Lush Halloween and Christmas 2016

Lush is perfect for Christmas treats, amazing smelling gifts and pampering yourself from head to toe in naturally handmade products that leave your skin feeling soft, smooth and totally relaxed. I was excited to find out from Lush Plymouth about the latest arrivals for this years Halloween and Christmas ranges, some brought back from previous years and others new and intriguing.

lushThe array of goodies on the shelves as you enter the shop keep your eyes wandering in excitement whilst the aroma hits you and instantly makes your feel relaxed. I love looking at all the Christmas gifts wrapped in pretty boxes or super cute tins. They have a great choice to fit everyones tastes and price points.

We started off by having a demonstration of the Halloween range which has some super cute items including Boo a fun little bath melt, packed full of cocoa butter and ginger oil for a relaxing, softening bath. The bath bombs that stood out for me in this range are Autumn Leaf which looked so pretty as it melted away in the water and Monster’s Ball which looked fantastic as it dissolved as well as having the most heavenly fragrance full of both lime and neroli oils. What also looked amazing was the way the eye of the monster floated around in the water as the rest of the bomb dissolved – eek, a little creepy but perfect for Halloween!

lush-2Then is was time to check out the Christmas ranges and there were so many fun things, even my children would be spoilt for choice by some of the cute bath pieces. The Christmas Penguin bubble bar looks too cute to break up but it’s worth it for the mountain of bubbles it produces. Santasaurus would sit just perfectly in my little boys stocking this year, a reusable bubble bar meaning he could have several baths swishing it around creating bubbles whilst relaxing and playing in an aroma of orange and bergamot oils. lush-3For me I was tempted with the Golden Wonder bath bomb. It looks rather grand as it’s shaped like a huge present box and covered in a gold shimmer. It has one of my favourite fragrances, lime oil in it and as it melts away in the water is a secret surprise inside. Why not try one out for yourself for a long relaxing treat?

Another bath bomb that looked fascinating as it swirled around in the water is Northern Lights.  With it’s purple barrel shaped exterior, it spun around fizzing away in with colours shooting out of each end.

As well as all the bath treats are some rather fun looking soaps such as Shooting Stars with a fresh citrusy fragrance, Snowcastle which looks really creamy and Santa’s Postbox.  I must also mention the shower jelly’s that had extra large versions on display in the store, Santa’s Belly and Snowman look like great wobbly fun for in the shower!

lush-4

At the end of the event I was able to choose some of the goodies to take away and try at home.  It was easy to pick bath and shower products as that’s what I normally stick to in Lush, but looking for a body product I wanted to try something new and different that I wouldn’t normally use.  With my favourite Rose Jam shower gel in my basket (a must for any fans of Rose fragrances), a couple of exciting looking bath bombs and some soap samples, I decided to opt for my something else a little bit different.

wp_20161028_12_07_03_proI’ve never really used any of Lush’s face and body products so decided to go out of my comfy bath bomb box and try something new, not just for myself but to share with you, my readers. I tried Bûche De Noël, a facial cleanser, a totally fresh, natural cleansing product packed full of ground almonds, kaolin, fresh mandarin, dried cranberries and cocoa butter.  It does have a very festive touch to it but how would it work?

I’ll be honest, the first couple of times I used it, it is a little messy.  You need to take a generous pinch and mix in your palm with a few drops of water to make a paste and then massage across your face.  It has a light exfoliating action but gives a really deep clean.  I still wasn’t too sure about it, that is until I washed it off – Oh My!!  My face felt incredibly baby soft, smooth, ultra cleansed and looked really fresh.lush-buche

Lush at Christmas as you can see is packed full of amazing and exciting products that smell divine.  They have a fabulous gift range which is worth checking out and lots of fun little products that would make ideal stocking fillers!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Win a pair of tickets to BBC Good Food Show Summer 2016

If you enjoy food, (who doesn’t) then the BBC Good Food Show for Summer 2016 is the place to be.  With two major events in Birmingham and London I have a pair of tickets to be won by one lucky reader to a venue of their choice – see further down.

To whet your appetite a little I’m going to share this recipe for a rather cute Coconut Cake by James Martin who is due to make appearances at both shows.

cake

* Cooking Time: 20-25 minutes

* Servings: 6-8

Ingredients

50g coconut cream
50g coconut oil
175g butter, softened
200g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
175g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
50g desiccated coconut

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM
125g butter, softened
40g coconut cream
250g icing sugar, sifted
50g–75g coconut shavings
3–4 sprigs lemon verbena

TOP TIP: For the filling and decoration, I would always use fresh coconut rather than dried, as the latter tends to dry out the buttercream, but you could toast the coconut shavings first, if you like.

Method

1) Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line two 17cm deep-sided cake tins.

2) Gently heat the coconut cream and oil together in a small saucepan until liquid, then set aside to cool slightly.

3) Put the butter and caster sugar into a kitchen mixer or large bowl and beat until lightened and fluffy. Add the eggs, one by one. Add the vanilla extract then sift in the flour and baking power and fold together. Add the desiccated coconut, cooled coconut cream and oil and mix well, then divide between the prepared cake tins.

4) Smooth the tops over and bake for about 20–25 minutes until golden brown and risen. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean – if it doesn’t, return the cakes to the oven for another 5 minutes and repeat.

5) Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before turning out of the tins and cooling completely.

6) Meanwhile, make the buttercream. Beat the softened butter, coconut cream and icing sugar together in a food mixer or a bowl with an electric whisk until really light, fluffy and almost white in colour.

7) Spoon the icing into a piping bag fitted with a 13mm plain nozzle. Pipe swirls of coconut cream all over one sponge, then scatter some coconut shavings over the top, so that they stick out around the edge of the cake. Gently lay the second cake on top. Pipe small peaks of cream all over the top of the cake and finish with some more coconut shavings and small sprigs of lemon verbena.

*****************************************************

Both BBC Good Food Show events are jam packed with things to do, a food stage, shopping areas, celebrity chefs and much more.   This really is a great event to see live demonstrations, sample the latest foods and treat yourself to some tasty goodies!

If you’d like to win a pair of tickets to a venue of your choice, either Birmingham or London, just fill in the Gleam form below:

BBC good food tickets