Back to Britain Haul!

Since getting back to blighty on friday, there have been things that I have needed desperately, either because I took them to Uganda with me and left them behind, or because I finished the up before I left. Yesterday was the first time I had been able to get to the shops just for general shopping, and there were quite a few things that caught my eye, so I thought I'd do a haul!

The first place I stopped was Superdrug, where I picked up some oh-so-interesting tweezers, makeup wipes, and eyelash curlers. The eyelash curlers I'm ulikely to even use, I love my NYC eyelash curlers, but when the little rubber pads get worn out I generally just go and buy a cheap new one, whichever comes with the most spare pads! this one comes with 3, so thats why I chose it. The wipes are my usual Kleenex Eye Makeup Remover wipes, which are really soft and don't scratch my eyes like other brands seem to.

Next I headed over to boots, where I spotted 17 Colour Switch nail polish, which I was really intrigued by, so naturally I had to buy one! I also saw that Barry M seems to be doing a version of this too, but I chose the 17 one mainly because I liked the colour (Imaginitively named Silver) better. 17 had one of their free gift pack offers on too, if you spent over £5.99. I wasn't planning on doing so, but then I remembered that I could do with a plain boring clear lipgloss. I picked up what I THOUGHT was a lipgloss, but when I got home it turned out I picked up lash and brow gel instead! D'oh!

Although I wasn't tempted by Barry M's Chameleon polish, I DID notice that they had a couple of new glitters, which I was very interested in! I got Silver Multi Glitter and Aqua Glitter, which are both gorgeous!

Because I spent over £5.99 on 17 cosmetics, I also got a Get Bronzed set, containing In the Nude lipgloss, Statuesque eyeshadow, and Creamy Bronzed cream blush.

Lastly I skipped off to The Body Shop, mainly because I needed shower gel and moisturizer, which was sold out all over the country and online just before I left for Uganda.

I actually got some really good deals, I got my shower gel at buy one get one half price, the had the moisturizer in stock (winner, even if i didn't save any money!)  and as my Love Your Body membership had run out while I was away, meaning that I also missed my birhday gift voucher worth £5, the lady behind the counter was really lovely, renewing it for free, and then giving me a £5 voucher because I had enough stamps on my old card.

The RRPs of each item are; Hemp hand protector, £5. Seaweed Mattifying Day Cream, £9, Shower gel/cream, £4. so with all of that and my new love your body card it should have come to £27, but with all the deductions it only came to £13! bargain!

Lush Collection / Beautiful new storage solution

hey ladies, today i have an exciting new item to share with you!!

i go this idea from gemsmaquillage over on youtube (i think!!), and i thought it was a really cute storage solution. i love lush and i use their trichomania solid shampoo every day, but the problem comes when i get out of the shower, and the bar is all soggy and wet. when left to dry out again it resolidifies but i hate leaving it out on my bathroom shelf as it makes it sticky and not much air can get around it.

i beautiful vintage cake stand seemed the perfect solution, and today i found the perfect one!

so here is a top view of all of my lush products that i own. i'm gonna do my best to name them, starting with the tins at the top and going clockwise.

tin: fairtrade foot lotion
tin: ultralight sunscreen
pink swirly: the comforter bubble bar
white blocks: trichomania solid shampoo
purple disc: jumping juniper solid shampoo bar
green disc: karma komba solid shampoo bar
minty green foot: stepping stone foot scrub
pinky heart: silk stockings solid body tint
black pot: r&b conditioner sample
white hexagon: mange too massage bar
white heart: soft coeur massage bar
orangey chunk: skinny dip body butter (discontinued)
green tab: token to the forest gods sauna tab
big pink block: rockstar soap
small pink block: a rong of roses soap
yellow ball: honey bee bath ballistic
CENTRE
beige slice: buffy body butter
purple ball: sex bomb bath balistic

so thats my collection. what's YOUR favourite lush product?

love, lucy xxx

Girls, I Need Your Suggestions!

this is a little different, but this is something close to my heart.on July 11th, i'm going to Uganda for 8 weeks to work in a primary school as a volunteer teacher.

I am flying with BA and while their luggage allowance is ok (23kg, or 32 if you pay £40), i will be wanting to bring as much play and school equipment as physically possible, so my own stuff is going to have to be kept to a minimum. as i'm staying for so long, obviously i will be wasing my clothes so that is not such a worry, but cosmetic items cannot really be replaced once they run out.

this means that i'm looking for small and lightwieght versions of the essentials. I will be bringing a very small makeup bag just in case we go on any nights our or something (there will be other young volunteers there too!) but otherwise, it's simply essentials.

last year i did a trip to Tanzania for just 12 days and i brought SO much pointless stuff, but there were also some things i really missed (like a nail brush as i was working on a building site!)

so, i need your help. alternative, smaller, lighter essential toiletries and cosmetics???

just to get you inspired, and because i hate a post with no photo, here are some pictures of me in Tanzania last year at an orphanage called Upendo (Love)

Lucy, xx

P.S i will be creating a Uganda blog, updates on that to come if you want to follow my journey! xx

Clinique Givaway Alert!

hey guys!

so today i was in sainsburys with my mum, (she hates shopping on her own!) and i spotted glamour magazine by the checkout. this is nothing special in itsself, but they were giving away clinique products! there are 10 different ones to choose from, including lipstick, gloss and mascara, as well as what looks like most of their skincare products!

the till i was at only had a facial cleanser or moisturiser, so i went for the moisturiser, though i plan to check out some other shops in search of the lipstick! the magazine is only £2, so its a big saving.

i am currently using Clean and Clear shine control moisturiser, but the clinique one is a travel size 30ml so i'll be keeping it in my handbag.

whats your fave clinique product?

Lucy xx

Religion for Women Review

hey ladies!

today i have something super exciting to tell y'all about, and that is that i have added to my perfume collection  today, and my scent of choice was the relatively new Religion for women. it caught my eye a while ago on the offers shelf in boots, where they had loads of pefumes that were reduced. it has an eyecatching white angular bottle, and it smells divine, but more on that in a minute.

i got the 50ml EDT with 200ml of body lotion for just £20, which was a great saving, as when i checked on how much the perfume was on its own it was £30 for 50ml without any extras.

this is what the bottles look like in the box.

first thing up for review is the packaging. which i like. quite a lot. it reminds me of the sort of decoration that they have in all saints stores. the only problem with it is that the white coating on the bottle seems to be a bit delicate, like it would wear off if i were to chuck the bottle in my handbag. and because its white you can't tell when it's running out.

the scent itsself is really unusual, though because i'm not an expert nose, i'll just put in the fragrance notes for you!!

this is what the perfume shop website says about it:

British fashion label Religion, a brand that continues to push boundaries in pursuit of its dark individual style and worn by the likes of Kate Moss, Mischa Barton, Pixie Lott, Agyness Deyn and Irina Lazareanu amongst others, have just launched a new fragrance called Religion for women. A fiery, fizzy punch of a perfume - for a sensual female who know what she wants.

Heart notes

Turkish Rose, Jasmine, Black Pepper

Top notes

Orange, Mandarin, Ambrette Seeds

Base notes

Labdanum, Patchouli, Musk

Scent

Floral

i would reconmend it if you like floral scents and for summer and daytime... though i tend to hate 'evening' scents!

have you tried this perfume? what do you think of religion as a brand?

love, lucy xx

Lush Body Butter

i have had a lush body butter, called skinny dip, in my bathroom for AGES and i have never really used it, as when i was given a demo in the store in covent garden where i bought it, it seemed a bit wierd that you were meant to grab a chunk and squish it up with water; it seemed like waaay too much effort

but anyway, today after a long days shopping in ikea and reinstalling my sister at uni, i decided to give it a go. i'm pretty bad at moisturising my skin, my face i do every day, but the rest of me never really gets a look in! so anyway, i looked online and everyone seemed to be advocating just rubbing the bar over your skin, which suited me much better. it was actually a really nice experience, which i wasnt expecting. the bar massages your legs and it feels really nice, though i think its meant to be exfoliating and had some sand-like grains in it, which i could have done without.

my legs get extremely dry and nothing seems to keep them moisturised for more than 10 mins, so we shall see how long this last for!

Lucy xx