Lush Christmas 2016 Wishlist!

I was so happy when I saw that Lush had brought out their christmas range but i'm trying to hold off getting any until we go away which is proving difficult! Every year they release the favourites like Golden Wonder, Father Christmas and of course Snow Fairy but they also always bring in a few new products and gift sets and this year to me looks like one of the best yet. 

All images from Lush.

One I didn't try until last year was the Father Christmas Bath Bomb but it's one i'm really hoping to pick up again this year or hopefully get a few for christmas! It has a really sweet fragrance and I remember thinking at the time how amazing it made the bathroom smell! It's only £3.75 so on the cheaper side compared to some others. The Golden Wonder Bath Bomb became a real favourite of mine last year and I managed to pick up a few in the boxing day sale so I held off using them for so long! I'm desperate to stock up on this one again, included in the ingredients are lime oil and sweet orange oil so a really refreshing scent and I love the colour it makes the water go, it's £4.25 but worth it. One I haven't tried but everyone raves about is the Lord Of Misrule Bath Bomb! For a few years now people have been blogging about it and I've always missed out on it so I really want to get one of these to try, it's £3.95 and includes 'a spicy herbal blend of patchouli and black pepper oil' definitely sounds interesting! Never Mind The Ballistics £4.25, is another one i'm yet to try, i'm not sure if this is a new one for 2016 as I've never seen it before but I love the bright pink and orange colour of it so I imagine the water will go a lovely colour. It really reminds me of the Melting Marshmallow Moment Bath Oil. It's ingredients include Organic Cocoa Butter and fresh banana which is supposed to soften your skin and the water. 

All images from Lush.

The one thing I love from Lush aside from the bath bombs is their body scrubs. I picked up The Rough With The Smooth scrub in the boxing day sale and even though I only got a few go's out of it, it made my skin feel amazing! So this year I want to try their Salt and Peppermint Bark which is £5.95. Back to bath bombs, one I have to get is Shoot For The Stars, £4.25. I think this might be my overall favourite Lush product, I look forward to getting it every year and again it's one I need to stock up on. The last two I'm hoping for are Mistletoe £4.25, which I'm sure I haven't seen before, it's so pretty! and Luxury Lush Pud £4.25, which is another one I've seen people go on about before that I've never tried!

Are you excited for the Lush Christmas range? What are your favourites?

Other Lush Posts - Shoot For The Stars // Lush Favourites // Brightside Bubble Bar 

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5 Things To Do If You're Feeling Anxious

There are times when my anxiety is really bad and it stops me from leaving the house, it can take me hours to get out of bed and sometimes I can't find the motivation to do anything, I do have good days but on the days where I'm not feeling so good I try to use a few different techniques to calm myself down. If any of you suffer with anxiety or just need a few tips on how to relax, hopefully this will help, and these aren't just thing like 'take a bath, go for a walk' I'm not saying those are bad things to do but these are a few other techniques that really help me. 

Image from Pinterest.

1. Try To Have A Positive Attitude 

When I'm having a really stressful time or my anxiety's particularly bad then I find it so hard to be positive about anything and I put a downer on everything. I won't say I'm the most positive person in the world anyway, I'm definitely a bit pessimistic but I really try to see the good side of things when I'm feeling anxious, it can be hard to not over think everything so I just try to think of one thing of at a time, and look at everything in a positive light. So for example if I am feeling anxious about something that is happening one day in the week I try to tell myself to just take it one day at a time, one hour at a time if I need to, think of the good things that could happen that day rather than anything bad and try to replace the negative thoughts with positive ones. I don't know if I've explained myself properly with this point but I think you'll get what I mean. 

2. Push Yourself 

This can depend on the situation but sometimes its best to face your fears and try and push through whatever is causing your anxiety. For me, I can sometimes get anxious about going to certain places, even if I know I've been before and it will be fine, I can just overthink for hours and eventually talk myself out of going. A lot of the time though it can really help if I just force myself to go to the place regardless and do whatever I can to get myself there as I know once im there I'll be okay. There are times when this doesn't work and I just can't make myself do it and that's okay but I always make sure I really, really try and push myself. 

3. Talk 

It can really help me to just talk for ages about whatever is bothering me and making me feel anxious. I feel a bit bad for George as sometimes I know it must get boring and be hard to listen to, as a lot of the time its the same things but I can't explain how much it helps me to just let everything out and have a proper conversation about the things or the people that are making me feel stressed or anxious. If there isn't someone you can talk to, maybe writing would help. There are times when I use my blog as a place for me to get everything out and explain how I'm feeling, even if people don't want to know, I feel better knowing I've said what I needed to say. 

4. Do Something You Love 

Similar to what I said in the point above, I love putting everything down on my blog, even if no one reads it, its such a relief to just write and write and see what comes out. I love blogging and it's something I can spend hours and hours on so really helps me focus on other things rather than my anxiety. Other things I love doing which really help when I'm feeling anxious are baking, cooking and reading. Baking is my happy thing so I do it as often as I can and with reading it's so easy to get lost in the story and focus on those characters rather than yourself.

5. Eat Well 

 It can be hard when you're having a bad time to try and find the energy to cook and eat well when all you want to do is get a takeaway and eat chocolate, which I have done so many times when I've been feeling really anxious but generally I actually feel so much better when i'm eating well and i'm getting the right foods. I really do see a difference in my mood when i'm eating well compared to when I'm eating bad and it can have a real impact on my anxiety. 

These are just a few things I try to do when i'm feeling anxious, if you suffer with anxiety what helps you?

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Raspberry & Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe - Canderel Taste Test Challenge*

If you've seen Mondays post you'll know I took part in the Canderel Taste Test Challenge to see if there was a difference between their sweetener and normal sugar when baking. I've already done a blog post for Lemon and Blueberry Cheesecake using Canderel Sugarly so give that a read if you would like to know what I thought! but this post is all about Raspberry and Vanilla Cupcakes and how they turned out, 1 batch with sugar, 1 batch with sweetener. 

Ingredients:

175g low fat spread

3 eggs

75g of Canderel Sugarly (if you use sugar just double the amount so this would be 150g of sugar)

100g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

250g raspberries

Method:

1. Line a bun/muffin tin with paper cases and pre -heat oven to around 180 degrees

2. In a bowl, add the sugar, eggs, sweetener, flour, baking powder and vanilla extract and mix with an electric whisk until smooth and creamy

3. Stir in the raspberries then add the mixture to the cases

4. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until golden and springy to touch

5. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool

6. Dust with sweetener or if you want to decorate you could make icing with 150g half fat cream cheese and 2 tbsp sweetener mixed and a fresh raspberry on top!

CUPCAKES WITH SWEETENER

CUPCAKES WITH SUGAR

Similar results to the cheesecake, you honestly couldn't tell the difference between them! You wouldn't know the first cupcakes were made with sweetener at all and everyone enjoyed them just as much as the ones with sugar. In fact the cupcakes made with the sweetener went much faster than the second batch so not bad at all! 

It was a really easy recipe to follow and so quick to do so it's definitely one i'll be doing again in the future, definitely with sweetener! 

You can get £1 off Canderel Sugarly at the moment with this coupon and it's available in most Supermarkets!

Have you seen the first Canderel Taste Test post? Lemon and Blueberry Cheesecake!

*I was sent the ingredients for the challenge but as always only work with brands I feel are relevant to me and my blog.

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Lemon & Blueberry Cheesecake Recipe - Canderel Taste Test Challenge*

I was very happy to be part of the Canderel Taste Test Challenge a few weeks ago and take part in some baking to see if there was a difference between Canderel Sugarly and normal sugar. In the first of two posts i'll be giving you the recipe for a Lemon and Blueberry Cheesecake and my results. Then on Wednesday part two of the challenge will be all about Raspberry & Vanilla Cupcakes! 

I've used sweetener quite a lot in the past before and in a few baking recipes but never to make a cheesecake, in fact I've never even attempted a cheesecake before! so I was really pushing myself out my comfort zone with this one. The first cheesecake I made was with Canderel Sugarly and then I made a second one with normal sugar but everything else in the recipe stayed the same. 

Ingredients:

50g of low fat spread

150g light digestives, crushed

3 - 4 sheets of gelatine, depending on the size of them (I used 4)

360g of half fat cream cheese

100g Canderel Sugarly (if you want to use sugar, double the amount of sweetener so 200g)

250g of vanilla quark

zest and juice of 2 lemons

250g blueberries

You will also need a 20.5cm/8 inch deep round, loose bottom spring form tin

Method:

1. To make the base, melt the butter in a saucepan and crush the digestives, then mix together and spoon into the tin, spread to cover and press down with the back of a spoon. Leave to cool then put in the fridge to chill

2. Add the gelatine to a small bowl and cover with cold water, put to the side and leave to soften for 5 minutes

3. To make the topping, add cream cheese, sweetener, quark and zest and juice of 2 lemons to a bowl or food mixer. Beat well until everything is combined

4. Squeeze water from gelatine and place back in a clean bowl, cover with boiling water then whisk with a fork until there are no lumps. Add to cream cheese mixture and beat until well mixed

5. Stir in about 1/3 of the blueberries and spoon mixture of biscuit base. Smooth the top then leave in fridge overnight

6. The next day, release from tin and top with remaining blueberries 

Everyone absolutely loved the cheesecake and you honestly couldn't tell that it was made with sweetener rather than sugar! I only managed to take one picture of the second cheesecake after I sliced it but both were lovely and the base was so buttery! I wouldn't hesitate to use sweetener next time rather than sugar as they turned out exactly the same and the first cheesecake with sweetener was gone very quickly! 

You can get £1 off Canderel Sugarly at the moment with this coupon and it's available in most Supermarkets!

Look out for my second Canderel Taste Test Challenge post on Wednesday to see the recipe for Raspberry & Vanilla Cupcakes and how they turned out!

*I was sent the ingredients for the challenge but as always only work with brands I feel are relevant to me and my blog.

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