Lush Valentines Collection! Neon Love Soap and Prince Charming Shower Gel!

Last week I showed you a first glance at the Lush Valentines Day collection and there was a lot of excitement from you guys (and me!) about trying the products out. So on my last trip into Bath I popped into Lush and picked up the bits I was most looking forward to enjoying; the Prince Charming shower gel and a slice of Neon Love soap and both really are gorgeous!

First up we have the intensely fruity Prince Charming. This bright pink bottle of goodness is packed full of fresh pomegranate juice, almond oil, grapefruit oil as well as sweeter vanilla and marshmallow root, geranium and sandalwood. I'm not sure what I was expecting scent wise from this, maybe something similar to Snow Fairy, but I wasn't prepared for the beautifully intense fruity punch that this shower gel gives off. It reminds me a lot actually of the fruity bit inside jaffa cakes and I think if you are a fan of Happy Hippy then you will be a fan of this one.

Now onto Neon Love, a soap that looks amazing when whole of in large chunks and also smells incredibly fruity! My piece doesn't show it off but the white inside the soap is actually large soap hearts full of soya yoghurt and coconut oil to leave your skin feeling silky smooth as well as being deeply nourished. Now, I'll be honest, when I smell this soap all I can think of is the ultra zesty scent of a Pisco Sour cocktail (seriously, you need to try one, they are amazing) and I just can't get enough of it. It's a real uplifting scent that reminds me of summer, sunshine, and-of course- cocktails.

When I was in the shop I also took a little look at the Valentines gift boxes and the packaging team have really done well this time. I already know that I love the products but the boxes themselves really made me want to add them to my collection. There is high gloss paper, bright colours and one gift is covered in toucans!

Have you tried any of the range yet? How are you finding the products? Do you like the sound of cocktail scented soap?

Annie xx

A Beautiful Birthday Box

As I mentioned yesterday, I recently did a birthday box swap with a lovely lady from the beauty group I am part of on facebook. We set a budget of £40, gave each other a good idea of the sort of things that we liked and set off to put together a big box of goodies for one another. Here's what was in my gift-my goodness I was excited to unwrap all of these lovely things :D

As you can see, Lolly the Grumpy Kitty decided she wanted to get involved with photo taking so please excuse the massive head n the foreground :P There was such a great variety of things in this box, just looking makes me excited.

Nichola put a fab selection of sweet treats into the box. There was also a melody pop and a love hearts dib dab...they got eaten before I took the photo though. I made a best friend very happy by taking the rainbow drops over when we had a girly evening.

Just throwing this out there, but these socks are loved a CRAZY amount. They remind me of what I think a Minecraft owl would look like. And also how thoughtful to pick up something owly because of my little obsession :) The Yankee tarts are gorgeous foodie scents and because they're discontinued scents I'm really going to treasure using them.

Skincare is one of my favourite things, I love trying out new products and if you read my post yesterday then you'll already know that since trying the Nuxe goodies, I have fallen in love with them. I haven't used the La Roche Posay or Melvita yet because I have so much on the go but they both also sound amazing.

Next up was some body products to keep me feeling beautiful all over. The square soap was brought back from Nichola's holiday which I thought was a lovely touch, it has a lovely clean, honey scent and as soon as I've finished up th bar I'm using (which fittingly is a big version of the little Body Shop Chocomania hearts here) I will be moving on to this. What excited me most out of these products though was the Betty Hula Anti-bacterial Hand Cream which is scented with champagne and spice. I haven't used Betty Hula products before and this smells and feels divine on my skin.

These three were popped straight into my handbag for their sheer usefulness. I was so excited to see the Bath and Body Works mini sanitiser in the box because I haven't had the chance to try the range before and I've heard so many amazing things, and I haven't been disappointed- it smells delicious! The peach body spray has a lovely scent too, very sweet and fresh which is perfect for a midday pick me up.

Its no secret that my biggest love is makeup so I was soooo excited to unwrap these goodies especially. I actually squealed when I opened the Illamsqua! The MAC lipstick was also a real excitement and I have a post on the way about that beauty. I wasn't as excited about the Baby Lips UK launch as a lot of beauty fanatics so hadn't picked one up before receiving my swap box but I really was missing out, I adore the silky smooth formula and light coloured finish so I have a review of that coming up too :)

So many amazing things. I really was spoilt with this swap and I cannot express just how grateful I am for everything I received and will love using them all. There were also a selection of samples nestled in among the gifts and the package was contained in a beautiful blue box with a peacock on the lid (another of my favourite animals :D)
I am a very lucky lady!

Annie xx

Laser Hair Removal- the Way Forward?

Summer is always a bit of a tough one for me.
You see, I have incredibly sore, eczema prone legs that cry if I so much as point a razor at them, let alone bring the two together. Over the years I've tried several different things including shaving, various creams and waxing but every time I end up with areas of horrible sore, itchy skin that I scratch in my sleep and make bleed. It makes me really self conscious.
Because of this I've been taking a look at other, longer lasting options that, despite potentially causing temporary problems at the time, in the long run will save me a lot of distress and discomfort.

My case is quite extreme, I know that, but there are lots of draws when it comes to Laser Hair Removal, especially during the summer. Its a nightmare trying to remain hair free in a small tent during festival season, or in a tiny caravan toilet at the seaside and don't get me started on the embarrassment of having your razor taken away at airport security. It's also always embarrassing to spot that you've missed a tiny patch of hair right in the middle of your shin when you're out and can't do anything about it. The thought of not having to worry about any of these and just getting on and enjoying the summer (or winter for that matter) is pretty good to me!

I know some people may be put off by the price of laser hair removal treatment but when I take into account how much money I spend on razors, eczema creams and other hair removal products combined with the benefit I'll feel through not being ashamed of my legs I think its more than worth it.

What do you think? Is hair removal treatment something that you'd ever consider? Or have you tried it already?

Annie xx