Christmas + January Lush Haul

Over the Christmas period and at the beginning of January I collected a mass of Lush products. My basket went from being almost empty, save a few bath melts, to over flowing. As a self confessed Lush addict, I obviously had to have a tonne of Lush products on my Christmas List this year and true to form, my lovely family gave in to my addiction and spoilt me rotten with all the beautiful lush products. 

Frustratingly for you, most of these products I'm about to show you are now discontinued as they are seasonal items, but, this may be of use if you're a planner like me and like to be well prepared ahead of time for the seasonal releases... yes that's right, it's January and I'm already talking about Christmas 2017. 

Sleepy Body Lotion 215g - £13.95 full price (paid £6.98 50% off)

I'm not usually someone that is enthusiastic about the body lotion range in Lush. I'm pretty loyal to bath products and face & hair products and don't really tend to delve any deeper than that. However, when my local Lush posted up on instagram last week that they still had 50% off christmas stock in and I saw this little beauty in the photo, I knew I had to get my hands on it. 

Sleepy is the Body Lotion format of the oh so loved Twilight Scent family. Twilight, if you don't already know, is a musky Lavender scent that is just heavenly and incredibly soothing. Making it the perfect choice this aptly named Body Lotion. The Lavender is soft and subtle and there are notes of oat and vanilla that soften it, the body lotion is made with Cocoa Butter and melts into your skin providing perfectly scented hydration for hours. 

I really love using this before I go to bed or if I'm feeling a little bit stressed. The soothing lavender does wonders at calming you down and taking some of that tension out of your day. I think it's a shame that this is only a Christmas release as I would happily use it and repurchase it all year round. 

I for one am certainly keeping my fingers crossed that this makes a glorious come back Christmas 2017. 

Star Dust Bath Ballistic - £3.95 
I actually had 2 of these beautiful little stars but I couldn't help myself but use one of them before I got round to taking the photos. These silvery white stars fizz away in the bath to reveal a multitude of tiny multi-coloured confetti stars that float around in the water until they dissolve away. This bath bomb doesn't leave your water any cute colours but it does soften the water up a treat and smells like vanilla and cocoa with just a dash of something citrusy and sweet.

Do be warned though that this little star leaves traces of very finely milled silver glitter in the bottom of your bath, so be sure to clean the tub thoroughly after having your bath unless you wish to irritate anyone else that is planning on having a bath after you!

Butterbear Bath Ballistic - £1.95 

These little bears are quite common staples with a Christmas Lush haul, their bargain price makes them a popular stocking filler and the soft subtle vanilla smell and cute little faces are ideal for even the most conservative bath fan. 

Whilst these are not my favourite bath bombs, I do appreciate the soft vanilla scent and the moisturising cocoa butter that are heavenly when buddied up with a bubble bar for some colour and fun. 

These also share the same scent as the year-round Butterball Bath Ballistic, so if you know you like that then you are on for a winner. 

Golden Wonder Bath Ballistic - £4.25 

One of the more expensive Bath Bombs in the Christmas range, but a firm favourite with many Lush fans. This little present is just that, whilst covered in golden lustre on the outside, once you plop this into the bath a flurry of turquoise, blue and purple spills into the water, creating a twinkling turquoise bath and is almost dare I say it, galaxy like? 

The scent is zesty with sweet orange oil being a dominant scent, if you like the "celebrate" range or the "bubbly" shower gel then this is your bath bomb. 

Again this product has very finely milled golden lustre that will sit and dry on the bottom of your tub if you do not clean it immediately after your bath. However, it does not stay on your skin, so theres no worries of walking around looking like Edward Cullen. 

Father Christmas Bath Ballistic - £3.75 full price (paid £1.87 50% off)

Another product from the Lush sale, I've never had a Father Christmas Bath Bomb before and as this was half price it seemed like the perfect time to test it out. I've never been massively bothered by this product as it shares it's scent with Snow Fairy. Which, as you may or may not know... I hate. Yes, I hate Snow Fairy, it's too sickly and too sweet and just ... yuck. BUT I wanted to give this a chance as I've not owned any Snow Fairy for a good 5-6 years now and it could win me over one day. 

So scent wise, it's snow fairy, it's sweet, candyfloss like and just oh so sickly. However, as it's in a bath bomb format it's nice and easy to break up and use in Lush cocktails to add some candy-like sweetness, which is exactly what I intend to do!

Shoot for the Stars Bath Ballistic - £4.25 (paid £2.12 50% off) 

Of all the Christmas releases, this has got to be one of my favourites. The striking vivid blue with the contrasting gold stars is such a beautiful combination to look at and the smell definitely matches. The bright blue mellows out into a forest green when in the bath with golden orbs of oil that float on the surface. 

The scent is sweet and toffee like and is a member of the "Honey I Washed The Kids" family, meaning you can expect sweet honey & toffee, whilst not having that sickly cloying scent that some sweet, honeyed products can produce. 

Lord of Misrule - £3.95 

YES YES YES. This bath bomb is ABSOLUTELY amazing. I am totally obsessed with it. After trying it for the first time in 2016, I have already managed to purchase 4 and use 2. The remaining 2 are photographed above for you. This mysterious and beautifully scented bath bomb is deceptive as you expect a lime green bath, yet, once you place this ball of joy into the water you are greeted by a flurry of rich red foam and crackling popping candy. 

This is a total joy for the senses as it turns your bath a wonderfully luxurious Burgundy shade, the popping candy crackles and pops for a good 10 minutes after hitting the water and the warm scent drifts to your nose almost immediately. 

The smell is totally unique, think cracked black pepper, vanilla and tonka with a dash of sandalwood and you are getting close to the joy that is the Lord of Misrule. A highly raved about bath bomb I know, but honestly if you have the chance this Halloween to go in store and give it a sniff, I highly recommend you do so. It is divine. 

Northern Lights - £3.95 (paid £1.98 50% off) 

Northern Lights is a product I've been in two minds about, part of me is intrigued and I love a good purple bath, whilst the other half of me is questioning why Lush included a strong Jasmine scented product in their Christmas range... why give it that smell?? Personally I feel that the Jasmine scents are more suited to the Mothers Day & Easter ranges but that's just me. 

When I found this in the 50% off sale it was one that I really felt I should just try! I do really enjoy Jasmine scented baths (Flowering Tea from the 2016 Mothers Day range was a personal favourite!) so there isn't necessarily any reason for me to not enjoy this bath.

The main selling point for this bath bomb is that when you put it in the bath it is meant to mimic the famous Northern Lights or otherwise known as the Aurora Borealis. As it sinks into the water it creates a rich foam of Purple, Orange and Blue in an attempt to emulate the night sky. It's quite beautiful to watch so I do recommend you hunt out a youtube demo to see for yourself if you're not quite convinced. 

Mine however, seems to be a little faulty, as I have 2 orange faces and no blue.., how this affects the bath water & scent I will have to find out but I am a little disappointed as blue & purple baths are my favourite.  

Satsuma Bath Ballistic - £3.75 

This was an Oxford Street Exclusive this year and I believe the only OSE bath bomb released for Christmas! Satsuma, as the name suggests, is a fruity orange number that brightens up your bath just as much as a Satsuma brightens up your fruit ball in Winter. 

The warm fruity scent is a perfect seasonal choice and was a really welcome change from the bizarrely floral offerings this year from Lush. I feel that this would work PERFECTLY in a cocktail with Cinders, the warm satsuma mixed with the spicy cinnamon of Cinders would have been a dream come true in a bath... but Lush discontinued Cinders in 2016 so that is a dream that sadly won't come to fruition for a lot of us. 

As you can expect, this bath bomb leaves your water a rich warm orange to perfectly match the scent, it really is a you see what you get kind of product and I absolutely loved it. 

A/W 2016 London Haul!

Last Saturday I went to London to see P!ATD perform at the Alexandra Palace... OMG it was so goddamn good! Bredon Urie has the voice of an angel and absolutely killed it + Sophie, Dan and I had a massive laugh over the fact we were some of the oldest there that weren't chaperoning children (apparently P!ATD appeal to a young audience nowadays...) but on the plus side the Bar was basically empty the entire evening! 

So OBVIOUSLY because we had to travel to London anyway we decided to make a day of it do some shopping, have some lunch and meet up with Sophie who lives just outside of Central (and is totally smashing life right now) for a browse around Oxford Street. 

So obviously I had to share what I brought as hauls don't come very often over here on Bambi's Blogs.  

LUSH OXFORD STREET

Lord of Misrule - £3.95

This is a Lush classic, and shockingly, I've never used it before. I don't know why but previously when I've sniffed it in store, it's never really appealed to me. It smelt a little too much like wet leaves to me and I just didn't get it. But this year. Oh boy, did it kick me in the face this year when I picked it up! It's spicy, rich and so deliciously autumnal it is the perfect autumn bath bomb and I am in love. You can tell I loved it because I bought two of them and I never do that. 

I usually cut up my bath bombs to get multiple uses out of them (unemployed graduate life) but this one demanded to be used whole and I am soo glad I did. As soon as you put the ballistic in the water it starts to fizz and emits plumes of green and pink foam which are really beautiful to watch. After a couple of minutes in the hot water, you will start to hear cracking and popping, that's because this little beauty is loaded with popping candy which is quite an unusual experience, especially when you're not expecting it and worry that you bath is breaking 🙈

Once the bath bomb has finished fizzing and fully dissolved you're left with a beautiful wine coloured bath, as photographed below (I was going to upload this to my Insta but I didn't like it enough. Yes that is the side of my thigh 💁) 

Satsuma Bath Bomb (Christmas Oxford Street Exclusive) - £3.95

This is rather self-explanatory and indeed smells just like a satsuma, it's fruity, fresh, citrusy and somehow it smells very Christmassy despite the fruitiness and lacking the spicy element that I associate with the season. I've not used this yet, but I think it's safe to assume that this is going to create a bright orange bath - I think it would be amazing paired with You've Been Mangoed.

Monsieur Gustave Bath Melt (Oxford Street Exclusives) £2

It's becoming a habit of mine now to pick up a couple of the exclusive bath melts every time I go to Oxford Street. I love bath melts and I think they are so brilliantly versatile and I always get a couple of uses out of them as I tend to mix them with a bath bomb or bubble bar. This one has what I can only describe as a blackcurrant/musky smell. I can't really describe it so it's definitely one to go and smell in person. What sold it for me was the prospect of having a glittery purple bath.

Lime Pastille Bath Melt (Oxford Street Exclusive) £2

The second of the aforementioned bath melts. This, as the name would suggest, smells like lime sherbert. It's a beautiful fresh crisp smell that is definitely more appropriate for the summer months but it was too good to pass it up! Although, I could imagine this working very nicely with So White Bath Bomb. 

Can we appreciate the beauty of that YA section in Foyles THO. ^  

I also indulged my other love whilst in London, books. Dan and I have got book shopping in London down to a precise art now and we know exactly what big bookstores and second-hand bookstores we love. We didn't have heaps of time to spend today so my favourite second-hand bookshops were missed and instead we focused on my favourite three... Foyles, Forbidden Planet & the Piccadilly Waterstones (or as I call it, Heaven).  

The Wicked & The Divine - Fandemonium Pt. 2 - £0.00 -  Forbidden Planet

All of the inner fangirl comes out when I walk into Forbidden Planet. It's one of my favourite bookstores ever (the one in Cambridge is great as well), they are well known for their vast array of Graphic Novels, Comic Books & Manga but they also sell a huge amount of YA, Fantasy and Sci-Fi. I adore this shop and could happily spend hours in here and spend a small fortune. However, on this particular day, I didn't have either the time nor the money! 

I've already read the first instalment of The Wicked & The Divine and I adored the artwork, it's absolutely beautiful in the way in which it is illustrated and the story is strange, enticing and mysterious. I really enjoyed the first part and I felt like it finished in such a way that I just had to buy the next in the series. 

If you like stories that are shrouded in mystery and unanswered questions and beautiful artwork, then you will love this graphic novel. 

Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch - £0.00 - Foyles
Once we had finished in Forbidden planet we then went on to Foyles. I always insist on browsing the entire store even though I know deep down that I'm only going to end up buying YA. On the day we were there Grayson Perry was doing a book signing a few hours later so we were lucky to miss the rush of fans -  but it's also alerted me to the fact that Grayson has a book out and I really need it in my life.

I picked up this book at the recommendation (read: fangirling) of my lovely pal Ash over at aislingsbeautybytes.blogspot.co.uk. She loved this book and highly recommended it, so as I wholeheartedly trust her opinion I decided it was worth picking up and adding to the overwhelming pile of books to read.

From what I can grasp this is a book with a strong female lead who basically has to restore magic to her kingdom so it can rise to power again. It sounds pretty epic and has a rather impressive 4.01 rating on Goodreads (out of 30,323 ratings) so I have high hopes for this.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo - £0.00 - Foyles

This was another recommendation from Ash and is one that I have heard SO much about in the book world due to the sequel "Crooked Kingdom" coming out at the end of September. I know this is set in the Grisha world and many people suggest that reading the Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo first is perhaps a more sensible idea rather than jumping into the world unprepared. 

I do own the first in the Grisha Trilogy so that's probably what I'm going to do, but I'm really excited to get my teeth stuck into such a dense and rich world. 

This is about a group of six different criminals/outcasts who have been tasked to perform a deadly heist that may well make them rich beyond their wildest dreams. This sounds so fun, so unusual and I think it will be a real page turner! I'm going to start the Grisha Trilogy in December as I just can't wait any longer! 

Stealing Snow by Danielle Paige - £0.00 - Waterstones

I'm a huge fan of Danielle Paige's work, I love the Dorothy Must Die series (although I haven't finished it as I'm waiting for "Yellow Brick War" to become available in paperback!) so when I heard that she was releasing another fairy tale retelling but this time it was one of my favourite stories - The Snow Queen - I was absolutely over the moon. 

Can we take a minute to appreciate the beauty of that cover? Have you ever seen a book more appropriate for the Christmas season? I really do think the U.K cover has got the edge on the U.S cover this time!  

This is probably one of the most interesting plots for a novel that I've come across in a long time. The main character Snow has spent her life locked in a Psychiatric Hospital but she isn't crazy. Instead, she finds a way to escape the hospital only to find that she has a kingdom to inherit and a prophecy to complete. 

This is another book that I'm almost certainly going to indulge myself with in December. 

So that's it! It wasn't a huge haul and the day went far too quickly for my liking but it was brilliant and I can't wait to go back to London soon (hopefully for a job!) although I'm sure my bank balance will once again suffer!

Lush Oxford Street Haul!

Back in April my lovely boyfriend took me to London to celebrate our anniversary -8 years and I'm starting to feel old!- 

We spent the day roaming London Bookshops (Yesterday's post is a haul!) and browsing around the city before heading off to the o2 to watch WWE Raw Live. 

But of course I couldn't have spent the day in London without beelining to Lush Oxford Street. 

I am so in love with that store. Like Beyonce - "Crazy In Love" style love. I could have spent hours in there browsing and sniffing my way through the countless products but sadly I had a time (and money) limit. I had to operate a smidge of self-restraint. 

That being said, I did still manage to pick up a pretty good haul of exclusives so without further ado....

HUGE London Book Haul!

I'M BACK!

Exams are finally over, leaving me to move on with my life and enjoy the freedom of being out of education for the first time in 18 years! 

What better to celebrate and get back into blogging than a little haul! 

By little, I mean a disproportionately large haul that I had to lug around London for an entire day before taking it into the O2 to watch 4 hours of wrestling. 

So yanno... prime book shopping opportunity. 

Anyyyway. I've been saving up all the books I wanted to buy for awhile and being fairly (read: barely) strict on myself, trying to remind myself on a frequent basis that I was going to buy a shit tonne of books in London. Yes, shit tonne is a technical term. 

I've got a lot of books to run through so I won't go into massive detail about them, as I'm sure I will be posting full reviews once they've been read, instead I will just list them and update this in the future with any links to reviews. 

Mothers Day/ Easter Lush Haul

I am such a huge lush addict so with 2 collections coming out in the space of a month I was pretty excited for my march haul. In the past month we have been given the Mothers Day collection and the Easter collection so I was psyched to get my hands on some of the new additions.

The February Body Shop Haul

I do love a good haul, particularly when there's a sale on. I do like The Body Shop as their products don't react with my skin (unlike everything else!) so when I see they have a sale on I had to jump at the chance. 

January Lush Haul

I love Lush. This will be a reoccurring theme throughout my blog so if you're not a fan then soz. 

This months Lush Haul is a little bit of a cheat on my behalf as they are actually ones that I received over Christmas. I'm not someone that hoards loads of bath bombs and doesn't use them so I won't buy any more until my current stash is looking a little low or there are some new themed ones coming out. I'm already perusing the Valentines selection though and I'm going to be making some cheeky purchases next week so that haul will be out early Feb! 

Onto today's post. This might be abit of a teaser as 3 of the 5 bath bombs I have to show you are Christmas ones and as far as I'm aware they are no longer available in stores but I am going to suggest alternatives that I think are "similar". 

Yankee Candle Sampler Haul

If you know me you know that I have a slightly unhealthy obsession with candles. Any candles really but more so Yankee candles. The day I found out that ASDA sold the samplers for around £1 each was probably one of the happiest days of my life. Yes. It's that serious.

This Christmas my friends and family indulged this love of candles and I have been well and truly spoilt. I thought I would share what I received and say a little about them - because who doesn't love a candle right?

Christmas Book Haul

I thought today I would share what books I have very kindly been given for Christmas by my lovely family.  I'm a bit of a book hoarder to be honest and I can never have enough so I was over the moon to receive these on Christmas day. You may note that I've not actually written a "What I Got For Christmas" post but that's purely because I wanted to write smaller more detailed posts about the gifts rather than a big generalised one. 

So here's a little run down of the books I received. 

• 8 Penguin Little Black Classics - These were released in 2015 to celebrate 80 years of Penguin and although they are now difficult to find in store, you can still purchase them through Amazon. I think it's a lovely way to sample some authors that you would be to intimidated to pick up otherwise. 
• Scarlet by Marissa Meyer - This is the second book in the Lunar chronicles. These are fairy tale retelling's that have a sci-fi element to them. I loved the first book Cinder (a take on Cinderella) and I'm sure I'm going to love Scarlet!
• A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings by Charles Dickens - I'm currently collecting the Penguin Cloth Bound classics and this was the perfect addition at Christmas time. I'm currently studying Dickens at University as well so it's rather apt. 
• How to be Well Read by John Sutherland - If you're a English Lit student I doubt John Sutherland will be a new name to you, but if not he is a marvellous critic with an eye for a good book. How to be Well Read is an anthology of 500 books you really should read. I'm currently feeling very "nesty" by that I mean that I'm desperate to move out into my own home and make it my own. This book is just adding to my expanding collection of 'coffee table books'... I'm collecting so many I could probably make the coffee table out of books at this rate! That might not be a bad idea... *wanders over to Pinterest* 

That's all for today's post! I hope you enjoyed the first little glimpse of what I received for Christmas, it most definitely won't be the last of this sort of post this month. 

Make sure you pop back tomorrow for a rather important post to me "Pressure in the Bloggersphere" 

Back to Uni - Skincare, Books & More Haul

At the beginning of every term I have a habit of going a tad "spend happy".  This term I managed to get it under control and not go too over board. 

Here comes the photos...

So as you can see only a smallish haul, I did buy some stuff from Primark but they were all basics and not really that interesting. I may do a clothes haul if it's interesting to anyone but honestly it's not particularly exciting.

1. Cutex Moisture Guard Nail Polish Remover - This is my favourite brand of nail polish remover. It smells slightly like citrus and doesn't strip your nails or dry them out yet it still removes the nail polish with ease. 

2. La Roche-Posay Effaclar K - I used this a lot last year and I was really sad to use it up. I decided that it was time to repurchase and I'm really happy that I did. It not only fights those annoying blackheads but it also creates a smooth base for make-up and is a hydrating gel-like formula. 

3. La Roche-Posay SeroZinc Toner - This is a new addition into my skincare collection and I'm really happy about it. It's an aerosol toner and it gives a fine mist which is super refreshing and helps to calm down any redness. 

4. Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water for Combination/sensitive skin - I usually get the pink lid Micellar but they didn't have it so I tried the Green Lid and I like it. Although I don't particularly love it - I don't think it takes my mascara off as well but that's just me and I'm not overly fond of the "mattifying" claim as it makes me think that it could be quite drying on the skin. 

5. Shakespeare by Paul Edmondson - This is a really interesting book about everything Shakespeare, it gives information not only about the plays but also Shakespeare himself and the time in which he was writing! Definitely recommend this for anyone who's studying Shakespeare or if you're just interested in the bard. 

6. Word Drops by Paul Anthony Jones - This is a coffee table book (which I'm currently obsessed with) and is something you can just pick up, flick to a page and read an interesting anecdote about word etymology - that sounds rather dull but it is interesting honest!

That's all for today's post! Not a massive haul but I'm happy with it!

Let me know what you've got recently!

Book Hauling: August-September

Throughout the months of August and September I brought books. In fact I brought a LOT of books. In case you're wondering I brought 23 books in total (not including kindle purchases *hides face in shame*) Okay, so I know you're thinking I'm mad BUT a lot of these are actually for Uni so that's okay right? 

A Late October Haul!

In reading week I had a little haul with my mum and managed to pick up a few bits I'd been wanting for awhile. Perhaps not the most exciting haul but just a few really good products!

Liz Earle Radiant Essentials Gift - £16.50

I've already tried out the Cleanse and Polish but I wanted to try the toner without buying the full size. This was the perfect solution and I love getting sample sized products as they are incredibly handy when travelling back home for breaks from Uni.

Barry M Nail Polish £3.99 each

Okay, you know I have a problem. But it had to be done. I picked up the 2 limited edition glitter Christmas nail paints (from Superdrug) and one of the new Glitterati range called Rockstar which is absolutely beautiful, thoroughly recommend! 

Superdrug Glass Nail File and Cutex Ultra Cleansing Nail Polish Remover

As I am always painting my nails and trying out different polishes I decided it was time to invest in a Glass Nail File, this one was from Superdrug for £3.29 and is much better for your nails and lasts longer than an emery board! I also invested in some stronger nail polish remover as it's getting to the time of year where the glitter nail polishes are starting to come out... and you need something industrial strength to remove some of them!

Superdrug Witch Hazel Mud Mask and Cucumber Peel-Off Mask

Finally, I picked up a couple of the superdrug face masks. I already own a moisture mask and thought that these two would be perfect editions to my skincare routine. I love the cucumber peel-off mask as it is the perfect pick me up mask mid-week, its not to stripping but just leaves your face feeling fresh and clean. However, the Mud mask is a different story. I applied this last Sunday and left it on for 10 minutes (as the packaging states) and noticed a slight tingling but thought that was probably fine. I washed the mask off once the time was up, only to be confronted with what can only be described as a beetroot staring back at me in horror in the mirror. I don't know what it was about this product but something did not like my skin and my face felt burning hot and sore for a good few hours after the removal of the mask. I don't have sensitive skin and often use Mud masks and products that contain witch hazel so it must be something to do with the formulation that reacted with my skin. I definately would not recommend this product but don't be put off by their other masks as the moisture mask and the cucumber peel off are both lovely. 

The September Haul - Superdrug, The Body Shop and more!

Throughout September I was collecting bits and bobs for going back to Uni and just general stuff. 

From The Body Shop I purchased: 

Amazonian Wild Lily Fragrance Mist - £7.50 (featured in my September Favourites!)

Early Harvest Raspberry Shower Gel - £4

Vineyard Peach Shower Gel - £4

Banana Conditioner - £4.50

I feel like The Body Shop have just been awesome recently! I have been loving their stuff and it all smells AMAZING. 

From Superdrug I purchased mostly Nail Polishes... don't judge I have a problem! 

Tanya Burr Cosmetics Lip Gloss in Picnic in the Park - a beautifully pigmented Pink - £4.66

Tanya Burr Cosmetics Nail Polish in Midnight Sparkles - £3.99

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine in Chilli - £3.99

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine in Paprika - £3.99

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine in Chai - £3.99

Nicole by OPI Base Coat Plus - £7.99

Lastly I got some home bits from an awesome local store in Colchester called Evolution. I have loved this shop for years and it stocks the most adorable home bits. This stuff now sits happily throughout my new house at Uni! It is so adorable! 

Cinnamon Candle - £3.75 

Blue Shell Plate - £0.75

Mini Sitting Budda - £0.75

Budda Candles - £0.75 each