LUSH Solid Shampoo and Conditioner Myth Busting + VIDEO

We all know I'm a bit of a LUSH-oholic (am I ticking all of the blogger stereotype boxes yet in this post?), and their hair care products are something that I really believe in. If you've had a peek at my hair care tips post for people with long, thick hair, then you'll know that LUSH is pretty much my go-to if my hair needs a little bit of TLC.
I know most of you guys aren't fans of solid shampoos and conditioners, which is why I've dedicated this post to a little myth busting and information about them. I'm currently using their Jason and the Argan Oil shampoo bar (which is targeted at making your hair softer and shinier) and their Jungle solid conditioner (which is all about helping keep your wild, tangled hair under control). 
Myth #1: They're obviously going to break up instantly. I've never had one break on me, unless it had reached the stage where it was about a millimetre thick. I'm pretty heavy handed too, so you don't need to worry about it suddenly splintering into a million pieces if you're not uber delicate with putting it on your hair. I've even dropped mine in the bath a couple of times (not recommended) and it hasn't broken up, so they're fairly sturdy. Myth = busted.
Myth #2: Solid conditioner is never going to hydrate my hair as much as liquid conditioner. I've found that this isn't quite as hydrating as my normal liquid shampoo, so this one sort of sticks. However, if you've ever done a coconut/avocado face mask you'll know that solid beauty products can be hydrating. I've stripped the ends of my hair and generally don't use any post-shower hair care products, and my hair is still soft to the touch, so it's by no means drying. Myth = true (in my experience).
Myth #3: I'm never going to understand how to use solid shampoo and conditioner. I'm not going to lie to you guys, I'm a bit of a klutz, but even I can deal with using these. With the shampoo I tend to rub it all over my hair, then lather some up in my hands to apply. The conditioner does feel a little bit weird at first, but I basically rub it over my hair in long strokes, paying careful attention to my roots. Honestly after a couple of tries you'll have perfected your method. Myth = busted.
Myth #4: They're only going to last a couple of washes - they're not going to be worth the price. This one is seriously untrue. I expected this at first, and was pleasantly surprised to realise that my shampoo bars last a good two or three months (I only wash my hair twice a week, but as I have mentioned it's pretty darn long). I even do two rounds of shampooing in each wash. You end up using less than you would from a bottle because it's pretty hard to over shampoo when you're applying it directly to your hair. They last me way longer than a standard bottle of shampoo does, and I feel happy knowing that they're impacting the environment less negatively. 
Finally, here's the video:

What do you think of solid shampoos and conditioners?
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Homemade Avocado and Raw Honey Facemask

Face masks really are my thang, and my sensitive skin means that the more natural a face mask is, the better my skin reacts to it. As someone with combination to dry skin, this face mask works absolutely perfectly for me. The combination of the natural oils in the avocado, as well as the coconut oil and olive oil really make sure that your face is replenished in terms of its essential moisture. Obviously the face mask is quite oil-heavy, so it is one that I would only do once a week or once a fortnight, just to give my skin a chance to reach its optimum moisture levels without getting greasy. 
Ingredients (makes 3-4 masks):
- 1/2 avocado - 1 tablespoon raw honey - 1 tablespoon olive oil - 1 tablespoon coconut oil 
How to make:
- Ensure that the coconut oil is melted - Blend all of the ingredients (I only mashed them which is why I have yucky green lumps all over my face in the picture!).  - Smoosh onto your face and leave there for 15 minutes before washing off.
This is such a wonderful face mask for giving your skin a deep cleanse without using any chemicals. If you give it a go tweet or Instagram me your pictures - I'd love to see them!
What is your favourite homemade face mask?

Makeup Revolution Haul

This is going to be a super quick Sunday post. I've got my first day of my new job tomorrow and I'm super excited and nervous. I'm really hoping that my blog doesn't get kicked to the wayside because I'm focusing on work, but I've got about two months' worth of post ideas stored up so hopefully things will go smoothly. Anyway, moving on from that brief life update, I just wanted to talk to you guys about some Makeup Revolution products that I've absolutely fallen in love with recently.
First up is my favourite of the group, the pressed powder in porcelain soft pink. This is an absolute bargain in my opinion - it costs £2 from Superdrug and totally perfects my base. I apply it after my foundation and it evens everything out and avoids making my skin look cakey. I'm not going to lie, it only lasts me two months or so at a time, but for such a low price I really don't mind repurchasing it often. 
The colourful Mermaids vs Unicorns eyeshadow palette is another absolute steal in my opinion. It's only £4 and has such a wonderful range of well-pigmented colours. Although I probably won't use the two darkest shades, the rest provide me with a wealth of ideas for days when I'm feeling a little adventurous and don't want to stick with my standard nudes and coppers. I actually bought this originally because I had been so inspired by Aria from PLL's eye makeup, and I'm hoping to recreate some looks soon, so keep your eyes peeled! 
The one thing I was disappointed in was the Amazing Lipstick in Rebel With Cause due to it's lack of pigment. I had been inspired to buy a vampy purple after falling in love with MAC's Sin (post here), but this £1 Makeup Revolution purple was almost invisible on my lips and lasted less than half an hour. Saying that, I do want to give the new rose gold lipstick range from them a try, so we'll see how that goes!
I hope you enjoyed this post and I didn't ramble on too much! What are your favourites from Makeup Revolution at the moment?

NIP + FAB'S GLYCOLIC PADS AND CLEANSING FOAM | REVIEW

 Nip + Fab are a brand that have shot to the top of almost every blogger's skincare recommendation list in the last year or two, and so I HAD to give them a go. I was pretty much ecstatic when I found this pair of goodies under the Christmas tree from my sister way back on December 25th. This post has been a while in the making simply because I wanted to crack my serial skin care hoarding habit by using up some half used products before starting on these, and because I wanted to try them out for a good month or so before talking about them in detail. If you've read my March favourites post then you'll already know that the glycolic fix cleansing foam was one of my absolute favourites last month. 

Packaging

Both the glycolic fix cleansing foam and the glycolic fix daily cleansing pads come in a sturdy plastic tub and have a minimalist design. The packaging was actually my least favourite part of the products. I found that the moisture from the glycolic pads leaked from the tubs if I laid it on its side, which made it almost impossible to take them with me if I was travelling anywhere. As someone who's always visiting family all over the UK this became annoying very quickly. The hard plastic casing of the cleansing foam was equally annoying. You have to squeeze the tube to get the product out, but it's actually very hard to do so, especially if the joints in your hands are particularly weak like mine. This would work perfectly with a pump and I really hope that they repackage this one at some point!

Initial thoughts

I'm not going to lie, I fell TOTALLY in love in the first few days of using these products together. I start off by washing my face first thing in the morning with the glycolic fix cleansing foam, and use the daily pads at night between removing my makeup and putting on moisturiser. I've found that this is the best routine for me, but if you think you'd see better results by using them both together in the morning, then go for it! I mostly do is this way because using the wipes in the evening makes my face feel refreshed when I'm feeling waaay too tired or lazy to actually wash my face with water. 

My skin felt and looked a lot brighter within a couple of days, which made me feel totally wowed. Plus, adding the glycolic fix pads in to my evening routine ensured that I was removing ALL of my makeup, which obviously resulted in my pores being less clogged and my skin being clearer. 

Final opinion

Although I was super impressed at the start, I've come to realise that the Nip + Fab glycolic range is probably not the best one for my skin. I've got combination to dry skin, and the glycolic acid in this pair has been totally drying my skin out. Although it's been looking a lot more clear and fresh, it's been feeling REALLY tight. So, to counteract this, I've been following up both my morning and evening dose of it with Simple's light moisturiser to make sure I can actually wear makeup without my dry patches shining right through. I do have to say as well, that these products have totally reduced (almost eradicated even) the shine on my nose and forehead, which has been amazing. All in all, I probably would repurchase these products because of the clearing and radiating effect they have on my skin, and if you've got oily skin then I would definitely recommend giving these a whirl. 

I'm definitely going to be looking at some of Nip + Fab's other products more suited to my skin soon - do you guys have any recommendations for their products that are good for combination to dry skin?

Review of The Body Shop's Ginger Anti Dandruff Shampoo | Nourish My Hair

Today's post is all a bit TMI, so bear with me. For about as long as I can remember, I've suffered from dandruff. At some times it was more severe than at others, but I finally seem to have it under a good level of control. I used Head & Shoulders shampoos for YEARS and had absolutely no idea how harsh these products were on my hair or scalp. If you don't know what I'm talking about and still use it, then google it (some of their products are so harsh that people use them to strip dye from their hair!). 
Anyway, moving on from the negatives, I now do an overnight hair oil mask once a week and opt for more natural shampoos to keep dandruff and a sore scalp at bay. The oil ensures that my scalp gets a deep moistening, so it is less likely to flake, and the fewer nasties that are in my shampoos makes it less likely for my scalp to get irritated. 
So, this brings us on to The Body Shop's Ginger Anti-Dandruff Shampoo. If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll know that The Body Shop features quite frequently on my beauty posts, as I love a few of their fruity scents, and their skincare products are often spot-on. Annoyingly, this shampoo is one of my least favourite products in terms of scent. Give me an apple-y shampoo, or even a magnolia one (mmmmm) any day over this one. If you've ever tried lemon and ginger tea, or even smelt raw ginger, then you'll have an idea of exactly what this shampoo smells like. The main way to get around this, I've found, is to use a pleasanter smelling conditioner - it totally masks the scent so that you can't smell it post-wash. However, if, unlike me, you find the scent of ginger pleasing and stimulating, then you'll have no problem!
Now on to how this shampoo actually works. Unlike some other more natural shampoos I've tried in the past, this one lathers up perfectly fine. Whilst using it I've been utterly flake free, and I haven't even found any pesky little flakes floating around after a couple of days of not washing it. Although it clearly worked well in nourishing my scalp, it was a little drying, so I found that combining it with a fair amount of conditioner (I use the V05 Revive Me Daily one) was necessary to stop my dyed hair from drying out.
So there we have it: if you're struggling with dandruff definitely give this a whirl. This is the first shampoo from The Body Shop that I've actually tried, so I'm really tempted to pick up another soon.
Have you tried any of The Body Shop's shampoos? What did you think?

Shower Shelfie | Nourish My Skin

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?

Rimmel by Kate | Collection in Progress

I've always been a big fan of the bold lip - if I'm going to bother wearing lippy it's going to be a bright red or deep purple lip to get everyone's attention (and inevitably end up smeared everywhere after a few too many cheeky tipples, the shame!). But this winter everything changed. I started to appreciate a subtle lip, and actually wear lipstick to work everyday. 
My lips are pretty dry all year round and winter is a horrendous territory where there are actual ravines in and crags in my lips, so anything matte or vaguely drying is 100% out of the question. So long sweet MAC *sheds tear of beauty blogger pain*. 
I started off with Timeless All (08) which is the darkest of the three shades I have so far. This one is fairly similar to my actual lip colour, but with a hint of purple and brown added to the mix. It is the least obvious of the shades and I love putting it on when I want a casual, professional look that isn't too bold.
We move from this to the boldest one: Shade 34. This bright pink concoction is the girliest lippy I've ever owned. I'm not entirely sure about this one - the colour doesn't wear as well on my lips and it's not dark or thick enough to overwrite, so my puny top lip can't be puffed out at all, ugh. BUT, it does make me feel a little like Barbie.
Finally we have the middle ground: Shade 32. This is such a happy bright colour without being too overbearing that I definitely see it being a firm favourite for Spring. It's almost a cross between coral and pink, and I'm sure you'll all be seeing it in some makeup looks soon!
This collection is the first ever lipstick range that I've considered hoarding, and wanted to get a good number of (read: you will see another post as it expands in the future). The wear is fab; they tend to stay in place for about 6 hours including eating, drinking and chattering! For £5.49 they're definitely worth a go. *This post is not sponsored, I honestly just love the range*.
Have you tried any of them out? What's your go-to lipstick at the moment?

Hair Care Tips | New Video

I've really been getting into Youtube recently, and I hope that even a couple of you have been keeping up with my bits and bobs of videos! This week I've got a hair care tips video for you that's all about looking after long and thick hair, making sure you keep it healthy and nourished. 

These are the products I've spoken about in the video:

Avalon Organics Lavender Shampoo

LUSH Karma Komba Shampoo Bar

V05 Revive Me Daily Conditioner

LUSH H'Suan Wen Sua Treatment

John Frieda Frizz Ease Extra Strength Serum

What are your favourites? 

M.A.C. Lipstick Haul | A New Love

I've taken the plunge that sends all beauty bloggers into a whirl of love: buying my first MAC lipstick. This was probably the most thought I've ever put into buying a product ever. For starters, at £15.50 a pop these lippies aren't the cheapest things in the world, and secondly I wanted to get my collection off to a good start with some sass-filled blogger favourites. 
Naturally I had to pick up a classic red lip, so I went for Russian Red. I would describe this shade as a bold red lip with pink undertones. This has been my go-to for days when I want to feel that little bit extra confident, or when I'm going to an event and has replaced my previous Kiko shade.
My other choice was a wild card. As I've mentioned before, I haven't fully gotten rid of my emo heritage and so a dark vampy look is something that makes me all *heart-eye emoji*. For this reason, and because ever since one of my favourite bloggers, Annie Writes Beauty had spoken about her love for it I've been lusting after it, I had to pick Sin up.
Sin has easily become my favourite shade of lipstick ever. It's a deep almost burgundy shade with hints of blue and red. It fills me with oodles of confidence and is something that everyone comments on when I wear. I think it suits my pasty pale skin to a 'T' and adds a little something sexy to a makeup look.
What are your favourite MAC lipsticks?

Top 5 Anti-Anxiety Beauty Products | Nourish Yourself

If you spoke to me two or three years ago and said I'd be blogging about beauty products all the time I probably would have laughed in your face. For starters, I was mid emo 'phase' (or a lifestyle?! Haha) and secondly I had little interest in the world of makeup or beauty goodies. 
However, I've come to realise that beauty products and beauty routines have an extreme impact on my mental well-being. Using them means I take a little bit of time out for myself and makes me feel confident in my own skin as well as when I go out. 
If I've taken the time to get my eyeliner on fleek and rid myself of spots from a decent face wash I'm going to be far more happy when I venture into the big wide world, and far less likely to cower from social contact in a corner. I would argue that the world of beauty is not shallow - I haven't improved all of my beauty regimes because I want to look 'hot in da club' (grim), but because I want to feel happy, and that's what this helps me to do.
Lush bath bombs (this is my favourite)  Having an evening bath and then putting fresh PJs on is one of my favourite special treats to indulge myself in. Sometimes a mug of vegan hot chocolate or a cheeky glass of wine features, but mostly it's me, a  book, and the delicious scents of LUSH chilling me out after a long hard day.
Avalon Organics Nourishing Lavender Shampoo*  This has made its way to the top of my list of favourite shampoos EVER. Not only is it vegan, cruelty free, organic and sodium laureth sulfate free, but it smells SO GOOD. Massaging lavender shampoo into my hair makes me feel totally zen in the mornings, and makes your pillow smell beaut if you do it just before bed. 
Sure Maximum Protection Confidence Deodorant This may seem a little random on a beauty list, but hey it counts. A good deodorant makes a mountain of difference if you're shy or get anxious at social events. Being aware of your own bodily scent is pretty nasty, and will usually make you feel more anxious and sweat more in a vicious cycle. This is one of the few deodorants that I actually swear by.
Champneys Heavenly Days Sleep Temple Balm  I've actually got a whole blog post on my favourite Champneys goodies, including this, which you can check out here. This one totally helps me to get off to sleep in the evening, which is when my anxiety kicks in the worst.
Dr Organic Tea Tree Facial Wash Spots really get me down, especially as they always seem to be so central to my face (like seriously now skin, an we stop having ones in the middle of my chin and nose?!). But, this face wash is completely devoid of nasties and is perfect at making sure my combination skin goes spot free. A word of warning with this one: it is a little  drying, so if you've got dry skin this isn't the one for you.
What are your go-to anti-anxiety beauty products?