Is anyone else endlessly on the hunt for more blog props for Instagram and blog posts? Because seriously every time I head into Next, H & M, New Look and the such-likes I now instantly make a beeline for the home ware section rather than the clothes ... whoops.
This meant I was SUPER excited for my first ever Coconut Lane order. I'm not going to lie, I am a stationary hoarder - give me a pretty notebook, list pad, sticky note pad, motivational quote, just about anything, and I'm basically in love. BUT, I am really picky when it comes down to looks - seriously why would I want boring or just plain rank stationary? *Insert gif of someone shaking their head in disgust*.
Motivational quotes are basically my one true love at the moment, and this Beyonce Wall Art made me smile as soon as I spotted it - who doesn't want to be more like this world-famous beautiful, inspirational lady? I sure do. The 4Ps Wall Art similarly basically encapsulates what I want to be doing all day everyday.
For ages I've been on the hunt for some pretty studs for my ears. I'm super sensitive to certain metals (ugh) and I always lose them if the back is even slightly loose, so I've been really impressed with these cute elephant earrings so far! So many people have commented on them and I'm totally in love.
Finally, I picked up two phone cases. I was really late to the iPhone party and since December I've been on the hunt to find the perfect phone case. This pineapple case is possibly the best thing I've ever bought my sister - I love how bold the design is! But the mermaid case is staying firmly by my side. My desire for mermaid hair and general love for Arial means this is basically just the next step to achieving my dream of mermaid-dom.
If you've made it this far through my rambling you really deserve to know that you can all get 20% off all of Coconut Lane's products with the code 'Nourishme20'. I do earn a small commission if you use the code as well, so if you want to get some money off and help a blogger out give it a whirl!
I legitimately whooped when it was announced last week that Osborne is planning to axe tampon tax. I mean, we're no longer being forced to pay tax on crippling pain and bleeding, yaaaaay, thanks for being SO kind Mr Tax Man. Anyhoo, PMT really fucking sucks, and honestly anyone who's been around me in the week leading up to my period will agree. I am a MONSTER during that time.
Anxiety is similarly pretty awful, and makes me want to curl up in a ball and nap (let's face it, what doesn't?!), but when it's combined with PMT the world seems a challenge I can barely face. So, I thought I'd share with you guys some things that help get me through this each month, and I've separated them into two categories to make everything a bit more helpful:
Beauty
LUSH Cupcake fresh face mask
This one is particularly fab for oily skin, which is something that makes me majorly anxious just before my period. I don't want to feel like crap AND have a massive break-out, no thank you.
LUSH Lover Lamp bath bomb
As I mentioned before, I am SUCH a ball of stress when I have PMT, so a yummy bath with a softening bath bomb that makes me feel relaxed and pretty is something that makes a massive difference to me.
The Body Shop moringa body mist
Okay so we all know it's a myth that ladies get a *ahem* not so pleasant odour when they're on, but it doesn't help me at least feel less anxious. So, a little spritz of my favourite body mist can't hurt.
Lifestyle
Lamb hot water bottle
Um, duh, cramps. But also, who wants an ugly water bottle? Nuh-uh.
Dream catcher: finding peace colouring book
Basically adult colouring books are pretty much the best fad of 2015 and I will definitely be continuing to de-stress using mine every time I need to. Plus, these colouring pencils and this cute pencil case make me smile every time I pluck them out. It may sound odd, but who didn't love the annual pre-September school term stationary haul? Because that was the best and these remind me of that every time I reach for them, they always make me smile.
Mini Moo vegan chocolate bars
I've done a whole post about my vegan chocolate favourites so all I'm saying is every girl needs to indulge a little when she's feeling extra cranky, and chocolate is 100% my go-to for this!
What do you reach for when your PMT reaches its peak?
I have a confession to make: I'm a serial LUSH hoarder. This particular product has actually been sat in my bathroom cupboard since I went on my pre-Christmas rampage in November. Yep, November. It was one of those things where I was so excited to use it that I wanted to save it and ended up not using it (please tell me other people do this?!).
GUYS IT'S ALMOST EASTER. I am so SO excited (in case you couldn't tell). Easter is always a wonderful time in our house, full of reflection, family get-togethers and of course the all important chocolate. Having an Irish family has major benefits at this time - who needs an Easter egg from one Aunt when you have seven? SO. MUCH. CHOCOLATE.
Anywho, moving on from the chocolate hype (ha, as if!), I actually gave chocolate up for March and it has been torturous. You can have a peek at my fundraising dechox page here and please please sponsor me to help raise money for the British Heart Foundation. This meant that when I filmed the video all about my vegan chocolate haul I was pretty much salivating, and looking at these goodies is making me feel the same.
As well as being vegan, the goodies I'll be sharing with you are all nut free. Living with a partner with a nut allergy makes it really hard for me to find vegan treats sometimes, so I've been extra excited about all of these!
Here's a quick roundup of what I picked up and why:
I've sacrificed this to go to the boyfriend's mum as an Easter present because she avoids soya and dairy, and chocolate that does this is basically impossible to find. I was SO excited about this and may have to pick up a cheeky replacement in the post Easter weekend Easter egg sales aka *it's the most wonderful time of the yeaaaar*.
This is my absolute FAVOURITE vegan/dairy free chocolate bar of all time. In my video I bang on about things actually tasting like normal chocolate because this was the first milk vegan chocolate I had tried that actually did!
I'm anticipating this tasting something like a thin guilt-free Crunchie, plus it has a bunny on the front, so I mean, who can be disappointed with that?!
I have a confession to make: After Eights are my guilty pleasure and I have been known to consume an entire box in a *cough* slightly less than average space of time. I genuinely cannot wait to try this dark chocolate minty bar out and see if it will rid me of these cravings for naughty minty treats.
Any of my fellow HP fans out there loving the idea of a vegan chocolate frog? I know I am. Seriously though, I'm so ready to see if this can take on the holy grail that is a Terry's chocolate orange!
I bought these around Christmas time (here's a post dedicated to Cocoa Libre all about parts of their range) and couldn't help but repurchase this suitably Spring-y treat because um sheep are pretty awesome ... and tasty.
I cracked one of these open when I filmed my vegan chocolate haul video and oh my god the centre is amazing. Ever wanted a vegan creme egg? This is the closest I have come on my journey to finding one.
Finally, here's my Youtube film of the haul, featuring me making a mess of myself and explaining about the goodies in a bit more detail!
I hope you enjoyed hearing all about my vegan chocolate haul - here's to a week of scoffing my face (in moderation of course, mwahahahaha).
I've really been getting into Youtube a great deal more recently (and you can find my channel here), so as Easter's rapidly advancing, I shared a video with you all about why a bunny is NOT a good Easter present. Is there a better excuse to share pictures of Ted looking adorable? I think not, so I've shared some good'uns from the past few weeks for you in this post.
I wanted to give you a little glimpse into the world of house bunny ownership with them. You can see parts of Ted's MASSIVE hutch, which takes up SO much space in our living room. However, it's really important that bunnies have their space. In my personal opinion it's a little cruel to have them living in a tiny cage as most house bunnies do. As well as the size benefit, Ted's hutch also has a dark bedroom in it which he can hide in when he's feeling timid (or wants to go to the loo without the hamsters seeing!).
Ted also has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to personal space, especially when it comes to food. 'You have a free spot on your chest? It's fine, I'll fill it. Oh, I see you wanted to take a selfie alone, PAH, my sass makes it MUCH better.'
Unfortunately, he's also a chewer. I've lost phone cables, parts of my favourite handbag (why?!) and as you can see here, part of some of my favourite stationary before I managed to tear it from his little gnashers.
These are just a couple of things I really wanted to stress to you, as well as making sure your bunny's health is in tip top condition and their environments are sanitary and stress-free. So, here's the video:
Finally, here are a couple of links to helpful websites if you are considering buying a bunny:
I've only really just begun to understand the importance of accessories. This may surprise some of you accessory lovers out there, but until about four months ago I only owned two handbags, five pairs of shoes and *the horror* no novelty socks. Seriously, Steph what were you doing?! After having the revelation that outfits are everything you put on your body, not just your clothes, I set out to rectify this. Now, I'm by no means fully cured yet, but this haul definitely gave this 2016 goal of mine a kick-start!
I figured the sales were the best place to start looking for cute things to perk up my outfits and my moods. I mean, who isn't a little cheered up by the thought of popcorn socks? Oddly enough, cute socks genuinely have the ability to change my mood in the morning and start my day off with a smile. I'm so gutted that New Look don't sell either the popcorn socks or the tartan ones anymore, but here's a link to a similar pair on their site!
If you've been keeping up to date with my posts recently, you'll probably recognise the outfit that this peach laser cut out bag is paired with as being the one from my recent OOTD post. I'm absolutely in love with this over sized clutch and it's found a perfect spot in my Spring wardrobe. I'm not someone you'll see wearing masses of bright colours as I prefer nudes and blacks, so this is great for me for adding a cheeky pop of colour without it being too in your face.
I'm not going to lie, I have a bit of a thing for hats. All of my baby pictures seem to feature me wearing a variety of them that my dad loved putting on me, and it probably stems from there. Now, I did NOT need to add another bobble hat to my collection (embarrassing confession time: I have more bobble hats than handbags, say whaaat), but this one (similar here) had a MASSIVE bobble on it, so obviously I couldn't resist.
That bobble hat has been my go-to when the days have been chilly out, but for nights, I've fallen a little in love with this metallic headscarf (similar here). I'm SO glad I picked this up before New Look stopped selling it, but they have a whole range of colours and patterns on their site, so if you want something like this I'd definitely have a peek!
Finally, we come to the girliest accessory of the bunch. And yes, we are going to ignore the fact that I did pick up a top as well because it was utterly horrendous on me - some kind of weird semi, see-through, scratchy number that made me look totally shapeless. That one went straight into my charity shop bag. Now, back to these pretty feather earrings (similar here). They are so unique with a long gold strip on one side and the delicate chain with a feather at the bottom on the other, however they are actual little bastards to get in. As NL no longer stock them, I've given you guys a link to similar ones that don't take half an hour to put in!
I hope you enjoyed reading about this haul, what have you picked up from New Look recently?
This was very almost an actual shower shelfie (sorry for misleading y'alls), and it would have been had my bathroom not been decorated in some kind of lurid GREEN. Yep, green. Who wants a green toilet? Anyhoo, let's move on from the woes of student housing to talk about my obsession with shower products.
Although I was going to show you everything on my shower shelf/windowsill of chaos, I realised that adding all of my hair products, body lotions and bath products would probably mean I was well over the 50 product mark. It's probably time to admit that I have a beauty product hoarding problem. Oddly enough, showering is one of my least favourite things to do - it's such a chore and my student house is so cold. Owning pretty smellies is one way that I encourage myself out of bed in the morning and into the water, eurgh.
So, here's what you can find on my shower shelf. These are all things that I LOVE and use often:
Avalon Organics Lemon Shower Gel*. This is totally vegan, organic and GMO free as well as hosting a whole load of other benefits. I'm not the greatest fan of citrus scents, but it does its job in waking me up in the morning.
The Body Shop's Frosted Plum Shower Gel. I'm a sucker for hoarding Christmas gifts, and this is one of them. It's got such a sweet and subtle scent - I always go for this if I want the ultimate pamper.
Korres Guava Shower Gel*. Here's another one if you're looking for a natural product. It's completely suitable for vegans and smells like sweets!
Champneys Enlivening Daily Scrub. I was actually lucky enough to pick this up at the Champneys new look launch event I went to a couple of months ago. This is definitely my favourite body scrub I've ever used - it smells like lemonade (*squeals*) and the particles are so fine that it's perfect for my sensitive skin.
Nip + Fab Detox Blend Body Scrub. Okay so earlier I may have minced my words a little - this is the only thing I haven't used yet, but I'm so excited about it I had to share it with you! My sister bought me the detox blend set and I'm waiting for a chance to use all three parts together and I'm going to dedicate a whole post to my thoughts on them.
Bleach London Reincarnation Mask. We all know I love a good hair mask, but this is the only in-shower one I own. I'm currently in the process of doing something really exciting to my hair (and actually look like some kind of lion right now because of it, which I LOVE - check out my Instagram if you want a sneak peek) and I'm taking extra good care of it. This has worked miracles in keeping my hair soft and smooth whilst I attack it.
LUSH Happy Hippy Shower Gel. I'm actually shocked at how many citrus scents I own! This shower gel smells of grapefruit, and although it's not my favourite smell in the world, its zing perks me right up before some morning yoga.
LUSH Rose Jam Shower Gel. This was one of LUSH's Valentines Limited Edition products, and surprise surprise smells of roses. Sometimes I find that rose scents can be quite musky, but this one is nice and sweet, so I've given you a link to their gorgeous bubbleroon version of it!
The Body Shop African Ximenia Scrub. Although I mentioned above that the Champney's scrub was my all time favourite, this comes a very close second. It has a consistency like buttercream and has a very delicate sweet scent. Again, the scrub is not too harsh, so it's great on my skin! I've written a whole post on the Body Shop's Spa of the World range here.
So, here's what you can find on my shower shelf - what are your current go-tos?
Your first thought on seeing this post is probably, like mine, an oh LORDY she needs to start squatting more (why why WHY bum have you lost your shape?!). But, if you've read my posts on dealing with weight gain and weight gain vs blogger confidence you'll know that I'm handling this, and I'm (almost) over how flabby and shapeless my bum is.
ANYHOW, let's get past the pity butt party for one shall we, and talk about this outfit. I've recently started taking more pride in what I wear, and a lot of people have noticed. Yes, I spend 90% of the time swaddled in my dressing gown in the house, but when I do go out I put an effort in.
So, on my nan's 80th I decided to jazz things up a little monochrome style. Although a lot of people like having a black and white outfit for winter, I love it in Spring as the white provides quite a fresh contrast to it's darker partner.
These skinny jeans (similar here) are my go to, and have been for a couple of years now. Despite endlessly getting asked by the older generation whether my knees get cold (no), they make a lot more of a statement than plain old black jeans. Paired with my favourite statement black heels (similar here), I tend to opt for this look over a dress on a night out or big event.
This leather and suede style jacket (similar here) and cream top (similar here) were my best picks of the New Look January sales and I can't wait to style them with more outfits.
I hope you enjoyed this post, I had so much fun photographing it, especially with my little squirrel friend who popped up to say hello (see if you can spot him)!
What is your favourite transitional outfit this season?
