Lush haul and first impressions

On
Wednesday, 30 March 2016
On bank holiday Monday, Ollie and I went back to Tunbridge Wells and back into Lush- after I spent an evening there on Saturday. Read about it here. I had tried their Prince Charming soap I got in my goodie bag- there will be a separate post on that, and thought about switching my shampoo and conditioner to natural products. I spent the entire evening on Sunday going through the catalogue and circling every item I wanted- I will have to go back as I couldn't afford to get everything I wanted in one go!
 
I knew I wanted to pick up a shampoo and conditioner, but had been interested in the dry shampoo Lush do. I normally use either Tresemme or Batiste, but I don't like how they make my hair feel or the drying feeling they leave on my hands once I've worked the product through. What interested me with this product is that it is in a bottle, rather than a spray so I'm able to control how much I use and not go through it super quick like I do with the sprays. I opened the lid in the store and got the most amazing smell ever! It smells like grapefruit and lime, not chemicals which Tresemme and Batiste smell like. I knew from the moment I saw the product in store that I needed to get it, so I took the plunge and I must say I am impressed! It doesn't leave any horrible feeling in my hair or on my hands when I work the products in. I can apply it straight to my hair or into my hands and work it through that way. I have also tried applying it with a makeup brush which works just as well as I can concentrate on areas which need more dry shampoo and I know I won't waste the product. I can always apply a little more product if I need and I'm able to control how much product comes out in the first place. I would recommend this product to anyone who goes through dry shampoo crazy quick, who wants a natural dry shampoo which won't damage your hair and anyone who wants a dry shampoo which smells amazing! They only do the one fragrance, but it's not overpowering so if you don't like grapefruit that much, it doesn't smell strong!

Seeing as I have been given the challenge to go cruelty free, I saw that they do liquid lipsticks. I jumped on the bandwagon and caved into the MAC retro liquid lipsticks. This one is great apart from two reasons. Number 1) they test on animals! And number 2) it is very drying on my lips and starts to flake off and doesn't look attractive at all-a big no no for dry lips! I become a hot mess, not an attractive look! In the catalogue I couldn't decide what colour I wanted as they all looked so good, but when I saw them in the store I saw one almost identical to my MAC liquid lipstick so I knew this was the one. I got the shade decisive which is slightly lighter than my MAC liquid lipstick, but still pretty close in colour! The biggest difference I noticed was that the formulas were completely opposite! While the MAC liquid lipstick dries to a complete matte finish, the lush one doesn't and I actually think I prefer this. It gives my lips the opportunity to move rather than be stiff, dry or flake off. Lush has an amazing colour range to pick from and Seb, the consultant in Tunbridge Wells told me if I was brave enough or if I liked blues, that you can even go for the cream eyeshadows! I'm not that brave, but as it came from a Lush consultant, you are able to use the cream eyeshadows on your lips. I am super impressed with the liquid lipstick that Lush have to offer, I was kinda expecting them to be drying and make my lips look flakey and gross, but they don't at all. A big thumbs up from me! If you suffer with dry lips but love the liquid lipstick look, go get yourself a Lush Liquid lipstick! I promise you won't be disappointed!

While browsing through the catalogue I saw the toothy tabs. I was curious as to what this product was, so naturally I had to try it. I picked up boom as it contains active charcoal- which help to whiten teeth. When I opened the bottle, it smelt like cherry coke, which I'm not a big fan of but it didn't tatse like it. It has an aniseed taste which I'm able to get over- even though I hate aniseed! As it's a natural ingredient, I wanted to try to whiten my teeth this way rather than pay stupid amounts of money to end up with white, but sensitve teeth. In the tube you get 100 tabs, which for £5.95 is a little much in my opinion considering you only get 100 tabs, but there are other tabs for £4.95 containing 100 tabs also. I used one the other night, doing exactly as the label instructed- nibble until it starts to foam. Once it started to foam, I rinsed my toothbrush under running water and proceeded to brush my teeth. What happened next I should have been prepared for, all of a sudden there was black all in my sink! I really don't know how I didn't expect that to happen, but it did! Luckily when I rinsed my mouth out, there wasn't any black remaining in my mouth so I felt relieved. As I've only used this product once, I can't say I saw much of a difference, but I will keep a log of how my teeth look after I use it each time and see if there is a difference. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a natural tooth 'paste' and to check out the other options. They even do powders which you mix with a little water!

As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to try a shampoo and conditioner. The shampoo I picked up was Big. It's a sea salt shampoo which helps to cleanse the scalp. The sea salt helps to lift hair and add body, which helps with volume- yes I have thick hair but I don't always get the volume I want. The seaweed is protein-rich and coconut oil helps to make the hair feel soft. There is also lemon and lime included in which helps the hair to shine and reflects light. So far I've used this once and already my hair feels a lot healthier compared to my normal shampoo. I've noticed a slight bit of volume, but I let my hair air dry, whereas I'd probably got more volume if I had used a hair dryer. The conditioner I chose to go for was Veganese. I was drawn to this product as it didn't weigh the hair down but still makes your hair feel super soft. It contains seaweed which helps to soften the hair and it also contains lemon oil and juice- like the shampoo to help with shine. This conditioner also contains lavender and rosemary to help soothe the scalp. My hair feels so soft, even after I straightened it which doesn't happen after using my normal conditioner. It would feel soft after I washed it and let it air dry but as soon as it came in contact with heat, game over! I will defiantly be using lush shampoo and conditioners from now on and I can't wait to use the rest in the range and the solid shampoo and conditioners too! 

Now I didn't actually use the massage bar as I don't feel too stressed at the moment. But when I do use it, I'll let you know what I think of it. I picked up therapy and Seb told me a cool fact about it. It's a good bar for pregnant woman as it helps to reduce stretch marks and it has the weird bump sticking out because 1 in 4 babies is an outie! How cute is that! As soon as Seb told me, I had to get it! It smells incredible and I really can't wait to use it!

I will post a mini review of therapy on Instagram so make sure you're following me! 

Xx

Sara

Possible giveaway?

On
Tuesday, 29 March 2016
So I see a lot of other bloggers doing giveaways and I want to do one, but I don't want to feel like I'm leaving people out when doing this giveaway- if you understand what I'm saying..
I want to include EVERYONE in this giveaway so it's not just aimed at beauty bloggers or lifestyle bloggers. I will be doing a poll on twitter- make sure to follow me to vote saralouisehxo, and I also want you to comment on this post as to what items you would like to see in a giveaway.

Please bear in mind that this will be coming from my own money, so I won't be able to go crazy and give you everything that is commented, I wish I could, I just can't offer that right now.

Also can someone tell me if I've used the right bear, or if it's bare I need to be using.. I really have no idea, my brain can't seem to function after the bank holiday weekend!

Xoxo

Instagram- saralouisehxo
Twitter- saralouisehxo

Lush blogger event

On
Monday, 28 March 2016
So on Saturday evening Lush in Tunbridge Wells held their first blogger event. I was lucky enough to grab an invite and I'm so glad I did. I haven't been to a blogger event before so I wasn't quite sure what to expect, only that I would be experiencing how they make their products and information about the seasonal products they have.

When I first got there and was waiting outside with Ollie, I was really nervous as there were a lot of people around- some who were attending the event and some who weren't. As I have social anxiety I wasn't 100% sure I could do this on my own but as the doors opened and I said goodbye to Ollie, I started to feel at ease. As soon as we entered the store we were given sticky labels with our name and blog name on so we could identify who everyone was. 


To begin with there weren't that many people in the store so I thought only a few people had got an invite. Once I had been given my name, I started talking to a couple of other bloggers- shoutout to amylilyanne, courtneydoesbeauty and mslilypad for making me feel a bit more comfortable! We started talking about if we were bloggers or youtubers- amylilyanne and courtneydoesbeauty are bloggers, go check them out! And mslilypad is a youtuber, make sure to subscribe to her channel! After we had been talking for a little bit we went upstairs and put our coats and bags to one side. By this point there were a lot more bloggers and youtubers around and Amy spotted Ottilie- check out her blog oisforottilie. I also met Jen- tabbycatcollars from Instagram, make sure to check out her page too. 


We then moved around the table to where there was a demonstration of a bathbomb was happening. It was interesting to see the ingredients used and how the ball shape was formed. I had a go at making my own bathbomb which I'm still waiting to test out- we were told to leave it for at least 24h but I think I overpacked mine! 


After we had made the bathbombs, we moved on to making Cupcake, the face mask. I will admit that I've tried this mask a long time ago when I was at college and due to the products we used there, anything would react to my skin- including this mask. I wanted to give this mask another shot as it was a few years ago that I was at college and my skin doesn't tend to react to many products nowadays. As soon as the cocoa was added to the mixture the room was filled with this yummy chocolate smell. Again I am waiting to use this product as a little part of me is worried I will react so I will try it over the weekend. 





After everyone had taken some of the face mask we went downstairs and were shown how a few of the products worked. We were shown Humpty Dumpty, which came first?, golden egg, bunch of carrots and ultraviolet. We were shown what was inside Humpty Dumpty and which came first? As well as how frothy bunch of carrots and ultraviolet were. The smells of these were incredible and the colours were bright and inviting. Golden egg was shown last and smelt unreal! It's a toffee smell and I couldn't get over how glittery it was! I wanted to drink the water as it smelt so good- don't worry, I wouldn't actually drink the water! We were also shown sunnyside as we were going to be making these later. The way it left the water was so pretty and sparkly!












After we had been shown the different seasonal products, we went back upstairs and created our own sunnyside bubble bars. We got to create whatever shape we wanted so I chose a heart. Sunnyside is packed full of orange and tangerine oils so smells amazing! It has glitter in which doesn't have a coating over the top making it safer to use meaning it's not bad for your skin or the environment! 


When all the fun of creating our own products was over, we got a goodie bag. In the goodie bag was a catalogue, our bits we made earlier and then some treats we got to pick. I picked Prince Charming shower gel, rub rub rub body scrub, yuzu and cocoa bubbleroon and it started with a kiss lip tint. I also had vanillary thrown in my bag which smells so good, even if Ollie doesn't like it. It's a solid perfume so it's perfect for on the go! 


I had an amazing time, I want to thank all the staff at Lush in Tunbridge Wells for the invite, making it a great night and want to say well done on your first blogger event, it went really well! I also want to thank the amazing people I met on Saturday for making me feel at ease with my anxiety- even though I didn't look like I was freaking out, I was on the inside, so thank you Amy, Courtney, Ottilie and Jen for talking to me and making me feel super comfortable. I can't wait to attend more blogger events in the future! 

Xoxo

Instagram- saralouisehxo 
Twitter- saralouisehxo 


Lush blogger event makeup

On
Sunday, 27 March 2016
So yesterday evening Lush in Tunbridge Wells held their first blogger event- I will be doing another post this week. I thought I'd post the makeup I wore last night. 

I started by cleansing my face with the Liz Earle cleanse and polish. As I'm still testing this out, I won't go into too much detail on it as I'll be doing a review soon. This makes me skin feel really soft and I love the tingling feeling it gives. After I had cleansed my face I used my Clinique pep-start and turnaround overnight revitalising moisturiser. I know this is meant for using at night but my skin has been so dry lately that I need a heavier moisturiser. 


Primer- Smashbox pore minimising primer.
Foundation- Estée Lauder double wear.
Powder- No7 loose powder.
Bronzer- Benefit hoola bronzer.
Blusher- No7 powder blusher.
Highlighter- Makeup Revolution sculpt and contour kit.
Eyeshadow primer- Urban Decay primer potion.
Eyeshadow- Urban Decay naked 2 palette.
Eyebrows- Makeup Revolution arch and shape brow pen, Benefit gimme brow.
Mascara- Too Faced better than sex.
Setting spray- Makeup Revolution oil control fixing spray.

I will have my lush blogger event post up this week and my Liz Earle cleanse and polish review up soon.

Xoxo

Instagram- saralouisehxo 
Twitter- saralouisehxo 



My thoughts are with Belgium

On
Tuesday, 22 March 2016
Sitting here at work reading the Telegraph's update on the unfortunate events that have happened in Belgium this morning.

We live in such a cruel world where a small minority think they can decide that blowing up places is acceptable. It is NOT acceptable! It's cruel and devastating for everyone effected and the rest of the world. Reading the update earlier showed pictures of armed police in Copenhagen, Spain, Amsterdam, Frankfurt. This needs to stop! People need to stop thinking they can go around and destroy people's lives, who gave them the right to ruin and end innocent people's lives?! How many more times are we going to have to endure such heartache and loss before it comes to an end?

Please whatever you do, don't blame a whole religion or race or ethnic group like people have in the past. It is only a small amount of these religions, races and ethnic groups which cause such heart ache and pain and blaming the whole religion, race or ethnic group will only make things worse. We want to stand together and build each other up, not tear each other down in times of need and help.

I was looking through the hashtag #prayforbrussels on Instagram and one user posted a picture which said 'I see humans, not humanity'. 

My heart aches for all these attacks, they need to stop and no matter how much we pray, or protest, or have those effected in our thoughts and hearts, it will never change and that's the worst part of all!

Let's pray and keep all those effected in our thoughts. We are stronger than any terrorist attack and we will stand together to help and fight back!

Mini haul

On
Monday, 21 March 2016
Yesterday Ollie and I went to Tunbridge Wells. I, of course, had to do a bit of shopping and kinda went a little crazy. I can't help it when it comes to shopping, I have to buy everything I see!

I started by going to boots. In boots there was a woman handing out samples of Sanctuary foaming Micellar water. I got a sample and I can't wait to try it out and see how well it removes my mascara. I also found some face tanning mitts in the clearence section for 50p so I got 3 as it'll be good if I want to apply tan to my face or mix it into my moisturiser.


Of course I went into MAC and got another paint pot. I own painterly and I love it, but I wanted a different colour as I use painterly as a base. I had seen camel coat before but chose not to get it. I decided this time I was going to get it and I'm glad I did. I love the colour of it and it applies so smooth to the lids.


I then went into accessorise and brought some rose gold plated rings from their Z collection. These rings are to die for! They're so small and the design of them is just so cute. They came with 4 rings which you can stack or wear along. They also have little 'diamonds' in which give an amazing sparkle!

While waiting for our friends to meet us, we went into Superdrug. I was just having a little look and came across NKD SKN wash off tan in medium for 85p! This I thought was perfect as I don't tan often and when I do it goes orange and patchy. This wash off tan is perfect as I'll be able to wash it off it goes orange or patchy- kinda like a practice tan to help me apply tan properly! I can also build up the tan to reach the colour I desire. I also brought some hand sanitiser as Ollie was complaining that I didn't have any on me.

After we had met our friends we got a coffee. I got a vanilla bean Macchiato- my new fave, and a Montery Jack cheese toastie. This was so good, it had a chillie jelly inside so it had a bit of a kick but wasn't too overpowering.

We then left Tunbridge Wells town centre and went to the industrial estate just down the road. Here they have all sorts of shops such as Johl Lweis home, New Looks, Next TKMaxx, Asda, Hobby Craft, M&S, McDonalds, KFC, Subway and Costa- and so much more. We went into TKMaxx and straight away I went to the makeup to see what discounts they had. I picked up a few products but put them back as I didn't need the products I picked up. I did however buy a wine glass. This was to keep at Ollie's in case we have a drink in the evening but I ended up taking it home and using it last night. It has a slight mirror effect at the top which is a nice effect as it can help me see if I've drunk too much- all jokes aside, I don't tend to drink.

After we had been into TKMaxx, Ollie and his friend Luke went back to the car while Danielle and I went into New Look. I was looking around at the sale items as well as bags and seeing what they had in which was new. I was looking to buy a smart top which I could wear with leggings, but I realised that I have lots of tops similar to the ones I had seen and decided I didn't need anything.

I didn't need half of what I brought but I liked them and had seen some of the products before and had debated whether or not to get them.

If you want to see more haul posts, let me know. Or if you have any posts you'd like to see, tell me and I'll be happy to post them.

Xoxo

Instagram- saralouisehxo
Twitter- saralouisehxo



 

Something exciting

So a few weeks ago Lush in Tunbridge Wells posted to their Instagram saying they're having a blogger event and for all interested bloggers/vloggers/youtubers to send them a message. I thought it was worth a shot so I sent them a message- without posting my blog and thought nothing of it but when I hadn't heard back and saw they were still advertising, I sent another email tagging my blog this time. Now I'm never normally lucky when it comes to things like this or winning prizes so It wasn't normal for me to start thinking I won't get this. A few days went by and I still hadn't heard anything, until I was checking my emails at work and noticed one with #LushSpring in the subjet box. I thought to myself I'm never this lucky so opened the email up and found my invite for the event! I was over the moon and I just couldn't believe it. I was going to the Lush blogger event!

The event is this Saturday at 6:30pm, so I will see if I'm able to get some behind the scenes pictures and will have a whole post on it next week! I am so excited to go and meet other bloggers/vloggers in the area. Watch this space next week to see all the behind the scenes, products I've made and people I've met

Xoxo

Instagram- saralouisehxo
Twitter- saralouisehxo