Step into Summer with Yankee Candles

I am a big fan of Yankee Candles so when these new fragrances were launched I couldn't wait to try them out. I purchase mine from Yankee as you get points every time you spend, so you can accumulate them and then use them as money off a next order. The packaging is always great and I have never received anything faulty or incorrect... touch wood! 

I picked up 3 out of the 5 new Q2 Summer fragrances; Pink Dragon Fruit, Wild Passionfruit, and Fruit Fusion.







If I haven't smelt the fragrance of a candle before, I always purchase either the wax tart or the sampler. It is a cost effective way to 'try out' the fragrance before committing to a large jar (for the record I only purchase the large jars as they are most value for my money).
Yankee recommend you put the entire wax tart into your oil burner for optimum results, but to be honest, thats just wasting the tart in my opinion. What I do is slice up the tarts into 8 separate pieces, wrap up in cling film to keep fresh, and use only one piece as and when required. The tart will turn into a wax liquid (the same colour as the tart!) but it will not evaporate like regular oils...the smell will simply weaken and eventually, after about 4 hours, you will be left with just the oil in the burner.
A clean way to remove the oil is to pop the burner into the freezer for about 10-15 minutes, then when you take it out, tease the edge of the frozen oil with a tooth pic (or something similar) and the frozen oil will come away clean in one chunk. Don't try to re-burn another piece of wax tart before the burner has reached room temperate or else the tart piece will burn around the edges to a liquid, but the middle will remain hard gloop.

Now onto the frangrances:
Pink Dragon Fruit - I don't actually know what dragon fruit smells of as I have never eaten one but this fragrance is definitely colouful and intriguing. It does have a distinctly tropical aroma to it, something I would describe as similar to tangy sweet strawberries with just a hint of zesty lemon. Absolutely lovely.
Wild Passionfruit - Bright and vivacious, this exotic passionfruit is blended with melon and mandarin. The melon is subtle, the mandarin is more apparent, and the passionfruit is extremely true to life. A fresh, fruity, summer fragrance that is not too heavy or sickly.
Fruit Fusion - Berries, orange and lime make this sunny fruit blend refreshingly tart and sweet. Definitely the most heaviest out of all 3, but still very useable. The notes are typical of sweet oranges more so than berries, but the lime in this brings out the zesty-ness, so the overall smell is not at all heavy or sickly like some of the typical 'orange winter' fragrances.

Overall, I will definitely be purchasing the corresponding large jars of these fragrances. The bright, summer colours of the candles themselves will look lovely this time of year and bring a Summer feeling indoors as weather in the UK is pretty rubbish at the moment :-(

Have you purchased anything from the Yankee Candle Q2 collection? Tried mixing 2 pieces of tart to create a unique flavour before? Let me know...

Accessory Storage

Hey Hey!

I recently re-decorated my bedroom and decided that it was time I came up with a more appropriate way to store my accessories. 

I keep my belts on a rack in the wardrobe but the main issue I had were how to store my hair accessories and scarves. I don't like having lots of clutter on dressing tables or chests of drawers as it can just makes the entire room look so messy, so I rearranged the contents of one of my chests so that I could use 2 drawers to hold all my hair accessories and scarves - nice and neat, out of sight.

This is my top drawer. I used an old sunglasses box to store all my hair flowers in the top right hand corner. I then used an old Louis Vuitton box (the one which you get with the purses) and placed that on the top left hand corner to hold all my hair bands. I then used another Louis Vuitton box in front of that and cut out 2 dividers; one horizontal, and one vertical, to separate out my hair bobbles, mini clips, and grips. Towards the bottom right hand side I had a little gap that was the perfect size to store my bun ring!

Obviously you can substitute and use any old box you have – it just so happens that I was using the LV purse boxes to store my purses, which are now just kept in their dust bags, so I thought instead of throwing them out I would make use out of them!

I love how everything is in one drawer, easy to access, clear to see what’s what, and more importantly out of sight! 

The next drawer down holds some scarves. I have simply rolled them up instead of folding them as it makes it easier for me to see what I have – I always used to go for the same scarf time and time again because I couldn’t be bothered going through layers to see what else I had – this way I get use out of all of them.

How do you store your hair accessories and scarves? 

How to get rid of Cellulite - Step 3

Hey you guys!

Ok so my final step to preventing cellulite is the use of Lush Sugar Scrubs. Priced now at £2.65 for one (they used to be £2.50!), you can get 4 uses from one piece. I chop mine up in quarters making it just under 70p for each use.

Sugar Scrub is a vegan product aimed at diminishing cellulite using sugar, cream of tater, lavender, ginger and fennel extracts. The ginger and fennel oil extracts are the 2 active ingredients that help to minimise the look of cellulite with lavender oil having a soothing effect on the skin.

As this product is made from sugar it is not supposed to be used in water (i.e. in the bath). While showering, you need to ensure that the designated area is wet, and then with your quarter, gently rub the sugar scrub over your skin. The scrub is quite gritty so you will definitely have to start with a light hand or you will end up seriously scratching your skin. You will notice that the scrub will begin to break apart ever so slightly... at this point you should continue to massage the sugar scrub with a more firmer hand into the skin. Rub your skin for a few minutes while the scrub starts to lather up, and then rinse off with warm water. Your skin will look a little red - don't worry though, this is just the deep exfoliation of your skin cells. You yourself can determine how hard to rub the scrub into your skin.

I specifically use the Lush Sugar Scrub on my thighs and after the first use you immediately notice a difference - skin is left super smooth and soft, freshly exfoliated, with the added bonus of active ingredients penetrating the skin to combat those problem areas.

I tend to save my Sugar Scrub chunks for special events/holidays as the results really are that noticeable. I try to use a whole sugar scrub a week before a special event (where my thighs might be on show due to a dress im wearing, or a week before im due to go away on the beach). I would suggest that if you are going on holiday, take a few chunks away with you, and each time you have a shower, just use one of these chunks on the backs of your thighs. They will definitely improve the look of your skin for the next morning!

Which scrubs do you use to combat cellulite?

How to get rid of Cellulite - Step 1

Hey you guys!

As the summer is approaching I thought I would do a couple of posts on cellulite with my 3 steps to preventing &/or minimising the look of it.

At a size 6/8, 5'3, weighing 8 stone I am not considered plump let alone over weight but the truth is cellulite affects most women no matter what shape or size you are. Last summer I noticed dimples on the back of my thighs at the top and near my bum. I don't have a straight stick thin figure, I do have curves in the right places. I have always done around 20 sit-ups a day to maintain a toned, flat tummy, but I have never done any other form of exercise. I never wanted/needed to lose weight as I love my curvy derrière, plus I have high metabolism so im lucky enough to be able to eat what I want and still remain a petite size 6/8.

I decided last September that I would combat my cellulite in 3 easy steps.

The first step was to start working out 3-5 times a week to tone up my body. I have been following 2 workout regimes - both found on YouTube!

The first is The Beach Bum Workout which is great! This workout tones up your arms, legs, & bums. It is not designed for you to lose weight, it is designed to help you tone up your body. What I like about this workout is there are 3 ladies to follow; each one doing the same workout, but at slightly different stages (beginner, intermediate, advanced).

As YouTube only allows each video to be up to 15 minutes in length, you have to search and save each clip, and then stop and play the each video, when the other one finishes.... So what I did was downloaded each video to my MacBook and import them on iMovie to compress the full 45 minute session into 1 clip - that way I can just open up iMovie and play the entire workout.

The workout starts with a warm up and I then go on to do arms, legs, bums, and finally a cool down. Now let me tell you, you will definitely feel this workout the next day on your body, but in a good way! The tension lets you know you did a good job! I do this workout usually after breakfast, or if im having a busy day, I will do it in the evening around 7pm.

Another workout that I came across is the Island Girl Workout (Tahitian Workout). You learn a selection of Hula steps, combined with fitness moves to deliver amazing results. What I love about this workout is throughout the entire session your legs are slightly bent, so your thighs really feel the punch. Perfect for combatting cellulite! In addition to this, your stomach muscles are constantly contracting, so although your not directly doing sit ups, your stomach is still getting a really good workout as well. I would probably say that this workout is much more harder than the Beach Bum Workout. I tend to do this workout every 3 days when I want to switch it up a little from the Beach Bum Workout. I don't know why but I always feel like "im dying" when im doing this workout LOL. You will definitely need the bottle of water at arms reach for this one!

Have any of you tried either of these workouts? If this is your first time doing the workout after reading this post how did you get on?

Step 2 to combatting cellulite coming soon....

Usher OMG Tour

On Wednesday 26^th January one of my friends treated me to the Usher concert as a birthday present. I have always wanted to see Usher live so this was a real treat for me!

That day I washed/blow dried my hair then put them in Velcro volume rollers as I wanted to have swishy big hair for the night. I personally feel that these rollers work best on longer hair when you have layers, as this defines the volume and gives your hair more of that classic Victoria Secret Angels look. I left the rollers in for approximately 6 hours and when I took them out, with a little backcombing and hair spray my hair was lovely and big, just how I wanted it.

Now, back to the concert… We had lower tier seats which were great as we had a full view of Usher, and as the seating rows are slightly slanted, the row in front of us were not obstructing our views! We danced the whole night away singing along to all the classics “U make me wanna”, “Nice & Slow”, “U remind me”, “U got it bad”, “Burn”, “Caught up”, “Confessions”, along with some extras, a Michael Jackson tribute set, and of course, releases from his latest album “OMG”, “DJ Got Us Fallin In Love”. I wasn’t too impressed with Tinchy Stryder, his support act, but as for Usher, the show was great – a true performer, who can sing, dance, get the crowd off their feet, and most importantly, connect with the audience. I will definitely be searching EBay in a couple of weeks to try and get myself some more tickets for 20^th February show in the MEN. Usher, I adored you when I was 13 when I first heard “U make me wanna”, and 10 years down the line I adore u even more! :-)

Have any of you seen Usher on his OMG tour? In concert before?? What did you guys think?