Collaborative / Partnered Post - Turning Your Garden Into Your Own Private Sanctuary*

Every now and then you get an email that arrives at just the right time. After several years of neglect (cheers COVID!) this week we eventually managed to get someone local out to start transforming our all be it, very small garden space into our own personal safe space. 

Like so many modern ish houses, we don't have a lot of garden space, but we do have a nice conservatory and improving the view from it is our main priority. Stage one involved some serious hedge trimming, and some tree and bush removal, and hopefully in the Spring we'll be able to get the main raised bed sorted out and by then we'll hopefully be well on the way to creating our own little outdoor sanctuary.

With all that's happened over the past two years, it is pretty normal to still feel pretty stressed and overwhelmed with life, and as Covid-19 seems to rear its ugly head again, many more people have found themselves dealing with trauma. Even though a lot of the restrictions on travel, and social distancing have now been relaxed, a lot of people are are still really conscious that a third wave is just around the corner, and as a result it's still difficult for a lot of people to concentrate on their own self care and well being.

While not everyone is comfortable with visiting a spa or a wellness centre these days, there are other things that you can do to to practice a bit of self care in the safety of your own home. From cozy movie nights, to creating your own spa experience in your own bathroom, or even turning your garden a safe and private space, there are lots of things we can do to to help us switch off and relax.

Use Your Green Fingers To Create A Mindfulness Garden

I've got to admit that when it comes to gardening, I didn't inherit my mams green fingers. She knows the names of plants and everything she plants be it bulbs, seeds or random cuttings grows. That said I actually did get a GCSE in Agricultural and Horticultural Science, so I do know how it all works, and one project that we did as class was to create a sensory garden. If you love gardening, you should consider using your skills to create mindfulness or sensory gardens. The good thing about gardens like is that you don't need a huge amount of space, you could plant some pots or some tubs or even some hanging baskets with a mixture of scented plants such as lavender, lots of brightly coloured flowers, and even a few pots of herbs for scent and taste. You do need a bit of gardening equipment and a few skills but even the task of planting and weeding can help your to focus and relax. Creating a sensory type garden can be a great way to create an area where you can relax, focus and meditate. If you don't have the skills or if you have a larger space, then you can either buy ready planted tubs, or you can so what me and Mummy Lou are going to do and speak to a professional landscaper who can help bring you vision to life.

Create a Covered Area

One of the best ways to enjoy your garden throughout the year is to do what me and Mummy Lou have done and invest in a covered area. If you've got the space, and the finances you could go for a conservatory, summer house, or even a luxury cabin or shed. If you don't have that sort of money, or like so many modern houses, the space, then you could just add a removable or permanent awning, or a small gazebo to extend your indoor space, outside, and to create more space for entertaining and socialising no matter what the weather.

Use Sound To Relax and Unwind

There are plenty of tools that you can use to create the right atmosphere in your garden, but sound is certainly one of the best ones to use. Again depending on finances, you could install an outdoor sound system, or you could just use a cheap bluetooth speaker - or if you would prefer a more natural or relaxing sound then you could try a singing bowl or my mams favourite, wind chimes! Thanks to the healing power of sound, sound therapy is possibly one of the most important therapies offered as part of today’s wellness therapies. Using sound in your personal indoor or outdoor spa can help you relax more quickly and promote a sense of calm and serenity.

Invest In A Luxury Feature

Each garden is unique and it should reflect your personal preferences. However, adding a luxury feature to your garden does not only elevate the atmosphere in your personal outdoor spa space but it can also increase the overall value of your home. Again dependent on space, and cash flow, some options could include a hot tub, jacuzzi, swimming pool, fire pit, bar, or even a water feature such as a fountain, or a statue with trickling water which can also help create a relaxing environment through sound.

Use Light To Create The Right Atmosphere And Increase Security

To enjoy a moment of relaxation and self-care, you will need the right atmosphere, and how can your garden’s atmosphere be complete without the right lighting?! Make sure you use outdoor lighting to your advantage to create a dreamy ambience and a powerful led floodlight to increase security. Obviously a lot of lights do need to be installed by a professional electrician but solar lights have really improved in the last few years and you can now find solar lights to suit most budgets, you can get lamp posts, lights that change colour, net lights for fences and even solar light wind chimes. Something else to consider to add interest, and light effects to your garden, as well as making it look bigger is to add a mirror to a wall or a fence, to create reflection, and depth.

Obviously a lot of these suggestions are dependant on the space that your have and the amount of money that you have to play with but have a little search online, and there is lots of advice on how to make over even the smallest garden on a budget so there really is no reason not to create your own perfect outdoor space. Alas we're going to have to wait till next year now to get ours sorted but already it looks better than it did last week, and do you know what? If and when it snows every single garden will look the same, and who doesn't like watching the snow fall when you're warm and cozy indoors, if that it's relaxing I don;t know what it x 

*Collaborative / Partnered Post 

A Life Update And Trimming My Stash - August 2017 Edition - Empties And Mini Reviews

After a pretty manic few weeks I've finally managed to grab a few minutes to sit down and blog. I wish I could say that I'd been away sunning myself but the reality is a little bit more boring than that, so I'm not going to bore you with too much of a life update. 

This week on the whole, has been a fun one though, I've combined a huge shopping trip, with lots of friend and family time, culminating in celebrating my mums birthday yesterday and a family meal tomorrow night. I'm not going to lie I'm exhausted and lacking spoons but when you've done or you're going to do, something that you enjoy it makes the drained feeling a little easier to stomach.

I know it's a bit of cliche but this year is really flying by, I can hardly believe that the first week of September is now done and dusted, despite my lingering hopes of an Indian summer, Autumn is definitely on it's way. I've drank my first Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte of the year, the Halloween and Christmas bits are starting to appear in stores and the leaves are beginning to fall from the trees. I'm still trying to cling on to the last remnants of summer but I need to stop kidding myself, August is long gone.

Sanctuary Body Scrub - 50ml
Benefit The Porefessional Instant Wipeout Mask x 1
Elemis Exotic Frangipani Monoi Moisture Melt - 35ml
Elemis Exotic Frangipani Monoi Bath And Shower Cream - 200ml
Creightons Creme de Coconut & Keratin Nourishing Conditioner - 250ml
Creightons Creme de Coconut & Keratin Moisturising Shampoo - 250ml
My Little Beauty Body Scrub - Sandy Shore - 210g

Total - 7 Items

Before we forget August completely though, it's time to take an all be it, late look back, at all of the beauty products that I finished last month. Although I'm nowhere near July's total, 7 items is still more than acceptable. There wasn't a lot of skincare again but I did finish a few pairs of products, that pleased my slim OCD side immensely.

1. Sanctuary Body Scrub - 50ml

This is a product that I've talked about on a few occasions. The Sanctuary range is one of the mainstays of Boots bath and body care brands, and it's a popular one when it comes to Christmas gift sets. I haven't bought a Sanctuary product in it's own right for a number of years now, but I do occasionally receive their products as gifts. This was a mini, travel sized body scrub that I probably got in a gift set. The smell of the Sanctuary products is intoxicating, an exotic mix of essential oil that creates a warm, slightly citrus scent. This is a gel based scrub that is full of fine, pumice based particles. It foams up nicely but it's just not scratchy enough for me. I would use it again if I got it but I wouldn't go out of my way to buy it myself.

2. Benefit The Porefessional Instant Wipeout Mask x 1

Next up a product from one of my favourite brands Benefit, and quite surprisingly it's a skincare product. I haven't tried a lot of skincare products from Benefit but I know for a fact that they have their devotees. In it's simplest terms these are a cross between a pore strip and a sheet mask. You pop the button and it soaks the mask with a pore refining solution. You then pop the mask on either your nose, your forehead or your chin and leave it for 10 minutes, before massaging the rest of the liquid over your face with the rough side of the strip. I know pores don't open and close like doors but this menthol scented, slightly tingly feeling strip definitely left my skin feeling a little bit smoother and tighter. I think these are on the verge of been discontinued by Benefit so if you want to try these get a move on! You get 8 masks in a pack and whilst they aren't a miracle product they do seem to improve the texture of your skin at least in the short term.

3. Elemis Exotic Frangipani Monoi Moisture Melt - 35ml
4. Elemis Exotic Frangipani Monoi Bath And Shower Cream - 200ml

Products 3 and 4 are both from Elemis Exotic Frangipani Monoi Moisture range. I'm a huge, huge fan of this range, if you want a luxurious bath and body range then this is definitely a one to try. With the beautiful exotic fragrance of tropical white flowers, infused with coconut oil, these products are perfect for pamper time, and they are even used in one of Elemis' post wedding treatments. The shower cream is rich, thick and moisturising, and it produces a rich, creamy foam that leaves you skin beautifully scented and feeling like silk.

The Exotic Frangipani Moisture Melt is a beautiful and unusual multi use product, solid at room temperature, pop the bottle into a bath or a bowl of warm water and it melts down to a beautiful, moisturising fragranced oil, that you can use on your body, your nails, your hair or even as a bath oil.

Both of these products are pretty expensive (the shower cream retails at around £26)  but if you want some luxury body treats and you love heady, white flower scents then you need the Elemis Exotic Frangipani Monoi range in your life.

5.Creightons Creme de Coconut & Keratin Nourishing Conditioner - 250ml*

6.Creightons Creme de Coconut & Keratin Moisturising Shampoo - 250ml*

Another coordinating pair of products and these were a budget shampoo and condition that I was recently sent to review. You can read my full review here x but for just £1 a tube I was pretty impressed with both the shampoo and the conditioner which in my experience proved that you don't need to spend a fortune on hair care basics if you don't want to or your if your budget doesn't stretch to it.

7. My Little Beauty Body Scrub - Sandy Shore - 210g

Finally a product from one of most recent My Little Boxes (check out my unboxing videos on You Tube) and it's another body scrub. This is from the My Little Box exclusive My Little Beauty brand, which unfortunately isn't available to repurchase in the UK. This was everything that I love in a body scrub and a little bit more besides. From the name you can probably already guess that this is a salt scrub, nice gritty grains, suspended in a moisturising oil. You could apply it to wet skin or if you wanted a real intense, almost painful scrub then you can use it on dry skin. It was nice and scrubby and it smelt beautiful - a combination of baby powder, and white flowers. I loved this and I'm gutted that I can't get any more x 

So it was a little bit late but they were my August empties, if you have any questions then leave me a comment and let me know x I've got a busy weekend ahead but I will hopefully be back on Sunday with a yummy recipe that I made for my mam's birthday and then next week with a haul, a review or two and a couple of videos xx

*Press Samples

Trimming My Stash And A Life Update - August 2016 Edition - Empties And Mini Reviews

Well the summer holidays are just about over, and Pumpkin Spice Lattes (or Frappuccinos in this case) are now back on the Starbucks menu, what does that mean? well it's September of course, and whilst I'm still praying for a lottery win or an Indian summer to get my sunshine fix, there is no doubt that despite the warm start to the week, autumn is on its way

Whilst I'm sorry to see the end of summer. I have to be honest and say I'm not particularly sorry to see the back of August. It was a pretty rubbish month in a lot of ways for me, culminating in a broken laptop, and a couple of screen free weeks, that I could seriously have done without. I'm now way behind schedule when it comes to blogging and You Tube and I have to admit that it's stressing me out a little bit! For once though I'm going to try and take my own advice and try to keep calm, and enjoy the creative process.

I've got lots and lots of posts and videos planned for the next few weeks, to try and bring myself back up to date, including some hopefully interesting reviews, and some hauls. If you like hauls, you need to make sure that your following my blog, and that your subscribed to my You Tube channel. I have a home haul, an ebay haul, specific shop hauls, and countless beauty hauls to come, including some items that I bought way back in May!

Since I have so many beauty items still to show you, I'm putting my Project 10 Pan plans on hold. My decision has nothing to do with the launch of Kat Von D into Debenhams later this month, and if you believe that you'll believe anything! ;). Seriously though I want a clean break and I can only do that when all of my beauty haul posts and videos are out of the way. I am definitely going to do it though and I'll let you know with a post and a video when I take the plunge and start my make up no buy. In the meantime though I've still be trying to use up as many beauty products as I can and here are the items that I finished in August.

Butter London Hand & Nail Creme - Mango Peach - 50ml
Sanctuary Spa Body Scrub - 50ml
The Body Shop Earth Lovers 100% Biodegradable Shower Gel - Apricot And Basil - 250ml
Benecos Natural Nail Polish Remover - 100ml
Primark PS Love Your Skin Nail Polish Twist Pot - 70ml
Rituals Fortune Scrub Sweet Orange And Cedar Shower Cream Scrub - 150ml
No7 Radiance Boosting Hot Cloth Cleanser - 200ml
Next Passion Fruit Coulis Shower Gel - 50ml
Total - 8 Items

July and August ended up being twins - I managed to finish 8 products in July and I managed to finish another 8 items in August. It wasn't a vintage performance by any means but I managed to finish a nice assortment of older body care items and one longstanding skin items so I'm still pretty pleased, and I'm already looking forward to improving my total next month.

1. Butter London Hand & Nail Creme - Mango Peach - 50ml

The first item that I finished was a product that I had pretty much forgotten about. I normally have about half a dozen hand creams on the go at once and this one was one that I'd pretty much forgotten about. I originally bought this from a site called Powder Rooms that I loved but it now appears to be offline. They sold all sorts of quirky brands and products and this hand cream from popular nail brand Butter London was just one thing that I bought from the site. It had quite a runny texture, but it was easily absorbed and it left the skin feeling silky soft. The biggest selling point for me though was the smell - the Mango Peach scent was literally mouthwatering. Unfortunately Butter London don't seem to sell their hand creams anymore but you can still buy their nail polishes and lip products from various retailers including Feel Unique and HQ Hair, and with their new UK website set to launch soon here's hoping that they bring this gorgeous smelling lotion back

2. Sanctuary Spa Body Scrub - 50ml

This is the first of several mini products in this post and it's another rediscovery. Like socks and selection packs, a Sanctuary Spa gift set from Boots used to be almost a mainstay under my Christmas tree. My tastes have changed slightly over the years but I can still appreciate this exotic scent and the familiar bright orange packaging. This body scrub is still one of core products in the Sanctuary line, and although the name has changed slightly, this micro bead free scrub, contains gentle, pumice stone particles, suspended in a patchouli and orange scented, essential oil filled foaming gel. I like this scrub and I'll happily use up the couple that I've found in my stash but that said I probably wouldn't repurchase. There are now lots of different scrubs in the Sanctuary line, and you should know by now that I love salt and sugar scrubs, so my favourite scrub from Sanctuary is actually their Hot Sugar Scrub which normally retails at around £12. Pricey but worth it for the circulation boost that the warming effect gives you. This one though under it's new name the Sanctuary Gentle Polish Body Scrub retails at a much more affordable £5.50 for a 200ml tube and this 50ml size retails at the perfect try me price of just £2.50.

3. The Body Shop Earth Lovers 100% Biodegradable Shower Gel - Apricot And Basil - 250ml

This is another rediscovered product and unfortunately it's another product that's been discontinued. The Body Shop Earth Lovers range was a range of 100% biodegradable shower gels. The packaging was biodegradable as was the shower gel itself, and it was also sulfate, paraben, colour and soap free. This one sounds a little odd fragrance wise but it just worked, the sweetness and fruitiness of the apricot, went perfectly with the peppery herbal hit of the basil. I personally found the formulation a bit watery but I did enjoy this fragrance.

4. Benecos Natural Nail Polish Remover - 100ml

This was a product that I was sent to review from My Pure, and whilst I quite like it, I've got to say that in my opinion you can't beat a normal chemical filled (but acetone free) nail polish remover. This did what it was supposed to but it really struggled on anything with texture or glitter, and it was also better suited at removing one or two coats rather than a full manicure. You can read a full review here.

5. Primark PS Love Your Skin Nail Polish Twist Pot - 70ml

When these little pots first came on the market I had to admit that I wasn't a fan. I tried a few at several different price points and I was left feeling a bit mehh but now I get it I really do. This particular pot is just £1 and for me it's been a beauty life saver. I don't use them often to remove a full manicure but if you mess a nail up mid paint, then these pots are a quick and easy way to take your polish off without ruining the rest of your manicure. They also last for ages, and even when their effectiveness is starting to fade, just tip the polish remover out of the pot, and replace it with fresh remover, and you can get a bit more use out of it. Eventually though the sponge starts to disintegrate and you need to move onto a new pot. I already have a new pot and I will definitely be picking up another one.

6. Rituals Fortune Scrub Sweet Orange And Cedar Shower Cream Scrub - 150ml

Another one of these and I think that this particular full sized one came in a beauty box. I love the texture and that fact that you can use it wet or dry but it definitely isn't my favourite Rituals scent. I think it has a fairly unisex scent, with the tart, citrus of the orange, and the warm woodiness of the cedar. Nice product but I prefer some of the other Rituals scents. You can also read my thoughts on this product here x

7. No7 Radiance Boosting Hot Cloth Cleanser - 200ml

Although I don't use or buy this particular product regularly, it's one of those things that I seemed to have a few of. The reason being, that this was the product that I always bought when I they had the free No7 voucher offer on in Boots. It's a good quality, gently fragranced hot cloth cleanser, that takes your make up off quickly and easily, and it feels nice on the skin. Every time I use this I always ask myself why I don't buy it and use it more often, for me it easily rivals some of the more expensive and famous hot cloth cleansers out there, so if you're on a budget or if it's on offer, it's well worth a try or at least it used to be. Like a lot of things Boots seem to have to changed the name, it seems to be the same product but it is now called The No7 Beautiful Skin Hot Cloth Cleanser which retails at £9.95 for a 200ml tube. I really hope it is the same product and I will definitely be picking one up to try next time that I need a new cleanser.

7. Next Passion Fruit Coulis Shower Gel - 50ml

My shower product sorting continued last month and this was another rediscovery. This mini came from a limited edition Next Christmas gift set, that was themed around food fragrance beauty products. It had a thick texture and a pretty disappointing fruity scent. The name promised so much but for me it didn't deliver and even it could repurchase it, I wouldn't  :(

A bit of a mixed bag from me today I know, with a mini life update and an empties post, but it's good to share, and if you have any questions either on any of the products that I finished last month, or on anything else to do with me, my blog or my You Tube channel then please leave me a comment x Don't forget to follow me on all of my other social media channels via the links in the sidebar and I'll see you soon with a haul post x