beauty Archives - Journeys Are My Diary

Lush Bath Bomb – Monsters Ball

October 29, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

It’s been a long time since I treated myself to some Lush but I have to admit I find it hard not to at this time of year. The Halloween range is currently out, as is the Christmas range but when Megan and I went to Doncaster last week, my priority was definitely to grab the pieces I hadn’t tried and would be disappearing soon (as well as a few favourites). I’ll definitely be heading back for some Christmas ones soon but this little lot (plus one I used before picturing) set me back £35.

Monsters Ball bath bomb, is new this year I think (or at least I haven’t seen it before). It looked cute and smelt great, so I was immediately sold in the shop. When I put the bath bomb in the bath, it wasn’t disappointing either. Again the smell was good and the colours in the bath were beautiful.

Lush describes this bath bomb as a…

…mash-up of lime and neroli oils is a sure fire way to get the party started, and leave you feelin’ Franken-fine all night long.

While the smell is great and it lingers all bath long, the colour for me was the most amazing thing about this bath bomb. I definitely prefer bubble bars generally, but this was a really great pick, especially if you’re treating yourself this Halloween.

After my last bath bomb (lava lamp) which I will review once I have the photos off my iPad, this one was a refreshing change (spoiler, I wasn’t a fan of the other one). Honestly I don’t know if, at £4.25, I would buy it again, but it wasn’t a disappointment and I wouldn’t be unhappy if someone else had bought it for me as a gift.

Imperial Leather – Sherbet Lemon and Marshmallow

February 5, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

I love to try new scents, especially when it comes to shampoo, bubble bath, hand wash etc. I’m a sucker for Lush too, especially their sweet smelling bath bombs and bubble bars. When I spotted these in the shop the other day, at only 99p each, I had to give them a go!

Sherbet Lemon – sadly this one was a bit of a disappointment. Using it once in the shower was definitely enough (it might sit on the side of the bath forever now). While the smell is definitely lemony, it’s not a sweet smell. In fact, the whole time I was washing, I kept trying to place the scent. I think in the end, I decided it smelt like washing up liquid, or maybe lemon scented dishwasher aid. Dumbledore definitely wouldn’t be interested in this shower gel.

Marshmallow – this one is really the opposite to the other. It’s actually a really nice shower gel and I will definitely be using it again. It smells sweet (though not really like marshmallow) and it leaves a nice scent on the skin afterwards. While I can’t exactly tell you what it smells like, the closest I can get to is maybe a sweet version of chamomile lotion.

Sadly I don’t think I will be buying either of these shower gels again, but I would recommend the Marshmallow to anyone who likes a sweet scent. However once it’s no longer its trial price of 99p, I’m not sure I’d bother at all.

Summer Essentials

August 18, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

Now we’re finally having some warm weather, I decided I would share my summer essentials with you. To be honest I’m not a very high maintenance person so there aren’t many essentials, but if I had to pick to be stuck on a desert island, these would be some of my last minute grabs!

Paracetamol – Okay this is probably a strange first pick but I get so many headaches, especially in the sun, that I really can’t afford to be without them. I don’t need anything expensive, so they’re rarely more than 20p a packet, but they do the trick and make all the difference (as do my sunglasses!).

Deodorant/Anti-perspirant – gross but true, summer makes you stink! There is nothing I hate more than standing next to someone who smells. Alright, it happens sometimes, especially at the end of a hot day, but it’s not nice. Not only do I apply roll-on in the morning, I also carry Mitchum with me. I find it works really well and doesn’t leave white marks.

Veet – I will admit that if I’m in a rush, I’ll use a razor, especially for my under arms. However Veet is super easy to use if you have some time to spare and a lot more caring to your skin. Veet is especially good for facial hair removal, which obviously you wouldn’t want to use a razor for!

Batiste Dry Shampoo – though for the most part, I do find that I shower more in summer and therefore wash my hair at the same time, getting sweaty and running your hand through your hair, often makes for very greasy hair. If I’m in a rush, or know I can’t grab a shower till later that day, I love Batiste just to freshen up my hair. As you can see this is a jumbo size spray, because I go through so much!

Shower Gel – Lush is one of my favourite brands and I love their shower gels. Despite the fact I would usually choose to grab a bath (and some bubble bars), in summer its often easier to have a shower instead. Lush Shower Gels are amazing and they smell so good. I can’t resist a shower when I know I have Lush to use. In fact, we usually go swimming more during summer too and these bottles are the perfect size to take with you.

So these are my main summer essentials, what are yours? If you had to spend the summer on a desert island and could take some supplies, what would you pick?

Minnie Mouse Nails

May 21, 2015 by Bel 2 Comments

As you know, I’m not much of a beauty blogger because I don’t use a lot of make up – but I do like to do my nails and get nail paint done. Some time ago I saw the following pin on Pinterest and I figured these were nails I could probably manage myself. I’d originally hoped to do them before going to Disney World, but that didn’t work out. Instead, last Wednesday, I spent the afternoon trying it out!

Now I’m no nail expert! I’ve never tried to style my nails – I just paint one solid colour and I’m done. However this time I really tried to make an effort. I started off by cutting my nails and filing them down neatly. I then used my nail buffer to give them a beautiful shine! I pushed back all my cuticles and cleaned any dirt out from behind my nails. They looked pretty great to be honest.

Next I painted a layer of clear. This was to act as a sort of base coat. Next I attempted the red tip but this was pretty tricky! I don’t have a steady hand and so I struggled. I actually had to remove the varnish from two nails because it looked so messy. If you’re like me and can’t do nail polish neatly, I recommend nail tape/ribbon as you can place it roughly where you want your tip to end and then paint the tip, removing the tape to reveal a neat line. That’s what I did anyway!

Once it all dried, I did another layer of clear. I wanted to lock in each layer and clear seemed a sensible idea. Next I got a cocktail stick and added the white dots. There are tools that enable you to do dots but not everyone has those. I knew that attempting to do it with the brush end might be messy and too large for dots so a cocktail stick seemed like a good idea.

As I didn’t dare risk drawing bows by hands, I turned to my nail accessories and found some Mickey head sequins and some Minnie bow sequins. I added these on with nail glue and then sealed them in with clear again. It certainly wasn’t perfect but I was pretty pleased with the results!