The Blissful Bath: Lavender Three Ways

Best Lavender Bath Oils and Milks

Lavender Three Ways. Lavender Three Ways! Have I actually just written that down as a title? I’ll get up really early and change it to something better.

If you’re reading this, I didn’t get up really early to change it to something better. I sat and watched a few episodes of Episodes (brilliant television series with Matt Leblanc, thank you Sam and Nic from Pixiwoo for that recommendation) and then read some of my book in bed and then fell asleep. So, lavender three ways, we are stuck with you. Good job I like lavender! I actually bloody love lavender. Not so much in perfumes or bodycare but most definitely in candles and bath oils and pillow sprays and other sleep-inducing things. I rarely have trouble falling asleep, but if I’m feeling highly-strung and my mind is doing that terrible whirring thing, I have a bit of a soak in the bath and add an oil or milk or foam (three ways, see!) to help me relax. (The ultimate relax potion is Aromatherapy Associate’s Deep Relax oil, but it didn’t have “lavender” in the name so it wasn’t allowed into my photograph. You can find it online here; it’s pricey, but you need just a tiny capful at a time. It’s very potent stuff. You wouldn’t want to operate heavy machinery after a dose of Deep Relax!)

Pictured above we have NEOM’s Tranquility, an organic bath foam with English Lavender, Sweet Basil and Jasmine, and then Dr Hauschka’s Moor Lavender Calming Bath Essence and Weleda’s Lavender Bath Milk. All of them are top-notch; soothing on the mind, kind to the skin. The scent of the NEOM foam is just exquisite – and don’t be put off by the idea of a foam, it’s not a skin-shrivelling synthetically-fraranced bubble bath! It’s not the most moisturising of lavender “ways”, but it’s certainly not drying. It’s £22 for 200ml from Selfridges here – I seem to have the old packaging, but the new is equally posh.

Browse other lavender-scented things…

The Moor Lavender from Dr Hauschka was a bit of a surprise when I first used it; I assumed that it would be an oil, but the texture is creamy and smooth. Whatever it is (they call it an “essence”) it smells gorgeous and you don’t need very much at all to turn your bathroom into a heavenly relaxation area. You can also add a few drops to an oil burner to scent a room, I’ve tried this with a few of my bath oils now and it works quite well! Find Dr H’s Lavender online here – it’s £16 for 100ml.

Last of the Lavender Three Ways; Weleda’s Bath Milk. I have recommended this a number of times and will recommend it again; it’s reasonably cheap (£12.50 f0r 200ml, here) smells beautiful and feels like a proper treat. I’ve just seen that Amazon have this for £6.06 for a 200ml bottle, here, which makes the whole situation even better. Has anyone bought beauty stuff from Amazon? I’m assuming that the Prime vendors are all verified and touting legitimate wares? I must do some research on that, but if anyone has any info then do let me know in the comments below.

More bath oils and unguents… 

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The Kissable Red Lip Edit.

In celebration of V-Day I thought I would write a quick roundup of all the red lip colours in my collection. I was actually supposed to write this up yesterday but I started reading a new book and it completely consumed my day, in fact I read the whole thing. It was Night Owls by Jenn Bennett if you’re wondering, a cute young adult romance type of thing. It sucked me in because the protagonist is an artist and I could totally *relate*, to that part, at least. It wasn’t moving or revolutionary, but it made me smile and was a good read. Similar in style to Rainbow Rowell & John Green. ANYWAY, back to makeup.

I didn’t realise I had 6 red lip colours in my collection, but there you go. I don’t wear them often but when I do I have a few particular faves that I reach for.

1. RMS Sacred Lip Shine. (Working from top to bottom in the image.) I love the formula of the lip shines from RMS, super glossy, moisturising and bright, but not, however, the longest lasting. This colour is a bright poppy, pinky red and easy to apply in a rush, no effort required.

2. Kjaer Weis Lovers Choice. I think this might be my new favourite of the bunch. I wore it on date night to go and see Deadpool and I was totally digging the colour, it kinda matched Deadpool’s suit too. It’s described as a warm, rich red that’s inspired by the velvety petals of a red rose and I think that fits. It’s dramatic and beautiful all at once.

3. Gressa Aux Rouge. I have only worn this about twice in the year I’ve had it because it’s so difficult to apply. The formula is hard and waxy so it’s tricky to use a brush with and applying it with fingers is messy as you have to really warm it up. It might be the most pigmented of the bunch and it’s a stunning, true red but I just don’t like the formula.

4. The Organic Pharmacy Organic Glam Red. This is a similar shade to Lovers Choice but a little more burgundy. It’s easier to apply since it’s in a tube, and has a nice finish but it’s a tad too dark for me.

5. RMS Lip2Cheek Beloved. This is one of my faves too, though I did forget about it for awhile so it’s a bit dried up now. I love the bright true red, it actually works really well on the cheeks too for a pretty flush. The formula is long lasting and it can be worn sheer or built up for a full on red lip.

6. ILIA Lip Conditioner Arabian Knights. Now this little gem used to be my favourite, but it’s so, so old now that I don’t want to use it, there’s only a little bit left though so I don’t feel like I wasted it. I have mentioned this a hell of a lot on the blog in the past, I really adore the lip conditioner formula from ILIA and really recommend you pick a colour to try asap, you won’t regret it! Arabian Knights is a sheer berry red, it’s more berry than red to be fair but I had to include it 😉

L-R Beloved, Lovers Choice, Red, Arabian Knights, Sacred, Aux Rouge

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Nailberry Cruise Collection

Nailberry Cruise Collection

Summer nail collections always throw up a variety of blues that make you think of swimming pools and those gorgeous pockets of the sea that are truly turquoise. Some of the nicest nail shades I’ve ever had have come from Nailberry, which is a small brand going up against some big guns in the industry. So, while the shades aren’t new, it’s a very pretty edit to inspire those holiday nails. Above you can see Baby Blue (which errs to green) and Flocon, a creamed white (which I use a lot as a white base for pastels).

Nailberry Cruise Collection

The next two shades I have are Blueberry (a strong purple blue) and Hope, a pastel sky blue.

Nailberry Cruise Collection

Sunday Tittle Tattle: Waxy Men and the Bum-Sucking Plughole

madame tussauds

I had the pleasure of going to a private viewing at Madame Tussaud’s last week – Zoe and Alfie of Youtube fame had been immortalised in wax and it was the first unveiling. Unfortunately, I was so busy pulling weird faces at statues that I forgot to take a proper picture of them (it was also very crowded and I was avec baby, so a bit difficult) but I did get some corkers with George Clooney (above) and Tom Cruise (below).

Screen shot 2015-10-03 at 23.18.53

I tweeted a self-penned joke after leaving Madame Tussaud’s – one I was very proud of. I don’t often come up with jokes. Correction: I often come up with jokes, but Mr AMR looks at me with such a blend of pity and confusion that I daren’t utter them to a single other soul.

Anyway, my joke. On Twitter, I said “if Jeremy Paxman was in Madame Tussaud’s he’d be Jeremy Waxman”. And I laughed about this joke for a full twenty-five minutes. I even had a little tear roll down my face, I laughed that much. Unfortunately it didn’t quite set Twitter alight…

My new bath has a bum-sucking plughole. It’s incredibly annoying. I don’t know who invented the poke-it-to-press-it-down-and-poke-it-again-to-raise-it-up-again kind of plughole, but whoever decided to place one in the centre of my bathtub is clearly a complete moron. Because what else sits at the centre of the bathtub? That’s right, readers: your bum. And every time your bum presses on the plughole, the plughole pops up a bit, creating a suction so strong that half of your cheek disappears into the pipe. If you’re rinsing your hair (and therefore sliding yourself down into the bathtub numerous times for repeated head-dunks) you might have your bum sucked in five or six times. That’s five or six heart-attack-inducing episodes in one bathing session. Idiot plughole designer.

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I’ve Found The 5 Best Parkas…

parka london five best parkas

A random theme for a video, you may think, but I love a parka during the winter months. And spring and autumn, for that matter; I probably clock up a good hundred days of parka-wearing every year. But so many of the parkas these days look and feel cheap – shiny fabric, horrible zips and shockingly bad scraps of faux-fur on the hoods. The faux-fur trimmings on parkas are a particular obsession of mine: I can’t believe how many brands manufacture coats that look as though they’ve had roadkill sewn to the top of the hoods!

five best parkas asos

So I tried a lot – a lot – of parkas before narrowing down my choices to the five you can see in the video below. I completely disregarded price when I was judging them, but fortunately there’s quite a nice spread – the cheapest is £40 (directly above, see here), the most expensive is £315 (top of page, see here). I’d be more than happy to wear any of them this winter, and have been pretty much living in the ones from Hush and Topshop.

topshop premium parka

The Topshop Premium Parka (above) has the best fur – it’s so lush and soft and runs down the inside of the coat as well as lining the hood. Considering the coat costs just less than £100 I think that it’s just brilliant, brilliant quality.

parka london coat with fur

The Parka London coat (top and above) is more of a winter coat with fur trim than a true parka, really – but it’s absolutely stunning and beautiful quality. The faux-fur is so ridiculously thick that the hood is slightly better down than up – you can get completely lost inside that hood, it’s almost as though you need a periscope to see where you’re going! If you’re looking to invest in something a bit smarter than a parka then this is the one for you. The sumptuous faux-fur looks so glamorous.

Anyway, watch the video and tell me which one’s your favourite – I’ve listed all of the outfit details below. You can also see those amazing Topshop boots in action as well as the Whistles t-shirt that I posted about the other day. Enjoy!

Music is by the gorgeous Sadie Fleming; Nowhere Left To Fall. Her website with links to her music is here:http://sadiefleming.co.uk/

Outfit 1:
Parka with Red Faux-Fur Trim, Hush: http://tidd.ly/901dc0b9
Plaid Shirt, Hush: http://tidd.ly/9e3d6c15
Leggings, Isabella Oliver: http://tidd.ly/ec2db5b7
Wellies, Hunter: http://tidd.ly/d9279566

Outfit 2:
Brave Soul Cotton Parka with Oversized Faux-Fur Hood, ASOS: http://tidd.ly/fa532bc9
Whistles Beauté T-Shirt: http://tidd.ly/3d77eb18
Black Jeans, Paige Denim (last year)
Black leather boots, Next: http://goo.gl/7u09Jp

Outfit 3:
Parka London Wool Coat with Faux-Fur Trim: http://tidd.ly/d8a7d52a
Leggings, Isabella Oliver: http://tidd.ly/ec2db5b7
Olive Boots with Gold Detail, Topshop: http://tidd.ly/99bcb43a

Outfit 4:
Neutral Parka with Faux-Fur Trim, Next: http://goo.gl/J5pLxy
Leopard Print Top, ASOS: http://tidd.ly/1d917346
Blue Jeans, Abercrombie & Fitch: http://tidd.ly/fe250dce
Olive Boots from Topshop: http://tidd.ly/99bcb43a

Outfit 5:
Premium Parka with Faux-Fur Lining and Hood, Topshop: http://tidd.ly/3ef0b4ec
Cashmere Bea Jumper, Hush: http://tidd.ly/1b3ce516
Blue Jeans, Abercrombie & Fitch: http://tidd.ly/fe250dce
Black Leather Boots, Steve Madden: http://goo.gl/VmJ69G

Video prepped, styled and edited by me. Filming by a reluctant Mr AMR, ha!

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