Journeys Are My Diary

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Lush bath bombs and bubble bars

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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.

Wanderlust (without the kids)

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It’s very rare that I ever fancy a holiday without the kids, because to be honest for many years, it was just me and them. However there are definitely some places in the world that aren’t necessarily places you would want to go with children. I thought today on my blog, I would share a few places I would love to visit – just Chris and I.

Lanzarote

Lanzarote

The Canary Islands are somewhere I have always wanted to visit and Lanzarote is probably top of the list. With its beautiful coast line, blue ocean and plenty of places to explore, it would be a really great trip as a couple. Now that we can both drive, hiring a car and sharing the drive would be fun too, so we would be able to explore everywhere. Even though neither of us are really beach holiday people, it would be great to have a few down days too, where we just relaxed in the sun and drank cocktails!

Iceland

To be honest, Iceland could also be Finland, Sweden, Lapland, Norway… wherever, so long as I get to see the Northern Lights. While I’m pretty sure the kids would love Aurora Borealis itself, the trek to see the lights is often cold, maybe even camping out in the middle of nowhere. Since being a young girl I have always dreamed of seeing the Northern Lights and really truly I do hope it comes true one day. Realistically though, this holiday is one best spent without the kids, especially if we’re like to head for places like IceHotel or TreeHotel in Sweden, though I think they might be a bit miffed if we ended up in Lapland with Santa.

Las Vegas

Finally on the list is Las Vegas, a place I have wanted to visit ever since reading Belinda Jones’ “Divas Las Vegas“. I know for a fact that this is not a place I would want to go with the kids and to be honest I’m not entirely sure I could afford to visit (I mean come on, you can’t go and not have some money to gamble!). A part of me would love to do the whole experience, gamble, get drunk and then get married by an Elvis impersonator but let’s face it, those things only happen in the movies. I would still really love to stay in an amazing hotel, eat at some of the best restaurants and have a few hours in a casino!

With or without the kids, where do your Wanderlust dreams take you?

Trips of a Lifetime

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This week my best friend has headed off to Florida for almost 4 weeks. A part of me is super jealous but it also makes me think back to this time last year, when we too were planning for the trip of a lifetime to Florida. In April 2015, we headed off to Orlando for two weeks and really did have an amazing trip. We stayed in a pretty nice villa, visited all the Disney Parks and of course took a trip to Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Since I’m not the type of person to re-visit places over and over, it got me thinking where I’d like to take the next big adventure. Here is my top 3 picks.

1 – California

Truth is, my main reason for wanting to visit California is Los Angeles. And my main reason for wanting to visit LA is Disneyland (and Universal). However that’s honestly not the only reason!

la
For a start, LA is somewhere I have always wanted to go. I think originally it was because Buffy and Angel were filmed there! However it’s also on the opposite coast to the only two places I have visited in the USA (New York and Florida) so it would be nice to see a bit further afield. I’d love to see the Hollywood sign, stroll down the Walk of Fame and maybe even explore a bit further, like San Francisco and the Golden Gate bridge.

2 – Italy

Though not technically the holiday of a lifetime, I can definitely say that Italy is somewhere I have always wanted to go – as have the girls. While a beach holiday would be lovely, especially somewhere all inclusive like loveholiday offers, I would also enjoy a sort of touring holiday.

italy

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is by far my top place to visit in Italy, but I would also love to ride a gondola, see the Colosseum in Rome, go to the Lake Como area and travel to Florence too. I have been to France, Germany, Spain and Denmark so it would be really lovely to add Italy to the list as well.

3 – The Northern Lights

Now technically visiting the Northern Lights, isn’t a place, but its definitely the purpose of the holiday for me. It probably wouldn’t really be ideal as a family holiday (though I think the kids would find it beautiful), I’ve always dreamed of seeing the Northern Lights in person.

Northern-Lights

There are several different places you can go to, in order to see Aurora Borealis. I always assumed I would go to Iceland, but Norway, Sweden, Finland and Canada are all valid options too. I read somewhere that in February, the Northern Lights can even be seen from Scotland, but I don’t think that would be as exciting. I would love to tie in this amazing sightseeing experience, with staying somewhere amazing too – like the Ice Hotel in Sweden.

There are many other places I would love to visit like; New York again (this time with the kids and Chris), Niagara Falls, the new Shanghai Disney and Paris (though I will be doing that later this year – twice!)

My Top Three Travel Destinations – Bucket List addition

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The lovely people at Joe Blogs Network, let me know about this awesome competition that Transun are currently running. You can find all the details here but ultimately the selling point is – win a holiday to see the Northern Lights!!

Way back in September of last year, I officially started a Bucket List. The third thing on that list, is see the Northern Lights. Winning this competition would be a total dream come true for me, as the Northern Light is now my top travel destination. Previously it was visiting Florida, but as regular readers of my blogs will know, I just got back from that once in a lifetime trip and I’m so truly grateful to my mum for making it possible (she paid for the trip as a treat for my family – we’d never have afforded it ourselves!). Anyway, here are my current top three travel destinations, as per my Bucket List.

Northern Lights

Yes it’s the prize for this competition, but truly, seeing the Northern Lights is definitely top of my bucket list destinations. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to see them. Such a beautiful natural phenomenon, I even wrote about them back in November 2013, under the topic of Light. It’s not an all inclusive holiday, there’s no meeting Mickey Mouse and I’m sure it wouldn’t be the best place for a tan, but it really would be the most beautiful holiday on earth. I genuinely hope that it’s a trip I get to make one day, as it would truly be a breathtaking experience and one I’d love to share with someone special like my partner Chris.

Niagara Falls

As you can probably tell, I’m definitely a natural beauty type of person. Sure I loved Florida and Disney World, I loved sightseeing in New York, but really we take for granted some of the most beautiful places to see, those that occur more naturally. Visiting Niagara Falls has always been something I’ve wanted to do, though realistically I’m not sure it’s something I’ll be able to make happen. That said I’d like to see the Falls, both in the daytime and at night time if I am able to go, because I believe the two are quite different and both spectacularly beautiful.

SDCC – San Diego Comic Con

This last choice is a little different to the rest and really just reflects my inner-geek. As much as I’d love to visit several places in the USA, San Diego calls me, solely for its spectacular Comic Con. Just last year I visited London Film and Comic Con for the first time and this year we might venture to MCM Comic Con in London too. However San Diego would be the ultimate goal for a Comic Con, as its heralded as the “main” comic con in the world. Not only would I love to visit the con, I’d love to get photographs and autographs of all the celebrities that just don’t visit the UK – or at least rarely. I’d also love to cosplay and really throw myself into, spending loads of time planning my costume and making it myself. Of course, while in San Diego I’d take in some of the sights, but the convention would be the destination, the rest an awesome addition.

So these are my three bucket list travel destinations, though I have loads more. Traveling is something I thoroughly enjoy and just don’t get the opportunity to do enough, so given the chance I’d visit everywhere once! Fancy entering the competition yourself? Be quick as it ends today!

Northern Lights – Lush Bath Bomb

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Last week I posted about the new Christmas (and Winter generally) range of products being released by Lush. They are now in the shops and this week I was lucky enough to be given one by my best friend Nat. Yesterday I wasn’t feeling very well so after work I headed home and climbed into the bath. I decided to use my new Northern Lights – Bath Bomb.

The Northern Lights bath bomb is so pretty, even before it goes in the bath. It’s purple in colour, with tiny little stars decorating it. However the real magic happens when you place the bath bomb into the water. Then you definitely understand where the bath bomb gets its name from.

When your first drop the bath bomb into the water, you’re greeted with an amazing purple colour, with hints of blue. However as the water runs and the bath bomb dissolves, the colours just get more and more beautiful.

The name “Northern Lights” is just perfect for this bath bomb. I can see exactly why it was named that. Truth be told though, there isn’t much else to say about this bath bomb. It doesn’t especially smell of anything and it doesn’t especially make the bath water smell of anything. It is however, a lovely colour and great fun to watch. That said, I seem to have lost some elements of taste and smell, so I could be wrong and maybe it smells awesome haha.

At £3.50 its certainly not the cheapest of bath bombs, but its definitely an experience to watch and use. I won’t be rushing out to buy it again, but I’m definitely glad to have tried it!

Have you tried any of the new Lush range yet?
Leave your link, I’d love to see!

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#BEDN – Light

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Today’s BEDN topic is Light, inspired by the fact its Diwali today. However the topic is not to write about Diwali itself, just light. I thought about this for some of yesterday and I was coming up a bit blank – a slightly off-topic post about how the children are the “light of my life” perhaps? Instead I’ve decided to write about the Northern Lights, something I would one day love to go and see properly.

Source

To me the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis as it is officially called, is one of the most beautiful natural phenomenons there is. Though its something I have always wanted to see and known what it was, I honestly didn’t really know that much about it. As such, to do this post, I also did a little research.

An aurora is a natural light display in the sky particularly in the high latitude regions, caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere. In northern latitudes, the effect is known as the aurora borealis (or the northern lights). Auroras seen near the magnetic pole may be high overhead, but from farther away, they illuminate the northern horizon as a greenish glow or sometimes a faint red, as if the Sun were rising from an unusual direction. (Source Wikipedia)

Source

According to a Guardian article that I found, there are many places to view the northern lights. Canada, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Alaska, Finland, Greenland and even Scotland are all places people travel to in order to see the lights. Of course, seeing the actual lights is largely dependent on luck and often if you’ve traveled somewhere you are limited by time. I suppose this above all things is what puts me off booking a holiday specifically to see the lights, on the chance that you might spend all that money and not actually see what you came for.

However the lights usually work on an 11 year cycle, some phases being brighter than others. Perhaps one day I will plan a trip and take the risk. I imagine its one of the most breathtaking and magical things you can ever witness.

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