Archives

Jewellery

Poundland Jewellery Mini-Haul

May 6, 2015
Poundland jewellery

Poundland jewellery

Ring holder – £1.00

I love a bargain and on any given shopping trip simply cannot resist a browse around all and any pound shops in the  nearby vicinity. I was aware that Poundland (the undisputed king of all pound shops!) had launched a jewellery range last year sometime, but I’ve never really seen many things that much grabbed my interest. A lot of it looked cheap and nearly all of the pieces in my local stores were gold toned and thus of absolutely zero interest to me, but on our last little foray I spotted quite a few little treasures that I just have to share with you.

First up is the glorious ring holder, now I’ll make a confession right away that the rings on display are actually from Primark, but nevermind that because HELLO FABULOUS RING HOLDER. The hand is made of ceramic and even though I’ve already dropped it twice (oops!) it’s still without any chips or marks. I’d probably have paid quite a lot more than £1 this because it’s frankly amazing. It also comes in white, but as I’m going for a monochrome theme rather than succumbing to all the blogger stereotypes (yeah just ignore those white IKEA brush holders okay???) and buying absolutely everything in white I went for the black one.

Poundland jewellery

Leaf Necklace – £1.00

I’ve seen this in gold about a million times, but I just cannot pull of gold toned jewellery against my skintone so I resisted despite the fact that I adore any sort of trinket and treasure that has leaves or trees on it. Well now it comes in silver so problem solved. This feels the most fragile of the pieces I picked up, but I don’t think I can do that much damage to it just wearing it around my neck…right?

 

Poundland jewellery

Spiky Black Metal Necklace – £1.00

Okay so it’s not actually called that (none of the pieces are named because this is Poundland we are talking about here people) but it is made of black metal and it is spikey and pointy so the name is perfectly chosen! This is the sort of necklace I see and instantly fall in love with, making me willing to part with any amount of cash to make it my own. I’ll be putting this swiftly in my mounting “Festival Accessories That I Can Wear Drunk In A Field And Not Have To Care About Loosing Or Breaking” pile.

 

Poundland jewellery Black Metal Bracelet – £1.00

This is actually the second time I’ve bought this bracelet, which doesn’t initially say much for the longevity of delightful but cheap Poundland jewellery, however I did wear the old one every day for about six months before the band itself started to get loose and eventually one of the clasps broke. I always got a lot of compliments on this bracelet and became very confused and bewildered when I had to accessorize myself without it. Well now it’s back, and even if I only get another six months out of this one it will be worth every one of the hundred pennies it cost.

So there you have it, four pound well spent in my humble opinion. Have you tried any of the Poundland jewellery, and what do you think of the quality for such a low price?

Totally hellbent for being reunited with my favourite bracelet once more <3

Gem 

Events

The Body Shop Detox Party

February 5, 2015

Body Shop Detox Party001 Body Shop Detox Party002 Body Shop Detox Party003 Body Shop Detox Party005 Body Shop Detox Party006 Body Shop Detox Party010

Sunday night we were invited to a Bloggers Detox Party at the Birmingham Bullring Body Shop, and after the fun we had at the last The Body Shop event we knew we were in a for a great evening of pampering and treats!

We were inevitably early and made a beeline for the Starbucks next door where we had what can only be described as the absolute best soy chai lattes ever. The queue for the most heavenly beverage of vegan kind was rather long so by the time we got back to The Body Shop there were a gaggle of familiar faces to natter with before the event started.

After a quick catch up we were all rounded up by Elaine, the manager of the Bullring branch and officially one of the most lovely smiley ladies we’ve ever met, and offered some herbal tea to kickstart our skin detox. It’s worth mentioning a thousand times about just how lovely and enthusiastic the staff at The Body Shop (and that goes for every single member we’ve encountered at every single store!) are, every single one of them knows absolutely everything about the brand, the products and the ethos that drive the company and we’ve never once been greeted by anything but a warm smile in their stores. It’s also worth noting how passionate the staff are about the ethics behind the products and we’ve yet to find a staff member that doesn’t swear by at least one of the products.

We were taken over to Jessica who put us right at ease, going over our current skincare routines and troublesome areas with a patch test before helping us choose which ranges and products we wanted to try. Amie, who suffers with dry skin, went first and after stripping off the carefully applied make up (gasp!) she was treated to a lovely cleansing facial with the Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter [£12.00followed with a touch of Aloe Toner [£8.50] and Vitamin E intensive moisturiser [£13.00].

Body Shop Detox Party009

It was very quickly confirmed that Gemma has much oilier skin, so after another round of the amazing Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter it was time to break out the tea tree and seaweed ranges (which we are both already very well acquainted with!) to get the oil slick under control. Special mention has to go to the Seaweed Mattifying Moisture Lotion [£12.00] which is amazing for shiny skin! We’re both familiar with the roller-ball style eye treatments that are amazing for working away those dark circles on the morning after the night before, but the Drops of Youth Eye Concentrate [£18.00] felt divine and certainly dispersed any worries about being bare faced in a room full of beauty bloggers – quite the opposite – everyone looked absolutely radiant!

Body Shop Detox Party004

Elaine was taking great care of everyone, checking in at each station to make sure everyone had everything they needed, and she came over to introduce us to the Drops of Youth Bouncy Face Mask [£22.00] which is absolutely the most delightful product we’ve come across in a long time! The best way to describe the texture is flubber! It’s bouncy and spongy and very gelatinous but doesn’t feel heavy at all on the skin. It’s an overnight treatment mask that we will be putting to the test very soon, but if the results after only a few minutes of it on are anything to go by, then it’s going to be an absolute skincare necessity!

Body Shop Detox Party008Body Shop Detox Party007IMG_0342

Above is Amie’s re-applied makeup courtesy of Jessica and all the new shiny Body Shop makeup (BB cream in 00, Instablur Eye, Poppy Shimmer – Cube blue 31, Lip & Cheek Stick – 35 for cheeks and 50 for lips and Gel Eyeliner)

We also got a preview of the new Poppy make-up range, which has only just been released. This includes Lip & Cheek Velvet Sticks [£12.00] which comes in four shades, the Universal Lip & Cheek Velvet Stick [£12.00] which is a different shade depending on the PH in your skin, and two brand new Shimmer Cubes [£16.00] in yellow and pink, with some absolutely amazing colours!

At the end of the event, we were also treated to some mini samples of the new Smoky Poppy range, which included a sample of the Smoky Poppy Scrub [£13.00] and the Smoky Poppy Body Butter [£13.00] which are definitely a welcome addition to The Body Shop‘s extensive offerings. A gorgeous fragrance and a scrub that really does pack a punch when it comes down to ridding your skin of all those nasties, it’s definitely a range we will both be dipping into now it’s officially launched.

So we can only finish by congratulating The Body Shop Bullring staff on a wonderful evening and thanking them for giving us back a little bare-faced confidence! We were given a lovely selection of samples from the new Poppy range to play with, and picked up a few bits and pieces at a very generous discount!

Totally hellbent for herbal tea, facials and a little bit of post crimbo pampering

Gem & Pants

Fragrance

Yves Rocher So Elixir Purple EDP

January 28, 2015
Yves Rocher So Elixir Purple

Yves Rocher So Elixir Purple

My very first Glossybox contained an adorable mini-sized bottle of Yves Rocher So Elixir Purple, and I’ve been lusting after a bottle ever since. Luckily Amie is amazing when it comes to picking me presents directly from my cosmetics wish list and she very kindly bought me a bottle for Christmas. As you can see I’ve already made a tiny dent in it, and honestly I’m such a fan of this fragrance I can’t see it lasting long at all!

So Elixir Purple is described as “an infusion of tuberose, essential oils of vetiver, bergamot, patchouli and benzoin extract“, conjuring thoughts of an incensey deep dark scent that fits very much with the feel of the packaging, however I think it’s a much lighter fragrance; fruity – and very heavy on grape/berry notes at first, and it takes a few hours to settle from the initial burst of sweetness.

There is something quite deep and mysterious about So Elixir Purple – oriental undertones and certainly some woody notes – yet on the surface it’s a very feminine and wearable scent.

The inner-geek in me lives in delight that the bottle looks a little bit like a magic potion, and is small and sturdy enough that I feel like I can put it in my handbag without worrying about it breaking. Not that I really have to though, because the scent is pretty long lasting in truth, and I could still pick up hints of it after a long day at the studio.

Yves Rocher were one of the forerunners in banning their cosmetics from animal testing, use no animal products in any of their ranges (with the exception of honey and bees wax) and go out of their way to try and keep their products as organic as possible, so I’m happy knowing I can indulge in their gorgeous fragrances without worrying my conscience.

So Elixir Purple is currently half price direct from the Yves Rocher website at only £16.75 for the 30ml bottle.

Totally hellbent for getting those gifts that you really really want!

Gem

 

 

 

Beauty Boxes

Why I’m cancelling my beauty boxes

January 19, 2015

Glossybox January 2014

After what feels like forever, I’ve finally decided to cancel my Glossybox.

Glossybox was my first subscription box, and to be honest I’ve had a good run, but lately I’ve found myself getting less and less excited by the service, and after one too many disappointing boxes I’ve decided to take a break from not only Glossybox, but also Birchbox, Love me Beauty and You Beauty Discovery.

One of the main reasons is that my subscription beauty boxes were racking up to nearly £50 a month, and although you generally get far more for your money how often do you really end up with things that you actually want or need? That £50 is a new Urban Decay palette with change left over for the MUA counter, or a half-decent trip to MAC.

I think there has just been one too many lipstick shades I’ll never wear, far too much by way of skincare samples that I’ll never get around to using, and worst of all a stash of dreaded perfume vials.

Unfortunately (or fortunately?) my last Glossybox was actually pretty good, five full size products that all look very nice, however I would never have gone out and purchased any of them individually, so really I’m just bulking up my already overwhelming cosmetic stash with things I could probably live without.

There have been plenty of times where I’ve found wonderful products and brands that I now absolutely couldn’t live without – Laura Mercier Primer, HD Brows powder and Ciate nail polishes all come to mind right away – but they’ve certainly been outnumbered by perfume and skincare samples that I’ve got absolutely no interest in.

I don’t think I’m off the subscription box bug completely though, I’ve decided to keep my Pink Parcel subscription (mostly because of how handy it is – check out my review of this month’s PMT busting box here) and I might order the odd one-off box here and there, but having five or six boxes a month has really taken away the fun of it for me.

When I first started blogging about beauty products, it seemed that I could never get enough new things to try out but in truth it’s all just gathering dust (hypothetically…it’s all organised meticulously in Alex drawers of course…!) and taking up space that I could have filled with things I really really wanted.

If money and storage space weren’t an issue I’d probably keep them all, but both need a serious overhaul in truth so for now it’s bye bye boxes.

How do you feel about beauty subscription boxes? Have they become a bit jaded for you, or do you still wait by the postbox eagerly for your monthy surprise box of treats?

Totally hellbent for deciding what to spend the saved money on!

– Gem

Hauls

January Sales Haul

January 9, 2015

January Haul001

You know when you probably shouldn’t go shopping but you do anyway? Well Pants and I decided that a touch of retail therapy would be the perfect pick-me-up when we went into the city to send my lovely boyfriend back to university in Holland after the winter holidays, in fact the proximity of Debenhams to the coach station means it was all sort of meant to be.

January Haul005

I knew right away that Christmas money would almost certainly be sent to the Urban Decay stand, but I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted. Luckily Pants is the best friend in the world and already bestowed the gift of the Electric Palette on me for Christmas (as well as Naked 3 for my birthday last year – spoiled I know!) so it was a toss-up between 1 and 2. The extremely lovely and helpful lady at the UD stand swatched practically every colour in both palettes, despite the fact we must have poured over swatch posts for hours, and eventually we both left with a shiny new Naked 2 palette [£37.00] on the premise that we simply couldn’t live without the matte black shade. I also picked up this adorable Beauticology set [£2.50] at the counter which smells delicious and I want to eat it all right now.

January Haul003

I remembered I had some money left on a Boots card, so we went to take a peek there where I snatched up this Soap & Glory minis set for £5 [sold out online]. I already know I love all the products, and they will be stashed safely away for my next jaunt to the mainland saving me lots of precious bag space!

January Haul004I’m a true bargain lover at heart, so no trip to town would be complete without a a perusal of Poundland where we found a nice stash of Rimmel Apocalips! I already owned the other shades on the shelf so I thought I’d give Nude Eclipse [£6.49]  a try . I’ve also been really impressed by the new Make-Up Gallery range, and have really loved a few of the nail products so I went for this cuticle oil as mine are an absolute state after a Christmas full of construction work (more on that ambiguous statement in another post soon I’m sure!)

January Haul002

Finally the lure of Primark called out to us, where I composed myself like a proper grown up and definitely didn’t squee with delight at finding a My Little Pony T-shirt for only £3.00. I followed that with a little strop because I saw the The Beatles shirt for the same price, yet only in a size six…so I did what any experienced band t-shirt wearer did and bought it anyway with plans to alter it into a halter shirt.

Opperation: Shopping-trip-to-fill-the-space-my-boyfriend-leaves-with-pretty-stuff was a resounding sucess and hardly damaged my post-festive-season bank balance at all. From this point on thought there’s going to be a serious cosmetics/clothing spending ban whilst I try to recover from going a little overboard with spoiling my friends and family this year!

Did you find any amazing bargains in the sale, or treat yourself to anything particularly nice with Christmas money?

Totally hellbent for shopping with my bestie always and forever

Gem

Beauty Boxes

Pink Parcel Review

January 5, 2015

Pink Parcel Review Pink Parcel Review Pink Parcel Review

There seems to be a new subscription box popping up every five minutes these days, but I’ve yet to see anything else as genuinely useful as Pink Parcel. There’s no point in trying to dress it up into something coy or fancy – this is a period survival box and it is fantastic! You choose from your preferred type and brand of sanitary products (including most of the familiar names – Lilets, Tampax, Always etc) and they send you enough to cover you for the whole ordeal, including varieties in absorbencies and the choice of night-time specific products.

When you sign up you enter the dates for your lady cycle so the box is delivered a few days beforehand…you know…right around that time where you really do need to eat all the chocolate in the world-

-which is handy because as well as the actual essentials, the Pink Parcel also includes lots of treats that should damn well be counted as essential. The “for you” box contains different treats every month that should help lift the veil of rage/emotional distress/need to eat chocolate that comes with the ever charming time of the month.

My box contained six little treats; first up a Divine Caramel Milk Chocolate bar [£1.00 – 40g] that is genuinely divine and  a Pukka Detox tea bag[£2.49 – 20 bags] which I LOVE. I’m a huge fan of Pukka teas and I always love the chance to try a new flavour! The Balance Activ PH Balances Feminine Wipes [£1.97are an obvious but welcome addition, perfect for throwing in your handbang (and they are flushable!). I was super excited when I saw (or rather smelt!) the Flamingo Candles Pomegranate and White Fig Scent Melt [£2.00], it’s a really unique fragrance and I can’t wait to stick it in a burner – a perfect pick-me-up for PMT really!

Finally the really good stuff – the Max Factor False Lash Effect 24hr mascara [£11.99] is worth more than the standard monthly subscription alone, and although I can’t say I’ve ever been particularly drawn to this particular mascara, I certainly won’t turn down the chance to give it a try! I’ll admit that Made in Chelsea can be a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine, so I was vaguely aware that Binky had released her own make-up rage, however I wasn’t expecting it to be priced so lowly! The Binky London lipstick in Romance [£2.95is a gorgeous glossy and very pigmented red, the exact sort of shade I would choose for myself actually, and so was the perfect addition to this box of treats.

I’m definitely very pleased with my first Pink Parcel, and I think it’s totally worth every penny. The first box is only £5.95 including P&P, and further boxes are £9.99, also inclusive of P&P. When you consider what you would usually spend on “lady products” and then factor in the extra treats, I think it’s fair to say that you are definitely getting your moneys worth!

If you’d like a Pink Parcel of your very own you can subscribe at PinkParcel.co.uk.

Totally hellbent for a well timed and much needed monthly treat!

Gem

 

Events

#BHMBloggerMeet @ The Body Shop

December 4, 2014

BHMBloggermeet November f 2014 IMG_1765

 

 

BHMBloggermeet November 2014 IMG_1744BHMBloggermeet November 2014 IMG_1737BHMBloggermeet November 2014 IMG_1749BHMBloggermeet November 2014 IMG_1735BHMBloggermeet November 2014 IMG_1756

 

It’s rare that we will venture together into Birmingham City Centre this time of year (there are plenty of quieter spots to do your Christmas shopping without the manic queues you get in town!) but we were very excited to be invited to the #BHMBloggerMeet, and couldn’t resist the lure of  a night in The Body Shop with fellow local Bloggers!

Of course whilst we were already in the heaving shopping centres it would have been rude not to do a little shopping. Or a lot! We had a fair few bags by the time we made our way to The Body Shop, but it seemed everyone else did too! After all the shopping was stashed safely away we had a little time to mingle and browse before the fun and games started, but really the whole night felt very casual and fun from start to finish.

Time flew by in a whirl of make-up demonstrations, hand massages, games, sampling all the treats on offer and of course shopping. The staff at The Body Shop were all so passionate about their jobs and the core values and ethics of the company, they really made the night for us and recommended quite  a few products that we’ve never considered before (which of course we snatched up right away!)

One of the games involved writing a little message for a cupcake and instagramming the results and Gemma won a goody bag for the best caption (or possibly the best Instagram filter ;)

Remember that sparkles are forever, not just for #Christmas! #bhmbloggermeet #bbloggers

A photo posted by Gemma Lawler (@gemma_dakesis) on

BHMBloggermeet November 2014IMG_1780

The night was so much fun and time flew past so quickly, but of course we made time to grab a whole host of treats for ourselves with a very generous 50% off, which has now unfortunately ended, but don’t let that stop you popping in store or online to grab some festive bargains. We definitely recommend the seasonal ranges – Glazed Apple, Vanilla Brulee and Frosted Cranberry. We only planned on indulging in the hand creams (which Amie reviewed here) but at 50% off we couldn’t resist quite a few other pieces!

BHMBloggermeet November 2014IMG_1770

At the end we were given a lovely goodie bag containing even more treats from The Body Shop including vouchers and samples of the seasonal body butters, a bag of scrumptious Propercorn,  a reusable cup from Starbucks, and an adorable chocolate reindeer!

BHMBloggermeet November 20141BHMBloggermeet November 2014DSC_2043

We will be sharing our mini-hauls in another post later in the week, so keep an eye out!

Finally we have to say a massive thank you to the lovely Abbigayle of StealStylist.com for hosting and organising the event, and to the amazing staff at The Body Shop for their warm hospitality and infectious enthusiasm!

Totally Hellbent for some of our favorite things – bloggers and The Body Shop!

Gem & Pants

Nails, News

Free Nails Inc. polishes with Glamour

November 11, 2014
Free Nails Inc with Glamour

Free Nails Inc with Glamour

Free Nails Inc with glamour magazine

 

This month Glamour are really spoiling us with four very autumnal polishes from Nails Inc – Tate, Hanover Square, Marylebone Mews and Wigmore Street.  They are all absolutely gorgeous shades and worth £11 each, so considering the magazine is only £2.00 you’re getting £44.00 of nail polishes for £8 (which is far too much of a bargain for anyone to resist I’m sure!)

All four were instant must-haves for me, but I think the very vampy purple hues of Wigmore Street have stolen my heart and pride of place on my nails for the foreseeable future!

Also included is a 20% off H&M voucher and a Body Shop “Little card of Christmas wishes” worth between £3 and £1000!

Usually I find I have to search around a bit to complete a magazine freebie collection, but I’ve seen all four shades in plenty of shops this time around so if you’re after all four head out now whilst they are plentiful!

Totally hellbent for Glamour filling up at least half of my Nails Inc collection over the past few years!

– Gem

Hauls, Lifestyle, Vegan, Vegetarian

West Midlands Vegan Festival

November 3, 2014

West Midlands Vegan Festival

 

A week on Saturday we pried ourselves away from the internet and our home offices to go to Vegan Fest 2014 in Wolverhampton. We took our trusty carnivorous band mates Adam and Matt along so they could sample some delights. This event had been in our calendar for a few months since we couldn’t get down to London (next year maybe!) but having such an event almost on our door steps really couldn’t be missed. We met many lovely people including the brains and beauty behind The Vegan Kind Box and discovered many delicious treats and shinies to take home as treasured spoils.

Here are some of the delights we brought home:

 

vegan-fest-spoils

 

 

Round Up Hand Crafted Gourmet Wagon Wheel Cake

I definitely miss marshmallows as a non meat eater. Unfortunately they are in a lot of nice foods – wagon wheels, rocky road cake, luxurious hot chocolates from the German Market. When we saw these, we’d almost convinced ourselves that we didn’t need them. Unfortunately second time round the stalls, we didn’t get away and ended up buying one each. Since I knew I was going for an hour long power walk that evening, I had mine immediately after taking a few snaps and it was absolutely divine! Much better than the “real thing” and something I’ll be on the look out for again.

£2.50 from Ananda Foods

 

Vege Bears – Slightly Sour

Another thing I miss is sour sweets – Haribo Tangfastic Cherry’s and fizzy cola bottles if I had to pinpoint them specifically. These were found on the way in and were the first purchase of the day. Surprisingly, they’ve lasted me all week and although they aren’t quite Haribo they come a close second.

£12.39 for 8 packs from Amazon

 

Harper’s Bizarres Soya Candle in Cinnamon Dreams

I’m a huge candle lover, so finding Vegan scented candles that are animal friendly was like a dream come true. If the array of deliciously scented candles wasn’t enough to fuel our need to buy things, the lady behind it all was an absolute pleasure to talk to and made the whole experience of sniffing candles a thousand times more exciting. This candle was an experimental one and I really hope they decide to make more because it is absolutely gorgeous. I’ve already got a list of the other candles I’m going to pick up from her online store next payday as well.

£5.00 from Harper’s Bizarres

 

Dairy-Free Bellissimo Parmesan

As a child we would always have grated Parmesan in the cupboard reserved strictly for “Spag Bol” nights, after discussing this at the Harper’s Bizarres stand, we were kindly pointed into the direction of Ananda foods where they had an ample supply of Vegan Parmesan. I’ve tried it since on a few pasta dishes and it’s absolutely perfect as well as reunited me with a few childhood memories.

£3.49 from Ananda Foods

 

Lush Snow Fairy 

I wish they had pop up Lush stands everywhere! I can maybe manage to stand in a store for about 10 seconds before I’m hit in the face with a massive migraine, so being able to browse a few bits without this was amazing. Gem spotted the snow fairy first and after I’d given it a sniff I was hooked. I bought this and ended up with a free sample of beard wax and a badge too.

£3.75 from Lush

 

Banana Choc Drizzle Marshmallows

As I mentioned above, I miss marshmallows so much and recently thrived off having a taste of “Freedom Mallows” in a recent Vegan Kind box. When I saw these I just had to try them. I’m a bit of a sucker for Banana flavored things, so I was pretty excited about munching my way through these, even if my inner self was frowning at the potential calorie count. Despite my excitement though, they weren’t that nice which was a little disappointing. Having been spoiled with Freedom Mallows I think I ruined the future of Vegan mallows for myself. Still they won’t go to waste as my other half will be sinking his teeth into them.

£3.75 from Ananda Foods

 

 

West Midlands Vegan Fest Haul

 

Vegan Kind #TVK12 Box

Amie has been a subscriber to the amazing Vegan Kind box for nearly a year now, but I’ve never quite talked myself into it on the basis that I’m a really fussy eater (and anytime there is something I would enjoy inside Amie shares hers with me anyway!) but after meeting the lovely masterminds behind the box I just had to pick on up from their stand. You can see the full contents and read Amie’s thoughts on TVK12 here.

£7.00 (full price £10 + P&P) from The Vegan Kind

 

Harper’s Bizarres Soya Candle in Waffles 

I really had to talk myself out of buying one of everything from the Harper’s Bizarres stand, but finally settled on “Waffles” a one-off experiment fragrance that completely satisfied all my sugary cravings! All the candles are handmade from vegan-friendly soy wax and are completely animal friendly, and with so many gorgeous scents on offer I’m sure to be placing another order online soon!

£5.00 from Harper’s Bizarres

 

Dairy-Free Bellissimo Parmesan

I am one of those terrible vegetarians who tries to go vegan every other week but ultimately fails because of cheese. This however might just be my savoir! It’s not too heavy on the calories and does have a lovely nutty cheesy flavour.

£3.49 from Ananda Foods

 

Round Up Hand Crafted Gourmet Wagon Wheel Cake

The thing I miss most from my omnivore days is probably a toss-up between jelly sweets and marshmallows, so seeing a whole stand full of fluffy white nommy-ness, I knew I had to have something. I settled for a vegan wagon wheel and oh my god – it’s the best thing ever! Way nicer than I remember it being even!

£2.50 from Ananda Foods

 

Lush Snow Fairy 

I’ve always wanted to try Snow Fairy, but much like Amie I find that going into the Lush stores gives me a headache. Seeing it on the Lush stand meant I had to have a quick sniff and it was purchased mere moments later! The lovely Lush ladies also gave me a free beard wax that has been put aside for Roode, and a badge.

£3.75 from Lush

 

Miso On The Go Soup

I’m not actually a fan of miso soup as I find it far too fishy, but my other half adores all things that taste of the ocean so he will be receiving the many many free samples I picked up along the trip!

£0.90 from Clearspring

 

We had an amazing time and already can’t wait for our next Vegan adventures. It definitely makes us feel more comfortable knowing that we can still eat all the (naughty) nice things whilst keeping up our cruelty free lifestyle. Have you been to any Vegan/Veggie related events recently? If so, let us know which ones and what spoils you picked up!

Totally hellbent for not having to check labels when we shop

Gem & Pants

Make-up

Hershey’s and Pepsi Flavoured Lotta Love Lip Balms

October 28, 2014

Hersheys Lip Balms 1 Hersheys Lip balms 2 Hersheys Lip balms 3

I’m an avid collector of flavoured lip-balms, I think it’s because it reminds me of being a pre-teen and spending my hard earned pocket money on the little tubs from The Body Shop, so when I saw this set of four Hersheys balms for only £2.99 in my local B&M  I snapped it up right away!

I thought at first they were import Lipsmackers, but they are made by a company called Lotta Luv who actually license lip balms from quite a few famous brands.

I’ll admit to only trying three of the four as not only am I allergic to peanuts but I hate the smell of them , so the Reeces Pieces balm will be finding a home with my boyfriend who loves the stuff (and stealing all my lip balms!)

Now the three I have used are marvellous Hershey’s, Hershey’s Kisses and Hershey’s caramel are all very sweet chocolate scents, yet they all do smell different and like they products they emulate! I became a huge fan of Hershey’s chocolate when I visited New York, it doesn’t quite taste like anything we have here in England, and though you can find it here occasionally it’s quite difficult to track down unless you go to a dedicated imported sweets shop. Well now I can save my waistline and still indulge in Americana nostalgia!

Hershey’s and Hershey’s Kisses are lightly tinted, which I love for adding a touch of colour on lazy days. All three have a lovely buttery texture, and though novelty flavoured lip-balms never quite seem to have the moisturizing power of other less interesting balms, they make up for it with the fun factor!

H Pepsi Lip Balm

As great as the little box set is, though, this Pepsi Wild Cherry balm is my absolute new favourite in the whole world and it only cost me 59p! As with the Hershey’s this is made by Lotta Love and has a similar texture, but the tint is much stronger making it a perfect contender for a casual day lip.

Unfortunately I  haven’t seen any on-line stores stocking these lip balms, but both can be found on Amazon and Ebay with a little luck, else you can try and track them down in a local B&M store.

What’s your favourite flavoured lip balm?

Totally hellbent for all the yummy flavours with none of the yucky calories!

– Gem