Recent Buys: Balneaves, Lavish Peach, Local Selects, Blended by Mama & Hells Bells Homemade Soy Candles

I know, I know I was meant to be good in January...here's some recent buys:

Having loved Blackcurrant & Licorice soy wax melt from my Balneaves Monthly Subscription Box (£15 on the 1st of the month - 12 small melt pots) I couldn't resist a small order. Night Blooming Jasmine had come back in stock so be rude not to!

Instagram ads really work! I couldn't resist Lavish Peach's stunning hand poured Peppermint Sea Soy Wax candle which is studded with tiny seashells. So pretty.

Just my sort of thing! The Local Selects The Stockholm Box is absolutely stuffed full of tasty treats from Stockholm. The company is a small start up based in Port Glasgow. My eyes of course alighted first on that beautiful bottle of gin! The box contains: 50cl Stockholms Branneri Gin (which is delicious), 2 x bottles Swedish Tonic, 2 x Beerbliotek, 1 x Renjer Jerky variant, 1 x Malmo Chokladfabrick Chocolate variant (I got a delicious white chocolate with passionfruit which was incredible), a local selects magazine & reusable gift box (I paid for my own box although received 10% off - you can get 10% off also with BEAUTYBALMLS10). Can't wait to see what city they visit next! It'd make an excellent Valentines Day gift (get your orders in before the 8th!)

Just after Christmas I placed a little Blended by Mama order for The Mill on the Moor - which is inspired by Bronte country. It's made with beeswax, cocoa, honey and vanilla infused coconut oil and cocoa butter (and looks almost edible) with zesty blood orange, turmeric, black pepper and benzoin (it smells incredible). It'll be available until the Spring Equinox. I so love Siobhan's melts - they're that little bit different (you receive 3 bars which you should slice into 3 to melt).

I'm always happy to support a new wax melt business. Helen from Hells Bells Homemade Soy Candles followed me on Instagram and I realised "I know her". She's a twitter friend who got made redundant earlier in the year. So I just had to support her growing business. Do check it out! All the melts smell great on cold sniff, there's a good choice of scents and postage is very reasonable! Catch my thoughts when I get the chance to try them out on an Instagram post.

What have you been buying lately?

Recent Buys: Enchanted Plants, Isla Apothecary, Minyara, Samuel & Paris, Stella Says, Therapie

Here are some recent buys:

I discovered gorgeous Enchanted Plants quite randomly on Instagram. After reading about Jemma and her passion for hand crafting beautiful, artisan certified organic skincare in small batches I knew I had to buy something. The product which spoke to me the most is Blossom Hydrating Facial Mist (£27) which is seriously lush! (I also loved the email message just after I ordered which made my heart sing "thanks so much for your order, when you buy something from a small maker a real person does a little dance of joy!"). Expect a full review soon!

I'm a huge, huge fan of Isla Apothecary and this newly launched Discovery Set (£21) is absolutely fantastic. It's a great try me set as well as being really good value and it would make a brilliant Christmas gift too. Inside is travel friendly sizes of:

60g Blood Orange+Vanilla Sugar Scrub (review)

15ml Neroli Body Oil (REVIEW)

20g Refine+Radiate Beautifying Face Mask (this is new to me!)

60g Relax+Recover Bath Salts (this is also new to me!)

Expect reviews of Refine+Radiate Beautifying Face Mask and Relax+Recover Bath Salts soon! 

This zesty lip balm by Minyara is just fab! Again, review forthcoming!

I first discovered a beautiful range of candles from OSMOLOGY (Bristol based). They didn't have any Samuel & Paris Candles in stock when I stopped by so went direct. The candle has a crackly woodwick and has a coastal/seashore type of scent which I love. 

When in London I had to stop by Stella Says at Maltby Street Market. I picked one of Stella's soaps up when in London in 2015. Both of these balms are amazing - so expect a review soon!

I absolutely adore Therapie Himalayan Detox Salts and couldn't resist this little Serenity Duo from Naturisimo (which currently is still available!) See my review of the Detox Salts HERE. 

What have you treated yourself to recently?

Recent Buys: You Dirty Scrub, Pacifica, Willow & White Candle Co, Shay & Blue

I came across You Dirty Scrub on Instagram - they're a Scottish brand founded by Jen Whyte. Their speciality is coffee scrubs but they've also got a range of delicious bath salts - Mint & Eucalyptus Bath Salts are beautiful - 100g costs only £3.49 making them a cost effective treat (the Orange & Rosemary ones I'm keeping for a forthcoming giveaway - watch this space!)

I love anything with coconut water so when I spotted this Pacifica Coconut Water Micellar Cleansing Tonic at Love Lula (236ml - £12.99) I had to have it! I do find it maybe a bit strong to use around my eyes but otherwise I love it!

Another Instagram find is Willow & White Candle Co which offer beautiful candles, reed diffusers and wax melts in popular scents. Expect a review soon!

I recently picked up a 2ml sample vial of one of Shay & Blue's new Extract of Parfum - Parfum Nashwa (£5) which is simply stunning. It has top notes of bergamot and neroli, a heart of cacao noir and coconut and base notes of musk and oud. Pick up your sample(s) HERE.

What have you bought recently?

Recent Buys

Here's some of the things I've bought recently:

A beautiful and good quality plain notebook by Emerald & Lime. You can never have too many notebooks, well that's my opinion!

I can never resist a new launch at 4160Tuesdays and I had to have fruity and fizzy Lemon Sherbet which is from the #mrsglossmademedoit range. It has notes of lemon, orange, grapefruit, sherbet dibdabs, musk and vanilla and is perfect for spring and summer...and I got a sample vial with order - Goodbye Piccadilly "a scent for suffragettes, first made for London Transport Museum with materials used in 1914: violet, iris, lavender, leather, vanilla and patchouli".

I discovered Wax+Wick on Sasha's Instagram and found I couldn't resist a little splurge. The bottles are repurposed wine bottles picked up (empty) from the wine bars of Primrose Hill. They are ruddgedly cut making them look more interesting I think. 

The artisan candles handmade with 100% soy wax and interesting blends of essential oils. Grapefruit+Sage is just amazing and I can't wait to buy MORE. They are very well wrapped for postage and come in a drawstring cotton bag making them great for gifting if you can bear to part with them that is!

I'd tried products from Ravenscourt Apothecary before (link). Again, an instagram spot was the delicious sounding Blood Orange Body Butter, which really is mouthwatering. I also picked up a lip balm set. Love the simple packaging and that the products are made with care, love and natural ingredients.

My final recent buy was a reduced Mary Greenwell Plum candle at The Fragrance Shop. Totally bargainous at a tenner (RRP £45).  The packaging is super luxe and I've not decided yet whether to keep or gift!  The Perfume shop also give away 2 fragrance samples with order and I also picked 3 perfume sample vials for £3.

What have you been buying lately?