The Lush Cosmetics Easter Collection 2021

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I love the first few months of a new year because we get new collection after new collection from Lush Cosmetics, which means any excuse for an extravagant bath! Seasonal collections at Lush Cosmetics are my favourite launches, I feel as though I use more from them than the permanent lines because I just want to try it all.

With the scent of the Mother's Day collection still in the air, this year's Easter collection landed and it's a good'un. I haven't been overly wowed the last few seasons but this year's collection has more than made up for it and I already have a couple that I'll be sad to see go. 

From bath bombs and bath melts to soaps and body butters, you're bound to fall for something. 

I mean it's Lush, why wouldn't you?!

3 Orchard Toys games your children will love

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We're a year into this staying at home thing which has meant most of our preschool learning has been done from our living room and we've relied on Orchard Toys a lot during this time. I've spoken previously about our love for the brand when finding The Best Orchard Toy Games for your Two Year Old and so with some newer editions finding their way into our favourites it seemed fitting to share an update on what we have been playing with. 

We love spending time with Joshua reading, drawing and painting and discovering Orchard Toys has meant we could include more educational games and puzzles. You can search for their products by age which I've always found so helpful in the past too. 

I have three of their newer products to show you that are perfect for at home or as gifts for children's parties - we've had so much fun with them recently. 

Antipodes Worship Skin Defence Serum

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Antipodes is a brand that has permanently been in my beauty drawers for one reason or another. Their face masks are brilliant, the hand creams ideal for keeping skin smooth and the Kiwi Seed Oil Eye Cream is hands down the best eye cream I've ever used so I'm always game for exploring more of the brand. 

If you're new to the brand lemme tell you a little more: Antipodes is a scientific green beauty company from New Zealand specialising in award-winning plant-powered vegan beauty driven by native ingredients. The companies founder and CEO Elizabeth Barbalich has a background in science and innovation and it's something I adore about the brand, especially after spending some time with them a few years ago for an intimate afternoon tea to explore the ethos, products and ingredients. 

"For 15 years, Antipodes has said no to toxins in our products: we’ve never compromised on our clean formulations and sustainability has been our baseline since day one. Thanks to 100% naturally sourced ingredients, independent third-party audits of our credentials and sophisticated formulations that meet the needs of women seeking actual results from natural skincare, our products are continually elevated above this standard"

Elizabeth Barbalich Founder & CEO

12 NEW Products from Pixi Beauty to Try

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Pixi is really spoiling us with a plethora of new launches to get excited about and boy am I thankful because I need something to get excited about while we're stuck in what feels like eternal lockdown. Over the last few months, I've had a handful of new product launches to play with and I've also spent a dreamy virtual evening with Pixi learning all about the best products to use to make sure my skin is kept fresh after all that mask-wearing - SO I've rounded up twelve of those products to showcase within this post. 

It's gonna be a long one but oh so worth it!

4 Products from Evolve Beauty you need to try

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Evolve Beauty is a brand I've explored more and more over the years - I first started using their products in 2018 and the love has grown from there. It didn't take long for me to fall for Evolve Beauty, to be honest, it took just reading the About Us page on their website as the passion behind the brand came through in just a few sentences. Laura, Evolve Beauty's founder is behind the range of natural and organic skincare brand which is inspiring a better and more natural world for beauty. The products are created by a small team in a studio in Hertfordshire, lovingly made with uplifting scents, incredible ingredients and interesting textures.

I wanted to pick out four products that are always within reach for me and give you a little more information on them. You never know you might hop foot it to their website to have a nose for yourself after you've read this - here's hoping!

The Urban Decay Naked Wild West Palette

If there's one brand I always look out for when it comes to new beauty releases, it's Urban Decay and they've had some killer launches recently, one of which is the Urban Decay Naked Wild West Palette. Launched in February 2021, it's Urban Decay's first-ever vegan makeup palette and is inspired by the Californian desert - think warm dusky tones, rich terracotta browns and deep coppers plus the most gorgeous blue I've ever set my eyes on.

The Naked collection by Urban Decay is the most well-loved collection of makeup palettes available with the first three in the collection gaining cult classic status. Naked 3 is still one of my all-time favourite palettes but  some of the newer launches are definitely hot on its tail of taking the hot spot for me.

Easy to Make Dairy Free Scones

If there's one thing I love making its scones - more often than not, all the ingredients are in your cupboard already, they take no time at all and they're delicious sweet or savoury! I make all my bakes in my Thermomix so I use a mixture of already programmed Thermomix recipes as well as my own favourites and adapt them to use in the machine. I also make everything dairy-free due to our son's dairy allergy which means there's been a lot of trial and error over the years. 

This particular scone recipe is based on a BBC Good Food recipe by Jane Hornby but I've tweaked the ingredient amounts and made it dairy-free so we can all enjoy them together at home.

Beat the Maskne Blues with Image Skincare

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Wearing a face mask has become second nature to us all but with that comes a new skincare concern I'm sure none of us saw coming, Maskne. Maskne is a term used when acne breakouts happen because of wearing a mask and can occur as quickly as one day of wearing one or weeks after. There's a number of reasons this can happen from the friction of the mask against the skin to the area being much warmer than usual leading to irritation, clogged pores and breakouts. 

Leading cosmeceutical skincare brand Image has a solution that will be music to your ears - the NEW Maskne Kit has been created to help you combat maskne and includes three products to maintain a clear complexion. 

Five of My Latest Reads + Mini Reviews

The start of 2021 seems to have run away from me as it's March and I'm only just sitting down with a book update - my first once since November. I ended 2020 by reading 100 books, the most I've ever read in a year and I'm so proud of myself, sure the pandemic definitely played a part in all my extra time but it's still such a great reading achievement. I decided to set my 2021 reading challenge at sixty books so there was a little less pressure to work my way through them and so far I've read thirteen so not too bad, to begin with.

I've picked out five titles from what I've read so far this year to share with you and there are some brilliant books in there (even if I do say so myself!) - I can't wait to hear what you think.

Temple Spa My Kinda Skin Essentials Kit

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Over the last year, all this extra time at home has meant I've really been able to nail my skincare routine. I know what my skin needs and when it needs it and for the first time in forever it feels relatively calm and happy. When it comes to skin, it's something that can change quite quickly, I remember when I was pregnant my skin did a complete 360 and I had to change everything for it to change again once I had our son. 

One thing that I've found is really helpful when you're unsure about your skin and what it needs is Temple Spa's Capsule Skincare Collection. My Kinda Skin is a clever kit that helps you choose a three-step routine depending on how your skin feels. 

The trio of products have been specifically chosen by skin type and are presented in a handy bag too - I use the "Pick your Own" skin kit so I'm going to show you what I've chosen.

Paul & Joe Beauté Spring 2021 Collection

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In a blur of shimmer, floral prints and oh so pretty bows, Paul & Joe present their Spring 2021 collection and it is a feast for eyes. The collection promises to transport you to a sunny park upon the bank of the Seine to spend a beautiful afternoon enjoying the sunshine and a picnic with their gorgeous colourways and French glamour. 

It's dreamy and just what you'd expect from Paul & Joe Beauty which was launched by Sophie Mechaly in 2002, following the success of her fashion line by the same name. The limited edition collection features three eye colour sets and three gel blushes - each as joyful as the next. 

8 Things to look forward to this Spring

Ah Spring... it's almost time for nature to awaken around us again as the first buds of cherry blossom appear, the sun starts to show its face again and the evenings get lighter and I for one cannot wait. 

I have found winter exceptionally hard this year - I've mentioned before how I suffer from a touch of S.A.D but that paired with constant grey skies and lockdown for what feels like months again really knocked me down. I feel like I am coming out the other side at the moment and as we've been blessed with a few days of sunshine and blue skies, I'm getting more and more excited about spring. 

In the spirit of celebrating the little things, I've put together eight things to look forward to this spring, regardless of the country still slowly opening back up again - if we've learnt anything this year, it's that the most special moments really are the little things in life.