How to: make a sugar scrub

As much as I love shopping, I am a big fan of homemade gifts - I think it's really nice to put a little bit of effort in AND it also tends to be cheaper, which is always good! 

Here's a really easy DIY - how to make a lovely coconut & vanilla sugar scrub. Mmm! (Mum & sisters, please look away now - ha!). 

I used American cups to measure everything out as it seemed easier - if you don't have a set there's loads of conversion calculators online!

For one jar, you'll need the following:

• 2 cups of sugar (I mixed granulated and caster sugar)
• 4 tablespoons of virgin coconut oil (melted)
• 1/2 cup of grapeseed oil
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
• Food colouring
• A jar! I got mine from Ikea. 

Measure out your sugar and put in a large bowl. Melt the coconut oil (I put it in the microwave for 30 seconds), then mix in the grapeseed oil and vanilla extract. Stir it all together, and add in a couple of drops of food colouring. Stir again, check that the scent is as strong as you'd like & spoon into a jar!

It's SO easy!

As I was making these as gifts, I cut out some washi tape into triangles & stuck it round the jars to look like bunting. I made some gift tags & tied them on with tiny bits of tinsel. Lovely stuff!

Disclaimer: This post is in collaboration with NOW Pensions (thanks guys!). They're keen to put money saving at the forefront of people's minds this Christmas, and to think about saving money more generally - particularly when it comes to saving money for the future. 

50% off Motel!

Are you looking for a Christmas party dress? Well, I have a bit of a treat for you!

Motelrocks.com are launching their sale next week, but you can get 50% off now! Just take a look at the secret selection of items that are going to be in the sale & use the code XMASPREVIEW50 to get the discount.

Motel do free next day UK delivery & free USA delivery too. Phew!

Outside of sale-fun you can also always use EVERSOJULIET to get 20% off items. Let me know if you get anything... (and sorry for being such an enabler!).

Synaesthesia at Lush Spa, Edinburgh

Last week the very first Scottish Lush spa opened up in Edinburgh - on Princes St just a little bit along from the old shop, sitting straight across from Edinburgh Castle.

I'm a HUGE Lush fan, but who isn't? They are animal-friendly - using only vegetarian ingredients (and never, ever testing on animals), and people friendly - creating fresh products with little or no preservatives or packaging.

So I was super excited when I was invited down to try out the signature spa treatment, Synaesthesia*. This is a ninety minute treatment where scent, sound, touch & sight all combine to create your chosen state of mind. It sounded a bit bonkers, but I was definitely keen to go with it, and see what actually happened.

The spa is in the basement of the brand new Lush shop (which is much more spacious than their previous home). It feels nothing like what you'd expect from a spa - instead it's based on the founder's own kitchen, and is a cosy, homely space for you to relax and chat with your therapist before the treatment. (I want those chairs!).

There's a large blackboard in the kitchen and you are invited to pick the word that jumps out to you the most, which your treatment is then built around. I went for mind-cleanser (which sounded LOVELY) and was told I'd be getting a treatment of a head and face massage, hot and cold stones, leg massage, back massage & my choice of a stomach rub or chakra massage. Phew!

Then I was asked to pick from one of a row of coloured bottles - scents that were going to be added to my treatment, but I wasn't allowed to chose by smell. Again, I had to just go for whatever appealed to me most. I picked a tiny bottle that said happy on it.

You are then given the choice to shower/clean your make up off before the treatment (they have all sorts of nice lotions and potions in the bathroom for you to use). When you're ready the therapist gets you settled in the room and explains exactly what you should do (which is so helpful, especially if you're like me & get stupidly nervous you'll do something wrong!).

I don't want to spoil the surprises of the treatment for you, but it was BRILLIANT! The treatment is choreographed to specially composed music which takes you across a day and night - I found myself drifting in and out, and every now and again would realise that birds were softly cheeping. Surreal but lovely!

Afterwards you are given a cup of tea (brewed with some of the oils used in your treatment), a massage bar and bubble bar & a chat with your therapist who answers any questions you have. I was so chilled out that I couldn't think of any apart from asking who does the famous Lush handwriting (turns out it's one person called Jo!).

I felt AMAZING afterwards - so ridiculously blissed out all day, and I ended up going to bed at 11pm and sleeping until 1pm the following day (and felt brilliant and chilled when I woke up too!).

Treatments start at £40 and you can see what's on offer at lush.co.uk/spa. Thank you so much to Lush Edinburgh for having me along!

Christmas spending

It's December, which means Christmas is ON! Festive lights are up everywhere, the markets are open, mulled wine is brewing & I've got my beautiful (real!) Christmas tree up and decorated (more on this soon!).

This year I've tried to be as organised as possible! I started shopping in November to try & spread the costs of presents out a little more & have been armed with spreadsheets, lists and highlighters to keep me right (and avoid any potential "ohgodohgodohgodIforgotaboutsoandso" panic). I realise that sounds very boring, but I promise it's fun & not quite as military-esque as it sounds!

Anyway, as fun as being Captain Organised is, I still always look forward to a "proper" day of Christmas shopping with my mum - bustling round shops, feeling like santa with millions of bags & going for "reward" cups of coffee. Ace!

So, this leads me (sort of) nicely onto a new ad that was flagged up to me last week. It's promoting Barclaycard's contactless payment (which, really, is some sort of wonderful witchcraft!), where you either tap your card or your phone over a contactless reader & instantly pay for items up to £15. No faffing with your wallet, or struggling to juggle bags, or anything!

 

The ad is very Toy Story esque... toys come to life to show how easy shopping can be. The future is here... 

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Spreaditfast.

How to: bake scones

Scones are one of my very favourite things, but up until recently I had never actually tried to bake them. Turns out it's super easy & I am at great risk of becoming completely addicted. Ah well! Here's how you do it...

You'll need the following ingredients:

• 225g of self-raising flour
• pinch of salt
• 55g of butter
• 25g of caster sugar
• 150ml of milk
• 1 egg
• handful of sultanas (optional)

& you should heat your oven to 220 degrees.

Start by measuring out the flour, salt & butter. 

Rub the mixture between your fingertips, until it looks like breadcrumbs. This will be easier if the butter is at room temperature & chopped into smaller pieces.

Stir in the sugar, make a well in the middle of the mixture and pour in the milk. Stir.

Add the sultanas and mush it all together until it starts to form a dough.

Then roll your dough out onto a floured surface (stops it sticking!) and use a cutter to stamp out your scones.  Keep re-rolling out the dough to use up all of it.

Beat the egg and lightly brush onto the top of each scone. Turns out I didn't actually have a pastry brush, so I just sort of smeared it on with a spoon instead (hence the gloopiness!). Bake for 12 - 15 minutes, until the scones are well-risen and all lovely and golden.

Serve warm with butter and loads and loads of jam. Yum!