Merry Christmas

Dear readers, I hope you all have a wonderful + magical Christmas day. Here's to good food, lots of bubbly and a joyous spirit of carefree fun & laughter... Stay blessed!

Illustration - www.samanthahahn.com

Tropical Body Luxuries

Through blogging I've been introduced to soo many wonderful beauty products. It's always wonderful to try out something pretty + new, but lets be honest, we all have our few, sometimes less expensive favourites. Like the smell of white Lux Beauty Soap, that will always remind me of my late grandma. Occasionally I would buy it, have a bath and think of all the child-hood hugs + love I got from her. She was such a lady...  

Now take a look at these lovely products that I'm currently using. I'm packing them all into my holiday toiletry bag - going camping soon, yay. Aand you know what that means, lots of yummy cocktails, my weakness! ;)  

Radox Body Wash - Sensual Spa. This glittery body-wash reminds me of that cute Sweetie Pie jelly at Lush. Sourced from the tropical rain forests in Madagascar, the soothing ylang ylang has been beautifully blended with fragrant lotus flower to rejuvenate body + mind. I feel so relaxed after using this, it's truly a "Sensual Spa" experience. Plus it's pink, girly and pretty! Every bottle of Radox contains a combination of essential oils and a secret blend of 13 herbs and minerals. This was R26 at Clicks.

Exclamation Dance - Coty. I once had the perfume when I was a student, so when I saw this deodorant body spray on the shelves at my local Spar, it brought back fond memories. I love the fruity punch of peach and apricot scent which reminds me of cocktails on a sunny island. The woody and powdery effects of sandalwood also leaves a smooth, beautiful trail on my skin. It's such a cheerful scent! I paid R23 for this lady at Spar.

Bela Body Butter - Chocolate Fragrance. This thick + heavenly body-butter smells divine... Sniffling it from the pot may at first be too intense. You may think, awe yuk, well that is until you feel the amazing rich texture on your skin and smell it afterwards. It becomes a dreamy exotic, hints of vanilla and coco-buttery scent that lingers on your skin throughout the day. I got two 250 ml pots for R15 each at Game. Very similar to the Body Shop's Chocomania body-butter, not as decadent, although I've been struggling to make up my mind...

Images - My own

Illustrator: Inslee Haynes

Today I'm showing of oh-so-pretty illustrations from Inslee Haynes a talented + super successful illustrator from New York City. Oh my gosh, what a life! She's so blessed and her blog takes my breath away.

Before we view beautiful images, did you know I'm about to venture into a new business? Yep, finally and at last I decided to turn my side hustle into this blog: Social Media Blooms - you will see that I'm still working on a few things, I just thought you should know and also I would obviously appreciate your support. ;) Any tips + advice... feel free to share. Also looking at doing a few guest post in the near future. But more about that later. Let's see the artist at work! :)

Inslee Haynes

"One of my very first memories is of being deeply frustrated that I had to use a brown magic marker to draw the mermaid I was working on… as opposed to the ideal purple marker I did not have. I also remember that I was wearing a diaper when this happened. So you could say I've been an artist for as long as I can remember.

I spent my childhood sketching constantly. In high school I studied fashion illustration during the summer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and in college I majored in Studio Art and Art History.

I founded Inslee By Design during my sophomore year at Washington & Lee University as an outlet for my love of illustration. I turned my sketches into a note card design business and ask my sorority sisters to help spread the news. That same winter I introduced my first yearly calendar… and the rest is history!

I now live in New York City where I paint, blog and sample the city’s vast selection of croissants one patisserie at a time."  -  Inslee Haynes 

 Christmas Time

 Thanksgiving

 Fierce

 Work

Eva Chen

She's sooo talented right? Visit her website over at: www.inslee.net

Illustrations - Inslee Haynes