Lush valentines haul!

Hi all! 

I have had SO many lush items in the past, I can't even begin to imagine! I thought I would put my many baths to good use and review all the products I have bought here recently - and particularly the valentines range which are released only around this time of the year!

The first two I have tried this year were Sakura and Floating Flower. These were bought for me as a gift by my boyfriend as he knows how obsessed I am with these! 

Floating Flower:

This is the beautiful Floatin Flower. As you can see it attracted me because of the rang e of amazing colours. This is a bath bomb and therefore dissolves as soon as you drop it in to the hot water. 

When I dropped this in it immediately started spinning and fizzing and the bath turned an array of colours (there was even a hidden blue on the inside!) - so that was such a beautiful display to watch.

While it sounds obvious the smell was extremely floral and fresh- just what you want from a lush bath.

Another thing I liked about this was how it made my skin feel so soft and smooth! 

Floating Flower is a definite winner!

Sakura: 

This is the beautiful Sakura and again, it's another bath bomb, therefore was dropped into my bath and fizzed away. 

While Sakura looks like there's going to be an array of blue and punks it actually mainly fizzes away and turns the bath a slight pale pink- because I am one for the colour aspect and the wow moment of dropping it into the bath this one was disappointing on this level.

What was a winner for me on this was the blue beads. In my nth they kind of fizzed to the bottom however I picked a few from the bottom and they smelt fantastic, almost like a sea salt. After scrubbing a few over my arm the area I done was super soft!  Not an overall favourite but still a fantastic smell. 

Recent Haul

So my recent haul was when I went and stocked up on all the other valentines pieces I had been eyeing up for a while! Here's what I bought : 

What I got was a mix of bath bombs, bubble bars, massage bars and lip scrubs!

Unicorn horn

This is probobly the most popular of the valentines stock from Lush. I have seen just about everyone with this. 

This unicorn horn is a bubble bar and that means you break it up while holding it in your hand and running it under the water to create and amass of bubbles! 

Now bubble bars are fab but not my most favourite product as I prefer the visuals. Anyway this dos turn the bath a light pink and gave me tonnes of bubbles. It also smelt fantastic. Really sweet and fresh.   If you look closely you can see some stars engrained into the unicorn horn and these were floating all around also.

I find the bubble bars do give you extremely smooth skin however and they create what I can only describe as an oil substance on the top of your bath which soaks into your skin and makes it super soft! It is such a nice feelin and I can see why the unicorn horn is one of the most popular bubble bars.

Love Locket:

The love locket is one of the most expensive lush bath bombs I have bough.. I think coming in around £4-£5 however it is probobly the best value for money as it is HUGE!.. And the fact that technically, you can get 3 baths out of this one.. It splits into 3 separate love heart bath bombs!! 

The middle one even has floating red love hearts! So special. If you wanted to get in a valentines mood with floating heats and a sweet pink smelling bath then this is the bimbo r you. Would also make a great gift as it really does last! 

Lonely Heart:

Okay, if you bought any of the Halloween stock in Lish this one to me is exactly like sparkling pumpkin! It smells like the whole of lush combined as soon as you walk on so I can't pin point a fragrance. 

It is a bubble bar so you hold under running water for tonnes of bubbles - don't be fooled by the size there is still a tonne of bubbles. And the most exciting thing as you can probobly guess by looking at it- your bath will be sparkly.. Which means YOU will be sparkly... What's better than being sparkly???!

It's not an obvious sparkle don't get me wrong, it's more of a subtle shimmer and you will smell fantastic!

The Kiss

This is my very first lip scrub from lush. The reason I bought this one is due to the hype around it.. Type in lush as a hashtag on Instagram and this is one of the most common thugs you will see. 

It is quite a large and heavy glass container which I like as it's super sturdy and clearly you get a lot for your money. 

Now don't be fooled this is not a lip gloss, lil balm etc anything like that and if you don't like a harsh feeling on your face or lips then this is not for you but myyyyy goodness - it is for me!!

As you can see when you open it up it just looks like candy! This is reflected inthe smell as its a mix of strawberries and candy floss. 

I tried it for the first time when I was in a lush!) bath and I didn't quite know what to think. It's really thick and I just slathered it on my lips like I would Vaseline, making sure to cover all basis.

I left it for probobly about 30 seconds because I felt if I left it any longer I would have eaten it off- the smell was too tempting! What I was left with was the smoothest softest clearest lips (and I didn't think they were bad to begin with!). I used it 5 days ago now and my lips are still silky smooth. I think I will use it once every 1-2 weeks and therefore for the size of tub and the amazing effects I think it was well worth the money and I'm so pleased I jumped on the hype!!

From Dusk 'till Dawn

This is a massage bar! I have wanted one of these for a while so I was careful with my choosing. 

You rub the bar over your skin and it simply melts with the heat- you can feel it melting into your fingers when you hold it- it's so soft. 

There were SO many massage bars to choose from, some much larger that this and far more aesthetically pleasing! They were pink, had pentals in therm or beans or were a fantastic shape however I really was not a fan of the smell. This one however had the sweet fresh smell I have come to adore from lush and therefore was the winner (and also the cheapest of the bunch!) I haven't used it yet but sooo looking forward to it! I will update you!

What is your favourite lush product? Have you tried any of these? 

Until next time!

Air of Eire 

Xo

Book review: The Bone Collector- Jeffery Deaver

Welcome to another book review! I am on such a book mission recently that I am going through them like hotcakes!

Anyway, if you have read any of my previous book reviews then you will know that my absolute favourite genre is crime/thriller.

This is what enthralled me to pick up the bone collector as I was scanning blurbs in the book shop! Now, what I didn't know is that this book has been out for an absolute AGE and has already been turned into a movie in 1999 starting Angelina Jolie and Denzel Washington no less! I felt like not knowing this however gave me the age and let me enjoy and explore for myself this truly thrilling book.

From the first page I was into this book! Now I must say it didn't feel like one of those cant-put-down books. There was so much going on especially on the crime lab scene side of it, that I wanted to put it down and have a think. Just to mull over what is written and try to solve it myself. I pride myself in solving these things- whether reading the books of watching movies in this genre but for the life of me I couldn't make a connection here and that's what makes it amazing. 

Generally girl heroines in this book are young and fall in love with the handsome officer and blah blah. I loved that the main character in this book was a quadriplegic and gave you an insight and feelings into his world. I love how the heroine was gorgeous and strong but it didn't feel patronising and fake. You could tell she didn't want to be there, she didn't want to be involved and there were things she just wanted to get on with in her life.

This is what made it readable and enjoyable.

When I hit the last few chapters I was enthralled and had many jaw dropping, coin dropping moments. But just when I thought it had tricked me enough there was another twist! Amazing.

I just really appreciate a book that can keep me reading until the end and caring about the characters.  

I now see Jeffery Deaver has many 'Lincoln Rhyme'(the main character) novels out! And I'll be sourcing them out on my next visit to the book shop. 

4.5/5!! 

Have you read any more by Jeffery Deaver? Do you have a favourite to recommend? Leave me a link in the comments and tell me which! 

Lots of love

Air of Eire

Xo

Week 2: -0.5

Hi all!

This post is so delayed! So apologies for that. In my second week at slimming world I lost -0.5! And I am pleased! 

I know sometimes people can think wow -0.5lb- it's not very much but it's every inch heading in the direction that I am aiming for and as long as those scales keep going down I will be happy! A few times this week a naughty chocolate has fell into my mouth and it wasn't over syns but this snacking is what has been different from my first week and therefore I do know what has changed! 

What I ate:

I still had another week of fantastic home cooked meals and here are some of the things I had.. 

All I need is -0.5 on my next weigh in to get half a stone award! I have never had an award therefore REALLY want to work towards getting this! Fingers crossed! I'd love to hear how everyone else's weeks went or what they suggest i try to ensure the award next week! 

Keep positive- mindset is everything! 

Lots of love

Air of Eire

xo 

Slimming world week 1: -6!!!

Hi guys! 

This is my first weekly update after 1 full week at slimming world, what I ate/ how I felt and what I lost- welcome :)

I think I'll start with what we all want to know- how much I lost. I am soooo happy to say I lost 6lb!!!! 6lb in one week- how exciting. Now I know that you always lost the most in your first week and to be honest I know that most of mine was simply a change from my christmas diet of eating a box of chocolates a day. So you could say it's christmas weight and I agree. None of it was my 'real' weight. But it's a start and gives me motivation in thinking that hopefully this diet combined with my determination will be the one for me. This will be the time for me. 

What I ate:

I have been keeping a strict food diary every day and therefore I will post these all here for you to have a look at/ borrow some ideaa/recipes as well as some real life pictures of my meals from the week so you can see how they turned out. 

One thing I will say is that my breakfast and lunch really isn't that inventive but I find these keep me full until dinner. Altho more suggestions are very welcome! 

How I felt:

I felt super determined this week- there are tonnes of things I have turned down which I would normally have without thinking- countless biscuits with my cuppas. Chocolate snacks in the evenin and a firm NO to a ritual Friday morning mcds breakfast - go me!! I hope this motivation stays!

Next week:

I am hoping for just a -1lb next week. The reason being that I have NEVER won a certificate/ sticker and I would be so happy to receive my half stone award. Fingers crossed. Il update you next week! 

Good luck on your journey. I'd love to hear how it's going.

Air of Eire 

Xo

Slimming World 2015 - I've joined!

Hi guys! 

So slimming world have come out with a new plan (sort of!) and I have joined.

Here are my first opinions and what I know so far... 

Slimming world have recently changed their plan. They recently had 3 main plans - extra easy

- red

-green

If you have been a slimming member  previously you will know all about these plans and I'm not going to discuss them as in the new plan, red and green have been scrapped and there is now

- extra easy

- EESP 

Extra easy is pretty much the same however I understand a few syns have changed slightly, the one people seemed most upset about in my group was the beef chow mein as it has went up more than 10 syns. All I would advise is to keep checking your book or online- I find I get a lot of my support and Syns from Instagram by following a lot of amazing sw members on this from all over the world (come follow me on slimmingworldwhit).

The thing that most people seem to be getting the most confused about is the EESP plan which SP simply stand for speed and protein. I have done some research and it's simply as easy as it says.. Fill have your plate with speed food and have your plate with proteins. 

We have been told at our group however, by a district manager that it is simply to be used to BOOST weight losses. It should not be used as a 'plan'. For example if you want to boost your loss to push yourself into the next stone bracket, if you know your gonna be having a sinful type of day coming up, maybe you want to think of slipping a few EESP days in before or after. 

The following are posts I have found through research that may help some people with EESP or slimming world in general.

In terms of my first week on the plan I have found that I've been doing quite well! I haven't went over my syns so far ( 4 days in) and hopefully won't in the near future.

My food diary post (which I have posted earlier today) will let you have a look at what I have been eating so far this week. 

My weigh in days are on Tuesday's at 5.30pm and I will be doing a blog post ever week on what I have been eating, tips and tricks and info I have found, as well as any losses and exercise!

Hope to see you there! 

Air of Eire 

Xo

My Food Diary

Hi all! 

Recently I have joined slimming world. This was a decision I made before Christmas and when I decided I knew I would need some kind of diet tracking diary to keep me going.

I am aware there are a lot of apps etc for this kind of thing but I am a pen to paper girl (as you might have been able to tell from the extortionate price I paid for my 2015 planner - review here - http://airofeire.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/erin-condren-life-planner-2015.html?m=1).

I found the perfect one on eBay! I love abit of colour and I'm a sucker for a spiral bound book ( I find them easier to use). 

You could choose from a lot of front covers but I wanted mine plain and pretty. It wasn't the front cover that sold me on this one though, it was the way it is planned out inside. 

These are the spaces for you to write up your food and Hextras. I have had a few food diaries before this but the facts that this one included one for veg, water, exercise, notes AND feelings I thought was fab. 

I find it is the feelings and notes sections that keep me going as I never want to have to tick a sad day and I know the my upset will be down to me as I haven't been good that day - so I find this add on keeps me motivated! 

I have only filled in a few days so far but it has helped keep me on track- especially as I knew I would be uploading some of the pictures onto here and I didn't want to have to lie.  Here are the days I have filled out so far: 

Another fab feature is the measurements and weigh in tracker at the front which I am yet to lose but definitely will as I know there will be weeks I won't lose but may be motivated by a measurement 

These diet diaries come from ebay user bloominggorgeous who has 100% feedback reviews! 

It seems she has also recently updated them to match the new slimming world plan. Unfortunately I have the old one but it still is working for why I need it and when my pages are done I will definitely be buying a new one 😊 

Hope you found this useful! Let me know in the comments below. 

Air of Eire 

Xo

Book Review: Someone else's skin - Sarah Hilary

Hey everyone!

Welcome to my second book review. 

I'm back to reading my favourite genre- crime/thriller and this review centres around Sarah Hilary's 2014 Debut cre novel, Someone Else's Skin. 

Now there are a few reasons I picked this book up in the first place.

1) The Richard and Judy book club sticker. I have picked up a few books with these stickers on before and absolutely loved them so I thought I was guaranteed a good read.

2) the fact that the first 4 pages  are full of praise from other newspapers and quite reputable authors and reviewers.

However, it didn't quite live up to my expectations. The book was split into 2 parts, part 1 and part 2. Although  I'm still not really clear why. There was no reason for 2 different sections and I felt like nothing really changed. 

Part 2 was much better than part 1. More fast paced etc but part 1 was SO hard to get through. I kept having to force myself to read it which is not like me at all. I'm one of these will-survive-on-1-hours-sleep just to finish a book.

The book does have good qualities - it has a strong focus around the themes of abuse and domestic violence and I think it deals with a lot of stigmatism around these topics and discusses these themes quite well.

I would read another book by this author as I'm not willing to write her off but having read a LOT of crime/thriller novels, this one just didn't have enough suprise, it never left me wanting more and never kept me interested. 

I will give it a 2/5 as the strong themes and how they were dealt with saved it. 

Have you read this book? Did you enjoy it? Let me know in the comments below.

Love until next time,

Air of Eire 

Xo

2015- New Year Goals and Resolutions

Hi again all :)

So it's seems a bit late to do a post like this as it is one week into the new year. However I have had time to think about these and trial some in the week of 2015 we have had so far.. And the following are going to get my commitments for as long as I possibly can.

1) Diet

bleiuuughhh boring - I know! Everyone's is diet but I REALLY mean it. I have made a start on this resolution already and joined slimming world. I'm only on my 2nd day in of this but it's going really well. I have found a really amazing group of people on Instagram who share their food ideas/recipies etc and just kind of post up a visual food diary which is awesome.

If you would like more up to date info and follow my journey on this I have a slimming world account - slimmingworldwhit

Give me a follow! :)

2) Time

In 2015 I am giving myself the gift of time. No, really! Due to working quite long hours with teaching I normally come home and go to bed which is just no way to love and I have no social life. My New Years resolution is to stay up to at LEADT 9pm on week nights. This mightn't se much but it's about 2 hours after my normal bed time! 

Again. I have been trialling this and it seems to be going weel. I've been over and above 9 all week! Great start!

3) Be Kind

I'm a grump. No really I am The Grinch but not about Christmas- about everything and everyday.

I want to try and be kind, be friendly. Be the type of person that I would want to be around. Give out more positive vibes and hopefully get some on return.

That about wraps it up. Hopefully by 2016 il be a skinnier, social and kinder version of myself.

I'll keep you updated tho 😜 

Air of Eire

Xo