Happy Solstice!!

I hope everyone had a blessed midsummer! I had lots of plans but unfortunately the sun never made an appearance all day, we even had a thunder and lightening storm! It rained for most of the day, but I didn't mind, I love storms and the rain, (I guess it's good that I live in Northern Ireland, I must be the only one who does!) Although my plans of an outdoor celebration were not possible, I took time to appreciate the need for and refreshment of the rain, and welcomed the energy of the storm. If such weather never happened then the land would not be green and grow crops, there would be famine and drought, and I am thankful everyday that I live in a place where such things do not affect the people living here today. As this is a day to celebrate the height of the God's power, although not visible, I thanked the sun for it's constant energy, heat and light, without which we would not have food, warmth or sight, and recognised that from this day on the sun's potency will diminish until the winter solstice. As the wheel of the year turns once more, it will bring the harvest, warm evenings and long sunsets, all showing the power and breathtaking beauty of nature. Blessed Be! xx

A taste of my midsummer weather.

The sun didn't shine all day!

It's Summer!!!!!

So my exams have ended, hurrah! I've got quite a lot of plans for the coming months, midsummer solstice celebrations, craft ideas, places to go, as well as some ideas for posts and (hopefully) getting my youtube channel up and running with some videos, but I will see how I feel about that closer to the time. For now I'll just be focusing on my blog. Speaking of which I've noticed I've become a bit of a Love Lula freak!

As you can see I have acquired quite a collection of boxes, (definately a sign I should stop buying everything in online sales), but I don't mind, I'm a bit of a trying new things out junky, and I've many plans to try new things, both products and activities which I am looking forward to :)

I also made another Love Lula purchase:

Left to Right: Trial Size Pai Organic Chamomile & Rosehip Sensitive Skin Cream, John Masters Organics Lavender & Avocado Intensive Conditioner. (I also got another free John Masters Organics bodycare set, and forgot to add some free samples.)

Love Lula have also included something to brighten everyone's day with their packages; angel cards. They always make me smile, and as you can see from the box they have taken time to think about the packaging.

Here's some close ups:

courage: "you gain confidence & strength by every experience in which you do the thing which you think you cannot do"

beauty: "there came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom"

magic: "fairies are invisible & inaudible like angels, but their magic sparkles in nature" (This one's my favourite!!)

I'm hoping this will be a summer worth remembering, as my last few haven't been great, but I'm keeping a positive attitude, Blessed Be! xx

The Body Shop Order

I have finally received my Love Your Body card after two getting lost in the post (and being invalid), so treated myself to a purchase, as members get  a discount online. I didn't get much (I'm saving up for a kindle!) But I thought I would share anyway.

The Body Shop Cocoa Butter Body Scrub & Body Butter.

Here are my other body shop purchases:

Clockwise from top left: Lip and Cheek Stain 02 (I can't remember the name of the colour, it's possibly rose gold), Vitamin E Gentle Face Wash, Facial Brush with lid, Vitamin E Body Butter, Vitamin E Nourishing Night Cream, Vitamin E Moisture Cream.

I got this all for £20 as a 60% off pamper set called the English Rose Collection. While I like most of the products, the one thing I do not like is the Lip and Cheek Stain, it tastes horrible and smells a bit funky, the colour is also very not me. I am however impressed with the night cream and facial wash. The wash, when used with the brush, leaves my skin so soft, and the night cream is very thick and rich. The only negative point I have about the Vitamin E collection is the smell, it's quite strong at first, similar to that of the Nivea creams or sudocream. But other than that I am quite impressed. The Body butter isn't the most moisturising, but it is classed as being for normal to dry skin on the website. Blessed Be xx

New Order

My most recent purchases from The Body Shop and Love Lula have arrived! Here they are:

The Body Shop, clockwise from bottom: Lightening Touch (under eye concealer), Ultra Fine Bath Lily Olive Green, Divine Calm Serenity Milk Bath Powder.

Love Lula, clockwise from top: Lavera Intense Volumising Mascara, Sample of John Masters Organics Evening Primrose Shampoo for Dry Hair, Sample of John Masters Organics Honey & Hibiscus Hair Reconstructing Shampoo, Sample of John Masters Organics Honey & Hibiscus Hair Reconstructor.

Can't wait to get using and reviewing my newest products, Blessed Be! xx

Crystal Collection

I've always been fascinated by crystals and stones from a young age, I believe that everything has it's own spirit, and that's no exception for crystals that are millions of years old. I pick the ones that call to me. The specific shapes, colourings and sizes all have a part to play in which stone is right for you, but when you pick it up and feel it's energy, you'll know. So, to date these are the crystals that I own:

Clockwise from Quartz (far left), Apatite, Rose Quartz, Amethyst, Bloodstone, Onyx, Goldstone, Citrine, Chalcedony, Malachite, Rose Quartz, Aventurine, (The next three I am unsure of), Blue Goldstone.

 Most of the crystals I picked up in a crystal and jewellery shop in Newcastle, Northern Ireland. I got the Quartz and Amethyst with a magazine called Mind, Body, Spirit and I received the larger Rose Quartz as a gift from one of my mother's friends when I was ill. She is doing a crystal course and brought along the stones which I was unable to identify and there's a few guesses as to what they are, but if anyone can help, post a comment below as I would quite like to be sure of what they are. I'll post some close up's here:

Deep magenta coloured stone; possibly a Star Ruby?

Bright blue with dark blue lines; possibly a Chrysocolla?

This one is hard to describe, it's a sort of brownish, purpley red stone; possibly a Jasper?

Again I'd appreciate it if anyone could help to identify these stones, I've looked descriptions up online and in my crystal books but stones can come in a variety of colours and most only show a stone in it's most common colour, making it hard to distinguish one stone from another. Blessed Be! xx

I'm Meltingggg!

Ok, so, yesterday's plan of a productive day didn't turn out so well. Northern Ireland decided to have a heat wave, so I could either lie outside and do some yoga (which I did), or sit inside in the cool air and do nothing (which I also did), but I managed to try out two of my latest Love Lula purchases and gifts, before deciding what to do for the rest of the day. Here they are:

 John Masters Organics Lavender & Avocado Intensive Conditioner

 I love this! I've only used one of the samples and am already contemplating buying the full sized product. The smell is divine! And it definitely helped to moisturise my damaged tresses. It has a very thick consistency, and you can feel how smooth it leaves your hair when you've rinsed it out. A much needed treat for dry or damaged hair, I would recommend this any day!

For now I'm not writing out all the ingredients... there's too many!

John Masters Organics Sea Mist Sea Salt Spray with Lavender

 I'm one of those people who's natural hair can't really be defined; when I was young I had extremely long hair that was poker straight. When I got it cut shorter and layered for the first time it became wavy, and now it's a mixture between wavy, curly and straight. I usually scrunch my hair when it's drying to give it a bit more of a curl, and have used so many curling/ products for wavy hair in previous years when my hair was in a bob, but now that it's long I find they don't help, so I was eager to try out this sea mist (I've been looking to try Bumble & Bumble's Surf Spray for years.) I had read some reviews of this product saying it could leave hair greasy due to the oils it contains, but I found it to do the exact opposite. My hair felt like it would when I've been in the sea, slighty on the drier side, however I had kept my hair pinned up all day as it was so warm but when I took it down to go out last night I had the most textured beach waves I've ever had! This will definately be a staple hair product for summer.

Ingredients: Water, Sea Salt, *Lavender Oil. ( * = NOP Certified Organic)

Animal Crossing Meets Harry Potter?!

I'm a sucker for anything witchy, I confess! And when Enchanted Folk and the School of Wizardry caught my eye, I had to have it! I'm a big fan of the Animal Crossing DS and Wii games, (they no doubt keep you occupied when you're bored, as well as making you lose track of time!), so when I spotted a game that was similar but envolved magic... well, let's just say I was pretty quick to make a purchase. I'm hoping it is worth all my excitement, but I will let you know when I've played it for a while, after all it did only come in the post this morning, but I have made a plan today to work on some new posts as well as revising, trying out some of my Love Lula products and tidying up my room a bit so it can get decorated, but I'm sure I'll squeeze a bit of playing time in there somewhere :D Blessed Be! xx

The source of my excitement!

 p.s. it has come to my attention that the time stamps of these post are not in GMT, as my post at 6.30AM is stamped as being after 10PM, I'm not sure how to change this as my draft saving time is correct, any hints?

Mail's Here!

Don't you just love getting packages in the post? I know I do, and today my most recent order from Love Lula has arrived! :) I ordered (to no surprise) more Badger Balm products as well as a John Masters Organics hair product and a trial sized Pai product, as well as 3 free samples. So without further ado, here is my purchase:

Clockwise from top: Sample of Suki Exfoliate Foaming Body Cleanser, Trial Size Pai Camellia & Rose Organic Cleanser, John Masters Organics Sea Mist Sea Salt Spray with Lavender, Free John Masters Organics Bodycare Set; Blood Orange & Vanilla Body Wash and Body Milk (free gift with John Masters Organics purchase), Sample of John Masters Organics Lavender & Avocado Intensive Conditioner, Badger Cuticle Care and Foot Balm Duo.

 I've been loving all my organic products so far, so hope to swap as many of my everyday products as possible to those that are organically manufactured. I find the option to include 3 free samples of products highly beneficial, as we all know trying out new things can be expensive and that's no exception for natural products, so what better way is there than to sample products you otherwise might not buy for free? Definitely a thumbs up from me!

On another note in my upcoming posts I'm hoping to show my crystal collection as well as more natural product reviews, (I've ordered some things of The Body Shop website today, 30% off, woohoo!) and I'm also hoping to include a more serious post on some topics that catch my attention, so until then, Blessed Be! xx