Lush review: The Golden Wonder.

So seeing as I got an obscene amount of Lush products this year for Christmas (someone must have heard about my new obsession, likely everyone) and considering how baffling it was to a relative Lush newbie to choose some products to try, I decided to review everything I use :) I honestly don't know if this is something that will interest you or not, but frankly I don't much care as it's my blog so I'm writing it anyway :) If I can help introduce just one person to magic of Lush, then my job is complete. I would just like to take this moment to simultaneously thank and curse Zoella and Sprinkle of Glitter for introducing me to Lush, I am now forever poor.

I'd just like to say, I took a ridiculously unnecessary amount of pictures of what this bath bomb does, so I will just pop them all on the bottom. I'm sorry, I'm easily excited. I'd also like to add that they are pretty crappy as they were taken on my ancient iPhone. Perhaps if these posts get enough interest I will feel brave enough to take my proper DSLR in the bathroom to take some photos of the other products :)

Anyways, let's get started. Today's review is for the limited edition Christmas Golden Wonder bath bomb. Firstly, I'd like to say this was a very exciting bath bomb, it had a lot of action when I put in the bath and gave me a right little show before I dipped into the water. However, this does mean that it is not a fast bath product, definitely not a drop in and go. This fizzes around for a good long while seducing you into the steamy water. It makes the water feel really soft on your skin, I'm pretty sure it includes some kind of moisturiser as it felt like silk to touch and my skin was all smooth after. It turns the bath a really pretty turquoise colour, which is cool, but I found that the smell wasn't actually that strong which is a little disappointing. That may have just been me that couldn't smell it very well though! The best part is unlike my first Lush experience, this did not require me to scrub at the bath for an hour afterwards to remove all the colour, it just washes out with the water :)

**SPOILERS AHEAD** For those who do not like to know what their bath bomb is going to do in the water, do not read any further!

When you pop it in the bath, the first thing it does is fizz up and the white top goes soft like a melting marshmallow. It fizzes around for quite a while, leaving a trail of turquoise behind it. Then it burst open and 3 mini bath bombs came out that fizzed around and spread more colour, green blue and purple. Those fizz around for a while spreading colours until your bath is completely turquoise. Then you will start to notice little gold stars everywhere. Now these are particularly awesome because when I first saw these, I had visions of finding them all over myself and the bath for days to come. But the clever clogs at Lush had already thought of that. These starts very cleverly dissolve in the water, no cleaning required. You will also notice when you get in the water, only in the right light, you catch glimpses of glitter. Again, this is very clever, because it's not actual glitter that sticks to thing, your water simply...sparkles :) it's magical.

So, all over I think it's a winner, and not bad for £3.50. Sadly, these little gems are only available around Christmas, hence why I have a little stash in my drawer. If you get to your local store quick, they might still have some left!

Puddy <3

Getting in the mood.

Christmas is here! I can't believe Christmas is here next week and I'm only just getting around to making a festive post. Even worse that I haven't posted a single festive video (or video at all for that matter) to my YouTube. But let's not discuss that, you didn't come here for a long rant about my hatred for technology.

I'm ching ching chinging (inside joke for any friends or long term readers of mine) and I want to share with you the things that have helped me to feel this way :) let's go!

1. Christmas music - ah the sweet sound of festivity. I know there are many people out there that say they hate Christmas music, I myself was once one of them, however I truly believe you just haven't found the right song yet. Everybody has one, at least, even if it's only very loosely included as festive. My ultimate song is The Pogues - Fairytale of New York. If you don't know this song, look it up right now (For over 13's only!), however if you are not from the UK don't expect to get it. I have never met an American who understands this being included as a Christmas song. This year I have found a song that almost tops The Pogues as my favourite though, and that is due mostly to the John Lewis Christmas advert. I urge you, listen to the song. Lily Allen - Somewhere Only We Know, I'm addicted. I actually bought the book because I love it so much. I don't have children, nor do I have any in my family. I'm saving it for my own kids. Love it.

2. Christmas adverts: Along the same lines, I actually really enjoy the adverts this time of year. Usually throughout the year when I rarely do switch on the tv, I just skip through any ad breaks. But this time of year they take a sweet and romanticised turn where they actually become enjoyable. Other than the Bare & the Hare which is obviously the best, I really like the Tesco Christmas advert, and also the full length Sainsburys Christmas in a day documentary, which makes me cry!

3. Christmas baking/food: I love any excuse to bake, and Christmas in general for me means lots of food! So baking has become a big part of our festivities. Every year, my nan brings a Mars Bar cheesecake, and in recent years I attempt to make themed cupcakes. I'm afraid this year though I may be a little too busy. I did however manage to introduce everyone to my nans traditional recipe at the work Christmas lunch, so I consider that a success.

4. Christmas movies: These are the best. Even though I now (mostly at least) watch the grown up ones that tend to make me cry, or that I can sit with a glass of wine, chocolate and watch feeling sorry for myself (Bridget Jones, Love Actually, The Holiday I'm looking at you). If you're looking for something a little more light hearted and childish, I have to recommend Arthur Christmas and The Guardians, highly enjoyed both of those. However for me this year, it's all about The Holiday. If you haven't seen it yet, get a move on!

Those are just a few of the things making me feel festive this year, what are yours?

Puddy <3

Do something amazing.

Hi all,

Just a quick post from me today, as the link I am about to send you has all the information you could possibly need. My friends and I are raising money for an amazing friend of ours to purchase a new, custom to her needs wheelchair. As one of the many things we will be doing, I am going to be bungee jumping on Sunday 09/02/14. As you all know, I am absolutely petrified of heights, and although bungee jumping for charity is on my 12-18 month bucket list, I have to say it was one of things I though least likely for my to achieve when writing it. Which is why it has come one of the first points I have targeted.

Please help us to reach our £1500 target and purchase the wheelchair of her dreams to give her back her independence. If you cannot afford to donate, or even if you can, don't fret! Just visit the link below to see how else you can help to spread awareness and otherwise get involved. Help us to change a life.

The link will be at the top of my blog until the campaign ends in January. Let's smash the target!

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/anisah-s-new-wheels

Puddy <3

VIP fashion event? Count me in!

Well I remembered at last that this is meant to, at least in small part, be a fashion blog! Whoops! Recently with thanks to my friend Amy, I was invited to a VIP Spring/Summer range pre screening event with New Look. We travelled down to the New Look Head Office in London and prepared for an exciting day of clothes, free food and drink, and muchos fashion points. And I have to say, we were not disappointed. There were several items in the range that I am looking forward to seeing, I'll be really gutted if they don't make the final cut.

The idea was that these were the items they had chosen so far, but none of them were guaranteed to make it to the shelves as they tested them on their consumers. Everything had a tag on it, and we were to scan the tags of anything we really liked. We were also given comment cards, to drop in the boxes next to each little section, simple really. Amy and I must have scanned at least 50 items each, and really enjoyed getting to have a nose at what was coming up. Unfortunately, the food wasn't quite up to scratch, but we had a good laugh at my subtly trying to dispose of half eaten bits of food that I couldn't bring myself to finish. We were approached to complete a survey, and got to show some of our favourite bits, as well as some of the bits we weren't so keen on, and comment on what we thought the range was missing.

At the end of it, New Look gave us a rather impressive goodie bag, which consisted of a New Look reusable bag filled with a free pair of flip flops, a snood, a couple of bracelets, a New Look catalogue, a Look magazine, some sweets and a £10 New Look voucher. We also were given £5 for participating in the survery. I was very impressed by the freebies, and by how much attention New Look seemed to be paying to their customers opinions.

Well played New Look, well played. I now cannot wait for your Summer collection so I can spend all my money! Damn you.

Puddy <3

 What I wore to the event :)

Barcelona Day Five: Time to go home.

I woke up this morning with a real sense of sadness and excitement at the same time. I ran around like a lunatic in an attempt to get everything packed in time, as I had to be out of my room by 10am and I hadn't even started getting ready yet. I managed to get everything finished, and dressed and sorted surprisingly quickly so went downstairs for a relaxed breakfast. I then came back up to the room and did another check to ensure I had everything packed and took all my bags down to the storage room as I checked out of the hostel! *sad face*

This is probably the only day I actually had a plan for, even if it was a very rough one. I decided in advance to purchase a wi-fi pass on my phone for the day, as I wanted to make the most of my time instead of spending half my day asking for directions. I then wanted to cross off a top priority on my list, hire one of the vintage styled and beautifully decorated bicycles and explore the city. It was then just a case of crossing off as many plans from my 'to-do in Barcelona' list. I have to say, I didn't do too well at that. I did however greatly enjoy my last day so mission accomplished!

It's not the first time I have thought this, or the first time I have discovered it to be very true, but certainly it is the first time I have shared it. For cities like Barcelona or London, the absolute greatest way to see the city is by bicycle. I'm not even sure I can explain why, there's just something so free about cycling around a beautiful city on a bicycle, the wind rushing through your hair, the buzz of all the people, all of the noise as you whizz past all the sites. It's the freedom to stop wherever you want to look in more detail, to pass a variety of styles all sharing the same city, and the opportunity to explore wherever your heart desires. I absolutely love it.

I tried to cycle from my hostel to the Gran Teatre de Liceu on Las Ramblas but that didn't go too well. I got very lost, even with GPS, and managed to completely pass Las Ramblas and stumble upon the Harbour. I wasn't too upset, as it was a lovely sunny day and another area to explore. I also found the infamous Barcelona Head, so that was pretty exciting. I did eventually find Las Ramblas, and after walking my bike the entire length of the main street just to find somewhere to lock it up, I had to walk at least half way back again to find the Liceu. When I got there, it was closed for the day and there were no more tours available! This was only at about 1pm by the way.

Disappointed but not yet broken, I returned to a food court I had found the other day, in search of some traditional Spanish food to eat (another item on the list). I wondered around for a long while, looking at the menu of every restaurant, before settling somewhere and deciding to be adventurous and eat vegetable paella. It was actually surprisingly tasty and I'd gladly eat it again. I had lemon ice tea with it, a Spanish brand which was actually way nicer than Liptons, which makes me sad that I can't get it here!

After food, I decided that clearly tours for other similar tourist attractions were likely to be finished, and instead decided to head for the Barcelona zoo. The cycling journey there was pretty, even managing to find a cycle path which greatly reduced my chances of being killed by one of the many dangerous taxis on the roads. I'm so pleased that I did make the time to visit the zoo, as I enjoyed my time there far more than I expected, even all alone! Sadly though, the main attraction that had caused me to add the zoo to my list was frustratingly absent. The cursed red panda. Without exaggeration, I stood at their enclosure easily 15 minutes at a time, and looped back to them at least 3 times in desperation, but I couldn't even tell if they were even in there. I was standing at the edge, talking to myself like a lunatic, just in case the red pandas could understand that I had come all the way to Spain just to see one little red panda, just for one second, I only wanted to see one fluffy little red face. But alas, they didn't care.

I saw many other exciting animals I hadn't seen before, including a bear that clawed away at its food hatch while I was focusing my camera for the perfect picture, then turned and stood on it's hind legs, looked square at me and growled so hard that I had to run away in terror. Also while I was standing incredibly close to a fence zooming in on a couple of innocent looking zebras, an ostrich crept up on me and pecked at me! I hate birds, they are terrifying, and these birds are dinosaur size. I think this actually scared me worse than the bear.

I then cycled back to the rental shop and sadly returned the beautiful bike. I wondered back to my hostel with a smile, and set myself up in mine and Mike's chill corner, charging my phone and camera and taking a little nap pre flight. I awoke about an hour or so before I had to leave for the airport to a grand surprise. Mike had messaged me on Facebook to say he was still in the city, he had missed his flight this morning and was now staying in a hostel a few doors down. I have never packed up my crap and ran somewhere so fast. And with a plentiful supply of snacks for my poor exhausted traveller. We decided to have a final meal together, and Mike took me to a restaurant he had mentioned a few days earlier that served the biggest slices of pizza ever. It was awesome.

We stayed so long, that I actually missed my train to the airport, and had to semi run the streets of Barcelona with all my bags and suitcase to get the next one. Thank the Lord I had Mike with me or I'd never have survived! I just caught the train by moments, and even so was due to arrive in the airport 10 minutes before baggage claim was closing. I sprinted the whole way from the train station to my check in, which by the way was the furthest possible point of the airport at about a 15 minute run. A combination of the heat and my asthma made me feel like I was about to die, and then the check in women didn't even know what flight I was talking about. They then proceeded to hurry my check in, frantically rushing me and soon as they had my bag told me I had to run to my gate!

I sprinted through the airport, picturing the whole plane boarded and waiting for me. I had forgotten about security, so had to hurriedly strip everything off and go through the metal detector three times to get clear. And prior to that my blooming boarding pass wouldn't scan, which cost me an extra 10 minutes shifting irritably on the spot while simultaneously trying not to look suspicious. I ran through, holding all my stripped layers and possessions in my arms, only to find a passport control counter also between me and the gate. I practically threw my passport at the guy, shouting "come on, come on!" the whole time he was trying to identify me. I'm still shocked to this day that he didn't have me arrested, but I guess he just wanted me out of his country. I ran through to the gate, wheezing like a walrus, bright red in the face and gleaming with sweat. But when I got there, what did I find? No, my plane wasn't gone, nor was it soon to be. There were still people queueing to board! I could easily have collapsed with relief, whilst also wanting to run back to check in and tell those women to stuff their hurried commands up their backsides.

I strolled into duty free and bought a drink for the flight, then took my anxiety tablets ready for take off, praying they would kick in early. I got onto the shuttle to the plane, still panting, only to sit on the bus full of people for a further 15 minutes and they were still actually refuelling the plane!! I chatted to a friendly young business woman also from England about how much I rushed just to stand around like lemon waiting for them to be ready and we laughed together. I then boarded the plane and hallelujah, not only did I get the extra leg room I had paid for, but the two seats beside me remained unclaimed, so I got a whole extra leg room isle to myself! Then I discovered the plane was delayed by another 40 minutes not cool. So all that hurrying and panic, and worrying I'd have to stay another night at the hostel as there wasn't another flight back to London until tomorrow, turned out to be followed by me chilling for ages on a stationary plane.

After all the stress, it was really nice to spend the flight reading and reflecting on what an amazing trip I had experienced. I have to say this trip has made me feel like a completely different person, and whilst flying back totally in my cool, flying by myself, I felt like I could do anything. It has certainly kick started me to make the most of this year, and to continue to take big steps in my journey of becoming a stronger person. I'm so glad all of you are along for the ride, and if this inspires just one person to change their lives then it's worth it.  

I want to thank every person that I met on this journey that shaped my experience, all of which made it better! I've been greatly reminded in this brief time that no matter how much you plan, or prepare or worry about something, you can not plan for the people or the experiences that you will have, and it's that uncontrollable nature that makes life so wonderful. Sometimes, it's best to simply let go and go with the flow.

Puddy <3

Barcelona Day Four: I'm in a musical.

*** Again I am so sorry that it's been such a long time since I did my last post. I was in a good routine of posting every other day prior to my trip to Barca, now I'm getting swamped with work and just about everything else. Big kick up the bum to get back on track. Okay, back to business***

This morning I came down for breakfast, no surprise, without a sight of my Bristol lads. Considering the rather unimaginable amount of alcohol consumed the night before I wasn't particularly surprised. I can't claim to have felt all that amazing myself. But with it being my penultimate day in Barcelona, I dragged myself out of bed to make the most of it. Also it was a Sunday and I promised myself I would go to church.

I came down to find my lovely American friend Mike at breakfast, my room mate David and one of Mike's friends (this is the problem with writing this so late, I can't remember his name!). We had a good chat about all sorts, including our experiences of Barcelona and the various reactions we had received from everyone we met about where each of us was from. I barely managed to eat properly due to the horrendous hangover, and even tried to drink some tea but that was truly yuck. Sorry Spain, but your tea is totally pants. Lesson learnt, when travelling bring your own teabags.

Mike and I took off on a solo-adventure after breakfast to find some random dancers in a town square. With little more than a tip from a friend of Mike's that there would be dancing at this address, this time and that we would love it, we wondered through the streets with little idea of what we would find. We stumbled across the detailed town square, but there wasn't anything going on. We wondered around the area for a while, but next to everything was closed. It was around 11am to 12 lunchtime, and although we had heard of Siesta's, I was yet to see anything closed for it yet. Granted it was Sunday, but even in England most places tend to be open between 10am-4pm.

Anyway, disappointed from that we went to seek ice cream, as finding Gelato in Barcelona was on my to-do list. Despite having passed literally hundreds of ice cream places in the past 3 days, once actually in search of one it was near impossible to find a bakery or ice cream store anywhere. The only place we could find that was open within a couple of blocks was McDonalds, and even that was like a ghost town. We hung out there for a bit while Mike connected to the wi-fi (or wii fee as pronounced in Spain) to double check the time and address of the dancing, then headed back to check again.

Upon arriving back at the original address, it was a totally different scene. It felt just like walking into a musical, with American jazz music playing loud and everyone swing dancing in time with each other! The experience was surreal and Mike and I couldn't keep the smiles off our faces. Mike talked a young Spanish girl into teaching him a few steps, while I filmed and took many snaps. I restrained from learning, with my lack of rhythm I didn't have enough time left in Barca to learn the steps, but it has certainly inspired me to take up swing dancing back in the UK.

While waiting for Mike's friend to turn up a super terrifying drunk guy from another country (not to be given enough detail to identify here) came up to half threaten, and half befriend us in a very "I want to kill you and eat your insides" kind of scary way. After that, we made a pretty speedy escape. We discussed the Walking Dead some more and our zombie apocalypse plans. Once back at the hostel, I found the lads semi comatose on the bean bags in the hostel, and seeing as they claimed to not want to move for the rest of the day, left them there.

I went back to my room to take a nap and just generally relax for a while before we headed out for church that evening. I didn't end up taking the nap after all, as a lovely new arrival checked in. This is where I met the very sweet Dario from Argentina. We talked for literally three hours about just about everything (even with his TV learnt English and my complete lack of any other language) and I have to say he made a huge impact on my trip even having arrived so late just for being the most adorable person I met on my travels. Later in the afternoon, another newbie arrived from America (I'm really sorry I've forgotten your name!) and she seemed to settle in well too.

I suddenly realised that after spending so much time chatting with Dario, I may have missed the boys boarding for their flight. I rand downstairs, searching frantically for them, and fortunately managed to catch them. I said a brief but very sad goodbye to all my friends, taking comfort in the fact that aren't too far to ever see again! I got changed into something a little warmer as the temperature was now starting to drop, and even with Mike coming to collect me we ended up running late to church.

We power walked pretty much the whole way there, giving us a quick chance to talk more about our faith and how it came about for each of us, and what it actually meant for us as both rather modern Christians. When I got there, I realised I really didn't know much about this church we were going to, other than it was known for it's music. So I was expecting a lot of hymns, which is great for me as I love singing. What I discovered when I went inside was very different. Not only was it all young people, but there was stage with strobe lights and a projector with lyrics to sing along on top of some funky moving backgrounds that were almost rave worthy. This was Hillsong.

The music started and I have to say it was the craziest experience of worship I have ever known. Everyone was dancing with their arms in the air, some of the music was almost dubsteppy, and there were tons of live musicians on the stage. In the quieter, more toned down moments, there was no doubting it was church as the music slowed and everyone held their hands up and whispered prayers. It felt like nothing I had experienced before, a level of passion and belief that was so alive and inspiring that it made my heart feel swelled. Even I could fully believe there, with all the new incredible things I had been allowed to experience on this trip, that I was in the right place at the right time. The performers were truly amazing and the church showed some great talent that night. The preacher was probably the strangest I had ever seen in skinny jeans and a hoodie, but also the most passionate. This man had faith pouring out of his veins, and even though I was listening to a translation, most of which I couldn't even understand anyway, I felt so inspired by his love for God.

From left to right, my room mate David, me, my lovely American Mike and my room mate Andre :)

That night, we returned to find the hostel the emptiest we had seen it yet, with maybe 3 or 4 guests and the staff hanging out. We decided to gather up the last of our food and wine, collect all the bean bags and plug in to Mike's laptop to catch up on the Walking Dead. It took a few trips back and forth to our rooms to collect everything, and a lot of luck with finding somewhere online to watch it, but we got there in the end! It may not have been an exhilarating last night, and I may not have made it out on the town in Barcelona at all, but I wouldn't have traded that cosy evening in with my lovely new friend for the world. We said an emotional goodbye that night, as Mike was leaving very early in the morning, and I went to bed with a smile, especially as even though it was late, Dario was still sat in bed reading when I went back to my room! Cheers bud, you made me smile just after saying goodbye to my friend!

And so, I have only one day left of the most life-changing trip I have yet experienced.

Puddy <3

P.S Found another Barcelona collectable!