Sunday, 19 April 2015

Lush Haul | Spring 2015

I realise it's already been Easter and that I'm including limited edition Easter products in this post... And I realise that the last haul I did here was also Lush... I CAN'T HELP IT OKAY. I love Lush, to the point where me and my friend have appropriately spent chemistry lessons making our own bath bombs out of blue-tack and creating our own scents. It's an amazing, magical shop and I must've spent hours rambling on about it to my friends, #sorrynotsorry. So when I went to Westfield's and saw that they still had their Easter range, I just dragged my chummy there and bought as much as I could afford. This post was mainly written because I'm obsessed but if your local Lush store still has their Easter products and you're not sure which ones to get, maybe this will help you!

Another vintage storage tin for my Lush things! Love a good bit of old Disney
GOLDEN EGG BATH BOMB (Easter range)
The most obvious thing here is that this bomb is covered in gold glitter, and when I say 'covered' I mean covered. Just from adjusting the angle it was lying at for the photo, my fingers were coated in Lush's golden lustre (which is basically like glitter, it's just dissolvable in water). But, surprisingly, when you get out of your bath, you don't actually look like you've been bathing in a bathtub full of glitter or anything because, like I just said, it dissolves in the water. I love the smell of this bath bomb, it's very honey/toffeeyish (Toffish? Toffyish? Idk) so obviously it appeals to me. This kind of works opposite to a bath melt because all of the cocoa butters and oils are on the outside. This means that they will melt in the hot water first and only afterwards do you get a fizzy reaction.

HOPPITY POPPITY BATH BOMB (Easter range)
This is a real cutie - it looks like a small white rabbit head and has a very fresh spring-like scent. It kind of reminds me of a wildflower, just without the floral tones? On their website, Lush describe it as slightly herbal and I guess that's almost what I mean. (These two were actually presents for my birthday from my friend who clearly knows me far too well!)

BUNCH OF CARROTS BUBBLE BARS (Easter range)
I think this is my favourite buy of my whole Lush trip actually. They're basically three bubble bars shaped like carrots and they are just so adorable. They smell like those orange jelly sweets, like the ones you find in a packet of Fruit Pastilles or something, but a bit fresher. They were around £5/6 but, seeing as they're three bubble bars, I think it's worth the price.
  
MMMELTING MARSHMALLOW MOMENT BATH MELT
For some reason, most of the products I bought here have a really sweet scent although I was actually planning on going for the fresh smelling ones... This smells really similar to their bubble gum lip scrub which has a very strong sweet smell. In the shop it smelt amazing but, to be honest, it doesn't smell particularly special now that I can re-smell it (re-smell??). It is a bath melt though, which means that it's super good and nourishing for your skin. 

SPACE GIRL BATH BOMB
This was my friend's recommendation as it is her absolute favourite so when I saw it, I thought I'd give it a try. This one also smells like sweeties, almost like Parma violets which have a very sweet yet uplifting scent to them. One side of the bath bomb is coated in red glitter and there's popping candy inside too so I'm very excited to put this one in the bath.

CREAMY CANDY BUBBLE BAR
Again, this has quite a sweet scent to it and, as the name suggests, it smells just like candy. I've already used half of it as I just could not resist but really I could've used a lot less as it made sooo many bubbles.

ZOELLA FIZZ BAR
I know this doesn't come from Lush but you can put it in your bath and it's practically a bath bomb, so why not include it? This has a very fresh scent to it and kind of smells like what I imagine a spa would smell like (I've never been to one haha). It comes in really cute packaging and has 8 "fizzy squares". You can just break off 1 or 2 and pop them in your bath, they won't produce any fancy colours like most Lush bombs will so the focus here really is on the smell and having any skin beneficial ingredients. 

Let me know in the comments what your favourite bath bits are (whether they're from Lush or not) and I'll see you all next week!
Natalie xx

Friday, 17 April 2015

Drunk on Sunshine

Those of you who live in England will know that the last few days have been an absolute dream for mid/early April weather. There hasn't been any rain, it's been sunny and 25°C at times! I even had my first ice cream of the year so I guess we were having a mini heatwave. I actually had to some outside work on our garden bench :( but I found the time to snap some pics of our garden when it was super sunny. Sadly, the weather wasn't as great today but I'm definitely crossing my fingers for more sun soon! I haven't had time to edit these properly(adjust the brightness and contrast and other fancy photography stuff that I'm anyway no good at) but I hope they're still up to your standard. Enjoy this random tiny post and I'll see you on Sunday! (Don't forget to follow me on Bloglovin' to never miss a post like this!)
Natalie xx







So many pastel colours...

Sunday, 12 April 2015

What I Got For My Birthday | 2015

So exactly a week ago was my birthday and I was lucky enough to have it on the same day as Easter. I love chocolate so much that this was probably the best coincidence in my life (no shame in being a choco addict) and I practically spent the whole day eating my Easter eggs and feeling like a princess (which is why I didn't upload a post last week). I thought I would share with you some of the things I got from my friends, family and even little treats I bought for myself a few days afterwards so that I could relive the day. (DISCLAIMER: I'm not trying to brag or show off in any way, this is simply my way of saying thank you again to my friends & family. I also wanted to relive the day and take pretty pictures. :) )


BOOKS:
I'm a bookworm, always have been and always will be, so an easy present to get me will always be a book. This year I got three, Dash and Lily's Book of Dares from my friend who just adores this author, The Girl who Saved the King of Sweden and ASAPScience's new book  Asapscience: Answers to the World S Weirdest Questions, Most Persistent Rumors, and Unexplained Phenomena (which is probably the longest title EVER). I've already started reading The Girl who Saved the King of Sweden and I'm in love with the author's style of writing. There's a possibility I'll review this for next month's The Bookshelf so be prepared!
Isn't this bookmark so pretty?
Homeware:
If you know me at all, you'll know that I am a sucker for all things homeware. So when I opened the gift from my chummy you can only imagine my excitement. In it, there were two bowls from Anthropologie (living life on the edge, I know) which I actually mentioned in this post and an Anthropologie mug with my initial on it. I've been wanting this mug for sooo long and I'm actually so so happy I've got it now. Going along with this strange theme of mugs we've got going here, my other best friend (allmyfriendsmentionedherearemybestfriendsokay) got me this Disney mug of Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas, which is possibly one of my favourite Halloween movies. It's safe to say that my breakfasts are 100% more Instagram-able.
When I went to Primark a few days after my birthday, I happened to see, and fall in love with, their new Spring / Summer home decor section. I'd spent the majority of my money in Lush (haul to come soon ;) ) but I had just enough money for this adorable flamingo pillow. I just think the colours are perfect for summer and I can't wait till I get a matching white / pineapple pillow! Me and my friend also named it Patrick, #dontjudge.
Had to add some colour here hehe
Hello there Patrick
 Talking about Lush, I also received these two limited edition Easter lush products, Hoppity Poppity and Golden Egg. I'll give more info on what they smell like etc. in my Lush haul but for now you can simply admire the beauty that is free Lush stuff. (And I got their catalogue, which they ever so kindly forgot to give me last time I was there *cough cough*)
Hoppity Poppity & Golden Egg
  
 My sister got me this bag from New Look and, it feels like I've said this way too much so far, but I think I'm in love with it. It has a rose quilted design on the "lid" (what's the word for it again?) with gold metal accents on the corners and chains. The chain is adjustable so you can have two short straps or one long one to go over your shoulder. It's quite cheap for a decent sized handbag and this pastel blue might just be my favourite colour at the moment.
  
Some other knick knacks
Aren't my friends the cutest?
 
Aren't my friends the cutest?

I had an amazing day last Sunday and I hope you had a good Easter too. :)
Natalie xx

Sunday, 22 March 2015

Fitness Inspiration

It's officially Spring - whoo! Now that the sun should make an appearance more often, I've found myself planning so many things and feeling super inspired. One of the main things I've really been into is fitness - yoga, healthier breakfasts and jogging. I do quite a lot of sports at school and I enjoy them, but when the fitness block comes on, I find myself suddenly dreading PE lessons. For a while I'd had an issue with my stamina, after a bit of intense running my breathing would mess up and I'd start being physically sick. Luckily, I'm working on that and it's actually improving but I'd still rather use "softer" ways to improve my fitness instead.

YOGA
I am definitely the least flexible person in the world and I've started having problems with figure-skating because of it. I started off with a daily set of stretches, just a few to start with and then gradually adding more and more. After a few days, I really started to notice a difference in how tight my muscles felt and I'm so close to touching my toes! (That might sound lame but it's a major achievement for me)
I've now started looking into doing yoga maybe once a week as yoga's great for your flexibility but it's also good at reducing stress levels and letting you spend time to yourself.




BREAKFAST
I'm really not a morning person (it takes me about half an hour to get off my phone and out of bed) and also probably the pickiest breakfast-eater ever. If I find something I like to eat, I will stick to eating it for ages but it's almost always something unhealthy (a slice of toast slathered in Nutella, a big English breakfast, you get the drift). Obviously that isn't the best food choice, and seeing as all you ever get told about healthy eating is that breakfast is the most important and most energising meal you can have, I realised I needed to find a few alternatives.
My favourite breakfast at the moment is muesli with a few dried fruits, nuts and seeds. Nuts and seeds store loads of energy and give it a really nice crunch and the dried fruit just give it an extra burst of energy.




PRETTINESS
Me being me, I just couldn't cope with maybe having a boring coloured yoga mat or anything, so I made a Pinterest board to inspire me. If, like me, you're motivated to get a bit fitter during the summer, go check it out here.

A few things I've got my eye on:
-Adidas trainers

-Anthropologie bowl (does this count?)


-The video I used for my stretches:
-My favourite healthy food blog:
Deliciously Ella


So that was it for this post! Let me know in the comments if you liked it and don't forget to follow me on Bloglovin' to never miss a post!
Natalie xx

Wednesday, 18 March 2015

Polaroids

Hello there chums,
If you follow my Instagram (aztecnini), you'll know I have a bit of a thing with polaroid pictures. In fact, I've had one for a while but there was just never physical proof of my obsession. Recently, my friend came round my house, polaroid camera in tow, and there are no words to describe how excited I got. No words at all. I mean, I was running around with the camera in my hands, almost dropping it on the stairs and I just couldn't stop talking!
How they look up on the wall
Only a few of the photos we took turned out good enough for my high standards (*adjusts diamond tiara on royal head*) but of those that did, they were just so different to the ones I'd usually take on my phone or camera! I think because of how vintage and hipster they will automatically look in the whole polaroid layout, I wanted to take more in-the-moment, bad-lighting, laughing-at-how-stupid-we-looked photos and I'm glad I did.
The only thing that really annoys me about my love for polaroids is the price. An Instax Mini 8 camera (which is available in any of these cute pastel colours above) costs around £90, depending on what one you pick on Amazon. The company that makes these, Fujifilm, also has a polaroid-printer, which, when connected to your phone or computer, can print out any photo you pick in polaroid-format. This costs a whole wallet-murdering £129 and then there are the actual films you need - £14.45 for 20, but I think that overall it's worth the money you pay.
I'm still debating which one to ask for/buy but I'm sure I'll make a decision soon. I'm leaning towards the polaroid camera purely for its cuteness; which one do you think I should get?
 Natalie xx

 (I'm also going to start uploading on a schedule, every Sunday, so the upload dates won't be as random as they are now)

Wednesday, 11 March 2015

Cute Lil Drawings

As I said in my February favourites post, I've been drawing a few things recently so here's a collection of a few of my favourites. Hope you enjoy :)
Natalie xx

Thursday, 5 March 2015

Love, Tanya | The Bookshelf #1

As many of you might know, Tanya Burr, a beauty Youtuber, released a book called Love, Tanya which is a mixture of beauty and fashion advice, baking, confidence and anxiety and an autobiography.

I pre-ordered it but had only just gotten round to reading it. Personally, I love the fact that Youtubers can accomplish so much from this one platform. I mean if you think about beauty gurus, there's Zoƫ with her beauty range and bestseller book, Michelle with her book, Bethany with her clothing and home line and then Tanya with this bestseller book - to name but a few. It's exciting and amazing and if they put their popularity to good use, they can really get the right message across to thousands more people.
But more about the book (that's what you're here for right?). The book itself looks amazing, it's a gorgeous hardback with some really nice glossy pictures of her on the front. It's a mixture of an autobiography, advice (from beauty and fashion to more serious topics like anxiety) and baking. Although, the beauty sections didn't really anything completely new to me, it's great for anyone completely new to makeup and helped to remind me of a few things I always forget.

The autobiographical bit, which was at the very start, was split into two chapters and they were quite detailed so by the end you really felt as if she was just a friend talking to you.

Throughout the book were small scrapbook-style 'do it yourself' sections where you could make a list (of people you admire, favourite recipes, etc.). Personally, I don't think I would actually do all of these; for fear of ruining the beautiful layout but also because I just couldn't ever think of anything.

My favourite chapter would probably be the baking chapter but it could equally be the confidence bit - there really are a few golden gems hidden in this book! If you can't decide whether to buy this or not, I'd say go for it! It covers so many topics that there's something for everyone and it really is a good buy.

Here are just a few photos of my favourite parts!


This month I'll be reading The Goldfinch by Donna Tart. It's a long 'un but we'll be able to finish it in time! What did you think of Love, Tanya? Tell me in the comments!
Natalie xx