Date Night Prep - My go to products

Whether I'm meeting someone special or going out on a girls night I like to go through a little preparation ritual that involves the products above which I will go through shortly. Firstly I would like to express my jealousy at how men and women differ when getting ready for dates and nights out. Having three brothers has given me a great insight into the male preparation ritual. It mainly consists of a trip to the barbers, and the three S's! Shirt, shower and shave. If only us women had it so easy, aye!

Step 1, Hair: Who doesn't want shiny, healthy looking hair?! I know I do, so I use the Hair Doctor, hair and scalp mask from Lush. I apply this liberally to my hair about 30 minutes before I hop into the shower. This is my favourite hair mask from Lush, I repurchase it every time I go in, I really should try something else for a change but I'm happy with this one for now. Amongst the ingredients it contains Irish moss seaweed, coconut oil and almond oil so you can bet your bottom dollar you will be left with lovely shiny locks. It also contains peppermint which certainly wakes me up as I'm applying it.

Step 2, Face: While my hair mask is in and my hair is out of the way I like to apply a deep cleansing and exfoliating face mask and leave it on for 10-15 minutes before I shower. I'm currently using the Raspberry exfoliating Mud therapy Mask from Superdrug. This was given to me in a beauty swap from the UK by my lovely friend Steph. I am in absolute love with it and I hope I can find it in the only Superdrug store that I know of in Dublin here. It contains raspberry seeds and apricot kernels which is how it delivers a gentle exfoliation. The mask is clay based and leaves my skin feeling so much softer and looking a little radiant if I do say so myself!

 Step 3, Body: After washing the hair mask out and removing my face mask it's time to Scrub a-dub-dub! Every single day our body produces waste and the build up of old skin cells can make your skin look dull. The best way to improve the look of your skin is to exfoliate regularly. I am currently using the Sugar Crush body scrub by Soap & Glory. I got this in one of Boots S&G gifts sets at Christmas from my big bro. It contains brown sugar which does all the work for you, sweet lime to invigorate the senses, almond oil and macadamia grains which leave your skin feeling softer and smoother than ever.

Step 4, Lock it in: After you have scrubbed,  buffed and treated yourself you want to lock in all your hard work. I use Human+Kind all in one body oil. I love this because it's suitable for your face, body and hair and suitable for all skin types. It gets to work the moment you apply it and locks in moisture keeping your skin hydrated and feeling so super soft.

Step 5, Hands & Nails: Final step before you can begin to worry about what to wear and make-up! You're Almost there! I like to give my hands and nails a good bit of TLC. Usually before painting my nails I will steep them in warm water for a few minutes but because I've been in the shower I don't need to do this. I love the Lemon Cuticle balm from Pixy, it smells absolutely divine and also reminds me of one of my favourite desserts, lemon drizzle cake! The packaging is so cute and can fit nicely into my every-day handbag when needed. Their Coconut Hand Cream also smells amazing and you only need smalls amounts again to get your hands looking, feeling and smelling irresistible!

There you have it, and men wonder why we take so long to get ready! If only they knew what we got up too! I would love you to share your ritual with me in the comments below. Do you enjoy pampering yourself at home? I certainly enjoy the results!

Lots of Love,

Sarah

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Easter Treats from LUSH - The Carrot

Lush have done it again! I love that they always come up with new and exciting products to suit the time of year and upcoming celebrations. It's a pity that the weather has not caught up to speed with that fact that it's Easter and the sun should be shining! This bubble bar is an oldie but a goodie! 

The carrot, a re-usable bubble bar is just one of the lovely treats from the egg-ceptional Easter range this year from Lush. To answer the "Does it smell like carrots" question I'm sure you are all pondering, no it does not. phew, glad we got that out of the way. Lush have come up with a lovely fragrance using buchu, lemon and bergamot which give off a lovely fruity smell...not what you would expect from a carrot right!

If you're not interested in the full bath bomb experience then these bubble bars will make an egg-cellent (okay I'll stop now!) substitute. I would get a good four uses out of this bubble bar and at €6.25 a bar that makes for egg-traordinary (I lied) value. I've heard of friends getting more uses from it but I like LOTS of bubbles and tend to go a bit mad. 

How to use: The way I always recommend to use the bubble bars is to hold it under the running tap, this will produce more magnificent bubbles compared to swishing it around in the bath. when finished I  like to let it dry and then store what's left of the bubble bar in a small plastic sandwich bag.

I did an aul video on YouTube last year called Lush Extravaganza where I showed all the products from Lush I had used over a period of four months and one of those products was the Cinders Bath bomb which a lot of you said couldn't use because the colour reminded you of......well pee! That didn't effect my thoughts on the product but I suppose for some of you it might be a negative. You won't have that problem with The Carrot Bubble bar, the more you use the more orange it becomes.

That's all folks, I would highly recommend you get your behind into Lush and try out the Easter treats before they are sold out. Lush has always been a favourite store of mine, I always get excited when I go in because I never know what I'm going to find. Let me know below if you have tried any of the Easter range and would you be interested in trying The Carrot bubble bar.

Love,

Sarah