REVIEW | April Showers with Lush

Hello my lovelies, I hope you're all well and are having a good week. If you guys have read my Visiting Westgate Oxford post then you'll know that I popped into Lush and purchased one of their most recent bathbombs for spring called April Showers. If you guys haven't seen that post and would like to, click here. As it's April and April is in the title of the product I really wanted to review it this month, you know me, all about making things relevant. 

'Drip, drip, drop
when your mood is cloudy
this pretty bath bomb
will brighten the day.'

To me the aesthetic of this bathbomb is really clever. It's one of those where it makes me wonder why did it take so long to make this because it is so relevant to this month. We all know that in the UK the month of April is known for it's drizzly and rainy weather hence the phrase April showers bring May flowers. I just really love that there is a bathbomb to represent this, anyone else really digging that? 

So as you guys can clearly see it's in the shape of a white cloud with pink and blue rain droplets inside. I love this, it's so simple and clear as to what it is as well as being really aesthetically pleasing, especially for Instagram photos. The size of this is quite small which means it does have a little bit less product within the bathbomb. Whereas in the round bathbombs you get a whole load of product packed inside. 

Ingredients: 

• Sodium Bicarbonate 

• Citric Acid

• Titanium Dioxide 

• Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter 

• Perfume 

• Cornflour 

• Cedarwood Oil

• Violet Leaf Absolute

• Cypress Oil

• Tonka Oil

• Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

• Organic Castor Oil

• Water (Aqua) 

• Laureth 4

• Dipropylene Glycol 

• Synthetic Fluorphlogopite 

• *Limonene 

• *Linalool

• Alpha-Isomethyl ionone 

• Coumarin

• Eugenol

• Colour 45410

• Colour 42090 

• Colour 60725

I'm not 100% about what all of the ingredients do or how they work together. But whatever they do it moulds together to create this cute little cloud. 

'For your own little April showers (or rather baths), drop this fizzer into hot water and clear your cloudy skies with cedarwood and cypress oils. As the softening Fair Trade cocoa butter raindrops melt away, tonka absolute comes out to play with fresh violet leaf absolute.'

When you first pop it into the water the cloudy white particles disperse all over to create this cloud like affect, again very clever because it's a cloud. As all the white colour has dissolved into the water, the pink and blue shaped droplets begin to merge with the cloudy water. 

It creates this really pretty whimsical mix of colours, extremely pretty to watch become one. As it fizzes away it doesn't engulf the whole bath but I think that's because the bathbomb itself isn't as compact with product compared to a round bathbomb. 

I really liked the smell of this one when it was fizzing away in my bath but didn't like it as much when it was the bathbomb itself. But it's definitely not going to be everyone's cup of tea, my mum wasn't a fan of the smell. But the blend between the violet absolute mixed with the cedarwood oil creates an inbetween of something not too sweet but not too bitter and with that blend the scent isn't too heavy. There's enough blended together in the product for it to carry a strong smell when it melts away in the water. 

Once it had all mixed together throughout the water it created this really pretty lilac purple with little white cloudy accents/ glistening bits of white which you can see in this photo. I felt like it was a really nice added touch. 

One of my favourite things about this bathbomb was the fact that the rain droplets were little drops of cocoa butter. We all know how great cocoa butter is for your skin: helps keep your skin fresh (not dry), has anti-ageing benefits, soothes burns, rashes, and infections, it doubles up as a shaving cream, helps improve the appearance of marks such as stretch marks, and let's not forget it makes your skin super soft. 

I was really surprised at how much the cocoa butter droplets worked. I knew they would work but as in because the droplets didn't contain a large amount of cocoa butter. My skin, especially my legs were irresistibly soft. One thing this bathbomb would be super beneficial for is using it after you've shaved your legs. I'm really gutted I didn't shave mine before I used it because it would've made them even softer as well as revitalise them a bit. As I don't know about you guys but my legs definitely need to most TLC because of marks, cuts, bruises, shaving burns, veins, discolouration, etc. The list could go and on but you get what I mean. 

Another pro; I don't know about you guys but I don't use cocoa butter very often just because the smell is so intense that I can't deal with it. I prefer zingy scents but cocoa butter is rich. Which is a bit of a downer because the product itself is really good for the health of your skin. So the pro of this product is, you get the good qualities of cocoa butter in a small amount which means the smell of it isn't overpowering. However, to see an actual improvement on these things I'd probably have to use this bathbomb or a product with qualities like this bathbomb about 4-5 times a week. 

Overall I feel like it's not my ultimate favourite but it's definitely not below the bar. It definitely has a lot more benefits for your skin than I initially thought when I purchased it and the qualities it does have are executed really well. I wouldn't say this bathbomb is targeted at anyone specific, particularly scent wise. For aesthetic and a well thought out idea this product earns brownie points alone. For something so small compared to some of the huge bathbombs it's really exceeded the expectations I had for it. Also, credit to Lush for creating something within the Easter range that wasn't all about Easter as I know some people don't really celebrate it. I would definitely purchase this again! As this was a part of the Easter range that does mean this is leaving stores soon, which I think is a bit silly considering it is a product related to April. So I think they should've done some forward thinking and kept this throughout the whole of April. 

Overall rating: ★★★★☆

I sadly didn't buy or get the chance to try anything else from the Easter range this year. If you guys did let me know down below. 

If you guys do wanna purchase this product or any of the Easter range I would advise acting fast as they're leaving the store soon. I know that some of them are already sold out online, but if you do wanna have a look online and potentially order some click here. 

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed!

As always lovelies don't forget to follow me on all of my social media so you can keep up to date with everything I am doing! You can follow me on Twitter @katielouj0hnson, Instagram @katiej0hnson, Pinterest @katielouj0hnson, and Bloglovin' @ Katie Johnson. 

Until then, I shall see you in my next post. 

Love,

Katie

LIFESTYLE | Visiting the new Westgate Oxford & a Haul!

Hello my lovelies! I hope you're all well and have had a good start to your week. The weekend just gone, my mum and I took a trip up to the new Westgate centre in Oxford as I hadn't been since it reopened as I was at uni. So we decided to go and it has experienced a thoroughly modern makeover and I love what they've created within it! So if you guys wanna check it out, keep on reading. 

Westgate centre before the re-vamp

One thing I love to do is go back to places that I haven't been to for a long time, whether it has had a transformation or not, because it almost feels a bit like home. Going to Westgate does feel a bit like that for me because before it had its grand makeover, I used to go there all the time as a child and a teenager with my family and my friends, and the reason we always went there was for the Primark. If you've been before the makeover or if I've got anyone who lives in Oxford reading this, you'll know how big just the Primark store was. When Chloe and I used to go, it used to take us 2-3 hours to fully go through that Primark store just because they had so much to browse through and such a massive range of everything. 

The rest of the Westgate centre back then was not very grand. I wont lie, it was pretty much your standard shopping centre with a few other random shops in, not very big etc. Back then (about 2010-2015/16) it was mainly the high street that people favoured over the shopping centre. 

Westgate centre after the re-vamp

Now let me tell you, this is how you do a glow up! Look how different it looks. I did not take either of these photos but I thought it would be easier to show you guys the changes rather than describe it. Honestly, I love the look of it now. I think it looks so modern, so fresh, so with the current style of the times. So, let's take you guys inside. 

Again, this collection of photos are not mine, but as it was so busy and there were people everywhere I didn't have much space or moments to take my own pictures of all of this. But as you guys can see from these images, the exterior is huge and extremely modern. I love the open space within this centre and I love that the roof isn't closed in because it makes it brighter. There's actually 3 floors in this centre. The bottom floor and the middle floor are for the shops. Mainly on the bottom floor you've got your higher end stores such as Tommy Hilfiger, Boss, Jo Malone, Calvin Klein, Ted Baker, etc. The floor above features all of the favourites on the British high street, such as New Look, Primark, H&M, River Island, Topman, Topshop, Next, The Body Shop, Lush, etc. Then the top floor has a huge range of food and bar places: Nandos, The Alchemist, Benitos Hat, etc. As well as a cinema. So there's a fab range all in one place which means you don't have to keep going from place to place. The only distance you'll have to travel is up and down the electric stairs in Westgate and with everything in one place: shopping, film, and food, it means whoever you go with, you and them can make a whole day of it. 

Something else they've made a prominent feature throughout the centre is different types of large figurines, I don't know what the technical term is for these types of art works, if any of you guys do let me know in the comments down below. But I really love it when shopping centres or arenas have these types of design works because I think they're really innovative in the era we're currently living in. Also, it's great for people who are artists or designers as it means they get more work when business people want things like this done to add something more to an area. So both parties are gaining. There's also something exciting about when everyday items become life size, e.g. that tea pot and cup. The cup was also actually a chair, so you could sit in it and have a picture and this one in particular helps the business in this photo. They're a little cafe in the open space at the centre and obviously a tea pot and a cup are referenced as something you know of when you go to a cafe. 

There was another area that I fell in love with and I am so gutted I didn't get a photo on it. But when you first walk into the centre, a few shops down on the left hand-side, there is a dip in the wall for another artistic section. There's a background of a river or a lake of some kind and the seat in-front of it is in the shape of a boat so when you're sat on it it's like you're bobbing along the water in your boat. I loved it, again very innovative and making more artistic work invloving 2D and 3D. Which brings it to life a lot more and let's the public get involved. Next time I go I'm definitely getting a photo sat in my little boat.

They also had lots of bold statements up against funky patterned and coloured walls such as this one. And again, this is something in our current era that is really "in fashion" as you can get slogans like this on bags, t-shirts, Pinterest quotes etc. We're in a society now where acceptance is everything and is a key part of our world so things like this really reinforce that statement.  

Mum and I did pop into shops on the way down as we were walking through the centre, but when it came to properly browsing and purchasing bits and bobs we decided to work from the back (where Next and Primark are) to the front (where H&M and River Island are) because it was just more convenient for when we were done shopping. We went into all of your classic British high street stores: H&M, River Island, New Look, Primark, Lush, etc. And in particular, Lush get's a special mention in this post. 

Lush and Primark are two of the top reasons I love going to Oxford for. All through my teenage life my town didn't have either of these shops. We have a Primark now on one of our retail parks but sadly we still do not have a Lush. So two of our closest Lush stores are Oxford and Milton Keynes. 

Before the centre was re-done Lush used to be on the high street and like all Lush stores aside from the London one, it was absolutely tiny and it was always busy which was a nightmare. But in the new store, there is so much space to walk and browse in it is a bliss. And it was also nice that everything had a section, so the majority of the bath bombs were at the front of the store, the gift sets were in the middle of the store, and throughout the back of the store there were different stations for the face masks, cleansers, shower gels and soaps, hair products etc. Which I really liked as it was easy to follow round. 

But one thing I thought was really cool were these. Now these are actually CDs which act as spa treatments and there's a whole different range of them that you can buy. You use certain soundscapes to have with particular products that Lush sell. So for example you would have the comforter CD with the comforter bubble bar. Each CD has a different amount of tracks on ranging from soundscapes to covers of different songs all for the purposes of relaxation and each CD having a particular mood/ journey for you to be taken on. Making reference to the comforter CD again, the aim for that one is to take you on a childhood adventure. 

I actually got the chance to listen to a few of the songs on a couple of different CDs whilst I was in the shop as they had a little music station in there with headphones. I think I did listen to a few on the comforter CD and I felt so relaxed already. I think these are such a cool idea as I love going to spas but they're not something the majority of people can do all the time. It is more like a treat to go but with these CDs and a couple of products from Lush you get a spa treatment treat for no more than £20.00-£25.00. These are also great ideas for someones birthday. If you guys wanna check out the CDs for yourself click here. I really wanna buy one of these and give it a full test. 

Took a little trip into Cath Kidston, they've got some nice little bags for spring. I love the pattern on the lilac bag at the top with the white roses. They had the pattern on a couple of smaller bags which I preferred to this massive one. I always go into Cath Kidston though but never actually buy anything. Do you guys have anything from Cath Kidston? Let me know down below. 

We had a browse in Oliver Bonus which I was really excited about as I'd never been into an Oliver Bonus before. I hear so many YouTuber's talk about this store and for homeware and home accessories lots of people love coming in here. If you guys have never been in either I would urge you to go and have a look around. They have a range of different bits and bobs from homeware, to books, to birthday cards, to wall prints, to jewellery etc. Have a really lovely range of different things. Now I always expected the price to be super expensive just because every time I've seen people do hauls from here everything is always like £50+. But we went in anyway and actually some of the prices for things aren't that bad. All of the bits and pieces on the shelves in the left photo were between £4.00-£65.00. So some things are still a bit more pricey for what they are but I've seen worse. Also, the majority of things in this store were very instagrammable, no wonder it's got bonus in their name. 

On the way back down to the entrance we popped back into H&M. I'll be honest, I don't shop in H&M anymore because everything in there is made to be petite. The majority of the things in there, even if they say XL, they're tiny. Which pisses me off, if I compare an XL in Matalan to H&M for example, you will see a massive difference in size. Anyway before I get in a rant, I do still pop in there from time to time to see what they've got. And H&M have done makeup bits for a while but since when did they do collections of eyeshadows like this? If any of you know how long these have been a thing let me know as I had no idea about them. 

Whilst in this section of the store I was in my element and I was so shocked at how pigmented and soft these were. You guys will see that later on because of course, I treated myself to some. I just had to! From what you guys know about me, try to make a guess about which range of colours I might've chosen from. E.g. pinks, browns, purples, greens, oranges, etc.

We have finally arrived at the part of this post you've all been waiting for, the haul! I didn't go crazy and buy loads and loads but the things I did buy I'm really in love with and cant wait to wear/ use. 

 Firstly I shall start with Primark. So lately Primark have been bringing out new things left, right, and centre. But as spring and summer is approaching in the UK (sort of, maybe, who really knows at this point?) that does mean every fashion store going gets all their new stock in and Primark is especially great for those throw on spring/ summer everyday items. So I got this top and has anyone else been noticing that polka dots are making a come back. They seem to be every where at the minute and you know what I am here for it. I don't actually remember the last time I had anything in a polka dot pattern. 

So as you can see it's just a simple vest top with a relaxed racer cross over at the back and it's got the shoulder cut out style that everyone is still crazy for at the moment. It's also got a slight V at the front which is nice and flattering. The material is not very thick but super soft which is what I love about Primark's comfy clothes, they're always soft. The cut around the bottom is also relaxed which means it's not tight, it's just nice and flowy. And because of where it's cut, it's not a crop top but it's not super long either. I'd pair this with denim blue jeans or shorts most likely with a cardigan or a jacket. I really want it to get a bit warmer so I can go out in this without worrying about feeling cold. 

Price: £5.00 

Nothing is easier than throw on shoes in the spring/ summer that are lightweight and will go with everything you have in your wardrobe. I have a white pair of these which I've worn quite a bit already. But one of my friends had these and from that point on I've wanted them. So I found them in Oxford and I had to have them. They're super cheap, so they wont be incredibly long lasting but these are the kind of shoes I don't mind wearing for a few weeks constantly and wearing them out because they're just so cheap and after this spring/ summer I wont be bothered if I can't get them again. Do you know what I mean? 

Price: £3.00 

Picked up some more socks as so many of mine are getting holes in just because I've been wearing them everyday pretty much and they're just wearing away. These ones are peach, purple, and white and I just thought they were nice for spring. 

Price: £2.50

Picked up some more hydrating mist because I am obsessed with this stuff! It is so good for my skin, it just soaks it all up. 

Price: £2.00 

Popped into The Body Shop to pick up some birthday presents. I got the pink grapefruit shower gel for my girl Chloe as I know that's one of her favourites, but the shower gels were on offer. Buy two for £7.50 which is such a fab deal considering on their own they are £5.00 each. So I decided to treat myself to one. I got satsuma, this is another one of my all time favourite scents. If you know me well you'll know I love citrus scents. 

Price: £5.00 each 

As you guys saw I popped into Lush so I had to pick up something from their Easter range. So I got this bath bomb called April Showers as I thought it was quite appropriate for our current month. As you guys can see it's a cute little white cloud with pink and blue rain droplets which are actually little droplets of cocoa butter. I don't know if this product is a direct link to the Easter range but it definitely came out with the rest of the Easter products. I would imagine it's going to linger a little longer than the actual Easter products as April is in it's title and April has only just begun. I'm really excited to use this and I'm thinking of doing a review of it if that's something you guys would like. 

Price: £3.95

Did you guys guess these shade ranges for the H&M eyeshadows? 

So as you can see I went for a pink shimmery champagne colour in the shade Chin Chin and deep emerald shimmery green in the shade Queen of The Nile. I did actually want to get the bright satsuma orange shade (the row up from the bottom - third eyeshadow in the row) but they sadly didn't have any of those left. But anyway, I love the packaging and they open and close really easily. And, how pigmented are these eyeshadows?! The swatches you guys are seeing of these colours are literally from one-two swipes. How incredible is that!? I used Chin Chin as my inner corner highlight when I went out on Tuesday and my god it was super pigmented. My inner corners, you could've seen those shimmering from miles away. I'm so excited to carry on playing with these. 

These don't appear to be on H&M's website, so if you guys do see them in a store pick them up!

Price: £4.99 each

So this is kind of my main treat from this shopping trip and I've treated myself to say well done for the Easter term because it was manic and had a lot of drama and assessments but I got through it all and I'm really proud of myself for that. 

So as you guys can see its a purse from River Island. Now I don't buy loads of clothes from River Island as sometimes I don't really think they're worth the price. There are so things that I will spend more money on if I know I'm gonna use them for a long time. Such as coats, jeans, boots, jackets, bags, and purses. My previous purse is also from River Island and it was the one I was gifted for Christmas a couple of years ago. I've used that purse everyday for the past two years and it's barely had any damage to it and barely got any marks on it which shows the quality of the stitching and the materials used to make it. I'm sure that one was about £18.00 or £20.00 or something like that. I love that purse and I'll probably still use it even though I've now got a new one. 

This one is a baby soft pink colour with gold accents and floral patterns on the outer edges. And then inside it's pure white (risky) with 12 card slots which is fantastic because as you can see I've got a lot of cards I carry around with me every day. It also has three other slots inside the purse which I'm using for money (notes) and receipts at the moment. And at the back it has a zip to store coins in.

I've already started using it and I'm loving it because it's slightly flatter than my previous one and that also means it's a little bit lighter to carry around with me. I got this for an absolute steal and this wasn't even a sale price, it was only £14.00! 

Well my lovelies that's it for this post. I hope you enjoyed and let me know in the comments if you have visited the new Westgate Oxford? 

Thank you guys for reading and I'll see you very soon!

Love,

Katie