Catch-up Recap: What I've Been Loving Lately

Hey hey lovely people!

Whoah, first off, how are all of you?! It's been WAY too long!

I've had a really busy (and extremely fun) past few weeks in University, but the academic year is nearly over, so expect your usual posts every Sunday!

Side note, I know this is being published on Monday. Virgin Broadband was down on Sunday in my area. #bbloggers chat was indeed a struggle. 

So, to kick things off, I wanna so you all what products I've been loving over this blog hiatus! 

Plus, the majority of these products are under £10 too. Mini bargain hunt here guys. Please take notes! 

Okay, so first up is the L'Oréal Super Liner. 

I was recommended this during a bbloggers chat a few months back. Initially, I hated the texture, because it dries almost like how a glue would, in that it will peel rather than smudge. 

WHY DID I NOT APPRECIATE HOW GENIUS THAT IS?!

An eyeliner that doesn't smudge! Plus, the brush is pretty thin too, which is great for precision. 

I'm already on my second one, and it looks like it's gonna be a favourite of mine for a while.

Next up is Rimmel's Clear Complexion Clarifying Powder.

Now, I'll be honest, I'm pretty much a powder noob. Not that I don't wear powder, but that I'm really not educated when it comes to powder. 

The most money I've ever spent on a powder is probably £8. Yeah, definitely not a powder snob.

I think this powder works really well though. I don't recall being left with what I call 'patchy powder syndrome'. 

Plus, I've already hit pan. Too real! 

After being recommended this by a lot of people, I finally left my basic e.l.f eyebrow kit and converted to the Sleek Brow Kit. 

First off, the colour is so much better. With e.l.f, I felt like it was almost a reddish tinted brown. With Sleek, it's pure brown. 

I also liked that there's two mini brushes and a set of tweezers. I don't use the mini angled brush, but I do use the mini rounded one to apply the powder. 

On a whole, I'm really impressed with how well Sleek can compete with the high end brands, at a much lower cost. 

Now, I've been after some Spring lip colours, seeing as I'm lacking in anything that's not plum, red or a shade of nude! 

These next two products fulfil that need.

First up is Rimmel's Kate Lasting Finish Lipstick in '16'.

So, it's somewhat of a peachy coral colour, which looks great with this sunny weather we're now having. 

I also like that this has a thicker consistency that stays. 

Plus, it smells SO good!

And to contrast, this is my go-to for minimal make up days.

The Maybelline ColourSensational Lipstick in 418, Peach Poppy, gives a sheerer appearance, which is perfect for a little pop of colour when you're not having a heavy makeup day. 

Now, I bought The Body Shop's Vitamin E Overnight Serum in Oil a few months back as a little fad, used it for a few days, then just stopped.

It wasn't until recently, after watching Wayne Goss' video that I started using it again...IN MY FOUNDATION!

Honestly, what a fab technique. I tried it out one day, and I had so many compliments from people about my skin, before I even told them what I had done differently.

I suppose this would work with all face oils, but this one is £13, whereas I've seen a lot of face oils being sold at a much higher price. 

Plus, considering I'm only using 1 drop per application, it's gonna last for a reallyyyyyyy long time.

And now for something that is, dare I say it, life changing.

As an oily skinned girl, I was pretty naive on the whole moisture front. I mean, My skin has way too much oil, surely I don't need to add moisture on top of that?!

Turns out you do, and that maybe your body is producing too much oil from a lack of moisture.

I'm happy to say that I've found a moisturiser that doesn't feel like it's gonna clog me from Simple.

Again, I'm on my second tube of this already, and I've definitely noticed a decrease in oiliness and  breakouts from when I didn't moisturise.

Okay, I'm already obsessed with face masks, but give me one that has a unique feature and I'll FREAK OUT!

I bought this a while back during Boot's 3 for 2 offer on skincare. I already trusted the Sanctuary brand, and after seeing that it said deep cleanse, I had to pick it up.

Is it bad that, despite reading the word 'thermal', I was surprised when my face started heating up?!

Not only that, but my skin was definitely a lot clearer.

Only issue I have is that you REALLY need to get all of this product out, or it'll get stuck in your pores. 

And finally, we have my now all-time-favourite dry shampoo; COLAB! 

Okay, so London is not my favourite scent (it's ALL about New York), but honestly, I've ran out of New York and Paris! 

What I love about this dry shampoo is that it was an even finer texture than Batiste. I like comparing it to a HD powder, in the sense that it has a finer consistency than a normal coloured powder.

Plus, since this product is still relatively new in the dry shampoo market, it's usually still got an introductory price. Bingo! 

So, those are the products I've been loving lately! Have any of you tried these? Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Question of the post; What product have you been loving lately?

As always, than you so much for reading & I hope you have a lovely day! 

Lots of Love

Lush Valentines Haul

Hey hey lovely people!

I've finally managed to take some photos of my LUSH Valentines Day haul after having an inner struggle with how to take decent blog photos, #bbloggerproblems.

Seriously though, the struggle to get natural lighting in Winter, let alone in Wales! 

Nevertheless, I'm super excited to show you the 2015 edition of LUSH's valentines range. There's a lot of fun colours and fab designs this year, so enjoy!

First up, we have Unicorn Horn, the product which has generated the most buzz this time around. Seriously, look at how majestic this is! It's super colourful and slightly iridescent too, so I'm interested to see if this will make your bath water sparkly.

I've seen a lot of debate over what scent this is. To me, it smells like a little bit like Brightside bubble bar, but with Lavender. 

Next up is a returner, Love Locket. This is my first time purchasing a 3-in-1 bath bomb too, so I'm really looking forward to opening this. It's like next generation Kinder Surprise or something!

This splits with two halves of the outer bomb and one central heart bomb. Only problem is finding the heart (pun not intended) to split the thing in two. 

It smells sweet, but also like jasmine scented, kinda along the lines of the typical 'romantic' LUSH scent.

Honestly, this was the one I was most looking forward to. I love all the bubbleroons in LUSH, but to see a heart shaped one, well, I started freaking out! 

It's a bit bigger than the other bubbleroons, and smells like Butterball bath bomb, but more floral. The 'filling' between this is covered in golden glitter too. Expect a blog post on this very soon.

Now for this newcomer, the lovely Floating Flower. I'm really impressed with the shape; it's nice to see a bath bomb that isn't just round. 

The scent is full on floral, and fresh, which makes me wonder why it wasn't released with the Mothers Day products (blog post to follow on that btw!), still, I can't wait to see what my bath water looks like after using this. 

What a little cutie this is! Lonely heart is a red bubble bar that's covered in golden glitter, which is currently all over my hands right now!

To me, it smells almost identical to Fizzbanger. Only criticism I have is that, for £3.50, it's pretty small!

Ooh, looky here, a new soap! This is cupids love, and it comes in two designs: this red one with hearts running through, or a full white one, which is part of the arrow going through this heart shaped soap.

It smells so sweet and fruity, like berries, but a bit more exotic. 

Finally, something I really need right now, a lip scrub. But this isn't just a lip scrub, this is practically a food! 

The Kiss is an orange scented sugar lip scrub with sprinkles and edible hearts. How fab?! It's uncanny how many people have told me that they secretly eat the stuff, but what's worse is that I don't blame them! This stuff is sooo good!

That's all I picked up from the LUSH Valentines collection! Did any of you guys get anything? Let me know in the comments below.

Question of the post: If you could design a bath bomb, what would it be like? I'm interested in hearing what you guys love!

As always, thank you so much for reading & I hope you have a lovely day!

Lots of Love

First Snow

Hey hey lovely people!

Well, it finally happened.

I'm the type of person that gets the flu as soon as winter starts. Every October, you can guarantee that I'll be spending a week in bed, accompanied by my flu survival kit. 

Well, for some reason, I didn't this year. Personally, I thank Fuel Juice Bars obsession. Seriously, I think all the fruity vitamin goodness helped me stay well for the first time in my 19 years of existence, but back to the story.

I finally got the flu this week, which meant a week being bored at home. Seriously, I really wanted to be productive this week. I've just got another set of ALEX drawers and a fancy shoe-case thing which I'm dying to fill up!

Anyway, on Thursday I was sat in bed, when I noticed that it began snowing for the first time this winter where I live. 

With my camera by my side, I thought I'd take a few photos, which lead to videos, which then, because of severe boredom, lead me to create a little snow video, which I thought I'd share with you guys

Enjoy!

Happy Sunday everyone, and enjoy the weather where you are!

Thanks for reading & I hope you have a lovely day!

Lots of Love

My 2015

Hey hey lovely people!

First thing's first, i'm the realest, apologies for the abrupt ending of Blogmas. Realistically, it was a bad idea to blog every day when I had a lot of things to do this festive season, not to mention that my charger decided to break just after my last post, which was kinda the final straw!


Nevertheless, I did enjoy blogging more frequently, along with posting on topics that weren't fully beauty related, so expect a bit more variety in 2015!


Anyways, back to the point of this post, my plans for 2015.


Now, I came up with this list in 1 minute. Why didn't I think about it? Because if I had to think, then it couldn't have been that important. #JadeWizdom



Let's begin!


1) Blog more frequently

I mean, just look at my post numbers each month. Usually, I'll have a spree of posts, then a huge break. That's right, I'm talking about you November 2014!

This year, I'm aiming to most frequently and consistently, hopefully twice a week seeing as my uni schedule is a bit calmer this term. Also, expect my regular Sunday posts to be back.

2) Learn to play guitar & be able to read music again

Now, in 2014 I taught myself to play the Ukulele, which was super fun. This year, I'm gonna up the game from 4 strings to six *ooh*.

Flashback to 8 year old Jade playing the recorder. That's right, I was that kid. Well, back then, I could read music, but now I'm pretty clueless. This year, I'm gonna learn how to read music again.

3) Start posting YouTube videos

 I've been meaning to do this for a really long time, and now that my bedroom is almost finished, you can expect to see some YouTube beauty videos very soon.

If there are any particular videos you want to see, let me know in the comments below.

4) Buy some Zoeva Brushes

A weird one, I know, but my brush game is most definitely not strong. I own a MAC 187 and a real techniques foundation brush. All my other brushes are either elf, Avon, or some brand that I don't know!

This year, I will up the brush game with some fancy new Zoeva brushes that everyone's been raving about.

5) Organise my makeup and other beauty products

Last year, I had my first set of ALEX drawers. Despite having 9 drawers, I still don't have enough space to put everything. The shame of it all!

This year, I'm planning to get another ALEX to put everything else in. That's right, i'm getting excited over storage.

6) Walk more

Okay, it's no lie that I get way too many taxis. This year, I need to walk more, or at least get more buses.

I guess that once the weather gets warmer, it'll be a lot easier. The struggles of maritime climates.

7) Start exercising more

2012 Jade did Zumba, 2013 Jade had a gym membership, 2014 Jade cancelled her gym membership.

2015 Jade needs to start exercising again. Lets actually do this!

8) Become more involved in out of uni things

By this, I mean things that will help me in the future. In 2013, I became part of the dragon radio USW team (www.dragonradiousw.co.uk), which is one step forward in the right direction.

This year, I want to become even more involved with other journalism based things, like writing for other blogs/websites/newspapers/student newspaper and take up a couple of work experience opportunities, including one that I have planned for this month.

Hey, at least I've already completed one goal!


9) Take up driving lessons

Oh dear, now for the dreaded one. I took up driving lessons in 2012. From that short time, I've concluded that I would love to drive, if nobody else was on the road...

This year, I need to (Wo)man up and start my lessons up again.

Only problem is that, when I pass, I'll just constantly be driving to the beach...


10) Go back to Paris


Weirdly enough, this is probably the most important one on the list for me. 370 days ago, I was in my most favourite place in the world, and I really really really want to go back.

Seriously, I actually miss Paris. Everything just feels so right there. That's why I'm 100% going back this year, maybe even this summer.

I've already started planning my return, so watch this space!




So that's My 2015, let's start this journey together.


As always, thank you so much for reading & I hope you have a lovely day!

Lots of Love

Blogmas Day 19 - My Top 3 Bath Bombs

Hey hey lovely people

Little insight into my life. Today is 'Window day', and I'm writing this while I currently have no window in my room! Is it weird that I actually love it and, despite the coldness, that it actually feels like summer?

Nevertheless, I now have some FAB lighting and I'm in a happy mood, which is why I'm writing the post so early, though it won't be early going up as I'm still to take the photos!

Either way, regardless of when you read this, here's my top 3 favourite bath bombs! 

Now, if you follow my Instagram (@jadenatashax), then you'll know by now that I'm OBSESSED with bath bombs, and I usually post 2-3 videos a week of different bath bomb demos. Well, today, I thought I'd let you in on which ones so far have been my personal top 3, in no order, of course! 

1) LUSH's Golden Egg

So, first up, we have LUSH's Golden Egg. 

Now, I wish I picked up more of these when they were released, because I only have one left now. #SadTimes.

Little bit of a back story, but this bath bomb was the inspiration to my first blog post, and partially, for this blog too! Ahh, the cringey flashbacks

It's almost not like a bath bomb at all, more in the sense that it's like a bath bomb and bath melt combination, with a melting outer shell and a fizzing centre. Plus, it smells of the delicious LUSH scent, Honey I Washed The Kids. 

Only downside is that it's only available from LUSH during their Easter range, that's if it comes back this year.

Either way, I can live quite happily knowing that I still have at least one of these beauties in my collection!

2) Coal Harbour's Angel Delight

Next up is a favourite of mine from Coal Harbour. May I present, Angel Delight.

Now, I may or may not have about 5 of these lying in my drawer as we speak. Seriously, I'm obsessed!

First, let's talk about the colour. When used, this bath bomb turns your water the most incredible shade of blue. It looks like you're sat in melted blue tip tops (In case you're not British, I'm talking about freeze pops).

Now the scent, seriously, don't get me started! I can't even describe what it is, but it smells LOVELY (unlike the smell in my room at the moment from the windows, which seriously smells like I'm just inhaling nail varnish). 

Fortunately, these can be purchased all year round from coal harbour.co.uk.

3) LUSH's Shoot For The Stars

Ahh, why do I love so many limited edition LUSH bath bombs? 

Now, Shoot For The Stars is only available during Christmas time, so stock up NOW!

This bath bomb leaves your water looking like a galaxy, all dark with speckles of glitter floating around. It's so unique and fabulous.

Along with that it also has the lovely smell of Honey I Washed The Kids (Can you sense my obsession yet?!).

So, that's it for now! Question of the post; what's your favourite bath bomb? Let me know in the comments below!

As always, thank you so much for reading & I hope you have a lovely day!

Lots of Love

Blogmas Day 18 - 5 Reasons Why You Should Moisturise

Hey hey lovely people!

So, as you know from reading my last post, we're getting new windows fitted in my house, which means that for the past few days, all we've really been doing is tidying and cleaning, hence the poor post timings. Sorry!

Today though, I thought I'd do another 5 reasons post, one that links to the last one!

So, here we go, 5 reasons why you should moisturise.

1) To restore moisture in your skin

Okay, let's start with the obvious one. They're called moisturisers for a reason, because they restore the moisture that your skin has lost. 

2) To seal in moisture

Now, we just talked about how your skin can lose moisture right? Well, applying a moisturiser (Preferably petroleum based) can form a barrier on your skin that stops moisture from escaping. 

3) To soothe and stop irritations

Is it bad that I immediately feel itchy after writing this?! It's so annoying when your skin becomes irritated and you can't help but scratch it. Seriously, that just makes things worse. Well, moisturise! Products containing ingredients like Aloe and chamomile help to soothe irritated skin. 

Plus, remember that barrier we were talking about? It also helps to protect the skin from dryness and allergens, two of the biggest allergens!

4) To heal the skin

Now, I know this one all too well after my lip struggles over the past few months. Dry skin can't properly heal itself, so keeping it moisturised will just help things heal quicker. In my case, using Vaseline, a petroleum based moisturiser, helped to seal moisture in my lips and voila, I now have super soft lips again!

5) To look younger

Let's prevent those wrinkles! Moisturised skin is plumper, thus reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. As simple as that! 

So, question of the post: What moisturisers do you like to use? I ADORE Simple's oil balancing facial moisturiser. Seriously, I use it daily. 

For a body moisturiser, I love Vaseline's Spray & Go, mainly because I'm lazy and it smells like Hollister! Yum!

Finally, I love to use Vaseline to moisture my lips, BUT NOT the lip therapy tins, I'm talking about the full on original Vaseline. I'm convinced it's a different formula. The original one is definitely thicker.

As always, thank you so much for reading & I hope you have a lovely day!

Lots of Love

Blogmas Day 17 - Degustabox

Hey hey lovely people! Apologies for yet another delay in posts! I've just spent the past two days prepping my usually messy room for the new windows that are being fitted tomorrow! 

So, yesterday, my Degustabox was delivered, and I thought I'd share the contents with you today, though not literally, Jade doesn't share food.

Now, seeing as I usually take my photos on my makeup table, which has to be moved at the moment because it's right by my window (Natural lighting though?), we have a new photo background! Enjoy!

So first up, we have Popchips! I can't remember if I've tried these before, or if I'm getting them confused with the Special K crisps, but either way, they looks yummy!

They're not fried or baked, as the tag line says, they're simply cooked with heat and pressure. Wow, magic!

Not only that, but they have half the fat of fried crisps, fewer calories and contain no artificial colours or flavours.   

I really cannot tell you how excited I am to try these biscuits!

Now, my most favourite Degustabox discovery has been the 'Pick Up' biscuits, which are also made my Bahlsen. If they taste as good as them, pray for me, because I will be eating my entire body weight in biscuits!

What I love about these though is that they're actually available in larger supermarkets, like Asda and Tesco. So if you like these, you won't have to go into some speciality shop to find them! YASSSS!

When I saw this package, I immediately thought it said Eat China, therefore assuming it was some healthy kind of porridge. Yeah, bit different!

These are a combination of oats, chia and fruits. Now, I know what you're thinking; what is chia?

Don't worry, I had a google and I still don't really know! As far as I'm concerned, it's some kind of super food seed that is pretty darn good for you! 

Next up is some some green tea by Pukka.

Now, I've never tried green tea, but my mum loves the stuff, which is why this is now hers! Presents for all! 

Plus, it's lemon too!

Another reason why I think I've been living in a cave for most of my life; I've never tried Marmalade.

As far as my mind is concerned, marmalade is simply orange jam, though nobody dares to say it, so I'm guessing that I'll like this.

Plus, it has a cute little jar too! How fabulous!

Curry, another reason to back up my living in a cave theory. For years, I thought that I had a weak tolerance for spicy foods. Turns out, I can tolerate them pretty well, though that doesn't exactly mean I enjoy them! Forever a Korma girl!

Nevertheless, this little kit, with a sauce, spices and oil, looks pretty nifty! Plus, they claim that with this, you can cook a meal in 20 minutes. Challenge accepted!

It's garlic infused, therefore I'm gonna LOVE it. Seriously, my love for garlic is pretty frightening.

It's only 1 calorie per spray! (Which I will admit, does freak me out! If it doesn't have the regular calorie amounts of oil, what are they taking away and what are they replacing it with?) 

Either way, it's garlic, so I'm forever biased!

Ahh, I love how you're all probably reading this and cringing. For me, this brings hope.

Now, I'm like some human taste detector or something. Seriously, I'm a self diagnosed super taster because I can taste flavours super strong, meaning that 

a) I HATE fizzy drinks, they feel horrible

b) I can taste the alcohol in ANY drink, which is why alcoholic drinks taste disgusting to me

So, the prospect of non alcoholic wine excites me, though, my Irish roots are probably weeping right now!

Last, but not least, we have these mixers, which I can assure you are not going to be used as mixers. Wow, I'm such a reckless student right?!

Seriously though, these drink flavours seem really yummy, like cucumber and apple. Seriously, they should make these as juices or something. 

So, that's it for this months Degustabox! If any of you are interested in trying this out, help a gal out and use my unique link here! 

Using that link will give you £3 off your first box! Fab, or should I say, YUM!

Question of the post! Out of all of these products, which one do you wanna try the most? Let me know in the comments below!

As always, thank you so much for reading & I hope you have a lovely day!

Lots of Love

Blogmas Day 16 - My Wax Obsession

Hey hey lovely people!

So, I was sat around thinking what to post on, then I realised the lovely smell that was in my living room from my wax melter.

Therefore, today's post is gonna be on my latest obsession, WickNWax!

Okay, so WickNWax are a small UK based company that make tons of wax melts in all different shapes and sizes. It's funny because until about a month or so ago, I'd never used a wax melt!

I'm trying to remember where exactly I first heard of them, but it was definitely on Instagram from someones post. After that, I thought I'd have a look on their website, which ended up with my buying a warmer and a few different scents.

You can buy waxes in different scents and shapes, for example, a scent shot, which is basically a single scent which you can use to 'test' a fragrance, or combine with others to make your own unique fragrance!

Along with all the other products are wax loaves, which you can customise if you choose. Naturally, I HAD to make something with raspberry, so I have my own personal scent of Raspberry, Cotton Candy and Birthday Cake.

My personal favourite scent from WickNWax as of now is Blonde Moment (the yellow one above), a mixture of champagne, raspberries and strawberries! Yum!

Now, for this of you just starting out in wax, big tip! Unlike candles, wax won't just melt away. Instead, it'll just lose its scent. 

I think most people use up there wax until the scent had gone, pour it away and then pop a new one in. To be honest, I like to change my scents up quite often, which is why I freeze mine.

Freeze?! Yes, you heard that right. When your wax has cooled, put it in the freezer for about 10 minutes and it'll pop out of the warmer so easy, in a cute little square shape, or whatever shape, depending on your wax warmer.

So, that's kind of a brief introduction into wax melts! If you have any questions or suggestions, let me know in the comments below!

Question of the post - Have you ever tried a wax melts? What's your favourite and from which brand?  Let me know in the comments below!

As always, thank you so much for reading & I hope you have a lovely day!

Lots of Love