read here). They’ve just added some new updates too, one which makes playing the game so much easier than it used to be! I also love playing this in the car at the moment as it deices, you know with how crap and cold the weather has been lately. 😛

So those are all of my favourites from January!

What do you have on your favourites list from last month? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below and even let me know what your favourite fashion pieces too. I know mine has for sure been my Lazy Oaf rainbow “boring” cardigan. 😛

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re ready for a relaxed weekend.

Lush Halloween & Christmas 2017

Wow I can’t believe it. The Lush Creative Showcase has come and gone and I still regret not booking a ticket and going… Next time I will for sure!

It’s only September and Lush have not only announced what will be up for grabs this Halloween and Christmas, BUT they’ve released all the goodies online for us to buy NOW. Erm, what?!

I just want to get this out here that I am super pissed off about so many products that haven’t made a return. The main one being So White bath bomb, a bath bomb I have bought at least once every year since its release in 2009. FYI this was my favourite year for Lush Christmas as it had some of the best releases in my mind. Most of them are now shitty Lush Kitchen exclusives…

As well as that Lush hasn’t brought back Father Christmas bath bomb (Snow Fairy scented), Stardust bath bomb (was an amazing price and smelt amazing), Reindeer & Robin fun (cola scented), Santasaurus re-useable bubble bar (which I REALLY wanted to try last year and never got to!) and Peeping Santa bubble bar (strawberry scented). I’m sure there’s more I could think of as well! Either way I’m mostly disappointed that Yog Nog has COMPLETELY gone. What the fuck Lush?! :S Disappointed is not the word.

I also want to get this out there that I think Lush have REALLY put their prices up lately and it’s also very disappointing. Nearly £5.00 for a bath bomb?! For a few years now I’ve had a serious love/hate relationship with Lush and it’s usually due to their prices. I remember when I could walk into Lush and buy 2 bags of goodies for £30.00. Not those 2 bags would cost me near to £100.00. I seem to only really buy Lush when the Boxing Day sale hits, which is a shame. It really does say something about me… and I don’t care! If I can stock up on Lush products to last me the whole year then why the hell not?! I’ll be doing that again this year for sure.

ANYWAY! Instead of being gloomy about amazing Christmas exclusives that have come and gone, I wanted to share with you guys today about what I’m excited to pick up throughout the rest of the year from Lush!

Also! I will only be talking in depth about products that are new or ones that are coming back from the previous year(s) that I haven’t yet tried… So are technically still new to me! 😛

First I’ll start with Halloween products.

• Monsters Ball bath bomb – £4.50 (link)

This little cutie is returning for a second year and due to not being able to try him last year, I’m really pleased for him to be back! He smells of lime Fruit Pastilles and come on, just look at him! He’s a little cutie, for a monster. I’ll definitely be buying a couple of him this year when I get back from holiday to try out. Lush seem to see lime scented things as their sort of Halloween signature fragrance, which to me isn’t very “spooky” but I’m not complaining! 😛

• Bewitched bubble bar – £4.25 (link)

This is a newbie to the Halloween collection this year and one that I like the sound of! Alongside the lime scent, Lush always have something blackcurrant scented too. I’m not complaining! 😛 This bubble bar looks and sounds really nice so although it’s probably not one I’ll rush out and buy if I smell it and I like it, I might buy one. 😛 From the website it turns your bath water black and sparkly and I’m down for both of those!

• Black Rose lipstick – £6.50 (link)

I’ve used Lush lipsticks and tints in the past and they’re pretty amazing to be honest! I’ve been using my Sugar Plum Fairy lip tint from last year and I forgot how great it is! Due to that I really want to pick this one up! It looks black in the tube but when applied to the lips is a vampy dark raspberry pink shade. Perfect for the colder months! I mostly love how these moisturise as you wear them, which is something I’m always after in a lipstick.

That’s sadly all the Halloween products I’m after this year, which I’m sure my bank balance appreciates!

Now onto the Christmas goodies I want… Bank balance is going to soon be hating me. 😉

• Thundersnow bath bomb – £4.50 (link)

When I saw this being spoken about at the showcase I thought I recognised it, but it wasn’t out for Christmas last year so I did a little digging as to where I would have seen it before and discovered that it was actually a limited edition product at the Lush Summit at the start of the year! Crazy, huh? All that time and now it’s out for Christmas. It sounds amazing though. It has peppermint and cocoa butter in so it sounds like it’ll smell of After Eight chocolates. YUM! It also looks really cool, like a disco zebra. 😛

• Snow Fairy jelly bomb – £4.96 (link)

As many Lush fans will know Lush recently brought out their jelly bombs and they look pretty cool to be honest! I’m not going to be trying it myself however until I need to buy more bath bombs and bubble bars. I still have some bath bombs to use up from last Christmas! I definitely want my first go at them to be Snow Fairy scented though. These are really expensive though at pretty much £5 and although I can get 2 baths out of it, I need to consider if I really want to pay that much for ONE bath bomb. I’ll probably wait until the Boxing Day sale to grab this…

• Sherbet Dip bath bomb – £3.75 (link)

This is one that I think is REALLY random for Christmas and to me it just doesn’t scream Christmas at all. If anything it reminds me of the school holidays in the summer and going to the corner shop with your mates to buy sherbet dip and other crappy sweeties. This is from memory the cheapest Christmas bath bombs that Lush has brought out this year and I have wondered if that’s one of the reasons that people have bought it… Either way it sounds really nice and I’d like to give it a go, but I’m not fussed if I miss out on it. It sounds similar to Fizzbanger bath bomb.

• Plum Snow bubble bar – £5.95 (link)

I have to get this off of my chest and say what a cheek I think it is to charge £6.00 for a bubble bar. I don’t care how big it is or how many baths you’ll get from it. That’s expensive. I can make my own bubble bars for less and get more… I think. 😛 Either way it’s a fucking shame to be honest because this bubble bar sounds amazing! By the name it obviously shares its scent with Plum Rain shower gel, which I still need to smell! It sounds delicious… Just a shame about the price. I’ll be waiting until Boxing Day to buy this.

• Man In The Moon bubble bar – £5.95 (link)

This is another newbie for Christmas this year and like Sherbet Dip bubble bar, it just doesn’t scream Christmas to me… If anything it could remind me of stories you would have been told Christmas Eve… By the sounds of it it shares its scent with Monsters Ball due to the lime fragrance, which I like the sound of! It’s also funny how they both have one eye each. Can’t go wrong with that!

• My Two Front Teeth bubble bar – £3.95 (link)

Again, what the hell Lush? This is such a random shape for a Christmas product and I don’t get why it’s here! Maybe it was a random toy that someone in the Lush creative team had when they were growing up. If this is the case then why didn’t Lush include a little moustache too??? This sounds lovely scent wise however and would be one I’d pick up if it was as good as it sounds. It contains vanilla and lavender so this would be a lovely bubble bar to use in the evenings, especially for children due to how fun the bubble bar looks too.

• Christmas Cracker bubble bar – £5.95 (link)

This is one I’m unsure if I’ll like or not due to the scent, as it has that citrus lemon and lime smell going on, which Lush seem to be loving this Christmas. BUT they actually have a product out that is Christmassy! This looks like a pretty big bubble bar to be honest but again it’s so damn expensive! I have a feeling it has a bath melt on it as well, but it doesn’t state that. It does however contain popping candy so it’s a fun one for children to use around bonfire night.

• The Snowman bubbleroon – £4.25 (link)

I love bubbleroons so much! I find they’re really soothing for the skin and especially great during the colder months when your skin is feeling dry and needs some serious TLC. I’ve not tried the snowman bubble bars or melts before, but I wouldn’t mind changing that this year. This contains orange to brighten your spirits and soya milk and shea butter to soften your dry skin. This again would be a cute one to give to children to use.

• Star Light Star Bright bath melt – £4.25 (link)

This apparently shares its scent with Golden Wonder bath bomb (which is now my favourite Christmas bath bomb now that they’ve discontinued So White…). It contains lime oil as well as ginger, so I’m not sure what this would smell like. I’m pretty sure this is also a reoccurring product that was around for a few years before 2016. If that’s the case then I know a lot of Lushies will be happy to see this back!

• Snow Fairy FUN – £6.95 (link)

This isn’t a new product and actually came out last year, BUT again it’s a product I never got to try and wanted to. I’ll definitely pick one up this year though, I LOVE the Lush FUN. It’s a multipurpose product but I love mostly using it as a bubble bar, to wash with and surprisingly even to use as a shave gel for my legs. Hey! Why can’t I shave my legs and smell like a fairy at the same time? 😛 This is actually the only FUN Lush have brought out for Christmas this year, which I’m really disappointed about. Again I also sound like a misery BUT I remember when FUN was £5.00… Don’t you? :S

• Salt And Peppermint Bark body scrub – £6.95 (link)

Again, another returning favourite has come back for a second, if not third year now! AND I AM STILL YET TO TRY IT! This has clearly done well each year for it to come back and would be an amazing partner to team up with Christingle and Thundersnow for a minty and fresh bath.

• Snow Fairy cold pressed soap – £5.95 (link)

I’ve never used cold pressed soap before but as old and regular readers of mine will know, I HATE Lush soaps. I’ll use them if gifted or bought them, but I would never go out of my way to buy them. They often flare up my eczema and case sore and dry patches on my skin and always, ALWAYS dry up my hands and make them sore. I think the only time I’ve used Lush soaps is for shaving my legs and that’s usually the rare few I can use, one being Rock Star. I’m willing to give the cold pressed soaps a go though, they sound like they’re better for your skin and they look nice in their round little pill shape. ALSO IT’S SNOW FAIRY! I have to give it a go! I’d probably not use this for my hands, but instead get a nice soap dish for the bathroom and have it for washing hands.

• Berry Berry Christmas shower gel – 250g – £11.95 and 500g – £17.95 (link)
• Berry Berry Christmas naked shower gel – 240g – £11.75 (link)

This is one of the two new shower gels that Lush has brought out for Christmas this year and I’d like to say that that they have done an amazing fucking job! Last year they brought out Bubble shower gel which was my favourite new product of 2016 (you can read my review here). I don’t think this will be my favourite out of the two but you never know as I haven’t actually smelt them yet! This just sounds so fruity and delicious and I love scents like that as it contains cranberry and blueberry BOTH OF MY FAVOURITE FRUITS! This also contains loads of lustre as well, which looks amazing throughout the bottle from what I’ve seen on pictures. I can’t wait to give this a sniff!

• Santa’s Christmas shower cream – 250g – £10.95 and 500g – £17.95 (link)
• Santa’s Christmas naked shower cream – 240g – £10.75 (link)

THIS is what my favourite product of 2017 is looking to be. It shares its scent with Reindeer And Robin FUN and the Santa’s Baby lip tint and lip scrub which had a cola scent. Not exactly Christmassy but it’s really warming and reminds me of winter now thanks to Lush. I already know I want to pick up another Santa Baby lipstick BUT I definitely want to get the 500g bottle of Santa’s Christmas. Everyone is saying how gorgeous it smells and when used in the shower it leaves a long lasting scent on the skin. I was going to order one of these before I go on holiday, but I might as well wait until I get back. Lush have brought this out in a naked version which I very much doubt I’ll be getting. It just looks so fiddly to use!

• Christingle body conditioner – 100g – £9.95 and 250g – £17.95 (link)
• Christingle naked body conditioner – £9.75 (link)

I KNOW this has been around for about 2 years now BUT I am still to try it. I was gifted a Snow Fairy body conditioner last year and I haven’t used it yet. I intend to use it when I’m back from my holiday. This is going on the list as I still want to buy and use it, so it’s still technically new to me. It’s a minty body conditioner that you use in the shower after cleansing your skin. Like an in shower body lotion basically. I’ve used these in the past (the Nivea ones) and they work amazing! I haven’t yet used a Lush one, but I really want to. I’ll definitely be picking this up, I LOVE minty shower products. I’d definitely team it up with Intergalactic bath bomb. As you may have heard Lush have brought out some naked items this year including the body conditioners, body lotions and shower gels and creams. I don’t think I’d opt for the naked versions myself, they just sound and look too messy and fiddly.

• Once Upon A Time body lotion – 100g – £7.95 and 225g – £13.95 and 500g (link)
• Once Upon A Time naked body lotion – £7.95 (link)

So White looks to have been discontinued and in its place we have been gifted with Once Upon A Time body lotion AND a naked body lotion… I can’t complain, I have some sort of replacement BUT what if I didn’t want a body lotion? 😛 In all fairness I could do with moisturising my skin more, but I never feel like I have the time between working, blogging and being a lazy gaming moo. 😛 I wouldn’t mind giving this a go in store and seeing what I think. If anything I’d pick this up in the Boxing Day sale if it’s on offer.

• Snow Fairy sparkle jar – £6.95 (link)

Snow Fairy is one of my favourite Christmas scents and I remember quite a while ago now that Lush brought out a massage bar in the classic Lush Christmas scent. I never bought it and I regret it so much. I knew a few people who purely got it to burn and use as a wax melt. I wouldn’t do that myself as it’d be an expensive wax melt! BUT I would love to pick up the new sparkle jar version of this to use when me and Dane give each other back massages. He loves the Snow Fairy scent just as much as I do so this one is right up our streets. The one thing I don’t like about this is the shimmer inside. I wouldn’t really use it in all fairness so this product seems like a waste of money to me.

• Twilight sparkle jar – £6.95 (link)

This is exactly the same as the Snow Fairy sparkle jar, shimmer included! The only difference of course being the scent. This has the classic Twilight scent to it and although I’m swaying towards the Snow Fairy sparkle jar if I had to buy one, I also really like the sound of getting Twilight for back massages before bed. If I pick either of these up though it’ll be in the Boxing Day sales. 😛

FINALLY AFTER WRITING THIS POST FOR ABOUT 4 HOURS IT IS DONE! I’m not joking either. I’ve been faffing around from doing a live Instagram video, to messaging friends. It is finally done and here!

Overall what are my thoughts on Lush’s winter 2017 range? I’m pretty meh about it really. I know I have a decent list of products I want to smell and try but meh I don’t know what to think really. Apart from a couple of scents I don’t think majority of the products are actually anything to do with Christmas. When were citrus scents classed as Christmassy? Or a random pair of teeth and a man in the moon? I know a lot of people have said similar if not the same things as I have. I’ll buy some of the stuff but not as much as I will have bought in previous years, which to me is a shame.

When I get back from holiday I hope to go to Lush and check out ALL the new Christmas products and pick up a few bits. Hopefully anyway. 😛

What do you think of the Halloween and Christmas range this year? Make sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments down below.

Until next time all take car and I hope you’ve had an awesome weekend!