June Lust List

I think I have a spending problem.  Every month, usually the last week or two before pay day, I start looking for things that I want to treat myself to when I get paid.  Before you know it, I’ve managed to total up about £80 worth of goodies – and then I wonder why the hell I have no cash the week before payday every month!  I work hard (most of the time) and I don’t often buy myself fancy and flashy treats – so when I do feel like I need a treat, I normally find some way of justifying it.  This month, there are a few goodies that I hope to be able to pick up at some point or another throughout June:

Beanies Coffee – last month they released another brand new flavour.  Cookie Dough.  That’s right – c o o k i e d o u g h !  Right now, they have a special offer on that gives you three jars for a tenner and free delivery.  A jar of cookie dough, coconut delight and chocolate orange have managed to cement a spot in my luxury spending already – as I type I have already placed all three in my online basket.  Sue me.

Body Shop – I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity at the beginning of the year to try out a number of the Body Shop products courtesy of an old friend.  Alongside her generosity, she also gifted me a hand cream set and some gorgeous body washes too.  I’ve finally gotten round to using them, and they are all absolutely divine.  The Body Shop have a fab offer on right now that gives you a free gift and 30% off when you spend just £10!  There are a couple of goodies that I have had my eye on for some time now, so watch this space – if funding allows then there may be a cheeky purchase this month.  Or five.

Littles Coffee – After reviewing the vanilla flavour last week, and admiring all of their other great flavours that they now stock online – I’ve decided that you really cannot ever have too much coffee.  The mix and match box takes my fancy as you can pick the six coffees that you want for just £15 – yay!  I’m thinking that one might just have to be purchased sometime in the near future.  Spicy Cardamom, Coconut Island and Maple Walnut are the ones that I’m totally lusting over right now.

Cruelty Free Make-up – I’ve made the decision to make a conscious effort going forward to ensure that all of my cosmetics are going to be cruelty free from now on.  I became a vegetarian last October, and I’m actually pretty disturbed to find that a lot of the brands I have been using are not vegetarian friendly *cries*.  I’ve been doing a lot of research online, and with the help of a few folks, I think I’ve found a few brands that I’m really keen to try out – B. from Superdrug being a top priority!

What have you got on your eyes on this month?

Until the next one,

Lush Brazilliant Shampoo Bar

One of my favourite go to Lush products for some time now has got to be the Brazilliant Shampoo bar.  I was really curious for a long time by the whole concept of a bar of shampoo – I just didn’t really get it.  Me being me though, of course it didn’t take me long to embark on this trend that Lush had created.  There are many things that I love about the solid shampoo bar, and although there have been a couple of others that I’ve tried out along the way, Brazilliant is the one that I seem to keep coming back to after each new bar I’ve tried out.

Brazilliant was the bar that I picked first out of the stack of options in store, simply because I did a whole lot of research prior to purchasing.  Although all of the Lush products that I buy always last me a long time (bar the bath bombs… duh) I sometimes find them to be a little pricey for my liking.  Hence why whenever I’m about to make a purchase, I spend ages pouring myself over the website, catalogue and app checking out all of the reviews and product descriptions to make sure that I buy the right one for me.  £6.75 is a crazy amount to pay for a singular shampoo – so I wanted to make sure that I would find something that would not only work, but I would actually enjoy using every day.

Brazilliant stood out to me because it was described as being “a mane carnival” and perfect for tackling curly and fizzy hair.  My hair is both, especially frizzy, and so I find that Brazilliant actually works really well for sorting that out.  Even better, it leaves my hair feeling beautifully soft and full of volume. I also knew that this would be the one for me when I saw that it was fragranced with oranges and would leave your hair smelling citrusy and fresh.  I try hard to ensure that I smell nice from top to bottom, and so now my hair is not excluded from this either.

I’ve found Brazilliant, alongside all of the other solid hair care products that I’ve purchased from Lush over the years to be fantastic value for money.  I’m totally mesmerized by just how quickly the bar lathers up into a thick and creamy foam, all it takes is a couple of strokes through your hands or down your hair to do the job!  I tend to go through a 250ml bottle of shampoo a month, and I’ve seen my bars last 2-2 ½ months in total!  Although it probably works out about the same that I’m spending on shampoo in the long run, it’s nice to know that I’m not going to have to nip out and buy some more quite so often!  I love that they don’t need any packaging, and because the bars are so little, they are the perfect size for storing away and taking on travels.  I keep mine in a small Tupperware box now, but I used to store it in an old face cloth and it kept for ages too.  Lush solid shampoos have been one of my favourite discoveries ever!

Have you tried out any of the solid hair care range yet?

Until the next one,

Food Intolerance Test – Foods I Can Eat

I’m now starting my fourth week on my yeast/dairy/gluten/garlic/chilli/ginger free diet – what a mouthful, huh?  It was really daunting and difficult to start off with, but I can actually say that I’m almost enjoying it now.  I’ve seen a great improvement to my overall health this last month; I’m not bloated every day, my skin feels and even looks healthy, I’ve lost weight and I’ve felt that I’ve had a lot more energy overall.  I don’t tend to take many naps anymore either, which was something I used to do near every single day!  So yeah, I’m really happy that with another two weeks to go, there is still potential to see even more good come from my diet change. 

Mum made me some blueberries muffins!

At the end of the six weeks, I’m looking forward to introducing garlic and chilli back into my diet… slowly.  I’m pretty content now with my gluten/yeast/dairy freeways, but I’m really excited to get some flavour back into my life!  I’m just really hoping that these are not the foods that are contributing to my eczema, as the one thing I miss the most from this whole experience is garlic! 

When we discovered that chilli and garlic is in almost every single jar of pasta sauce, we improvised and made our own!

There are a number of foods that I have come across this last month that are surprisingly gluten/dairy/yeast free – which have pretty much been my go too snacks and dinners:

-baked beans         

-almond butter                 

-quorn roast chicken peices

-pombears             

-kettle chips                     

-quorn peppered steak

-ruffles bars           

 -seabrook lattice crisps     

-linda mcarthney red onion sausages

-skinny popcorn      

-propercorn                      

-quorn bacon

-nakd bars              

-eggs                               

-fruit yoyos

-rice cakes              

-rice                                 

-fruit winders

-plant based milks  

-violife cheese                   

-free from salad cream

-free from pasta     

-free from chocolate          

-fruit and veg (low sugar preferably)

-frys peppermint creams                                  

-tellytots                         

-alpro yoghurt        

-lizis granola                     

-seabrook ready salted crisps                       

-coconut oil            

-nutribix                           

-tofu 

-ninebars  

There really isn’t that many things that are suitable, but at the same time I’m still really surprised by the amount of choice there is for the people who simply cannot eat gluten or dairy alone.  I thought that these two would be the most difficult for me to stick too – but it turns out that finding foods without garlic, ginger and chill has been just as equally awkward!

Overall, I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I have actually enjoyed watching what eat, I feel really good about my overall health at the moment and I hope that I have the will power to keep going in the long run!  I’m hoping to be able to cut back on the flavoured water that I drink daily too, because I’ve recently become more aware of the artificial sweeteners and how they can affect the body.  One thing at a time though kids!

Do you know anyone adjusting their diet right now too? 

Until the next one,

Littles Flavored Coffee

We all know that I’m mad about coffee.  It’s my fuel – I need it.  So when it was brought to my attention that Holland and Barret were going to be stocking Littles coffee, I was over the moon!  My parents treated me to a lovely selection of their coffees over Christmas and they were absolutely delightful.  As there is not a Waitross in Aberdeen, I’ve had no way of picking up any new flavours to try out, other than ordering online.  Nobody likes to wait for things to come in the post, so being able to restock every time I’m in town is something to smile about.

I’ve always been a lover of flavoured coffees – Beanies having always been my favourite.  However I’m very pleased to report that Littles are a very strong contender for first place now.

My trip to Holland and Barrett consisted of a jar of the Swiss French Vanilla Infused Coffee – which is absolutely delicious.  When you open the jar you get a very strong scent of vanilla – but what I really like is that you can still smell the coffee too.  Sometimes vanilla can over power the scent of everything – but this is not the case here.  Littles – you got it perfect!  Another thing that really pleases me was that you’re not left with a bitter or over powering taste at the bottom of your mug – which again can happen with some flavoured coffees.  Littles Swiss Vanilla provides you with a lovely mug of fuel, with an amazing aroma and smooth tasting coffee from start to finish! 

Holland and Barrett currently have them priced at just £2.99 a jar – which is a really great price for such a high quality product and a decent quantity too.  You can also pick up the Swiss Chocolate Infused coffee from H&B too – which I would also highly recommend.

My favourites so far have been the Vanilla, Chocolate Orange and Café Amaretto – however I have also had the pleasure of enjoying the Chocolate Caramel and Irish Cream too.  I currently have a jar of the Havana Rum flavour – which I am currently trying to decide if I love it… or if it is just a little bit too outside of my coffee comfort zone.  Give me another mug or two to decide, I’ll let you know later my verdict!
And if you're not yet convinced by these gems, Littles use natural flavours to create their beautiful coffees - making them perfect for those of us who are trying to watch what we are putting into our bodies.  These are great for sorting out a sweet tooth too, if you're trying to be good! 

I’m really looking forward to treating myself to their Island Coconut, Maple Walnut and Spicy Cardamom flavours soon – they are a top priority on my must buy list for next month!  Who knows, I’ll maybe even treat myself to a mix and match box too!
If you fancy trying out any of the Littles range, you can find them here at: https://www.wearelittles.com/product-category/infused-instant-coffees/
With such a wide variety of flavours to choose from - I'm sure that there will be one for everyone!

Have you tried out any of the Littles range?  Let me know what your favourite is below!

Until the next one,

All About 'em Coconuts

I’ve been a fan of coconut oil for a long time, probably ever since it became a big deal a few years back.  I think it started when people started cooking with it, and then it progressed into the beauty and hair care items that we know it for today.  These last few months I’ve really gotten back into the habit of trying to use it as often as possible, and I’m happy to report nothing but love and obsessiveness for the stuff once again.

As I’ve had to change my diet dramatically the last couple of weeks, omelettes have become my go to food for my lunch and sometimes even tea too.  I’ve been using coconut oil instead of my regular sunflower oil, and I’ve found it to cook them perfectly and it even adds a little flavour too!  Another thing that I like to cook with it is the fake chicken pieces that my mum found in Sainsburys.  Coconut oil, a little honey and some soy sauce and it gives them a great coating and a beautiful taste.

I first tried out coconut oil for my skin when my eczema had a major breakout in 2012.  Although I find that it doesn’t really do much for my skin when I’m having a breakout, when my skin is nice and healthy it is the ultimate moisturiser for the whole body!  Not only does it leave my skin feeling silky smooth from top to bottom, but it also leaves me smelling like a tropical goddess. 

My latest use for the coconuts is rubbing a small amount through my hair to give it a little bit of extra moisture, as well as a healthy shine.  Coconut oil is perfect for tackling all of those pesky fly away bits, and it has honestly made tackling my mane that little bit easier in the morning.  But best of all, it gives my hair a little bit of fragrance so that I’m smelling sweet from head to toe.  My hair is super curly and also very frizzy, and I’ve really seen an improvement to it since switching to the coconuts!

I've switched to organic coconut oil now, and it really does make all the difference!

I’ve never really been one to use moisturiser on my feet before, and if I do use something I don’t normally persevere with it for long.  However seeing as I’ve been applying it everywhere else, I thought what the hell, and I’ve been give my feet a good coat before I put on my socks each night.  In the morning my feet feel lovely and soft all over – which may not last all day, but hey – it can’t be a miracle worker for everything.

My favourite use for coconut oil is using it to remove my makeup every day.  I’ve read a lot of other blogs who say that they only use it to remove their eye makeup, but I’ve been using it to remove everything from my mascara to the foundation.  It does it ALL, and it actually does it really well.  I’ve ditched the makeup wipes for now for a dollop of coconut oil and a couple of cotton pads.  Even better, it leaves my skin feeling great and well-nourished every day.

Finally, my pugger Hulk absolutely loves coconut oil, much to my friends and families concern.  Not only is it good for us humans, but coconut oil is actually really great for doggies too for their skin and coats.  Most people actually pop a small amount in their dogs foods, however I usually just pop a small amount on one of his toys and let him lick it straight.  I’ve also been using it to clean his skin around his eyes once a day – and I really have seen a great improvement to this area of his skin.

So there we have it!  I bought a 500g jar from Homebargains for just £3.99 – I’ve used about 2/3 of it now and I’ve had it since March.  It’s a great product to have kicking around the house, and when you think about the money that I’ve probably saved by using this one product for so many uses – it would be kinda silly to not jump on this bandwagon and get involved.

What’s your favourite use for coconut oil?

Until the next one,

Food Intolerance Testing

Back in April after another trip to the doctors regarding my eczema, my dad very kindly offered to pay for me to go and see a nutritionist.  My little brother had just received his results from his own trip, and after it flagged up that he had an intolerance to  foods that we never would have suspected – he thought it would be a great idea to see if there was something that I was eating that could potentially cause my skin to flare up. 

The test consisted of a few general questions about my current eating habits, what my diet is like and how often my skin acts up.  She then went on to take a small blood sample from my finger by pricking the skin – as this would allow her to test for up to 50 foods that I may be intolerant to.  A week later, my nutritionist got back to me with some surprising results.

Nakd bars have been my saviour

The three foods that first flagged up as triggers were chilli, ginger and garlic.  I wasn’t quite so surprised by this, as when I actually sat down and thought about it, it made perfect sense that this could be causing my eczema.  I live at home, and thankfully my mother is still more than happy to feed me and cook me dinner (god bless you mumma) – and as a family we eat a lot of spicy food.  We also like garlic.  My mum really likes garlic – and so chilli and garlic tend to end up in most of the foods we eat.  I tend to have ginger on occasion, usually it’s in a sweet treat or tea – but not as often as the other two.  So yeah, it made perfect sense.  I’ve been advised to cut out all three for up to six weeks, and then slowly introduce them again to see if it makes an improvement or causes another flare up when I start eating them again.  So these last two weeks, my foods have been really, really bland – it turns out that it is not just my mum who puts chilli and garlic in everything.  The shops do too.

The most shocking intolerance for me anyway, and the one that has caused me the most problems is the intolerance to yeast, which appears to be the major one.  Again, yeast appears to be present in a lot of the convenient foods that I would normally go for – cereals, bread, frozen foods and even some sweets.  It was a real challenge to find foods that are chilli, garlic, ginger and yeast free to begin with.  Then we had to add gluten and dairy to the mix.

To allow myself to rid my body of the bacteria’s that could potentially be there as a result of consuming yeast products, I also have to follow and gluten and dairy free diet.  Now if you thought it was bad enough going gluten or dairy free alone, you have no idea how much more difficult it is to do both.  And avoid yeast.  And chilli, garlic, and ginger.  It’s madness. Especially when I’m already a vegetarian.   

But yeah, this is what I’m doing right now.  And honestly, although my skin hasn’t improved as of yet (it can take up to four weeks for any noticeable difference to be seen), I actually feel a lot better overall.  I’ve not felt bloated daily, nor have I felt the need to take naps throughout the day every day.  It’s definitely a work in progress, but I’m really excited to see if this could be the cure to my skin problems one and for all.  I plan to share the foods that I have been able to eat in a week a so, just in case there does happen to be anyone out there who is illuminating foods like me.

Until the next one,

Soap and Glory Fragrances

Last month I took my little sisters to see Five Seconds of Summer in Glasgow, and so a trip away from Aberdeen for me usually calls for some shopping!  Some Lush goodies, a few pieces of clothing, a jar of Littles coffee and a few bits from Boots later, I was ready to head home and try out all of my new purchases.  After spying that a number of the Soap and Glory fragrances were reduced to clear in Boots on the day, I took the opportunity to stock up on my faves, Orangasam and Sugar Crush.  These are my absolute favourite scents by Soap and Glory, they always seem to be able to make everything smell amazing.

What I love the most about Sugar Crush is that it is unlike any scent I have ever come across before – in the best possible way ever.  With hints of lime and vanilla, it creates a very musky kind of fragrance that smells good enough to eat - it reminds me very much of ice cream and meringue’s.  It’s the perfect scent for days when you need a little summer lovin’, and I actually like it so much that I often choose this one over my other perfumes!  I picked up a bottle of this gem in the body mist form, which only cost me £3.50 at the reduced price, which I was super pleased about as it normally costs £10.  I’ve had this for the best part of a month now, and although I do like to be generous with my spraying – I’ve not actually used that much of it. 

Orangasm is this one that I like to go for throughout the day to give me a little freshen up, as it is so citrusy that I cannot deal, it’s like waking up of a fresh spring morning!  As you can probably guess by its name, Orangasm smells like freshly cut oranges with a little hint of floral scents – which together create a beautiful burst of fragrance.  I spied these body mists at just 75p a bottle, so naturally I grabbed three of them (cheeky), so I’m not going to run out any time soon.  These bottles are so small and handy, which I really like because there is nothing more annoying than having to carry around a big bottle of perfume when you’re limited for space.   I usually chuck one in my handbag so that I’m never without, and it’s so small that they even fit inside my toiletry bag! 

Although I’m not crazy about all of the Soap and Glory fragrances, when they make a good one – it’s really good!  Another favourite of mine is Fruitigo.

Have you tried out any of the Soap and Glory fragrances?  What’s your favourite?

Until the next one,

Lush Bubble Gum Lip Scrub

For as long as I have been shopping at Lush – the lip scrubs were always something that I have tried to avoid like the plague.  Paying £5.50 for such a small product that I believed did very little was something that I had no interest in.  I even went to the extreme one time of actually making my own – which was actually quite nice and worked really well, if I’m honest.  Honey, coconut oil, sugar and peppermint essence.  Just a little too messy for my liking.  So it actually kind of came as a surprise to myself when I randomly decided to add one to my basket one evening.  During this winter past, my lips were really super dry and sore from all of the wind, rain and the little snow that we had to endure.  So I thought “what the hell?”  I had the cash, and felt like going a little bit nuts – which is apparently my approach to every purchase I make there now!

When it finally arrived in the post, it didn’t take me long to crack it open and give it a bash.  The smell is incredible, it smells just like those really cheap and nasty bubble gum balls that you would buy from a sweetie shop when you were a kid which tasted like heaven.  The colour was also stunning, this scrub is a fluorescent pink which makes it stand out from the other scrubs… bar The Kiss, the valentine’s limited edition.

The scrub is really quite loose in the tub which makes it really good and super easy for actually giving your lips a nice scrubbing.  It does however tend to be a tad messy when using though – clumps tend to fall off as you’re applying and you end up with pink sugar everywhere!  After use, my lips feel brand spanking new every time.  I apply a little bit of lip balm straight after use, which leaves my lips feeling nice and soft until my next application.  I’ve been using my scrub a few times a week since purchasing back in December, and I’ve only now used about half of the pot – which I think is amazing considering that this was a £5.50 purchase.  I’m absolutely delighted with my Bubble Gum Lip Scrub, and although I’m not sure it will be something that I will stock up on straight away when I run out – the fact that it’s lasted me this long for such a small price makes me think that this won’t be my last purchase of the product!

Have you tried any of the Lush lip scrubs?  What’s your favourite?

Until the next one,

Early Bird Subscription Box

After cancelling my graze boxes last year after I found them to become a little repetitive and a tad expensive for the contents, I was keen to try out a new snack subscription that was relatively healthy and wasn’t going to cost me an arm and a leg.  I came across Early Bird after their adverts had been popping up on my Facebook for a few weeks.  I thought that the subscription was very similar to Graze to begin with, but after further investigation I discovered that the snacks were completely different and each box came with a unique tea bag!  I do like a tea, and I’m trying to be better with my snacking, so I signed up for a box to try out.  What I really like is that from the get go, they let you know that there is no commitment.  Early Bird had an offer on when I subscribed, which made the first box half price for £2.48 – and you can pause or cancel your boxes at any time before your next one is sent out, fab!   I’ve paused mine for now as I wanted to try it out before I made the commitment, but I have a feeling my next box may be in the post sooner than I had anticipated…

Flat Pack Brownie

I’m a sucker for a brownie, so this one caught my eyes first!  It’s made from three ingredients: pecans, dates and chocolate buttons – all foods which I very much enjoy!  The best part about this snack was that when you eat all three together, it really does taste just like a chocolate brownie, and a good one at that!  The dates were super soft and caramel like, and the pecans were chopped up nice a fine so that they didn’t over power the taste or texture.  The mylk chocolate was daily free, but still super creamy and delicious, I could easily eat them on their own!  I’m definitely rating this snack, and I seriously wish that I could order a box full of them!

Raspberry Coconut Jelly

I’m mad about coconuts, but not a great raspberry lover – so I wasn’t entirely sure how I was going to feel about this one when I opened up the pack.  I’m happy to report that it was really delicious and actually pretty filling.  Made up from raspberry fruit drops, coconut chips and raspberry coconut chips, the three work together incredibly to make a delicious crunchy-fruity treat.  The fruit drops tasted just like little sweets, I think I could quite happily eat them on their  own in bulk if I’m honest!  The raspberry coconut chips were to die for too – not too fruity, but enough flavour to make them stand out and to make me wish I had a bag of them alone to munch on!  My fingers are crossed that I will be getting this one in my box sooner rather than later.

Unfortunately, after I received my Earlybird box, I went to visit a nutritionist and had an allergy test done (I will share more later, when I know what I’m doing… haha) – anyway it turns out that I need to cut gluten and dairy out of my diet for at least six weeks.  So despite how delicious it looks, and how much I was looking forward to trying it out – I was unable to try the Cacao Chia Pud!  My mum is however very excited by this, and I’m sure she will fill me in on how it good it is when she gives it a go!

My final snack was a punnet of ABC Nuts, which consisted of cashews, almonds and brazil nuts.  I’m not a great nut lover, unless they’ve been seasoned by my mother (chilli or salt and vinegar are my faves), but these will not go to waste, as now my diet is so limited that I need to make the most of the foods I can enjoy.  In the future, I will remove the nuts from my preference list, as I would much prefer to receive a more unique snack sent to me in my boxes!

And as for the tea - mint is my thang!  I'm saving this beauty for when I'm in need of some freshening up.  I find that peppermint tea is really good for when I'm feeling bloated or crappy - so I can't wait to try this one out.

Overall, I am really impressed with the great selection of snacks that Earlybird have to offer.  I’m really happy to find that they offer dairy and gluten free snacks – and I look forward to trying out some more over the next couple of months!

If you fancy trying out the Early Bird snack box, you can get your first box half price by using my friend code:

laure-7409

Until the next one,