La Montana - Scented Candles Inspired by Spain

I am yet to meet someone who isn't a fan of candles, I personally am a huge fan and can never have too many. Whenever I am at home, there is always one burning in whichever room I tend to be in.

I was recently introduced to La Montana fragranced candles**, a brand that has been inspired by life in a Spain Village. Founders Cass and Jonathan Hall decided to leave London life behind back in 2011 and move to move to a Valencian mountainside where they became inspired enough to create their own home fragrance range that captured the beautiful surroundings and the new smells of the area.

I was very kindly sent two candles from the range and I was blown away by the delicious scents which hit me as soon as I opened the box.  I also really love the candles packaging, all of which have a vintage 1930s travel poster design printed on both the labels on the candle and then onto packaging. 

First Light which is La Montanas signature fragrance and is described as being 

"A unique, intoxicating blend of wild, aromatic mountain herbs: fennel, bergamot, rosemary, mountain pepper, and rockrose" Now for me, this literally brings about the sense of sunshine and mountains and what it would be like to breathe in the morning air. 

Once alight, that scent becomes more intense as it filters through the house and the entire time the candle is burning, that scent remains strong.

The second candle is called Alfredo's Café and it is the latest scent from La Montana and it is described as being 

"An unusual, rich, comforting blend of the best aromas of our village square – coffee, brandy, and black tobacco, laced with leather and incense from the church" 

The scent to me, is the kind of scent you get whilst sitting outside a cafe on holiday as all the scents mix together. It is quite a warm and comforting scent and one which is ideal for both men and women. 

Again once it is alight, the fragrance really comes to life and for me the scent of coffee is the most dominant and it is such a wonderful fresh scent.

La Montana candles have approximately 40+ hours burn time and retail at just £35 each.  You can find the full La Montana range via their website.

Make your blonde, Blonde with John Frieda + Giveaway

Do you remember the days of Sun-in spray? I do all to well with the promise of my hair going a shade lighter actually turning a yellowy-orange shade instead, thankfully there was no such thing as social media back then!

I do still want my hair to be lighter than it is, I think it looks so much better but I am not a fan of bleaching or using peroxide on my hair. John Frieda, the world renowned hair stylist might just have the solution to my problem with his new range of hair products - Go Blonder.

Within this range is a shampoo, conditioner, an oil elixir, a lightening spray to name just some of the products. The range is designed to gradually lighten blonde hair for that brighter sun-kissed look. Thankfully it is also an ammonia and peroxide-free formula which uses a natural 'Lightening Complex' which gently reduces colour pigments to lighten blonde hair by up to 2 shades. It has been carefully developed for all shades of natural, colour-treated or highlighted blonde hair.

If this sounds like something you would like to try, I have very kindly been given a superb prize for one of you to win:

1 x Go Blonder Shampoo

1 x Go Blonder Conditioner

1 x Sheer Blonde Tote bag

This is a UK only giveaway. All you need to do is complete the entry form below, ensuring you adhere to those sections which are mandatory.  If you are under 16, please do get your parents permission to enter as I will need your address for the prize to be posted.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Creative Colouring Book for Grown-ups

One thing my nieces and my nephews love to do is to sit with a colouring book and colour and it is something I really enjoyed doing as a child too. Then a friend of mine suggested I purchase an adult version which she has found highly relaxing and a way of helping to de-stress. So I took the plunge and I purchased The Creative Colouring Book for Grown-ups (rrp £7.99) and some pens to give it a go.  The one thing I am not is arty, I can barely draw a stickman and am so envious of those people who are talented artists because when you see them drawing or painting, it looks so relaxing, so for me, this is the next best thing.

Described as follows:

"Explore your natural creativity with some stunning and exotic patterns to colour in, however and whenever you feel inspired. Doodling and colouring have long been known to enhance one's thought processes and provide a relaxing yet highly creative way to free the mind. In this original and unique book you'll find over 100 detailed patterns to colour, providing endless entertainment and building into a piece of work that you can truly call your own"

This book is no bigger than an A5 notebook and has an elastic band, in fuschia pink to keep everything neat and tidy and to stop the pages from bending, ripping and becoming unruly. Not quite a hardback exterior, it still has a fairly rigid brightly coloured sleeve which caught my eye in WHSmiths. The reason I have started off with this one is because, if I carry it around in my handbag, it is less likely to get bent out of shaped and ripped and it is a nice little introduction into the world of adult colouring books.

Inside the book are over 100 beautiful patterns for you to pick and choose from to colour ranging from floral motifs to geometric designs, all of which capture your attention. The paper is quite also quite thick, so there no chance of anything seeping through the page to ruin the adjoining patterns. The only downside is that once you start, you quickly lose a good few hours because it is really relaxing and it certainly holds your attention.

So if you are looking for a new hobby that doesn't cost the earth, holds your attention and will engross you, seriously, buy one of these books, there are so many different ones out there to be had that you will be spoilt for choice as to which one to choose, but once you start, you will find it very hard to stop.

If it's 20-plus years since you picked up a crayon, you'll be surprised how fun it is!  Have you tried or bought one yet?

Are you comfortable in your own skin?

While my other half insists that he needs at least £10,000 of plastic surgery to rid his face of lines and wrinkles I’m fairly comfortable in my skin. That said, while BeautykingUK may look in the mirror and see someone else’s body it would appear he isn’t alone, and in fact the use of surgical procedures for purely aesthetic reasons are more popular than you would think.

It wasn’t until a snazzy new infographic from the New Birkdale Clinic popped into my inbox that the scale of procedures being undertaken across the UK really hit home. 

Would you believe that last year there were over 45,000 procedures across the country? No? Me neither, if you had asked me to guess I would have put the figure firmly in the region of around 10,000 but I would be way, way out! Even more striking is the fact that the total actually decreased in 2014 when compared to the year before.

What do I draw from the infographic? Well, to me it appears that as the economy picks up and most of us have more money to spend on luxury goods and services. This could explain the increase in procedures. Could it also be the explosion in clinics offering procedures and the decreasing cost of undergoing a procedure?

What was staggering for me was the sheer increase in the number of breast augmentations (boob job to you and me) - 231% since 2004 and the increase in breast reductions - 243% since 2004. Wow, there are a lot of people out there who just don’t like what they were given in the genetic mixing pot.

*Guestpost