Balmkind Alpine Rose & Lysine Lip Balm Review

Balmkind Alpine Rose & Lysine Lip Balm

It doesn’t have to be Winter for you to find me 3 different lip balms in my handbag, so I was delighted when Balmkind offered to send me their Alpine Rose & Lysine Lip Balm to try.

Balmkind is a UK company based in Hampshire, their lip balm not only nourishes but also soothes and protects the lips – perfect for this time of year.

The formula is wonderfully rich, yet very light and a little goes a long way, giving a hint of natural shine without being sticky and it’s full of antioxidant rich Alpine Rose and Lysine, which both help to reduce the occurrence of cold sores, luckily for me this isn’t something I suffer from but even still, i’ll Be slathering this all over my lips this Winter!

I have to also mention that Balmkind send this out with the box flat packed, this means it can fit though a letterbox with the box being easy to assemble and it could be given as a gift for example. Pure genius!

The lip balm is priced at £14.00 and can be purchased, here

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Loella ‘Girl on Fire’ Brush Set - you’ll have a ‘Hunger’ for them after reading this..!

One of my favourite things to receive and try is makeup brushes, so when London-based cosmetic tools company Loella sent me their ‘Girl on Fire’ brush collection, I was over the moon.

Not only are these brushes super pretty to look at, they are cruelty free, making them 100% vegan.

Quirky makeup brushes seem to be everywhere at the moment and this collection from Loella does not disappoint! Something has to be said about the personality behind the brand judging by the names they have given the brushes; ‘Buffed up Briony’, ‘Contour diva Caty’ & ‘Powder woman Penelope’ are to name a few and it feels like you have your own girl gang helping you perfect your face!

The perfectly named set (as they actually look like they are on fire) have super soft synthetic hairs that pick up both power and liquid products amazingly well, the quality rivalling some ‘high end’ ones already in my collection.

My favourites from the set are;

• Buffed up Briony - Flat Kabuki brush
• Powder woman Penelope - Fluffy large powder brush
• Contour diva Caty - Angled blush and contour brush
• Blend me beautiful Betty - Large eye blender brush

The brushes can be bought individually, as the base set, or the full set, from the Loella website direct, here

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Saying 'Hallelujah' To Hair Oil

After many years of bleaching and dyeing my hair, it’s fair to say it has taken it’s toll, and the ends in particular have seen better days!
So I was delighted when I received an email from Emily, founder of Forest & Shore to see if I’d to try their first product as it launched – their Hallelujah hair oil, as we were moving into colder climes it couldn’t have come at a better time.

All the ingredients in the hair oil are 100% natural and all geared towards moisturising and repairing dry and damaged hair. Some of the essential oils include coconut, rosemary, and lavender – so you can imagine how good this smells! I love how all the ingredients have been chosen based on their benefits for the hair too.

Forest & Shore say;

• MOISTURISING - The coconut, sesame and olive blend penetrates deep into the hair shaft working to efficiently hydrate dry hair.
• REPAIRING - Working from the inside out to heal any damaged, broken hair. Nourishing your hair with organic oils will restore the shine and promote silky hair.
• STIMULATES HAIR GROWTH - Coconut and sesame work together to lock in proteins to encourage hair growth.
• PROTECTING - Effective protection from harmful UV rays and heat, such as straighteners and hair dryers.
• 100% NATURAL & ORGANIC -Soil Association Certified Organic. Made with the highest quality ingredients in England.

The oil can be used in two ways, as a post wash on damp hair (2-5 drops) or used as an overnight treatment (2-3 full pipettes) - the latter I was most intrigued by as I have never used an oil in this way before.
Used either way, the oil leaves my hair soft, silky and healthy!

The packaging is very sleek, minimal and simple which compliments the product in every way.

I would highly recommend this hair oil, I love the way my hair feels, looks and smells after I have used it.

It’s priced at £14.99 and available to purchase, here.

I’d like to finish by saying a huge thankyou to the lovely Emily for being kind enough to send this to me, and I hope this is the first of many products that Forest & Shore launch.

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The Harrogate Candle Company

Living in Yorkshire, I'm a big lover of Harrogate, I immediately think of afternoon tea at Betty's and a relaxing session in the Turkish baths - and that's exactly what happened on my hen do, which I had in Harrogate (*disclaimer, there was a lot of alcohol involved too, tee hee!)

I love supporting local business, so I was delighted when Deborah & Fiona sent me their " Mood Collection" Gift set which contains one of each of their 10cl mood candles (18 hours burn time per candle)

The set comes presented and packaged in a very sleek and sophisticated black box with a card to detail all the different "moods" and fragrances and it even shows which ones are aimed to be used from daytime through to nighttime (if you want to, I tend to burn to suit my mood at the time regardless of day or night)

The Mood Collection has 5 candles;

"Happy" - Lime & Black Pepper - Refreshing and vibrant for an early morning energy boost
"Inspire" - Geranium, Eucalyptus & Orange - for some mid morning inspiration
"Lovely" - Rock Rose & Pink Pepper - Soothing & comforting for early afternoon relaxation
"Divine" - Dark Amber & Sandalwood - Rich & sensual for an afternoon de-stress
"Dream" - Vanilla Musk & Lavender - Calming & relaxing for some post work wind down

For those of you that follow me on Instagram, you'll know when it comes to fragrances and perfumes, I'm a Tom Ford gal, I like strong, deep, spicy, woody, quite masculine scents, so it was not much of a surprise that "Divine" is my favourite scent from the collection.

The candles give off a really good scent (lit, or un-lit!) certainly enough to fill the room, which is what you want from a luxury candle, and I was even more surprised at how evenly they burn - I'm halfway through some of mine and they look as neat as they did brand new, with no burn marks to the glass either - bonus!

The Mood Collection is priced at £48.00 and would make such a lovely gift. Other products including Reed Diffusers, Diffuser Refills, Mood Mists and other gift sets are all available on the website, here. The products are also stocked in John Lewis (Leeds) and a number of Harrogate stockists too, including the Turkish Baths.

All in all, I genuinely only have positive things to say about the candles and I'm eyeing up the 3 wick Divine candle for Christmas!

Do you have a favourite candle ?

Lauren x

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Anyone for a coffee......scrub?

Ask me years ago if I thought I'd be taking coffee into the shower with me and using it to scrub my body (ok, not quite literally) I'd have looked slightly perplexed! But using a coffee scrub has slowly become one of my favourite ways to exfoliate. Plus the extra hidden benefits of using a coffee scrub (goodbye cellulite!) make it a no brainer!

As it goes, I'm not a coffee drinker, but I don't dislike the smell and and actually enjoy turning my bathroom into my local Starbucks once a week.

Pure Purpose, a family owned company in Kent, were kind enough to send me two of their coffee scrubs to try - Seaweed & Eucalyptus and Tumeric & Orange. Forumlated with completely natural ingredients and cruelty free, their products have been inspired by travelling the world and seeing how different countries use natural beauty in their cultures.

If you aren't sold already, the scrubs themselves are fantastic. They smell incredible - my favourite is the Seaweed & Eucalyptus one - Eucalyptus is one of my favourite scents anyway, I find it very spa-esque and extremely refreshing and invigorating.

If you are thinking that because it's a coffee scrub it will be coarse and harsh on your skin, think again. These scrubs are fine (not too fine) and leave the skin feeling really smooth and not stripped, meaning you can use them quite regularly - I tend to save this step in my routine for a Sunday evening and go all out with a pamper session, or I will use them ad-hoc in the shower if I'm going to apply some fake tan.

You only need a small amount and because they don’t break or melt down, you can use really sparingly and really spread and move it across your body.

The only downside I feel needs addressing is the cleanup, it does get all over the shower/bath and takes a bit of cleaning up afterwards, but in my opinion, it's worth it. It's worth noting that unlike another brand I have tried, the packaging of the Pure Purpose scrubs is shower/ water friendly, yay! And it can be sealed back up after each use to prevent any accidental spills.

The scrubs are affordable and are available in cute travel sizes too - great if you want to take them away or get one to try! Available here.

I also just want to mention their Instagram page, which isn't just about the products, they share some lovely thought provoking quotes too which I really enjoy.

Have you tried coffee scrubs? What do you think?

Lauren x

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5 Favourite Nude Lipsticks

My favourite shade of lipstick to wear is nude, the deeper nude the better, so I thought I’d pull together 5 favourites to share with you.

Nyx Liquid Suede, “Sandstorm”

I find this formula very pigmented, lasts well and the colour is a very true nude, definitely sitting on the brown side of nude, rather than pink, which I like. I think this shade is flattering on many skin tones too.
For the price, I think the NYX Liquid Suede lipsticks are really worth the money and there's so many colours to choose from!


Mac Cosmetics "Velvet Teddy"

Macs most iconic shade, that was sold out for months on end after Kylie Jenner said she wore it. A matte formula but very comfortable to wear.
Described as a deep tone beige, it's your classic 90's lip shade. I find it very wearable and it's the perfect balance between cool and warm. It's also one of those shades that can look different on everyone - but I like that about it.

Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Lips "Best Actress"

A very recent addition to my collection, but has earned it's spot in this post after 1 wear, yes, I know!
The shade is the most perfect nude for me, a nude brown that's not too cool, neither too warm, just perfect.
The formula - creamy, lasts all day, when I say all, I mean ALL. I ate lunch, talked lots, drank lots of glasses of water - it was still there after a full day at work. Yes, it had started to fade, but I had to get up super close to notice. Ah-mazing - and I will certainly be returning to swatch some more shades.


Kat Von D "Bow And Arrow"

Super matte without drying your lips, it's very similar to NYX "Sandstorm" but it packs more punch. It's highly pigmented and lasting power is seriously good. It's the perfect warm, medium toned, brown shades and one you can slap on with any makeup look and it just works. Love!

Tom Ford "Sable Smoke"

A beautiful, creamy, caramel, nude shade. It applies like a matte formula, but has a slight sheen to it that doesn't make it look matte on the lips. It's super comfortable to wear. It's high end, super luxurious and worth every.single.penny.

I'd love to hear what your favourite nude lipstick is?

Lauren x

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Acrylic Storage From HerClutterBox

When you have a lot of makeup, organisation is key. I like to know where everything is and be able to see it at a glance. Hence why acrylic storage is a winner for me.

I've been very lucky to have been sent 2 of the Crystal Clear 5 Drawer units by MyClutterbox and have come to realise that bigger IS better when it comes to acrylic storage... It holds soooooo much makeup! Don't just take my word for it.. LOOK...

The quality is excellent, you can tell this from the minute you get it due to the sheer weight of it. It's made with the highest quality acrylic.

There are different styles to suit your needs and they come with drawer dividers so you can arrange your drawers however you want them!

The 5 drawer units have a flip top lid, 4 drawers of the same size and 1 larger drawer at the bottom.

The most recent set I've been sent have fancy, super shiny gold sides too.

HerClutterBox currently have 20% off their products on their website (here) so it's a great opportunity to invest if you have been looking at getting a set.

I highly recommend these drawers, and this is coming from someone who's had lots of acrylic storage, including Muji. While I still have lots of Muji storage and do think it's good, I think the amount and the types of products you can store in the MyClutterBox drawers are what sets them apart.

I'd love to hear / see how you store your makeup!

Lauren x

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