January Favourites 2017
Whilst January this year for me has, as usual, involved a fair few new discoveries, its also seen me rediscovering some things I used to love but had just forgotten about. Whilst I don’t really try enough new products to do a monthly favourites post every month (I’m on a student budget after all!) I thought this would be a good introduction to some of the products I absolutely love.
LUSH Angels on Bare Skin Facial Cleanser
This was very much a spur of the moment purchase using a LUSH gift card I hadn’t used up from last Christmas and I couldn’t be more glad I trusted my instincts on it! As the absolute sucker for lavender that I am, the smell of this is just amazing. More importantly, it makes me skin feel absolutely amazing. I rub a little bit between my hands to form a paste and then scrub it into my skin before washing it off, either with my hands or a flannel (both works, it just depends on my mood). This is from their fresh range so it does unfortunately only last a few months but even so, I really do feel it is worth it! Definitely something that will be a staple of mine from now on.
The Body Shop Moringa Body Scrub
I have been absolutely obsessed with the ‘moringa’ scent from The Body Shop for a few months now after getting a body butter in it so when I saw a gift set of a shower gel, body butter and body scrub on offer after Christmas I couldn’t resist. I love everything in this line and the scrub is no exception. Admittedly the biggest selling point for me is the smell, however I really like the feel of the scrub too. It leaves my skin feeling lovely and soft afterwards. Teaming this on my body with the LUSH Angels on Bare Skin on my face, I’m left with lovely, soft skin all over!
Vaseline Lip Therapy Rosy Lips 
This might seem like a bit of a weird one but with winter inevitably for me comes a battle against dry lips. As you can probably tell from the picture, this is something I’ve had for years and never really used all that much before now. It lay neglected at the bottom of my school bag during sixth form hence the slightly battered appearance. After rediscovering it purely by chance when rummaging for something in the bag I now use for uni, I’ve fallen a little bit in love with it. I’ve been leaving it in my coat pocket and putting it on as I go outside into the cold (meaning I can’t forget it!) and so far it seems to have done the trick with stopping my lips being dry and chapped which seems like a bit of a miracle.
Bobbi Brown Tinted Moisturizing Balm 
When I first expressed a desire to wear makeup, my mum took me to have my makeup done at Bobbi Brown and one of the products they recommended me was their tinted moisturiser. Probably around 7 years later and I am still using it which I think says a lot! As a day to day base this is absolutely perfect. I’m very prone to dry skin year round so using a tinted moisturiser rather than a foundation is only ever going to be a positive. I also feel that I don’t particularly want to use foundation on an everyday basis, but that I want that little bit of coverage to just even out some areas that don’t seem worth concealer. This is perfect for that. It’s something that I keep coming back to time and again and is absolutely perfect for what I want in an everyday base!
Jack Wills Jumper
Being a student means I’m still learning new things about day to day adult life and after a traumatic incident whereby a pair of jeans I didn’t even realise hadn’t been washed before snuck into the wash with my favourite jumper in the entire world I learned a pretty big life lesson. Learn from my mistakes, don’t wash jeans with your favourite jumper…Especially if its white. Being the absolutely wonderful people that they are, my parents saved the day by surprising me with this almost identical one from Jack Wills to make up for it. I don’t really buy clothes very often but when I do I tend to get completely obsessed with things and that is definitely this jumper. Obviously I love the style, hence buying a jumper as close to identical to the one I’d ruined as possible, but this is so much softer than the original (an old H&M find) was! Every time I buy something from Jack Wills I become more and more of a fan of theirs and this jumper is no exception.
Kikki.K 2017 Diary
I’m surprisingly forgetful. If I don’t write something down, I’ll forget it. Equally, if I can’t see exactly what I need to do and when I have an awful habit for putting things off until the last minute. Luckily for my forgetful, slightly lazy brain, I absolutely love stationary and organisation. I completely fell in love with this diary from Kikki.K when shopping in Christchurch whilst on our New Zealand trip this Christmas for its style, but I also love how I’ve decided to use it. Typically I don’t put things that might change (such as last minute group project meetings etc) in here because I’ve been using google calendar for that (more on that in a second). I do, however, write things like my lectures, and more helpfully what I need to have done for them. Being able to open my diary and see not only what lectures I have tomorrow but whether I’ve got work to hand in or reading to do has been incredibly useful so far and it’s a system I really hope I will keep up! It also makes it much harder to put things off, as I see the whole week every time I check what’s due in on Monday, meaning I’m more likely to do the rest of the week’s work at the same time. Using this system so far has undoubtedly made me more productive, I just really hope I manage to keep on top of it when things get busier.
Google calendar
Another recent discovery is google calendar. I’ve used my iCalendar both on my phone and my macbook for years but recently saw a video talking about google calendar and wanted to try it out and I’m loving it so far. Possibly the biggest element for me is the fact I can have multiple calendars and whilst this is possible in iCalendar, it just doesn’t seem as simple. I’ve linked my university timetable to it as one calendar as well as having a personal calendar, a blog calendar to plan my posts and a group calendar for a group project I’m currently involved with in uni that has specific deadlines. It’s so easy to use and understand and the fact that it looks nice is also a bonus.
Monzo
There’s a full post coming about Monzo soon but I couldn’t resist putting it in a favourites. For those of you who haven’t come across Monzo yet, its essentially a pre-paid card that is linked to an app that allows you to effortlessly track your spending. The aspect I love most about Monzo, aside from the obvious ease of tracking my money far better than with a standard bank account, is the fact I instantly get a notification saying how much I’ve spent and at what retailer. For example, if I get a dominoes for tea, I get a notification telling me I’ve spent £5.99 at dominoes before they’ve even handed my card back to me. As a student, I absolutely love the whole concept of this and I think Monzo execute it really well. If you want to hear more about Monzo and my thoughts on it keep an eye out for the full post coming soon!
So there we have it! My first ever monthly favourites. If you’ve tried any of the things featured here let me know what you thought of them in the comments! If not, is there anything you think I should try based on what I liked! Also if there’s anything in this post you’d like to hear more about let me know in the comments!
Lucy x