THE BODY SHOP MACA ROOT SHAVING KIT

Happy Sunday Everyone! There's been a lot going on in the past week and I really needed some retail therapy to help me feel better and so I went into town and visited my local Body Shop! It's been a while since I last had a massive splurge and I really wanted to treat myself ... let's just say there will be a few Body Shop reviews popping up over the next few weeks! The first thing I'm going to share with you guys is a few bits I picked up to change up my shaving routine!

The kit was actually a super last minute purchase, I was waiting in the queue to pay and spotted the display in the corner. I walked over and had a gander before a lovely assistant came over to tell me a little bit more about the range. I took little to no convincing, honestly ... I basically just said I'll take it! I've been reading a lot about shaving and the best way to shave and I had read a lot about the benefits of using a shaving cream with a brush over a basic shaving foam. There was an offer in store and it worked out cheaper to buy the three pieces individually, I didn't get a fancy tin but let's be honest I'd probably just lose it anyway! I picked up the Maca Root Shave Cream, a Wooden Shaving Brush and also the Maca Root Razor Relief! My regular shaving routine usually takes place in the morning after a shower, I find that a hot shower opens the pores up nicely in the face and also softens the hair to allow for a smoother shave. I also tend to use a mild face wash or 'The MAC Volcanic Ash Exfoliator' to cleanse my skin and to remove any dirt. I've been using a Gillette razor ever since I started shaving and I've always found that it gets the job done. In terms of prepping my skin for shaving I've used gels and foams before and again it gets the job done and really that's all I can ask for ... until now!

So last night before bed I decided I was going to give the kit a go and I have to say I am super impressed! I didn't have a shower last night and so I was a little uncertain but I thought I would power through anyway. I gave my face a quick wash using a face wash before reaching for the Maca Root Shave Cream. Now, I have never used a cream before to shave with and there wasn't really any directions to follow so I just got on with it! Using the lid of the tub as a palette, I dabbed the shaving brush into the cream quite lightly - the brush at this point had already been ran under the tap. I then swirled the product in the lid to build up a lather. Because I normally use foam it wasn't really what I expected. The cream did lather but it only very slightly, I used the brush to distribute the cream evenly onto the face in circular motions, another tip I have read about recently! I used my regular razor to shave with and I have to say it gave me the closes shave I have ever had! The cream had enough slip to let the blades glide with ease over the skin but enough give to allow for a super close shave. It was a comfortable and easy shave and I didn't have to go over any areas, before I would always go back over my face as I was never really happy with what I was left with, there would always be little patches that I couldn't quite reach. Another thing I noticed was how clean my razor was after I had finished! This might sound gross but the foam would tend to clump up between the razor and I would have to spend a few minutes giving it a good clean to make sure it was clean and ready for next time! This time however there was nothing, all I had to do was run it under the tap and I was done! The overall finish was really amazing, there were no patches and my skin was left feeling clean and refreshed. I did find that my skin felt a little bit dry and stripped of it's oils almost however I normally experience this after shaving anyway and I always apply something after shaving to rehydrate my skin. This is where the Maca Root Razor Relief comes in! The formula is super light and the cream is quite watery, I usually like quite a thick shaving balm but this works just as well as any other balms I have used in the past. My skin tends to get irritated after shaving and I normally give in and start scratching, this of course just makes the itch worse and then the redness begins! However after applying some of the razor relief my skin felt instantly cooled and there was no itching whatsoever! I would always apply moisturiser once it has sunk into the skin but honestly I have to say this did leave my skin feeling super soft and did have a certain element of hydration! Overall this kit is definitely a winner for me and I can honestly say this has changed the way I will be shaving from now on!

Hope you guys enjoyed this post, I know it's slightly different from the usually beauty posts you would see on here but I am honestly so happy with the kit I had to share how much I loved it all with you lot! Let me know if any of you guys have tried any of the grooming products from The Body Shop before or anything else that you might think I'll take a fancy too! I picked up the new Pinta Colada shower gel and it smells like holiday! But I'd love to know if there is anything else I should be grabbing on my next trip into town! Hope you guys have a lovely week and I shall see you on the next one!

THE CRAFTISAN BAY SPRING FAIR - SUKI SABUR DESIGNS

Happy Sunday Everyone! I've had such a chilled weekend, I'm not quite ready for Monday to come around again ... anyway this week I wanted to share some amazing work that one of my besties has been working on for a while. A few weeks ago Suki and I headed down to St Martins House in Leicester for The Craftisan Bay Spring Fair. Suki had a stall at this years fair and it was one of her firsts for this season, she had prepped weeks in advance and had so many amazing pieces hand crafted to sell at the fair. Suki needed someone to go along with her and I was so excited to go along and help out!

It was an early start but a very rushed one too, I am in no way an early bird and I'm late about 99% of the time haha! I had everything planned out but there's always something that takes me off schedule and on that morning it was my choice of outfit! I really wanted to wear something that would compliment Sukis lovely work and I have this soft blush pink top that I wanted to wear ... of course it didn't quite pan out like that and instead I ended up in all black! We managed to find the place pretty quickly, I had an idea of where it would be so it wasn't too bad however I don't think St Martins House is widely known within Leicester? It may just be me though! Anyway we got there just in time for our slot in the car park to offload, Suki had a lot of stuff both design wise and also to display her designs on. Half an hour later we were back in the car to park it at the NCP nearby before heading back to start setting up. It was a beautiful day and the grand hall  had large windows that lit up the room! It actually took a while to set up, a lot longer than I thought it would but it looked really good once we had finished off the displays! It wasn't until we had stopped that we had a chance to look around the room and take in the work that was set up around us. Each stall was different, they all had their own style and flare, it really was super cool! Suki has always had such beautiful vision and to me there really is no surprise at how well she has been doing. The scarves that Suki designs are honestly something else, she hand draws each design by scale before painting them with gouache and adding dimensions by shading with pencil. The initial designs were planned out in May 2015 and the collection wasn't finalised until the end of the year! The amount of effort, detail and time that goes into each of the scarves that Suki makes is out of this world! It felt so lovely being able to help out someone so passionate, the day honestly flew by! At one point we both realised that we hadn't eaten anything all day and if you know me you know that I love food! I was adamant that I wasn't hungry but it did honestly get to a point where I caved and had to eat something and I mean some real food not the jelly beans that Suki had laid out on the table haha! I ended up eating a baguette super quick behind one of the displays Suki had up ... I mean I didn't want to put anyone off the beauties that Suki had on the stall haha! The end of the day came around super quick, you know what they say? Time flies when you're having fun! I almost didn't want the day to end but then again I really wanted to just take my shoes off too haha! It got to about 15 minutes before the end of the fair and you started to hear tiny little rustles of people starting to pack away. Suki and I started to slowly pack things away too ... well it escalated quickly because each and every stall basically decided it was the end and started bringing down their stalls, it was hilarious! The room was soon empty and all the colours that had earlier bought the room to life was packed away into boxes, crates and bags!

I am honestly so proud that I could be a part of Sukis journey, she is so crazy talented and I know she is on her way to something special! It would mean a lot to me if you would head over to her website and her Etsy shop and take a look at some of her amazing designs! Be sure to let her know if you like anything, she is such a sweet and lovely friend. She really deserves all the success that's coming her way! I've left a few of Sukis links below for you all! I hope you have a lovely week and I shall see you again on the next post!

Blog | Official Website | Etsy

THE INSTA-DIARY #10 - THE CATCH UP EDITION

Happy Sunday Everyone! I've been promising to do an updated Insta-Diary pretty much every month and somehow time gets away with me and it never happens! However I was scrolling through instagram today and thought I really needed to get it together and upload a catch up edition! It's been a fair few months since the last one so I'll do a little wrap up of each month for you! As always if you like what you see make sure you check out my instagram and give me a cheeky follow, you can find me using @primalmajithia ... enjoy!

Okay, so it seems like we're starting from the beginning of the month as my last one was for December! January was quite a mellow month, there was a lot of catch ups with friends, selfies galore and Prim and Propa started it's terrible two's! And strangely that was very true! My blog went through a stage where the uploads were sparse towards the end of January, there just comes a point where you need a little break to allow some creativity and blog ideas to start brewing if you know what I mean!

February was a rollercoaster of emotions, there was valentines day, my birthday but we also lost someone this month and so the month was really quit sombre. Everything got on top of me a little and I decided to take a month out from blogging and just allow myself some time to breathe ...

March saw the start of a very expensive habit ... but oh my it's worth it! Haycock and Tailbar opened in Leicester and it has quickly become my favourite bar ever! Tara and I went on a day trip to Birmingham and had a make over with Make Up Forever! Me and the mamacomes had a really lovely catch up with cocktails, dinner and a show! We went to see Pixie Lott in Breakfast at Tiffany's at the Curve! She was really good, maybe could have worked slightly better on the accent but her singing ... oh! Amazing! Ooh and the blogging did a Britney and made a comeback!

April was another chilled month, it was my bestie birthday and another one of my besties took part in an amazing craft fair ... blog post coming to a screen near you! The sun also started to make a few appearances and so I bought what felt like 100 pairs of sunglasses! Haha!

Okay! So there you have it, we have finally caught up Insta-wise! I know these normally come out on a Friday but there was so much to catch up on I thought it would be best to give this Insta-Diary it's very own Sunday! Hope you guys have a lovely week and I shall see you next Sunday for another post!