Happy Easter

Today it's Easter and I just wanna wish everyone a Happy Easter. Many people, myself included have had a really nice selection of chocolate eggs today, although these last few weeks I've seen some great alternatives to chocolate.

Don't get me wrong chocolate is amazing, and I haven't met one person yet who doesn't enjoy it. Sometimes it's great to see Easter Eggs done in different formats apart from chocolate. Two brands I really like - Lush and Miss Patisserie have seemed to have gotten the non chocolate egg just right.


The Lush Easter range

I really love the products that Lush have brought out for Easter. Every year they always bring out amazing products. Some have reappeared from last year, while there are some new products too.

The other brand I love is Miss Patisserie. The products are similar to Lush, but still have their differences. I find their bath bombs take a lot longer to work, but I still enjoy using their stuff. The other day I popped into their store in Cardiff and had a look at all of the Easter products. What really got my attention was this giant Easter Egg bath bomb that was in the window.

Unfortunately it's not for sale and I was told that they are planning to auction it off after Easter. This thing is just amazing and even if it was for sale and I bought it, I don't think I would ever use it as it looks too good to use. I think I would just keep it as a decoration.

Fortunately they did have smaller Easter Eggs available in two different colors. I just couldn't resist getting some.

So what goodies did the Easter Bunny bring everyone.

Here is a photo of me with Rabbit from Winnie The Pooh at Disney. I know he's not the Easter Bunny, but he's still a bunny and I thought this photo would be great for this time of year.

MAC Viva Glam Miley Cyrus 2 Lipstick

Every year MAC brings out a new Viva Glam campaign, with 2 lipsticks and 2 lip glosses a year. The first Viva Glam lipstick is brought out early in the year with a second color coming out later on in the year. Last year's spokesperson was Miley Cyrus and I bought her first lipstick but had trouble getting hold of the second color that came out later on in the year.

Before Christmas I was told at every MAC location in Cardiff that Miley Cyrus 2 was sold out and they weren't sure if they would be having any more in. A few weeks ago I went to The Cosmetics Company Store in McArthur Glen and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that they had some Miley Cyrus 2 lipsticks available.

Miley Cyrus 2 is a sort of orange red color. All Viva Glam lipsticks have the spokesperson's signature on the packaging and this one is no exception. I love a good red color and this one is really bright and makes your lips stand out. It's got a nice creamy texture to it too and goes on the lips nice and smooth.

It's quite long lasting and stays on the lips for hours without the need for reapplying. Later on in the day I did reapply a bit of it, but there wasn't much needed.

Currently Ariana Grande is this year's spokesperson and her lipstick is now available. It won't be long before her second color is released.

Yankee Candle Easter Gift Set

For Easter, Yankee have released this awesome gift set with fragrances perfect for this time of year. The packaging is very Easter themed with nice bright colors, flowers and eggs on the box. In this set are three sampler candles in - Vanilla Cupcake, Jelly Bean and Bunny Cake. The set also comes with a votive holder that you can put your candles in. 

Vanilla Cupcake is the only scent out of the three that is available all year round. Bunny Cake and Jelly Bean I have heard are not going to be around all year, so this is a great time to get them. All three scents are quite sweet and definitely get you in the mood for all of that chocolate goodness next Sunday.

The scent is quite strong on all three. It's hard to decide which scent is the strongest. 

Bunny Cake is scented with coconut, vanilla and definitely reminds me of birthday cake.

Jelly Bean has this awesome sugary fruity scent to it.

Vanilla Cupcake has a lovely sweet scent to it and immediately reminds me of chocolate and cakes. It smelt so good I just wanted to pick the candle up and eat it. Probably not a good idea.

While Vanilla Cupcake is available in wax melts and all sizes of jar candle. Bunny Cake and Jelly Bean only comes in large jar candles outside of this set. This is a great way of sampling all three fragrances without having to buy a large jar candle.

Lush Humpty Dumpty Bath Bomb

I'm loving Lush's easter products and one of their bath bombs I think is pretty cool is Humpty Dumpty. Like the kids story of the same name, this bath bomb is shaped like an egg with a face, complete with  clothing too. He looks exactly like the character from the kids story. I think the colors are pretty awesome too - blue, pink, yellow and white. This is one of Lush's larger bath bombs, probably about the same size of Which Came First.

I have been told this is one of those bath bombs that allow for three baths. Like Which Came First you can crack the egg to reveal a white egg inside. I did manage to break the outer shell but had a hard time trying to get the bit in the middle on it's own. I'm not actually sure if it is supposed to separate as in the kid's story Humpty Dumpty cracks his shell, so I'm guessing you are just meant to crack it, rather than get the bit in the middle out.

I managed to get two baths out of this one. One bath from the first bit that cracked and the second from what was left.

This is one of my favorite products from the easter range. As soon as it is dropped into water it starts fizzing quite quick before the white and pink separate to create their own color effects. The other side of the bath bomb I cracked was the front side where Humpty Dumpty has his bow tie. This side had the same color effects as the other side but with the added color of yellow. Once dissolved the water goes this awesome blue color.

The scent reminds me of summer and spring which is probably due to the bergamot and orange oil. He's almost too cute to break.

Lush Mother's Day Gift Set

I'm loving these limited edition Easter and Mother's Day gift sets that Lush have brought out. I enjoyed browsing through them all at the bloggers event a few weeks back. After all who doesn't like a good gift set. One of the gift sets I really liked was this Mother's Day Gift Set that was available.

Unfortunately I don't have a mom to buy for so I thought why not treat myself. I mean anyone who likes these gift sets can buy them and even though it's from the Mother's Day range there is no reason why it can't be bought for anyone, especially if you like the products inside. What I really liked about this set was the packaging. It comes in this awesome pink, yellow and orange tin with floral design. The tin is really handy for putting all sorts of items in.

So what's in this set:

• Sunrise Soap
• Yuzu And Cocoa Bubbleroon
• Think Pink Bath Bomb
• Rose Bombshell Bath Bomb
• Sunflower Bubble Bar
• Yummy Mummy Shower Cream
• Helping Hands Hand Cream
• Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter (Sample size)

Another bonus is this set comes with seeds you can use to grow your own plants. They come in this small flower shaped paper that you wet and just put soil on top. 

Sunrise Soap

Unlike other Lush soaps this one is dome shaped which actually makes it a lot easier to use. Soap when wet can be hard to hold on to, but this one because of it's shape is much better. It's a bright orange color and with it's orange scent is a great one for Spring and Summer. The scent of this one reminds me of Orange Crush soda.

Yuzu And Cocoa Bubbleroon

This one shares it's scent with the shower cream of the same name. It's a nice sweet scent and reminds me of Terry's Chocolate Orange. I haven't used many Bubbleroons and when looking at them they do remind me a lot of Macarons. It's very tempting to pick it up and start eating it, but it's probably not a very good idea as I can't see it tasting very nice. It's just like a bubble bar but with a layer of shea and cocoa butter in the middle. I like to break this in half so it's easier to get to the butter. Like a bubble bar, crumble it under the water and just let the bubbles appear. One Bubbleroon gives a good amount of bubbles in the bath and thanks to the shea butter it makes your skin feel nice and soft too.

Think Pink Bath Bomb

For some reason Think Pink is smaller than Lush's other bath bombs. I have no idea why it's smaller but don't let the size put you off, you still get good color effects with this one. As you've probably guessed by the name this one is an amazing pink color and also has some flowers on it too. These come off really easy and once it is dropped into the water, these flowers start to float around before finally dissolving. There's not a big show of color with this one but instead turns your bath a really nice pink color.

Rose Bombshell Bath Bomb

This is a great bath bomb with the scent of Rose Jam, one of my favorite Lush Shower Gel's. I've tried this one before and thought it was a fab product.

Sunflower Bubble Bar

This must be the biggest bubble bar from Lush I have seen ever. Sunflower is basically a bubble bar shaped just like a sunflower. It's great for the Spring and will definitely lift your mood with it's nice floral scent. I'm not sure if it's an Oxford Street exclusive, but in all other stores it's not availably separately from this set. Another great reason to get this one. As this bubble bar is so big I like to break it up into smaller pieces so it can be used again. You could probably get 4-5 baths with this one. Even using a small piece you still get a load of bubbles and it changes the water a nice yellow color.

Yummy Mummy Shower Cream

This is one of those scents that are only available at certain times of the year. I had this one last year too and just remember the scent being so good. It's this awesome pale purple color too and feels really nice and moisturizing. 

Helping Hands Hand Cream

I'm always looking for a good hand cream as my hands do get quite dry. I've tried Love And Light by Lush which I really like as it feels nice and light but not greasy. Helping Hands is a lot heavier and thicker too. While I didn't need to use a lot to cover my hands I did find it a bit too heavy for me and also a bit on the greasy side. 

Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter

This is another product by Lush which I have enjoyed using and i'm glad that it's included in this set, even if it's just a sample size. You don't need to use a lot and it really does soften your cuticles. The scent is very lemony, so a great one to brighten you up for Spring.

Lush Bouncy Bunny Gift Set

Along with a fab range of Easter products, Lush also do a good range of Easter gifts. At the bloggers event a couple of weeks back I just had to get myself one of the Easter gifts. It looked really amazing so I couldn't resist getting one. The set is called Bouncy Bunny and is packaged with one of those tie wraps on the outside. It looks just like a bunny and is a bright yellow color, perfect for Spring. Lush also did another gift set like this but with a pink bunny. Out of the two I definately preferred this one as the products were a lot better. 

So you're probably wondering what is in this set. The Bouncy Bunny contains Spring Bunny Bath Bomb, Somewhere Over The Rainbow Soap, Bouncy Bunny Shower Jelly and Brightside Mini Bubble Bar.

I think this is a great gift set and definitely one for those who love their bath and shower products.

The yellow wrap can be used for all sorts of things after this gift set is used. You can even use it as a hair wrap. So now onto the products.

Spring Bunny Bath Bomb

This has to be my favorite product in the set. It's super cute and looks just like a bunny rabbit. The only way you will get this bath bomb is to get this set. I'm not sure if it is another Easter gift set but either way it's still an exclusive and can't be bought separately. It's the only item in the set that is an exclusive, everything else can be bought on it's own.

Once dropped into the water it starts to fizz bright yellow but sort of keeps it's shape when fizzing. It's not an extremely fast working bath bomb like other Lush ones but it still fizzes quite fast. For it to fizz completely it takes around a few minutes. Towards the end some orange starts to appear along with a bit of blue that comes out of the middle of the product. This one just changes your water a yellow color and doesn't have any fancy color effects like other bath bombs do. 

The Spring Bunny has to be one of Lush's cutest bath bombs.

Somewhere Over The Rainbow Soap

I've used this soap before and think it's amazing that wherever you cut it you will get a different color effect. It is a rainbow soap after all. In this gift set the soap was yellow and orange. In the bloggers event I got another slice of this soap which was this awesome blue and pink. The yellow and orange looks great for summer, especially with the shimmer.

Bouncy Bunny Shower Jelly

I've recently gotten into my shower jellies and this Easter, Lush have brought out a limited edition jelly that is shaped just like a bunny. It looks very cute and even keeps it's shape after being taken in and out of the container. I've never seen shower jellies that are actually shaped to different things, although I have heard that Lush have done it before with different ones. This one has a really nice orange scent to it that gives a good amount of lather in the shower. When I first started using shower jellies I couldn't get the hang of them as I had been using them completely wrong by trying to break a small bit off. Being jelly, it's not easy to break small bits off and it will also ruin the jelly especially if it is shaped to different things. The best way is to use it whole and rub it into your skin that way. These can get very slippery so hold on to it very carefully. 

Brighside Mini Bubble Bar

Although this isn't the full sized version of the same bubble bar, I find that the mini is just the right size. You get a bath full of bubbles with it along with a nice red orange colored water. Usually with bubble bars I crumble them under running water and let the bubbles appear, but with this one I had to put the bar in the bath under the tap without crumbling it. I did find for some reason this one was a lot harder so crumbling it was difficult. It's a great bubble bar for spring and summer as it has this awesome orange scent to it.

Lush Sugar Scrub

My skin gets quite dry so i'm always looking for different scrubs and exfoliators that will do a fantastic job. I get on really well with Lush skincare so I decided to check out their solid scrubs. Some of my favorite Lush scrubs include Rub Rub Rub and Ocean Salt. I did want to try something new so I decided on a product of theirs called Sugar Scrub.

This one is a green color and does exactly what it says on the tin - scrub. It's quite a small product and comes as a solid instead of product in a tub. It contains sugar, fennel and ginger which all allow for one great scrub. 

I like to use this in the bath and gently rub it into my skin. I really like to use this one on my feet, especially if I have been on my feet all day. This is quite a coarse scrub, so if you like something more gentle, I would definitely recommend something else. I like my scrubs quite coarse, so this one is great for me.

I use this one as a whole bar but you can break bits off and use it that way. The more you use this in water the easier it becomes to break a bit off. After using this one my skin feels really nice and soft. I'm putting this one on my list of favorite scrubs.

Absolute New York Matte Lipstick - Blue Purple

Absolute New York is one of a few brands from Beauty Crowd that I love using. I've tried a few Absolute products before and think they are really good and a great price too. I decided to try one of their Matte Lipsticks in Blue Purple.

This lipstick is one of those really bright purple colors. These are my favorite shades of purple to wear as it looks awesome on. The pigment isn't too bad with this lipstick and it builds up nicely to get intense color. This is a matte and some mattes can be quite drying on the lips. This does feel a bit on the dry side the longer I wear it, although its not too drying that it becomes uncomfortable. The texture could have done with being a little less dry, but it's not too dry that its really noticeable.

I didn't really need to reapply this later on in the day either as most of it had stayed on. I love to wear this shade of purple with bright eye makeup.

Goodies From The Lush Kitchen

The Lush Kitchen is a fab way to find long lost items from Lush, as well as exclusives. Lush went and discontinued my favorite shower gel - Grass. I really hate it when a brand discontinues something that is amazing and Grass was unfortunately one of them. When I was told about the Kitchen, I decided to keep checking it every day to see if they had the product I was looking for.

Every Friday, The Kitchen announces next week's products on their Instagram. You couldn't believe my excitement when I found that Grass would be coming back on the Monday. I made it my mission on Monday to get myself some of that green goodness. Products go on sale at 8am each morning and I was up super early to make sure I bought some. It may sound stupid getting ready to buy as soon as 8am arrives, but if you know the Kitchen, you will know that some products sell out super fast. 

As soon as I saw Grass was available to buy I added some to my basket. Another product that the Kitchen released then was the Geo Phyzz Bath Bomb. I put one of those in my basket too, you can't beat a bath bomb, especially hard to find ones.

My products arrived yesterday and I've managed to use some of them already. As usual with items from the Kitchen you also get a photo of the person who made the items. Peter made both the bath bomb and shower gel.

Grass Shower Gel
This is the product I have been looking for ages and I was glad that the Kitchen chose to bring this one back. Out of all Lush shower gels this one has to be my favorite. I love outdoor scents, which is probably why I love the scent of Grass. This one really does have the scent of a freshly mowed lawn and is a great scent for summer. As you can expect for Grass, the color is nice and green.

Geo Phyzz Bath Bomb
I couldn't resist grabbing a bath bomb and what's even better is I haven't tried this one before. It may be a new exclusive or one that has been brought back. It's an awesome green color which fizzes quite fast when dropped into the water. After a few seconds the scent appears which is very fresh. It has an outdoor sort of scent that reminds me a bit of pine. 

The other ingredient which really stands out to me is this menthol type scent that appears as it fizzes. It's very clearing, especially if you have a blocked up nose. 

Theres no color effects in the water with this one and instead it just leaves your bath this green color. Once it has dissolved it also leaves a bit of sea salt in the bottom of your bath. You can either swish it around the water or use it as a scrub. The salt is a bit on the coarse side so I would swish it around a bit as it could get quite uncomfortable stepping on it.

Shopping At McArthur Glen

Monday I went on a shopping trip to McArthur Glen in Bridgend, South Wales. McArthur Glen is one of those outlet shopping villages that offer many big brands with various discounts. I've been to many designer outlets before and I'm really glad that there is one not that far away from Cardiff.

McArthur Glen is located not far from Cardiff in Bridgend. I took a trip there yesterday on the coach that picks up in a convenient location in Cardiff City Center. First Cymru run the hourly service to the shopping park before it continues on to Swansea. A return ticket costs £7.50 for an adult and £4.50 for kids. It's not a long journey and takes around 20-25 minutes.

There is plenty to choose from and you can find many well known brands here such as Marks And Spencer and Ted Baker.

I had a good look around and finally managed to check out the Cosmetics Company Store. I've been waiting absolutely ages for one of these to finally arrive near me. Before this one opened the nearest store was over in Clarks Village in Somerset. It's basically an Estee Lauder Brands outlet and they sell many items at a reduced price. You can find a lot of limited edition items from past collections. I got myself the MAC Viva Glam Miley Cyrus 2 Lipstick, Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick and an Estee Lauder Blush. I've been to quite a few of these over in America too, fortunately there is now one a lot nearer to me.

Having recently gotten into my scented candles. I noticed that Yankee Candle had a big store. There were many of their candles you can buy in their main stores but they also had candles from past collections and some now hard to find ones. I got some wax melts, candle gift set, a small and a large jar candle.

The other beauty store I noticed they had was the Beauty Outlet. This was quite a big store and had loads of bath and beauty products to choose from such as brands like W7, L'Oreal and Stila. There was a good choice of products and all at good prices too.

I couldn't resist going into the Cadbury's outlet. I grabbed myself a basket and sort of went crazy with all of the chocolate that was on offer. They had many pre bagged bars of chocolate and there was plenty to choose from. I spend around £15 in this store alone.


So here is what I bought altogether. 

Cadbury's Chocolate and Freddo Pencil Tin £15

Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Pink, £24.50 RRP £35

MAC Viva Glam Miley Cyrus 2 Lipstick, £11 RRP £15.50

Estee Lauder Pure Color Blush in Pink Tease, £19 RRP £27.00

Yankee Candle Easter Gift Set £10.99

Orange Dreamsicle Large Jar Candle  £21.99

Beach Holiday Small Jar Candle £4.00 

Witches Brew Wax Melt 70p and Vanilla Bourbon Wax Melt 75p

Possibility Peppermint Ice Cream and Blueberry Pancakes Bubble Bath - £1.99 each

Walls Bath Time Essentials £4.99

The Soap Story Salt Scrub £4.99 and Hand Gel £1.99

Possibility Lip Balm Set £4.99