What's in my bag!

I thought it might be fun to do a what's in my bag post today, I've seen others and thought it was a cool idea, it's always interesting to see what other people carry around with them on a day to day basis.

So anyway this is my bag and all the stuff that lives in it normally. My bag is a Mulberry Alexa and i've had it for nearly a year now and have pretty much used it everyday. I love this bag so much.

This is what is currently in my bag, oh I do also have keys but I seem to have misplaced those! So from left to right starting from the top;

Card holder by Santoro London which holds my bus pass and student card.

Mini make-up bag by LeSportsac which was a present from a friend.

USB data stick, I think from Paperchase I can't quite remember I got it a while ago for uni!

Mobile phone which is Blackberry Curve 9300 in a Cath Kidston which I love, its really sturdy and has a magnet which automatically locks your phone when you slide it in which is pretty useful!

My passport, and the case is from Paperchase.

Random orange highlighter!

Marc Jacobs compact mirror and a pair of star earrings.

Impulse Very Pink body spray, just because its light and easy to carry around.

Soap and Glory Hand Food, the best hand cream ever and the mini size is only £2.50 which I think is a bargain.

L'Occitane Shea Butter Lip Balm, this literally lasts forever I love it!

My purse which is by Mimco and was a birthday present, I love it though, its the perfect size, I quite like big wallets.

And finally my Tangle Teezer, I don't think i'll ever use a normal brush again this has done wonders for my hair. My hair gets quite knotty especially when its wet and this gets through them so easily and without breaking my hair!

So that's what is in  my bag today, hope you liked this post and hope everyone is enjoying the sun!

x

21st Birthday Gift Ideas!

Okay basically my sister is turning 21 in a few weeks, it's a big birthday and she's also just finished her second year of uni so props to her for getting through her endless exams (ten in total ugh!), i'm so lucky i've only got three! So anyway I felt that to celebrate both of these things I should treat her to something nice. I've been looking online for ideas and i've come up with a few things. So I thought it might be interesting to make a post on gift ideas, do bear in mind i'm working on a student budget here! I've included a couple of items that are a bit more pricey if you can afford it but most items are below the £50 mark!

Perfume is always a nice gift, I love getting perfume and I usually get a new fragrance for Christmas. This is  Jo Malone's Wild Bluebell which I love, I don't have it personally but i've picked it up in stores and I love the scent so much. Its £72 for 100ml (eep) but for a 21st I don't think thats too bad! You can also get 30ml for £36 if you were looking to spend a bit less.

Next up these adorable little white bird lights from Laura Ashley, its a set of three for £18.75 as they are currently on offer. I think these are so so cute, especially for someone who is quite girly and likes homeware gifts like myself and my sister. They are free standing and LED lit which I think is nice so you could put them anywhere.

This is a main contender for my sister because I know she'd love it its a Monica Vinader Turquoise Fiji Pacific bracelet and these are £30 from Steffans.co.uk. I just think these are so simple but elegant at the same time and there is a huge range of products and prices.

On trend at the moment are the Shamballa style bracelets, i'm not sure what I think of them yet, sometimes I like them and sometimes I don't but I like this one, its by Tresor Paris also on Steffans.co.uk and its the Luneville bracelet and retails for £49 so quite pricey for a bracelet but nice for a special gift or treat.

This bag is by Cath Kidston (I adore Cath Kidston) and my sister has had her eye on this for a while, I won't be getting this for her, would if I could but it's £68, which I don't think is bad at all I just can't afford to spend quite that much. But the quality is lovely, durable oilcloth and its a great size!

Now me and my sister both love jewellery like this so i'm seriously considering this as well, it's a gorgeous silver leaf pendant by Pieces which you can get on Asos.com and this is £12, which I think is a bargain, its a long chain which is nice. Also because this isn't pricey it leaves a bit of cash to put something with it which is nice!

I love this bracelet its the Ellie bracelet by Orelia and its £12 which is pretty good value, its just cute and delicate which is nice and means you could team it with other bracelets or just wear it by itself. They do have other initials as well but unfortunately they have fallen into the 'CAMELS' situation which is very frustrating if you are one of the many that do not fall under those intials! Why brands have decided to do this is beyond me!?

Okay now I know a lot of people hate Jack Wills, I actually don't mind it, I would never wear a full Jack Wills outfit but I do like some of their clothes. Yes they are expensive there is no getting past it but once in a while i'm happy to pay especially if its for a gift. My sister loves JW and would love this hoodie, its the Hanstall hoodie in jade marl, I love this colour but I can't wear it however my sister is blonde and has a darker skin tone so it would suit her. This is £69 which is fairly average for JW hoodies.

So another Laura Ashley item, I love Laura Ashley if that makes me old then so be it because I love it! This is the Elsham Knitted cushion and its on sale at the moment at £41.25, these cushions are so soft they feel amazing and are so cute. I love this colour as well but they also have a beige and sand colour which are also lovely! Its something a bit different to give as a gift but definitely worth a look if the person you're buying for is interested in homeware and design.

So those are some of my ideas, another couple that i've been thinking of is any product from Soap and Glory, i'd be over the moon if I received anything from this brand. Also another idea i've had is to put mine and my boyfriend's funds together and buy tickets to see Cirque du Soleil, this would obviously be for as and when they were touring but I know my sister is desperate to see them. I've been lucky enough to see them five times now and every time is as amazing as the previous! So that would be a great gift.

Anyway this was a bit random and I hope it wasn't dull. If anyone has any ideas for gifts or things to do for a 21st then let me know i'm always looking for new ideas!

x

Handy Gurugu...a must for cold weather

I recently purchased Lush's Handy Gurugu hand cream, as this weather was doing nothing for my hands, going from the freezing cold into heated university buildings was causing havoc to my skin particularly on my knuckles (is it ever going to stop raining? That's what I want to know!). I'd seen a few reviews on Handy Gurugu which said it was great for dry skin so I thought i'd give it a go.

It's not much to look at let's be honest but are any hand creams? It does have a slight greenish tinge but that doesn't bother me, although it might some. The smell is hard to pin down, it reminds me of the Lush stores themselves, it definitely has that signature scent, but its light and smells fresh. The most prominant smell is rose water, at least that's what I can pick out. It is described as a very butter rich cream and they aren't joking its got shea butter, organic peanut butter, organic almond butter, organic cashew butter and organic pumpkinseed butter in it! Along with other essential oils. As it says on the tub a little goes a long, you definitely don't need much of this. It does feel quite sticky when you first rub it in, which did put me off slightly when I first used it, however do persevere because it does soak in and it leaves your skin feeling very soft and nourished and it has done my hands a world of good, the skin feels less tight and feels much softer. The key is definitely not to use too much, its definitely made with very very dry skin in mind and I feel its definitely more of a winter product and would be great if you suffer from cracked knuckles in cold weather. It retails for £7.25 for 100g, which yes is quite pricey. Lush is not the cheapest on the market there's no getting away from that, but it will last a long time and the shea butter in this product comes from a women's co-operative, The Ojoba Project in Ghana so I don't begrudge paying the money for it.

If you are looking for something a little less intense then i'd recommend Soap and Glory's Hand Food, I carry a little tube of it in my bag at all times. It smells amazing and is non-greasy, it soaks in so fast and leaves your hands feeling incredibly soft. The mini 50ml tube is £2.50 and is in my opinion the perfect size to just carry around with you, at work, school, uni anywhere.

So that's my little review, i'd say go for Handy Gurugu if you suffer with extremely dry, cracked skin and need something to sort it out and fast because it is incredibly good for that, but if you don't have such an issue then Hand Food is a good everyday hand cream that's not too heavy.

x

Soap and Glory = Love

Okay so anyone who knows me will vouch for the fact that I am Soap and Glory obsessed! I first started using their products a couple of years ago when I got The Righteous Body Butter and Hand Food as a Christmas present, I instantly fell in love! First of all the packaging is cute, girly and instantly recognisable as Soap and Glory, which I really like, it always pleases me when you can tell which brand you are looking at. Secondly the smell of each of their products is just amazing, I literally cannot get enough (oh one exception here have to say that I'm really not a fan of the Breakfast Scrub smell, sorry but it reminds of something I can't put my finger on but really don't like using it). Thirdly and most importantly these products do what they say they will!

So I recently made use of the fact that Soap and Glory are currently doing a spend £10 get the Foam Call body wash for free (good move by the brand i'd say!), oh this is at Boots in the UK, i'm not sure if this is case in other countries, I know they now stock Soap and Glory at Sephora in the USA. Anyway yes so you can get a 500ml bottle of Foam Call for free which I think is insane because it's a huge bottle but i'm not going to complain! So I bought Sugar Crush which was £8 I believe, again you get a lot of product for your money (300ml).

This smells so nice, a really fruity sweet lime scent which I love and its different to other S&G products. When you use the product you do get the sweet scent of the sugar and almond as well which is nice. This really works, especially on knobbly bits like knees and elbows and leaves your skin feeling super soft, I would recommend using a moisturiser after showering with this to avoid dryness but I haven't experienced any as of yet. I would definitely recommend this scrub if like me you're not a fan of the Breakfast Scrub.

The second thing I got was the 500ml Clean on Me clarifying shower gel which was £5.50, which I think is steal, I know that you can get shower gel for like £1 but this smells so so good and it lasts for ages due to the size of the bottle and it has a pump which means you don't end up using way more than necessary.

It is branded as their signature scent, I don't really know how to describe it because there is nothing like it, definitely go and check it out because its just lovely, a really relaxing smell. It makes your skin feel amazing as it has a built in body lotion, it also lathers up really well and you don't need to use loads. This is by far my most used product and one that I have continued to buy and use.

Onto Foam Call, the freebie! Again a 500ml bottle with pump, this is a dual use product for bath and shower, I've tried it out in both and I must say I preferred using it in the shower because its quite oily and I found I wasn't keen on the feel of it on my skin after having been soaking in it for a while but that might be just me. It's a more fruity scent than Clean on Me but it's nice all the same, this is going to sound bizarre but it really reminds me of the scent of the Hollister stores (once again this could just be me!). Anyway that didn't bother me because I do like that scent. I'm not sure if I would buy this, it retails at £6.50 out of the offer, hmm yeah i'm not sure about this one, I like it but not as much as their other products.

Anyway those were my recent purchases, but I do use many other S&G products on a regular basis so here's a quick run down of those:

Peaches and Clean wash-off deep cleansing milk - £7. This I really like, I have combination skin with quite an oily t-zone and this has done wonders for it, makes my skin feel refreshed and soft. Now I don't suffer with bad breakouts, I tend to get a couple of spots maybe once a month but this is gentle enough not to aggravate them and they clear up quickly when I use this.

Glow Lotion - £5.50. This was a gift but I love this, usually put this on if i'm going out because its a really good moisturer that has a bit of shimmer (don't fret its not like you've bathed in body glitter or anything its very subtle!) and it smells lovely, again I think its the signature scent and it lingers so you could just put this on a skip a perfume. Very nice product.

And finally Scrub Actually - £7. Oh my gosh this smells so good, its a sugar scrub with an apricot scent, ugh I could sit and smell this all day, definitely one of my favourites! Again as with the Sugar Crush its a brilliant exfoliator, and makes your skin feel very smooth. The only issue I have with this product is the packaging, because its a tube once you get close to finishing the product it is the devil to get out! Which makes me a tad stressed out in the shower when I can see that there is still product left but I cannot squeeze it out. But minor issue that I could solve if I were sensible enough to swap it into a different container!

So there you have it a run down of my current Soap and Glory products, definitely my favourite brand at the moment for shower/skin care products. I would recommend these to anyone, especially as they usually do some great offers in Boots.