Let's Bang The Gong Before I Go Coco Loco! | My Top Ten Shower Products From Lush

Hey everyone!

I thought that today, I would talk to you all about my top ten favourite Shower products from Lush. I know, I know... I talk about Lush a lot, but I wanted to do this post before the new Halloween and Christmas products come out just so my blog isn't going head first into the seasonal content.

Gong Shower Jelly

Sadly, this is a Lush Liverpool Spa exclusive. If you love the Golden Pear range that comes out at Christmas, then you will definitely love this scent. I've slowly been getting into the jellies, I'm not sure why but I've been really loving them at the moment. This one contains Pear and Cardamom which creates a slight spicy but fresh scent. It also gives me a more spicier Snow Fairy scent... If you ever get to go to Lush Liverpool Spa, I urge you to at least give this one a sniff.

Not Sleepy Shower Bomb

Ugh, I wish I was not sleepy more often! This bomb is a perfect product to use first thing in the morning. I've even used it with Whoosh before (which I'll be talking about later on in the post). Shower Bomb's are a bit of a new concept for most, so, the best way to use one is to, grab the bomb and put it into the palm of your hand, put it under the running shower head, and, use the foam as a creamy shower gel to wash yourself with. This one contains Lemongrass and Lemon Myrtle Oil which invigorates and wakes up the body first thing in the morning. It's just so zesty, I love it.

Plum Rain Shower Gel

I'm singing in the Rain! Even if I am singing about a wonderful Shower product containing Plums. This Shower Gel originally became a part of the Lush family when Lush Oxford Street was revealed to the world. Lush wanted to show their love for Prince, therefore, they decided to create a shower gel. I love this one, because, well it's like no other scent. It's fruity, grassy, sharp, sweet, and warming all at the same time. It contains Fresh Plum Juice and Osmanthus in which give it a deep warming fruity smell.

Comfort Zone Shower Bomb

We all need to be in the comfort zone sometimes! I love anything Comforter scented, so when I smelt this I knew that I would love it. I also love the fact that you can have a Comforter Shower, because, not all of us have the pleasure of having a bath. I think that this one is amazing on cold mornings. It just helps to give a little bit more pep to life.

Rose Jam Shower Gel

Spread this Jam all over my body. I honestly love this product... I love the Rose Jam range! I think that this scent is unisex but I do love it for when I want to be a little bit more feminine for the day. When you think of Rose, you might think of subtle and powdery, but Rose Jam hits you right in the face, with testiness, sweetness and a little bit of floral. It contains Rose and Lemon Oils. I have this in Bubble Bar, Shower and Fragrance form. Ugh I do love it!

Whoosh Shower Jelly

An ooh, an ahh, and a whoosh! I love Mint and I love Lemon, so having two in one Shower product is the best thing ever! It just instantly wakes you up in a morning, which in the colder months, is a must for helping me wake up early for an 9am lecture at University. I also love freezing Shower Jellies as they just add a little bit more pep to Shower Time. (Side note: have you ever slapped a Showet Jelly in store? If not, then, the next time you're in a Lush store, please do it!)

Honey I Washed The Kids Shower Gel

Honey, I washed the kids! They shrunk from the wash, what do we do? This was one of the first scents that I got into at Lush. It's just sweet with a little bit of spice. It reminds me of Honeycomb and honestly, I just think that it needs to be in more products/a body spray! I think that this scent is definitely a love or loathe scent from Lush. It contains Orange and Bergamot Oils.

Red Pill Shower Bomb

Which pill should I choose? Red or Blue? Red or Blue? Just choose one already! This shares its scent with Phoenix Rising, I believe. It's also only available via Lush Liverpool Spa. I love the slightly spicy and sweet combo that I get from this bomb. As it is also getting a bit colder, I've paired this with Hot Toddy and it is wonderful. If you ever get the chance to go to Lush Liverpool Spa then I urge you to try it.

Dirty Springwash Shower Gel

Christines Aguilera wanted to get Dirty, but now its time to get clean. I wasn't a massive fan of the Dirty range a year ago, but I've been warming up to it this year. I love that watery but still sharp Mint scent that reminds me of the Sea mixed with a bit of the fresh English Air from the Countryside. A weird description I know, but smell it and you will know exactly what I mean! I love this Shower Gel and think that everyone needs to try this at least once in their life!

Coco Loco Shower Oil

I've gone loco for the lovely bunch of coconuts that are in the corner of my room. Shower Oils are a new concept at Lush. They're a naked in shower moisturiser. This means that you can moistures in the shower and not have to faff about with more tubs as soon as you've gotten out of the shower. This Oil instantly makes me think that I'm in my own taste of Paradis. It's just so zesty with a touch of creaminess. I love this for those days when you want to feel l;ile you're on a beach somewhere sipping a drink and forgetting about the worries in your life. It contains Coconut Oi, Coconut Cream, and, Lemongrass Oil which instantly gives me a Summer in a product vibe.

Have you tried any of these products? Let me know down below!

I hope that you have enjoyed this blog post all about my top ten favourite Shower products from Lush! 

Thanks for reading! 
Jamie x

Fun With Festive Food | Browns Christmas Showcase With Michelle

Hey!

A while ago, Browns Leeds invited me to come along to their Christmas Showcase and find out all about what they can do to help your festivities go off with a bang. I dragged Michelle along which is why this blog post is going up later than expected as Michelle's had to juggle university and editing a lot of photos.

There are so many brilliant places within Leeds such as West Yorkshire Playhouse, the venues that are on Call Lane, Leeds Corn Exchange, The Key Club, Trinity Leeds, Victoria Quarter, the new Victoria Gate and much more but the one place that a lot of people miss is the Browns restaurant that is within The Light Leeds. Amazing architecture, decadent decor and delicious food makes Browns Leeds a great place to visit!

Myself and Luke met Michelle in Leeds Train Station, we decided to do the general sweep of Leeds which includes Lush, Hotel Chocolat, Lindt and other places. We both decided that we were going to wear Christmas themed outfits around Leeds and also to the event to ensure that everyone knew that we were in the festive spirit even though it was September at the time.

We wandered on up to The Light Leeds and we made our way to the majestic Browns restaurant and found the awesome Kellie and chatted about anything and everything for a while. A marvelous member of staff asked me if I wanted a glass of Prosecco which I obviously said yes to and found a place for myself, Luke and Michelle to sit down.

The first canape that was served to us was Turkey and Cranberry Brioche Rolls. This canape basically consisted of a soft opened brioche roll with succulent turkey and slightly tart cranberry sauce. As I said, the Turkey was extremely succulent which I loved as Turkey is great if it's moist and not stereotypically dry. I also loved the softness of the brioche.

Next on the list was Goats Cheese and Sundried Tomato Crostini. Crostini means little crusts which explans exactly what it was. I loved the smooth topping against the slightly coarse crispy bread that it was laying on. I know that lactose is a bad thing for me but I loved the Cheese! It added some depth to the canape.

We then ate Honey Glazed Pigs In Blankets. I love Pigs In Blankets! The fact that they are small means that you can eat more than you should and not feel guilty about it afterwards. Making them Honey glazed also means that they have that sort of sweet/savoury moreish taste. I just loved these and could eat a full plate of them!

Next on the food train was Turkey Sandwiches and they were Gluten Free! I liked these quite a bit and to be really honest I couldn't tell that they were gluten free. I think that these would be really well for like a sort of Christmassy sort of day picnic with fairy lights everywhere and Eggnog and something citrusy served drink wise to go with it.

Then there was Cumberland Sausage & Ginger Cake Stuffing. I love stuffing! I love all stuffing. Say the word stuffing and I will probably love you for it. Stuffing is so good! I loved how the Ginger Cake gave it a little subtle hit of warmth but the Sausage gave it lots of flavour. Again, I could eat these for days!

Now comes the desserts! Who doesn't love a dessert?

There was three in total. The first one was a Brownie and I love Brownies! I seriously love brownies to the moon and back, I love how dense and chocolatey they are. This one was firm but crispy and easy to pop in the mouth. It was delicious!

The second one was White Chocolate Mousse. I'm not the biggest fan of Mousse's or White Chocolate but weirdly I loved this. I don't know if it was because it was in a small portion or if it was the contrast between the white chocolate and the raspberry or something else but it was wonderful. Gorgeous and sweet with the right amount of cream in it.

The last one was a Lemon Tart which is also known to the public as a Tarte Au Citron. It was the right amount of sweet and tart. The lemon against the sweetness of the base was simply divine. I also love the Blackberry and Mint garnish as it gave it an elegant feel. I also love anything Lemon-y or anything with Lemon Curd in it.

There were also two other drinks on offer to consume throughout the night which were Aperol Spritz and Mulled Wine which I absolutely loved due to the spices that were used to mull the wine in. It was my first time drinking it but it definitely will not be my last time drinking it.

If you want to check out Browns Leeds to peruse their other menus such as their normal drinks menu or to have a Christmas party at Browns Leeds then click here.

Have you gotten into the festive mood yet? Do you love the sound of any of the above? Let me know down below.

Thanks to the PR team for inviting myself, Luke and Michelle and the staff at Browns Leeds for hosting the extravagant yet amazing event! I hope that you have enjoyed this post and I hope that you come back to read the next post or some of my previous posts!

Thanks!
Jamie x

Anxiety & Blogger Events

Hey!

If you have been reading my blog for a while then you will know that I talk about mental health from time to time due to suffering from depression and anxiety. I thought that today I would ramble about coping with anxiety before, during and after a blogger event.

A stock image of a dark room with lights filled with people to represent a bloggers event.

When I get an invite to an event, the first thing that runs through my head is woo. Five minutes later, my brain double checks the reaction and turns it straight into worry which means I then read the invite again and make sure that I put the event down in my calendar on my phone with every detail necessary and then I try to remember it mentally as well. Every day after that, my brain slowly counts down and I worry about everything to do with the event especially if its somewhere that I haven't been before.

The day arrives, I double check that I have everything that I need and more. I also make sure that I triple check that I know where I'm going or think that I'm going or that my phone is charged enough so I have Google Maps to attempt to help me on my adventure. I normally tweet about the event on the day to see if I know anyone that is going so I know that I won't be an anxious mess in a corner trying to avoid everyone so I don't seem like a failure of a professional person at an event.

Once I am travelling to the event, I worry about whether I will look like a sweaty drowned rat or out of place compared to everyone else. When I get into the event, I try to forget about it but there's always a lingering feeling of being judged or thinking that something will go wrong so I always feel like I have to have a social crutch to help me no matter what whether that is a phone in my hand for me to sink my head into, a glass with a drink in for me to drink instead of rambling about nothing or a piercing for me to fiddle with when I feel like I'm just stood there being in the way/doing nothing. I know this all sounds weird but it works for me.

I chat and try to act professional and normal unless I'm chatting with someone that I can trust which is a good bunch of the bloggers from Leeds and the surrounding areas and then I make the venture of going home which normally includes a train which gives me time to think.

Thinking can instantly turn into overthinking and that makes everything worse as I believe that everyone has thought that instead of myself worrying about what everyone else thinks, they just believe that I'm either a bitch or up myself for not interacting as much as I should which then makes me think whether or not if I should really be at events if I'm like this, I normally get some sleep and then get on with the post the next day and then the cycle starts again with the next event.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love blogger events! I just wished that I wasn't so anxious at them.

Have you ever had any of these moments before, during or after a bloggers event or any event in general. Please let me know down below.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading this slightly rambly post. I hope that you come back for more!

Thanks!
Jamie x

Advertisement

Hey,

I've decided that I'm going to do advertisement on the blog starting from next month. I suppose that I have been doing advertisement on the blog for a while via advertising brands in the form of sponsored blog posts but I now want to advertise you lovely lot! There's no picture for this post because frankly its not needed.

A lot of blogs do this and I've decided to start doing this now as I've always felt that my blog isn't as great as other blogs that I read but I honestly think that now is the time to srart doing this as I will get a tad bit of income from doing this which will probably go back into the blog via travel to events and things like that but I also get to promote amazing people!

So here's how it's going to work! 

I'm going to test out the following for two months and then reassess how the advertisement packages have been going and change them accordingly to the demand of people wanting to be advertised on my blog.

The first package: 

An introductory Facebook post, Tweet & Instagram photo (if you send over the photo that you would like to be featured.
2 Tweets of your posts/your work (eg photos/general website) within the month.
2 RT's/Facebook Shares of your work onto my Facebook Page per month.
2 #FF's on Twitter during the month.
A button on my sidebar. It's shrinks to fit due to Blogger wanting to be Blogger which will link to your website so readers can instantly get to your work.
A mention in a post during the month.

There will be three of these per month and they will cost £5.

The second package: 

An introductory Facebook post, Tweet and Instagram photo (if you send one over.)
A button on my sidebar which will be linked to your website so readers can access your work instantly.
4 RT's/Facebook Shares of your work during the month.
4 #FF's on Twitter during the month.
A mention in a post at the beginning of the month.

This costs £10. It's not double on everything because this would tire me out but there is only one of these per month so as soon as it's gone. It's gone.

My Stats are:
Total Pageviews 33.519
Pageviews Per Month: 2700
Facebook Likes: 74
Twitter Followers: 1,789
Instagram Followers: 333

Advertisement starts on the 1st of July 2016. 

If you would be interested in advertising on Jamie Sowden then you can send me an message over at jamessowden@outlook.com with:

Your blog/business URL
Your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram handles
Which package you would like.

Once you have sent me this across, I can then send you through payment details.

I know that this has been a bit of a weird post but I hope that starting advertisement on Jamie Sowden will be a great thing. I'm going to be sticking to hey from now on for several reasons.

Jamie x

Celebrating National Stationery Week With A Pop Of Colour

Meow!

Yes, it's a bad photo but I'm sure you can cope with it. 

This week is National Stationery Week where all things stationery is celebrated and as a student and a blogger I love stationery (I could always do with more) so I thought that I would tell you guys a bit more about National Stationery Week. I was also sent a couple of thingr s from Maped Helix as they are the brand behind National Stationery Week so I thought that I would talk about them as well!

National Stationery Week celebrates all things handwritten and all things stationery, The aim of this week is to get everyone talking about stationery and why writing by hand is so important especially in the world where everything is digital including this blog post. The sort of side aim of this week is to get people to send cards and letter more rather than going for the simpler/easier within some eyes option of sending a text or an email.

I have been celebrating this prestigious week in many ways such as writing out cards instead of just messaging people as I feel that this has a more personal touch and I have also been writing this into my blog/business diary a lot more instead of just typing it on my phone and letting it fester within a file on my mobile device. Doing this has made me realise that not everything has to be done via your phone and that it is kind of fun to jot down something so you can flick back and remember what you need to do without needing to have a charger just to access it.

The first thing that was sent to me was the Maped Graphic Peps Fine Liner. You get 10 of these within a pack and each pen is a different colour which is great as this means that you don't have to stick to the boring black and blue pens. It also could mean that you could use a different colour for a specific thing which would make you pretty organised within life. They're pretty lightweight and from the times that I have used them this week they have a good flow when writing.

The last product that I received was the Maped Color'Peps: Coloured Pencils in a Metal Box. These were self explanatory. They were coloured pencils that came in a metal box. Sadly, I haven't really had the chance to review this yet and I wanted to get this post up for National Stationery Week so I don;t have an opinion on them when it comes to using them but nevertheless I shall tell you a bit about them. They are easy to sharpen which means that you don't have to spend ages over trying to sharpen it just to colour for ten minutes or so before it needs sharpening again. The pencils are also shock resistant which is something that I haven't really seen within a colouring pencil before. I also think that these would be a cool gift for anyone who is obsessed with colouring/colouring books!

Have you been participating within National Stationery Week? Are you a massive stationery fan? Let me know in the comments section below!

I hope that you have enjoyed this blog post all about stationery and I hope that you come back for my next post!

Meow!
Jamie x

New City Soul | The Broadway Bradford VIP Opening

Meow!

Stage setting up before the talks.
Has The Broadway all over so made sense for the feature image.

I was invited to the VIP preview launch of The Broadway Shopping Centre in Bradford a few hours before it opened to the public and I thought I would tell you guys about it.

The Broadway is a shopping centre that has took various years to build within Bradford due to many reasons such as the recession. The Broadway finally started construction over a year ago and with the commitment of builders has become a hub for many shoppers within Bradford and West Yorkshire. It has cost around £260M to create and will be the one of the central features of Bradford for many years to come. It contains stores such as H&M, Next, shops from The Arcadia Group (Topman, Topshop etc and many many more.

When I got the email saying that I had been invited to the VIP event I was excited not just because it was to a shopping centre but more to the fact that I live in Bradford and I spend Monday-Friday in Bradford Town Centre due to going to college there so being invited to the most anticipated and talked about thing within Bradford made me very excited to go.

When myself and Luke arrived, we talked to the security staff that were outside. We explained that we had been invited and were escorted throughout the centre to a place where we were given a map and a Press badge. We then decided to roam around the shopping centre taking photographs of most of the stores. They were shut as they were getting final things ready so they could release the store to the public. (I did go in after college as well so when I go a bit into detail about stores then its because I went in then as well as before it opened to the public.)

Debenhams is the first store that we passed due to the stand with the press badges were outside the store. The store is one of the anchor stores within the shopping 'mall' which means that it's quite a large store. The first floor that you can enter is massive and contains beauty stands such as Bobbi Brown, Illamasqua, MAC and many many more. I can imagine that on a Saturday this floor will be full of people getting their beauty product favourites for the months ahead. The second is more clothing which at the minute contains everything festive from casual jumpers to party dresses. The third floor contains more home things such as cushions etc, gifts including food gifts from brands such as Nandos and others, kids clothing and a restaurant. I can imagine Debenhams doing very well on it's very first store within Bradford.

The second store that I'll talk about in detail is H&M. If you have seen my latest hauls or anything like that then you will know that I love a good look in H&M. The store looks massive even though it's not one of the anchor stores. The lighting is amazing and I only had a look for a couple of minutes so sadly I couldn't see if they had the new Balmain collection. The mens stuff is upstairs and I can see myself popping in now and again to have a look/a naughty purchase after a long day at college.

We then passed the food court after passing the cinnamon scented stall which is Mr Pretzels which is on the other side of the centre. The food court contains some massive franchises such as Subway, Burger King and Taco Bell. It's the first time that Taco Bell has even been in Bradford/West Yorkshire as the nearest one is Barnsley from what I know. The court has sectioned out seats for different vendors and has a casual attitude such as Trinity Kitchen does within Trinity Leeds. I can see myself going in for a Burger King when I need a fix of food after college or something like that.

After having a roam about and finding fellow amazing blogger friends Kellie and Laura, we were told to go to red carpet section within the centre. We were then treated to speeches from the CEO of Westfield, Councillor David Green and the Lord Mayor Of Bradford which were exquisite and interesting to say the least. We were then also treated to a casual interview with X Factor & The Bodyguard Musical star Alexandra Burke who then cut the ribbon of the shopping centre and sung for us. She's an amazing singer!

Myself and Luke then rushed to Costa due to their Christmas range coming out earlier that day. Luke was obsessed with the Black Forest Hot Chocolate so he knew what he wanted and due to myself having no clue what other drinks they had brought out I decided to go for the same. Costa Hot Chocolate with an added shot of Blackberry flavoured syrup, topped with cream, cherry sauce and a sprinkling of chocolate curls.

There was a friendly barista at the door that greeted us which I loved. I ordered, paid and then found some seats which I sat myself and Luke down at. I brought the drinks over and realised that behind every chair there was a tote bag embossed with a message from Costa and their logo which I was allowed to take. We chatted about our thoughts of The Broadway whilst being disappointed that there was no Wifi accessible within Costa which felt weird due to the general coffee shop stereotype of typing things up whilst drinking an artisan coffee. I drank the drink which is amazing. I'm not a big fan of Cherries but the Blackberry syrup made the cherry flavour a bit more subtle and kind of reminded me of The Comforter within a drink. Sounds odd but was delicious. There was also another barista that came round to ensure that everything was great. I doubt that they will do this often but its a great feature for an opening day thing. He was kinda cute and was interesting as we had a conversation about the fact that the drinks had changed this year including the Black Forest Hot Chocolate.

We then went around and had a look at the inside of The Body Shop and Boots as I have a feeling that I will be in there a lot after college or when I need something beautywise and then we headed home as I had to get ready to go back out to college and then go back to The Broadway with friends

I think that The Broadway will do well in Bradford and bring in a lot of customers and income especially with shops that used to only be in Leeds such as Debenhams making it an easy pit stop for people who live in Bradford and want to grab something. I think The Broadway will do well and even though the wait has been long and anticipating it was completely worth it when I was there on Thursday.

Have you been to The Broadway since it opened? If so then let me know down below! I hope to see you next time for another blog post! Thanks to the staff who invited me to the event!

If you want to check out The Broadway Bradford's New Website then click here.
If you want to check their Twitter then click here.

Meow!
Jamie x

Meeting Ryan Terry at Predator Nutrition Leeds | Joe Blogs Event

Meow!

So, as I said in my last post, I haven't really published anything for a while due to many reasons but this hasn't stopped me from going to events. It just means that I have no clue when someone will go up so I could write something a month after it has happened.

A few weeks ago, I was invited by Joe Blogs to an event at the Predator Nutrition store in The Light in Leeds which was to celebrate Ryan Terry and Heather Schofield coming to the store to showcase the store and to sign some posters and to take some pictures. (I tried getting a lot of pictures but I spent the day talking to the other bloggers that came which were Caroline, Lizi and Jenna.)

One of the members of the staff within the store came up to us and asked who we were, we said our names and she disappeared to go get us our goodie bags. The same member of staff came back and then gave us a tour of the store telling us about all of the products that were sold at the store including protein bats, special nut butters, whey powders, protein enhanced ice cream and many other things.

We talked for quite a while about everything from blogging, events and other many many things and then wandered around until we found a cardboard cut out of Ryan which led to a good five minutes or so of swooning over it. We kept talking and wandered about a bit more until Jenna came which led to more talking and swooning.

We then went over to the corner where there was a competition going on where you had to try and hold a 2kg bucket for as long as possible. I didn't have a go but Lizi and Caroline had a go and they did amazing and probably a lot longer than I could probably carry it for. We laughed and then went over to talk to Ryan about his life and how he got to where he is nowadays. He also talked about the fact that he comes from Leeds and talked about the evolution of Leeds over the last few years.

So I hope that you have enjoyed this blog post and I hope to see you next time for another post. If you want to read the post that Predator Nutrition wrote about the event then click here to read it.

The pictures are all provided by the link that is presented above and are not mine.

Meow!
Jamie x