Pura Cosmetics is an amazing local beauty products business, specialising in lip care. They started out in the 'I Know I Can' Challenge, a local entrepreneur competition for schools and colleges, but have continued on the business and grow and progress to where they are now. I was very lucky in being gifted some lip balms and lip scrubs from Pura and also was given another one of their scrubs when I attended the Lucy May Lingerie Launch Party, receiving it in a goody bag along with other items and cards.



When I was first sent their products, I received a Strawberry Daiquiri lip balm, Fruits of the Forest lip balm, Revitalising Raspberry lip scrub and a Sex on the Beach lip scrub, plus the extra one I got was the Classic Coconut. They all smelt delicious! It really put a smile on my day when I recieved them, along with a hand-written note about them and with some leaflets and cards. However I was actually late in receiving them as I had missed the delivery and then didn't get through to the post office til almost 2 weeks later! So on a little side note, it would have been great if the box was the size to fit through my letterbox ha!



I'm not a big beauty regime sort of gal, but I found fitting this into my routine incredibly easy! The lip scrubs are like a 30 second job, seriously! Buff out the scrubs either with your finger or any brush of your choice and then rinse off. Then apply on some of the lip balms in an array of gorgeous smelling flavours. As a matter of fact, I have these products spread all round my house. One of the lip balms stays in my hand bag, another in my bathroom along with a scrub and then a couple more scrubs spread about for whenever I feel like my lips need some care.



I love the presentation of the products, the pink labels really stand out and I like the added details on the Cocktails range with the little cocktail symbols. The fonts used and how they are matched well the the flavours makes it nice and clear what product you are buying. The size of the pots and just right, the lip balms in little plastic tubs and the scrubs in capped jars, meaning they can fit anywhere in any space.



The business and products are built on a great foundation, all products being 100% cruelty-free and vegan certified, whilst still being EU cosmetic tested and complaint certified. They are also an award-winning business, winning the I Know I Can Competition, The Jacqueline Gold Women In Business Award, Pride of Barnsley Start-Up of the Year and the Theo Paphitis' Small Business Sunday Award. How amazing is all that!



I 100% recommend these products and I already know many other people that have their products amongst their beauty regime. I'm excited to see what other ranges they will come up with! Like their facebook page: www.facebook.com/PuraCosmetics and order their items from their website here: www.puracosmetics.co.uk

The Cudworth Bunny Trail is a fun a activity for anyone who's wanting to explore the Barnsley village of Cudworth. Set up by owners of The Wishes Card Shop, it was a way to help connect the independent shops and get more customers to visit them. The idea is there's 9 bunnies hiding within 9 different shops on the main high street, people go round collecting stickers from each shop once they have spotted the elusive bunny, once they collected them all, return to the Wishes shop to receive a little prize.



It has been going since the 19th of June and finishes 30th September, with other smaller activities with it along the way. Their most recent one was a bunny colouring competition where you received a bunny cutout and had to imaginatively colour it in, in order to win an Itty Bitty toy from Wishes.




The Bunnies are hidden in 9 shops up and down the main high street, Four Seasons, Buttercups Florist, Katie Newsam Fashion, Infinity Jewellers, Barnsley Animal Rescue Charity, The Co-op, Deacon's Superdec, Poppy's Cafe and Wishes. Each having their own different coloured bunny to find, some were hidden in shop window displays, some were hidden inside the shop. There were even a couple of them that hid it very well, whilst others made it very clear where to find it.



It was great when I visited the trail, I saw quite a few people dashing in and out of the shops to collect the different stickers. Both adults and children running around with their special leaflets and maps to find them, even some admitting they weren't even aware of some of the shops before doing the trail. This immediately showed that the scheme was working how it should be.



They are already planning another bunny trail next year, with the hopes of more shops getting involved and more activities to do along the way. This is all in aid of the #cudworthiscool campaign, to create more of a buzz around Cudworth and what it has to offer in Barnsley. Have you been to do the Bunny Trail?

Lucy May Lingerie is a brand new fashion company that creates beautiful handmade underwear. They had their official launch party June 24th at the Old Chemist in Barnsley town centre where they invited ladies who have been their first customers, brave women who have had boudoir photos taken with Masque Photography, friends and family, local bloggers and press.

The launch party was co-hosted with Katie Portman, writer and blogger of Pouting in Heels, Helen Booth of Masque Photography and owners of Lucy May Lingerie, Natalie & Paula. The scene of the launch party was the top floor of The Old Chemist bar near The Civic. It's the first time I had been on the top floor and was surprised at how lovely the room was, a glass roof, classic wooden beams, large hanging light bulbs and with a quirky bar, which were handing out glasses of champagne and serving cocktails. Around the room were examples of Helen's photography, featuring beautiful women of sensuous boudoir photography, as well as mannequins showcasing some of the lingerie. The room soon filled up to 50+ guests all here to support this great occasion.

I brought my mum with me as my plus 1 to this ladies-only event and sat on the second row near the front so I could take some great photos. However after about 5 minutes, Katie patted on my shoulder and mentioned bloggers and press have reserved seats on the front row, so we got bumped up! We felt rather special as it's the first time I'd been invited to a fashion show as a blogger and then was bumped to the front row. We also had our pictures taken by Charlotte Kaye of Charlotte Elizabeth Photography, who was there taking all of the professional photos of the show.


Katie opened the evening by making all of the introductions to Lucy May Lingerie, a brand that is based in the Sheffield/Barnsley area and that they are named after their Grandma. They were using the hashtag #Discoveranewyou for the evening, which all of the bloggers used amongst their social medias. Owner Natalie was then invited up to give a more in depth explanation of the brand, they had been on social media for the last 3 years as they have been building the business, using Lucy May as a persona, trying to portray a particular lifestyle. They put up a video showing what kind of things they've shared on their social medias, including inspirational photos, quote pictures, showing ladies to give themselves time-out, their inner-selves and escapism. After this, Natalie went into explaining the design processes, handmaking the underwear and more with a second video showing their photoshoot pictures, products that will be available purchase and the finer details.



The first fashion show begin with a group of beautiful women of different shapes, sizes and ages, in soft silk black robes, all carrying an array of Masque Photography's photo boards. Many of these photos were the women themselves carrying them, proving they were already brave bold ladies. They all had their make-up done by Masque Photography's team Make-up Artist, which looked amazing! And all had personal fittings with Natalie & Paula for their underwear. After this, the ladies were invited back out and stood in a line at the front and did a cheeky de-robe wiggle before strutting down the catwalk in the Lucy May lingerie. It was such a momentous moment for everyone to be here supporting these women who were beautiful and bold in their own way. I know I would never have the confidence to do what they did but I felt so inspired by their energy and was fully rooting them on! They were showcasing the Maybella range, all were detailed black lace with flashes of red florals. All looked similar but with different detailing like straps, cuts and styles.



After the show, they were invited back out and had a little interview with Katie, to talk about them feeling empowered and to appreciate their own beauty. You could feel the atmosphere as they were gleaming with pride of what they had just achieved. We also had an interview between Katie and Helen to talk about boudoir photography and what it can do for your own self-confidence, whether you'd want to prove something for yourself or for your significant other, but ensured the experience has bounds of positivity.



I left the party feeling lifted and proud of the ladies that had strutted their stuff, proving that ladies supporting ladies will always be the way to go! Lucy May Lingerie also offers fitting parties in your own home, where the party can go from the Old Chemist to your living room! All-in-all, the launch party was a great success and the company is growing daily. We can't wait to see how they progress!