Category: reviews

beauty, beauty boxes, lifestyle boxes, make up, reviews, skincare

Hello Summer! Pink Parcel Summer Edit 

ramblingmads

I had a very brief subscription from Pink Parcel a while ago but I am still on their mailing list so when the Summer Edit popped into my inbox I decided to place an order. 

A huge box arrived, carried to my door by the invisible postman (I never see him but parcels arrive and someone rings the doorbell and I once heard a man whistling). Inside was a flamingo print canvas bag full of goodies. 

I love flamingos – this bag is very me 

Scrub Love Coconut Affair Coffee Scrub – I’m not personally a fan of coffee scrubs probably because I don’t like coffee, but my fiance loves coffee in all forms so this will be his to use. 

Barnaby Cross Gemmotherapy Face Mask – not exactly sure what gems have to do with face masks but this seems to be a plant based sheet mask. 

Figs & Rouge Combat Cream- this is designed to eradicate blemishes, which is handy as my skin can be a bit reactive. 

Malibu SPF 30 Lotion – sun cream is an essential in my skincare arsenal. 

Spa To You Konjac Sponge – I am really not that keen on these sponges but some people love them. 

Your Tea Face Scrub – this has tea in it which is new, and claims to be gentle enough for sensitive skin. 

Colorsport 30 Day Brow Tint – dark brown shade so not for me. 

Pink Parcel For Now Tampons 

Beauty Papier Green Tea Blotting Paper – shiny t-zones be gone with soothing green tea extract. 

Stylondon Henna Tattoos – just no. 

Bic Soleil Razor 

Elegant Touch Nails (Colours vary)

Sass Intimate Purifying Cleanser – there’s a whole rant I could do about this. 

Eyeko Skinny Liquid Eyeliner

Burt’s Bees Deep Cleansing Cream 

Jelly Pong Pong Eye Shadow Duo

Sportfx Sport Stamina Mascara

Amie Deep Pore Exfoliating Polish 

Bonnie XO Lipstick 

Pink Parcel make up bag 

Dr Paw Paw Original Balm (not pictured as it rolled under the bag!) 

Candy Kittens sweets – 2 sweets! 2 sweets! 

Estella Bartlett bracelet – this is pretty. 

Joe & Seph’s Coconut & Chia Popcorn (which was supposed to be Not.Corn made with sorghum) – leave out the chia seeds and this is s nice coconut popcorn. 

Yuyo Mint Tea

Yuyo Zing Tea

We Are Tea Soothe for tummy relief

Make up close ups 

Bit of a mixed bag (quite literally). Some of these things I will definitely use but others will be going to new homes. 

beauty, cruelty free, make up, reviews, skincare

Review: Arbonne Cosmetics 

ramblingmads

As you may be mildly sick of me mentioning, I went to the Allergy & Free From Show recently. 

One of the brands I discovered there is Arbonne – a Swiss beauty company that makes cruelty free, vegan friendly make up and skincare. 

After a little test session with friendly make up artist and rep Sarah my lovely mum bought me a foundation and a blush. Sarah kindly threw in a primer for me too.

I love make up but the combination of sensitive skin, eczema and rosacea means I have to be super careful with what I use on my face to avoid breakouts and flare ups. 

Sarah explained the ingredients and ethos used by Arbonne – from their website; 

Ingredient Policy

Transparency and honesty. For over 35 years, this has been the hallmark of our product integrity. From the beginning, Arbonne has developed products by combining the best of nature with leading science. Our mission is to always improve and evaluate our ingredient policy as an ever-evolving standard of excellence. This means we continuously challenge ourselves to do better and better.

We formulate without

animal products or by-products | artificial flavors | artificial sweeteners | benzene | bisphenol-a | carbon black | formaldehyde-donating preservatives | hydroquinone | mineral oil | parabens | petrolatum | phthalates | sodium laureth sulfates (SLES) | sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) | synthetic dyes | talc | triclosan | triethanolamine (TEA) And so much more …

A lot of the things I avoid are absent from these products which is great for me. 

The foundation I chose is in the lightest shade of the range, quelle surprise, Alabaster, a gentle medium coverage liquid foundation that sinks in without looking chalky or leaving a residue. 

The blusher is in a light shade called Ballet – it seems a little pale in the pot but once on its peach undertones appear, making my skin look warm. 

The primer is quite gel like but blends down smoothly leaving my skin even and ready to apply my make up. 

I am definitely going to keep using these products and potentially re-purchase, although I also have my eye on some of the skincare Arbonne produces. 

If anything catches your eye – do contact Sarah and check out her Instagram too for some amazing make up looks. 

beauty, reviews, skincare

Review: Bloomtown Botanicals Sampler Set

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Bloomtown Botanicals is a small firm making beauty products from natural ingredients, 100% palm oil and cruelty free. 

I picked up the sampler set as a little treat, but totally forgot to pick my fragrances at the checkout so the team at Bloomtown did it for me! 

The sampler set has four products from across the Bloomtown range to give you a good feel for the things they produce. 

The box smells amazing. 

The Woods Sweet Almond & Shea Sugar Scrub

This scrub smells delicious – but do not eat it! A mix of soothing, skin loving ingredients that didn’t only leave my legs smooth but also feeling soft. 

The Hedgerow Pink Himalayan Salt Soak 

I don’t have a bath tub unfortunately but I do enjoy a good foot soak of an evening in my DIY foot spa (it’s a bowl) and this made my feet soft and smell delicious, like blackberries and honey (it contains huneysuckle). You only need a little. 

The Grove Shea & Coconut Soap Bar

I don’t normally get on with soap as lanolin makes my hands dry and scratchy. But this little beauty contains Shea butter and not lanolin. So it left my hands clean and happy. 

The Meadow Infused Oil

With lavender, rose geranium and chamomile this roll on is relaxing and light. I’m using it on pulse points before bed to help calm me and help me sleep. 

Now I have a little treat for you all. How do you fancy getting 20% off across Bloomtown’s products? Well here you go! Enter the code RAMBLING20 at checkout and tah-dah!

This is an affiliate program and I will get a tiny something if you use the code while making a purchase. 

books, reviews

Book Review: Final Girls – Riley Sager

ramblingmads

Firstly we need to talk about this cover – I know it’s not supposed to be important but I love the pink and black aesthetic. That tiny girl fleeing at the bottom is really striking contrasted against the bold white type. It’s very satisfying. 

Quincy is a Final Girl – the lone survivor of a massacre during what should have been a fun weekend in the woods with her friends. 

Sam and Lisa are also Final Girls – a name given to them by the media after surviving brutal killing sprees by dangerous men. All three have taken very different paths to recovery. 

But after Lisa is killed, is Quincy safe? Is she ready to be more than a Final Girl? 

I loved this book, knotty, twisty thriller with flashbacks and a main character whose memory can’t be trusted, who needs to remember to save herself. 

Excellent writing. Just could not put it down. Go and get yourself a copy. Go now, read my blog later. Or you could go follow me on Twitter and win this copy….

books, reviews

Book Review: Good Me Bad Me – Ali Land 

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Written by a former Mental Health nurse, this psychological thriller is vivid and arresting. Milly is almost 16 and has lived a terrible life with her mother, a serial killer. Milly was also the one who turned her in. 
Documenting the lead up to her mother’s trial for 9 child murders, we see the world through Milly’s eyes as she tries to adjust to ‘normal’ life with her foster family. 

Her foster father is also her psychotherapist, preparing her for trial, going through the harrowing childhood she endured and the nightmares that haunt her, but is Milly telling him everything, and does the daughter take after the mother? 

Tightly written and with a nice little twist at the end, I really enjoyed this. I think I prefer more knotty thrillers like this, than the straightforward procedural ones. I want unreliable narrators and secrets, I want to never quite know for sure. 

I found this very satisfying a read. 

beauty, lifestyle, make up, reviews, skincare

Lately I’m Loving…Skin Special

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I’ve not done a post like this before but I see a few on blogs I read so I thought I’d share my favourite products of the moment. 

Superdrug Vitamin E Spray On Body Lotion – I am really lazy, and hate mornings, so any shortcut that does the same trick is fine by me. This moisturiser in a can is great – especially for doing the backs of my legs as it sprays upside down too. 

Superdrug Vitamin E All Over Body Cream – in the evenings this is perfect for smoothing over tired, dry skin. It’s also really good at soothing my eczema after being irritated all day by clothes. 

Soap & Glory Rushover Dry Shampoo – I try not to rely on dry shampoo too much but I’m still lazy so… this was a total bargain at the time, and there’s always offers on S&G. This is also a great dry shampoo, slightly fragranced with the signature scent, no dandruff-like residue, no sticky roots. 

Ladival Sun Protection Factor 30 – this is my current go to sunscreen, as a very pale blonde my skin needs all the protection. This spray is super easy to apply, doesn’t smell funny, absorbs quickly and doesn’t leave a tacky residue. 

Superdrug Simply Pure Micellar Water – Micellar Water is something I use daily to lift the top layer of grime and make up before a thorough cleanse. This one is inexpensive and doesn’t smell weird or contain alcohol. Plus it’s cruelty free and hypoallergenic. 

Bio Oil – my mum swears by this and I’ve started using it on some of the odd scars and marks. It takes a while but it seems to help them fade. 

Nip+Fab Kale Fix Make Up Removing Pads – I use these when I’ve got slightly heavier make up on that the Micellar Water alone won’t start to budge. 

L’Occitane Vervaine Agrumes Eau de Toilette – this is my favourite summer perfume, a mixture of verbena, orange and lemon essential oils and grapefruit extract. It’s light and fresh, and the essential oils mean it stays on the skin for longer. 

So those are my current favourites – any that you love too? 

Let me know what you’re loving below. 

books, reviews

Book Preview: Love and Other Consolation Prizes – Jamie Ford

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If you’ve read Ford’s previous works – The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet or The Song of Willow Frost, you’ll know his milieu is the Chinese and Japanese diaspora on the West Coast of America – chiefly Seattle and San Francisco. 
Ernest Young is sold by his starving, heartbroken mother and sent by ship as a small boy from China to Seattle in the early years of the twentieth century. There, after a tough few years, he is sold again, given as a raffle prize at the World Fair in 1909. 

His winners are the owner and manager of a notorious brothel where he falls in love, twice. 

Looking back from 1962, when the World Fair rolls round again, Ernest charts his life and loves for his daughter, a reporter, keen to learn about the boy won at a raffle. 

Ford’s writing is beautiful, you are totally transported into Ernest’s life as a young man, the sights, sounds and smells of the world he inhabits is vividly brought to life. 

I’m a bit biased because Hotel is one of my favourite reads of the last few years, but this is a strong contender to pip it. 

The book will be published on the 12th of September, which seems apt for a book about recollections of summers past.

books, reviews, upcoming

Book Preview: Lady of Magick – Sylvia Hunter

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Read the review of book one – The Midnight Queen here. 

Lady of Magick picks up two years after the events of the first book with Sophie and Gray ensconced at Oxford, Gray teaching and Sophie finally studying magic. 

When Gray is invited to guest lecture at the university of Dun Edin in the neighbouring Kingdom of Elba, Sophie quickly agrees to go with him, but something else is going on and it isn’t too long before the Marshalls are tangled up in intrigue and terror. 

Now I thought the first book was great but this one is a corker – new characters, new adventures, the return of some of my favourites from the first book. 

Hunter’s writing is gripping and the plot is fun and clever. This is a fantastic piece of not only fantasy but mystery and adventure. 

The book is currently available in trade paperback but will be officially released on 21st September – plenty of time to read the first book. 

Stay tuned for the third in the trilogy. 

beauty boxes, lifestyle boxes, reviews, wedding

Wedding Wednesday – Magic Wedding Box 

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Guides for Brides is a great wedding planning resource and they very kindly sent me a box of bridal inspiration to review, curated by Sprinkle of Magic. Full of samples from independent companies to help you plan your wedding. What more could any bride to be want! 

Guides for Brides originated the #WeddingWednesday tag and their app is a great place to keep track of your planning.

The first thing I noticed when I opened the box was the delicious smell of this cute little wax melt from Lubylu. It is so yummy. You could use these as favours or as suggested, to thank your bridal party. 

Of course I was then drawn to this cute candy favour – like a slice of seaside rock with a message for your guests. I love the idea of a pretty bowl of these by the guestbook so people can treat themselves as they write their message. 

No wedding would be complete without confetti – it has moved a long way since I threw handfuls of brightly coloured paper in the air as a child at my cousin’s wedding. And I have to say I much prefer real petals like these, and not just because they’re environmentally friendly. 

Another great idea in the box is this sweet medallion – I’m not having a flower girl but if I was I think this would be a perfect memento. 

I wasn’t sure what this next item was at first – my bridal brain wasn’t quite in gear. It’s a sample of veil – something I haven’t got round to looking at yet. This is really pretty and I like the idea of a little bit of flair on the netting. 

One of the things that has been a bit of a headache is wedding stationery – and Magic has smartly included samples to give you some ideas and potential suppliers. 

Now, all brides get stressed out, whoever you’re marrying, and we deserve some pampering, which the lovely team at Magic have addressed with these beauty samples, all of which are available through their website shop or from the independent suppliers – I love showing new brands some support, if you haven’t spotted that already.

If you would like to order a box or take out a subscription to help with your wedding planning, please click this link* and follow the instructions on the site. 

*Affliate link – I will receive a small percentage of every box ordered.

I received the box in exchange for an honest review, all views and opinions are my own. 

beauty, beauty boxes, glossybox, make up, reviews

Glossybox – Hello Summer

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I know, I know, I said I was done with Glossybox but I kept seeing increasingly good boxes on other blogs and I just couldn’t resist. If they kept this gorgeous sunburnt pink as well it would be so good.

Inside are five summery beauty bits, four of which are fullsize. 

☉Bellapierre Cosmetics Banana Setting Powder – I am so fascinated by this, the yellow powder is designed to offset redness and discoloration on pale skin and add highlights to darker skins. 

☉Spectrum Collections Small Fan Brush – partnered with the setting powder, this brush evenly distributes the powder with cruelty free, synthetic bristles that are super soft. 

☉Monu Professional Skincare – Monuspa Soothing After Sun Lotion – a generous 100ml ‘sample’ of this summer essential. Try as I might I always get burnt somewhere. 

☉Cute Balms Macaroon Tint Balm in Crushed Berry – a fruity smelling balm for lips and cheeks. This is most likely going to be added to my collection of lipbalms I keep forgetting I have and then I buy more. 

☉Papanga Spiral Hairbands (pack of 3) – try as I might I can’t seem to get on board with these, they may not tangle other people’s hair but they snare up might like nobody’s business. 


I rather liked this box – but I will only be sticking with this subscription if the quality remains high. I cannot afford more crappy boxes of cheap and unwanted make up.