The Body Shop Cruelty Free Face Masks

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So last year and this year so far I've hardly blogged, which is why I bought these face masks in DECEMBER 2018 (Christ) and have been meaning to write a little something about them ever since then. Lockdown is doing wonders for me attempting to do all these things I haven't got around to yet, apart from any kind of long-standing cleaning projects I'm avoiding. Cleaning my oven is just too much of a commitment, okay?

NEW LUSH Naked Winter skincare products*

Winter really feels as though it's here now. It's less than 5 weeks until Christmas (and guess who hasn't really started their Christmas shopping? *raises hand*), morning frosts are becoming more regular and holy poop on a scoop I am living for steamy showers and hot baths. 

KIKO's gel face wash for combination/oily skin

I'm a big fan of KIKO's makeup, but to be quite honest I had no idea that they did skincare until very recently. They've got a whole range of bits and pieces for different types of skin, and now that I've tried this face wash out I'm definitely going to look more into what else they offer!

French lavender hand cream (that leaves your hands grease-free)

I'm a serial hand-washer. There's no two ways about it, I'm obsessed. I'm not saying this because 'omg so proud about how clean I am', but because I do it to a point where I require hand cream to salve the damage I create. I work in a restaurant, and wash my hands after every dirty plate I touch. That's a whole lotta plates. 
Admittedly, the skin on my hands is a lot worse in winter. Not only does it have to cope with lots of soap irritation, but also wind chapping. In winter I need some seriously heavy duty creams, but in summer I can get away with something a little lighter. This is where this beauty from Bath and Body Works comes in.
I've tried so many different hand creams. I've got half a desk drawer of them. I've even tried the holy grail of hand creams for sore hands: The Body Shop's hemp oil cream. Every time I mention that my hands are cracked or dry someone recommends it to me. The problem is that it doesn't sink into my skin properly (and irritates my sensitive skin, but y'know). So, I'm left with sticky, tacky hands. Which makes me want to wash them again. It leads to a vicious cycle and makes the whole point of using the cream useless.
I didn't have high hopes for this mini French lavender scented hand cream from Bath and Body Works. I totally picked it up because lavender is my fave scent ever, not because I thought it would save my hand skin. #priorities. 
However, I've finally found a cream that sinks into my skin perfectly. It smells amazing, it's lightweight and it totally evaporates into my skin. It doesn't irritate my very sensitive eczema-prone skin at all, although this doesn't mean it might not do it to someone else. I've finally found the product that provides balance between moisturing my hands without leaving a film of hand cream behind. I LOVE it, and the next time I head back to America this is at the top of my 'need to buy' list.
What do you use to keep your hands moisturised?
(This is totally not sponsored, I just have a whole lotta love for it) 
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Nip + Fab Detox Blend Range

I'm a big fan of a good detox. Whether that's from dairy, or sulphate shampoo, or soft drinks, I just love the idea of helping my body to help me out. I always think of a detox as a way to go back to ground zero, and a way to feel pretty zen. So it's no surprise that I had to give the detox blend range from Nip + Fab a go. 
Detox blend body wash
This was my favourite out of the three. The whole range is tea tree and jasmine scented, so as you can imagine, it smells very fresh and a little floral. This woke me up in the morning and made my skin feel genuinely clean. 
Detox blend body scrub
I was so excited to try this, but so so disappointed with the formula. I don't know if mine had gotten water in it, or what had happened, but the consistency was honestly like water with a few exfoliating beads in. I used up the whole bottle in four uses, and I was actually quite glad to get to the bottom of it. I tried so hard to persevere and use it, but it just ran off my skin, and the little bit of scrub that I managed to keep hold of just didn't exfoliate my skin as much as I would have liked. 
Detox blend body lotion
This was much better than the scrub. Although it was described as a lotion, it was fairly thin, so was almost like a milk. It's also the only lotion that I've ever used with a pump (I'm more of a body butter tub kinda gal normally). The lotion I used before this was so thick and greasy; it just refused to sink in. So, this was such a welcome break from that. It applied really easily, and felt clean and refreshing, which is definitely what I needed in the recent heatwave.
Have you ever tried any skin care from Nip + Fab? What would you recommend?
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LUSH Halloween Haul

The weather over the past fortnight has really started to gain a chill to it, and as it gets colder my desire to have a bath before bed gets stronger. I've been hyped about LUSH releasing their Halloween range for weeks now, and I wasn't disappointed. What I am a little disappointed about however, is how close the Halloween and Christmas releases were - just one week apart! I would love to have a haul coming up asap for their Christmas range, but with moving home just around the corner, I simply can't justify buying a whole extra box of bathing goodies. 
With that little rant aside, I am very impressed with this year's range. There are some bits we've since before, but also a good couple of newbies in there, including the much anticipated Autumn Leaf. I didn't actually buy the entire range. If you're a big LUSH fan, you'll probably notice that the Lord of Misrule bits and pieces are missing. I picked the shower gel up last year and just wasn't bowled over by it, so I gave it a miss and opted for some other goodies instead.
First, let's chat bath bombs. There's something so luxurious about popping an entire bath bomb into your bath, filling the room with a heady scent and making your bath a gorgeous colour. If I truly want to pamper myself and feel good, a bath bomb is definitely the way forward. Autumn Leaf is the product that I really fell for from the very beginning, when LUSH had their Creative Showcase and I got to see a whole load of bloggers and vloggers talking about the new releases. This is the only product from the range that I've tried thus far and I fell more than a little in love. I'm seriously considering stocking up on reams of these to last me all year year round. It smells like crisp mornings and it made my bath the precise colour of fallen Autumn leaves. It was honestly divine. 
Monster's Ball is supposedly inspired by Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc, and I can definitely see the resemblance. This is probably the bath bomb that I'm least excited for (but it is a tough choice between the three). It turns your bath a pinky-purpley colour, but has a citrussy scent. I'm waiting to see how this feels in the bath as it seems like a bit of a clashing combination! 
The third and final bath bomb I got my hands on is the Pumpkin bath bomb. From online demos that I've watched (and there may have been more than just one or two - whoops), this is the one that fizzes up quickest, and bobs around your bath, sizzling with glorious orange pumping out as it goes. The scent of this reminds me of fizzy sweets from my childhood, and would be the perfect treat for a Spooky October evening.
Next I picked up a couple of bath melts. Ceridwen's Cauldron isn't strictly part of their Halloween range as far as I'm aware, despite the spooky name. Correct me on that one if I'm wrong. This bath melt contains milk and oats all wrapped up in a muslin cloth. I have eczema on my hands due to over washing with liquid soap at work (the idea of not washing my hands after clearing plates as a waitress is just pretty disgusting to be honest, so I wash them almost incessantly). Milk and oats are supposed to be amazing at helping to ease the itching and soreness of eczema, so I'm hoping this bath melt can do wonders for me! 
The other bath melt I grabbed is Boo, the little ghost. This one promises to turn your bath a milky colour so that you can hide in it just like Boo does. I don't think I've actually used one of LUSH's bath oil melts before, so I'm pretty excited to see if this makes my skin super soft; a priority for me now that it's about to start facing the harsh ravages of Winter.
Bubble bars are probably the most cost effective of LUSH's range of types of bath goodies. Whereas I always dunk an entire bath bomb in to get the right effects from it, I always break my bath bombs into chunks so that I can get a good few baths out of them. My all time favourite is A French Kiss, which contains lavender as its main scent, which always makes me feel blissful, so the Sparkly Pumpkin has its work cut out for it! This is something that I've seen come out year after year (I think) and it's just absolutely beautiful. For the past few years however - weep for me - I've not really had access to a bath because I've been living in grotty student houses, so I'm super happy that I've finally managed to get my hands on this to try it out!
Finally, I got the Fireside soap. This is probably least exciting for you guys, but as I can't use liquid soap, treating myself to a LUSH solid soap is always a bit of a whirl. I would love to be able to use all of the fun Carex scents on a daily basis, or chill out with some  moisturising Radox hand soap, but I've had to give it all up. Fireside soap smells like cloves, Atumn spices and vanilla all rolled into one. I'm saving this to be the first soap we use in our new home and I just cannot wait. 
Here's my video detailing my first impressions, first sniffs and first bout of going gooey-eyed over the range: 

What have you picked up from the range? Let me know if you'd like to see a Christmas post too!
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July Favourites, A Life Update + Video

Where did July go?! I sat down, all ready to start filming my video for this month's favourites and was convinced I was about to be summing June up! I'm still not over the fact that we're in August already, even though we're on day 6 now. The one good thing about time moving this fast? It'll soon be Autumn, and I'll have an excuse to have all the baths, snuggle in my dressing gown and be permanently glued to my tea mug. 
So, what did July hold for me and Nourish ME? Well, I had a few sponsored posts this month - in fact the most I've ever had in a month, and I even had to turn down a few opportunities because I didn't want to get oversaturated over here. This seems totally mad, and I'm really hoping that it's a sign of bigger and better things to come in the rest of 2016. 
I finally got a part time job here in Cheltenham, and it's one that (so far at least) is not damaging my mental health progress, and is helping me to get a little more exercise in. It's also been more than a little useful because, you know, getting a secure income is fab when you haven't had one for six months! I'm also finally getting used to living in the countryside, even if we did wake up one morning to an escaped herd of cows just chilling outside our front door.
Now let's get down to my favourites for the month. I'm going to kick start this by talking about my ultimate favourite for July: Vatika's Henna shampoo. This was something that I picked up at Bloggers Ball back in June and had fairly low expectations of. I'm really fussy with shampoos, especially with their scents, and I was a little sceptical about the use of henna in it. BUT, it turned out to be the best shampoo I've used in a long time - my hair has been far less greasy and totally manageable. Plus it smells like apples, which is the most important thing. Obvs. 
My showers have been totally dreamy at the moment because of this and The Body Shop's mango shower gel. Mangoes are a perfect fruit for summer, coming in (in my rankings) at a close third behind strawberries and peaches. Vital info here I know guys. But, it means that when the skies have been grey here in the UK this July I've been able to keep myself smelling like summer. The Body Shop have also done a cheeky simple redesign of their shower gel bottles recently, giving them bold black lids, which I totally love. 
If you've read my summer daily skincare essentials post, then you'll know that I've been upping and altering all aspects of my skincare in the past month or two. The most important addition is possibly my Eau Roma Water from LUSH. This has wormed its way into my favourites after making a comeback in my life for summer. I used to use it about two years ago, and it was one of those things that I just really forgot I liked (does anyone else do this when they finish/lose a product?!), but it's come back with a vengeance.
I've rambled on enough about my newfound love for NYX recently, so I'm not going to bore you with going over that all over again. Just one tip though: go try the soft matte lip cream in Morocco. It is the most divine coral-y red I've ever tried!
And finally we come to a little fun favourite - my tsum tsums! Baymax and Roo are some of my (many) favourite Disney characters, and I was lucky enough that my boyfriend was kind enough to trawl the internet to find them for my birthday. They look so pretty on my shelves, make the perfect blog prop, and the cat absolutely loves to chase/play with them!
Here is my July favourites video, please give it a watch and subscribe!

What were your favourites this month?
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A dreamy skincare duo from Garnier and Nip + Fab

I don't know about you, but I honestly sometimes find it really hard to find great skincare pairings. Usually I end up with something that makes my skin a little oily and something that dries it out a little. Rather than working together as you might imagine, this usually sends my skin into overdrive as it's both encouraged to and discouraged from creating its natural oils. UGH. Cue all the spots. 
So, I've been fiddling around with my evening skincare routine for the past few months trying to find something that really works in terms of helping my skin lock in moisture without letting me wake up to a pool of face grease every morning. Grim, but you know what I'm talking about, right (please)?
Basically I've been using my Garnier micellar water (yes I have finally jumped on that bandwagon) which I picked up as part of my birthday beauty haul to remove my makeup and get rid of any dirt. This hasn't irritated my sensitive skin at all, or even my eyes, which usually end up red, itchy and a little sore from most makeup removers. I tend to go for more creamy makeup removers, so I've also actually been really shocked at how well this has been working! 
After I've got as much as my makeup off as I can, I then wipe one of Nip + Fab's Dragon's Blood fix pads over my face, ensuring I get into all the nooks and do my neck as well. For so long I had such a preconception about Nip + Fab being quite a pricey drug store brand, but actually a full-sized tub of these comes in at just £4.97. The dragon's blood range from Nip + Fab is aimed at hydrating your skin and making it a little more plump, and I have to say that it really does do what it says on the tin, so to speak. These have really been helping to lock in my skin's moisture overnight so that my makeup actually goes on the next day without creating any dry patches.

The two together have really been doing wonders for my skin in terms of helping to keep is cleansed and hydrated. I never wake up in the morning with mascara stains or skin that even I don't want to touch, let alone anyone else anymore. So basically, it's a big thumbs up from here, and if you've got combination skin I would definitely recommend giving this combo a whirl!

I've actually made a little video for you about this one, so please have a watch: 

What's in your evening skincare routine?
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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?

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?

Review of The Body Shop's Seaweed Clay Face Mask

This is one of those frustrating posts where I've waited so long to write it because I've had some really exciting things for you that The Body Shop have completely changed the packaging on this. The plus side? The packaging is about 1000x times prettier and sleeker. 
I'm pretty face mask obsessed, and rarely a week or a LUSH haul goes by without me using one or picking one up. According to The Body Shop's web page, this seaweed face mask is designed to draw out impurities and refresh your skin: I had to give it a go and see if it was all it was cracked up to be.
I was really pleased with its efforts to reduce my pore visibility, small spots and blackheads. You leave the face mask on for 10 minutes, and during that time it (shamefully) really sunk into my blackheads and exposed them. BUT, it really made them less potent, and helped to even out my skin tone, so that my dry and oily patches weren't quite as foundation-ruining as usual. 
All in all, it's a pretty good all-rounder for combination skin, However, if you've got really sensitive skin I would advise washing it off slowly with warm water as I found getting it off irritated my skin a little. 
Have you tried it? What's your favourite face mask at the moment?

LUSH Valentines Haul | A Little Pamper Time

You guys are all probably a bit sick of reading LUSH valentines post from pretty much every blogger ever, but it's pretty much the only valentines tradition I get involved in. Yes, me and my boyfriend like to spend the day together and get cute cards, but we don't tend to buy in to the expensive meals, outfits and presents game. 
So, to 'celebrate', I've been having a little pamper this weekend. I'm not the greatest bath fan - I usually get in and sit there for about two minutes before my anxiety kicks in and I end up all 'OH MY GOD I NEED TO BE DOING THINGS, NOT WASTING MY TIME LYING IN A POOL OF MY OWN DIRT' and it turns out to be totally unrelaxing and I end up feeling worse than when I got in.
BUT, I've had a revolutionary weekend! Last night I got my elderflower and prosecco tealights (which you can read more about in my recent home ware post) and placed them all around my bathroom. Then I added some fresh PJs, my fluffy dressing gown (far, far away from the flames - that thing is like my baby) and my LUSH unicorn horn bubble bar. This is the favourite of so many bloggers and now I see why. It smells of lavender, which is so relaxing, and is rainbowy coloured and totally turns your bath pink. Like, what more could you want?
Despite the unicorn horn being so beautiful, it wasn't my favourite product that I picked up. This award has to go to the lover lamp bath bomb, which is the best bath bomb I've ever used! It smells of vanilla and oranges, which made me feel totally sweet and fresh, whilst the soap hearts it released made it the perfect Valentines treat.
Sex bomb isn't strictly part of LUSH's valentines range, but hey, a lot of us like a little extra treat on Valentines day *cue wink emoji*. This contains Jasmine oil, which is an aphrodisiac and made the pretty deep pink bath colour you can see in the water picture above.
Prince Charming and Roses All the Way are all about making your skin feel a little bit better on a daily basis. I was actually a bit disappointed with the shower gel - I expected something sweet and maybe floral for Valentines day but instead was hit with a waft of grapefruit which totally jarred with my colour prejudice for this deep pink gel. However, I think the roses soap totally made up for that. As well as being super softening, it also smells like, you guessed it, roses, but without being too overpowering.
Finally we have the kiss lip scrub. I'm a big fan of the mint julips one (which totally has NOTHING to do with the fact that it tastes like after eights, nothing!), but this may have topped it. The little edible hearts in the scrub make it such a cute addition to any Valentines collection, and LUSH lip scrubs are amazing for softening your lips.
Have you picked anything up? What's your favourite from the collection?