Monday 18 December 2017

Lush Christmas Haul 2017

Lush
We all know I love Lush and from October I get especially excited as the Christmas stock makes its way into stores. This year it's nice to see some of my old Christmas favourites make a return, but also loads of new festive goodies.

Oldies but goodies:

Golden Wonder (£4.50), this is a bath bomb that looks like a well wrapped present and if you shake it you'll hear the hidden contents jingle inside.

Lush
This bath bomb whizzes around the bath in a wonderful blue hue and best of all it smells delightful with my favourite scents of sweet orange and lime.

If you have a bath bomb fan in your family, the Giant Golden Wonder (£12.95) has to be on your list. But be warned it is gigantic and takes a good ten minutes to fizz away. 

Everyone is obsessed with Snow Fairy; that's everyone except me. It is far too sweet. But if you are a fan the good news is that Lush have massively widened the Snow Fairy range with: Magic Wand, Naked Shower Gel, Snow Fairy Fun, Body Conditioner, Cold Pressed Soap, Sparkle Jar and Naked Body Conditioner.

The Snow Fairy gift set (£24.95) offers a little bit of everything. 
Lush
They also have a Snow Fairy Jelly Bomb (£4.95). Be warned this is so sweet with a mix of Candyfloss and bubblegum, it does however make fluffy bubbles like marshmallow
Lush
At nearly five pound a bath these are just too expensive for what they are. 

Luxury Lush Pud (£4.50), a work of art as it swirls around the bath creating a beautiful pastel masterpiece. Twilight is my absolute favourite bath bomb and this has to be its colourful and vibrant cousin. The lavender is perfect for getting ready for bed. 
Lush
The Magic of Christmas (£5.95) is supposedly a reusable bubble bar, but it's not a personal favourite as it has often broken apart well before you have got a second bath out of it. 
Lush
The only way to describe it is Christmas in a bath, with warming cinnamon and clove it creates a spicy festive bath. 

Snow Angel - Bath Melt (£4.50) the snow Angel leaves gold glitter everywhere, but melting away in the bath it is absolutely beautiful as the glitter slowly seeps outwards creating a glittering halo. Containing cocoa butter, this leaves my skin lovely and moisturised. 
Lush
New Jolly Festive Goodies: 
Melt away the Christmas shopping stresses with Tree-D (£4.50), a bath oil beauty. A festive tree has never looked so pretty. The first thing to say about this beauty is it smells divine as you sit back and relax; its smells of tangerine and grapefruit waft gently around the bathroom. The almond oil and cocoa butter do wonders to soften the skin. 
Lush
One thing to say about this product is that it looks awesome, but sadly doesn't travel well, so keep this in mind. On the plus side you can halve it and have two Christmas baths. 

Candy Cane Roulade (£6.95), Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without an adornment of candy canes. 
Lush
Whilst this doesn't give off a strong smell of mint, it does recreate the smell of an Alpine ski resort with the wonderful smells of Cedarwood Oil and Cypress Oil. Be warned though it is a little hard to use, as it becomes slippery in the shower. 

Marmalade Jelly Bomb (£4.95), this smells strongly of orange and grapefruit. A firm favourite of mine. 
Lush
There is only one complaint with the new jelly bombs; they do not completely dissolve, so you are left with large chunks of orange and jelly at the end of a bath to fish out.

If you fancy trying out or giving the new jelly bombs Lush have the perfect gift set. Ready, Jelly, Go (£34.95) offers six jelly bombs. 
Lush
The Snowman (£4.25); Noah loves this little man, but he's not so keen when I tear Olaf apart and start running him under the tap...let it go, let it go!
Lush
Not only is this guy supper cute but he smells of Sicilian Lemon.  

No Christmas gathering would be complete without the honorary Christmas Sweater (£4.50).
Lush
This bath bomb is a slower fizzer and lasts absolutely ages. It is perfect for winter with Ginger, Coriander seed and clove, to help ease aching muscles or clear a stuffy nose. It really is Christmas in a bath bomb. 

There hasn't been any bath bombs for me that have even come close to the success of Twilight. But then Lush made Shoot for the Stars (£4.50). This beauty is not only a work of art, that turns the entire bath water turquoise with sparkly stars in the form of bath melts, but it smells like a honey heaven. 
Lush
The best part for me was on leaving the bath my skin felt wonderfully moisturised and the lovely scent of bergamot and orange lasted most of the day. This is definitely a new found favourite and I'm busy squirrelling them away as we speak, just in case they don't make another appearance. 

What's your favourite Lush product?


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Monday 4 December 2017

Giuseppes a hidden delight

Italian restaurants Worthing
Since having our little boy, outings to restaurants have certainly decreased. So when the opportunity to go for a meal presents itself, it’s something to savour and really enjoy. It does however add to the pressure of finding somewhere really nice to eat.

Italian cuisine is a definite favourite of mine (Parma Ham, Olives, Gnocchi, Arancini, Rissoto, Spaghetti Bolognese,Tiramisu to name a few) so if I have the choice this will always be top of the restaurant list.
Italian food
When family get together we inevitably end up having a good meal, or maybe that's just us. During a recent trip to Worthing we found Giuseppe's a Southern Italian Restaurant hidden down a little side street.

Entering through a sliding conservatory door the restaurant has quite the unassuming entrance. But as I've come to find with restaurants looks can be very deceiving and as we soon understand, this is true of Giuseppes which is a hive of activity even on a Saturday lunch time in Worthing. 

Now anyone who has ever had dinner with a little person will know it’s a bit like Russian roulette, you never know what your going to get. You can have the most promising start to a meal only for it to turn to total chaos or vise versa. On the day of our visit Noah was being a boisterous and demanding little guest, so apologies in advance for a couple of the photos as they were taken whilst I was in a wrestling match with the little man.

On the plus side all the starters on the menu looked wonderful. 

I opt for Carpaccio di Manzo (£7.50): thinly sliced fillet of beef marinated in lemon dressing served on a bed of rocket salad and topped with Parmesan. 
The Carpaccio which was sliced a little thick was however delicious, with the perfect peppery taste from the rocket and beef in lemon juice. 
Giuseppes Restaurant
Other guests around the table choose the Salmone Marinato: (£7.45) Thinly sliced fillets of salmon in a balsamic glaze and dill, marinated in citrus dressing. Salmon Carpaccio
I'm reliably informed that the balsamic glaze and dill on the salmon was really refreshing; but a little less glaze would have been appreciated. 

Meatballs is always a favourite of mine so I was pleased that a member of the table chose this, Polpette Catanesi (£6.95) Traditional meatballs served in tomato sauce.
Giuseppes Restaurant
For a starter three meatballs is a great size, not too big or small. 

The last starter on the table was Arancini Siciliani,
Sicilian rice ball (£7.25) filled with mozzarella, peas and Bolognese sauce.
Giuseppes Restaurant
The breadcrumb coating was perfectly crisp, whilst the rice, mozzarella and Bolognese was wonderfully flavoursome and moist. This might sound easy but as a foodie I have had many that have been overcooked and incredibly dry.

The menu for mains is extensive and I was feeling incredibly indecisive so went for the safe option of Maiale agli Asparagi (£16.95), slow roasted prime pork fillet, red wine jus, asparagus and caramelised onion.
Restaurants Worthing
The pork was moist, the red wine jus had sufficient flavour, but not too much to over power the dish. It was delicious, I was only sad that it wasn't accompanied with potatoes. 

The other half continued the theme of fish with Salmone Cartoccio (£18.95), fresh grilled salmon cooked with king prawns, mussels, black olives and capers in a white wine sauce.
Giuseppes restaurant

The description for this dish just doesn't do it justice.  I think for the table this was definitely the showstopper; delicious. A seafood feast for the eyes and the belly. 

Next up was Pollo Funghi & Crema (£16.95), Chicken breast in a creamy sauce with mushroom and peas
Italian restaurants worthing
There is something about white wine cream sauces in chicken dishes that I am unable to stomach as it is so rich, so this wouldn't have been my first choice, but arrived as expected. The sauce I was informed as being surprisingly tasty.

Now I've said it before that you can really judge a restaurant by how well they cook Italian icon dishes. 

The last meal on our table is a classic, Vongole & Peperoncino (£10.50), clams with cherry tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, parsley, tomato and a hint of chilli.
Giuseppes restaurant
The Vongole was up there with some of the best we have had. The pasta was cooked 'al dente' and the sauce had the perfect amount of chilli kick. 

Giuseppe's is definitely a hidden gem and I am very much looking forward to returning and working my way through their entire menu. Hopefully, when Noah is behaving a little better.

www.giuseppeskitchen.com


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