LUSH Compounders On Tour

So it's only taken me 2 and a half weeks to upload the photos from my iPhone to my laptop, and I feel bad! This was a really fun experience, although short which was a little disappointing :(

I went to the Windsor store on July 5th and Jack and Brahim from the LUSH Factory were there to show us how to make the Sex Bomb Bath Ballistic.

They did the measuring and mixing for the purple and pink powder that is used to form the ballistic, then moved outside to give us all the chance to make our own ballistic. They used little plastic re-usable moulds to shape and dry the ballistic, once dry (after 24-48 hours) the mould is removed and re-used.

 First the little rice paper rose is placed upsidown in on of the halves of the mould.

 Then the top half is packed with purple ballistic powder.

Then the second half is overfilled with pink powder and the two halves pushed together hard, REALLY REALLY hard. The excess powder is pushed out of the sides of the two moulds to make the shape.

All done!

The powder is basically magic in that it glues to itself and dries that way, but if you don't get enough in and close the mould completely it won't stick. Kind of strange but it works. Now being me, I forgot to take a picture of it! However, there will be one tomorrow when I put up the first round of prizes for my giveaway, because it is part of the goodie bag!

Look forward to tomorrow ladies (and boys! I know you're there!), I can't wait!!

xoxo

Another LUSH Review - Footcare

Sorry for the all LUSH Reviews, they're the only products I have pictures of already that I've been testing lately!!

Since my marathon, it's fairly obvious that my feet are suffering! I decided to give them a good pampering with my LUSH Stepping Stone Foot Scrub and Fair Trade Foot Lotion. I've fallen in love with these, this is the second Stepping Stone that I've owned and I just love the scent!

Stepping Stone is almost like a bath bomb in texture and the way it reacts to water, but you get it wet on your skin instead of submerging it in water. It's incredibly moisturising, and really scrubs away any dry skin. I know that LUSH try to use as little packaging as possible, but my one issue with their paper wrapping and yellow bags is that any oil in the product will soak through these within a few hours. You can see this in the dark area on the label of the Stepping Stone scrub. I've found that by using a ziplock bag I can avoid any oil damaging any surfaces where I store my products. I recieved my first foot scrub in one of LUSH's ten pound boxes so that was definately good value for money, it normally retails at 2.75 which I think it great value. If you use this in the shower, you may not get more than one use out of it as it may crumble in the moisture. However, I used a home foot spa and kept the scrub dry and my feet wet and got 2-3 uses out of each one I bought.

So to sum up:

Price: Great value, even better in the summer beach box.

Product: Love it, love it, love it. It does exactly what it says it will.

Packaging: Not my favourite, but there's a solution to every problem.

I wasn't expecting a whole lot from the Fair Trade Foot Lotion, simply because I tested it on my hand instore and just didn't like the texture. When I got a sample pot in the summer beach box I figured I had to give it a try. And let me tell you.. paired with a scrub, it's incredible. Probably didn't feel so great on my hand since it's a foot cream. Again I have a packaging woe.. I just prefer pumps when creams are involved, and that's completely a hygiene thing. However, this is a trial size, so I'll let it go for now :) I've been using this at night over the soles of my feet and on any dry patches I find. Since it doesn't quite soak in straight away, I go to bed with sleeper socks on and wake up with soft, moisturised tootsies! A little goes a hell of a long way with this cream, so 7.95 for a 225g pot is amazing value. I can't see myself going through a pot of this too quickly, so it would be a great beauty investment. So pick yourself up a trial size, I think alone they're about a pound, so if you don't like it, it's not a massive loss. My feet feel sooooo soft, and since I'm a moisturiser nut, I love that!

Sum, sum, sum:

Price: Great option with the trial size, and good value on the pot. I do wish they did a 100g or smaller for travelling, etc.

Product: Definately better than I expected, comes up trumps on my recently tested!

Packaging: I love the amount of recycling that LUSH do, but I do wish there was a pump. I'm being a hygiene freak but it is a foot cream...

I'm going to carry on pampering myself with these for a while I think, at least until my foot cream is used up. I'd like to see the true long term effects before deciding to purchase a full size, I can always stick it in a pump bottle after all!

xoxo

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!

Update

Hi guys,

I just wanted to apologise for my lack of posting over the past few days. I'm helping to open a new restaurant in my town and it is somewhat time consuming! I promise I will be back. I'm headed into London on Wednesday, so my first HOTD and another FOTD to come from that. This weekend I'm walking a marathon overnight in Edinburgh and I hope to be Tweeting live from the walk (if my phone works there!!). And next week is the mine and the boyf's second anniversary, so lots coming up over the next week. I also have my final thoughts on what I've been using of the LUSH haircare proucts I picked up, I have to admit time has changed my opinions of a few!

FYI: I've been having some laptop issues recording videos, but I hope to have my first YouTube videos on the go soon! What do you all want to see?

Chat to you all on Wednesday,

Lora.

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

Full Skincare Routine with LUSH Mini Reviews

I've been debating posting this for a while. I don't know if the blogging world is ready to see my makeupless face! But I'm finally ready to take the plunge. I know I look super different in these photos, my hair is scraped out of the way and I look way weird without makeup!!

So.. here we go:

Just to show you how good my makeup remover is, here is the makeup I was wearing before I started.

And here's after makeup removal. I first gently peel off my lashes, then soak a cotton pad with Benefit's Gee, That Was Quick! I love this product becuase it will remove all traces of makeup including mascara, eyeliner, waterproof products, eyebrow pencil, lipstick, foundation, etc., etc. which is really important in your skincare routine.

 

After removing makeup, I used my Baby Face Cleanser from LUSH. This can also be used as a makeup remover, but I prefer to soley use it as a cleanser. This looks very oily in the photograph, because frankly, it is. You literally melt this onto your face from the bar, so it has an oily consistancy so it can melt onto your face. Once I have applied this I wet my hands and rub the product into my skin. I really can feel this getting into my pores and cleaning out all the dirt. I absolutely love this product as it leaves my skin feeling fresh and baby soft!

Next up I use Angels On Bare Skin, again from LUSH. I don't use this every night, but I usually do it at least every other day. It's one of those products you use when you just have that 'grubby' feeling. Hard to explain but I guess you guys know what I mean. I feel like this is a half and half cleanser and exfoliator, it sort of exfoliates but cleanses at the same time. This is really great for dry skin, I would recommend this to anyone who gets dry patches or just dry skin in general. Even if you change skin types with the weather, I'd say this is a great investment.

 About once a week I do a mask just to give an extra hydration boost. This is The Sacred Truth Fresh Face Mask, yet again from LUSH. This was a tester pot that I received instore but I got 2 or 3 uses from the pot. The first photo is right as the mask is applied, and the second photo shows 10 minutes later when the mask had dried. I like to let it dry completely and then rub and peel it off.  This gives me time to go get changed for bed and sort my room out so I can fall into bed as soon as I'm done! This really makes me feel like the dirt is being scrubbed away from my skin and I love it :)


After this I moisturize with Celestial (do you still need me to say it's from LUSH?!) which I recently bought a full sized pot of along with the full sized Angels On Bare Skin. I just love those products and so does my skin!!


I'm really loving LUSH's skincare range, I've noticed a real difference in my skin. I'm sure once I've used these products up I'll try some other things too!


What are your favourite skincare products?


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? :)

I Am Officially A Hopeless Addict!

After my post yesterday Ritalime commented that she really wanted to try some LUSH products, since they won't ship to where she lives. I emailed her and arranged to go get her some samples of the products she wanted to try. Since I was going into the shopping center anyway today I decided to pop into LUSH and pick up her samples. Naturally, being me, I had to pick up some more samples for myself too! I know I'm awful, but when a pot of moisturiser is like £25 I need to try A LOT before I buy.

Rita asked me to pick up samples of Fresh Farmacy antiseptic cleansing soap and Vanishing Cream moisturiser. Once she's recieved the products and used them, I'll see if she can do a little review for me so I can let you guys know how she gets on.

(I'm not going to open this, to show you what it looks like, for hygiene reasons because it's not for me)

I decided on getting Skin's Shangri La moisturiser and Oatifix fresh face mask samples, I want to work my way around the skincare range and find a few products I really, really like. I bought the Happy Blooming bath melt, I've been wanting it for aaaagggeeessss since I tried the You've Been Mangoed bath melt, so I can't wait to sit back in a bath with this and a face mask :)

I always make sure I but something (and it's something I want!) when I get samples, I'm not cheating them out of their products, I'm just trying to find the right products becuase my skin is in such a state.

Well I've go to go try to get those lip swatches done!

xoxo

LUSH and MAC Haul

So I'm sitting here munching on Cadbury's but wishing it was Hershey's reflecting on a somewhat successful, somewhat unsuccessful day of beauty shopping. I'm loving my LUSH and MAC goodies, but I'm actually really, really disappointed with the quality and performance of the YSL Gloss Volupte I purchased.

So I'll start with the bum-out performance of the YSL Gloss Volupte. I went to House of Fraser with the full intention of buying it as I had seen it on several blogs and loved the look of it. The sales assistant put the shade I chose on me (Shade 6) just to check I liked it, which I did, so I purchased it straight away. However, on my train journey homemy lips started to feel cakey and dry, which I was really suprised about given that she had raved about how moisturising the product was supposed to me. By the time I got home, all the 'gloss' was gone and I was left with ugly, dry, pinkish-reddy stained lips. All the colour had gathered in the creases in my lips and bled out to the edges, honestly making it look like I had cheap lipstick on. I didn't take a picture, I just couldn't get it off fast enough. I'll be returning this asap, all I can say is it may be just me, I've seen mediocre and rave reviews, but for £20.00 there's no way I feel it's worth that.

Well.. now that rant is out of the way:

I picked up a bunch of free samples at LUSH and bought a new cleanser that has been reccomended to me.I basically went in completely blind and took the advice of the sales assistant, I explained I had dry patches across my cheeks yet the rest of my face is reasonably oily. She put together a moisturiser, mask and exfoliator for me to try and I also purchased a full size cleanser/makeup remover.

So first of all, I just thought the little face was so damn cute! I can see why the call it Baby Face! I would have bought it just for that :) 

Lush say:

Natural butter bar for effective cleansing. It melts on the skin, so you can softly smooth it all over the bits that need cleansing (it’s an excellent make-up remover). Each smiling bar has four different natural plant butters in it to remove dirt and restore moisture. Its scent comes from toning tangerine oil and everlasting flower, which might grant you everlasting beauty.

I can't wait to try it :) and at £4.10 and the prospect that it looks like it will last for a while, if it works I'll say good value!
 

 

My first sample is The Sacred Truth face mask. This smells wonderful, and just from trying it in the shop for a few minutes, the back of my hand is silky smooth!


Lush say:

The truth is, we all need protection from ageing. The vital antioxidant action of wheatgrass, ginseng and green tea, enzymic fresh papaya, cleansing clays and nutritious butters, all combine to defend the skin. This mask delivers live, fresh, active ingredients, which enhance and revive the complexion. Apply to clean skin, avoiding the eye area. Leave for five to ten minutes, then rinse away with warm water. Keep chilled.

I think this will really compliment the other products I'm trying!

The Angels On Bare Skin cleanser and exfoliator is another product with a simply divine scent! The lavender flowers which help to exfoliate the skin envelope you in their aroma, and I'm a sucker for lavender.

Lush say:

Angelic and medieval cleansing wash with rose and lavender. Angels on Bare Skin is the Lush version of an expensive medieval skincare recipe. Rare, precious essential oils were first brought to Europe by the crusaders who encountered Arabian medicine. They were immediately banned by the church because their ability to alter states of mind was considered the devil's work! But the final result was Cosmetics 1, Church 0. Rose oil and lavender oil were discovered to do wonderful things for the skin, too. Almost a thousand years later you'd be hard pressed to find a better all round cleanser and exfoliator than Angels.

I really hope this works, because I really like the smell of this and I've never actually found an exfoliator that works and smells great!

My last sample is the Celestial moisturiser. This is the only one where I'm not so keen on the scent, it's okay, I'm not bothered by it, but it could be nicer.

Lush say:

Heavenly moisturiser to make sensitive skin happy. Although it’s true that some perfumes can irritate sensitive skin, like stronger spice oils, others are really good for preventing redness and reactions. Natural vanilla absolute is one of them. We use it in Celestial for its soothing effect and intoxicating scent. The dove orchid is used in Chinese herbalism to prevent inflammation; it is the only orchid with a delicate and delightful scent. Almond milk is also wonderful for calming the skin. So, there’s really no need to use an odourless skin cream when you can happily wear Celestial.

To be honest, I can't smell the vanilla at all. I love vanilla, all my bath products are vanilla, I know what it smells like, and this definately doesn't. I think the best ingredient is the almond milk simply because I can completely feel it working; even on the back of my hand, I can feel it calming my skin.




And this is a MAC haul I have been waiting for for a long time...

These colours are sooooo beautiful, I'm so glad I finally have them! And all the money from them goes to charity. I'm determined to collect all the Viva Glam colours and I think these are a good way to start! The swatches I've done don't do the shades justice at all, I promise I'll do some on my lips soon!

Viva Glam Gaga; Viva Glam Cyndi

They both look really sheer in the photo, and this was only about 2-3 swipes, but they aren't as sheer as they look, but they are buildable. I'd be worried if they weren't because of the intensity they have in the promo shots. I'll be trying these out over the next few days for sure!

I also wanted to try out a new foundation, I just got a sample of Studio Sculpt to try over the next few days to see if I like it. I got NC15 (pale, pale, pale I know!) for my face and NW25 to contour and bronze.

So far I like them, they're much better for my current dry skin condition so I hope it lasts!


Well, that's all for tonight folks!


xoxo