New Goodies from Lush for Valentine's Day 2014

Valentine's Day is a day I always look forward to every year. Not only cause it's a romantic holiday but because it means it's exactly 1 day until my birthday. That's right on Saturday the 15th I'll turn the grand old age of 24!! I love having my birthday so close to Valentine's Day as I love going to super cheesy romantic movie releases. Have to say the big movie companies never disappoint as they always bring out something romantic on my birthday without fail. Anyone remember the movie Valentine's Day with cameos from numerous different A-list stars including Taylor Swift? I went to see that on Valentine's Day when it was released. Man I can't believe that movie came out 4 years ago just shows how times flies. This year I'm planning on going to see Endless Love which stars the very handsome Alex Pettyfer. Paddy and I are going to see either next Friday or Saturday I think so I'm really looking forward to it. I also love how beauty brands bring out limited edition products for Valentine's Day. This year Lush really wowed me with their new products releases for this romantic holiday. A brand that I've been a huge fan of for years, I love when Lush bring out limited edition collections as they are always right down my street. I usually end up picking up everything on payday so I can't say my bank balance is overjoyed about that.

Last week I got a chance to go into Lush's Grafton Street store to talk a bit about the products. This is definitely my favourite store to visit as it's really spacious and the staff are really knowledgeable about their products which for me shows how much they believe in them. There is nothing worse than going into a shop and the person not knowing anything about the products their trying to sell. I always enjoy popping into the store and of course I always leave with a tiny Lush bag full of purchases. This years Valentine's Day collection includes lots of amazing bath and body products that were inspired by the romantic love songs and the movie Cocktail which starred the hunk that is Tom Cruise from the 80's. I love hearing the inspiration behind each product as I find it super interesting. When you go into your local Lush expect alot of vibrant and fun products. I wouldn't leave it too long though as I presume it being a Valentine's Day collection it could be gone by March.

I know a sure winner from this years collection will be the Love Locket bath bomb. If you break this bath bomb in half you'll find a tiny heart inside which means you can get three baths out of this one product or if you want to treat yourself you can throw the whole lot in. If it was my decision I'd probably opt for the later for a nice pampering treat. I'm not go into too much detail about this product as I want you to get a surprise when you try it yourself. My favourite product from this lovely collection has to be the Prince Charming Shower gel. If you've read any of my past Lush posts you'll have heard me rant about the fact that I don't have a bath in my house. This means that I can never use Lush bath products which is pretty annoying considering there is such an amazing selection to choose from. However this year they've brought out Prince Charming and I have to say I'm in love. This product contains a lot of nourishing ingredients such as marshmallow root and pomegranate juice which gives it a really nice sweet scent. I also have to take a second and appreciate the fact that it's neon pink, like who wouldn't be happy to get this for Valentine's Day or like me treat yourself to it. This shower gel for me is up their with Snow Fairy, if it was available all year round I'd definitely repurchase it. I've already asked Paddy to buy me the big bottle of this for my Valentine's Day/Birthday present so fingers crossed he remembers to pick one up.

If you prefer to take the fuss out of searching for a Valentine's Day gift, Lush also have a great collection of prewrapped gifts to choose from. They've brought out three in particular for Valentine's Day, Toucan Love, Neon Love and Lots of Love. These gift boxes are such as great idea for someone who maybe doesn't have the time to browse through all the products Lush has to over or if their a busy bee with work and need a last minute gift fast. All the gift boxes come in at different price points too so there's something to suit anyones budget. I'm loving the Lots of Love box, not only cause it's purple my favourite colour but cause it comes in a reusable box. I like the idea of how when you finish your products inside you have somewhere new to store stuff. Lots of Love contains a mixture of bath and body products so it's a good way to try the new Valentine's Day goodies and get familiar with the brand.

Has anything caught your eye from this years Valentine's Day Collection?

Laura<3

Loreal Elnett Satin Heat Styling Sprays Launch

I've become big into haircare as of late, when you straighten your hair as much its a must. I've been using lots of shampoo and conditioners recently, two in particular stand out so I'll have a review up on them very soon. When a email arrived into my inbox inviting me to come along to the launch of the new Elnett Heat Styling Sprays in the Dylan Bradshaw Salon, I couldn't say no. I was in a bit of a rush to get there as I had to run straight from work but I'm glad I made it in the end. I had never been to the Dylan Bradshaw salon and boy is it beautiful as you'll see in the pictures below. The atmosphere is so nice and I'll certainly be popping in there again when I get paid. I may treat myself to a Christmas haircut at the end of the month. What everyone was there to see was the new Elnett Satin Heat Styling Sprays and they certainly didn't disappoint. I know branching out like this was quite a brave move as when you think Elnett, hairsprays come to mind but I can see these products doing very well.

We were talked through the new heat styling sprays which comes in three different variations, curly, straight and volume. I think this is a super idea as if you have dull flat straight hair everyday you could try the volume or curly options. The lovely Cheryl Cole is the face of the campaign and wow she looks amazing in the ad, I think after seeing it alot of people will want to try this stuff. Keep an eye out for it on your TV screens for sure. The styling sprays are said to lock out humidity and flyways aswell as holding your chosen style be it, curly, straight etc. for three day that remains to be seen for me. Alot of products state this and most of the time they don't deliver. I'll have to test out the products a bit more but straight off the bat after trying them in my hair at the launch, I do really like them and the next day in work alot of the girls commented on my hair. The packaging looks very luxurious and the formula itself is very lightweight so it didn't weigh my hair down. The lovely stylist Sinead was looking after me for the evening and after explaining to her a bit about my hair (alot of hair but quite fine), she told me the style she'd like to go for. The look we went for was alot of volume on top with lots of lovely loose curls. In my hair she used the Loreal EverPure range which I may pick up for myself soon as I actually quite liked it. It doesn't contain any nasty ingredients either which can only mean good things for my hair. After washing my hair Sinead took all the heavy wet out of my hair and sectioned it off while using a couple of sprays of the volume heat styling spray. The hard bit started then, putting all the barrel brushes in my hair to make the curls. I wish I had of taken of photo of this as I literally had about 10 brushes in my hair but I couldn't be happier with the finished look. I wish I could achieve this look at home, I know it won't be easy but I'm still going to try to recreate it soon. The Heat Styling Sprays have already launched instores in the UK and Ireland so they shouldn't be too hard to find. At €8.99 I don't think there too pricey at all, I actually want to pick up the volume option the next time I'm in Boots.

In breezy old Dublin, I'm already all wrapped up for Winter!

What do you think of the new Loreal Elnett Heat Styling Sprays? Will you be trying them yourself?

Laura<3

The Body Shop Christmas Launch

Sorry for the lack of posts this week, I've been unbelieveably busy. Firstly I started college which is certainly a new experience for me, I've been enjoying it so far and I can't wait to get into it now. I also went down to see some family family friends in Kilkenny this weekend, I love it down there as it's totally different to Dublin and so relaxed which is a nice change of scene. Last week my friend Sinead and I attended the Body Shop Christmas event. Even though it was September, we immediately got into the festive spirit when we seen the lovely Christmas tree as we walked through the door. All the new products were laid out across the room, our first stop was the makeup corner. The Body Shop always come out with beautiful products for the festive season, think sparkly and pretty and they always seem to go down a treat. I'm in love with the two new eyeshadow palettes coming out, they are both gorgeous and contain shades that could take you from day to night.. I can't decided which one I like more so when they get launched instore I may need to go back and treat myself. One of the lovely Body Shop staff touched  up my makeup for me and used one of the palettes too. Sinead and I were in love with the look she came up with, quite a dark smokey eye which I wouldn't really wear myself but it works. None of the lipsticks really caught my eye but after the makeup artist used one to finish the look off it looked perfect on, I'll definitely be picking one up for sure. While I was getting my makeup done, Sinead took up the duty of photographer, having not looked at some of her snaps til now, I think she did a really good job. I also got my eyebrows threaded for the first time, it was seriously not as sore as I expected to be, it's just a weird sensation like gritty sand or something. From there, Sinead and I had a look at all the gift sets, there's so many this year which is great as it keeps your options open. Two in particular caught my eye, the Scents of the World set and the body butters lollipop. The latter contains five mini butters in a lollipop shaped box, I think this would be lovely gift for someone in work or even for yourself. I love the Madagascan Vanilla Flower fragrance from the Scents of the World collection, the Christmas sets for this range are beautiful. The products come in little boxes shaped like books, for me personally presentation is key so this definitely ticked all the boxes for me. Let's not forget the limited edition festive scents, Vanilla Bliss, Cranberry Joy and Ginger Sparkle. Vanilla Bliss is my outright favourite out of the three, saying that though they all smell lovely so there'll be something for everyone. Before we left we got to fill up little gift bags for Barnados which is a children's charity over here in Ireland. It was such a nice gesture from The Body Shop and it's nice to know this Christmas some child will wake up with a lovely gift from them this year.

As always The Body Shop has done it again and pulled out all the stops for this Christmas season, I'd definitely recommend going instore and checking out some bits yourself.

Laura<3

The Body Shop's "Beauty With Heart" Launch

On Monday I attended my first Body Shop event which I was so excited about. I've used alot of their products over the years, most recently their Chocomania range. It's one of those smells that people either love or hate and I personally love it. The event itself marked the launch of the Beauty With Heart campaign. Through this movement, The Body Shop want their customers to Look Good, Feel Good, and Do Good when using their products. In a nut shell, the aim of the campaign is to promote beauty as more than skin deep.

While there we got to have a look at the new products being added to their range. A new limited edition make up line was launched and everything looks so beautiful. The whole collection is 100% Cruelty Free and Vegetarian, it contains an array of gorgeous products and I certainly have my eye on a few of time. Aswell as Lily Cole's Limited Edition makeup range, there's Body Mists and Beautifying Oils. Both in a range of much loved scents which will work great alongside your favourite body butters. The Beautifying Oils can be used on the face, body and hair (for those of you that like multi purpose products). At the event I hardly recognised the body butters, they've gotten a brand new look. The new designs are lovely, it shows a one lone natural ingredient from the product. The packaging now is also 100% recyclable which is great to here and will benefit the environment. Did you know that one tub of Body Butter is sold worldwide every two seconds? that is a lot of Body Butters indeed.

The Body Shop organised an amazing event, I had such a great time. As I arrived a bit early I got my hair curled which looked so pretty. I tend to straighten my hair alot so it was a nice change. Hopefully I can copy the style at home without making a mess. After that I got a mini makeover using the new Lily Cole makeup range. The pretty pink packaging caught my eye right away and makes this range stand out in the store. I was already wearing makeup so I decided to try the Lip & Cheek Dome in Crazy Coral (love this shade) and the Pearl Radiance Primer. The latter was used as a highlighter and looked fab! It's early days but both of these products could be my favourites from the collection.

I have tried some of the products that I got in my goody bag, the Strawberry Body Mist in particular smells amazing. I'll be popping up some reviews soon so keep an eye out.

What do you think of the new products to hit The Body Shop?

Laura<3