Hey everyone, and welcome back to my Lou's Guide To series. You guys seem to like my last one - Lush Bath Bombs so, I thought I would do one for Lush Bubble Bars as well! I hope you enjoy this post!

Bubble bars are probably my favourite thing from Lush and are actually quite good value for money for how many baths I get out of a single bubble bar. Usually, I get 3-5 baths out of a bubble bar and they range from £2.95 to about £5. I crumble about a quarter of the bubble bar in at a time (depending on how big the bubble bar is.

Like the post about bath bombs, I will share with you 2 regular (all year) bubble bars, 2 Christmas ones, only 1 bubble bar from the Easter range but a bonus favourite from the Valentine's range. My all time favourite bubble bar is The Comforter. This is one of the bigger bubble bars (hence it is more expensive) this retails at £4.75. This is in a pink and white swirled pattern, I think that was why it attracted me in the first place! I think this was the first bubble bar I tried from lush, and it is still one of my favourite scents from Lush. It smells of berries but also has a sweet side to it - it's really hard to describe so next time you pop into Lush give it a sniff. They also released this as a shower cream last year which smells absolutely amazing!
 My other all year favourite Creamy Candy. I have been using this since I first starting using Lush products. It is brilliant but is also pretty small - I usually get 2/3 baths out of it. It's a baby pink colour and has a flower on the top. I also really like the smell of this, to me it smells sweet with a hint of vanilla - pretty much my perfect scent! As this is one of the smaller bubble bars, it is also cheaper, and retails for £2.95.

The first Christmas bubble bar I love, is Peeping Santa. This bubble bar has 2 sections to it. It looks a little bit like a strawberry with cream in the middle but is also designed to look like a Santa hat with white in the middle and the cutest little bell. This is a fruity scent with bergamot and geranium oil in it so it makes your skin really soft. I get 3 baths out of it so it's one of normal size bubble bar - it's £3.95. Another Christmas limited products I love is Magic Wand. It is a pink and silver glittery star with a stick attached to it so that you swirl in the bath whilst it's running and it smells like snow fairy. I get 7 or 8 baths out of it so it is definitely worth the £5.25 it costs. It also has a little bell attached to ribbon which is tied onto the stick but obviously if you find these annoying whilst swirling it in the bath you can just un-tie the ribbon to take it off.

The one Easter product I love is Ladybird. This was released for the first time this year.It is a red ladybird with a purple head and purple spots. It smelt fruity, which I really liked. The only complaint I have about this is, it was so hard to break. It took me ages to break a little bit off but, apart from that it was one of my favourite limited edition bubble bars.

The Valentine's favourite I love is Unicorn Horn. I think this is just about everyone's favourite limited product. Whenever I went into lush, they never had any, but my parents managed to get their hands on one for me! This is a multi coloured swirl that looks exactly like how I would imagine a Unicorn Horn - also, it smells amazing!



That's all for now guys, thank you so much for reading and I will see you very very soon,
Love Lou
xxxx

Hey everyone, welcome back to another collab! Today I am doing a collab with Marti, so I will leave a link to her post at the bottom for you to check out her post! Today, I am going to be sharing with you a typical day in my life, with baking and blog post writing. I hope you enjoy! xx

7/4/16

I woke up at about 9 am and had my breakfast - if you want me to do a what I eat in a day on this day, just let me know. Anyway, then I got ready. On my face, I had Smahsbox Hydrating Under Eye Primer, Soap and Glory Kick Ass Blur and Brighten concealer, Smashbox Full Exposure Mascara and Kiko Wanderlust Free Spirit Lip and Cheek in 105. I then wore some leggings, a vest top and checked shirt (I'm not letting go of autumn yet haha). At about 10 am I went weekly food shopping and spent 2 hours after that, shopping and putting all of it away in the cupboards. I then had a spare half hour so I sat down with my laptop to write one of my Lou's guide to:. At about 2 pm I decided to bake some cupcakes. I just made vanilla cupcakes with a chocolate buttercream icing. I decided to decorate them with Daim eggs, marshmallows, smarties and sprinkles! Whilst the cupcakes were cooling, I wrote this post.






Sorry this was a shorter post. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed this post and I will see you all very, very soon!
Love Lou
xxxx

Hey everyone, and welcome to my long awaited Brighton and Lush haul. I mentioned this in my Day in my Life : Windy Brighton Day and you all were excited to see it so, here you go! Enjoy! xx (All products are linked at the bottom)

The first thing I got, was a mug from England At Home in the lanes,. This is done in the style of the game Scrabble so it has a big G (it's for my friend - not me haha) on the front and a little 2 underneath the G. Also, on the inside, it has a pink box with the words "Double Word Score" - which I thought was really cute. This was £6.99 and it feels really good quality.

The next thing I got was the Barry M Flawless Light Reflecting Concealer. This was £4.49 and I don't like it at all. I originally wanted to get the Soap and Glory Kick Ass Blur and Brighten Concealer but they were sold out in my colour so I wandered around the make up section trying to find one in my shade, this was the only one so I decided to get it and give it a go. It claims to have "Complete Blemish Coverage" but it definitely has not. It had a really liquid-y consistency which when blended in, went to nothing. I won't be re-purchasing this, however I did like the applicator - it was super thin with soft bristles instead of a foam applicator;.


I then picked up 2 t-shirts in Hollister. The first one, was £17.00 and was a blush pink/coral colour with Barbie style writing saying "Hollister" on the left side. I got this in a S and it is quite a loose, flow-y fitting t-shirt but if you wanted it tighter fitting you could get the smaller size (XS), also when I was in, they didn't have any XS's. The next one was £19 but it was on sale to £12.99. It's grey with blue edges and says "Hollister" in white writing across the front with a floral pattern around it. They are both super soft and really good quality.

When I was in New Look, I was looking for the Suedette Bomber Jacket. They didn't have it, but I saw this one and it is the Petite Black Sateen Bomber Jacket. I got this in an 8 and it is the perfect size. It has a gold zip and cuffed hems, it also feels really soft and silky. This is available in mink as well as black, but I prefer the black ones. It is also slightly cropped which actually looks really nice. This was £29.99 which is actually fairly reasonable compared some other bomber jackets out there.

The next thing I got was Kiko's new Frozen Smoothies Nail Varnish Range. I got the pink shade - 011 Ribbon Pink. This is a dusky pink with tiny little specks of glitter in it. This is limited Edition so it was slightly pricier than the usual nail varnishes - it was £4.90.


Next we went to Lush and I picked up a few several bath products - I promise you, I do not have an obsession. The first thing I got was the Ladybird Bubble Bar, this was from the Easter range, so it is no longer sold but I am sure they will probably release this again next year. It is a red ladybird with a purple head and purple spots. It smelt fruity, which I really liked. The only complaint I have about this is, it was so hard to break. It took me ages to break a little bit off but, apart from that it was one of my favourite limited edition bubble bars.

The next thing I got, was Fluffy Egg. Fluffy Egg looks a little bit like Think Pink but in the shape and style of an egg. It also has the scent of Snow Fairy - which is one of my favourite lush scents. This has got to be one of my all time favourite bath bombs from Lush.

The last thing I got from the Easter range was Golden Egg. This is a vanilla scented bomb which cocoa butter in it, so it is really moisturising. I have to say, this probably isn't my all time favourite because it is covered in gold glitter so it comes off on everything, I am still finding specks of glitter everywhere! haha. Apart from that, I love the scent and it was £3.95, which is about the regular price for a bath bomb.

I then got 3 products from the permanent range. The first thing I got was Creamy Candy Bubble Bar. I have been using this since I first starting using Lush products. It is brilliant but is also pretty small - I usually get 2/3 baths out of it. It's a baby pink colour and has a flower on the top. I also really like the smell of this, to me it smells sweet with a hint of vanilla - pretty much my perfect scent! As this is one of the smaller bubble


The next thing I picked up was the Yuzu and Cocoa Bubbleroon. Theses are 2 little bubbles bars stuck on top of each other with a creamy soapy thing in the middle (I have no idea how to describe it!). This is a slightly bigger bubble bar so it is £3.75. This sort of smells coconutty but also a little citrus-y. Not a scent I would usually go for, but this is actually pretty nice.


The last thing I got was the Intergalactic Bath Bomb. Intergalactic, was only released in summer 2015 when some of the Oxford Street products were released into all stores. This is bright blue which rings of bright pink, white and gold. The people at Lush told me that the film "Guardians of the Galaxy" was the inspiration for this bath bomb. This has peppermint oil in it so it is a minty scent but it isn't too overpowering. Also, because of the peppermint oil it is pretty moisturising. It is £3.95 as it is a pretty big bath bomb.


Thank you so much for reading and I will see you very very soon,
Love Lou
xxx

QOTP - Have you tried any of these products?

Links
England At Home Mug
Barry M Concealer
Coral Hollister tee (On the pictures it is tied at the front, but I don't wear it like this)
Grey Hollister tee
Bomber Jacket
Frozen Smoothies Nail Varnish
Creamy Candy
Intergalactic
Yuzu and Cocoa
Ladybird (Not sold anymore)
Golden Egg (Not sold anymore)
Fluffy Egg (Not sold anymore)

Hey everyone, and welcome to another post in my Lou's Guide To: series and today I am going to be focusing on Lush bath bombs. Hope you enjoy! xx (Pictures of some of the bath bombs will be at the bottom of the post - each will have a caption so you know which is which).

I have a bit of a love, hate relationship with Lush Bath Bombs - or Bath Ballistics as they call them. I love them when they are dissolving in the bath and making the water a gorgeous colour but I hate the residue it leaves in the bath, ad the fact you can only get 1 bath out of them. This makes them quite expensive for just 1 bath. Unlike the bubble bars, these don't crumble and you just pop them in whole -  and obviously, you can't take them back out. Don't get me wrong, I do love them I just find them quite expensive for just one bath so, that is why I don't use them as much a bubble bars.

I do, have some favourite bath bombs from Lush - I will talk about 2 all year ones, 2 Easter ones and 2 Christmas ones. The all year round bath bombs I love are Think Pink and Intergalactic. Think Pink was the very first bath bomb I tried from Lush about 4 years ago. It is bright pink and flowers one the top that do dissolve in water. If I remember correctly, these have confetti in them middle which I think is a really nice touch. Intergalactic, on the other hand, was only released in summer 2015 when some of the Oxford Street products were released into all stores. This is bright blue which rings of bright pink, white and gold. The people at Lush told me that the film "Guardians of the Galaxy" was the inspiration for this bath bomb.

Two Easter products I love are Fluffy Egg and Golden Egg. If I had to pick a number 1 favourite, I would pick Fluffy Egg purely because it leaves less residue in the bath haha. Fluffy Egg looks a little bit like Think Pink but in the shape and style of an egg. It also has the scent of Snow Fairy - which is one of my favourite lush scents. Then golden egg, is vanilla scented - but this is covered in gold sparkly glitter that comes off everywhere. I do love it but I wish there was just a little less glitter.

And finally, the 2 Christmas range favourites are : Golden Wonder and Yog Nog. Golden Wonder is a gold and white sparkly parcel but when it's in the bath is reveals bright blue and green shades which turns your bath a dark bluey green. I can't really describe what it smells like, but to me it smells sort of citrus-y. It is also pretty huge so it is great value for money. Yog Nog, is a white and gold (again haha) but this time it is in stripes down the ballistic. This is 100% a sweet scent so if you are nit a fan of that sort of scent I would definitely not recommend this for you. It has a toffee scent that isn't too subtle but it isn't too strong either - it is just right. This is in the classic sphere shape and I cant actually remember what this looks like when it has dissolved - if you know, let me know in the comments.

Yog Nog

Thank you so much fir reading, and I will see you very
very soon,
Love Lou
xxx

Hey everyone, and welcome to my first Q and A. I asked on Instagram for some questions and here's what you all asked. Enjoy! xx

Who are your favourite bloggers? (From Marti and Lauren)

My all time favourite blogger is Anna Saccone but obviously I love both of yours as well.

Do you have any piercings? (From Hannah)

I don't! When I was younger I wanted my ears pierced but then I was too scared to! haha

All time favourite make up product? (From Lauren and Marti)

It has to be Smashbox Full Exposure Mascara. I think I have put it in nearly every favourites post. hehe

How do you promote your blog posts? (From Marti)

I promote individual posts by sharing them onto social media e.g. Google Plus and Instagram. I promote my blog as a whole by commenting on other blogs.

How long have you been blogging for? (From Marti)

On 27th March I had been blogging for 8 months - 9 on the 27th April.

Do you plan on getting any piercings? (From Hannah)

No, I don't - I'm still to scared! hehe

Do pageviews bother you? (From Marti)

Not really. Occasionally, when I spend hours on a post and then it get 15 views can be really discouraging but I just tell myself anything above 0 is a bonus and then I don't feel that discouraged anymore.

What are your blogging goals for 2016? (From Lauren)

I don't really have any to be perfectly honest. I would like to have hit 6k pageviews (Currently on 4900)

Do you talk to any bloggers on social media? (From Marti)

Haha. Yeah I do, I am in several group chats in Instagram - hang on wasn't it you who added me to them? hehe

Why did you start wearing make up? (From Marti)

I don't really know. I have always liked beauty products - even when I was younger, I used to film videos of me on my IPod of me putting on my play make-up!

Would you ever stop wearing make-up? (From Marti)

A tricky one, I probably could, put I'm not going to. hehe

Thank you so much for reading and I will see you very very soon,

Love Lou
xxxxxxxx

Hey everyone, as some of you may know, last weekend I went to Brighton. I didn't actually stay in Brighton, I stayed just outside Brighton but I did go into Brighton for the day. So today, I am going to be sharing with you what I got up to in Brighton. Hope you enjoy! xx

26/3/16

So, on the Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early to get into Brighton at 10:00. When we got to Brighton, we went to a cute coffee shop called the Coffee Lounge, where I had the nicest hot chocolate ever! It was so creamy but really chocolate-y! After that, we walked along the sea front to the pier. On the pier we went on the 2p slot machines - I've always loved them - and went on a grabber machine to try and win a minion - we didn't win it :(. We walked all the way to the end of the pier where the rides are and I went the Ghost House (which wasn't actually that scary) and the carousel (I went on Charlotte. hehe).

When we had finished on the pier we headed to The Lanes. I went into a few shops down there (I'm not going to tell you what I got from there because I am doing a haul very very soon). Anyway, after a little bit of shopping we wandered through The Lanes to the famous Choccywoccydoodah. It was so busy, we went upstairs to get a table in the cafe but there was a 45 minute wait so we booked one and went into the shop downstairs to get a few bits and bobs. After looking around the shop for about 30 minutes we were called up to the café as our table was ready. We sat down and thought we were going to be given your standard size A4 menu. But, boy were we wrong. After a few minutes of sitting down we were handed a giant chalkboard listing all of the things they had to offer. This was so overwhelming but I finally decided on a chocolate cake and a chocolate milkshake. Also, as a group we got a dipping pot to share. Again, we were expecting the usual slice of cake, but boy were we wrong. I'd say that the slice of cake was a good 4 inches high. We all got a slice of cake and we had the dipping post to share so it was so overwhelming. Clearly, we didn't finish it all but we were given cute little boxes to put the dipping pot bits and a few layers of cake we hadn't finished. On our way out, we had a lovely chat with one of the workers and she said "If you don't come out feeling a little bit sick and in a slight chocolate coma, you haven't done it the Choccywoccydoodah way". Obviously, we hadn't all done it the Choccywoccydoodah  way and we all felt we were in a bit lot of a chocolate coma but we carried on like normal-ish.

As we were navigating our way around the lanes, we say the Brighton Pavilion so we went inside the gates to go and take some cute photos (which are underneath this post). We spent a very windy (Storm Katie-esque) afternoon shopping around Brighton which I will be sharing with you very soon, but not yet.  On our way back to the car, it was so windy and rainy, that I nearly got blown over! We got back in the car and headed back to our accommodation for a well deserved rest.

















Anyway, sorry this post was quite rambley but I just thought you might be interested in what I got up to in Brighton and I hope you actually enjoyed this.

Love Lou
xxxxxxxx

Sorry some of the photos are different ways :(

Hey everyone, and welcome to another Lou's Guide To:. Today I am going to be doing a guide to blogging , I will be sharing with you some tips and tricks that I have learnt so far. I really hope you enjoy this post and I will see you very soon. xx

Pre-write Posts

I have found pre-writing posts so helpful. I write each one of my posts roughly half a week before they go up so I don't have to worry and quickly writing it 10 minutes before it goes up. This means you have better content which is more likely to attract new readers.

Schedule Posts

Once I have pre-written my post I click on the schedule tab at the side and just change the pre-set numbers to the date and time I want it to go up. This is also really helpful if you are travelling, as it doesn't need wi-fi to go up because it goes up automatically.

Share posts on social media

As most of you will know, whenever I upload a post, I share it on my google plus and instagram. This just lets all of your followers know that you have uploaded a post.

Post what you want to post

I have found this so helpful and it has made me enjoy blogging more than I used to. Before Christmas, I was writing posts I didn't really want to post and I didn't particularly enjoy writing. My new year's resolution was to write posts I enjoy writing, I have done this and I feel as though it comes across in my posts.

Thank you so much for reading and if you want anymore blogging tips just let me know!

Love Lou
xxxxx

Hey everyone, and welcome back to another favourites posts. It only seems like two days ago that I was writing my February favourites. Anyway, today I will be sharing with you some of the things I have loved through March. Hope you enjoy! xxx


KIKO Velvet Mat Lipstick

I bought this around the middle of March and I love it so so so so much. I have the shade in 613 which I think is actually sold out in most stores and online so I was really lucky to get one of these.
It is a pink shade but is also a bit of a nude - it's really hard to describe so I'll just put a swatch at the bottom. I  don't think this photo shows that it's a pink nude - it isn't as pink as it shows. Anyway, even though this is a matte it isn't drying at all and I actually find it quite moisturising which I wouldn't normally expect from a matte lipstick. This lasts through eating and drinking - I usually only have to re-apply this once. I literally have nothing but good to say about this lipstick - if you can ever get your hands on this shade or another definitely pick it up. Also, this has the prettiest packaging!

Sorry the lighting is bad :(

 Beauticology Vanilla Frosting Body Lotion Through out the month of March, I have absolutely loved this as a foot lotion, as you will know if you saw my Empties post I finished my Beauticology Toasted Marshmallow Foot Lotion and I absolutely loved that foot lotion so I was very excited when I found this completely un opened in my drawer. The moment I started using this I knew it would be just as good as the other one - and I was right. It makes my feet feel really smooth and gets rid of any dry bits of skin. I keep this permanently on my bedside table so I can put it on just before I go to sleep.

 

Thank you so much for reading,

Love Lou

xxxxxxx

 

Marti's Post

El's Post

 

El's post will be up on Friday (1st April)

Hey guys, and welcome to a new series here on Lou Loves. I have been planning this series for months now and I am so excited to share it with you all. I will be uploading a "Lou's Guide To:" every Monday so I really hope you all like this series. Anyway, I will stop rambling now and get into the post. xxx I hope you enjoy.

As some of you may know I have dry and sensitive skin that tends to hate me 99% of the time. I thought that now I have found some good products I would share them with you as I know I would have benefited so much from one of these when I first started looking at products. I am by no means saying these are the best products for everyone with dry and sensitive skin as everyone's skin is different - they are just some products that I have found or don't work for MY skin.

Firstly, Nivea. Where do I start, I always discounted Nivea when looking for  new skincare products as I associated Nivea with suncream - odd I know but oh well. hehe. I now love everything I try from their Dry/Sensitive skin range. I have tried: 3-in-1 Micellar Cleansing Water, Rich Regenerating Night Cream and Rich Moisturising Day Cream.

I wasn't a big fan of Simple until I tried this because I found the range too harsh but this completely changed my mind. I got the Simple Spotless Skin Action Spot Zapper and this clears my skin so well. It is a rollerball application and I just roll it onto any spots and on my problem areas and it makes any blemishes go over night. I use this morning and night and I find it isn't too harsh but it does work.

I did try the Yes To Cucumbers range , I found it great at the start but as I got down the tube of cleanser it didn't seem to work as well. I don't know if this was because my skin got used to the product or it just didn't work as well as it went down.

The final brand that I used at the start, was Boots Simply Sensitive. I liked using this brand when I first started using skincare and it was really good, but as I got older and my skin became more problematic it just wasn't doing the job well enough. I would, however, recommend this to anyone starting out in skincare or anyone who doesn't like using harsh products or anyone who doesn't have very problematic skin.

Anyway, I hope this helps any of you out there with sensitive skin and I will see you very soon,
Love Lou
xxxxx

Hey guys, I'm back with another baking post! I have not done one of these in months so I really excited to get back into baking posts but today I am going to be sharing with you a recipe for Ester Rocky Road! Hope you enjoy. xx

For 25 squares-ish you will need ...

- 100g of almonds
- 90g of mini marshmallows
- 300g of 70% dark chocolate
- 400g of milk chocolate
- Mini Eggs for decoration

Method . . .

Get a brownie tin (about 23cm/9inches) and pre-heat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas Mark 6. Scatter the almonds over a baking tray and toast in the oven for 10 minutes. When cool, halve the almonds and cut the marshmallows into about 1cm cubes. Break up the milk and dark chocolate but make sure you keep them separate. Melt each chocolate in separate bowls and then set both aside to cool to room temperature. Line the base and the sides of the brownie tin with greaseproof paper. Mix together the milk chocolate, almonds and 2/3 of the marshmallows. Spoon the milk chocolate mixture into the tin in 3 rows. Now fill the gaps between the rows with dark chocolate and use a skewer to marble the 2 chocolates. Scatter on top the rest of the marshmallows, almonds and mini eggs - you could also add a little extra detail like a MaltEaster Bunny in one corner. The chill the rock road in the fridge for a couple of hours until the slab hardens. Also, take the rocky road out of the fridge 30-60 minutes before serving it otherwise it may crack.

Anyway, I hope you liked this post and I will be doing lots more baking posts soon. I will see you all very soon,
Love Lou
xxxxx