Scrub a dub dub - Lush Bubbleroon Review

I'm not really a bath person. I'd much prefer a quick shower then get out and get ready. Sitting in a pool of hot water wasn't really my thing or so I thought. Enter Lush's Candy Mountain bubble bar that we got in a Christmas gift box. I hadn't used any of Lush's bath products but I thought it was time to give it a go. I got the bath water temperature just right so I wasn't coming out like a lobster and the bubble bar made it smell gorgeous. It was lovely. So here starts my liking of baths and my adventures into new exciting bath products!

I went into Lush last week to check out the new Valentine's products they've just launched. To be honest I wasn't overwhelmed by any of them so I ventured around the rest of the shop. I managed to come out with a bubble bar, a bath bomb, a massage bar and this bubbleroon.

According to the Lush website this little bubbleroon, based on the shape of a macaroon, is a bubble bar. So to release the bubbles you have to crumble this under the tap as your bath is running. There were three different types of bubbleroons in the Lush store but I picked up the Yuzu and Cocoa one. This smells sweet and quite strongly of coconut which makes makes you feel like you are in a bounty.

I only used half the bubbleroon as I'd seen people suggesting that half was sufficient but unfortunately I forgot to add it whilst the bath was running. I added it afterwards and swashed my hands around in the water to get the bubbles that you can see in the bath. It was a  lovely bath but the bubbles soon faded although the smell lingered.

At only £3.25 for what can be two lovely soaks in the bath I think these little bubbleroons are worth it. The other two scents are The Green Bubbleroon and Rose Jam.

Have you tried these before? What other Lush bath products do you love?

Nail Art Weekly Project - Week 1

The first theme for the Nail Art Weekly Project is a piece of clothing. For this I went rummaging through my wardrobe to find something that I could not only recreate but that would look good on my nails. Here is a sheer black collared sleeveless top I bought from ASDA last year. I thought this would be great as I could recreate the flowers and the beaded effect.

Obviously I had to do a bit of planning... I even painted a swatch stick to make sure it would look good on my nails. Then on Friday night I sat down to create my nail art weekly manicure...

For this I used OPI - Lady in Black and Dare to Wear - Golden Doublet as well as a dotting tool from Avon to do the gold parts. I'm really pleased with how this manicure came out and although it doesn't look exactly like the top it still has the essence of it.

What do you think?

So easy even a child could make it - Vegetable Goulash Recipe

As I am preparing for moving out into my own house with my boyfriend I thought it best to invest in some simple cookbooks that help me perfect the little stuff before I attempt the more tough stuff. This thinking is what made me buy '100 yummy things to cook and eat', a cookbook by Usbourne. Yes, this is for children but it has some great recipes like chocolate raspberry tart, apple crumble, leek and potato soup and of course peppermint creams! Although a lot of these will be saved until I no longer have mum around to help me, or bake me cakes, I have started to cook a few things from the book. Namely vegetable goulash.

The ingredients you will need are:
1 onion
2 medium-sized carrots
half a medium cauliflower
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons of paprika
2 tablespoons of flour
1 vegetable stock cube
400g can of chopped tomatoes
a pinch of salt and of ground pepper

Step 1. Peel your onion and chop it into little pieces (I used frozen so mine was already done). Peel and chop you potatoes into cubes.

Step 2. Peel and cut your carrot into cubes. Pull any leaves off your cauliflower and separate the florets ensuring you cut the stalks off.

Step 3. Heat the vegetable oil in a deep pan and add the onion and garlic. Gently heat on a low heat for 5 minutes.

Step 4. When the onions are soft sprinkle the paprika and flour and mix well. When mixed add the stock cube to 600ml of boiling water and pour in the pan.

Step 5. Add the potatoes, carrots, cauliflower florets, chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper.

Step 6. Turn up the heat until the goulash starts to boil then reduce the heat so it is gently bubbling. Leave for 20-25 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked.

This dish is very nutritious and healthy being packed full of vegetables. I think you need to add quite a bit of seasoning to this to ensure it is tasty, I would even suggest adding a bit of chilli to give it a kick. It is a lovely meal to have on a cold day with a nice crusty roll.

Have you tried anything like this before? Have you got any recipe recommendations for me?

Is it a lip crayon or a gloss?

I've never really been a fan of Soap and Glory. I was always gifted their hand food moisturiser for Christmas which really put me off the brand. I am more of a sweet fruity smell kind of girl and Soap and Glory was not that for me. I'll admit the brand has grown significantly since I first tried their products, they have added more product lines and become a very popular household name. Something that I wasn't aware of until recently is that they have a make-up line. As the lip crayon has taken over my world I was gifted these Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Sticks for Christmas and I was excited to try them out.

When I first set my eyes on this set in Boots and asked Santa for it for Christmas I was under the impression that these were lip crayons and on Christmas Day when I tried these out I was surprised to find that wasn't the case. If I'd read the name properly I would have realised these were gloss sticks but at  first it seemed so strange to me applying what I thought was a lip crayon and coming away with glossy lips with a hint of colour.

After some time adjusting and wearing these out a bit more I've come to really like these gloss sticks. They are much easier to apply that normal lip gloss due to the fact they are in a crayon form. You can have more precision and the formula means the gloss glides on nicely. At present I've only tried the middle called 'Plum Jam' which I really like as it gives a subtle red colour to my lips. I can't wait to see what the other two are like.

These three colours are available at Boots for £8.00 each.

Have you tried these before?

Moments that Mattered 2013

2013 was a year that started off well but gradually went a bit downhill. I've never had a year quite like it and I want to go onward and upward and enjoy life to its fullest. Although there were some downs in 2013 there were definitely a lot of ups.

The most obvious moment that mattered in 2013 was that I started Gingerbread Smiles. I didn't think that when I started my blog it would create such a platform for me to meet new people, take part in new opportunities and improve my confidence. I started this blog on July 21st on a whim not really thinking much would come from it. I'm really happy that I've continued to keep my blog going and get it where it is now. I'm really proud of the time and effort that I have put into Gingerbread Smiles and I hope my readers enjoy it as much as I do!

Secondly myself and my boyfriend went on our first holiday abroad together to Italy. We spent 5 days in Florence and then 2 in Pisa. Florence was the most gorgeous place I've ever been. Having only been to beach resorts in the past it was lovely to find that no-one wanted to bother you on the streets and you were left to wander. I felt safe on the streets in Florence and it was so clean! We went in August for my birthday and it was unbelievably hot but we still managed to walk around all over to take in the amazing sights. There is so much to see in Florence, I would highly recommend it. After our 5 days in Florence were up we took the train to Pisa to see the leaning tower and stayed until we got the plane home the next day. This was the best holiday I've been on and I can't wait for more to come!

Another of the moments that mattered from 2013 would be planning and pulling off a huge week long event at work. This was the most stressful thing I've ever done in my life which had me worrying every day but I also think it was the most rewarding. The event was to celebrate 50 years since Tees Dock opened and the week included three dinners for long serving existing and ex-employees, two educational days for local schools, one family fun day and one stakeholder event. All these events took place in one marquee at the dock that had to be changed internally each day to fit the different event. When the week was in full swing I was so happy that people were enjoying themselves and it felt good to know that I'd been a part of making that possible.

Of course, there were a lot of other good and bad moments that mattered in 2013 but I think these are the three that stand out to me. It's lovely to have a look back over the good parts of my year and see what I have achieved. I can't wait to see what 2014 will bring!

Ideas for a potential new house

Last week me and my boyfriend starting looking into buying a house a little more seriously. We've booked an appointment with a financial advisor and even went on our first house viewing. All very serious and very exciting. I'm not sure if this is just a girl thing (as Matt has no interest in this for now...) but as I've looked more into houses I have been thinking more and more about how I want different rooms of the house to be decorated. Now we don't have an endless budget so whatever I pick may just be a dream but I think there is always some way you can get what you want. I've been trailing pinterest looking for ideas for the house and below are a few of my favourite picks!

Kitchen

In the kitchen I am really a fan of large 'brick sized' tiles as a back splash although I am not sure what colour I'd go for. As well as this I want my kitchen to be slightly grunge and would love some exposed lighting like the second picture. Lastly I have to have some creative storage in my kitchen. At home I hate having to rummage through the cupboards to find what I want. I need some clever ways to store things that makes them easily accessible.

Living Room

For the living room I am really keen on a sort of retro vibe to it with clean lines and a sofa like the one in the third picture (although I don't know how comfy that would be). I am in love with having a photo frame wall, whether this be in the living room or going up the stairs. Finally I would like to think that we could have some quirky up-cycled items in our house just like this cool coffee table in the second picture.

Bathroom

I'd like to keep the bathroom quite clean and white, maybe with some sort of accent colour, I'm not too sure on that. What I am sure about is that I need lots of clever storage! The amount of beauty and shower products we have between us is quite substantial so we would need some interesting and sensible places to store it all.

Bedroom

The bedroom is the room in which I have the least ideas. I want the bedroom to be somewhere that we both like so I don't want it to be girly but I also don't want it to be cold and masculine. I want something very bright, maybe slightly retro with a few bold colours but most of it clean and white. I'll have to get approval off the boyfriend first though ;)

What do you think? Any ideas that you like? Do you have any house posts? Link me!

> To see how our bedroom, bathroom and living room actually turned out click the links! 

Manicure Monday - Gorgeous Gradient

I think I've fallen in love with this combination. I keep looking at my nails because the base polish with the glitter works so well and they look so glamorous!

For my manicure I've used OPI - Every Month is Oktoberfest, China Glaze - Champagne Kisses and Avon Color Trend - Gold Flecked. To create this manicure I used two coats of Every Month is Oktoberfest which I have fallen in love with. It is a dark sheer red/purple colour which looks so deep and shimmery.

When this is dry I applied a blob of Champagne Kisses at the bottom of the nail then wiped the brush on the bottle to be able to drag the glitter up the nail. Over this glitter I used Gold Flecked to add larger pieces of glitter.

I'm really impressed with my first glitter gradient attempt as the colours work so well together.

Do you like? Will you try this?

Downtown, everything's waiting for you - Calvin Klein perfume

Whilst waiting for my sister to finish picking her Christmas presents from the MAC stand in House of Fraser I browsed the perfumes. One of the employees spritzed this perfume on a piece of paper for me to smell. After that I decided that this is what I wanted for Christmas. I don't know how many of you have chosen a perfume that an employee has handed you but this was a first for me!

I like to change my perfumes up quite a bit so I asked for the smaller version of this which is 30ml. The Perfume shop's description of Downtown is "The fragrance opens with bright top notes of Italian cedrat, bergamot and Tunisian neroli. For the middle notes, a contrast of pink peppercorn dusted over violet leaf and gardenia petals enhances the feminine sophistication. A dry down of Texan cedarwood with touches of incense, vetiver and warm velvet musks leaves an unmistakable, confident and sensual attitude".

To me this smells quite fresh which I like but it also has quite a musky undertone. I'm not really one to wear musky perfumes as I like fruity and sweet perfumes but this isn't too strong. I like to wear Downtown on a day time as I don't think it is a full on fancy night time fragrance but more of light perfume. As you can tell I am not very good at describing fragrances but I hope you will take a chance when you are out and see if you like this too.

Little changes you can make

First of all let me say I am no means an expert on this stuff but I've done some research and I'm a believer in all these tips.

I've been seeing lots and lots and lots of resolution posts and many people saying they are starting their healthy eating this month. To help you all meet your goals I've put together 4 tips that are small ways to change your lifestyle and improve your health. Most of my tips were inspired by clean eating, made most famous by Tosca Reno.

Image source

1. Water is your best friend.

Drinking water to most people feels a lot like a chore and it is not hard to see why most people don't drink enough. Water has so many health benefits which is understandable as we are made of 50-60% water! To ensure we are our best selves inside and out (hello beautiful skin) we need to keep hydrated. 

It is recommended that woman drink 1.6 litres of water a day and men slightly higher at 2 litres. A lot of people might look at these numbers and think they are unattainable. Try thinking of it like this... The average office usually has a water cooler with plastic cups that are around 0.25 litres. In order to reach your target of 1.6 litres in a day, you have to drink 6 and a half glasses in those cups. If you work for eight hours a day and you try to have a cup one every hour it is pretty easy to meet!

If you don't have a water machine then how about this... Purchase a 500ml water bottle and drink 3 of these and an extra 5th of the bottle to meet the daily recommendation. If you are struggling to pick up your water bottle and drink how about setting yourself time limits. For example, I will drink 2 cups or 1 full bottle by 10am.

2. Eat good carbs.

Carbs, we love them, but we hate them. We all need carbs in our life for energy and if you were to think of carbs you'd probably think: potatoes, white bread, pasta, white rice and crisps. Many diets insist on cutting out carbs all together but we all know that when the diet is over and we can eat carbs again the weight goes back on instantaneously. 

I'm going to let you in on a well know secret (that you may not know about) - there are such things as good carbs. They give you energy, not sugar rushes, provide you with vitamins and minerals.

To make the change from bad to good you can start by replacing these popular items. Instead of white bread eat whole meal, instead of rice or pasta have quinoa, brown rice or wholegrain pasta. instead of normal potatoes try sweet potatoes (these can be mash, roasted or made into chips and wedges) and most importantly don't eat ready meals, cook with real ingredients and lots of veg! By making some of these small changes you will see a difference in your weight and also how you feel. Try this website for more info.

3. Limit yourself but don't cut yourself off completely!

I think this point is really important. Everyone is human, we all enjoy a treat and we don't want to be saying no to ourselves all the time. If you want something, have it but don't go overboard. Instead of making yourself sick on a large bar of chocolate, have a few pieces and save the rest for later. Be sensible!

4. Drink less caffeine.

This may be difficult for all of you coffee lovers out there but you should really consider cutting back on caffeine. Caffeine is mildly addictive, can stimulate your nervous system which increases heart rate and blood pressure, can interfere with iron absorption and can irritate your stomach causing headaches and insomnia(web MD + Caffeine informer). Not really what I want from my morning drink...

I'm not saying cut out tea, coffee and fizzy drinks altogether because let's face it I couldn't live without a cup of tea and some biscuits. There are many decaffeinated versions of our favourite drinks on the market. Nescafe, Tetleys, Yorkshire Tea, Twinings, Starbucks and Coke all offer decaffeinated versions of your favourites. Now I can't speak for coffee, as I don't drink it, but for me, caffeinated and decaffeinated tea taste the same. Try changing and see if you feel any different!

In my eyes, these 4 things are relatively easy to alter but for you, it maybe be harder. If you push yourself to achieve these I think you'll feel much better.

Any questions, or maybe conflicting arguments please feel free to comment. I am only trying to suggest some healthy lifestyle changes that I have seen so many apply.

Fairy Godmother, Lush Soap Review

Whilst shopping in Lush with mum, she picked up a soap that I'd never heard of called Godmother. When I smelt it I wanted it, but so did Mum! It went in her basket but she has cut it in half so I can have some too.

Godmother shares the same scent as the Snow Fairy Shower Gel (which I've only just realised after looking at the site) which is very sweet but I don't think it is as sickly as the shower gel. It's a deep purple colour. When you use this soap it's very delicate, it doesn't foam much but it spreads well and my hands feel clean after using. The scent lingers on your hands for a while after which is gorgeous!

I've never tried one of Lush's soaps before this but I can't wait to use the others that I've purchased.

Manicure Monday - Wing Dust, Ocean Tears Swatches and Review

For Christmas my boyfriend bought me three indie polishes I selected from Rainbow Connection, I posted about them last week here. The first manicure Monday of 2014 is Wing Dust's Ocean Tears. Wing Dust is an indie polish company that sell their polishes through Etsy and other international suppliers.

Ocean Tears is a gorgeous aqua blue glitter polish that goes opaque with two coats. The consistency of the polish is very thick and gloopy but it does apply well if you use a blob and then spread over the nail. The colour of this is a beautiful turquoise blue with lots of different specks of glitter running through. As well as the large specks of noticeable glitter there is also a fine shimmer running through the polish making it sparkly.

This polish is becoming one of my favourites as I think the coverage, colour and glitter are amazing. I will definitely be looking into more Wing Dust polishes in the future.

What do you think? Do you like it?

I think they got the hints...

As I've said maybe a million times, I like gingerbread men. So for Christmas you can imagine I was plied with gingerbread men goodies...

Gingerbread Yankee Candle holders from Mum.

Gingerbread Candle from Tesco, from Mum. 

A present for me and Matthew, an ornament for our tree when we move in together from Mum.

Lots and lots of Body Shop ginger sparkle goodies from Mum and my friend Jess.

Little fabric Christmas tree decorations from Jess and my boyfriend's family.

A very cute gingerbread man bag from my boyfriend.

Gingerbread chocolates from Jess.

Gingerbread biscuits from Mum.

I think that is about everything gingerbread I got for Christmas, although I am sure I've missed some! So grateful to have so many people who buy me presents and are so thoughtful.

Link me to your Christmas goodies posts!