Turning 26 // Gift Gratitude & Lush Haul

Last Wednesday I celebrated turning 26. I was woken up by my Springer Spaniels who had come to stay, served breakfast in bed (spicy guacamole on toast washed down with Bucks Fizz) my boy took me for a wonderful lunch, we stopped by the Bombay Sapphire Gin Distillery, and finished off the evening snuggling on the sofa in our candlelit living room with wine and Beauty and the Beast (my choice, in case you couldn't tell!) It was the perfect day, despite torrential rain that didn't stop once - as it was the first birthday celebrated in our new home I really wanted a chilled day that still felt special which was exactly what I got.

Since having our own place I have really tried to focus on avoiding accumulating too much clutter and try only to buy necessary or really special items. I still love shopping, but I try to do it far less, and have adopted a one-in-one-out policy with my wardrobe. Shifting to this approach meant that receiving birthday gifts felt particularly special this year. Lately I've been partaking in Adventures of Jade's #GratitudeIsYou Instagram tag which involves 10 days of listing things you are grateful for - big or small, things that make you happy. I've really enjoyed this approach and wanted to put together a gift gratitude post to share some of the lovely things I received for my birthday which made me so happy and I'm so incredibly grateful for.

My friends and family know me well - I've been obsessed with Lush products LONG before my transition to veganism/cruelty-free beauty, but thankfully Lush are cruelty-free with many vegan products. (I haven't researched whether all items pictured here are vegan, but I believe the majority are - I will confirm this in individual reviews on any products so please let me know if you want feedback on any specific items, and see my cruelty free stance for reference of how I am planning to transition.)

As somebody that thinks everything is better in black I was lucky enough to be given THREE of the new Metamorphosis bath bombs to try. I used to be into Lush's sweeter scents, a true Snow Fairy addict, but now I'm far more into their muskier, earthier, more magical fragrances and I'm hoping Metamorphosis will be a suitable replacement for Yoga Bomb (my favourite ever Bath Ballistic which I am still devastated they discontinued.) I received some amazing rose fragrances too, another favourite of mine: the Rosie gift box which contains Rose Jam shower gel usually only available at Christmas, and Rose Lollipop lip balm. The lip balm was part of a tailor made knot wrap gift selected for me by my boyfriend's dad and partner and also contained (amongst many other treats) the Marilyn hot oil treatment which I'm so excited to try as a lover of the old-style Marilyn hair treatment, as well as Daddy-O and Sugar Daddy-O which should all be amazing for my blonde hair!

I also was given lots of wonderful presents not from Lush. I received the Body Shop Banana Shampoo and Conditioner from a good friend, which smell wonderful (though it is worth noting that these contain honey as I know the mask from the same range does not) and some more rose fragranced goodies. My girlboss friend Harley sent me some STUNNING jewellery: she knows how much of a sucker I am for flashy Labradorite and ornate silver jewellery. I was given several books and Yankee Candles (which yay, are vegan!) I bought myself a book on Hygge which had been on my wishlist for ages and received the BEST wizard cats bedding: the kittens on it look just like my magical Mr Mistofolees - at least, before he grew up into a full-blown tiger. Finally, my boy gave me the most incredible faerie skirt which I wore on my birthday - he'd wrapped it up in fabric which can be reused rather than discarding paper which was so thoughtful and another reason I adore him. (Excuse the old-school blogging style "outfit photo" but the weather was so wet and miserable there was no chance of getting any half-decent shots of it!)

All in all I had the most wonderful day and I'm filled with gratitude for where I'm at and optimism about this coming year. When you reach your mid-twenties things start to get scary as it feels like everything gets a bit too real and you have to be a 'real adult.' It's so easy for us to discount what we have achieved and fixate on areas we are lacking in. Of course, self-development is so important but right now I'm trying to be proud of what I have achieved for myself and set goals for areas that can be worked on. If you join in with the #GratitudeIsYou challenge I'd love to see your posts, and you can follow my little journey on Instagram @doodleheart.