Urban Decay Full Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette

Editor's note: This article is a piece written by guest writer Amanda. She is going to be reviewing the Urban Decay Full Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette. All views are author's own.

As first impressions go this is a very aesthetically pleasing palette, a black textured box with a beautiful 3D translucent logo with bright merging colours to highlight the type and variety of shades to be discovered when opening the box. “FULL SPECTRUM”, the print name of the palette, is printed in merging colours below the logo. Upon opening the box, you are greeted by the sight of 21 colourful powder shades, brighter and bolder than arguably anything UD has produced in the past (other than perhaps the Electric palette). Each of these shades is subtly infused with glitter. It also comes with a double-ended brush, which is of usual excellent Urban Decay (UD) quality. UD have lived up to the name of the palette and undoubtedly produced a “full spectrum” of colours for the user; they are in 7 columns of 3, the first 6 being 3 different shades of red (seeping into pink) orange, yellow (including gold), green blue and purple. The last column consists of dark grey, silver and white. My current favourite look involves the use of the purple shades “Sketch” and “Faded”, together with the silver shade “Iced” and the white shade “Bump”. After putting on black winged eyeliner, I like to use a medium sized brush to dust “Iced” all over my brow bone. It is a subtle yet iridescent shade, perfect for this area. I then like to put a parallel line of “Faded” just above my eyeliner – a perfect go-between for the intense black of my eyeliner and my dusting of “Iced”. A muted, shimmery shade of purple like this makes way for its slightly darker twin “Sketch”. “Sketch” is a beautiful, intense shade of purple that I put just below my lower eyelashes, to create a bold look. I like to finish this look off with a dab of “Bump” on the inner corners of my eye for brightness. As the Electric Palette is so big, when I go out, I tend to take a smaller albeit cheaper palette to top up the makeup although this isn’t necessary for hours due to the Electric Palette’s long-lasting durability. I have to admit, I am not really an eyeshadow kind of person – my life generally is a hub of activity, and I must admit I don’t really like spending a great deal of time on makeup. However, and although this palette is bold and I still wouldn’t particularly consider using in my day-to-day life, I adore it for nightlife and special occasions. Anyone who knows me knows I am partial to wearing a lot of dark colours/black, and the way some of this eyeshadow can brighten up a night-out outfit is simply electric. Fans of more subtle makeup may prefer to check out UD’s Naked palette. However, it’s not to say this palette is without its criticisms. Due to a lot of the Spectrum colours being glittery or duo chrome, these shadows are very much powder rather than buttery – which can lead to fallout, both on the face and in the pallet. With regard to the face problems, using a primer should eradicate any issues. I’m unsure how to solve the palette problem – possibly something I need to look into? Also, remember the golden rule – never mix powder eyeshadow with cream eyeshadow! I have bought sparingly from Urban Decay over the years, due to my keenness to try other brands and the “broke” stereotype that seems to follow students (unfortunately, its true!). At an eye-watering £43.00 for the Electric Palette, Urban Decay has never pretended to be a cheap alternative. However, what they lack in deals they certainly do not compromise on quality. Overall, an excellent palette. 9/10 from me.

Rating - 9 out of 10.

Lush Gentle Lentil solid shampoo.

I didn't become a Lush fan until around 2010, and when I read back on some of the products that used to be available and have been discontinued before I started to buy from the company, I get jealous when I see something that I think would be perfect for me. While reading tons of (mostly very positive) reviews of this particular product, I was even more eager to try it, and after waiting about a year, it was released in the Lush kitchen- Lush's weekly range of special-edition products released in limited batches. I knew I had to buy it.

This product is the Gentle Lentil solid shampoo bar. Those who have read my reviews of solid haircare, such as Jason and the Argan oil shampoo bar, will know that it doesn't often agree with my dry, easily tangled hair type. But as Gentle lentil is specifically created to be (as the name suggests), a gentle wash for easily tangled hair. It is more geared towards children, but being a child at heart and being a fan of the fragrance of the bar, I was still eager to use it and report back on my results.

Gentle Lentil is a little boring-looking, cream-coloured block dotted with brown lentils. Compared to Lush's brightly coloured shampoo bars, this isn't one you'd notice right away. This is probably part of the reason the bar was discontinued, as unless people knew what it was, they would likely walk past it without giving it a second glance, in favour of the more colourful bars and bottles of shampoo. However, sometimes it's the boring-looking products that offer a lot, so I try not to bother too much about what the products look like on the outside.

The bar shares the scent with the Butterball fragrance family from Lush, a cocoa butter and ylang-ylang dominated fragrance. While the butterball bath bomb is mostly dominated by the cocoa butter scent, giving it an almost chocolatey fragrance, the Gentle lentil shampoo bar has the ylang-ylang at the forefront, giving a more floral version of the Butterball scent. Personally, I prefer the bath bomb's fragrance, but they aren't too different, so fans of the bath bomb will appreciate the scent of it's haircare sibling. The Butterball scent is one of my top fragrances from lush, I wish they would bring out a perfume version.

To use a shampoo bar is very simple, but it does take some getting used to if you regularly tend to use a liquid shampoo. All you have to do is wet the bar, and either lather it up in your hair (as I do) or lather it in your hands and then apply the lather to your hair that way. I found that Gentle lentil didn't lather up as well as I am used to with shampoo bars, instead providing a slightly oily foam, which slightly worried me, as I wondered if it would leave my hair greasy instead of cleaned. But after I had conditioned and dried my hair off, I found my hair was very tangled, almost as if I had over-shampooed. This really disappointed me, as I had been hoping for a long time that this particular shampoo bar would work for me.


I gave it another chance, using less than I had before, but again, it made my hair feel dried out and was impossible to brush, even when using an abundance of conditioner after shampooing. The bar of shampoo itself also was reluctant to dry, and you lose a lot of product when it just sits on your bathroom shelf melting. I have honestly come to the conclusion that Lush shampoos, particularly their solid haircare range, just don't work for me, and I am very reluctant to spend money on their expensive haircare again.

So despite looking forward to using Gentle lentil and appreciating the scent (Lush, make it  a perfume!) I won't be repurchasing and I don't recommend it.

Price £5 for 100g

LUSH Sympathy for the Skin hand and body lotion

I find that often I am bad for remembering to moisturise properly. I buy tons of body butters and thick creams because I like the texture, only to find out that they are just too heavy for my skin, especially on my face, and take too long to sink in properly. This causes greasiness. I wanted to try something that was lighter, but would still provide me with enough moisture to combat dry patches.

I had a look on Lush's website and decided to treat myself to something slightly more expensive than I would originally have gone for, but something that I knew would have natural ingredients. After browsing, I chose a pot of Sympathy for the Skin lotion. I vaguely remember having this years ago, but didn't use it enough to build up a proper opinion. All I could remember was the texture was thinner than I tend to buy.

When it arrived, it comes in the traditional lush screw-top black jar packaging. Like all of Lush's other black pots, it's 100% recyclable, and if you take 5 of them back to Lush, they will reward you with a free fresh face mask or fresh hair mask. It's a nice little incentive and generous of lush- a pretty unique offer.

I know many people don't like jars and tubs, who may wish to decant the lotion into a bottle. I don't mind the tub, as it mainly sits on my bathroom counter or on my bedside table, but as the lotion is of a fairly runny consistency, I would probably choose to put it into another container if I was going on holiday. It's also quite a chubby 240g tub, so decanting it would sometimes be a better option, especially if you wanted to use it as your regular hand cream when out and about.

On first sniff, this cream smells like banana. Not fake banana, like the foam sweets- but real, natural, slightly under-ripe banana. It isn't my favourite scent, purely because it still has that slighly soured element when the fruit isn't quite ripe. The vanillary note helps it a little bit, offering a natural but sweet dosage of it. And layered under this you can smell sandalwood notes, which makes it a bit different to any generic vanilla lotion.

The lotion looks just like a fresh, luxury banana custard, an off-white shade, speckled with flecks of vanilla seed and banana seed. Unfortunately these seeds can work to the products disadvantage, as you can find yourself speckled with them on some occasions, which can be annoying if you have your skin on show or opt to use this as a face cream as I do.

When you rub in the lotion, the scent changes from the banana being the strongest scent, to the vanilla taking over and being at the forefront. The warmth of your skin brings out an almost white-chocolate note, and this is when I really started to appreciate the scent that bit more.

Consistency wise, it is fairly thin, and absorbs easily. It still leaves a light glisten on your skin, and you definitely feel moisturised, which I think is better than a cream absorbing too quickly and feeling like you have not even applied it in the first place. My skin felt soothed, and in a couple of days, the dry patches on my skin had almost all cleared up. My facial skin is combination/sensitive, and it didn't break me out in the slightest either. I would probably have to wait a bit before I applied makeup over this, but I still haven't trialled that out yet, as I don't tend to moisturise under my makeup.


Overall, I have enjoyed using this cream and would definitely recommend it to people who want a light face and body moisturiser, that does it's job wonderfully. If you want to have soft skin and smell like banana cream custard, give this a try!


8/10


Julia xx

Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula Swivel Stick

Even though the new year has begun, we are still in the middle of winter which, for our skin, is one of the worst times for dryness. My lips are often dried out, which is due to a combination of the weather, and the fact I tend to wear a lot of lipstick and gloss throughout the year as part of my regular makeup routine. I have tried a LOT of lip balms over the years, ranging from very cheap drugstore brands to more luxury expensive ones which claim to banish wrinkles as well as soothe dry skin. This one I am going to write about today, however, is part of a cult-classic range of moisturising products that don't cost the earth.

Palmers cocoa butter formula is a popular brand which specialize in body lotions and moisturisers. They have also branched out to different products, including pregnancy (stretch mark) creams, tanning creams, hair care and lip balms. Some of their products are harder to find than others in stores, but all are readily available online.

Palmers swivel stick is a multitasking product, which makes it ideal for travelling. It is a heavy-duty moisturising balm stick, large enough to use on areas such as elbows and knees, but still a convienent size for popping in your handbag. It's also a good alternative to taking a bottle of lotion on holiday, as it won't spill. Although, I would be careful what temperature of the place you keep this product in, as the buttery, waxy consistency I feel would melt easily if exposed to too high a heat.


To use, although not the most flattering description, you wind it up as if a glue stick (The name of the product itself suggests this), and apply wherever needed. The formula itself smells delicious- a really chocolatey, buttery scent with a hint of nuttiness that reminds me of freshly made chocolate truffles. Be careful when applying it on your lips especially that you don't start eating it- it really does smell that good. However, if you aren't keen on chocolate or 'flavoured', heavily-scented balms, you will probably not like this- it has the kind of heavy scent which really does hang around a while. I adore the scent, so I was really glad it stuck around.

This is an extremely moisturising product, which means you do have to wait a while for it to settle into your skin and lips, so it's maybe more ideal as a night treatment. Be careful about how much you apply too, as too much can cause an unwanted greasiness. Start off with a minimal amount and build up as you go along to get the best out of your Palmers swivel stick. I tend to use this only on patches of very dry skin (which I get frequently), and my lips, which are often really chapped.

You do get a lot of product for your money here, and it lasts a long time. So for the price, I think it's a great product to test out and if you have dry skin- give it a go. I was really pleased with it and I'm sure you will be, too.

Thanks for reading

Overall: A good little multitasking product at an excellent price

Rating: 8.5/10

2016 Price: £2.50

Stockists, Ebay, Amazon, Tesco, Superdrug, Boots

Apologies for the delay...

...new reviews are coming very soon. Thank you for your patience.

Julia x

Treacle Moon hand and body lotion - The Honeycomb Secret

Sometimes products I haven't heard much about before can really surprise me, and when I saw Treacle Moon cosmetics in one of my local supermarkets, I decided to have a further look, as a lot of their unusual scents in their range appeal to me. I tried out a Treacle moon shower gel earlier on in the year, and got on quite well with it, so I decided to try one of their many hand and body lotions,  as with the cold weather approaching, my skin is getting dryer and I wanted a lotion that didn't take ages to sink in.

As I have mentioned, I have tried out Treacle Moon products before, and I have always wondered if their packaging was a dupe of high-end brand Philosophy. However, I am not really bothered about whether something is a dupe or not- if a product is good quality, a good price and works well for me, I will buy it, regardless of whether it was inspired by a higher end, more expensive product. This has been proven in reviews on products such as the Revolution redemption eye palette, which is a dupe of Urban Decay's Naked1 palette.

Treacle Moon hand and body lotion comes in a 350ml pump dispenser bottle, which isn't particularly ideal for travelling, but makes a nice product to keep on your bathroom shelf. Although I generally prefer jars and tubes over pump dispensers, this provides the ideal amount of product to use at the one time without over-doing it, and is also a more hygienic way of dispensing the product inside.

The lotion is a smooth, silky, non-greasy consistency, and seems to strike the ideal balance between thin and thick. It feels luxurious and moisturising, but absorbs easily and within a couple of minutes you are just left with beautifully-scented  and soft skin. 

The Honeycomb scent of this lotion is amazing- I am starting to wish Treacle Moon did perfumes as I would buy up hundreds of bottles if it were available in this scent!  I was expecting a generic honey scent, but this is so sugary and sweet- it reminds me of the gloriously rich and sugary inside of a Crunchie bar, and transports me to an autumnal night at a fairground with the scent of caramel-apples, doughnuts and bags of fresh cinder toffee from the stalls. It really is a beautifully sweet and sumptuous scent, and lasts for ages on your skin. So much so that I think this could be worn as a stand-alone fragrance and would receive lots of compliments. It is a strong smell, so if you aren't a fan of foodie scents, you may not like this- but I am definitely a huge fan. 

The scent is available in a lotion (£2.99), a shower gel (£2.99) and a body butter (£3.99) , so for those who are fans, you can collect the whole scent collection for around £10. I will definitely be doing this and stocking up incase the company decide to discontinue the scent (which they have done with some of their other scents in the past) as it seems quite an autumnal scent, and I'm unsure if it's a limited edition.

Overall, I am a fan of this product and would recommend it to those who want a beautifully moisturising product, with a cozy, mouthwatering scent to boot.

8/10

Soft Coeur Massage Bar

Out of all the products sold by Lush, the massage bar is probably my favourite. Whenever I go to a store or place a Lush order online, I tend to always add a massage bar into my basket. Usually I go for a Wiccy Magic Muscle bar, but after reading other people's reviews of Soft Coeur massage bar, I decided to try it out as the scent sounded like something I would really enjoy.

Massage bars are a block of solidified oils and butters, designed for body massage or alternatively for use as a heavy-duty moisturiser- which is what I use them for. They're much more portable than a bottle of massage oil, but you have to be careful keeping them in warm places, as they do have a tendency to melt easily. To use them, all you have to do is swipe the bar a few times over warm skin, then rub the melted oils in.

Soft Coeur is a little different from the other massage bars Lush offer, as it's presented as a small heart shape, and has a centre of honey and cocoa powder, which is also designed to melt on your skin. I'm not sure whether Lush released this as part of a Valentines day range and decided to keep it as part of the permanent range, but as it's also known as The Honeymooner massage bar, its obvious that this bar has been designed for couples.

The scent of Soft Coeur is a rich, honey-toffee one, very similar to the popular Honey, I washed the kids soap. But the slightly bitter-sweet cocoa powder core of the bar slightly tones down the sweet and sickly scent of the bar and helps to add a chocolatey undertone. I quite like the scent, it's definitely one for fans of foodie and sweet smells. It's quite strong and I also find it lasts a long time on the skin, so I think if you wanted to use it as a scent, you could apply a bit of the bar to your wrists as an alternative to a solid perfume.


When you are applying Soft Coeur, although it's not the most easily-melting massage bar from Lush that I have used, it does leave a fair amount of oil on your skin that is massaged in easily. I found that the first 3 or 4 uses of the bar were chocolate-core free, then after that the centre also began to melt, leaving streaks that could also be rubbed in with a bit more effort. I've heard a lot of complaints from people about the streaks from cocoa centre, however I didn't find it was too bad and it wouldn't stop me from enjoying the bar.

I found that although the bar didn't release oils as easily as the others, it didn't last as many uses and was halved in size by the 6th use. It is one of Lush's cheaper and smaller bars, but if I bought it again it would probably be reserved for the occasional use rather than a regular used product, as it proves quite an expensive alternative to a moisturiser.

For me, this wasn't the most hydrating of Lush's massage bars, but I did enjoy it. I have other favourites that I would generally pick over Soft Coeur massage bar, but I am glad I've tried it out and would probably buy it again if I was in the mood for a very sweet smelling massage bar.


6/10

Skinny Dip Buttercream

I had been waiting to try a Lush Buttercream since I had first read a review on their limited-edition Heavenly Bodies Buttercream. After having a look on Ebay, and realising how much Lush's limited edition products tend to sell for, I opted to wait until a Buttercream popped up onto the Lush Kitchen menu, so I could try out a fresh one for a more reasonable price.

Around a year ago, Lush Cosmetics decided to start up the Lush Kitchen to replace the 'retro' section of their old website. The Lush Kitchen is a project run by Lush to unearth long-ago products, and make fresh, limited-edition batches of them to offer customers who may not have shopped at Lush long enough to remember their old, discontinued products.

Personally, I think there is good and bad points to the Lush kitchen, but overall it is a nice way to have a chance to try something out that you may not have been able to buy before. The products are also at their peak of freshness- which is the best condition to use them in.

The problem that is caused by releasing limited amounts of products, is that there often isn't enough for everyone to buy-leading to lots of disappointed customers. As well as this, customers who do manage to buy something such as a limited-edition shampoo, might want to use it as part of their regular routine- which they can't do unless the Lush Kitchen decide to bring it back.

It is generally a total lottery what Lush decide to stock in the Kitchen range, so it is worth checking back every week when the new menu of products is put out.

Skinny Dip buttercream is a soft body soap that has been designed particularly for dry skin, as it's very hydrating and packed with tons of oils and butters to nourish and repair your skin while gently cleansing it. As the name suggests, this soap has a creamy and thick texture, which does replicate the popular cake frosting. Reading back on the history of this soap, it used to be sold in solid bar form, but Lush have changed the formula since then, and now the softer version is sold in 240g tubs.


The scent of Skinny Dip is not one I would usually go for, and if I had smelled it in the shop, I probably would have put it back on the shelf. It's packed with cloves, violet and vetivert oil, and these combined result in a very earthy, musky,  almost savoury fragrance. It's not too strong in the tub, but once used under the stream of water it becomes heady and possibly overwhelming for those who aren't fond of the scent. Personally, I didnt particularly like it, but I think fans of products such as Tramp shower gel might like this. It's also quite a manly scent, so I think it might be more popular among guys.

To use Lush's buttercreams, simply scoop a tablespoon-sized amount out and use it as you would a shower gel. Due to buttercream soap being packed with so many oils, it won't lather up like regular soap or shower gel. Some people might be ok with this, but I didn't feel completely clean using it by itself, so I topped up with some of Lush's Happy Hippy shower gel afterwards. However, after using this, I still found the strong clove smell of Skinny Dip lingered on my skin for a while. If you are a fan of the smell of Skinny Dip Buttercream, the longevity of the scent could be seen as a positive, but as I didn't like it, it was personally a negative for me.

Saying this, my skin did feel softer, though not as baby-soft had I just used my regular shower gel and topped my skin with a massage bar afterwards, which is what I do regularly. I feel that the buttercream would be a good option if you are pressed for time and is an ideal in-shower body moisturiser. But if you do have the time, using a proper lotion or massage bar afterwards is what I would prefer to do.

Although I personally wouldn't buy this variety of Lush Buttercream again, I am still eager to try their Heavenly bodies version, and am keeping my eyes peeled in the kitchen for them to make a reappearance. For those who enjoy earthy and woody scents, I would recommend Skinny dip buttercream, but for me, I won't be trying it again.

4/10

Sultana of Soap

I have been meaning to try this Lush soap for a while, but due to the fact it's one of the more boring-looking varieties on offer, I have often pushed it to the bottom of my 'to-buy' list in favour of shower gels or bubble bars. But last week, I decided to buy an 100g slab of Sultana of Soap to test out and see what I thought.

Sultana of Soap is presented as a white slab topped and laced with berries and sultanas, which make the slab of soap almost look like a bar of nougat. These are used as a decoration but also act as a mild exfoliator. Although this soap is plainer than some of Lush's other offerings, it has a really fresh and mild scent, with the slight sour note of the berries lingering in the background. This, for me, is a scent I would associate with the spring and summer months, as it's light enough and not cloying in the slightest. It's not the type of scent I would usually go for, but makes an interesting change from the gourmand scents I like best.

The texture of Sultana of Soap is a really creamy, moisturising one. It's so soft and squidgy that when you press down on the bar lightly, you leave a dent. When I washed with it, it didn't create a thick lather, but instead a light cream that felt nourishing as well as gently cleansing on my skin. The fruits studding the top of the bar of soap exfoliated gently, but they soon began to fall off and fishing them out the water so that they wouldn't clog the drain was slightly annoying. But once I had rinsed the soap off, my skin felt fresh and clean, and I noticed the scent lingered for a while afterwards which was pleasant.

Due to this soap being a rich and creamy variety, Sultana of Soap does tend to melt and dissolve easily when left around water, so the best thing to do is to pat it dry after every use, and cut your bar into thirds or quarters so you aren't using the whole piece under running water at once.

Overall, although this soap isn't perfect and isn't one of my absolute favourites scent-wise, it did make a nice change from my regular soaps and is one I will turn to if I need something soothing and moisturising for particularly dry skin- in fact, I would go as far to say it's the most moisturising soap from Lush I have ever tried. Recommended.

7/10

Twilight Bath Bomb

When I visit Lush, I usually tend to lean towards buying their bubble bars, soaps or skincare products. I rarely pick up a bath bomb- in fact, I think the last time I bought one for myself was in the Christmas 2014 sale. But when I visited earlier this week I decided to try one that I hadn't used since 2012- Twilight bath ballistic.

Twilight is a pretty, lavender-scented bath bomb that is relaxing and ideal for bedtime, or anytime you want to wind down, really. It's not your typical floral lavender scent- it's more creamy and sweet, and has been described as being a malty, softer alternative. It's quite a girly scent, and I would imagine it being popular with all age groups,

The design of this Twilight is again, quite girly- being a large pale pink sphere with moon and star shapes moulded into the top. The design also encourages you to think that this is a ideal bath bomb for night time use, when you are trying to relax. It's one of Lush's biggest bath bombs, and I've seen people split it into half so they get more than one use, but for the purposes of the review I decided to use the whole bath bomb at once.

To use a bath bomb, just run your bath, and when it's ready, get in and drop your chosen bath ballistic in- then watch it fizz and release colours and nourishing essential oils. 

When you drop Twilight into the bath, it is quite a slow fizzer, first releasing a dusky pink foam to reveal the pale blue inner core of the bath bomb. When the blue fizzes, it releases a blue foam, which mixes with the pink to create a pretty bath mix of blue, pink and soft purple. There is also a little bit of glitter in this bath bomb, but it's not the sort to stick to your skin or the bath. As well as this, little nibs of what I assume is shea butter are released into the water, which helps it feel soft, though not as silky as I was hoping.

 Lush say that the colours of the bath are meant to remind you of the sky becoming darker, and that this will help you to feel soothed and relaxed. The bath from Twilight will not be as brightly coloured as results from some other bath bombs available, and doesn't contain tons of added extras such as paper (dragons egg bath bomb, sex bomb bath bomb) or seaweed (Big blue bath bomb), but for me this is ideal, as I am not keen on the products which leave the bath in a mess afterwards.

Afterwards, although the water had felt reasonably soft, I still had dry skin and had to top up with moisturiser from a massage bar.

Overall, for £3.35, although this bath bomb left me feeling relaxed and I enjoyed it, it's not up there with my favourites so it wouldn't be a regular purchase for me. However, I would recommend it to anyone who is stressed and wants to chill out, as it does work well for that and is a real classic from Lush that is popular among lots of people. A reasonable bath bomb from Lush.

6/10

Book Review: Me Before You-JoJo Moyes

In my spare time, I do read quite a lot, ranging from teenage fiction to more adult titles, so I thought it might be a good idea to write reviews on some of my favourite, and least favourite titles. If you have any book suggestions to read, comment either below the post or in the guestbook, and I will do my best to write about them.

Will Traynor is a highly successful businessman who travels, makes lots of money and has a pretty girlfriend. He is used to having money, girls and being in charge, but when he is on his way to work one day, he gets hit by a motorcycle- his life is about to change forever.

Lou Clark is a young woman in her twenties who lives at home with her Mum, Dad, sister and nephew. She is happy working shifts in the local cafe, and hasn't really ventured out of the small town she lives in. She has a pretty quiet life, and, apart from problems with her long-term boyfriend Patrick, she is fairly happy in the routine she is in.

But when the Cafe shuts down and Lou is out of a job, she ends up down at the job centre, and after considering the few options she has, she gets an interview to be a carer for a paralysed man for a 6-month period. Although this isn't what she was expecting, she gets the job.


When Louise meets Will, they don't get on well at first, due to Will's consistently negative and rude attitude, however when they realise they have a similar sense of humour, it breaks the ice between them and they begin to warm to each other. However, as they get closer to each other, Lou soon finds out about Will's past, and the shocking reason why she will only be working for him for 6 months.

Will she be able to change Will's mind, or will she support Will's choices?


-What I thought- (Spoilers)

I first picked up this book, as it was highly recommended by Tanya Burr, another Blogger and Youtuber. Honestly, I hadn't read anything about what this book was about, and assumed it was another generic romance novel. But once I had started it, I realised that although it has a fair amount of romance in, it deals with the much darker subject of assisted suicide, that is not often talked about.

There is also a lot of humour in this book, and the sarcastic jokes between Lou and Will are funny. The characters play off each other very well, and despite coming from very different backgrounds, have a lot in common with each other.

Although a few of the characters personality traits sometimes annoyed me in this book (Patrick- Lou's boyfriend, and occasionally Will's Mother), generally I think all of them came to life and their personalities were well written. My favourite character was probably Will's other Carer, Nathan, and I enjoyed the chapter of the book that was written from his point of view, as it gave you a chance to find out how he viewed Will and Lou's friendship from someone else's perspective. Will's Mother also has her own chapter from her point of view, but this I found less interesting,

The ending of the book where Lou has to decide whether to support will's decisions or not is pretty emotional, and despite how she tries to change his mind, he still wants to travel to Switzerland and go through with what he has planned. Although it is one of the saddest things she has gone through in her life, I think her choice in the end to support Will and accompany him to the Dignitas clinic was the right one.

I think lots of people hoped for a happy, romantic ending - but the Epilogue I found enjoyable and moving, as it shows how Lou is trying to move on by doing lots of the things Will had wanted her to do, to experience more from life.


-Overall-

I will definitely be buying the follow up novel to this when it's released, as this is one of the top books I have ever read and I wouldn't hesitate recommending it to others. Don't judge it by the slightly girly front cover- this is an emotional book that deals with a dark, controversial subject
that can be read and enjoyed by anybody. I wouldn't hesitate in recommending Me Before You by JoJo Moyes to people who enjoy weepies- and I'm not surprised it's been given 5/5 stars online.

9/10 Highly recommended.

Glorious Mud body mask

Around a year ago, Lush Cosmetics decided to start up the Lush Kitchen to replace the 'retro' section of their old website. The Lush Kitchen is a project run by Lush to unearth long-ago products, and make fresh, limited-edition batches of them to offer customers who may not have shopped at Lush long enough to remember their old, discontinued products.

Personally, I think there is good and bad points to the Lush kitchen, but overall it is a nice way to have a chance to try something out that you may not have been able to buy before. The products are also at their peak of freshness- which is the best condition to use them in.

The problem that is caused by releasing limited amounts of products, is that there often isn't enough for everyone to buy-leading to lots of disappointed customers. As well as this, customers who do manage to buy something such as a limited-edition shampoo, might want to use it as part of their regular routine- which they can't do unless the Lush Kitchen decide to bring it back.

It is generally a total lottery what Lush decide to stock in the Kitchen range, so it is worth checking back every week when the new menu of products is put out.

Glorious mud is a rhassoul-mud based body mask released by Lush in their Kitchen range. It's presented as a large, cubed, brown slab, which doesn't look immediately appealing. However, with products such as these, it's important not to judge the look of them before they are used.

The scent of Glorious mud is part of Lush's Creme Anglais scent family- a strong, layered scent with lots of vanilla. But for those who are into plain vanilla scents, this is a little different. There is also a large helping of Frankincense in here, and this adds a smokiness to the scent which makes it quite heady and overwhelming. The Glorious mud scent is a little weaker than the Pot O' Gold shower jelly, but it't still pretty strong. Personally, I am not a fan of this scent, and I didn't realise they shared the same scent until I had already bought the product.


To use this body mask, you can do one of three things.

You can crush the mask up in a pot and apply it as fine grains. This may be the easiest way for some people, as the slab of Glorious mud contains sodium bicarb and can therefore dissolve easily under water.

You can also cut a piece off. I think this would be the most difficult method as the mask is quite grainy and crumbly, and I think a lot could be wasted this way.

Or you can do as I do, use the mask as a scrub by rubbing it into your skin by holding the cube in your hand. As long as you keep it out the stream of water, this is a fairly easy method and is ideal for when you are applying in the shower or standing up.



As I previously mentioned, Glorious Mud is quite a grainy scrub- although it has oils and gentle skin-softening ingredients, it can feel a little harsh when applying, if like me, you have sensitive skin. However, when you run it down your skin a steady trail of body mask melts onto your skin and you can then massage it in, either with a scrub mitt or just your bare hand. This body mask is also quite messy as it is rhassoul mud-based, so be careful not to get it on the walls, and if you do, rinse it off right away.

Unfortunately for me, the smell of this mask (which I didn't like from the start), elevated in the shower and became overwhelming almost unbearable. It became richer and quite strong and sickly- something which fans of the scent would no doubt love- but I hated. In fact I had to rinse it off quite quick and then rinse the shower and open the window too, just to try and get the smell out of the bathroom.

The one positive thing I can say about this body mask is that for the brief time after I had rinsed it off, my skin did feel really soft after all the oils and butters had sunk in. It obviously does it's job well as a product- but the scent just doesn't agree with me and the mask made a lot of mess, which I wasn't too happy about.

I have read lots of reviews from people who love this body mask, but for me, it seems to be a love or hate product, and unfortunately I am in the latter category. I just wish Lush would come up with the product in a different scent and then maybe I would be willing to overlook the mess problem. Overall, it made my skin feel nice- but I won't be buying Glorious Mud body mask again.

2/10

Butterball bath bomb

I was given one of these bath bombs as a gift yesterday, and although I vaguely remember buying one a few years ago, it was nice to have a fresh one so I would be able to analyse it in more detail. I've heard lots of great reviews of this particular bath bomb from other bloggers and vloggers that I looked forward to using it right away.

When you go into a Lush store, you will see a colourful array of bath bombs and bubble bars sitting on plates ready to be bought, and Butterball may seem a little dull and uninspiring in comparison. It's a bit smaller than your typical bath bomb, and is a white shade, speckled with creamy patches of cocoa butter. Butterball is one of Lush's cheapest bath bombs, but it works as well as most of the bigger ones.

The scent of this bath bomb is quite creamy and reminds me of fresh vanilla, with a little added musk and mild floral notes to help it seem less cloying and lot more fresh. You can also smell the cocoa butter in there, which adds an almost chocolatey element.

Although all Lush bath bombs are water softening, this one tops the list of being the most moisturising bath bomb offering from Lush. Despite the small size and lack of added extras, such as glitter and colour, this bath bomb is stuffed with chunks and flakes of cocoa butter, which moisturise your skin and leave it feeling soothed and softened. Although it doesn't claim to be made specifically for it, I think Butterball would be an ideal choice if you suffered from sensitive skin, or sunburn.  I generally do have quite dry skin, and I can't always be bothered to moisturise, so I hope the oils in this would be ideal for that.


Using a bath bomb is easy. Just run a hot bath, and throw it in the water and watch it fizz away. This bath bomb does not make much of a change to the water colour wise, except turning it a little more cloudy. But the golden chunks of cocoa butter inside float on the surface and around the sides of the bath. These are the best bit of the bath bomb, and can even be scooped up and rubbed into particularly dry skin if you feel like doing so.

As this bath bomb has got a lot of oils in, be careful getting out as it can make the surface of the bath quite greasy. However, this is a minor problem and doesn't take away from it's performance.


After use, my skin felt really smooth and silky, and the musky vanilla scent remained on my skin. I topped it up with a little of my Demeter vanilla ice-cream cologne, which went well with the scent of Butterball.

Overall, although this bath bomb is not showy in any way, I think it's one which is really well-suited to my skin, and I understand why so many Lush fans adore the Butterball scent. I will definitely be picking it up again and has been good to be reintroduced to it.

8/10

Ciaté Paint Pot Nail Polish in Morning Dew

Out of all the makeup products I try, nail polish is one of the ones that I tend not to spend a lot of money on. I have tried a lot of budget, drugstore brands of nail polish that I have really liked, and didn't really see any reason to invest a lot of money in something which might potentially just be really similar to the cheaper, yet good quality favourites that I already own.

After browsing in a branch of T.K Maxx in Edinburgh, I came across a shelf full of higher-end cosmetics, some of which were brands I recognised from Youtube beauty vloggers' videos. As well as this, a lot of the products were reduced in price, so after looking at the nail polishes and quickly trying to decide which colour I should choose, I opted for one of Ciaté's polishes.

Morning dew by Ciaté is part of their Dragonfly Collection, and is a pale, pearlescent grey-blue, with iridescent sparkles shot through it, which, although minuscule, are in their thousands here. Although the colour of the polish is a light one, I think it would work particularly well in winter-time. The shade really reminds me of the light frosts and has a real ice-theme to it. However, it works equally well in summer due to it's lightness, and can be paired with all sorts of outfits and makeup looks due to it being a fairly neutral shade.

The packaging of this nail polish, like all Ciaté's other bottles, is so pretty that it almost seems an indulgent treat. It would make a nice gift in itself if given to someone, and is much more decorative than the other nail polish bottles I own. Amusingly, the bottle is ergonomically shaped to fit better in the palm of your hand, but whether this really works or is just a gimmick, I am not too sure on. Personally, I thought the shape of the bottle looked elegant, but it felt no more-or-less comfortable than any other polish bottle I have held. The bottle is also adorned with a black mini satin bow- which, although elegant, is sadly quite cheaply glued-on, and fell off the cap after only a couple of uses.

The polish applies quickly and easily. Although it's not my favourite nail brush I have tried, it is up there with the best. I needed around 2-3 coats until I was satisfied with the pigmentation of the polish, and I allowed sufficient drying time in-between coats to ensure the polish wouldn't peel or smudge afterwards.

The polish stayed on my nails for a good 3 days before starting to chip slightly. I am aware this doesn't sound like a great result, but taking into account that I used no base or top coat (I always forget)- I was pleased with the result. I'm sure that using a topcoat would allow the polish to stay on for longer, and I plan to trial it out soon.

Overall, I would not pay full price for this nail polish, as I feel it's on a par with some of the good quality drugstore ones available. However, for the low price I paid, I wouldn't hesitate on picking up some more in other colours.

7.5/10
R.R.P: £6.30
Sale Price: £2.99

Sleek Powder Blush in Pixie Pink

Sleek is another brand that has come to my attention, due to the many bloggers and vloggers I am a fan of recommending the brand as being a cheaper alternative that is as good as some of the more expensive ones. I wanted to try out a product for myself, and as I've heard so many good things about the blushers in particular, I chose one as my first purchase from the Sleek brand.

The shade I opted for is pixie pink, a beautiful, flushed blue-based pink that looks pretty bright in the compact, but can be used to achieve any look, whether that's a natural blush, or a cheekier, more pigmented application on the apples of your cheeks.


The packaging of the blush really reflects the name of the brand- it certainly is sleek! The compact is smaller than the size of your average credit card, and has a beautiful matte, black finish. I love matte packaging, as it's anti-fingerprint and I think it looks more chic than a shiny finish.  The compact has a built in mirror too, which is useful and an added bonus. The only criticism I can make is that opening the compact proves a little difficult. It's quite stiff and difficult to prise open without bending your nails and chipping nail varnish, which for me is quite annoying. Whether it will get easier to open with more usage, I don't know, but according to others who have bought this compact blush- it is unfortunately a common problem.

Onto the product itself; As I previously mentioned, the blush looks very pigmented in the compact and comes up just pigmented on your skin, so a little really goes a long way. It applies very well with a fluffy blusher brush, and blends to create any look you require. For me, the formula was non-drying and gave a pleasantly matte look. I also found that it was long lasting, and stayed on for a whole day without any need for reapplication. I didn't use primer either, so I imagine if you used a proper primer base then you would get even more hours out of one use.

Sleek is a drugstore brand of makeup, however I managed to pick their blusher up off Ebay for around the £3.50 mark, which makes it excellent value for money. I think it will also last a good few uses, as whilst I do enjoy using quite a generous amount of blusher, the pigmentation in this one is strong and you really don't need much.

Overall, this will be a repeat purchase for me, but I would like to check out the other shades in the range as I do enjoy swapping blush colours from time to time. I am tempted to invest in one of their 3-blush shade palettes as I've heard they are popular.

Sleek blusher, for me, has lived up to the 'hype' surrounding it over the past few months by lots of people, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants a good-quality product at a low price. They just need to make their packaging easier to open and it would be pretty much perfect to me- but I can't fault the product!

9/10

M.A.C Studio Sculpt foundation

I think foundation is the most important part of a make-up look. Although people may argue that the most important piece of makeup is their mascara or eyeliner, for me, foundation is the base which defines the rest of your look and can help other additional pieces of makeup used look their best. A good foundation, for me, is the main piece of makeup you should have in your kit. 

After having a browse online last week, I decided to invest in a higher-end foundation. Although I love my L'oreal true match  (which will probably always remain my most favourite drugstore foundation), Mac foundations have always seemed like a luxurious, but not too expensive option. Saying this, they do cost quite a bit more than my L'oreal foundation, so shop around, but don't be lured in by overly low-priced Mac products on ebay, unless they are sold by a reputable seller. I would recommend checking the sellers customer feedback before investing in any products.

Mac Studio Sculpt is a gel-based formula foundation that I've heard many bloggers and Youtube beauty guru's talk about and highly recommend. It's a medium buildable coverage, and comes in a range of different shades, from light to dark, and warm to cool skin tones. You can go to a Mac shop and one of the sales assistants can shade match you, or you can do what I did and guess your shade- then order it and hope for the best. Probably not the greatest idea for a first time user of a fairly expensive foundation, but I went with it anyway and I was lucky that the shade I picked matched well. I went for shade NC15, a pale ivory colour which I feel suited my pale skin.

The product comes in what I think is a very useful type of packaging. What I mean by this is that you can get every last scrap of the foundation out, as it comes in a soft plastic tube that can be cut in half afterwards to remove the remaining product. Although the packet is not as visually appealing as the glass foundation, it is a lot more portable and can be shoved into a handbag without fear that it might smash. The plastic tube has got a matte plastic black top that screws on tightly and is surprisingly strong, much more so than the lid on my Drugstore foundation. Weirdly, the lid is somewhat rounded at the bottom, so it is difficult to stand the bottle upright. This is only a minor problem, though, and one which I doubt many people will notice.

The formulation of this foundation is very smooth and creamy, I didn't personally notice much of a 'gel' texture, but I did notice that the texture is rich and almost feels like a primer. I definitely noticed that when I applied this, my skin felt smoother than usual. The scent of this foundation is pretty strong though, and almost has a slight 'paint' aroma, so if you are sensitive to smells, you may wish to try out a sample first. I personally didn't find it too bad, and it's something I barely noticed after the second or third use.

Although the colour of this foundation is a pale ivory, it is more yellow-toned than my regular foundation, however, when applied it blended in great just with my fingertips and didn't look orange at all. My complexion was more perfected and it provided a finish that was between dewy and matte. Having being used to a pink-toned almost-white foundation for a long time, it was a little strange to be using something slightly darker- and potentially more suited to my skintone. But I was confident about the colour finish.

Although this foundation blends extremely easily, it is certainly one which needs it's 'setting' time. What I mean by this is that once applied, it takes a while to dry on your skin. The first time I applied it, I made the mistake of not hanging around a couple of minutes for it to dry, and the hair in my fringe ended up sticking to the foundation. Usually now, whilst I am waiting for the foundation to dry, I keep my hair pinned back and concentrate on my eye makeup.

I haven't noticed any particular change to my skin, it's not become particularly oilier or dryer than it currently is, but I am going to keep using it to see if I eventually notice any changes. Although it is perhaps recommended, I personally wouldn't bother using a primer under this unless I had a long day ahead However, I do top it up with a powder, especially during the warm weather, as any type of foundation I use tends to slide off my skin during humid weather.

This foundation comes in at a rather hefty £25 for a 40ml bottle (actually 10ml larger than most regular bottles of foundation). So it is quite an expensive spend, but the quality really does show in this product and it's one of those items that you get what you pay for. Look out on ebay for the foundation being sold by reputable sellers with excellent customer feedback (as there are a lot of fake MAC products for sale around Ebay), and you could grab one for a lower price- I bought mine for around £17.

I would recommend this, I only wish the price was a little lower so I could enjoy it as an everyday staple product!

8.5/10

Aussie No Rush Body Wash

Aussie is a brand in the cosmetic world that is generally associated with hair products such as shampoos, conditioners, serums and sprays. Their mid-priced drugstore hair products, I think, are some of the best available in the price range, and ones which I would recommend to anyone who was seeking a luxurious hair product that wasn't too expensive. Due to what I assume is their high popularity, Aussie have branched out and started selling a range of new body washes, which have been advertised for the past couple of months now. I've just recently had the chance to try one out, after attempting to reduce my shower gel stash.

I had a quick look at the different kinds available, before deciding to pick up the 'No rush' variety, purely because it was described for 'Skin that is meant to be spoilt.' I find with a lot of shower gels that they can leave my skin dry, so I assumed this would be a moisturising product, and one that would suit me. There are three or four other varieties, so if you have a different skin type, you should be able to find something different that you prefer.

This comes in the 'iconic' Aussie bottle, which is very similar in size and look to the shampoo and conditioner bottles. Although I think it's great that the brand have used this style so it is instantly recognisable, I think it's a little too close in similarity, and would be easy to get mixed up with the shampoo bottle, if you had both in the shower. Personally, although there is no fault with the packaging, I would have picked a different style of bottle, maybe one with the cap on the bottom rather than the top.

The scent of this body wash isn't described at all on the bottle, which is a little different, but the description showcases that the 'star' ingredient of this is the Australian jojoba seed oil. Whether this means that the body wash is meant to smell of the North-American flower, I can't be sure about as I don't have any other cosmetics that claim to have this smell. The main scent I pick up is a heady, fresh, floral one, with a sweet background. It smells pretty strong in the bottle but is less overwhelming when you use it. The scent for me wasn't 

The body wash itself  looks quite dark, almost indigo in the bottle, but comes out as a pretty translucent lilac. The consistency is medium thickness when used, and it feels high quality and like something you would pay more for.  I have heard mixed reviews about the lathering for this one, but for me it lathered fine and after it was washed off, made my skin feel clean but not dry like it can do sometimes when I use soap or shower gel. However, although my skin didn't feel dry, it didn't feel particularly moisturised either and the dry skin I have still required a moisturiser. 

Overall, after all the hype that's been online and in magazines about this shower gel, I would say I liked it, but it wasn't a total favourite of mine. The price is also quite high for the amount of product you get, for what is a drugstore brand of  'everyday' body wash. I can see this being a popular choice for families, as it's essentially a run-of-the-mill shower gel with a nicer texture and scent than some of the cheaper brands, but for anyone expecting a particularly moisturising experience, I don't think this would be a number one choice.

I will continue using the one bottle I bought up, then I might try one of the others from the range to see if I can yield better results. Have you tried any of Aussie's body washes? Or maybe you have something else to recommend. Comment below :)

6/10

Library of Fragrance Marshmallow cologne spray

A while ago whilst browsing the perfume/body spray category on Amazon UK, I noticed Demeter scents- a selection of cologne sprays in rather unique and special scents that you wouldn't necessarily expect to work well as colognes. These varieties include chocolate, paperback book(!), and even play-doh scents. Fast forward a year or so, and Demeter have brought some of these scents to the UK, releasing them under a new name, Library of Fragrance.


Library of Fragrance colognes are quite difficult to find here and I have really only spotted them in larger Boots pharmacy stores, so if you don't have one of them near you, then you may want to check them out online. Boots stock around 40 of their scents, and there is a lot of variety, from natural scents such as Snow, to more fruity varieties such as the popular cocktails Sex on the beach and Pina colada , and some of the more unusual foodie scents as well. They are currently on a special offer, £15 each or 2 for £25, (30ml bottles) so are very fairly priced compared to other fragrances.


The packaging of Library of Fragrance scents is fairy basic- a heavyweight cuboid glass bottle with a simple label reading the scent and ingredients on the back, with a silver cap. Nothing fancy here, but for the price it's decent enough and fairly modern and minimalist. It's also the perfect size to pop one (or two) 30ml bottles into your handbag.

Out of the two varieties I picked up, this was one that really appealed to me, as I am a big fan of candied scents. I've also never really noticed a particularly strong scent with marshmallows besides a light, sugary aroma, so I wondered how Library of Fragrance had replicated the scent to a cologne and whether it was any good.

I wasn't disappointed.

On first spray, unfortunately the alcohol in the scent is at the forefront here, and you don't really smell anything else, due to the softness of the fragrance. But this settles down after 30 seconds, and the scent really mellows out to something beautifully light and creamy, and almost slightly coconutty in scent. 

It really does smell like a jar of marshmallow fluff, or a bag of marshmallows opened. A light, barely-there sweetness that also kind of reminds me slightly of pink and white nougat and cupcake frosting. The coconut note comes at the end, and is barely noticeable, but really helps round off this fragrance and make it something special.  It's definitely a candied scent, but not the overbearing sort. I feel this scent would be adored by anyone, old or young. It's a girlie one, but is deliciously indulgent. 

The only issue with this scent, like the other Library of fragrance variety I have tried, is that it doesn't last that long.  I would say the fragrance lasts around an hour before needing to be reapplied. For me, this doesn't matter so much as like I said, the bottle is fairly portable and the price is low, but it may be something to bear in mind if you don't want to carry it around or don't have the time to reapply throughout the day.

Overall, I am pleased with this scent. Out of the two Library of Fragrance colognes I have tried, it isn't my favourite, however it is beautifully pretty, non cloying and girlie, and one which I will enjoy wearing in the warmer months of the year, or layering with other scents.  I may even try buying the Library of Fragrance dark chocolate variety and seeing if layering it with this would create a scent close to s'mores- watch this space!

Recommended

8/10