Big blue sea

It's been a long long week with lots of school issues and a 12,000 word portfolio that I handed in this morning at last!  Teary-eyed and sleep deprived, I want nothing more than to lie in the bath for hours with a fat book and my newly discovered favourite bath bomb of all time: Big Blue.

What:  Big Blue is one of those bath bombs that straddle the middle of the line - my favourite kind.  Not so fancy and sparkly that you feel like you have to go on a night on the town afterwards, but not such a non-event that you forget it.

It's supposed to be reminiscent of the sea with seaweed in.

How it worked: 

The photos really don't do it justice.  The water turned the most beautiful shade of turquoise-blue and bits of seaweed floated out of the ball and were strewn at the bottom.  My worries about them clogging the drain were unjustified - they turned out to have the consistency of chin-chow (if you know what that is you'll understand, if not, it's like a jelly) and slipped quite neatly away at the end.

The smell was this amazing, fresh, perfumey, oceany, slightly salty scent.  And if you're like me and you love the ocean, this bath will amuse you greatly.  I'm ashamed to admit that I spent a great deal of time walloping the water about and pretending I was swimming in the sea.  If you love that feeling of being on a slightly exotic holiday, sitting in a coral reef and dragging your fingers through the seaweed at the bottom, this bomb is absolutely for you.

Would I come back for more?  Absolutely, yes.  This was the first bath bomb that had an oddly transformative effect - instead of just turning the water colours, I actually felt I was in a different place.  The smell is great and fresh and if I had to narrow down my current favourites, this would be one (along with Twilight and then Dragon's Egg for special occasions).

Now however, a product I'm not quite so chuffed with:

What it is:  Boots Botanics Nourishing Bodycare Butter.  It's got a good texture and smells like grapeseed and aloe, which is a very pleasant smell indeed.  Also the best value for money bodybutter I've ever bought at £5 for a whacking great tub (giant compared to the coffee mug in the back.)

How it worked:  

The smell and texture were great, but as a bodybutter, it wasn't particularly moisturing.  Most tellingly, the red spots I get when my skin is too dry started popping back up within a week of exclusively using this.  So, I guess you get what you pay for and as a bodybutter, it's not doing it's job all that well.

I was a bit sad about this because the price and scent were great and I was hoping I'd finally found a long time staple (especially since the Soap and Glory one I reviewed here has gone up to something ridiculous like 10 quid!  It's still a glorious product though.)

Will I come back for more?  No... although if you don't need a super moisturising body butter but you want a cheap moisturiser that smells great and you can just whack on like body lotion after a shower, this is a good product.

Hope you enjoyed these quick reviews, more up soon! 

And... we're back! OR Roadtested: 15 denier knee-highs

Hello!  Yes, it's me!  At least, my laptop has come back to me with a brand new keyboard and touchpad, all for free!  (This is the last time I disparage Mac customer service and gripe about the interface being mildly user-unfriendly.)  Pictures are going on like a dream, the screen is lovely and big and bright... can you tell that my words are flowing more smoothly already?

I took the pictures for this post a little while ago, but was unable to upload them until today.  Don't assume though, that it isn't still this cold in beloved Inklund.  The weather vacillates between chirpy and sunny and pelting with rain in the matter of tens of minutes.  Thanks, Inklund.  Thanks.

Anyway, at the time that I took the pictures for this post, I had just bought a box of 15 denier kneehighs from Marks and Sparks and wanted to test them out, so I wore them to a sort of class meeting with friends.  I'm a little bit confused by how I feel about them because while I like the way they look, let's see how they stack up in terms of use, shall we?

What:  15 denier "ladder resist" knee highs.  They look like a giant tube sock when you take them out of the box and have a dark nylon bit on the top.  You get 3 pairs in one box, so it's good value for money.

How they work:  Well, in terms of looks, you'll see that they pretty much deliver at promised.  They were comfortable, stayed up, and in my view looked quite lovely.  Also, the guys in the class were quite fascinated by them and tried them on like socks, leg hair notwithstanding.  (I paired them with Oxfords to avoid too much of a... uh... streetwalker vibe.)

In terms of ladder resist though... I have to say that I'm really unhappy but a giant hole appeared in the toe of one of them after I walked to class!  Thankfully, it was the toe, so I can still wear them.  I don't know if this was because my toenail was sharp and chafed it to bits or anything, but I was still really upset because Marks and Sparks tights are traditionally quite good and I was disappointed that they didn't hold up.

However, 15 denier really is very thin, and it could have been a fluke, so I'll have to test the other two pairs.  If they end up performing better, I'll put in an edit and let you know.

Will I be back for more?  Possibly yes, because they look cute, but I don't want to be wearing them out at the rate of a pair per wear.  So only if the other pairs are more tough.

FYI, they have boxes of 20 denier which might perform better.

Coat - Zara.  Cardigan - Present from mom.  Cami - Primark.

Oxford heels - Chatelet.  Shorts - DIY.  Earrings - Anjuly.  

Knee highs - M and S.  Necklace - Spitalfields.

In terms of the outfit, I know lots of people tell me this coat looks like a bathrobe, but it's so snuggly and warm that I don't care.  If not for the fact that it was white, I would wear it every day.  Given the weather, I don't see myself discarding my coats any time soon!  

 

Oh, the joys of consistent posting and big, bright pictures once more!  Blogging should go back to its usual schedule and thank you so much for continuing to read and comment, it really makes my day!

PS  I was thinking of doing a roadtest/review of all the tights I've ever worn and rating them according to the shops that sell them - would anyone be interested in a collective tight review?  I ask because when I wear my good tights, lots of people ask me where they're from and don't seem to know where to find good quality pairs.

Random bath and body um... amalgamation

I know amalgamation is the wrong word okay?  Let me just get that off my chest before ya'll start thesaurusising on me.  I just like the way it looks and I'm too lazy to think of the word that means "review-and-sort-of-gathering-of-all-recent-bath-and-body-products-in-one-post".

Lately though, I have been trying all sorts of new things and I wanted to do a sort of review in case anyone out there in the wild, wide world is wanting to buy them and wondering how they work.  SO, hey, ho, let's go!

What:  The oddest Lush product I've ever used.  Lush's Glorious Mud.  It's supposed to be a skin exfoliator cum mask of sorts with Rhassoul Mud in it which is supposed to be very good for you. 

How it works:  You break/ crumble off a piece and it promptly goes to hell, crumbling like sand, which is why I used a bowl.  You bring it into the shower, wet your skin, rub the product all over and like it sit for a while before showering it off.

Let me tell you what did not work about this product at all.  The fact that it looks like mud.  Seriously, muddy smears were left all over the bathtub, shower curtain and white walls.  It looked like a hippo from the Mekong River (according to Wikipedia there are no hippos in the Mekong River.  I know there are catfish, but I'm terrified of catfish.  Come to think of it, I'm terrified of hippos too.) big, friendly dog from the Mekong River had come into the tub and shook itself, splattering mud all over the place.  Everything I touched got smeared.  I was really panicked about what to tell Afua, in case she thought I had come in from without and rolled all over the place.  The smell is also something I can do without.

But.  Let me tell you what worked.  IT worked.  My skin felt gloriously soft afterwards, so much so that I was forced to wonder if the inconvenience of slathering it on was worth it after all.

Will I come back for more?  Not until I get a bathroom all to myself and can use it without worrying that the bath looks like Norman Bates came in and did a number.

What:  Soap and Glory's The Righteous Butter body butter

How it works:  Pretty darn well.  I've always been curious about Soap and Glory and I enjoy their old timey packaging, so I picked this up from Boots.  For this massive tub, it was about £6, which is cheaper both than The Body Shop's body butter and Boots' own body butter.  It smells like grapefruit which is a scent I love and it spreads quite easily, without a texture that's too oily.  In fact, this is one of the least oily body butters I've used.

I worried that that meant that it wouldn't work as well, but I've been using it for about three weeks now, and my skin feels great.

Will I come back for more:  Yes!  It's good value for money.

What:  Lush's Rock Star soap.  I previously blogged about the scent in the form of the Creamy Candy Bubble Bar here, and how I didn't like the way the bubble bar worked, but that I loved the scent.  Well I finally got it in soap form.

How it works:  Dry, this feels very creamy and so I didn't think it would lather up too well.  Well, it does.  It lathers beautifully, doesn't melt too fast and you get that lovely pink scent that grew on me so insidiously.  I have been using half the slice for about three weeks and the other half I leave on the table next to my laptop so that I keep getting whiffs.

The only thing about this soap is that it does make your skin feel squeaky clean so if you want a more moisturising soap, it'll have to be something else.  For me, however, I like the clean feeling and seeing as I whack on body butter after every single shower, it doesn't matter.

Will I come back for more? Yes!!  I'll probably bring a whole chunk back to (election torn) Singapore.

What:  The Macadamia Natural Oil Healing Oil Treatment.  I have heard people on youtube raving about this and how shiny and smooth and silky it made their hair.  I wanted to try it but it was get this, £27.  Let's all hold our hats for a moment.

It has macadamia and argan oil in it.  I asked Shriya and Anjuly if they would pay that price for a hair product and they said if, and only if it worked miracles, they would.  So I bit the bullet.

How it works:  I'm torn about this.  On the one hand, in some ways it's working well.  For one, it's not greasy.  Shriya says my ends definitely look more cared for and they do look shinier (and it's very possible she's right because she's objective and sees me very often), but to be honest, I feel that my ends have actually always been relatively healthy and so this wasn't a miraculous difference.  They have gotten better, but only a little. (Unscientific comparison between the second and third photo [after] and the fourth photo [before].  Difference?) 

One thing that is true is that my comb and fingers are whooshing through my hair a lot more smoothly, so it must be smoother and it does feel softer, though how much smoother and softer, I don't know.  A lot of people love the scent, but I personally don't like it - I think it smells a bit like when I spray a cockroach with Baygon at home.  The scent doesn't really linger though, so that's fine.  But then again, I'm one exception out of many many people who are absolutely raving about it, so I might be crazy.

Bottom line:  It's not bad, but the price really confuses me.  If it was like £5 or £7 I would be like wa-hey!!  Do it!  It's great!

Will I come back for more:  Well, it's good to use an oil to seal the ends of your hair to prevent damage and split ends, and this is non-greasy and very comfortable to apply (for example, olive oil is a lot more obviously greasy).  I just don't know if it's worth it.  I'll use the whole bottle and wait for a miracle to happen (maybe it just needs time!) but I'll need to think about it. 

It is possible though that it will work wonders for people with very dry and damaged ends and make a huge difference, so if you can afford it, go ahead and try it!

That's it for today folks, I hope someone out there on this little blue planet found that useful! 

Do you have any bath and body products or suggestions to share?  Feel free to leave a comment!

Two bath bombs I would recommend: Twilight and Dragon's Egg

Hello fellow Lushophiles!

I've been taking several baths recently, firstly because the hot water is relaxing for sore muscles and conducive to lots of thinking, but also because I don't have a bathtub anywhere back home and I'm determined to make the most of the one I have here.

And so, after thinking it over, I think I'm going to try (in the few months before I have to go) every single Bath Bomb that Lush makes (well, except for the ones that look like they make yukky colours.  I don't have time to be wasting my baths on that - rule of thumb, if the bath bomb colour looks uckyslush in person, it probably will be uckyslush in the water). 

The reason for this is that I've pretty much narrowed my bubble bars down to two regulars that I love: The Comforter (which makes SO many bubbles and turns the water a ridiculous hot pink) and Blue Skies and Fluffy White Clouds.  I can just keep repurchasing those two and be delightfully happy.

However, Bath Bombs are a different story.  Unlike bubble bars which you crumble under high pressure running water, with bath bombs you fill a bath first with running water, then drop them in. 

Most people get disappointed with them because they're not what they expect - they don't make loads of frothy bubbles or look terribly soapy.  Instead, they melt into the water and leave it silky and coloured, and if you get special ones, glittery or flowery.

But, unlike a Bubble Bar, which you have to stand there crumbling, with a Bath Bomb, you can just climb into the water, drop it in and play with it as it goes whizzing all round the tub like a toy!  It's immense fun.

So I'm going to share two Bath Bombs that haven't disappointed me despite not being all bubbly and sudsy like I usually like.  One I used ages ago, and one I literally just used, and I think I will be repurchasing both.

Twilight Bath Bomb

What:  Twilight Bath Bomb.  It contains pink and blue pigments, scents of lavender and tonka absolute and a tiny trace of glitter.  (Yes, I read in the bath and no my books never get wet.  If you would like a tutorial on that, I will be happy to explain!)


How it works:

I dropped the Twilight bomb in with a few drops of tea tree oil to help me relax before I slept and watched it whizz around the tub with great interest.  This is supposed to be Lush's foamiest bath bomb, and while it's barely foamy compared to the lovely mounds of creamy suds you'll get with a bubble bar, some foam does emerge.

First, it started foaming pink and then as it tumbled and whizzed, a beautiful blue core emerged and it streaked across the tub like a comet with an aquamarine tail.  The water turned a wonderful dusky purple (not like some of the yukky browns and beiges some of the bath bombs turn) and right at the end, a tiny sprinkling of silver-blue glitter floated on the surface of the foam.

The scent of Twilight is lovely and very relaxing and quite strong, so it won't just disappear into the water when you bathe.  It also scented up my closet very nicely in the month when it was waiting in line for its turn (it smells a lot more noxious in ball form than in the bath because it's strong, so don't be disheartened!).  The glitter does get left on your skin a bit.  If you want it to stay on, slap on some moisturiser immediately, if not, wait for your skin to dry and then brush it off with your hands.

Will I come back for more?  For sure.  This was really relaxing and comforting and it was so pretty to look at, I felt really happy using it.  The scent is also beautiful if you like lavender.


Dragon's Egg Bath Bomb

What:  A nice, big bath bomb with lots of surprises inside from little bits of confetti to gold glitter.  The scent is very grapefruity and refreshing.


How it works:  I didn't want to stand around taking pictures of this one because I wanted to get in the tub and enjoy it as it whizzed round, so I found you guys a video instead, that demonstrates it very nicely.

The colour will not be intense in the tub because clearly it's much more diluted than in the small basin.  Instead, mine turned a pale orange and then, when the gold glitter started streaming out, it became golden!  (If you want the colour more intense, don't fill the bath as high!)

I was really excited by the glitter, there was tons of it and I found little chunks like gold nuggets in the bomb as it was fizzing away and thousands of beautiful golden specks flashed under the water as I bathed.  There were a few pieces of green, blue and pink confetti and you don't have to worry about these as they seem to be made of a glutinous substance that just dissolves eventually. 

Practically speaking, I love the grapefruit scent and it turned the water really silky and moisturising.  The glitter didn't stick to me though there was lots left in the tub after and I just hosed it down.    

It was just a really luxurious, pampering experience (I felt like I was bathing in molten gold) and I think this one is best saved for a special occasion, maybe even before you go on a night out. 

Will I come back for more?  Yes!  I'll probably square one away for a special day, which will be made all the more special by the anticipation of using Dragon's Egg!

I hope you guys enjoyed this and that they were good recommendations for you if you were looking for new Bath Bombs to try (or weren't sure how a Bath Bomb works and were wondering if you should buy one).  I have a couple of other bath and body products to review in an upcoming post, so if you like the bath and body posts, hang in there!

What about you?  Do you have any special Bath Bombs you would like to recommend?

Polka

I wore something easy and breezy last Thursday when Anjuly offered to take me and Shriya out for dinner and drinks in Leamington.  We had a great time with really good food at Oriental Star (the crispy beef was to die for) and dessert afterwards!

Dress - Spitalfields.  Top - Primark.  Sheer tights - H and M.

Shoes - New Look.  Ring - Diva.  Arm muscles - improving from exercise!

I'd never actually considered wearing polka dots over each other before, but I was so hungry for something different after 30 x 30 that I kind of just went for it.  Also, this blouse is satisfying my long held dream of owing something with a pussy bow on it!  (I know the name sounds rude but you're just going to have to deal with it.)

If my hair is looking rather well-behaved lately, it's because I have a little ammunition in my camp.  Traditionally, I am a massive frizzball.  I am the girl who went to see the Princess Diaries with her parents and then had her mother say "You look JUST like Anne Hathaway... before the makeover."

It's okay, I can kind of deal with that, but frizz has always been a massive problem so I decided to try the John Frieda Frizz-Ease Cream I found in Boots for about £5.  Obvs, they're not paying me to say this (I wish!) but it works quite well on my hair type which is a cross between wavy, frizzy and very slightly curly.

What: John Frieda's Frizz-Ease Creme.

How it works:  Quite nicely, actually.  I smooth a pea-sized amount over dry hair and it tames frizz but even better (if you live in a climate like I do right now and wash your hair on alternate days), the morning after you've washed it, it gets really beautiful and sleek, but without losing any curl.  I don't mind the scent because it's so light as to be negligible and won't disturb the scent of your shampoo.

One problem though is that you do literally have to use a pea-sized amount or hair can cross over into being greasy or even worse, when I applied it to my damp fringe, it went a bit crispy like it would with gel.  So dry hair only.  They have a serum that's supposed to go on soaking wet hair, so that might be better for those who have to leave with damp hair in the mornings.

Will I be back for more:  Honestly, it's working very well for me right now, but I can only really judge when the weather gets more humid and my frizz issues are at an all time high.

Anyroad, I hope you enjoyed this post!  I'll be away on a short holiday, so no posting for the next three or four days, but here are a couple of things you might enjoy looking at:

1)  http://scook.posterous.com/  - this is my friend Sook's (who is also my brother's girlfriend!) crafty website.  She makes some of the most amazing, professional-looking crafty things that I've seen from photo holders to cards to even her own hongbaos which were super cute!  Enjoy browsing!

2)  This is an amazing time lapse video made by my brother, the filmmaker, about one of my favourite places in the world.  It really does give a flavour of how busy and small the city is at the same time.  (If you look under the username you can see other videos he's made as well.)

3)  http://seasonsingredients.wordpress.com/ - if you haven't already seen it, this is Shriya's food blog and it's a fun read!  I haven't actually tried making the recipes, but I've tried eating them and they're GREAT.

See you soon!