Lush Picks

November 3, 2015November 3, 20153 Comments

Lush is my latest obsession. Previously I thought it was over-rated and over-priced. Now I’ve done the full 180 and just can’t get enough.

Now that autumn is here and winter is coming, baths really come into their own. What better way to relax as it’s getting chilly outside than sinking down into a warm bath filled with bubbles? Light some candles, grab a book or magazine or prop up your laptop to watch something… It just can’t get any better, right?

Lush is expensive, there is no denying. Especially when you start thinking about cost per bath. However, I have come to love (and justify) it through a few very specific reasons. First, I don’t have a bath every single day but usually more as a weekend treat. When you’re only having one or two a week, it isn’t the biggest expense. They are also just so much more fun than ordinary bubbles, and the variety always makes choosing what to have exciting (sad, I know). Lastly, if you choose correctly, they make your skin feel amazing. The best ones leave it feeling soft, smooth and smelling delicious. All of the products are also handmade, cruelty free and come with eco-friendly packaging, so you’re doing your bit to save the world!

Here I’m going to talk about the latest products I picked up to give you some inspiration the next time you walk past one of their shops. Let the glitter commence…

Yuzu and Cocoa Bubbleroon: First up is one of my absolute favourites, the Yuzu and Cocoa Bubbleroon. This is one that you crumble into the bath to create big bubbles while turning the water a yellow colour (not the most appealing but I can look past that). You could easily break it in half by taking the ‘macaroon’ top off, but I just chucked the whole thing in as I don’t think you’d get enough bubbles with just half.

The scent was what drew me to it. I love citrus scents, and it has a blend of citrus oils in it so it smells wonderfully fruity, but with cocoa absolute it has a chocolatey undertone. It has cocoa butter and shea butter in it so it leaves your skin feeling so soft I just couldn’t get over it! Paired with the citrus scent this is without doubt one of my all time favourites.

Frozen Bath Bomb: Do you want to have a bath bomb? Do you want to splash and play..? This is one that I had been eyeing up for a while before I bought it. It just looked so exciting, big, blue and glittery! Unfortunately, this turned out to not be one of my favs.

Before I start, I will just throw out there that this has a very fresh scent, and I much prefer fruity sweet offerings. So I think it’s me rather than the bath bomb… It has a mix of grapefruit, rose and neroli oil in it, creating the fresh scent. As you can see from the pictures, it does make your bath look amazing as the bath bomb fizzes away, but one of the things that I didn’t like about it was that it just didn’t last. By the time I’d faffed around, got my book, taken my make up off etc etc and finally got into the bath, the swirls of bright blue and white and its bubbly, glittery mixture had pretty much disappeared. It did leave bright blue glittery water, but I would have preferred for the effects to last longer.

The scent also isn’t very strong. My skin didn’t smell of it afterwards and I couldn’t even really smell it while I was in the bath. Again, I can see how some people may enjoy something slightly more subtle, but I feel that when you are paying the money of a Lush bath bomb it should have more impact. So I probably won’t buy this one again, but that’s not to say that you may not enjoy it…

Brightside Bubble Bar: This one is another of my favourites and I’ve repurchased it which speaks for itself. It is one of Lush’s pricier offerings at £4.95 but you get two decent baths out of it. The Bubble Bars are very similar to the Bubbleroons in that they create nice big bubbles while colouring the water, have strong scents and usually leave your skin feeling soft.

This is another citrusy one which perhaps explains why I love it so much. This one has mandarin, bergamot and tangerine essential oils in it, so it has an amazing, orange scent. As you can see, it also looks beautiful and creates amazing big bubbles. This bubble bar leaves your skin feeling so soft and the scent really lingers on your skin afterwards (but not in a way that just makes you smell like a walking orange).

Even though it does seem like quite an extravagance compared to some of the other bath bombs, I would highly highly recommend trying out this Bubble Bar or one of the others if you prefer a different scent (the Comforter is another really popular one, which smells of blackcurrant). One tip I have for the Bubble Bars.. Lush tell you to crumble them under running water. I’ve found that simply holding them under the water and letting the water break it up actually makes more bubbles. It takes longer but is definitely worth it.

Sparkly Pumpkin Bubble Bar: Last of all is the Sparkly Pumpkin Bubble Bar, undoubtedly one of their cutest concoctions! This is limited edition for Halloween so unfortunately you can’t get it any more, but they currently have the Holly Golightly bubble bar in for Christmas (which looks like a silver, sparkly Christmas pud) and that’s a similar idea.

This Bubble Bar is very, very glittery. I think that is the unanimous first impression that everyone has of it, and I actually haven’t tried this one yet! It smells delicious with a blend of juniperberry, grapefruit and lime oils and it has a little cinnamon stick on top. I imagine that it will be very similar to the other Bubble Bars in the amount of bubbles it creates (meaning that it can only really be used for one bath). I’m slightly nervous about the glitter situation, as I don’t want to come out looking like a glitterball. The Frozen Bath Bomb actually left lots of glitter on me, but that had disappeared by the morning – so I hope this will be the same!

I’m now starting to get excited about Lush’s Christmas collection and I’m sure some of the bubble bars and bath bombs will feature on the blog soon! What’s your favourite thing from Lush?

How to spend … November

November 1, 2015November 1, 2015Leave a comment

For the past three years, I seem to have missed autumn. Shivering as temperatures dropped in the center of Newcastle, trapped in my room reading books to complete my degree, I completely failed to notice the changing colours. Now I’m back home in Kent, I’m amazed (and sad) that I haven’t seen them for three years.

So here are my suggestions on how to spend November, based on what I’m planning to do. A month’s bucket list if you will…

Get outside: As I have just stressed above, it’s looking beautiful out there at the moment. If you have a dog then you really have no excuse to not be out enjoying the season. If you don’t then grab a friend, your family, your partner, whoever and head out into the countryside. The best walks always go past a pub, so you can rest your feet for a while and refuel. This is also a good bribe for the less enthusiastic walking buddies.

November is a great month for this because it’s not freezing yet. Soon enough it’ll be so cold we’ll all be reluctant to leave the house, so now is the time to enjoy the fine-ish (if a bit crisp) weather while we’ve still got it.

See fireworks: Remember, remember the 5th of November … Bonfire Night has always been a thing in my family. We love a good firework display. We would always have fireworks set off in our back garden and between rockets we would run around with sparklers spelling out our names. Don’t you just love the smell of smoke in the air around Bonfire Night, and the crackle and bangs from distant firework displays?

Whether you have them in your back garden, build a bonfire and throw a Guy onto it, attend a local display, get a pack of sparklers or simply watch someone else’s rockets go off from an upstairs window, see some fireworks!

Whip up some baked treats: A great way to warm up the house as the evenings get colder is by having the oven pumping out some heat, while you warm yourself up by hand stirring mixture! Check out my chocolate orange cupcakes or I always think bread is a great thing to be making around this time of year. Plus, freshly baked bread makes the entire house smell delicious. Combine going out for a walk with some tea and cake for afters – guaranteed to go down a treat!

Get reading: Whether you like to peruse a cookbook for recipe inspiration, flick through the fashion pages of the latest Vogue or get lost in a good story, now is a great time to bury your head in a book. As December creeps up on us, we will start getting busier and busier in the build up to Christmas. Now is the lovely calm before the storm, and taking some time to yourself is always a great idea. Choose a relaxed setting, settle down in a bubble filled bath or curl up with a blanket and cup of tea by the fire, light plenty of candles and turn your phone off (or at least to silent). The best way to enjoy a good book.

Go to the cinema: In the summer, I always think that going to the cinema should be saved for rainy days only. Being cooped up inside while the sun is shining seems utterly pointless. However, we’ve left summer behind now and that changes everything. If books and reading aren’t your thing, then there are so many good films on at the moment! Of course, the main attraction is the shiny new James Bond film (which my local cinema is showing hourly) but don’t forget about Suffragette and Pan.

How are you planning on spending November?

Speedy London Breakfast: Gail’s

October 29, 2015October 27, 2015Leave a comment

Today is my first London post! While I don’t live in London (yet…) I do spend a large chunk of my week there, working at the office and camping in my boyfriend’s room. This post will be the first of many!

An early wake up call and an hour to spare before work called for a breakfast stop. Luckily, I knew just the place.

Popping up all over London now, Gail’s Artisan Bakery was originally founded when it proved impossible to find the perfect loaf of bread in the UK’s capital. Fortunately for us, with Gail’s on the block that is no longer a problem.

Gail’s entices you with naughty delights and a quiet space to sit and enjoy your treats. You can choose from a vast selection of breads (of course!) but also pastries, cakes, sandwiches and excellent coffee. Although the Gail’s we visited is surrounded by offices and building sites, you wouldn’t know it looking out of the window, as they have an outdoor seating area enclosed by greenery.

As it was quite early in the morning and we didn’t have a lot of time, we didn’t opt for the brunch menu (but if you have more time, you definitely should!) Instead, we couldn’t resist the pastry selection.

After much (much) debate over which to choose and how many, we settled for the classic croissant, a pain au chocolat and an almond croissant.

As we had hoped, they did not disappoint. The pastry was beautifully flaky and they made for a very filling, delicious breakfast! The staff are really friendly and if you go there reasonably early on a weekday morning, like we did, then you pretty much get the entire place to yourself and (more importantly) first choice of the pastries.

If dragging yourself out of bed to go out for breakfast isn’t your thing, then I imagine the cake selection for a lazy afternoon tea would be an equally special treat. Just pick a time, grab some friends and share the bread and cake around … what more could you ask for?!

October Favourites

October 27, 2015October 27, 2015Leave a comment

October has been a busy, busy month. I got a job and started it a week later, I set up this blog and I’ve been rushing backwards and forwards between London and Kent, trying to find a new routine. I’m not quite there yet, and I’m living a strange mish mash life of living at home, living as a student (with my boyfriend in his student digs) and being a proper grown up with a proper job. It’s all been very weird but fun!

October has been a month of copious Pretty Little Liars episodes (I’m only on Season 2 and I do not want to talk about it with anyone for fear of it being ruined for me, so we are not going to discuss it here either), warming Starbucks dates after work and shopping the sales. It’s also started to get a lot colder and I’m pulling out all of my favourite coats again. I love coats, and I love falling back in love with my collection at this time of year. The current one I’m favouring is a camel coat I bought at a market in Australia four years ago. My ultimate favourite is my Barbour, but I’m leaving that in the wardrobe for the moment because I feel that pulling it out is to admit that winter really is here.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings. Here are the things that I’ve been loving this month…

Mulberry Continental Wallet

Now, I admit that this is a pricey favourite to kick off with, and I had decided originally to not include it at all. However, having used (and loved) it for a few months now, I have some things to say about it that I would loved to have known before I bought it.

I bought this purse at Bicester Village back in the summer with some of my birthday money. As you can see, I clearly did not purchase it while I was in a practical mood. It’s beautiful, but it’s hardly a classic colour, there’s a big plaque on the front that can scratch easily and (worse of all) I went for the smooth leather, rather than the classic grain. The soft leather purses with a printed grain effect were there as well, but somehow they just didn’t feel as luxurious. It seemed so beautiful and delicate that I was too scared to use the thing for a whole month.

However, it has now been knocking around in my bag for several months and I just had to report on how it was doing. Amazingly, it is holding up really well. I was convinced that after a week in my bag, it would be scratched, stained and ruined. While that is probably an exaggeration, it turns out that I didn’t have to worry. As long as you think through what else is in there with it (think especially carefully about keeping your keys far, far away!), the soft, scratchable leather is absolutely fine. As for the colour, your purse doesn’t necessarily have to match everything, like a handbag does, so if you want to get a daring colour – go for it!

Lush Baths

I don’t want to chat on too much here because it’s a bit of a spoiler of another upcoming post (keep your eyes peeled for a Lush haul!) but I’m not normally a bath gal. I find them boring. But for some reason, this month I have been loving baths and Lush has a big part in that. I’m steadily working my way through the range and I promise to report back, but here’s the cute little Sparkly Pumpkin – perfect for Halloween! Word of warning: be wary of the glitter.

Olivia Burton Big Dial Watch

This was another 21st birthday present which I was so happy to receive having lusted after it for months. After much deliberation I chose the big dial style (despite having tiny wrists) and the navy and rose gold colour way (despite knowing that black would be far more sensible). I also chose it knowing that I hate wearing watches and bracelets on my left wrist, but I’m right handed so they just get in the way, I get annoyed with them and then I never wear them. However, this watch has overcome all of the above problems.

Yes, the watch face is large, but it doesn’t completely swamp my tiny wrists and (more importantly) it doesn’t ever get in the way and it’s not annoying to wear. I’ve also not had any problems with the colour and I wear it every single day. To be honest, navy can be taken for black from a distance anyway, so that’s actually made it a really good option.

All the neutral shades!

Summer is a time for brights, which is fun, but not really for me when it comes to make-up. I much prefer and feel far more comfortable in neutral shades, and I feel that autumn is really the time that you can wear them without looking just … boring.

For nails I have been obsessed with Essie’s Limo-scene. I have spent a really long time looking for the perfect nude nail varnish, and while Essie’s Vanity Fairest is another nice option, it’s a little bit too pink and it has shimmer in it. Limo-scene is slightly whiter, without making it look like you’re wearing Tippex, with a nice shine to its finish but nothing too drastic. Great for when you want to look professional!

I’m not normally one for lipgloss, but the L’Oreal GlamShine Stain Splash in Lolita is the exception. It has a really nice, shiny finish (without making your lips look like they could double as mirrors), it isn’t sticky at all and the colour is a perfect ‘your lips but better’ shade for me. I’m also obsessed with the smell which is like artificial berries, perhaps not to everyone’s taste but I love it. I always find this a great option for when you can’t be bothered to wear lipstick but you still want to look nice.

Finally, a very unoriginal favourite but I love it so much I couldn’t not include it: Mac’s Velvet Teddy. If you’ve been wanting to try this amidst the hype for it a few months ago but haven’t bought it yet, I urge you to go and get it! It’s one of their Matte lipsticks, and I was worried that this would make it drying but it doesn’t at all. You don’t need to constantly reapply as it fades really nicely throughout the day. While it is a brown lipstick, it has more than enough pink in there to make it really flattering and not too scary to wear. I could go on and on!

I hope you all had a wonderful October, I’m looking forward to November, even though it’s definitely getting a lot darker and colder now!

Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

October 25, 2015October 25, 20153 Comments

These cupcakes are absolutely perfect for Halloween next week and even … I’m going to say it … Christmas!! They are chocolate orange marbled cupcakes with chocolate buttercream icing and lots of sprinkles. The perfect treat for all of the dark, cold, long evenings we have to look forward to.

Now, while I am a devoted Bake Off fan and a lover of large wedges of cake, I’m unfortunately not a gifted baker. Part of the problem is that I am part of a family of enthusiastic and talented bakers. My mum is the best at birthday cakes (always has been, always will be) and my sister makes absolutely exceptional scones. Me on the other hand, I prefer to sit back and let them do the work.

So for this blog post I roped my sister in, as if I hadn’t it would have ended in complete disaster. This is also her own recipe, so not letting her join in seemed a little unfair.

CHOCOLATE ORANGE CUPCAKES
Makes 16 small cupcakes.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

100g butter (at room temperature)
100g caster sugar
93g flour (a weird measurement which will make sense later)
2 eggs
7g cocoa powder
Zest of half an orange
Dessert spoon of freshly squeezed orange juice

For the icing:

300g icing sugar, sifted
100g butter (room temperature)
40g cocoa powder, sifted
40ml milk
Festive decorations!

Method

Preheat the oven to 160 Fan or 350 Fahrenheit.

Using two mixing bowls, place half of the butter and sugar and 1 egg in each. Put 50g for flour in one bowl and 43g of flour in the other.

In the bowl that has less flour, sift in the cocoa powder. In the other, put in the orange zest and juice and mix until well incorporated.

Get two tablespoons and two teaspoons (a pair for each mixture) and spoon the mixture into the cupcakes cases, putting in half orange mix and half chocolate. The cases need to be about 3/4 full.

Using another, clean teaspoon, swirl the two mixtures together in the cupcake cases while being careful to not just mix them into a chocolatey orangey mess.

Put them in the oven for 10-15 minutes (keep an eye on them!)

When they are golden in colour and bounce back when you touch them, they are ready. Place on a wire rack to cool.

For the icing, simply put all of the ingredients into a bowl (apart from the decorations obviously) and mix together. Wait until the cupcakes are completely cool before icing them. We used a piping bag but feel free to just dollop it on and smooth out using a spoon or a knife.

Finally, get decorating! This is always my favourite part of making cupcakes, but especially when you have a seasonal theme to follow. We found our scary faces sugar decorations, golden stars, bronze sprinkles and the cupcake cases in Waitrose, but pretty much all supermarkets do great ones and you can find all sorts online.

Sit back with a nice cup of tea and enjoy!

Also, a quick final note… I’m going to be playing around with my scheduling a little bit just to work out what I like best. I’m going to start posting on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 6pm and see how I go. Three posts a week is quite a lot to churn out, so it might not stay that way, but for now that’s the plan!

Sunday Brunch: Graze Kitchen and Bar

October 21, 2015October 20, 2015Leave a comment

I’m sorry if it’s painful to talk about the weekend on Wednesday, when it just seems so far away… But this brunch was too good to not share with you!

My sister, Rosie, and I often go cruising down the high street where we live with our eyes peeled for new eateries. It seems to be the thing of the moment for our hometown: a new day, a new cafe opens up. While we’ve been promising to go to a few now, there was one that we had to visit as soon as we spotted it.

Previously a very dodgy pub, this cute little building on the bridge overlooking the river has completely turned itself around into an all day eatery. Graze Kitchen and Bar opens early to provide busy commuters with espressos and pastries and then stays open into the night offering sharing platters and cocktails. Choosing when to go was a tricky decision!

However, rumour had it that their brunch menu was the best, and what better day to brunch than a Sunday?!

We arrived reasonably early and got in easily. The dining space is fairly small but nicely spread out, so we didn’t feel as though we were sharing our fellow brunchers’ coffees and conversations. We sat by the window and watched the world go by.

The menu is varied and (to our pleasant surprise) not too expensive. If you are in a hurry you can opt for the bircher muesli or pastry selection, or if you have more time you can go for the full ‘graze breakfast’ (essentially a full English with a more original name).

We, of course, had plenty of time so I chose the graze breakfast and Rosie went for the American Pancakes with maple syrup and bacon. These delicious offerings shared the table with a luxury hot chocolate, a pot of tea and apple juice.

The portion sizes are generous and service is quick but not rushed. The poached eggs were OK but nothing to write home about but this was the Graze brunch’s only downfall. Happily, there were so many marshmallows on top of the hot chocolate that drinking it was a bit of a challenge at first (the only way a hot chocolate should be)!

So if you’re in the area, skip Starbucks or the Waitrose cafe and walk that bit further up the high street for Graze. It is 100% worth it.

Book Reviews: Young Adult Fiction

October 18, 2015October 18, 2015Leave a comment

Now, before I start this book review (or in fact any book reviews), I have a confession to make. I am a book snob. It’s what spending three years doing an English Literature degree does to you.

I used to be a real snob, and would only read classics. I got over that once I went to uni, but still completely avoided the ‘Young Adult’ section of any book shop that I went into. I don’t care what other people choose to read, but I just couldn’t bring myself to pick any YA up and take it seriously. I read so much of it as a young teenager that I simply felt too old for it.

I then finished my degree. The one thing that an English Literature degree does is completely exhaust you of reading. The summer began, the time that I usually read as many books as I can squeeze in, and I just couldn’t read anymore. So I went on a hunt for an ‘easy’ read and this finally pushed me towards to YA section.

My first stop was Amy Alward’s ‘The Potion Diaries’. To be honest, I was attracted by the cover (it’s just so pretty!) This was an unusual choice for me because not only was it YA, but it’s also fantasy. The story follows a young alchemist called Samantha Kemi, who joins the kingdom’s Wilde Hunt to find a cure for the princess, who has poisoned herself with a love potion.

It’s a fun read and the tale bounds along, keeping up a high pace but it’s nothing major. I found the characters to be a bit flat and there’s no real sense of time – they just jump from one expedition to the next. However, it was exactly what I was looking for. While the conclusion isn’t exactly surprising (three guesses for how the love interest part of the plot turns out…) it’s an easy read and the story line bursts with imagination. I really enjoyed the magical parts of the plot and the fact it was focused on alchemists – I don’t usually read books like it so that made it really fun and a bit different.

Next up, All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. Another YA of course, but this one is more realistic and takes place in a school. It follows the love of Violet and Finch, who meet on top of the school’s bell tower as they both consider taking their own lives. As the front cover says, it’s ‘the story of a girl who learns to live from a boy who wants to die’.

This book was amazing. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt so strongly about a book, and felt really sad when I finished it (that’s when you can tell it was great!) While I thought Violet was a bit of a drip, Finch’s character really made this book for me. He was such a well written character and I could really imagine interacting with him in real life.

I’ve seen really mixed reactions to this book, as it deals with mental illness which is always a tricky and emotionally charged subject. I can see other people’s points that Finch is defined by bipolar, suggesting that he is his illness which is a terrible way to consider people that actually suffer from it. I tried not to get too caught up in this though and just enjoyed the book and Finch for what they were.

So there was my experimentation with YA this summer. I really enjoyed both but I can’t decide what to read next… I know that The Fault in Our Stars is the really obvious choice, and I’ve never watched the film but I’m not really one for super sad books. Once I’ve made up my mind, I will keep you posted!

Hello!!

October 17, 2015October 17, 20152 Comments

Hello! Welcome to my new blog. It seems that the whole world is setting up a blog these days so having been a long time admirer of the blogging world, I thought it was about time I did my own.

My name is Sarah and I am a recent graduate of Newcastle University, launched into the real world to fend for myself. I have just got a job at The Field magazine as Editorial Assistant (a miracle that I thank my lucky stars for daily). Magazines, as you may or may not know, is a tough old industry to break into, so in the age old situation of “beggars can’t be choosers”, my job is part-time. While I’m having a great time on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, after just one week I’ve discovered that Tuesdays and Fridays are a bit dull. OK, perhaps not the Fridays (when are Fridays ever dull?), but definitely Tuesdays.

It turned out that a boring Tuesday was exactly what I needed to finally kick start me into writing the blog that I’ve been umming and ahhing about for well over a year.

So – here it is! Expect ramblings about books (I love books), food (I also love food!) and a bit of beauty and fashion if I ever feel that my photography skills are up for that challenge. I also plan to talk all things magazines to pass on what I’m learning, my ongoing struggle with running (the thing that I really do love but remembering that can be freaking hard at times) and whatever else takes my fancy!

Hope you enjoy! Lots of love, Sarah x

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