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,