Lush-ious Bath Bombs ♡

Ladies (and gents)! ♡

So.. I figured that four bath bombs don't really amount to a "haul" but what the heck! I'ma do this post anyway!

I don't know about where you are, but it has been such gorgeous spring-y weather here the past few days and it sort of lured me into taking a little stroll during my lunch hour at work. Obviously, I just ended up at Lush *gulp* but fortunately I was rather tame with buying things! I felt like treating myself to a little pampering so I picked up a few yummy smelling bath bombs so I could have lovely relaxing baths in the evenings. Because that's what females do.

Enough with the waffling - let's get on to the goodies!

♡ Sex-Bomb Bath Ballistic ♡

♡ Avobath Bath Ballistic ♡

♡ Fizzbanger Bath Ballistic ♡

♡ Blackberry Bath Bomb Bath Ballistic ♡

♡ Charity Pot Hand & Body Lotion ♡

Sex Bomb

"Sex Bomb is sensual bath bomb to improve your mood - or put you in the right one.

When you’ve got that feeling - tired, stressed out and anxious - you need some sensual healing. The fragrant blend of jasmine, ylang ylang and clary sage will soon have you relaxed and feeling in the mood..."

This is my all-time FAVOURITE bath bomb. It turns my entire bath a gorgeous shade of pink and the smell lingers on my skin even once I've showered down. It smells absolutely DELICIOUS and I know it's loved by so many girls and is constantly raved about. The cute little flower is made out of rice paper, and even though it doesn't dissolve in the bath water it's still a really nice decorative touch.

Avobath

"A bright green citrus bath bomb to cheer the spirits and feed thirsty skin.

Avobath in the morning to help you face the day: its lemongrass and bergamot oils will pick you up while also tackling dryness with avocado and olive oil. It contains lustre, which gives a shimmering green effect to the water, but will leave your skin feeling dazzling without the dazzle."

My dad expressed an interest in this bomb (lol) so I ended up giving it to him. It smells very citrus-y (like lemon and lime) and smells so fresh and fragrant. I have tried this in the past and absolutely loved it so I may pick another up for myself - the scent is to die for.

Fizzbanger

"A Catherine wheel of a bath bomb that whirls, crackles and fizzes around the tub and smells of spiced apple pie.

When your day is feeling flat, put some magic and sparkle back into your bathtime: this layered ballistic works like a Fizzbanger dream. It changes colour as it fizzes round the tub, crackling with popping candy as it goes and releasing an apple, cinnamon and petitgrain (bitter orange) scent with a hint of ylang ylang."

I've never actually tried this before but as with all other Lush bombs - it smells delicious and I can't wait to try it!

Blackberry Bath Bomb

"One of our originals and a bestseller, this fruit-and-musqué bath bomb helps wash away anxiety.

If you’re feeling anxious or restless, the frankincense and bergamot oils in Blackberry Bath Bomb will help you think straight. Perfect with Sultana of Soap, which shares the same blackberry and musqué fragrance."

This bath bomb is quite cute and simple. It smells very relaxing and feminine and turns your entire tub a pretty purple. Would definitely recommend it if you're wanting to relax and pamper yourself as it really helps you feel calm and cosy.

Charity Pot Hand & Body Lotion
Not a bath bomb - evidently. I sort of randomly got this through a "donate-a-pound" thing. I have wrestled with this tin and it just won't open. Shame really.. Just a small sample of a hand and body lotion. Cant really say much else as I've neither tried, smelt or even seen it. A little bit of a pointless hand-out.

And that is all folks! A tiny "haul" I know but I figured since winter is approaching it's end I would share some of the comforts the season brings. I suggest you all go and spoil yourselves and make the most of hot bubbly baths whilst you can!

See you soon! x

Nail Polish Haul ♡

Hello Ladies. ♡

I've really been trying to get back into painting my nails recently as I've been a bit of a lazy twonk to say the very least. I'm one of those people who either takes care of their nails, or just doesn't. The latter including nail biting and peeling (disgusting, I know). So I figured I'd treat myself to a few new polishes to keep my nails nice and pretty.

What I bought

Left to right: Rimmel 60 Second Nail Polish - Mind the Gap Victoria, Nicole by OPI Modern Family - Haley Good Lookin'..., Essie Nail Lacquer - Licorice, Revlon Nail Enamel - Radiant, Nicole by OPI Selena Gomez - Selena, Loreal Color Riche - Sequin Explosion, OPI RapiDry Top Coat.

Rimmel 60 Seconds Nail Polish - 503 Mind the Gap Victoria

This is a pastel bluey colour that most people would only wear during spring/summer but I thought I'd be awkward and rock it through winter. I absolutely love the colour and currently have it on my nails. It does need two coats to become opaque but it does dry fairly quickly so you don't need to wait around for a long time if you're layering it up. I think Rimmel's 60 Second range is great for those of you who are busy and don't have time to sit around like little madams waiting for your nails to dry. Oh, and at £3.69 it's super affordable too!

Nicole by OPI - Selena Gomez - Selena

I've really wanted to test out Nicole by OPI's nail polishes so I bought for this gorgeous pink from their Selena Gomez collection. I did swatch it on one of my nails after I'd bought it and it wasn't very opaque at all. I think this polish may need three layers to achieve the colour shown in the bottle which is a little bit of a disappointment. I won't judge it too soon so I'll post a full review on it when I've had a chance to use it properly!

Nicole by OPI - Modern Family - Haley Good Lookin'...

As soon as I saw the glitter and sequins in this I just plopped it into my shopping basket haha! It's so pretty and would be great to wear on a night out or to a party. I've tested this out on one of my nails and absolutely love it. It's so glittery, pink and gorgeous!

Essie Nail Lacquer - Licorice

I desperately needed a black nail polish as the one I had from Rimmel's 60 Second range had dried out to nothing. I've already tested Licorice out and it is so well pigmented you only need one coat. It has a beautiful shine too. I'm in love with this product and think I'll be using it very frequently!

Revlon Nail Enamel - 441 Radiant

This bottle contains little specks of blue sequins and glitter. It's pretty similar to "Haley Good Lookin'..." just in a different colour! I'm thinking of trying them both lightly layered over one another!

Loreal Paris - Color Riche - 842 Sequin Explosion

This bottle is so teeny and cute! It contains multicoloured glitter and sequins and is so so glittery. I think it's absolutely gorgeous and would look amazing layered over a black nail varnish. I'm really looking forward to painting my nails with this!

OPI RapiDry Top Coat

I was expecting this top coat to be quite glossy as the packaging it came in said it gave a "high-gloss shine" - It doesn't. Don't get me wrong it doesn't make your nails matte but it certainly doesn't make them glossy at all. A bit misleading OPI! It does however dry rather quickly which is great if you're as impatient as me! I'm yet to find out how long it prevents chipping but I hope it prevents it long enough to justify the price of this stuff!

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That's the end of it guys. As you can probably tell I got quite a few glittery polishes. I just think they look gorgeous layered over painted nails and make them so glitzy and pretty. My favourite glittery purchase has to be Loreal's Sequin Explosion as it has so many different colours in it. I'm hoping to do a few NOTD's using these products so keep an eye out for those if you're into nails!

See you soon! x

Recent MAC Purchases ♡

  Hello Girlies! ♡

I've been on a few sprees to the MAC stand at Debenhams and thought I'd share my recent purchases with you all. Since I've also had a chance to use all of them properly I thought I would also do mini reviews on the products and let you guys know what my thoughts on them are. Hope you enjoy x

What I've bought:

Left to right: Fleur Power, Well Dressed, Mineralize Skinfinish Soft & Gentle, Creme Cup, 109 Small Contour Brush + Subculture Lip Liner.

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Powder Blush - Fleur Power

I've never owned a MAC blush of any kind before so this was my first purchase. I've definitely not been disappointed. This is a gorgeous sophisticated mauvey-pink colour that goes great with heavily contoured cheeks. I tend to wear this more when I go out in the evenings since it is quite a dark colour - however, a light hand would definitely make it day-time appropriate.

Powder Blush - Well Dressed

This blush is a cool-toned pink that looks amazing with heavy eye make-up or a bold lip as it doesn't draw too much attention to itself. I tend to wear this to work as it isn't very noticeable and gives me a lovely pink flush. This blush is great for light skin-tones as it's not so 'out there'.

Mineralize Skin Finish - Soft & Gentle

I've literally had my eye on this for YONKSSS. If you don't know - I'm a complete sucker for anything shimmery/glittery. This product is so gorgeous in it's packaging as well as upon application. I just sweep a little onto the tops of my cheekbones and it gives me such a radiant glow - was definitely worth the wait! I'm hoping to feature this in a highlight/contour routine post sometime soon!

Lip Liner - Subculture

This was actually a product one of the sales assistants kept trying to force on me (I can't stand it when they do that). Anyway, she managed to grab a hold of my sister and applied it to her lips before applying a nude lip colour. I must say I was impressed. I've never been one to use lip liners with nude lips because I never knew what a great difference it could make. Of course I ended up  grabbing it up in the end. It's a flesh-toned liner that is slightly darker than my natural skin-tone and it shapes my lips perfectly and looks so natural at the same time.  I'm not so sure if this would work with more medium-dark complexions but MAC has such a variety of different tones so I'm sure you'll be spoilt for choice!

Lipstick - Creme Cup

This is my favourite ever lipstick from MAC. It's the absolute perfect pinky nude for light to medium skin-tones. If you're looking for 'The One', look no further. This is a cremesheen lipstick so it's ever so creamy and well-pigmented. I love it.

FYI: This lipstick + the Subculture lip liner = A match made in heaven.

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And that's the end of it! I really love everything I've bought and as always the products are such great quality. I've got my eye on a few of their gorgeous eye-shadows but can't seem to decide what colours I want. Any recommendations would be hugely appreciated!

See you guys soon! ♡

♡ L'Oréal Paris Préférence Wild Ombrés || REVIEW / APPLICATION | FEAT. Sissykins ♡

Hi dolls! ♡

My sister has been wanting to ombre her hair for a while now so she went out and picked up this do-it-yourself kit by Loreal for £6.99. You can find it here.

Since she wanted me to apply it to her hair (as she wasn't too confident about doing it herself) I thought I would also photograph and review the process for you guys too. Her hair is naturally rather black so it did turn a brassy shade. She's currently toning it with purple shampoo so we'll see how that goes :-)

This kit includes:

• Expert Brush
• Lightening Powder
• Developer Creme + Applicator Cap
• Lightening Creme
• Conditioning Shampoo
• Colourist Gloves

She also purchased a tinting brush from Superdrug for a more intense application to the ends of her hair. You can buy it here if you're interested.

Meet the guinea pig

Just a note if you're a hair-dye newbie - your clothes WILL get stained if any of the product touches it (in this case bleached!). So you'll be wanting to put on a tatty old t-shirt or other random clothes you don't really care for. I didn't take a picture of it but we also cut out holes for her arms and neck in a big black in-bag for extra protection. This was mostly to protect her skin from the peroxide - you don't really need to do this if you're using regular dye.

Our Set-Up

All set to get bleaching!

We cut out some plastic bin liners and laid them out to protect the floor from any spills. We cut up some foil to cover her hair after applying the bleach so that the process wasn't too messy - this is an optional step - it doesn't really add to the development of the peroxide. Okay, let's get started!

Preparing the lightener

STEP ONE:

Remove the lid and pour the lightening powder into the developer creme.

STEP TWO:

Add the lightening creme.

STEP THREE:

Replace the lid and shake it all up (not too violently!).

STEP FOUR:

Remove the nib straight away to avoid bursting. Now I took mine off immediately and it overflowed.. so I'd recommend shaking it up the old way by removing the nib and covering it with your finger. Whilst doing this just have small breaks in-between. This will allow any excess air to escape.

Application

Bye bye old hair!

Section your hair

The instructions that came with the box said to divide your hair into two separate sections. This is helpful if you're doing your own hair but we went in by sectioning the hair the usual way to make sure that all of the ends were covered.

Squirt the mixture onto the little brush the kit comes with and start to comb this through the lengths of your hair. We started beneath ear-level but you can go higher or lower depending on your personal preference. Long hair should start beneath chin-level for best results.

I couldn't picture the process as my hands were covered in the mixture - I basically just combed the mixture through the lengths of her hair focusing more on the end and used the tinting brush to really concentrate the bleach on the ends of her hair. I then wrapped each section roughly in foil to contain the mixture. When I had finished covering all of her hair I removed the foil after a few minutes and went over the ends again with the remaining mixture. I then left it to process for 35 minutes out of the maximum 45 minutes.

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Shampoo it all off!

We then washed it all off using the doddy little shampoo bottle supplied in the box. We used the entire bottle and it made a lovely lather :-)

Since her hair is naturally very dark it had a lot of orangey tones to it as it had never been bleached before. So we applied some purple shampoo (pictured above) to her hair and worked that into her ends. This helps tone the colour and get rid of the brassy-ness.

I'd recommend using a deeply moisturising conditioner to follow to avoid frazzled hair. Aussie's 3 Minute Miracle Reconstructor Conditioner is a great choice. Apply it and then wrap your hair up in a towel - the warmth of your scalp helps the conditioner penetrate deeper into your hair.

Before & After shots

 The after photo was literally straight after we'd washed and dried her hair. The colour's improved over the past couple of days (refer to pics below).

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Overall this product is great value as it is certainly far cheaper than a trip to the salon. I would definitely recommend going down the ombre route if you want your hair to be coloured without requiring a lot of maintenance work. Obviously with Sissy having very dark hair we didn't expect a super blonde result. However, I didn't quite expect it to be so orange either considering the box she bought had been specifically formulated for dark hair. She loves it herself but I don't think I would've been so pleased if it was my own hair! She is planning to go over it again in a month or so though - when her hair has had a little time to recover!

What do you guys think about how its turned out? Got any advice on achieving the perfect ombre for dark hair?