creativity and positivity: May 2016

LUSH REVIEW: "LAVA LAMP" BATH BOMB

Hello everyone! So after my last post and haul video a few of you showed some interest in the newly released bath bomb "Lava Lamp", so I thought I would do a proper review on it and give you all my honest opinion after having used it. Aaand I haven't done a proper review in quite a long time so here we go!

LOOKS:

I really love the deep orange colour of this product, and the purple bath oil discs give it a very cute almost alienesque face! It sort of reminds me of Zippy from the classic TV show Rainbow! The bath bomb has recently been reforumlated for nationwide release, after previous issues with the bath oil and staining, but I'll come to this later. It's not my favourite design and it's similar to it's sister bath bomb from the Valentine's range, Lover's Lamp, which I have to say I prefer!

OVERALL: 7/10

SCENT:

The smell is so fresh and exactly how what you expect. Orange flower absolute and tangerine oil give it a wonderful citrus scent and the organic cocoa butter add that lovely chocolate tone. It smells very much like a chocolate orange, but mine was just a bit more fruity!

OVERALL: 8/10

IN THE BATH:

"Lava Lamp" doesn't put on much of a display in the bath, but it is really interesting to see the purple oils form in the bath! The bomb itself was quite a quick fizzer, which I both love and kind of hate, but the oils never really dissolved fully. This was a huge issue for me, as they did stain my skin in the bath. It wasn't so severe that it couldn't be washed off, but my skin was still left with a slightly purple tinge. I have used bath oils before and I haven't really had any issue like that, so I was quite disappointed in that respect.

OVERALL: 5/10

THE FINAL RESULT:

My camera definitely didn't pick up how vividly orange the water was, instead showing this sort of golden tinge to it. The water was bright and gorgeous, and the oils did leave my skin feeling extremely soft, even if I did kind of resemble Barney!

OVERALL: 7/10

PROS: The bath bomb is adorable, the design is so cute and I do love the smell. It's very refreshing and the oils have left me feeling silky smooth!

CONS: Be very aware of staining, because the oils are still a problem. Despite the bath bomb being reformulated to prepare for mass release, you would still need to be cautious about this issue.

OVERALL: I was very excited to give Lava Lamp a try, after being a huge fan of Lover's Lamp for so long. It's very cute, very fresh and sweet. However, the bath oils not fully melting did leave a bad taste in my mouth as I felt like I couldn't really enjoy the bath for too long because I was so worried about becoming the flying purple people eater! I would probably try it again, as it could have just been an issue with the batch, so I'm not ready to give up on this product yet!

I hope you've enjoyed this review, it was my first proper one in a while so I did enjoy writing it. I would really encourage you all to try this new product and let me know what you all think!

Thanks for reading,

Rachel x

May 22, 2016
0 Comments

LUSH BELFAST BLOGGER'S EVENT AND HAUL VIDEO!

Hey everyone! I am absolutely bursting to tell you about my experience at my first ever blogger's event which took place at my favourite place, as you all may know, Lush! Also as you guys know, I don't particularly class myself as a "blogger", so needless to say I did feel a little out of place at the start. However, the wonderful staff, great people and general atmosphere helped me feel at ease. I got to take part in so many activities like a demo session, making my own "Angels on Bare Skin" facial cleanser, and even got a sneak preview at the Father's Day products, which will be released in stores across the UK this Friday, all of which I will show you in this post! We also received a little goodie bag with some incredible products I haven't even tried before, and I of course purchased a couple of items too, so this haul will be featured in the second half of this post. So, without further ado let's get started!

So, because I am exceedingly punctual I was naturally the first person there, getting first pick of the snacks and drinks (vegan and non-alcoholic of course) and a look around the store, which was all set up for our first port of call, a demonstration of a lot of products!

So after we took a lot of pictures and mingled, we were all seated and the demo began!

I learned so much more about the products, the company and I tried so many products from various ranges including; The Rough with the Smooth and Rub Rub Rub body scrubs, Charity Pot body lotion (one of my favourites not only for the product, but the ethics behind it and also, as I found out, great for sunburn!), Soft Coeur, Each Peach and Wiccy Magic Muscles massage bars, (yes that is the one that can sprout plants in your plughole!), Shimmy Shimmy body tint (which is now one of my favourite products, my skin is still glittering) and Silky Underwear dusting powder (another favourite, which you just dust on after you've moisturised your body). I can still smell all of this on my hands and I don't think I could even begin to describe the scent. We also got to sniff some of the perfumes, with Dirty and Vanillary being my personal favourites. As you all know I love mint and vanilla.

Next it was onto the messy part, making our very own Angels on Bare Skin cleanser!

The ingredients were surprisingly simple, water, essential oils, glycerine, ground almonds, lavender and kaolin, but they smelt so good! I even got to stick my hands in and give it all a good old mix together, although I think more of it stuck to my gloves than together. I honestly feel like I could get a job in Lush product production now! Then we got to pot up and take away.

After more snacking and mingling, it was finally time for the big reveal; the 2016 range of Father's Day products and a brand new bath bomb!

From top to bottom; Lava Lamp bath bomb, Modfather bubble bar, Smuggler's Soul facial scrub, Superdad gift set and bath ballistic, Papa Bear gift set, Wash on the Wild Side (?) gift set, Smuggler's Soul all purpose cream and shampoo bar and Thanks Dad soap (my favourite because it smells like Jaffa Cakes!).

We got to see a few demos of products like Superdad bath ballistic;

A gorgeous smoky sandalwood infusion. It's a slow fizzer too, so lots of time to watch the beautiful colours turn the water a deep blue.

Modfather bubble bar;

Surprisingly citrusy and with lots of Brazillian orange oil, it smells so fresh!

And of course, Lava Lamp:

Similar to Lover's Lamp from the Valentine's range, it smells just like a chocolate orange and releases lots of soothing butters in the purple melts! It's also going to be available as a regular product, so no need to worry about this little one disappearing! But obviously I had to snag one for myself.

I had an absolutely fabulous evening, thanks to the incredible staff at Lush Belfast for making me feel so welcome and allowing me to experience these beautiful products close up! Needless to say I came home with a lot of goodies, leading me to the second part of my post; the haul.

I decided to another video because I wanted to show you guys the products in a way that felt more demonstrative and vivid rather than through pictures!

And that's it! Once again I want to thank the amazing staff at Lush for making me feel so at ease and opening my eyes to a whole host of products I would never have considered using before, teaching me more about the company and letting me sneak a peep at the new range launching this Friday! I feel very grateful and thankful because I never, ever imagined that this opportunity would arise. I hope you guys enjoyed this run through and the video and as I said I will do my best to review as many of these products as I can in the future.

Rachel x

May 12, 2016
0 Comments

HOW TO COPE WITH EXAM STRESS

tips

Hello my lovelies! I hope you're all doing okay. We have sprang into a new Spring month, the weather is hotting up and everything is looking bright. However, I know for some of you exam season is just around the corner, be it GCSEs, A-Levels, finals or even just an unrelated thing like a driving test or interview.
We all get stressed and anxious about these things, even if we pretend to ourselves that we're deathly calm about the whole situation. It's hard and it can seem like an exhausting struggle that is never going to end. That's why I felt like it was appropriate to share some helpful tips for revision and how to deal with the stress of exams or any pressure that's getting you down!

1. Organise yourself

The most common issue I struggle with is actually finding the motivation to start studying and revising, and one thing I've found that helps me is to get organised and productive by doing other small things. Typically when I need to start revision I'll do other essential things first, simple things, such as having a shower, getting dressed and even cleaning my room. I find that by starting off with simple tasks like this, my productive juices start to get flowing and I can begin to think about all the revision I need to do.

2. Establish a routine

Making a timetable / study guide for your revision can really help you to stay on track. Think about what you need to do, for how long and when, bearing in mind the date of your exam. Depending on your subject, there will be lots of individual modules, topics or themes to cover and it's important that you find the time to cover them all.
Establishing a time schedule with adequate breaks is vital. What works for me is studying a subject for 45 minutes at least, or until I've finished, and then taking a 10-15 minute break. During your break make sure you do something that helps you unwind for a bit, maybe watch a video, draw a little doodle or go and talk to someone in your family. Just anything that's going to help you chill out until you're ready to start again. But not something that's going to cause too much distraction from what you need to be doing.
However, once you've done what you need to do for the day don't push yourself any further! Make sure you have plenty of time in the evenings to unwind and relax. This is the time where you can spend as much time doing whatever you please. Remember, sitting up until the late hours studying does no favour to yourself! You need to ensure that you will retain what you've learned and pushing your brain past its limits will only be detrimental to you.

3. Sleep and diet
Now, I'm not a doctor, but like I said above, staying up late fretting over what you know or don't know, cramming in as much as you can is a waste. That's why a healthy amount of sleep is essential for learning and reinforcing everything you've learnt.
And I know that especially the night before a exam is the worst for anxiety and nerves, but I think the key is relaxation. Distract yourself and allow yourself to calm down before you go to sleep. For me, I take a bath, do some drawing, watch something, like some of the things I've mentioned above!
And as for food, I know we all feel the temptation to reach for the Ben and Jerry's to get through the mountain of notes and that's totally fine! I'm not going to lecture any of you about poor diet choices or healthy options, because we all need a little encouragement now and then. What works for me is regular meal times no matter what, to ensure that I don't compensate my own physical health. I also snack on whatever in between finishing a point. So say if I was writing about characterisation in a text, once that's finished, tiny snack reward! It helps me stay focused and full.

4. Study buddies can be a big help

This seems so basic and I know some of you really don't like working in teams or in a group. But even at university level we're still being encouraged to work together to reinforce our studying. So even working with your close friends can be a great help to all of you. Discuss questions and how you would approach them, help each other out with learning quotes, key words or formula. I learned a lot of things from my history study group and it really help consolidate everything I had learned.
It can also really help to calm you down, and even right before an exam, some of the points discussed can stick with you! It's definitely a good suggestion for people who feel like if they spend too much time shut up in their room they'll get cabin fever.

5. It's okay to focus on yourself!

You don't have to lose yourself for your studies, and you also don't have to sacrifice the things you love doing. It's so so important to take a day off and treat yourself to make sure your brain doesn't overload with information. If you have a hobby you enjoy doing like painting, or a sport related activity, even going to the gym, it's absolutely okay to take some time to do it! It will help keep your brain active but it won't feel the pressure to be constantly digesting information and retaining it.
Even if all you do is go to your friends house for an evening and watch some movies, or do something with your family, it can still help to take the pressure off and keep you social!

These are just some of my tips, but here are some from others, I hope these can also help you out and make you feel a bit more reassured.

Exams are tough and sometimes it can feel like the world around you will stop if you don't succeed. But they aren't the end of the world, remember to remain focused not only on them but on yourself too!

Good luck to all of you and do your best
Rachel x

May 07, 2016
0 Comments

Newer
Stories

Older
Stories

Pages

LUSH REVIEW: "LAVA LAMP" BATH BOMB

LUSH BELFAST BLOGGER'S EVENT AND HAUL VIDEO!

HOW TO COPE WITH EXAM STRESS

about

FOLLOW ME

Followers

INSTAGRAM

recent posts

Popular Posts

Blog Archive

Labels