YOU Beauty Box

Another lovely month and another beauty box…this time round it is the YOU Beauty Box

YOU Beauty Box gives you the option to choose two samples from a shortlist of selected products each month. This month the following were the items shortlisted

• BalanceMe Congested Skin Serum (7ml)
• BareMinerals NEW SkinLongetivity (7.5ml)
• KIKO Velvet Touch Creamy Stick Blush (10gm)
• Ladival SPF15 (150ml)
• Murad AHA/BHA Exfoliating Cleanser (30ml)
• Nails Inc Porchester Square Nail Polish (14ml)
• PRO:VOKE Liquid Blonde Colour Activating Treatment Shampoo (50ml)

Plus each box included a Kneipp Devil’s Claw Massage Oil (20ml ) and Organii SPF 50 Sun Milk…but that’s not a big deal …well at least not for me!

So the goodies I picked were,

Bareminerals NEW SkinLongetivity – Sample Size 7.5ml/£6.75 (RRP £45 /50ml)

If you haven’t heard of this product in the last couple of weeks, you have either been avoiding beauty magazines, blogs or Instagram or just crawled out from your favourite hiding spot. It’s been everywhere. SkinLongetivity is designed to reawaken and help maintain your skins most vibrant look of health. Basically promises of a younger looking skin. The serum itself is a white creamy texture serum which almost immediately sinks into my skin. With no residue, perfumed smell or any sticky aftereffect it’s something that can included in your nightly skincare routine.

 

KIKO Velvet Touch Creamy Stick Blush – Full size product (RRP £7.90/10gm)

Everyone’s got their sticks out this summer, from your strobes, highlighters, bronzers and KIKO joining the bandwagon with their blush stick.This creamy stick promises a gorgeous hint of colour for a healthy flushed effect.

The verdict? It’s a lovely pigmented dusky pink creamy texture which required a bit of blending in once applied. But it does give you a natural flush of colour on your cheeks.

I have never used a blush stick and have always preferred using a powdered blush and brush to blend it in. But the packaging and the actual size of the product makes it chic and convenient to pop it in your makeup bag. I might not ditch my brushes just yet but its definitely a must try product.

Kneipp Devil’s Claw Massage Oil –Sample Size 20ml/£2.19 (RRP £10.95/100ml)

 The Kneipp's Massage oil is a thick blood like liquid which promises to be effective in a tropical manner by adding the oil into your bath. I've not tried the oil yet , mainly because since I have had my child the concept of a 'Bath ' is more of a luxury than anything else.

 

 


Organii Everyday Organics SPF 50 Sun Milk -Sample Size 3ml/£.47p (RRP £19.90/125ml)

Another product that I haven’t had the priviliedge to use mainly due to the tains (1^st day of summer they said L)….This is a sun protection lotion which is supposed to be fragrance fee and quickly absorbed by the skin.

The YOU Beauty Box seems like the best budgeted beauty box on the market at just £6.95 a month including P&P. Each month subscribers get the opportunity to choose which two products they want in their box and there are some full sized products. One thing to note you do pay on a monthly basis, so if you do not intend to continue after your initial purchase , please do remember to cancel your subscription.

Overall, for £6.95 for a monthly subscription , which I get to cancel at a later stage and products worth at least over £15 I think its good box. It’s a great way to try out beauty products from some really good and known brands and also some new discoveries and you get some actual full size products.

Have you tried the YOU Beauty Box? What are your thoughts on the June edition? What are your favourite beauty boxes?

Lost in Paradise

Hello my lovelies, hope you guys had a lovely bank holiday weekend and just counting days till the weekend, as, believe it or not , its almost here.

Mr Not-So –Spontaneous surprised me and the little bundle of joy over the bank holiday weekend. Usually it’s down to me to search for deals , weather, food and stalk tripadvisors looking for reviews.



Over the weekend we paid a visit to the Paradise Wildlife Park, a family run zoo in Hertfordshire. I absolutely love visiting zoos and just love, love …LOVE being around animals. Ok, so in my head…zoos need a lot of space to run and this is London,  so putting 2 and 2 together I automatically assume that this zoo has got to be like really ..really far away, but we got there in like about 40 mins from home (Chigwell). Which makes me think their car parks must be cramped or worse case FULL!!…it being bank holiday and all! But it wasn’t. Ample space and no lack of instructions. Great, you would think that would be it. But no, my head just goes to the next possible disaster, what if it isn’t all it promised to be. Boy Oh Boy! How wrong was I?

The zoo is apparently the only zoo in UK who shelters 5 massive cats.














Home to over 400 animals from your lion, tiger, lemurs as well as sheep, goats and pigs, it also offers a full programme of animal shows every half an hour or so , a play area for the toddlers and also your park area for your ‘getting back to nature’ walks.

I personally feel the park is a great day out for couples and families, especially if you love animals.











Just make sure the suns beaming as I cannot imagine doing those walks in the rain.








My son loved it to bits and I think his favourites were definitely the 5 cats which were the White Lion , White Tiger (who was having a siesta…shame!!) Snowy Leopard,  Jaguar and the Tiger.





It was just awesome to see these animals in their full element. There are eating areas available all over the park , same with toilets and baby's changing facilities.






My little one enjoyed it to bits and I’m sure kids of all ages will really look forward to it, even if it is the kid stuck within the adult you.

Peppa World

“Let’s go to Peppa World, this Easter bank holiday weekend”. This was followed by a minute of silence to allow my boys to digest the fact that we will be spending most of the day outside queueing up for rides on a day where there was about 80% chance of rain and horrid windy moments. So after the awkward one minute silence the hubby comes back with this, isn’t that more of a little girls thing. We both look at our 2 and half year old son who’s already ranting about how I was Mummy Pig, my husband, Daddy Pig and if he would see dinosaurs. So that pretty much sums up how a 2 and a half year old thinks. Blue, Pink, green, aqua, the stereotypes don’t matter to them.

We set off at 9 am, the little bundle of joy slept for most of the journey, the weather was getting grim and so was my expectation of this being a good out. We arrived by 11 and managed to get a parking space, 3 minutes walking distance from the main entrance. The car park was full, which wasn’t surprising to be honest, it being Easter bank holiday and all.

As we entered the park, there were moment where I actually asked myself,” Are we at the right place.?”. There was no sign of Peppa or the whole pig clan. It took us a bit to realise that the actually Peppa Pig is a part of the Paultons Park .Which worked brilliantly for us as Paultons park have rides more suited for your teenagers and adults . Funny enough, it was my little boy who first spotted Peppa World and before we knew it, we had a child on the run.

To say he enjoyed it, is an understatement, he LOVED it, mainly because he knew the characters. He couldn’t read but he understood we were at Peppa’s house, the Windy castle, the helicopter rides and George’s dinosaurs. He even stopped at Peppa’s school for a photograph, all smiling minus any of those “before shots” tantrums. He told me he wanted to get in a yellow car and the blue seat on the train. This was his world and he definitely was no stranger here. The ones who felt out of place was my hubby and my friend’s daughter who was a teenager. Hubby, because the weather was getting to him (Did I mention it was so windy , we could see the helicopter rides actually shaking mid-air ??) and my friends daughter, because she was a teenager and she couldn’t force herself to enjoy this world and just couldn’t understand why we weren’t  trying out the rides at Paulton Park. So this world does come with an age limit. I think my son might appreciate it for another year and maybe that’s it. But I’m sure by then there will be more 2 and a half’s in there knowing their Peppa World like the back of their tiny palms.

The park itself looks small and you might feel for a second or so that this can be covered under half an hour. But perfect enough for those little people in our lives. All rides are basically a variation of the same thing , they are all rides going in a straight line or around a wheel. There’s an eating area with both indoor and outdoor eating facilities and toilets and baby’s changing facilities, all clean. There’s food available which is mostly your burgers, chips hotdogs that kind of thing. Or you could just have a mini picnic and you might even have a curious duck walk up your table for a morsel. There’s a souvenir shop with all your Peppa Pig merchandise from your stationery to your towels. In addition to this, Paultons Park has another souvenir shop which you will see as you enter the park, which houses merchandises of most of your cartoon characters.

I would have loved the experience all the way through if we had better weather and the hubby didn’t end up losing my little boy's backpack. But it was still a good day nevertheless and you just won’t be able to get that Peppa Pig tune out of your head, even if you tried. It plays everywhere in Peppa World all day. It s a shame I couldn't get any pictures as my camera was acting up and all I have are just videos.

The tickets aren't cheap but kids under 1 meter go free. But there are offers available if you go in groups. Check out ticket options here : https://paultonspark.co.uk/tickets/buy?category=21

 

Needless to say , my little one was knackered for the journey back home and when we got home he asked if we can go to Paw Patrol World next time round….HELP!!!


How were your bank holiday breaks? Do you have any family faves?

I'M BACK!!!

It’s been 5 months since my last post. Yes, I left my ‘baby’ for 5 whole months!!!  I just had way too much on my plate and just needed a break away from it all. Hope you all are doing good and are in the best of your health and spirits.

One thing I’ve learned from this whole exercise was just how difficult it was to stay motivated to blog as often as possible. The longer I left the more things got out of trend or got covered by hundred other bloggers/vloggers. But this place is my ‘baby’ and I have really decided to take things under control if not for anything else, mainly for just being really cross with myself for not being able to complete or continue something that I started.

So, the things that I was up to during my sabbatical…

Death

Well obviously not mine, but a really good friend of mine who was battling with cancer for 3 years. This just broke me. You know when your IT guys ‘advise’ you to just reboot your machine and see if it works. Well, I desperately needed a reboot. It’s weird how nothing ever prepares you for that feeling you go through when someone whose presence you have taken for granted is just not there anymore.  He was the life of the party, the one who loved to take pictures and make memories, the king of OCDs and a real gem of a human being. And till this date I miss him and his banter.

Travel

Last year we also decided to make a mini trip to India with our little bundle of joy . This was part of the reboot I was talking about.  I now have full respect for parents who travel with 2 or more kids. Our days were just spent scheming thing to wear him off so he would sleep in the flight, coz nobody wants to be those parents whose kid keeps the whole plane and the neighbouring countries up all night. No, our scheming didn’t work .Yes, he was awake for most of the flight journey and yes, he most definitely decided to do his vocal checks 35,000 feet up in the air. But you know what I realised, when your baby cries; you try to calm him and you just couldn’t give two hoots about the judging eyes around you.

Weddings

So we had about 3 weddings in 3 different states in India and yes, it was as hectic as it sounds. If you weren’t already aware or lived under a rock for most of your life, Indian weddings are a true piece of work. You are just knackered by the end of the events that just goes on for days. Ok so now try this with a toddler who just cannot fathom why we aren't having a White Christmas and just refuses to wear anything on as the heat was just too much for him to deal with. Yup, he worked on his ‘diaper look’… till he found out how he could take them off and then it was just 2 grown-ups looking at each other just nodding off questions like ‘ Is that your child?’. This was going very well till he started pointing at us and calling out “DADDDYYYY!!!!”, “MUMMMMY!!!!” at the top of his voice. Lucky for us, he’s still at that age where people just go…’Awwww!!!’

….what else?

There has been loads of mini stories happening here and there in my life.Some blog worthy and some not so much. Divorces, friends moving on in life, new jobs, new homes, laughter, joy and oodles of bliss moments! Now lets get crackin'.....