The Lush Tag | Lisa's Beauty Spot

The Lush Tag

Hi there everyone! I was tagged to do The Lush Tag by the lovely Laura at LauraLikesBeauty - Thank you for the tag my lovely! As lots of you (including Laura) may know, I am a HUGE Lush fan! Their products are great for me, as the majority of them are fantastic for my skin problems. They don't make my skin flare up at all!

Firsts

First Lush Bath Bomb:

My first ever bath bomb was the Twilight Bath Bomb. I was looking for something to help me relax at night, and the lovely staff in the Westfield Stratford store. (The first store I ever visited) You can read my post about there Twilight Bath Bomb here.

First Lush Bubble Bar:

My first bubble bar was The Comforter. I was drawn to it by its bright colour and beautiful blackcurrant smell. 

First Lush Massage Bar:

My first massage bar was Soft Coeur. I was drawn to it by it's beautiful chocolate smell. It's deeply moisturising and is a heart shape. 

First Lush Kitchen Item:

I haven't used a Lush Kitchen item.

First Lush Shower Gel:

My first Lush shower gel was Snow Fairy. I bought a big bottle of it for Christmas 2014.

First Lush Shower Jelly:

The first shower jelly I tried was Whoosh! I love the citrus smell!

First Lush Face Mask:

The first mask I used was Cupcake. I love the smell, and how soft my hand felt after trying it. 

First Lush Soap:

The first Lush soap I used was Honey I Washed The Kids. I love the fresh, caramel smell!

Twilight Bath Bomb

Favourites:

Favourite Lush Bath Bomb:

My favourite bath bomb is actually Twilight, I love how it relaxes me before bed, I love the smell and I love how soft my skin is when I come out of the bath!

Favourite Lush Bubble Bar:

Once again, the same as my first it is The Comforter! I love the smell and the huge bubbles you get from it, I can get at least four uses out of it as well!

Favourite Lush Massage Bar:

I love Yes Yes Yes! I love how deeply moisturising it is, and how beautiful it smells. (Very floral - the Jasmine stands out the most!)

Favourite Lush Kitchen Item:

I will have to try something from the Lush Kitchen, and let you know!

Favourite Lush Shower Gel:

To this day, Snow Fairy. I stock up on it throughout the year so I have enough to last me until it comes out again for Christmas... I then stock up once again! 

Favourite Lush Shower Jelly:

Definitely has to be Happy Blooming Jelly! I love the cherry smell! It smells like a Bakewell tart!

Favourite Lush Fresh Mask:

That would have to be Man In The Mushroom Mask! (It's an Oxford Street Exclusive)

Favourite Lush Soap:
My favourite Lush soap is definitely Honey I Washed The Kids. It'll always be my favourite, it doesn't dry my skin out at all!

I tag everyone who reads this to do this blog post, it's really fun! Thank you to Laura for tagging me!

Thank you for reading!

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Lisa ♥

Flight from London Heathrow to Miami International Airport - Virgin Atlantic Upper Class | Lisa's Beauty Spot

Flight from London Heathrow to Miami International Airport - Virgin Atlantic Upper Class - 21st January 2016

Taken by Mark Fox

Hey guys! I'm away in Florida for two weeks and I figured it would be a fantastic opportunity to write my first travel blog! Virgin Atlantic is my favourite international flight carrier and I've flown with them since 2010, I've flown to New York and Florida. We booked this trip in early January.

We were all booked for the 21st January 2016. Our flight was at 13:15pm. Boarding started at 12:15pm. The flight gonna be around 10 hours. 

We arrived at Heathrow Airport early in the morning, it was freezing cold and really packed. This is Terminal 3, this is where Virgin and Delta passengers check in. We checked in and then headed down to security. We got through security quickly, and then headed down to Duty Free. 

There are so many shops in Duty Free. A full list of everything there can be seen here. ranging from MAC to Rolex to even a Post Office. You could spend the whole day here and miss your flight! I was good and saved my money! Next time I go through however, I don't think I'll be so good! 

Our flight was the VS005 to Miami at 13:15pm. We were at Gate 16, once you go through to the Gates there's literally nothing to do, so make sure you have everything you want to buy before heading over there. Make sure you have a bottle of water with you, walking through airports is exhausting work!

Here is our plane! The brand new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. The registration of our plane was G-VNEW and her name... Birthday Girl! She's Virgin Atlantic's first ever Dreamliner! 

I was really hoping to fly on G-VCRU which is called Olivia Rae. There is a very sad story behind the name of this particular plane. Virgin Atlantic Air Steward Quinton Garrathy who was sadly killed when he was hit by a car in St Lucia on the 3rd August 2014. His wife is also cabin crew with Virgin Atlantic, and he had a three month old daughter named Olivia Rae. The plane was named after his daughter, in his memory. 

When I heard about this story, I was very emotional. I really want to fly on Olivia Rae, even if it's just the once.

We boarded at 12:30pm, our take off was smooth.

There were taken just after takeoff!

Views over Hounslow

Crossing over the Atlantic

The bed in Upper Class

Beautiful views of snowy Montreal and Quebec, Canada. 

  

  

Flying over the coast of New York

We were very lucky when we landed, we were allowed to go into the cockpit, and actually sit in the Captains seat! It was really awesome, and very surreal! I was nervous (And you can see that in my face!) 

The flight time was just under ten hours, there was no turbulence, the Captain didn't turn the seatbelt signs on once during the flight!

I have a YouTube vlog of this flight, which can be viewed here - 

Thank you for reading!

Please follow me on Twitter

Lisa ♥ 

Lupus Diagnosis: UPDATED! | Lisa's Beauty Spot

Lupus Diagnosis

Hello lovelies! This post is going to be something very different, and something I wanted to share with you, and to try and spread some awareness. Tuesday 16th February 2016 (One day after my 22nd Birthday) I'd made an appointment to pick up some blood tests I'd had back in January. I've been having quite a lot of blood tests done recently, to try and get to the bottom of a wide variety of symptoms I've been having for quite a while. 

My appointment was at 3pm. I arrived about 20 minutes early, and it felt like an eternity. When my doctor finally called me in, her face told me everything I needed to know. She looked sad, and didn't smile or look me in the eyes when I walked through the door. I sat down and told her I was here to pick up some blood test results, she replied "Yes, I've just been taking a look" my last set of blood tests the doctors didn't even have them up and waiting, so I knew something was there. She asked me how I was that day, I told her I've been sore and really tired, but was in reasonably good spirits as I had just celebrated my birthday the day before. She then told me I'd had a positive result for Lupus, and she wanted to refer me onto a Rheumatologist as soon as possible. I froze, I went numb. 

She asked me did I have any questions... I probably had a million questions but I was too numb. I was then told I had to go for another blood test in 12 weeks time. (10th May) She wished me good luck, gave me my prescriptions and I went to the pharmacy to pick them up. I was in shock, I was thinking "how could this happen?! I'm 22, I'm so young" but it does...

For all those readers who don't know what Lupus is, it is an auto immune disease with a wide range of symptoms ranging from mild to life threatening. There are also lots of different forms of Lupus, I'm unsure which form I have - but the symptoms I have would tell me I have Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) which can affect the joints, skin and internal organs. I currently have no organ damage, but I have to have regular blood tests to keep an eye on this. Lupus affects around 15,000 of the UK population, so it is very uncommon. 90% of cases occur in women. There is no cure, but medications out there that you can take to help relieve the symptoms. 

A few decades ago, SLE was considered a terminal condition, today however, when it is caught early, the outlook is a lot better, and a lot of people diagnosed can live fairly normal lives, with a normal or near-normal life expectancy. It is not curable, but it is treatable. 

The symptoms I experience include:

• Joint and muscle pains
• Butterfly shaped rash across my cheeks and nose, sometimes all over my face during a flare up
• Fatigue
• Migraines
• Mouth ulcers all the time
• Difficulty sleeping
• High temperature
• Sensitivity to light
• Depression
• Swollen glands  

Lupus is an invisible illness, if you were to see me walking down the street you probably wouldn't be able to guess that I'm ill. I was more than likely born with it, it's not contagious, but I won't be able to give blood. 

The photo quality isn't great, but this is my rash on a typical day. It can be quite itchy, my skin peels and is very flaky.

The light makes this look a lot less worse, but this was one of the worst flare ups I've had. My skin felt like it was on fire or like I'd rubbed battery acid all over my face, nothing soothed it. I tried antihistamines, aloe vera cream, ice packs and drinking lots of water. It took hours to calm down. My chin was the worst, as you can see in the picture. It went a dark pink colour, and very blotchy - like the rest of my face.

My hair and eyebrows are thinning slightly, which is a symptom but nothing really noticeable, which I'm grateful for. Thank god for eyebrow palettes! 

  

I had my first Rheumatology appointment on the 20th April 2016 at Addenbrooks Hospital in Cambridge. It's been suggested that I'll need to go for blood tests every six to twelve weeks to keep an eye out for organ damage, which I haven't got at the moment. It's something that will need to be checked on regularly, so if it does happen it can be caught early. My first appointment went very well, we discussed symptoms and I was properly diagnosed, and began treatment: I was prescribed Plaquenil (Hydroxychloquine) 

Plaquenil is an anti-malarial drug. You take one tablet twice a day after meals. They begin working after around six months, so I'm not feeling the effect of them yet. 

I had my next Rheumatology appointment on 30th June 2016, and I also had an Ultrasound appointment on 3rd June 2016, for my shoulder. This came back reasonably normal so I've got to have physiotherapy on it. 

I also found out I have Lupus SLE and I was also diagnosed with Anti-Phospholipid Syndrome, which is sometimes known as APS or Hughes syndrome, is a disorder of the immune system that causes an increased risk of blood clots. This means people with APS are at greater risk of developing conditions such as: deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a blood clot that usually develops in the leg arterial thrombosis (a clot in an artery), which can cause a stroke or heart attack blood clots in the brain, which can lead to problems with balance, mobility, vision, speech and memory.

APS is an autoimmune condition. This means the immune system, which usually protects the body from infection and illness, attacks healthy tissue by mistake. It's very similar to Lupus, in that respect. A lot of people with Lupus also have APS. 

Thank you for reading!

Please follow me on Twitter

Lisa ♥