NEW! Hand Cream Collection From The Body Shop

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you'll have spotted that I was recently sent lots of lovely new products from The Body Shop to try out. 

First up are two of their new handcreams in Shea and Honeymania. 

These are designed for those of us who are tired of greasy handcreams (which is all of us, I'd imagine) but still want a full-on moisturiser. Basically, the best of both worlds. We're not asking for much, are we?! 

Loaded with moisture-rich ingredients like Community Fair Trade Shea butter from Ghana and Community Fair Trade Honey from Ethiopia, these smell absolutely gorgeous as well as supporting the communities that produce these wonderful ingredients. As with all Body Shop products, these are obviously also cruelty-free. Hurrah! 

But back to that smell; I'm not a huge honey fan so I didn't expect to love that one as much as I do but it's more floral with a hint of honey, if that makes sense and so it's a warm, comforting fragrance.

I've tried some of the brand's Shea range already and this fella is as lovely as they are so again, this is another delightful scent. 

I keep sniffing my hands like a lunatic. Luckily a back injury means I'm at home so no one can see me looking all crazy. The best thing for me though is that these are a light gel formula so as soon as I apply them, it absorbs quickly into my skin, without any trace on the surface; it's non-greasy and leaves my hands soft and smooth. Basically, I'm hooked. Being a nurse my hands are super dry so I'll be keeping one of these handy 30ml sizes in my pocket at all times from now on. 

You can also find these in Strawberry, Satsuma, Coconut, Pink Grapefruit and Moringa. Costing a tiny €5.95 each, I'll be stocking up on more for sure. T'would be rude not to!

What do we think ladies, do these sound like your type of thing?

XX

These Are A few Of My Favourite Things..

Got that song stuck in your head now, don't you? I know, I'm cruel like that. Anyway, I thought I'd show you a few things I've been loving lately. Let's not kid ourselves either, I love lots of things, that's why I have this blog but these three in particular have been making me super happy for the last month.

Neom Luxury Organics Candle

I love candles and was thrilled to receive this as a gift- I'd never tried anything from Neom before but had heard great things. Each candle is hand made in the UK, made with a special blend of 100% natural vegetable wax and pure aromatherapy oils- nothing else. Because of that, they burn cleanly and don't leave soot on your walls or on the glass container- a huge bonus. That aside, this also smells incredible, containing floral top notes of French Lavender with sandalwood, juniper and geranium, this is designed to help you relax, so it's ideal for use as a pre-bedtime sleep aid or as the brand suggests, to treat Winter blues. I do find it relaxing but I also really just love the scent, it lingers on long after the flame has been extinguished and lends a pleasantly warm, homely feeling to any room. 

This is their mini version, you can also get a larger 3- wick candle and in other aromas. Neom is stocked in Brown Thomas.

Mr Burns Pyjamas

This one was a birthday present to myself, having seen these in an Essiebutton video. I couldn't resist- look how cute they are! Mr Burns and his sleeping cap! And Bobo!! These are made from cotton and are really comfortable, in particular the t-shirt. I'm less enamoured with the style of the shorts but that might just be me being persnickety. I got mine online from Topshop although they appear to be sold out now but you may want to check in store just in case!

Miss Dior Eau De Parfum

My rather amazing husband bought me a bottle of this much-longed for perfume as part of my birthday present and I am in love with it! I've been covertly (not covertly at all) coating myself with this every time I passed the Dior counter in Brown Thomas/House of Fraser for the last six months or so so I'm thrilled to have my very own bottle! I love Dior perfumes, they make the best ones in my opinion.

The brand says: "Citrus topnotes of Italian mandarin essence, followed by a green note of galbanam (nope, no idea either), blending into a floral heart of Eygyptian Jasmine Absolute before sensually concluding with essence of Indonesian Patchouli".

So there you go, sensually concluding. Ooh-er, etc.

For me , I get a hit of citrus, then a lovely warm floral, followed by a gentle musk that lasts on my skin. I just love it, it's a truly beautiful perfume and perfect for Summer.

What have been your go-to creature comforts of late?

XX

New Summer Literary Releases (I want them all)

As always, there's an absolute glut of literary new releases this Summer and although I'm already laden down with stacks of books I want to get through, there's always room for more! 

I've been seeing We Were Liars on book blogs all over the place, this was published in May and revolves around a rich family and a group of friends, living on a private island. As the title suggests, they all have their secrets in this suspense/thriller. 

I loved Fangirl so I'm looking forward to reading Rainbow Rowell's new novel, Landline, which was just released this week. This one is about a marriage in trouble but with a bit of time travel thrown in...interesting, eh? 

Also out since just this past week is Caitlin Moran's latest, How To Build A Girl. I loved How To Be a Woman and having seen her read aloud from this new book live, I know it's going to be just as brilliant. This one is fictional but loosely based on Moran's own teenage years.

I love Stephen King and his latest book Mr Mercedes is already downloaded onto my Kindle. This is the first in a trilogy of detective novels, so if you're expecting a horror, you'll be sorely disappointed. 

I enjoyed J.K Rowling's first in the Cormoran Strike series, The Cuckoo's Calling, so I had to buy the sequel, The Silkworm when it was released last month. I have this fella on audio, have already started listening to it and am enjoying it so far.

Lastly, I'm actually currently reading and loving Hillary Clinton's It Takes a Village but at the super fast rate I'm reading it, I'll need more Hillary in my life fairly soon and Hard choices was published just last month, so kind of perfect timing. 

What's on your Summer to-read list?

Any of these on there?

XX

Mount Juliet- A Luxury Irish Hotel

A couple of months back himself and I went on a mini break (not to sound too Bridget Jones) to the stunning Mount Juliet luxury hotel, golf resort, spa and country estate in the heart of county Kilkenny. Somehow I never got around to blogging about it so I'm rectifying that now. We only stayed for one night but in that time we packed in a spa treatment each, a swim in the pool, afternoon tea, a walk around the beautiful grounds and an exquisite meal in their 1 Michelin star restaurant. 

I'm going to mostly let the photos do the talking here but I will just say that this was one of the best places we've stayed in Ireland; the staff were very friendly, the food was incredible, the grounds were stunning and the hotel itself was beautifully decorated. I would highly recommend!

everything is in bloom at the moment, so pretty.

the spa and some of the lovely products used during my facial.

crazy good Afternoon Tea..one of the best I've ever had.

Just one of the traditionally decorated sitting rooms, perfect for relaxing in with a nice drink!

The only thing I didn't photograph was our six course meal but it felt like the wrong place to do that..you know the way some restaurants are just too fancy to have your iPhone out taking snaps?! Regardless of that, I just really wanted to enjoy our meal so I put the phone away and savoured all of the amazing flavours, which again was one of the best meals I've had in along time. They certainly deserve that Michelin star.

We had a Blue book voucher that we got as a Christmas present but we also took advantage of a special midweek offer the hotel were running at the time so it was surprisingly good value. 

If you're interested in visiting Mount Juliet yourself, you can check out their special offers section HERE.

XX

Summer 2014 Collection From Lush!

I'm a huge Lush fan so I was thrilled to be sent their latest collection to try out. 

Feast your eyes upon this lot: African paradise (a body conditioner), D'fluff (shaving soap), Granny Takes a Dip (bath ballistic), Zest (hair jelly) and two fancy new soaps (parsley porridge and mangnificent):

First up, the latest super colourful bath ballistic, Granny takes a dip. Amazing name, I know. It's apparently inspired by a song 'Granny takes a trip' and the colours match the jackets the Beatles wore on the cover of Sgt Pepper..how cool! Given the inspiration behind it, expect psychedelic, colourful swirls when you drop it into your warm bath. This one contains pepper and ginger to warm and boost the circulation and lemon oil to uplift. Lovely. 

This fella is €3.95.

African Paradise is an in-shower body conditioner, so you use it as you would hair conditioner. After cleaning your skin, apply this, then rinse off. Full of fair trade African ingredients including Shea butter to soften, moringa oil to brighten the skin and ylang ylang for a gorgeous scent. I LOVE this stuff. I have pretty dry skin and often don't have time to put on body moisturiser after a shower (especially when up at 6am for work) so this is a huge time saver for me. On first use, I found it slightly strange when I washed it off; it leaves an almost greasy residue, like melted butter and water together. Once you towel dry though that goes completely, leaving your skin soft and smelling incredible. I will for sure be buying a new one once this is empty. 

It's €24.95 for 245g.

I also love D'Fluff Strawberry Shaving Soap, a whipped shaving cream made with fresh strawberries, coconut oil, maple and corn syrups, sweet wild orange oil, rose and vanilla absolute and egg whites. It actually smells, sounds and looks like a dessert. And yes, I am slightly tempted to tuck in every time I open the tub. Luckily, this also works very effectively when it comes to shaving; it's a light, fluffy texture that lathers well and works for a close shave. It's suitable for men and women and can also be used as a body wash. Handy!

This is €6.70 for 100g or €12.15 for 250g.

Zest is an orange hair jelly designed to provide great hold without any greasy residue. It does smell incredibly zesty, probably no surprise as it's packed full of sweet wild orange, pettigrain oil from the twigs of the bitter orange tree and neroli oil from the flowers of the aforementioned tree. There's also moss seaweed extract in there to help create texture and hold. 

This is €14.75 for 100g.

I'm not generally a big user of soaps but I've made an exception for Lush ones since I tried their snow globe" soap last Christmas. That was pure grapefruit heaven and I haven't looked back. Here I have Parsley Porridge, an antibacterial soap suitable for body and face, containing (unsurprisingly) parsley to detoxify, fine milled porridge oats to deep cleanse and tea tree oil and thyme for their anti-bacterial properties. The porridge oats help to get rid of dead skin cells, everything else keeps you spot-free, oh and there's even a whack of Aloe Vera in there to soothe your skin after all that cleansing! Because of that, it's best suited for oily, acne prone skin and will set you back €5.25 for 100g. 

Lastly, we have Mangnificent, a refreshing soap that contains dried and fresh mango, lemon and mandarin oils, all designed to cleanse the skin while providing vitamins A, C, E and lots of B's as well as antioxidants, calcium and potassium. There's also neroli oil in there to tone the skin and uplift; all in all this is the ideal soap for when you've pressed snooze five times already and are struggling to wake up. This is for hand and body only and again, costs €5.25 for 100g.

And that's your lot!

Anything catching your eye?

XX