Visit to Star Buds Tea Room and Nursery.

My Mum, Dad and I paid a visit to a wonderful tea room and nursery not too far from where we live, although we had never been before we were impressed by the friendly atmosphere and lovely homemade cakes. I had a decaf cappuccino with cream accompanied with a tasty brownie. My Dad had a homemade lemon drizzle type cake, which he commented to be very nice while my Mum had a toasted teacake with a cup of coffee.

I loved the contemporary interior, the style was really eye-catching with light up stars and latest magazines to read while you have a moment to yourself. We had a look around the nursery afterwards, it was pleasant to ponder round all the blooming plants, it made me feel ready for spring. My Dad picked out some yellow flowers including daffodils and a striking pot to put them in. Overall we really enjoyed the visit and felt it would be nice to pop in for a cuppa again sometime. I brought my camera along to capture some of the experience, I hope you enjoyed my review!

Do you like visiting these kind of places too? Do you have a favourite tearoom near you, if so what’s it like? :-) xxx

Caudalie ‘Zeste de Vigne’ Shower Gel

Following an online natural beauty haul I have been trying this shower gel by Caudalie. I wanted to treat myself to a high end product and this shower gel caught my eye. It’s a tad pricey at £8.55 but I was hoping for something rather special from the brand. This is my first Caudalie product, I’ve seen reviews popping up from them on beauty blogs. What is great about the shower gel is it has a natural formula, it’s suitable for sensitive skin, soap-free, vegetarian, and free from parabens, perfumes, and synthetic colours. From the description on the bottle it tells us it is enriched with aloe vera and helps maintain the skins pH balance. The scent is described as sweet lemon, petitgrain and bergamot.

So how did I find this product? I felt it did restore my skins pH balance and the gel like formula was really intriguing, like none of the other shower gels I have used. I felt very spoilt when applying it in the shower. The sweet lemon scent was apparent and I got a whiff of the other ingredients. The scent didn’t blow me away but it was very pleasant. I think the contemporary packaging is very eye-catching and although I am inquisitive to try out other Caudalie products I don’t think I will be repurchasing this item, mainly down to the price. Buy here.

Have you ever tried something from Caudalie? What is your go-to shower gel? :-) xxx

Burt's Bees Nourishing Mango Lip Balm

Today I will be chatting about the Burt’s Bees mango lip balm. My Mum bought me it for me on my last birthday and I have been enjoying using it on and off since then. I have used a few Burt’s Bees products in the past so my Mum knew I liked the brand beforehand. It’s a lovely everyday lip balm and the scent of mango is lovely. The formula is 100% natural and uses vegetarian friendly bees wax and it’s free from parabens. You can buy it on Naturismo for £3.99, click here.

It’s a perfect lip balm now we are coming slowly into spring. During the winter months I have been reaching for something a little more heavy duty, Blistex or Carmex lip balms are ace for this. I would say mango is more of a spring/summer scent too. I find after using this product my lips feel nice and soft and I prefer this lip balm to the Nivea ones which seem to do the same kind of thing. The packaging is bright and eye-catching too. I would recommend this lip balm if you enjoy using Burt’s Bees products or you just like mango. It’s one of those products that’s really handy to chuck in your bag and to apply during the day.

Do you like Burt’s Bees products too? What lip balm have you been reaching for at the moment? :-) xxx

Naturisimo // Natural Beauty Product Haul

In today’s post I have a haul from a natural beauty online store I recently discovered through Emma at JustEmma.co.uk. Thank you to her for introducing me to some new brands over on her blog and recommending Naturismo.com because I was struggling to find an affordable place online for natural and organic beauty products. Overall I was very pleased with their service, the free postage and quick delivery was excellent plus the prices were better than a lot of other similar retailers. I wanted to treat myself to something which was also practical so thought I would try two luxurious shower gels, one by Weleda and the other by Caudalie. I had never used a Caudalie product before so felt excited about trying their zeste shower gel. The Weleda Sea Buckthorn Creamy Body Wash looked promising from the reviews and know the brand is good quality.

This haul was focussed around trying new brands and although I have tried a perfume by Pacifica I was curious to see if their skincare range matched up, these coconut cleansing wipes looked gorgeous and I looked forward to trying them. I have been wanting to try some products by Ila Spa for the past month or so and by purchasing their travel set I could try different products in miniatures to see if they were any good. This haul was a bit of a treat for me, to give myself a bit of a pick me up, I can’t wait to get trying these natural/organic products and reviewing them!

Do any of these products take your fancy? Do you have any natural/organic beauty recommendations for me? :-) xx

Caudalie Zeste de Vigne Shower Gel £8.55 (Buy Here)

Weleda Sea Buckthorn Creamy Body Wash £6.92 (Buy Here)

Pacifica Purify Coconut Water Cleansing Wipes £4.99 (Buy Here)

Ila Spa Travel Essentials Collection £12.00 (Buy Here)

Valentine’s Love Heart Cupcakes

Valentine’s day is nearly upon us and I’ve read lots of interesting related blog posts from other bloggers such as baking, lifestyle, wish lists to gift ideas so I wanted to get into the spirit this week and post some of my own content. So far I have done a gingerbread heart biscuits bake and a review of a Pukka tea variety called ‘Love’. Today’s post I am sharing another bake, I made cupcakes decorated in chocolate, sprinkles and love heart sweets. The recipe was fairly straightforward, I used a basic cupcakes recipe and then decorated accordingly to my Valentine’s theme.

I was pleased with the results, the cupcakes were really delicious and the zingy lemon taste of the sweets gave it a little something extra. If you haven’t yet got your other half a gift or you want to celebrate the day in another way I would really recommend baking cupcakes, biscuits or whatever grabs your mood. I hope my lovely readers have an awesome day!! How do you plan to spend your Valentine’s? :-) X

Pukka ‘Love’ Herbal Tea

I thought as its coming up to Valentine’s Day it would be the perfect opportunity to review this tea which is love themed. On the box it’s described as a heart-warming touch of organic rose, chamomile & lavender. It has quite a herby smell and I would agree it’s heart-warming. It’s very comforting to drink and one of my favourites from the Pukka brand, my all time favourite being elderberry & echinacea (review here) but love is a close second. I’ve sampled a few Pukka varieties but haven’t liked all of them, three mint didn’t taste very nice! There is still some I am yet to try but they can be rare and difficult to get hold of.

I started getting into drinking herbal tea a few years back when it became more available and popular. I think that Pukka love would make an awesome Valentine's gift especially if your spouse is into tea. If you are interested in where to buy Pukka tea online I would suggest Holland & Barrett as well as Naturismo. You can buy one box of tea for £2.39 and it includes 20 sachets.

Does this variety sounds tempting? Have you tried any Pukka teas recently? :-) xx

Valentine's Gingerbread Heart Biscuits

If you don’t already know Valentine’s Day is next weekend so I thought I would share a themed baking post today. I really enjoyed making these gingerbread biscuits and they tasted super delicious. I got the recipe from a cute recipe book I’ve had a while called Cakes & Cookies for Beginners, click here to buy. I used ginger to get that authentic gingerbread taste but using cinnamon or mixed spice would be equally good. I actually baked these last year but never shared them on my blog but it was one of my favourite bakes as I was pleased with the results.

I used a 10cm wide shaped cutter to create the iconic heart symbol. I bought it on Amazon, they have a great selection. The recipe was actually fairly straight forward and used everyday ingredients. If you are feeling extra creative you could top the biscuits with icing or dip them in melted chocolate, there are so many options! I find baking so fun and therapeutic plus I love tasting the results. Themed Valentine's biscuits would add a really personal touch to a gift, you could wrap them in a cellophane bag and tie it with red ribbon.

Do you like gingerbread biscuits too? Have I inspired you to do some Valentine's baking? Hope you all have a wonderful Valentine’s Day! :-D Xx

Urban Veda Soothing Body Scrub

Hope you are all having an amazing weekend so far. I’ve been testing out some natural and organic products out recently after featuring a Holland & Barrett haul earlier in the month here. I love trying out new brands and had never come across Urban Veda before. What I loved about this scrub initially was it was organic and had no SLS, parabens or GM ingredients. I also discovered it was marketed as gentle and soothing on this skin. For the 200ml it was £8.99 but there were offers on Holland & Barrett so I paid a little less. Buy here.

I have been happily using this scrub a few times a week and have found it a pleasure to use. The texture isn’t too gritty but when exfoliating it leaves a lovely impression on the skin. While using it in the shower, it stimulates circulation yet has a very therapeutic quality and improves moisture balance. The scent is very earthy and pleasant. It does exactly what it claims on the bottle in my eye and it does seem to claim to do a lot but it met up to expectations. The packaging is quite nice but it’s one of those products which just does its job well. Overall it’s a really lovely body scrub and would recommend it to my blog readers.

Have you tried any products by Urban Veda before? Have I tempted you to make a cheeky purchase? :-) Xx

My Current Beauty, Clothing and Lifestyle Favourites

Something I’ve not done before over on my blog is a favourites post and decided it would be the perfect opportunity to show what I’ve been loving at the moment (and there’s a lot!). With Christmas and the January sales I’ve been indulging in the things I love, mostly to combat January blues.

I’m currently reading Caroline Flack's autobiography and thoroughly enjoying it as it’s really interesting. Plus it’s easy to get absorbed with the easy writing style and I am flying through the pages. I know everyone’s been loving Adele’s new album me included but my current playlist is Leona’s and Jason Derulo’s new albums. I'm so into ‘Get Ugly’ as it’s a great upbeat dance track.

I have a few new clothing favourites including a pastel check scarf, which is such great quality. The fabric is very generous so it’s nice to wrap around the neck for a super cosy and chic look. The cossack hat is something really different in style and works wonders paired with the scarf. A few other bits I’ve mentioned in previous posts have added joy to my day, including drinking a Whittard hot chocolate, wearing my Lavera eyeshadow, applying Laura Mercier hand cream and lots more!

What things have you been spoiling yourself with lately? Do we have similar taste in something? :-) Xxx

Info & Links

Mink Ballerina Slippers from Store Twenty One £4
Pastel Check Scarf from Store Twenty One £8 £5
Mink Faux Fur Cossack Hat from Store Twenty One £8 £4
Grey and Navy Joggers from Next £24 (Buy here)
Blue Denim Joggers £24 (Buy here)
Laura Mercier Hand Creams (Review here)
Lavera Mineral Eyeshadow Quad (Review here)
Caroline Flack, Storm In A C Cup Autobiography (Buy here)
Leona Lewis ‘I am’ CD (Buy here)
Jason Derulo ‘Everything Is’ CD (Buy here)
Whittard Hot Chocolate (Review here)
Paperchase 2016 Diary (Buy here)

Lavera Mineral Eyeshadow In 02 Cappuccino Cream

Hi! I’m a little bit excited to be writing todays post as I have a makeup item that has really impressed me. I bought this eyeshadow quad in a health shop on holiday last summer and since then I have been wearing the eyeshadows most days I go out. There were a couple of different shades to choose from, I went for a neutral palette which I have found incredibly wearable for day or night.

There is a cream colour perfect for highlighting and this has a sophisticated shimmer to it and I apply this all over the lid but mostly on my brow bone. The other three shades are different variations of brown which are beautiful too. These also have a very natural shimmer to them. They are mineral based and can be applied to look natural or built up to look more prominent.

I was actually going to get the Urban Decay neutral palette originally but so glad I bought this first. I have been really impressed by the Lavera brand. As follows some extra information about the product: 100% natural. Certified organic. Vegan. Free from parabens, sulphates, petrochemicals, silicones, synthetic dyes, artificial fragrance. I would thoroughly recommend this product to anyone, the eyeshadows create a really classy look to the eye, and the product is very high quality. It was priced at £12.50. Click here to buy online.

Do you like the look of this product? What eye products do you reach for daily? :-) Xxx