Spring in Whitstable

Whitstable is my favourite place in the whole world. In 2003, my grandparents moved to this little seaside town in Kent and I'd spend my school holidays with them. They were such happy times. As there's not a whole lot for a teenage girl to do there, I always found it so relaxing. No friend drama to worry about. No keeping up pretences. No stress. Just relaxing with my grandparents- reading, drawing, visiting the beach. Bliss! After a few years they moved back to our hometown so they could be closer to the family (and didn't have a huge garden to tend for!) and I've only been back once since, when Rich and I spent my 21st birthday there. We'd intended to return for my birthday this year but unexpectedly ended up there earlier this week.

Wedding season with House of Fraser

April is nearly here and with it comes the start of wedding season. I've definitely reached that stage of my life. Last year I attended two weddings and I have another two coming up this summer too (and at least two planned for next year!). Choosing a wedding guest outfit is always a challenge but one I find really enjoyable, and I've looked to House of Fraser for inspiration.

Death: The Human Experience at Bristol Museum

It was only after I visited Bristol in December that I heard about the newest exhibition at Bristol Museum- Death: The Human Experience. I'd intended to visit but, me being me, forgot all about it until I was reminded just a week before it ended. A hasty day trip to Bristol ensued so I was lucky enough to catch it. 

Photos were allowed inside the exhibition but as it was of such a sensitive subject, and because it was very quiet, I chose to take photos more discreetly on my phone rather than use my noisy, bulky DSLR. It goes without saying that some of this material may be triggering. It deals with death and dying in a range of different contexts.

Review // Lush Easter Collection 2016

Remember how I complained that all the seasonal collections lately have been rubbish? Good news! The Easter range is not only varied but also really, really good! With a mix of old favourites, new faces and a sneaky little makeover, I couldn't wait to get stuck in! 

FF CLXI

I've wanted to visit Mauritius for a while now, and Carrie's post has only fed that! 

Winter Empties

Guess who forgot to write a winter empties post? Yep, that would be me! For some reason, I didn't end up with anywhere near as many empty products as I did during the autumn. I guess I just didn't have as many shower gels to use up! 

Review // Soap & Glory Drama Clean 5-in-1 Micellar Water

Another month, another micellar water. Soap & Glory Drama Clean 5-in-1 Micellar Water was my second choice when I bought the La Roche-Posay cleanser last time.

New life goals

Today was my last day of teaching. I'll be honest, my emotions are split. On one hand, I'm utterly, devastatingly heartbroken to be saying goodbye to something that I genuinely always believed was my calling in life. I'm angry that things have turned out this way and, if I'm brutally honest, a little ashamed too. Despite this, I'm also incredibly excited to be starting a new chapter in my life. It feels like this huge weight has been lifted- I'm finally free. With this freedom, I've set some goals to really make the most of it.

Review // Lush Valentine's Collection 2016

Yeah, I know. Valentine's was 5 weeks ago. It's taken me a while to work my way through my Lush stash, alright? At least this review will be helpful for any products that return next year or pop up in the Kitchen.

Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway // My Experience

We've already established that I bloody love Ant & Dec. Saturday Night Takeaway has been one of my favourite TV shows for years. I don't care if that's unrefined. In fact, I'm pretty certain I cried tears of joy when it returned in 2013. For the past three years, every week that it's been on, I've applied for tickets. I even put it in my 101 in 1001 goals, but my attempts were fruitless. Well today I'm here to tell you that dreams do come true. Finally- FINALLY- I found myself to be seated in the Saturday Night Takeaway audience.

*Long post ahead. I have a lot of feelings so don't expect me to be concise*

FF CLX

I loved Amber's skincare confessions because honestly? I'm terrible with skincare too. I'm trying to get better. I just kind of... forget. Kat's jumper dress is crazy and I love it! Everyone should read Terri's boob scan experience. Check yourselves!  Ness's post on reading more for less is full of great tips for finding books on a budget.
Bloglovin' // Twitter // Instagram

#ScentMemories with The Library of Fragrance

March 21st marks National Fragrance Day, and Scent Memories are encouraging people to share their scent stories using the hashtag #ScentMemories. To mark National Fragrance Day and the Scent Memories campaign, The Library of Fragrance asked me to share my own memories with some of their fragrances. 

I know people say scent is the most powerful memory trigger, and I definitely experience this a lot. Just recently, I was walking down a road in London and suddenly became aware of a really strong scent emanating from one of the buildings. I still have no idea what the smell was, or how my past is linked to it, but suddenly I was 16 years old again, wearing my bootleg My Chemical Romance t-shirt, walking down a very specific part of my Sixth Form corridor to reach the art shop. I couldn't believe how specific and vivid my memory was, and all triggered from this one waft of a mystery scent!
Because of this, I knew the Scent Memories initiative would be really fun to get involved with, and I've chosen some really special memories to share with you today. They all have a particular theme in common, so it will be easy to tell where the happiest times of my childhood were spent!

Top 10 books of all time

Recently I realised that I've never written a post on my favourite books. I've written about my favourite endings, my favourite books of 2015 and even my favourite books about death. Way back in 2012, I wrote about the five books that shaped me, but they're not quite the same as my favourite books. So here it is: My top ten books of all time. 

Fundraising with Team Honk and Wayfair

Running is not my forte, as you may have worked out for yourself. There is precisely one time a year when I run, and that is when I crack out the PE lesson on long-distance running. Of course, all the 8 year olds floor a lap of the school field in about 10 seconds flat but I'm, well, not so good. There comes a time every two years where I challenge myself even further: The Sport Relief Mile.

The only photo I even have of me running is this old-school snap from 2012

OOTD // Black Dress and Polaroid Sunglasses

This weekend has been so glorious! Finally it feels like spring is around the corner and I had the perfect opportunity to try out my new Polaroid sunglasses from Discounted Sunglasses. 

What's in my bag // The lost bag edition

Last month, I left my bag in the back of a taxi in Winchester. I've been using Primark bags my whole life and managed to keep hold of them until they die a slow, painful death and need to be buried in the wardrobe because I'm incapable of throwing anything away. The second I spend some actual money on a Michael Kors bag, of course, I manage to completely forget about it and only realise I've lost it an hour later.

After some franctic tweeting, staking out the taxi rank to see if the cab returned and tracking down the driver after asking all the other cabbies if they recognised the description of his car, only to find he didn't have the bag after all, I eventually logged into Facebook three hours later and found a message from the guy who had been picked up after me. He'd found the bag, searched Facebook for my real name only to find no profiles exist under that name, eventually discovered me by searching "Becky Bedbug", as is the name on my Costco card, and fired off a message. All before I'd even realised my bag wasn't with me. 

Anyway, this epic tale of one woman's frantic search for the return of her beloved bag got me thinking about what I actually keep in there. Although I was glad I hadn't lost anything valuable, in those bag-less hours, I was just really annoyed at having to replace so many of my daily essentials. I figured that Jack, he of bag-finding glory, could probably tell a lot about me just from what I carry out around with me day to day.

OOTD Outtakes // 2015-2016

Time for my annual outtakes post! I absolutely love posting these but as I haven't published many OOTD posts in the past year, I don't have a huge selection to draw on. I really need to get back on that otherwise I won't have any bloopers to share next year! Looking through my choices this year, I've noticed they fall into two very distinctive categories...

WHAT DO I DO WITH MY FACE?

Seriously. How do bloggers manage to do that neutral-happy face so well? Is there a blogger school I missed out on? Because these are all I can manage:

"Come over 'ere mate and I'll punch ya lights out"

Original post

5 female authors you must read

As it's International Women's Day today, I figured it was the perfect time to write a list of 5 female authors who I think everybody should read. There will be some notable exceptions in this list- Plath and Woolf to name a couple, but I've chosen authors whose writing I've enjoyed previously. 

Review // Lush Mothers' Day 2016

If I'm honest, I've been really disappointed by the latest seasonal collections from Lush. Halloween and Valentine's Day have both been really limited and I don't think there was anything at all for Bonfire Night. It seems to me that they're releasing really small collections so they can push old favourites in the Kitchen every day (and pocket a £3.95 shipping fee each time). Likewise, the Mothers' Day collection was absolutely tiny- not at all what I've come to expect from Lush. However, this time I'll let them off because each product is so lovely!

FF CLVIII

Ok, so it's actually Saturday today so these should technically be my Saturday Favourites. Let's just go with it. It might be late this week but, trust me, it's a good 'un!
Imii's photos from Rouen are absolutely stunning! 

5 best mother figures in books

Normally I publish my book posts on a Tuesday but since today is World Book Day, I thought I'd hold back for a couple of days. To make it extra-seasonal, I've tied this post in with Mothers' Day, following the theme of my #bookbloggers Twitter chat on Tuesday. I've pored over my bookshelves to decide on my five top mother figures in books. 

Review // Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner in Black Ink

I'm going to say it: This is the best eyeliner in the world. Or the best eyeliner I've ever tried at least, which is basically the same thing. I've tried what seems like a thousand different eyeliners: Benefit, NARS, Soap & Glory, pencil, felt tip, liquid... Despite the huge variety I've tried, I've never found The One. Until now.