autumn Archives - Journeys Are My Diary

Lush bath bombs and bubble bars

December 29, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

Some time ago, after writing a Halloween Lush Wish List, I went to Lush in Doncaster and purchased a whole bunch of bath bombs and bubble bars. Since then I have managed to review Monster’s Ball, Lava Lamp and Ruby Red Slippers but I have actually used them all! I decided that instead of doing a separate post for each one, I would just post a few pictures (for the two I do have them for), the original description from the Lush website and my opinions one which I liked and would buy again etc.

Of the ones I haven’t reviewed yet, there were; Pumpkin, Autumn Leaf, Never Mind The Ballistics and Northern Lights – all of which were bath bombs. There was then Candy Mountain and Big Bang, which were both bubble bars. Northern Lights I have reviewed previously last year, though it looks slightly different now. I have also reviewed Big Bang previously too. As for Candy Mountain, I’ve been using that for years so there is no reviews on this blog but I love it so much that I buy every year, at least one and its my favourite Lush Product.

Never Mind The Ballistics (bath bomb) – These aren’t ingredients for anybody else except for yourself. Lime and sweet wild orange oils are fresh and peachy on the nose, exciting the senses and shaking up your mood. There’s no time for apathy in the bath, so this anarchic bath bomb fizzes and rolls and spews colour with no holds barred energy. Fair Trade cocoa butter melts alongside fresh bananas to soften both the water and your skin. God save the clean; this deserves a replay.

Never Mind the Ballistics is the only remaining bath bomb that I didn’t take pictures for and so it’s pretty hard to review. I enjoyed the smell and the half pink side made the bath water feel smooth and softening. However the pink side did give a similar effect that the Lava Lamp did, adding a sort of residue to the bath.

Autumn Leaf (bath bomb) – Autumn colours dapple your bath red and yellow, as falling leaves signify the start of winter. From the comfort of a hot bath, watch as the evenings draw in, and the trees don vibrant plumage. The scent of fresh grass evokes the crunch of crisp leaves underfoot as the last remnants of summer are stolen away.

One of my favourite things about Lush bath bombs are definitely the way they react when they touch the water and the colours they turn the bath. Autumn Leaves doesn’t disappoint, displaying many colours related to nature in a very pretty fizz. The smell is good too and the after colour of the bath once the bomb is completely dissolved. I don’t remember it having a specific scent, but whatever it was, was likeable.

Pumpkin (bath bomb) – Bath-o’-lantern. This year, we’re introducing a very traditional looking fizzer to our limited edition range: one look at those geometric features is all it takes to put you in a Halloween-y mood! With a spicy, sweet perfume full of exotic pimento, sweet vanilla and warming cinnamon, our jack-o’-lantern will have you imitating his toothy grin once he hits your bath water.

Pumpkin was a great fun bath bomb, both in design and colour. Though it didn’t do anything dramatic when dropped into the bath, the colour of the water was really dramatic – almost like orange juice. The smell was great too, very reminiscent of Halloween and spicy. Again, another bath bomb that I would be happy to recommend.

Wedding Wanderlust – Fall

October 20, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

I love traveling so much but I have to admit that recently my desire to save money for things closer to home, have stopped me even considering a holiday. I’d love to move house, treat myself to a new car and of course I would really like to get divorced from my ex, since we’ve been separated for 6 years. With my two best friends finding themselves in new relationships and another friendship couple getting engaged, I have to admit my mind wanders to weddings, despite not being especially fussed about getting re-married (for a third time) myself. That said, I thought it would be fun to make a post every season, with a few ideas for rings, dresses and even venues/places that I would like.

A while back I shared a post about some Disney rings that I would absolutely love, some of which would make nice engagement rings, especially with a Halloween theme. In all seriousness though, I would want a proper wedding band, definitely made from white gold or platinum as I’m not really a fan of the gold colour rings. Orla James makes some beautiful Platinum Wedding Rings which would definitely be a consideration and I would probably therefore have to have a more sensible engagement ring too.

My partner is a huge fan of things like skulls and zombies, so with an Autumn wedding, a Halloween theme would work well for both of us. I’ve also been married twice before so doing the whole white dress thing would be a bit weird and I would love to do something more crazy or costume. There are loads of really great choices for a wedding dress and while I wouldn’t want to go full on corpse’s bride, I would love something black (and of course slimming).

I throw murder mystery parties all of the time and I’ve often considered how fun being an events organiser would be. I think having a Halloween themed wedding would be incredible and there would be so much choice for decorating. You could go all black, orange and green, using many of the Halloween decorations found in stores, or you could go more classy with blacks and creams, with big candelabras, dripping wax and cauldrons with steam. I personally would sway more towards a Harry Potter theme I think, aiming for a wedding in the Great Hall feel.

Of course with an Autumn wedding, you could go for a Fall theme colours with greens and oranges, burnt red, all the colours of the leaves too. I used to love wearing all those colours as a teenager as I felt they went with my hair/eyes/skin etc and so although I would prefer the extremeness of a Halloween themed wedding, I could definitely go for a general Autumn theme too. It would be quite beautiful having it somewhere outside with all the natural colours for your palette.

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Fall Favourites – Coats and Jackets

September 23, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

It’s coming around to that time again when the weather has dropped 10 degrees and I can start to wear my warm jacket and more importantly my scarves! It was this in mind, that I started to look for a this years “jacket desire”. Every year I spot a warm jacket that I lust after so these are the ones I’ve picked out this year.

Fall Favourite – jackets and coats

The majority of these jackets (the first three) were found on a site called Lyst. This site is a great search engine for clothes and accessories, but in addition to that, acts as a personal shopper to each of its users. I’m hoping that using this site might actually help me find my “jacket desire” every year!

The first caught my eye as its a beautiful shape and unusual in that it’s navy rather than blue. The second jacket is a suede black jacket, short in length but still warm looking. The third is like my current jacket (the same colour and style) but looks warmer and with more pockets. Finally that leaves jackets four and five. These were actually found on Joe Browns website and caught my eye (as their clothes often does). I love jacket four, largely for its colour but also as it’s just so unusual with its random buttons and cut. Jacket five is probably my favourite though, as black is the most flattering and I love the lace up detail.

I can’t wait for the chill to really kick in so I can start looking at boots, scarves and chunky jumpers. I love Autumn but I especially love Winter. Sadly I can’t wait to get the heating on and curl up with hot chocolate and a good book.

Autumn Days

October 27, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

Recently I was asked to make a post all about Autumn. Though the project was supposed to be in and out of the home, I found majority of my inspirations outside. Sadly our house is a bit of a DIY disaster, so we don’t tend to change with the seasons, just when we get time to redecorate. However since Ocean Loans said it could be in AND out, I decided to share some polaroid snaps with you all.

Majority of our autumn is found on the walk to school. In the colour of the trees, the leaves on the ground and the conkers on the trees. I consider our family very lucky to live in the countryside and experience the joys of changes in all the seasons.

Autumn is one of my favourite seasons so I love taking pictures of everything autumn means to me. On the walk to school I love crunching through all the leaves and of course, all the beautiful colours they come in.

I drive to get the girls from school, 20 minutes along country lanes, and then I walk down another lane to get to their school. On the way I can see lots of beautiful trees and bushes, again showing off all the glorious colours of autumn.

Finally one of my most favourite things about autumn is the conkers. I remember fondly, the conker fights of youth and though these are no longer allowed in most schools, I still love conkers. I don’t know if its the shape, the shine or the feel of them. There is just something very appealing about conkers to me. They really are the sign of autumn in my eyes.

Christmas will soon be around the corner and my house will definitely change for that – and winter I guess. However I’ve really enjoyed sharing my autumn favourites with you. Of course, there is snuggling up under a blanket with the kids, hot chocolate with marshmallows and wrapping up warm in jumpers and scarfs. These are just a few things that sum up Autumn to me.

Autumn Favourites

September 24, 2015 by Bel 1 Comment

I can’t believe that it’s Autumn already – it doesn’t seem like two minutes since I was planning our holiday to Florida in Spring. However it’s almost October and genuinely one of my favourite times of the year. I love how crisp the air gets, how your feet sound as you crunch on leaves and how its time to dig out the scarves again! I thought that today I would share some of my favourite things about Autumn with you.

I have spoken before about my love of L’occitane Vanilla hand cream and this time of year it’s an absolute life saver! I originally discovered it last year in a beauty box subscription I was sent and ever since then I’ve been addicted. I use it every time I get out of the shower as my face is always dry, but I also carry a separate tube in my handbag as I often suffer from dry skin on my hands, during the colder months. I treated myself to a larger tube earlier in the year but this Christmas I might have to sneak myself one of their gift sets into my stocking!

Vaseline tins are also another essential for me this time of year. I usually carry one in my coat pocket, one in my handbag and keep one next to my bed. While I’ll happily use chapstick, I find these tins of Vaseline work best for my lips. In the cold whether I often suffer from chapped and sore lips and I hate finding I don’t have any with me! I saw there was a Creme Brulee version while browsing the web, but sadly I’ve never seen it in store! I have just spotted a Queen Bee one too, so that might have to be in this year’s Christmas stocking too!

With the autumn weather comes a desire to wrap up warm and every year I fancy one of Joe Browns Autumn Collection coats. I’ve resisted the urge till now but this year could be the year! Not only are Joe Browns products amazing quality, they’re also really unique and different. Though I’m definitely a jeans and t-shirt sort of a girl, I’ve often wished I could be a little bit more bohemian. Joe Browns coats are just unique enough for me, without putting me too far out of my comfort zone and although they are quite expensive, I would hope it would last me several Autumns and Winters to come.

While I do have a warm woolen scarf that I love, originally from Per Una (M&S), I have to admit that I have recently found a huge love for Hot Topic scarves. They are soft, long and really really warm. Not only that but they are unique and fashionable too – not to mention geeky! So far I own three – Princess Script, Doctor Who Tardis and Stitch (from Lilo and Stitch). However I recently ordered an Alice in Wonderland one and a Disney Villains one and I can’t wait for them to arrive. As I’ve got older I’ve definitely noticed that I get colder a lot easier, especially around the neck. I don’t just wear these scarves out of the house but also as part of my outfit inside the house too.

There are lots of other Autumn Favourites for me – like finding a good book and curling up under a blanket, endless cups of tea (preferably with sugar, tut tut!), movie nights snuggled on the sofa, chicken casserole for dinner, Halloween and Bonfire Night! Of course there will soon be the build up to Christmas too and I definitely love that!

What are your Autumn Favourites?

My last Discovery Club box (by Fragrance Shop)

September 30, 2014 by Bel 1 Comment

I originally signed up for The Fragrance Shop‘s “Discovery Club”, back in March of this year. I was then lucky enough to secure Discovery Club boxes for everyone who attended the #LincsBlogMeet – many of which posted and reviewed the boxes. I have since received the Spring Edition and the Summer Edition, with finally the Autum/Winter Edition arriving yesterday.

At only £5 a quarter, I always thought the Discovery Club was a bit of a bargain. Okay you only get 5-7 sample sizes of perfume or aftershave, but its a great (and cheap) way to try out and discover some new scents.

However when my Discovery Club arrived, I have to admit I was a little disappointed. While I loved both the Spring and Summer collections, this last box seems a little lacking.

With scents from Loewe (both Aura and Quizás), Jean-Paul Gaultier (Classique Intense), Kenzo (Jea d’Amour) and Jimmy Choo (Man), the range of smells is pretty good. However with only 5 samples, rather than 7 (as I’ve had in the other 2 boxes), it did feel a bit underwhelming.

My favourites by far are Loewe “Quizás” and Jean-Paul Gaultier “Classique Intense”, though the Jimmy Choo “Man” smelt good on Chris too. Unfortunately though, none of the scents are really “me” so I’m not sure how much use I’ll be getting out of these 4-5 samples.

Anyway, after receiving the box, I actually went to the Discovery Club website and cancelled my subscription. This is only partly because of this box and partly because I’m really starting to cut down my spending in lieu of saving for Florida. While it is only £5 every three months, its still £5 I’d be better off saving/spending elsewhere. I’ve really enjoyed getting these boxes and perhaps its a subscription that I’ll pick up again in the future.