Good Luck to my Best Friend

Dear all,

I hope you have all had a lovely day, celebrating and remembering mothers and their special places in our lives. It's always good to leave the craziness of our busy lives behind for a day and to cherish a day dedicated to moms, in any way we can.

x Happy Mothers Day x

So, how did you spend it?

So, Cait and I spent the day in Brighton with ours. The reason that we were in Brighton specifically was that our wonderful mama was accompanying Cait down there for her PGCE (teaching) interview at the University of Sussex tomorrow; Dad and I just decided to tag along for the ride and make a Mother's Day Special of it! Wow, it was cold though!

So, in view of the big day tomorrow, I wanted to write a few words of good luck and encouragement to my beautiful sister.



Now, you may have noticed that she has been a little quiet on the blogging front of late and that is because the universe has been sending a few 'tests' her way...Having decided to apply to complete her teaching qualification, and having worked inspiringly hard in completing her application, she was struck by a few stumbling blocks, not least including the fact that the University has filled its places before she even had the chance to interview. And to add insult to literal injury, this news arrived just days after an emergency appendectomy in South Africa! The poor patient still can't drive or work and now has an impressive (but neat) war-wound just wear her appendix used to be!

                    x Some of the heart warming cards Caits received from the school she is a teaching assistant at...x 

Nevertheless, like the super star that she is, she has decided to put all that hard work to use and to go and interview anyway. And to give it her very best while she is at it. For this choice, I have the utmost admiration - lesser girls and boys may let this news (with or without an appendix!) get the better of them and may have decided to opt out of following the application process through. As a result and simply because they weren't lucky enough to get an interview date early, universities around the country may be losing out on some the best students and potential teachers they may ever have seen.

Because that girls and boys, is what my sister is - one of the best teachers there is, and will be. Following in the footsteps of our gorgeous and inspiring mother who certainly was.

Cait will give her heart (a big one!) to her students, will nurture each and every one of them (just as she has her family and her friends her whole life) and will, without doubt, inspire hope, not only in every one of her students but in anyone who has the privilege of studying and working with her.

She is the most tenacious person I know and despite never really appreciating her brilliance herself, she never, NEVER, gives up. And this will be no exception.

So I can only hope that the University can see not only what potential she has, but what an honour it would be to teach her.

Because she is wonderful.

And because to make any decision other than to find a way to accept her despite being 'full' would be an unequivocal mistake. Because she is, and will be, the best thing that ever happened to the children she will one day teach.

I love her with all of my heart; she is without doubt my best friend and my inspiration and, coming from an older sister, apparently that is quite something ;)



So beautiful readers, I would really really love it if you could root for her tomorrow, as I will be; your positive vibes would be appreciated more than you could possibly know.

x Always my best friend x

We love you all and don't forget - we will be announcing the winner of the giveaway THIS week! Eep - excitement!

Love love,

XOXO

x Lush Lust x

Hey beauties,

How is life treating you this fine Saturday? It seems as though London flirted with the possibility of Spring today, what with a couple of rays of sunshine and even a little blue sky. Exciting times!

So, Cait has been in South Africa and I have been moving house, so yet again, we must apologise for having been so quiet but don't worry, we haven't forgotten you, or our giveaway for that matter! It is not long now until the winner will be announced so, for anyone who hasn't yet gotten round to entering, you still have time! (not much of it mind you so get moving - 3 days to go!)

So, I am sitting on the sofa watching some terrible day time TV and enjoying some tea and a gorgeous box of artisan du chocolat so as you may have guessed, its been a girlie pamper day. And as you will also have guessed, such a day would be simply incomplete without an array of gorgeous Lush products.

I must admit, I hadn't ventured into the heaven that is Lush for years and only set foot in a store again fairly recently but wow, I have been missing out! As many of us know by now (Instagram leads me to believe there are many many a sharer of this passion for Lush products), the bath bombs are, quite simply, AMAZING. Add to that the face masks, the Roe's Argon Body Conditioner and the Bubblegum Lip Scrub and you are away. Whilst every time I set foot in store (which is worryingly frequently I must admit), I like to try a different bath bomb, my staples are undoubtable the Comforter, the Dragon's Egg and the other products mentioned above.





The Bubblegum Lip Scrub is so gorgeous - it is ideal for these Wintery months we have been fighting our way through as I am not sure about you, but my lips certainly get pretty dry and chapped. Making a my favorite red lipsticks a no-go just when I need it the most! This sad state of affairs is no longer though as thanks to this divine tasting scrub; it is even made from sugar so you can literally eat it off your newly soft and polished lips! The only thing I will say is, because it is pretty much just like 'damp' sugar, it has the propensity to be a little messy so do do it over the sink; sugar underfoot is never pleasant.



I came across the Roe's Argon Body Conditioner in one of the Lush gift boxes which I was lovingly given for my birthday - I had to replace the sample pot with a BIGGG pot because I loved its unusual, 'rose but not quite' scent and its insanely potent moisturizing properties. You can literally see the change in your skin and you can also see your skin craving it when you miss it for a couple of days (perhaps that is not ideal?!). What I notice about the majority of creams, regardless of price, is that if I moisturise in the evening, by the time I get into the shower in the morning, my skin still feels sorta slimy and like the moisturiser has just been sitting on top of my skin. Now, unless I am literally lathering myself in a bottle a day (which I assure you, I am not), this leads me to conclude that, more often that not, the cream isn't sinking in. Which doesn't make me happy. But again, no longer because this is absolutely not the case with the body conditioner! Now, you can use the conditioner in the shower, much the same way as you would for your hair, but I have tended to apply it to dry skin and leave it in and by the time I take a shower in the morning, my skin seems to have lapped it all up! Literally!

The two face masks I have tried and loved are the Brazen Honey and the Catastrophe Cosmetic masks - both of which I highly recommend. Don't be alarmed by the colour of the latter - it does look a little gross, but smells deceptively gorgeous and really does calm down alarmed skin - if it works for me, I can say with relative assurance that it is a GOOD product, being that my skin has been participating in some sort of strike action in recent weeks. I can't say it miraculously got rid of all blemishes and imperfections, but it left my skin feeling calmed, less red and generally pampered and encouraged to behave itself better in future.

I would probably recommend the above, Catastrophe Cosmetic, over the Brazen Honey mask but saying that, the latter is just a really nice mid week, radiance boosting treat. If you are like me, and your skin starts heading towards the greyer end of the luminosity spectrum when you get to about mid week and fundamentally haven't been getting enough sleep, this is your weapon of choice; its a great pick me up, and followed by my new favourite foundation Rimmel Wake Me Up, you will be looking alive again in no time!



Speaking of makeup, who knew Lush did it?! Now, I must admit I was, and still am, a little sceptical - I am something of a make up snob so I am not sure that I will be venturing into the bright blues and greens on show in Lush. But I did decide to give the mascara a go - actually primarily because of it's size and handiness for travel (a key consideration when you find yourself constantly on the go!). And what can I say - I am MASSIVELY impressed. It lengthens without being clumpy and it does 'malt' on to the lower eye area as so many lengthening mascaras do. It also has an almost dewy sheen to the finish - making your lashes look so fresh and brightening your eyes as as well. I would definitely recommend giving this a try - we would love to hear what you thought of it.



So, what Lush products do you Love and which do you Lust after?

Have a beautiful Saturday readers - we would love to hear how you are spending it.

Yours,

C&C
XOXO