Review Lush's The Christmas Penguin Bubble Bar

Hey lovelies! I'm back with yet another Lush post, I think I'm really becoming a bit of a Lush addict... The Christmas Penguin bubble bar is one of those Lush products I've always thought was adorable and wanted to try, but never ended up actually buying or using but funnily enough I ended up with two this year as Christmas presents. So I was really excited to finally try this adorable little bubble bar. Scent wise, it has a lovely citrus scent which I think is a mixture of orange and lemon (I'm always useless at trying to figure this out). 

When I finally crumbled this little penguin into my bath tub, I felt pretty guilty. For some reason I seem to empathise with this adorable little penguin - I blame this year's John Lewis advert! I had 'Real love' stuck in my head the entire time, I guess seeing as I had two of these, Monty really did find his Mabel. If you have no idea what the hell I'm on about, you can watch the advert here. 

Weekly Homeware/Gifts Picks (29th December - 4th January)

For this week's Homeware and Gifts picks I decided to choose my favourite six products from all the posts I've done this year. I've been doing these posts every week since the beginning of September and I've really loved doing every one, so let me know if you'd like me to continue doing these in the new year! I love finding new products, and I hope you've enjoyed some of the quirky and unusual things I've picked out so far. 

1. Zhu II Cushion £34.95 [x] : From one of my all time favourite brands Ohh Deer, this panda cushion is just adorable. 

2. Pug In A Mug Tea Infuser £6.00 [x] : If you love loose leaf tea, and often drink it alone, this grumpy pug tea infuser is a perfect companion to brew your tea. 

3. Bear Picnic Blanket £25.00 [x] : If you love picnics and bears, or just general cuteness, then this bear picnic blanket is perfect for you. 

4. Dust Bunny Mitt £14.00 [x] : For those of you who find cleaning just as boring as I do, this dust bunny mitt adds a little fun and cheer to the whole cleaning process. Simply put him on your hand and dust away. 

5. Colour Change Umbrella £20.00 [x] : This awesome umbrella changes to rainbow colours when it rains, perfect to brighten up any dark and wet day. 

6. Peek-A-Boo Cakes Book £8.99 [x] : This might be quite a novelty idea, but who doesn't like the thought of baking cakes with a surprise inside them?

Thanks for reading lovelies, hope you have a great day and don't forget to comment below!

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My Little Blogging Secrets (Behind The Scenes)

Personally I'd love to look behind the scenes of a lot of people's blogs, and see how you all put your posts together - so I thought I'd give you an insight to how my blogging process works. This is quite an extensive and detailed post, so hopefully it's helpful or interesting in some way!

No. 1 Jenny Packham At Debenhams

Hello Lovelies!  It's that time of year when Christmas is over again and suddenly time seems to be flying by faster than ever. 2015 is just around the corner, and I can't wait for a fresh start and a new year. 

This morning I was greeted by a lovely package from Debenhams, containing this beautiful necklace and earrings set from the No. 1 Jenny Packham collection. The No. 1 Jenny Packham Rose Gold Mixed Faceted Gem Cluster Necklace* (£22.00) and No. 1 Jenny Packham Rose Gold Mixed Faceted Gem Cluster Stud Earrings* (£15.00) make a perfect gift as a set or on their own. They have a matching clustered gem design, on a backdrop of lovely rose gold. If you're looking for a gift, or some jewellery for the new year, this necklace and earrings are perfect. 

Review Lush Golden Wonder Bath Bomb

If you caught my latest post, you would know I'd gotten one of these Golden Wonder Bath Bombs (£3.75) in my Rudolph Box. It seems a bit weird reviewing Christmas products when Christmas has gone but I wanted to share my thoughts on it with you all anyway. 

I have to admit that I was never really tempted to try this bath bomb, I'd sort of dismissed it as boring because I assumed that it would just be gold and white when it went in the bath. As I realised I was completely wrong. Instead with this present, there really is a surprise waiting inside. Just see for yourself: 

Lush Festive Friends and Rudolph Box Un-boxing

Hey lovelies! Hope you all had an amazing day yesterday (whether you celebrated Christmas or not) because I had an amazing one. I was really lucky to get two Lush boxes this year, and thought I'd share the un-boxing with you because they are just so cute and Christmasy! 

The two boxes I got were Festive Friends (from my cousins) and Rudolph (from my Mum), and I'm a little bit obsessed with how adorable the packaging is. I'm not sure what the price was of the two but Festive Friends is the cheaper one, whilst Rudolph is slightly more expensive. I decided to just leave the prices out of this post of all the items, as you can't buy any of these anymore (let's hope you can next Christmas!).

What Christmas Means To Me

Hello lovelies and Merry Christmas! I can't really believe it's Christmas day even though it is, and I've been up since eight o'clock but Christmas is finally here. Whether you're celebrating Christmas or not, I hope you all have a lovely day. 

For me Christmas is about family and giving. Coming together all on one day to enjoy each other's company and give each other gifts is definitely what makes Christmas special. It's not so much about the actual gifts but the thought behind them. Although that said I've had some lovely gifts this year (including two LUSH boxes yay!). 

But no, what I really love about Christmas is spending time with my family, whether that's playing board games or watching all the amazing Christmas TV on today, that's what Christmas means to me. Merry Christmas, have an amazing day everyone!

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Give A Gift With A Difference: Send A Cow

I know what you're thinking, is that really a cow wearing a Christmas jumper? Yes, yes it is. Meet Gloria the cow, Send A Cow's global ambassador. The sad reality is she rocks a Christmas jumper better than I do but the real reason she's wearing this jumper (other than to outshine us mere humans) is to raise awareness for her charity Send A Cow. For me Christmas is about a lot more than the presents. It's about realising how lucky we are, and how much we have in our lives. So giving to charity is something I do every year. This year I've bought Send A Cow's Little Donkey Gift (£9.00). 

Weekly Homeware/Gifts Picks (22nd December - 28th December)

Hey Lovelies! I actually can't believe I'm saying this but... It's almost Christmas! Time is really flying by, and every day is just getting busier and busier. I'm recovering still from a bad cold so sorry for less posts than usual, but I hope you're all well and avoiding all  the horrible colds going round at the moment!

Review Lush's Northern Lights Bath Bomb

Hey lovelies, I'm back with yet another Lush review. I recently treated myself to one of these lovely Northern Lights bath bombs (£3.50). Out of all the Lush products this year, I was most excited to try this one as I had no idea at all what to expect. One of the things that really surprised me about this bath bomb is how it smells. I really thought it would have a sweet candy scent because of the colour, but it actually has a really soothing Jasmine scent.

Recipe: LUSH Inspired Butterbear Biscuits

Hello lovelies! I decided to use my somewhat 'special' baking skills to attempt to make some biscuits inspired by one of my favourite Lush bath bombs ever, Butterbear. I've been wanting to do this after coming up with the idea, and finally today I attempted to try it properly. The one above is my best of four, and even it doesn't look that much like the bath bomb but hey I tried! 

These biscuits are essentially just shortbread so if you have a good recipe for that, then you can also use it to make these. This recipe made four of these for me but it does depend on what size you do them!

The Body Shop Born Lippy Stick Lip Balm Review

Hey lovelies! As soon as the weather gets cold, my lips become an absolute nightmare and lip balm becomes a complete necessity for me. I spotted this really cute lip balm in The Body Shop and had to give it a go. I got it in Pomegranate (£3.00) to branch out a little bit. I love the packaging for one thing, with the cute little heart design and I also love the fact it's in a tube rather than a tub as personally I find it a lot easier to apply. 

All About The Makeup Bag

1. Deena & Ozzy Pyramid Holographic Cosmetics case £14.00 [x] | 2. Rodnik X Peanuts Licorice and Eyes Make Up Bag £20.00 [x] | 3. Asos Novelty Make Up Bag & Eye Mask Set £18.00 [x] | 4. Ted Baker Palm Print Wash Bag £27.00 [x] | 5. Asos Large Oval Make Up Bag £15.00 [x] | 6. Charlotte Tilbury Make Up Bag £15.00 [x] | 7. Catseye Kitty Wash Bag £15.00 [x] | 8. Selfridges Splat Makeup Bag £5.00 [x] | 9. Iridescent Make Up Bag £10.00 [x]

Hey Lovelies, it's crazy how close Christmas is now! I'm suddenly finding myself rushing around like a crazy person trying to find everyone last minute gifts. Makeup bags are one of those things that would make a perfect gift for most girls (I have three and could really do with another one!) so I thought I'd share with you some of my favourites I've found on the web. 

Weekly Homeware/Gifts Picks (15th December - 21st December)

Hey there lovelies! You might have noticed that this week's picks are a bit smaller than usual but I have a really awful sore throat at the moment, so I decided to only do five for this post. Let me know in the comment section below if you like any of them and have a great day! 

Christmas Gift Guide Series: For Him (Part Two)

After the comments I got from my last gift guide for men, I decided to do another one, to try and help those of you out who have no idea what to buy the men in your life. If you missed the last one you can read it here. 

How Much Influence Do Bloggers REALLY have?

After the phenomenal success of Zoella's book Girl Online, the fastest selling debut novel since records began, it got the question of how much influence bloggers really have on my mind. 

Of course Zoella is a blogging and vlogging giant, so I'm not surprised she has so much influence. But what about the smaller bloggers, the ones who don't have thousands of followers flocking to read their posts or watch their videos? How much influence do they really have?

In one sense, a smaller blogger's influence is priceless. The reason? Honesty. If I think back to products that I've bought because someone has recommended them, the majority have been things I've seen on relatively small blogs. An example is me buying a facial scrub, when I saw it on a blog with only a dozen followers, and it turned out to be amazing. However when it comes to the bigger bloggers, I find myself second guessing it, searching to see if a PR company has sent them the item or if they have any other agenda. Whilst I myself have worked with PR companies, and done completely honest reviews, when you see an asterisk next to a product it does make you wonder just how honest that blogger is really being with you. 

Weekly Homeware/Gifts Picks (8th December - 14th December)

Hey lovelies! I've been a little absent, or at least it seems to me like I have from the blogging world. I had an essay due this Monday, so last week was super busy. The Christmas holidays are so close, and I can't help but be really excited, even if I have one week of uni left!

It's that time of year when everyone seems to be starting their Christmas shopping and panicking a little about what to buy people, so I hope this post will give you a little inspiration! 

Review: Lush Holly Golightly Bubble Bar

Hey lovelies! I'm back again with yet another Lush review. As you can probably tell I am way too obsessed with their Christmas collection this year! 

Over last week I indulged and tried, Holly Golightly, a massive glitter smothered bubble bar (£4.75) - I challenge you to touch this and not get glitter all over your hands! My first impression, except for wow that's glittery was this smells really festive. It has quite a mature spicy scent, that really reminds me of Christmas and I love that it's named after Audrey Hepburn's character in Breakfast at Tiffany's, such a lovely touch. 

Christmas Gift Guide Series: 100 Gifts (£10.00 and Under)

As much as I love buying gifts for people, suddenly now that I've been thrust into the student life, I am on a very tight budget this year. So I thought what would be more perfect than sharing my gift ideas under £10.00? If you're wondering, this post did take a painfully long time to do, but you guys are worth it! Think of this as an early Christmas present to hopefully make your Christmas shopping a little easier. I've included gifts that will suit virtually everyone, from kids to adults, so hopefully you'll find some good gift ideas here!

Weekly Homeware/Gifts Picks (1st December - 7th December)

I really can't believe we're in December already! Christmas feels so close but at the same time I have so many pieces of uni work to do, it couldn't seem more far away. This week I selected some things that I really love, and I hope it will give you some gift inspiration for this Christmas.

Meri Meri Christmas Party Inspiration

I can't believe that it's only one more day till December, and I start opening my advent calendar! Time has really gone so fast. I thought I'd share with you some Christmas Party inspiration from Meri Meri. I've fallen in love with their designs, and think they would make the perfect decorations for any party! It's just a shame they're on the pricier side. I'd love to get their cupcake kit though for some festive baking. 

Review: Lush Dashing Santa Bath Bomb

Hey lovelies! I don't know about you but I'm a massive fan of anything Christmassy, and one of the things I have loved doing is trying out some of Lush's ridiculously tempting Christmas collection. You can probably tell as I've already reviewed their Christmas Hedgehog Bubble Bar, Butterbear Bath Bomb and Luxury Lush Pud Bath Bomb and we're not even in December yet! Dashing Santa (£2.95) has a beautiful citrus scent, and I really just love the design of this one (even if his face looks a tad evil to me...)

Review: Spring Clean Amie Deep Cleansing Mask

Hey Lovelies, as you might remember I was very lucky to be sent a couple of products to review from Amie, and today I thought I'd tell you what I thought of the Spring Clean Deep Cleansing Mask (£5.95)*. 

What I Think About 'All About That Bass'

You've probably heard 'All About That Bass' by now, the really catchy feel-good tune by Meghan Trainor. In so many ways it's become a body positivity anthem, sending out the message that 'every inch of you is perfect' and that you shouldn't worry about your size. Meghan also tells boys that if they're not into her body type, that they should 'go ahead and move along', which I totally agree with. She also calls out Photoshop, and says that we should make it stop because it 'ain't real.' 

The Big Perfume Post

It's that time of the year again when we're all writing our Christmas wish lists in our heads, and thinking about what we want underneath our Christmas trees. Perfumes are definitely one of those things that I always get at Christmas (it just seems a bit too indulgent any other time of the year...). 

The first time I bought perfume was quite a few years ago. For some reason I had it in my mind that I would buy Chanel No.5, regardless of price, scent or anything. I blame the amazing Moulin Rouge style No.5 advert with Nicole Kidman. Anyway as it turned out, when I reached the perfume section of Debenhams, Chanel No.5 scared me away with their price, and instead I fell in love with the adorable Daisy scent and bottle. 

Review: MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquer

Hey there lovelies! I recently went to Superdrug and took advantage of their 3 for 2 deal (across all cosmetics), which will probably be the death of me because now it's just that bit more tempting to go on a makeup splurge... 

Anyways, I picked up this MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquer (£3.00) in the shade Reckless. The first thing I noticed about this, is I actually really love the packaging. MUA tends to have quite dull, simple packaging but I loved that this has a frosted glass look with gold font details. 

Weekly Homeware/Gift Picks (24th November - 30th November)

Hey there lovelies! It's really hit me that Christmas isn't far away now (It's crazy that after this week we will be in December!). But at the same time, things have got so much busier - I hate end of year deadlines... This week I've picked yet another bunny item and featured yet another ohhdeer cushion, but still I hope you enjoy! Bonus points if you can spot my cheesy frozen joke... 

Wish List: Too Many Pretty Things

My approach to shopping is quite different to the majority of people. For one thing, I'm very picky. I can easily walk through a shop and find nothing I want to buy. Instead I tend to go through a process of falling in love with a piece, dreaming about having it in my life, and then eventually buying it.

Here are some of the pieces I have been lusting after, and hope to eventually buy...

1. Embellished Collar Shirt £36.00 [x] : I love the simplicity of this shirt, with the subtle embellishment detail on the collar. Perfect for a muted festive look. 

2. Organza Embroidered Polka Dot Dress £68.00 [x] : If you saw my post on The Whitepepper recently, you are probably aware of how much I want this. I love the playfulness of the organza polka dot layer over the simple shift dress. I just wish it was a bit cheaper! 

3. Unicorn Clutch Bag Silver Hologram £40.00 [x]: I really, really want one of these clutches. They're so unique and adorable. Still can't decide whether I want this beauty in lilac or silver yet... 

4. Outline Detail Cuff £12.50 [x] : Topshop have some really cool jewellery in stock at the moment in this simple graphic style. I love how modern and futuristic it looks. 

5. Metallic Leather Wallet £25.00 [x] : A wallet is something I actually need, as I currently have nowhere to properly put my cards. I love the metallic finish on this, and the slightly cracked/faded look it has. 

Hope you enjoyed this post lovelies! What kind of shopper are you? Tell me in the comment section below!

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Review: Amie Morning Light Hydrating Daily Moisturiser

Hey there lovelies! I was very lucky to be sent this Morning Light Hydrating Daily Moisturiser* (£4.95) to try from Amie. For those of you who have never heard of Amie, they are brand that have created a range of natural non-aggressive products that are perfect for anyone who has sensitive skin. 

Christmas Gift Guide Series: For Him

Hey there lovelies! Today's post is the first in my Christmas Gift Guide series, and I thought I'd start with arguably the hardest people to buy for, men. Here are my gift ideas: 

The Whitepepper's Limited Edition Party Collection!

You know when you have one of those moments where you just love something, then you get a little bit too obsessed, and then you fangirl. Well this just happened to me over The Whiteppepper's Limited Edition party collection. 

If you have followed me for a while, then you'll have seen this brand on my blog at some point as I'm a massive fan of theirs. If you love fun, cute and quirky fashion then The Whitepepper is perfect for you. 

My Skincare Routine Challenge

Hey there lovelies! I will be one of the first people to admit that I have a very lazy skin care routine, in fact I hardly have a routine at all. So I decided for once that enough is enough, I am going to challenge myself to follow a skin care routine for at least a month and see if it makes a change! 

To help me with this, I got in touch with the lovely Amber (ambermagus.ca) who with her amazing knowledge put together a skin care routine for me. Make sure you check out her blog as she has some amazing posts about skincare! 

Weekly Homeware/Gifts Picks (17th November-23rd November)

Hey there lovelies! Hope you're having a great day. In this week's homeware/gifts picks I've snuck in two Christmas items - you can probably tell I'm counting down the days till Christmas...

#ELLEFeminism

Feminism is a word that I will admit was at first unattractive to me. At my old school we had a feminist club and group on Facebook. When I joined, I found that I was very scared to voice my own opinion there. It seemed that if you had an opinion that went against others, you would be shot down instantly. When boys seriously tried to joined the debate, their opinion would be discounted because they were boys, and they weren't allowed to have an opinion. Whilst I believed fully in equality, I was reluctant to call myself a feminist because I didn't feel welcomed to the debate. I felt detached from the world of feminism, even though fundamentally my beliefs were the same. 

I think my first fault is that I mistook passion for aggression. 

Happy THRIFTmas!

Hey there lovelies, hope you're having a great day! I was recently emailed by Voucherbox who challenged me to create a Christmas party look under £75.00, including a dress/jumpsuit, shoes and one accessory. If you haven't heard of Voucherbox before, they're a site that help you to find voucher codes and the best deals online, so it's a perfect site for any bargain hunters! 

As someone who tends to have more expensive taste, it was good for me to challenge myself and find some real bargains. For my look, I decided to go with a bit of subtlety and simplicity whilst adding some frosty silver touches. 

House Of Fraser Spring/Summer 2015 Press Preview

Hey there lovelies! Today I was really lucky to be able to go to the press preview of the Spring/Summer 2015 lines of homeware and fashion from House of Fraser. I have to say I was really blown away by some of the things there, especially all the army candy (there were so many amazing bags, including these Vivienne Westwood beauties...).  

In the fashion section of the press preview, there were clothes from a whole range of brands including: Michael Kors, Biba, Mary Portas etc..

Review: Lush's Butterbear Bath Bomb

As Christmas approaches, Lush's Christmas products become ever more tempting and that probably explains my recent Lush splurge... This Butterbear Bath Bomb (£1.95) has a lovely vanilla smell, and is probably one of my favourite Lush scents. 

Weekly Homeware/Gifts Picks (10th November - 16th November)

Hello lovelies! It seems like time is flying by like crazy now that we're near Christmas and I can't wait to do all my Christmas shopping. Here are my Homeware and Gifts picks for the week, I hope they give you some Christmas gift inspiration of your own! 

How To Make The Most Of The End Of Your Posts

You might think that once you've written a post, your job is done. There's nothing more you can do except press publish, and wait for people to read it. The reality is there are so many little things you can do to get more people following you, reading your blog posts and generally feeling at home. So here are my tips to make the most of the end of your posts!

LINKWITHIN/ENGAGEYA/NRELATE (You May Also Like...)

Adding a 'You May Also Like...' widget to the bottom of your posts will help to reduce your bounce rate (bounce rate is how many people leave your blog straight after reading your post) and share some of your older content with your readers. I really love EngageYa because you can customise the widget quite a bit to suit your blog - you can get the widget here [x]. You can also use Nrelate [x] and LinkWithIn [x]. 

Review: Lush's Luxury Lush Pud Bath Bomb

Yesterday I had a little bit of a Lush splurge and bought three Lush bath bombs, and one of them was this Luxury Lush Pud Bath Bomb (£3.50). What really attracted me to this one was how fun and colourful it is. Scent wise I'm not actually sure what it smells of? But I really liked the scent as it smelled very Christmasy. 

Nine Advent Calendars That Will Brighten Up Your December

It seems weird talking about Christmas when it's only the beginning of November, but hey it's time to buy your Advent calendars!

1. Jewellery Christmas Advent Calendar £25.00 [x] : This advent calendar from Topshop contains twelve pairs of stud earrings, four ditsy charm bracelets and eight ditsy charm short necklaces. 

2. H&M Advent Calendar £12.99 [x] : If you fancy filling your own advent calendar, than this cute cotton canvas one one from H&M is perfect. 

3. Yankee Candle Advent House £24.99 [x] : This adorable Advent House calendar contains tea lights from six seasonal scents and a surprise gift on the 24th. There is also a slightly cheaper version for £21.99 here. My lucky sister is getting one of these! 

4. The Body Shop Advent Calendar £50.00 [x] : This amazing calendar contains various products from the Body Shop and the best bit is that buying this will send a child to class as the Body Shop have partnered up with War child. 

5. Hotel Chocolat Milk Chocolate Advent Calendar £12.50 [x] : If you feel like going with a chocolate calendar this year, but want something a bit special, this Hotel Chocolat calendar is perfect. A White or Dark Chocolate version is also available. 

6. No7 Beauty Advent Calendar £35.00 [x] : This No7 calendar contains a whole range of beauty goodies worth £135! Perfect for any beauty lovers. 

7. Ciate Mini Manor Advent Calendar £49.00 [x] : If you love nail varnish, this advent calendar will be a dream for you with 24 bottles waiting behind each door! 

8. Candy Coated Countdown £60.00 [x] : This lovely Benefit calendar is sold out now which isn't surprising considering how many amazing beauty goodies there are inside! 

9. Liberty Advent Calendar £149.00 [x] : I can only dream of owning this calendar, but with £420.00 it is definitely value for money (if you can afford it!). 

Hope you enjoyed this post lovelies! Are you getting an Advent Calendar this year? 

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