LUSH Review - Cynthia Sylvia Stout & American Cream

This week I used another shampoo and conditioner from my LUSH samples.

I decided to use Cynthia Sylvia Stout and American Cream, a combination recommended by my local LUSH team :)

I'm told Cynthia Sylvia Stout is a shampoo designed for brown hair and it's made with beer which is supposed to make your hair shiny and glossy. This is the part of this shampoo I absolutely love. My gran used to tell me how she would rinse beer through her hair to get shine and gloss, and now I can see why! My hair dries beautifully frizz free (which is not normal!). This shampoo doesn't lather up like a normal shampoo, there are bubbles but nowhere near to the extent of a 'normal' shampoo I quite like this as I feel like the product gets all the way through my hair, which is saying something because I have THICK hair. Sometimes it takes me 2 shampoos to get my hair clean, simply because I don't manage to get the product through and into the roots and mid-lengths, but after one shampoo and rinse (and with very little effort) my hair was squeaky clean :) I am definately planning to purchase this shampoo in a 100g size as I would like to try it for about a month to see if it really makes a difference to my hair over time :)

I also used American Cream, and I'm a bit disappointed because, as with Veganese, I felt it was just a bit average. I can't say it was amazing, because to get it through my thick hair, I had to use the whole sample pot, which it actually a lot of conditioner. This is simply because it didn't spread and felt more like a hair mask than a conditioner. My hair was soft and smooth after using this, but I can't help but feel it was nothing special. I'm one of those people that I really have to love something to rave about it and I just haven't found a LUSH conditioner that I truly love. I would use both of these without complaint, they are not bad products, they just don't do wonders for me. If they are ever on offer to try I would buy them and give them another go, I might have just left them in the sample pots too long.

So far I'm loving the shampoos but the conditioners need further examination. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to get a 100g size of one and give it a full test run.. therefore I'm going to remain undecided.

What are your opinions of LUSH conditioners? Anyone recommend a great one?

xoxo

Sorry for the lack of new pictures, still confined to the 90s laptop!

LUSH Haircare and Buffy Review

Tonight I tried my LUSH BIG Shampoo and Veganese Conditioner. I got samples of these (see below) on my last trip to LUSH and I have to say I am very impressed.

So I'll start with BIG, and I've got to say, I absolutely adore the smell of this! My hair is super smooth and BIG after using this. I was nervous in the shower because my hair felt very tangly (is that a word?) and I couldn't seem to wash it all out yet I thought I hadn't used enough product. However, after conditioning with Veganese, combing through my hair and allowing it to air dry, I'm very pleased with the result. To me, Veganese didn't have any truly distinct smell, although this may be because it is overpowered by the sea salt smell. It served it's purpose of conditioning my hair without overdoing it. I'm not going to say it's the most amazing conditioner ever but I would use it again and most likely purchase a full size bottle.

I also tried my Buffy Body Butter in the shower tonight. This is a really lovely scrub, it smells divine!

This did it's job and I feel totally exfoliated and moisturized, my only issue was I felt almost.. over moisturized. This was purely down to the oily nature of this product, so if you already have oily skin, I wouldn't recommend this for you. To be comfortable I did feel like I had to remove some of the residual oil from my skin before getting dressed. I will use this again, but I probably won't repurchase, simply because I found it quite time consuming to get the amount of oil that was deposited onto my skin off again.

I know a lot of you have tried BIG, has anyone tried Veganese or Buffy?

xoxo

LUSH Haul - Great Deals and Haircare

I ummed and ahhhed over this deal for a few days before taking the plunge, but I figured it would be a great thing to feature on here and after some research I'm guessing there's about £15 worth of products in a box for £10. So I say DEAL! Naturally putting Lora in LUSH means samples, so I decided to get some hair products after being told by the sales assistant serving me that the haircare range is as good as if not better than the skincare range.

 So you get this cute little box for £10...

And you open it to find a cute beachy postcard

with the product descriptions on the back...

And under the postcard are your 6 products,

all full size except for the creams.

 First up: Buffy

LUSH say:

"Exfoliating scrub for your seating area. Use Buffy on wet skin, in the bath or the shower, to make you softer and smooth to the touch. Buff yourself all over, paying special attention to your backside if you would like special attention to be paid to it in future; rinse off the ground up exfoliating bits of rice, almonds and beans and pat yourself dry. There's no need for body lotion after a Buffy, because the cocoa and shea butters in it moisturise your skin beautifully. There's something about exfoliating your body that makes you feel bright and bouncy, as well as smooth all over. Slay that cellulite."

I've used Benefit's Sugar Scrub (I can't remember it's real name for the life of me!) before so I'm excited to see how this compares.

 Next up: Glorious Mud

LUSH say:

"Rub our dynamic, fizzy cube of rhassoul mud all over your body to cover and cleanse. The aloe vera extract is soothing, and the mix of sesame and vanilla will moisturise. Mask your whole body for smooth, soft skin that smells just like the delectable Crème Anglaise body lotion."

This was featured on the front of the Spring 2010 LUSH Times, so I've been wanting to give this a try for a while.

 Here we have: Stepping Stone

LUSH say:

"Everyone needs a Stepping Stone after an arduous day with your foot to the pedal. The green foot has the zesty You’ve Been Mangoed fragrance and punishing pumice to scrub away the rigours of life. Jojoba oil will moisturise dry skin without leaving them greasy and sea salt will treat them to plentiful minerals. Put your feet up and save your soles."

 

I'm going to need this over the next few weeks as my marathon training intensifies!!

 

 Not quite sure about: A Token To The Forest Gods

LUSH say:

"Our tokens to the forest deities are green, fizzing toner tabs with uplifting grapefruit, sweet orange and neroli oils. Drop into a bowl of hot water and enjoy the sharp, citrusy blast of oils. Your face will be toned, refreshed and a little closer to the divine."

 

Maybe you use these like a steamer? Hot water and a towel over your head? I'm not sure, but I guess now is a good time to try!

 

And last but not least: Ultralight and Fair Trade Foot Lotion

LUSH say: 

"Protective moisturizer to look after all skin types. Ultralight gives you a two-in-one: a moisturiser with sun protection. It has all the antioxidant rich seaweed, aloe, St. John's wort and myrrh we can cram into it to prevent free radicals ageing your skin before it's ready. The ingredients with the long names are synthetic sunscreens. Use it whenever the sun shines. SPF 10 low."

and

"Minty revitalisation for feet with fairly traded cocoa butter. Pink and perky, one mightily minty cream for your feet, which also helps to ease the abuse they get when trapped in shoes all day. We use both spearmint and peppermint essential oils to relieve aches and cool hot feet again. Arnica and marigold herbs take away the weariness and get your feet ready to wear your highest heels or to be seen naked and proud of it."

I'm always up for trying products (especially foundation and moisturizer) with SPF so I'll give Ultralight a good shot on the sunnier days, and I'll be pairing the Fair Trade Foot Lotion with the Stepping Stone scrub.

I also picked up some haircare samples:

American Cream, Veganese, Rehab Shampoo, Big Shampoo and Cynthia Sylvia Stout

I figured since I've been using my curren shampoo since the start of last summer I should make a change, hopefully for the better! I'll be letting you all know how I get on.

I just bought the full sized pot of Celestial as my sample pot convinced me, but since I'm still getting the occasional dry patch I'm still on a hunt for my super-dry-fixer moisturiser so I picked up a sample of Imperialis.

I think my skin just likes being awkward, so I'm just going to keep sample testing until I find my solution!

That's all for now! Hope everyone's week is going well!

xoxo

p.s. I won a virtual £1,000,000 tonight playing along with The Million Pound Drop on Channel 4! Check out the top name on here:

Just a tad amusing huh? :)