Review: Jewellery World - Gold Dolphin Pendant

It occurred to me the other day just how much jewellery I own. I seem to have accumulated a lot of it over the past year and I'm now running out of storage space. Nevertheless, I received another new addition this month from the people at Jewellery World. 

Jewellery World is an online fine jewellery retailer selling products including diamond rings, gold pendants, and charm bracelets. I love jewellery so it was nice to be able to browse through all the pages, but what really caught my eye was the delightful range of gold pendants that they sell. Every product looks so dainty, which is exactly my kind of style, and I opted for the Gold Double Dolphin Pendant* priced at £39.99.

It arrived in a small copper gift box, ideal for when you're making a purchase as a present for someone. Judging by the glue marks on my box though, I think mine may have been missing a bow of some sort!

The pendant itself is beautiful and I was super pleased when I saw it in person, it's so delicate and shiny! This dolphin pendant is made from 9ct gold so it's good quality and shouldn't lose its shine any time soon. Jewellery World also stock another two different gold dolphin pendants on their website too. I like how they include the measurements of each pendant, I kid you not I actually took a ruler out to rough sketch the size of this pendant before choosing it. I'm really particular about things like that...

One thing that I didn't realise prior to this arriving is that it doesn't include a necklace chain so I've had to use one that I already own. I don't have any spare gold necklace chains and I prefer not to swap them back and forth, especially as a lot of my necklaces are expensive and I'd rather keep everything together to avoid losing anything. I decided to use a silver necklace chain from an old necklace that I no longer wear, it surprisingly looks quite nice against the gold dolphins.

I'm already very tempted by some of the other gold animal pendants, particularly the unicorn which looks super cute!

Have you shopped at Jewellery World before?

.

New Things #5

Mule Sandals - I love these sandals so much, my mum actually bought these for me. The pink and the white looks so girly together and you'd be amazed at how light they feel. There's an air space in between the sandals which makes them a dream to walk on. These aren't really my style for going outdoors in and they were actually bought for me to use as kitchen shoes... yep... not weird at all... Anyone else have kitchen shoes?

The Fault In Our Stars - I heard so much about how great this book was, but I wasn't entirely convinced to read it until I saw the film trailer. It looks really good so I figured I'd read the book beforehand. I always think that once you've seen the film, it kind of ruins the creative imagination aspect of reading a book so I purchased the e-book for my Kindle. I'm about two thirds of the way through and I'm loving it. I think the film comes out this summer. 

Jelly Beans - I used to love these jelly beans from Jelly Belly when I was a child, so I always like to indulge in some every once in a while. The popcorn flavoured one is my favourite.

Hurraw! Balm* - I received this as part of a little package sent to me from Nature's Healthbox, an online business offering a range of natural products. I wasn't expecting to like this because I tend not to like the feel and smell of organic balms but I was extremely pleased with this one. It's unbelievably smooth and glides on like a dream. Definitely the smoothest and creamiest lip balm I've ever come across. It's non-sticky and I now reach for this one over my Burt's Bees lip balms. This one is blue chamomile vanilla which smells yummy! I'm planning on trying out some of the other "flavours" at some point.

Cupcake Socks - These socks read "I love you more then cupcakes". They're so soft and adorable, and they're from Tesco. I've had so many new socks lately, I just love brand new soft cotton socks!

My Blog Is A Year Old Today!

That's right, I Am Linderella is now a year old! I can't believe that it's been a whole year since I started this blog. I started blogging because I was bored, and now it's turned into one of my favourite past-times. 

This is my creative outlet, and my way of sharing my thoughts and snippets of my life with those who are interested in it. I started off predominantly writing beauty reviews but I now like to mix it up and just write about whatever takes my fancy that day be it some cakes that I've baked, a new product that I just can't live without, or just some pretty photos of where I've been earlier in the week.

Even if I had no readers, I would still write, but it makes it so much better that there are people out there who genuinely take an interest in my posts. Thanks to everyone who takes time out to visit my blog and leave thoughtful comments. Makes me smile every time! It's amazing what a few lovely words can do. 

I'm going to continue writing this blog and I hope you'll all stick around for my future posts!

Time to eat some cake to celebrate. Well, any excuse for cake really...

P.S: If you're someone who enjoys my blog, make sure you nominate me for Best Newcomer at the Cosmo Awards.

Blooming Beautiful

Unless you've been hiding away in a secret cabin for the past fortnight, you'll have seen the sun has finally reared it's very hot head to see us all, and disappeared just as quickly! I won't lie, I've been loving the rain... Anyway, the beautiful sun saw the blooming of the flowers in my garden and it was such a beautiful sight so I thought I'd share some photos on here. I love seeing pretty flowers growing outside, it makes me love nature that little bit more and appreciate the little things in life. 

Oh, if anyone knows what these flowers are called, I'd love to know. I used to think they were roses when I was little... Then I thought that perhaps they're carnations... I'm so bad at recognising different flowers so any help would be appreciated!

I hope you've all got a great Bank Holiday weekend planned, even if it's just chilling out at home with family. I'm going to have a bit of a wardrobe overhaul today and then I'm off for a yummy lunchtime buffet tomorrow which I'm really looking forward to! Food!

Happy weekend!

Belo & Me Jute Bag

I love cute bags, sometimes to the extent where it doesn't even matter what it can or can't hold just as long as it's cute. This Navy Bird In Tree Bag* was sent to me from Belo & Me, an online store selling a lovely selection of cute jute bags. 

Their bags are designed with lunch in mind but you can also use them as gift bags, party bags, shopping, or even just for storage. I've always really liked jute bags because of how sturdy they are. When I started university, it suddenly occurred to me that using plastic bags was not only a waste, but they also broke so quickly if I carried anything heavy in there back to my house, so I started investing in jute bags. 

I love the design of this one, the birds sitting on the tree looks so adorable and romantic too. I was very tempted by the cupcake design, for obvious reasons, but this one was too cute to resist.

I've been using this bag for storing some of my beauty products, it's a much prettier way of organising my spare items. No doubt that I'll be emptying it out soon and taking it with me when I go shopping. It's only small but it can withstand so much weight. 

Delivery was via Royal Mail and it was super quick. As with most jute bags, they can be folded flat which meant that this was easily delivered through the letterbox. 

What do you think of this bag?

My 2014 Summer Wardrobe Lust List

What's that I see outside? Oh it's the sunshine! Summer is finally approaching and it's time to top up my wardrobe with some new bits and pieces. I love dark clothes, possibly because they're always flattering, but I always enjoy adding a splash of colour to my life when the sun rears its head. Now would be a good time to hit some kind of a windfall so I can go crazy in the shops. In the meantime, take a look at all the things that I'd love to have in my wardrobe this summer.

Collage images taken from their respective websites

1. Lace Up Swimsuit - Red isn't usually a colour I'd go for but I think it looks great when it comes to swimsuits, possibly because of all the Special K adverts with the svelte looking woman in a red swimsuit who just oozes confidence. The lace up at the front looks gorgeous.

2. Chiffon Sketch Print Kimono I absolutely love pretty outerwear since it's rarely ever warm enough to go outside without any. This kimono looks warm enough for the breezy evenings and cool enough for the daytime too. I love the print.

3. Flower Print Top - It's always good to have one or two bright and colourful pieces in your wardrobe, I love the mix of colours and it also has a peter pan collar.

4. Camera-Shaped Across-Body Bag - How cool does this bag look? I can imagine that this would be the perfect bag for a day out at the beach or for an afternoon picnic.

5. Floral Print Panel Jacket - I'm loving florals at the moment and I'm also loving how a blazer can smarten up a casual outfit. 

6. Silk Butterfly Scarf - This is 100% silk therefore it's very soft! I own one of the other designs and it's so lightweight, I'm hoping to get my hands on some of the other designs such as this one. I like to wear scarves no matter what the weather so this is great for summer. 

7. Pink Cut Out Collar Top - I've always lusted after Ted Baker clothing, everything looks so simple but so pretty. It was the collar that caught my eye and it's a lovely colour too.

8. Zara - Lace Shorts - I do love a bit of lace and I've been loving anything mint as well so this is the perfect combination. I tend to think that a lot of shorts look too casual to be paired with the tops that I usually wear, and I don't like to wear my denim shorts constantly, so this is a really pretty alternative.

9. Wedge Sandals - These particular ones are supposed to be super comfortable which is of the utmost importance when it comes to shoes, particularly sandals as you don't have socks on. I really like the low wedge heel and the pretty pastel colours. I find that a lot of wedge sandals are too high and it just feels heavy and clumpy when I'm walking so I'm very tempted by these ones!

So there you have it, these are several items that I'm lusting after at the moment. 

Anything here catch your eye? Leave a comment and let me know. 

World Baking Day - Fruity Chocolate Coconut Cakes

Today is World Baking Day, one of my favourite days of the year! It was only right for me to publish a cake post today, it's actually been way too long since I've done one of these posts. I haven't really baked much over the last few months. Great for my waistline, I suppose! 

Sugar & Crumbs kindly sent me a couple of their fabulous products to aid with my baking. Now I'm not the biggest fan of chocolate cake, but I do love coconut, so I used the Sugar & Crumbs Chocolate Coconut Cocoa Powder* to make my sponges. I find that it's best to substitute just under a quarter of the flour for the cocoa powder. If you love chocolate though, go for a full quarter. Much to my delight, I also got my hands on the Sugar & Crumbs Coconut & Lime Flavoured Icing Sugar*. 

The taste test.... I actually LIKED the chocolate sponge! The coconut flavour definitely helped and it was so delicious. Coconut is such a fragrant scent that you can't really go wrong. The buttercream icing that I made was lovely too, I was a bit wary at first because the icing sugar smells totally like lime rather than coconut & lime but once it was mixed in with the butter, the scent of coconut drifted through. I made a large batch of cakes but I only iced half of them as I'm still in two minds about fruity buttercream icing and I also love the sponge on its own!

In fact, I'm going to grab one now along with a glass of apple juice to watch a DVD. Hope you're all having a lovely chilled-out Sunday afternoon. 

Review: My Bag Hanger - Foldable Handbag Hook

I absolutely love anything that makes life more practical and easy, and I also love nifty little gadgets, electronic or otherwise. So I was delighted to be kindly sent this Foldable Handbag Hook* from My Bag Hanger.

These hooks have been around for years now but I never got round to getting one and, in all honesty, it was mainly because I had no idea how they worked. The thought of being able to just add a hook onto a table that would be sturdy enough to hold the weight of a bag was a bit of a mystery to me. So I'm here to explain the entire concept to all of you lot and tell you a bit more.

You can find several designs on the website or even create your own. I was sent the Banksy "girl with balloon" design. I did Art when I was in school so I recognised the image straight away and it's one that makes me feel all nostalgic. It came in a soft drawstring pouch, perfect for keeping it safe and secure in your bag. Also great for peace of mind if you're anything like me and hate getting scratches on things....

The hook is able to stay secure and still whilst it's in its closed position because of the magnets surrounding the circle part. I was worried that it would all be a little flimsy but it's surprisingly sturdy. The folding section is really strong and can hold the weight of my bag filled with books and all my essentials. For me, the genius in the product is the rubber material on the bottom. This holds a really tight grip onto the table surface. The heavier the bag, the harder it is for the hook to move. It's amazing that something so small and simple can be so strong and useful.

I'm glad I have one of these now and it's been travelling with me everywhere. Luckily, I've never been a victim of a bag "snatch and run" but it certainly puts my mind at rest to be able to hang my bag next to me when I'm eating in a cafe. I never leave my bag on the floor, I normally just have it on my lap which isn't the most comfortable thing to do, or sometimes I leave it on the chair next to me. Also, I'm a bit of a hygiene freak, so being able to hang my bag up rather than chucking it on the floor is amazing! For those of you who work in offices, it's also a good way of being able to easily access things inside your bag.

My Bag Hanger delivers worldwide and their foldable bag hangers cost £9.99. 

Do you have a foldable bag hanger? 

Organix Coconut Hydrating Oil Mist

This is just a quick post to tell you how much I love this hair mist. Coconut is one of my favourite scents but it's rare to find a product that smells natural. A lot of coconut products smell quite chemically but not this one!

This smells so delicious and it has the right amount of sweetness in it too. It claims to hydrate your hair and leave it shiny and smooth. Quite frankly, I was attracted to this product purely for its scent. I treat it as a "hair perfume" more than anything else. I love it and everyone keeps telling me how lovely my hair smells. I've never been a fan of hair oils but this is a really fine mist so you can't even tell it's an oil once you've sprayed it on.

You can purchase this from Superdrug. Thought I'd share this all with you as it's been a while since I've tried a less known product that I really love straight away. Have a lovely day! 

teapigs Matcha Green Tea Challenge - Review + Giveaway

I've been trying hard to become healthy recently with regards to food, drink, and exercise. So when teapigs invited me to take part in the Matcha Challenge, I knew it would be perfect. I was sent the Modern Matcha Kit* which includes a shot glass, spoon, frother, and a tin of teapigs matcha. 

Most people are aware of the great health benefits that come from drinking green tea such as increased metabolism, more alertness, and more energy. So what makes this different? Well, this organic matcha is a powder or, more specifically, ground tea leaves so you reap the full benefits of them. With tea bags, you end up chucking away the tea leaves once you've brewed them for a few minutes.

One serving of teapigs organic matcha is supposedly equal to 15 cups of normal green tea! That's amazing! Think of all the anti-oxidants!

Onto the science-y stuff which I love, matcha contains an amino acid called L-thanine. This helps to reduce stress, increase focus, and release energy slowly. So put down that coffee which will give you a high before knocking you back down again. Instead, reach for matcha!

There are many ways to take your daily shot of matcha and it's best to mix it up a bit so you don't get bored of the taste. It's not the tastiest thing around but you can make it nicer by consuming it in different ways. Here are the 2 ways that I took my matcha shots most often. 

Matcha with milk - This is how I took my very first teapigs matcha shot! I used semi-skimmed milk for this. It was the first time I'd used an electric frother and I kept it on for a little bit too long. Most of it turned into froth, as you can see from the photo, and I was only left with a tiny bit of milk but it was still easy to consume. It wasn't the nicest drink ever but I didn't feel like I needed a drink to wash the taste away afterwards. I got the hang of the frother the second time around!

Matcha with apple juice - This seems to be a popular choice and I had to give it a go as I do love apple juice. I wouldn't go as far as saying this tasted nice, but I tried my best to just focus on the taste of the apple juice rather than the matcha powder. Mind over matter and all that! I was surprised at how green it went! This is the way I've been consuming my daily matcha most often.

The results? In terms of my energy levels, it wasn't majorly noticeable until I was still wide awake late at night. I think I'm just really sensitive to any form of caffeine so I do tend to avoid it unless it's green.... It got better as the weeks went on though. If you're not a massive caffeine prude like me, you won't have that problem. The big difference for me was I felt that my skin really improved and my complexion looked much brighter than usual. Green tea is known to flush out all the bad stuff in your body so I do think it's had a great effect on my skin. I doubt I'll be taking matcha shots daily every single month as I don't think my body can handle the caffeine, but I'll most likely be doing a month of matcha shots once every 3 months as a bit of a detox.

DISCOUNT CODE
teapigs have kindly offered my readers a discount code. Enter Linda at checkout for 10% off items on the website. (This excludes the modern matcha kit and any offers.)

GIVEAWAY
teapigs have also given me another Modern Matcha Kit to give away to one of my readers, so you can reap the health benefits of this product too. This includes a pot of matcha, an electric frother, a shot glass, and a spoon.

This giveaway is open to people in the UK only.

To enter, you must be follow my blog via bloglovin'. All other entries are optional.
Entries are to be made on the Rafflecopter form below.
This giveaway will run for 2 weeks.

A winner will be picked within 7 days of the giveaway finishing, and their name will be displayed on the widget below. 

If false entries are found, another winner will be chosen. 

The winner will be contacted via email and will have 72 hours to respond. 

Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway prize supplied to me from teapigs.

Mio Destino Lingerie

Lingerie. I think there are two camps when it comes to lingerie. Some females don't really care too much about it as long as it fits, and others will happily spend hours browsing in the high street lingerie stores.

I'm someone who loves to indulge in pretty underwear and I like to make sure it matches too. I love the feeling of going out in a smart outfit, knowing that what's underneath is just as smart. It makes me feel put-together and more confident. Anyone else feel like this?

This beautiful package from Mio Destino did not disappoint. They were kind enough to let me choose a set from their website so I opted for the Swan Lake White & Black Bra* and, of course, the matching Swan Lake White & Black Brief*. I love lace but I hate those all-lace bra and brief sets, I guess I'm just not keen on the look and feel of them. This, however, has just the right amount of lace for my liking.

Comfort comes before style for me, always. The bra is extremely comfortable and the back has a decent amount of stretch in it. The brief is just as comfortable, and it has a mesh back which offers full bottom coverage, something that is so important to me!

Priced at £39.99 for the bra, and £19.75 for the brief, this certainly isn't cheap but the quality is great. Whilst I'm unlikely to fill my entire lingerie drawer with Mio Destino pieces, I will be investing in a few more later in the year because their pieces are so beautiful and different to what I've seen lurking on the high street. 

Ever since La Senza closed down, and then re-opened as a "new" La Senza, things just haven't been the same and I've been struggling to find a new place to splash the cash on lingerie. I think that Mio Destino may have just stolen my heart. 

What are your thoughts?

The Body Shop - Early-Harvest Raspberry

I used to be obsessed with The Body Shop ever since one of the in-store consultants offered me some samples and a discount voucher. I was well and truly drawn in. One of the very first products that I bought was the Raspberry Body Butter and I was gutted when I could no longer find it in store. 

Lately, my obsession with The Body Shop appears to have restored itself and I was so happy to hear that the Raspberry range was back! They seem to be treating it as a new launch rather than a re-launch as they've rebranded it as "Early-Harvest" Raspberry. I'll be honest, it seems like the original Raspberry but I guess a jazzed-up name makes it easier to market. I think they've added some extra products to the range this time round too as I only recall seeing the body butter and body scrub all those years ago.

Once I spotted the products on the website, I realised that I couldn't wait for them to be available in store. So a couple of clicks later, I was awaiting my parcel. 

Body Butter - Of course, I had to pick up the Raspberry Body Butter. This was one of the products that made me fall in love with The Body Shop all those years ago. As soon as I opened up the tub and gave it a sniff, it brought back so many memories. It still smells absolutely divine! It's so fruity and smells just like raspberry yoghurt! It's a 24 hour body butter designed for dry skin so it's super hydrating. The texture is wonderfully soft and smooth and it glides on easily. The Body Shop body butters are a little different in texture from range to range but this is definitely one of the smoother formulas, similar to that of the Mango Body Butter. I prefer to use this at night to let it soak into my skin. It's sometimes a little too thick if it's quite warm in the morning. And that's what the next product is for!

Body Lotion - I think this is a new product as I don't remember there ever being a Raspberry body lotion. I've only recently started using body lotions again as I find that they're more practical when the weather is a little warmer. I love the pump top, it makes after-shower application more efficient and it's perfect if you're in a rush or feeling a bit lazy. This body lotion smells exactly like the body butter (i.e raspberry yoghurt) but it has a lighter texture. It's also much cheaper than the body butter so it's a good choice if you don't want to splash out. I love using this in the mornings.

Eau De Toilette - This is the product that I was most excited about. I don't normally buy EDTs unless they're from actual perfume brands but I couldn't resist the thought of a Raspberry fragrance! I actually quite like this. Probably best not to sniff it unless it's dried off a bit but, once it has, it smells very raspberry like with a hint of sweetness to it. The scent does wear off extremely quickly though but I don't mind. I like my fragrance to be subtle so I'd rather re-apply constantly than have something that's overpowering which I can't control. 

Overall, I love this range and I'm so glad to see the delightful Raspberry products back in my life again! All the Raspberry products seem very consistent in scent so if you like one of them, you'll probably like the rest. They also do a body scrub which is very jam-like which I remember loving but I prefer the Mango Body Scrub. There is also a Raspberry Shower Gel that I might add to my collection at some point.

Does the Early-Harvest Raspberry range take your fancy?

Being Grateful

I'll be the first to admit that there are times when it's easy to complain about things that really mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. It's just human nature, and perhaps to do with how society has changed. 

If you've been keeping up with the news, you'll be well aware of some of the tragedies that  have been going on in the world, with Asia being hit quite hard by it. You'll know that there was a Malaysian Airliner that went missing a few weeks ago with over 200 passengers on board and still hasn't been found. More recently, a ferry capsized in South Korea, and hundreds of people lost their lives. Let's not forget to mention what the families of those victims must be going through right now. 

Life can be short. It's time that we all started being more grateful for what we have and stop taking things for granted. Being grateful makes us appreciate the positives in our life and it highlights what's really important.

Focus on what you do have and WHO you have. 

Be thankful. Be thankful for the roof over your head, your health, the people who brought you up, the water you drink, the hand you hold.

SAY "thank you" more often. Those two little words can put a massive smile on someone else's face, which will then make you smile too.

Make sure your loved ones KNOW that you care. Don't be afraid to show how much you care.

Think twice before complaining about something. You may find that things aren't that bad after all.

Stop waiting for tomorrow, or next month, or next year. Every day is a gift that is denied to many. I'm not saying that you shouldn't plan for the future, but you should never dismiss today. 

Every day, remind yourself of what you're grateful for. You can think about it in your head, write it down, or even stick little post-it notes in your bedroom as a constant reminder.

In the hustle and bustle of modern day life, I still try my best to be grateful every day. Whenever I'm feeling down, I focus on all the great things in my life and all the great people in my life. 

I really hope you've enjoyed this post. Do let me know your thoughts. What are you grateful for today?