Wellness Month with Temple Spa

Today is World Mental Health Day and throughout the rest of October, Temple Spa are are having a Wellness Month.  During Wellness Month, the team at Temple Spa will be sharing their top tips, advice from experts and product recommendations for a calm and de-stressed mind – something I think we can all do with this year!

As part of Wellness Month, Temple Spa has partnered with the charity Mind who do amazing work to ensure everyone with mental health problems receives help, support and respect. To support this incredible cause, there will be a £1.50 donation from every purchase of With You In Mind, a gorgeous collection of 4 products to calm and soothe the senses. It’s available for £15 when you spend £65.

Inside the With You In Mind kit the 4 products which includes DRIFT AWAY Relaxing Bathing & Massage Oil 30ml; QUIETUDE Calming Mist for Me & My Space 30ml; AAAHHH! Instant cooling balm 15ml; REPOSE Aromatherapy Resting Cream 15ml.  These products have chosen because there is said to be a close relationship between sleep and mental health. Sometimes people experiencing mental health problems have difficulty sleeping which can have a further negative impact on mental health.

Also included within this collection is the hero product is Repose. This is an aromatherapy night cream and is referred to as being ‘a good night’s sleep in a jar’. Using a blend of essential oils which includes chamomile, frankincense, lavender, patchouli, geranium, bitter orange and clary all of which are all renowned to aid deep relaxation and bring a sense of calm. Working alongside the essential oils is hops which is known for its calming benefits, they help to control anxiety and stress and relax your body and mind. 

They help to aid sleep and insomnia giving you a restful night's sleep.for a relaxing night sleep. During October for every REPOSE 50ml purchased, £6 will be donated to Mind and Temple Spa will be gifting our customers a second limited edition full-size gift of Repose too. 

With all of these amazing products to help you rest, relax and unwind, there is always one other item that I need as part of my own routine - a candle.

The Siesta Forever Relaxing Aromatic Candle is absolutely beautifully scented and the perfect addition to that relaxing bath using Drift Away. Using a warming blend of essential which includes lavender, petitgrain, geranium, frankincense, chamomile, myrrh, black pepper, dill and patchouli.   Once alight, the scent of the candle comes to life and fills the room to create an amazing fragrance.

I am sure you will agree that this is such a worthwhile Charity and one which have no doubt benefited many people during 2020 given our current circumstances and the life we find ourselves now living. 

You can find out more about Temple Spa supporting Mind on their website here.

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page.

Your old coat could help the homeless this winter

Do you have any old or unwanted coats that you no longer need or wear? Instead of throwing them out, you could donate them to someone who could really use a coat to keep warm, especially during the coldest time of the year. I have been through my winter clothes and have already donated jumpers and other such clothes to a few local homeless shelters, but coats are just as important and I am sure everyone reading this will have at least one coat hanging on the back of their door/wardrobe or coat hook that you no longer wear.

CollectPlus is proud to support the Wrap Up 2019 campaign for the fifth year running, in the following locations: London, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, and Bath. This gives everyone a chance to donate to those in need, no matter where you are. You can read more about the charity's important work here.

How it works

Donating a coat with CollectPlus is easy, simply package up your coat securely, download and attach a label from the CollectPlus site, and drop it off to your nearest CollectPlus Point and there is over 7,000 to choose from. To download a label for the Wrap Up location you would like to support and send your coat too, using the links above for London, Manchester, Bath, Cardiff and Birmingham.

London Tube Drops

If you want to take your coat(s) to somewhere a little closer to your route to work, then there are six London tube stations to do that from Monday 11th – Wednesday 13th November 2019 (7am – 11am). Look for signs throughout the six stations and keep checking @WrapUpLondon to find out more information on the day.

• Canary Wharf - Find us at the bottom of the main escalators into the station (opposite Reuters). Our spot is in front of a pillar.
• Kings Cross - Find us at the north entrance to the tube station off Pancras Road, in the Northern Ticket Hall.
• Liverpool Street - Find us inside the London Underground entrance next to Costa Coffee and behind the NatWest ATMs. (Closest entrance on Liverpool Street)
• London Bridge - Find us by the main pillar in the middle of the tube station foyer. We are opposite the Jubilee Line gates.
• Victoria - Find us at the bottom of the stairs by the underground entrance (use one of the “original” entrances just outside the main station)
• Waterloo - Find us at the entrance to the Jubilee line off Waterloo Road or down the escalator opposite platform 5 in the main station. Take a left and you'll find us by Lola's Cupcakes.

As this is a charity there is a whole host of other ways that you can help too and the information is all online.

Having decided to donate your coat or coats, I am sure you are wondering where they go and what Wrap Up does with them?

Where do the coats go? 

Coats donated to Wrap Up London and other cities such as Cardiff and Birmingham go directly to people who struggle to keep warm during the winter months. Coats are distributed via homeless shelters, refugee centres, organisations supporting the elderly, women’s refuges, children’s centres and other charities helping people in crisis. The number of coats our beneficiaries receive is based on the number they request and the amount the campaign manages to collect.

I hope you can find a coat or two to help Wrap Up with their campaign across the UK, it is such a wonderful charity and I am glad to have been able to donate two of mine.

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page.

Beauty Banks: How To Help Fight Hygiene Poverty

Access to the most basic hygiene products such a soap and sanitary towels is a right that for some is still out of reach to the many here in the UK, a fact which might shock most of you, perhaps it is something many of you haven't ever thought about or given thought too. Well two people who have are Jo Jones and Sali Hughes with their new organisation and guess what - You can get involved too.

Beauty Banks aims to encourage the beauty community to donate toiletries to people living in serious need and give the hoard of unused products many of us accumulate over time a much more worthwhile purpose. As a beauty blogger and beauty lover, I am fortunate enough to be gifted a lot of items and like many I do love a good 3 for 2 offer and take full advantage of them whenever I need too. 

My own local supermarket has a basket for the local pet charity, the food bank and my local church has somewhere for products to be taken for local domestic shelters. It isn't too much of a hardship to shop clever which is how I see it. You need toothpaste? Well look for an offer and donate the other, you need shower gel - same rules apply and so on an so forth. If you look in your cupboards you will have tins of food, still in date, that you don't need want or need... you might even have unopened PR samples that you won't use, isn't your shade, scent or even 'thing' so donate it, clear the clutter.

As Sali Hughes so rightly and poignantly puts it:

Clean hair, skin and teeth are a right, not a privilege. Personal hygiene – while not a matter of life and death – is crucial for our dignity, self-respect, personal pride and mental health.

This isn't just an organisation only some people can get involved in, everyone can do their bit. So how can you get involved? Thankfully it is really simple and very easy. Beauty Banks need items such as:

• Shampoo
• Body Wash
• Soap
• Deodorant
• Shaving Products
• Tampons
• Sanitary Towels
• Wipes
• Hand Sanitiser
• Toothpaste

Literally everything you probably have in your bathroom collecting dust, your hotel miniatures, toothbrushes, combs, hand cream, body cream, hair masks and even toilet roll for some places. There are also some rules to follow and they are quite important - Products need to be unopened, to comply with health and safety rules. Also nail polish, nail polish remover and perfume are restricted solvents, so please don't send these either. Please also don't send money as this is a non-profit organisation and isn't a registered charity but if you really feel you want to send items the you can shop directly from their Amazon wish list and have it sent directly to them.

Where to send your stash

Once you've gathered a decent stash of products, put them in a box and write "Beauty Banks" on each side, addressing the package to the following address:

Beauty Banks

c/o Jo Jones

The Communications Store

2 Kensington Square

London

W8 5EP

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page here

La Flamme Marie Claire with L'Occitane

Launching on 31st August is the La Flamme Marie Claire which L'Occitane has created in partnership with Marie Claire to raise funds for the education of women around the world.  This is infact the second year the candle has been available in the UK, but since it launched back in 2010 in France some 583,100 candles have been sold which has made over 1.8million Euros for selected charities.

Each Candle is priced at just £9 and 100% of the profits is donated to three chosen charities in order to help transform the lives of young girls in the UK (Rose), Cambodia (Toutes a L'Ecole) and Africa (Entrepreneurs Du Monde).

The candle is fragranced so beautifully, almost as though you have a fresh bunch of flowers in your living room.  It has opening notes of both Freesia and Red Berries and with that comes the heart notes of Lily of the Valley, Rose and Jasmine all of which are mixed delicately with Amber and Rosewood. Packaged inside a beautifully decorated pink tin, as soon as the lid is removed, the scent comes to life all before it has been lit.

L'Occitane have, for the past 30 years, supported many ethical and charitable foundations and one of their biggest projects has been enabling the women of Burkino Faso, where L'Occitane sources their famous Shea Butter, to develop other revenue generating activities to drive them towards economic emancipation.  Partnering with Marie Claire to support projects with a common goal: educating girl and young women, the flame (La Flamme) is a symbol of hope, a beacon of knowledge spreading the light of understanding and education throughout the world.

The L’Occitane La Flamme Marie Claire Candle will be available in store and online from 31st August and will be priced at £9 .

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page here

#whatnormalfeelslike

I have said it before, but will say it again. Breast cancer is an issue that is close to my heart. My best friend from my early school days died from the disease when she was in her early 20's and three current friends have it. Everyone it seems knows someone with the disease, has had the disease or is undergoing treatment from the disease.

CoppaFeel! aims to stamp out late detection and misdiagnosis of breast cancer by ensuring that people know that signs and symptoms of breast cancer, know what their boobs look and feel like normally, check their boobs regularly throughout their lifetime and have the confidence to seek medical referral when they detect abnormalities. Currently 5% of diagnosed cases are already at stage IV with breast cancer being the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in women under 30 in the UK (181 new cases diagnosed and 12 deaths annually). CoppaFeel! strives for a country where no one dies of breast cancer because of late detection or misdiagnosis. The charity receives no government funding and relies solely on voluntary donations. 

To celebrate the launch of #whatnormalfeelslike, CoppaFeel!s new advertising campaign, the breast cancer awareness charity are opening an exciting pop-up in London’s Brick Lane in association with bath, body and beauty brand I Love…

Visitors to the pop up will be able to create their own campaign style shot in the ‘Boob Booth’, a specially created photo booth to capture your bare-chested beauty. All those that dare to bare will take home a CoppaFeel! goody bag full of beauty treats from I Love… and Balmi.

Lynda Matthews Head of Marketing for I Love… commented ‘I Love... are delighted to be collaborating with CoppaFeel! on this very special Pop-Up. As a brand, I Love appeals to young women and anything we can do to support the incredible work Kris and CoppaFeel! are doing to encourage breast cancer awareness is a positive thing. We want to get that conversation started to ensure that we can help women in the future feel confident about going to their doctor if they feel that something may be wrong. This is the first step in making that happen.’

Open from 18th-21st September, it will exhibit original imagery from the campaign, which features seven bare-chested women, each body painted with the word that best describes how their boobs feel to them. Shot by British photographer Rankin and using words such as ‘squidgy’, ‘spongy’ and ‘bobbly’, the campaign calls on women to reclaim the vocabulary surrounding breasts and learn #whatnormalfeelslike for them. The cult East-London nail salon WAH Nails and Barry M will also be on hand, giving exclusive, complimentary CoppaFeel! inspired manicures Thursday and Friday.

On the Saturday and Sunday, Paul Mitchell and Vintage Hair stylist will be there creating classic up-dos.

The #whatnormalfeelslike campaign was born after months of research and conversations with women across the UK. The research showed that women age between 18-30 struggle to find words to describe their boobs beyond big or small.The reason being is that the sexualisation of boobs has led to women only thinking about theirs in terms of size. Therefore the purpose of this campaign is not only to inform young women that there are other words they can use to describe their boobs but to also help women reclaim the vocabulary so that they know #whatnormalfeelslike for them.

Kris Hallenga founded CoppaFeel! after being diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer at the age of 23. One in eight women will be diagnosed with the disease at some stage in their life and CoppaFeel! aims to get the message out that the sooner we get checking, the sooner we get to know our boobs and are able to spot any changes.

Kris says; ‘We want to make it normal for girls to talk about their boobs. Society and the media think of breasts in a sexual way but by creating this campaign we want to give boobs back to women and encourage them to think and talk about them in terms beyond size. The more normal it is to talk about boobs, the more likely women are to check themselves regularly and spot any changes early.”

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coppafeel.org
Twitter: @CoppaFeelPeople
Instagram: http://instagram.com/coppafeelpeople 
Website: http://coppafeel.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ILoveCosmeticsLtd 
Twitter: @IloveHQ
Instagram: http://instagram.com/iloveofficial 
Website: http://www.ilovecosmetics.eu

Birchbox Manithon for Coppafeel!

Breastcancer is an issue that is close to my heart.  My best friend from my early school days died from the disease when she was in her early 20's and three current friends have it.  Everyone it seems knows someone with the disease, has had the disease or is undergoing treatment from the disease.

CoppaFeel! aims to stamp out late detection and misdiagnosis of breast cancer by ensuring that people know that signs and symptoms of breast cancer, know what their boobs look and feel like normally, check their boobs regularly throughout their lifetime and have the confidence to seek medical referral when they detect abnormalities. Currently 5% of diagnosed cases are already at stage IV with breast cancer being the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in women under 30 in the UK (181 new cases diagnosed and 12 deaths annually). CoppaFeel! strives for a country where no one dies of breast cancer because of late detection or misdiagnosis. The charity receives no government funding and relies solely on voluntary donations.

On August 29th, Birchbox are hosting a Manithon which will take place here in London's between 10am and 7.30pm. Here you will see 20 manicure stations, set up by Birchbox in partnership with Models Own nail polish, take over London’s Soho Square as a team of manicurists file and polish all day long and you can book your slot by clicking HERE.  All that is asked is a donation of at least £5 is given and that donation will go to CoppaFeel!

This exciting beauty charity event is also being supported with the sale of a Limited Edition T Shirt, designed by renowned fashion ilustrator Sally Faye Cotterill. Modeled by celebrity ambassador Sarah Jane Crawford the T is available exclusively through the Birchbox website at www.birchbox.co.uk/shop from Friday 1st August, 2014 priced at £12.00, with 100% of proceeds from the sales of the T-shirt going to CoppaFeel!  Here is the t-shirt!

You can find out more about this event by using any of the information below:

Website: www.birchbox.co.uk
www.coppafeel.org
Twitter: @BirchboxUK  and @CoppaFeelPeople
Hashtag: #BirchboxManithon

**Update** Visitors to the Birchbox CoppaFeel! Manithon later this month will all received a FREE Birchbox tote bag, with a choice of three luxury beauty samples from a choice of 10 best-selling brands, along with an exclusive Birchbox scarf and subscription offer.

BGO brings a touch of Vegas to London

Towards the end of June, Beautykinguk and I was invited to an event called the #bgomeetup in the heart of King’s Cross. The very mention of bloggers, roulette, blackjack not forgetting pizza and alcohol was all it took for me to accept the invitation, thanks James and Joe Blogs Network.

The night started brilliantly, being handed some fake money to play on either the Blackjack or the Roulette tables in an attempt to ‘Beat the Boss’ - a life-sized cut out of Austin Powers star Verne Troyer. Keith, our wonderful professional croupier, soon got a griup of us together to test our knowledge (or lack of) of poker and tried to teach us a few tricks of the trade before we started to use our own fake money we had been given upon entry.

The idea of the evening being to raise money for WWF (World Wildlife Foundation) and in doing so there would be two prizes on offer - one for the person with the most chips at the end of the evening and the other for the best selfie with Verne.

Now we (Steve and I) didn't have a hope in hell when it comes to the chips, a few glasses of prosecco the chips disappeared but I had one trick up my sleeve, knowing my beloved had drunk a fair bit of prosecco, I could talk him into posing with Verne, assuming we could track him down from the ladies loo where some bloggers had taken him for a selfie (the mind boggles). Once we had secured Verne, this happened:

         

Yes Steve managed to win the selfie competition by turning into his Alta-ego Lizard King and won a Magic Eight Ball which is how we now make any decision we can neither agree on and a bottle of prosecco.

Thank you Joe Blogs Network and BGO - it was a great night, we met some wonderful people and most of all we raised some much needed money for the WWF.

Save The Blow Dry!

SAVE THE BLOW DRY! is not just an ordinary shower cap, it is the Moisture eliminating QUEEN of shower caps which comes with a 100% guarantee of protecting your blow dry.

Did you know that on average us girls spend over 2 hours a week blow-drying and styling our locks? I am sure there are many of you out there who has lovely styled hair until you step out of the shower and end up with a frizzy mess. Well this shower cap is said to put an end to that with its secret combination of the gorgeous waterproof design which has an internal layer of super-absorbent micro weave towelling, which zaps humidity and condensation to leave your hair dry and bouncy. If that isn't enough, this shower cap has a dual use, if you are using a hair mask and want to add a little something extra, turn it inside out and then put over your head to allow the treatment to work more effectively.




I love the packaging for this product, it is really eye-catching and brightly coloured with everything you need to know right in front of you ready to read. You can also found out how to use it, what it states it will do and as an added extra there are some important tips for best results which include:

• Brush your hair 
• If you have long hair, gently clip up/clasp hair 
• Push any stray strands up into hat and ensure hair line is covered 
• Happily bathe or shower looking super cute 
• Dry your body and face before removing Save the Blow Dry 
• Shake Save The Blow Dry to remove excess water and hang up to dry 

The hat itself is really pretty, it is covered with lots of pretty pink bows and if you turn it inside out you can see and feel how soft the micro weave towel is.

Being a shower cap, the one thing you want and expect is that it is waterproof and this one most definitely is. Since owning it, I have used it both as a shower cap and as a cover when using a hair treatment and both work as fantastic as the other. My hair can be like a sponge when it is wet, its power to absorb water never ceases to amaze me and when I want to blow-dry my hair, so if I am showering without the need to wash my hair, I end up with damp, frizzy looking rats tails which I end up having to blow dry anyway. Using this shower cap saves me hours of stress about my frizzy locks because it keeps my hair super dry and almost perfectly blow-dried and styled, I say almost because I still feel the need to run the GHD's quickly over my hair so it once again resembles a style I am happy with.







I have also used this shower cap whilst sitting in the bath and when using a treatment on my hair and again it works fantastically. With a treatment, it is nice to be able to wonder around the house doing whatever needs to be done knowing that your scalp and hair are getting an extra treat and I have no doubt whatsoever that I am carrying off the super cute look.

All of my hair fits snuggly inside this shower cap too, though I only have shoulder length hair and once it is on my head it is really comfortable to wear.

So no only does this mask stop my hair from looking like a frizzy mess, it also doubles up as a little extra when using a treatment and it saves me hours of time when it comes to styling my hair, seriously what more could I ask for? I cannot rate this shower cap from SAVE THE BLOW DRY! enough it is fantastic. If you are wanting one for youself then all you need to do is go to the online store where you can get your very own for just £14.95.

On a serious note, SAVE THE BLOW DRY! are partnered with the Khandel charity in India and for every Save the Blow Dry sold through the website, directly funds a fortnight's safe drinking water for a family in the desert region of Khandel, making a basic, but vital difference to people living with constant drought, where temperatures soar to 45 degrees. which which then you will be helping to provide clean, safe drinking water for an entire family from Khandel, a desert region where temperature reach a scorching 45 degrees. 

**UPDATE**

You can also now buy this cap in blue, as shown below: