Lush Salt And Peppermint Bark Scrub

 

I shared in my most recent Lush haul that I picked up Salt and Peppermint Bark - a body scrub packed full of salt, peppermint oil and cocoa butter. I love peppermint scented body products and I love body scrubs, so I was really excited to try this and finally got around to doing so.

 

Salt and Peppermint bark feels a little more oily to the touch but puts me in mind of Sugar Scrub, which is another solid type scrub from Lush. Due to Sugar Scrub dissolving so easily when it touches water and reading to use Salt and Peppermint bark on damp, not wet, skin I was a little apprehensive it would dissolve and fall apart in the same way. I would definitely say you need to be careful with it, after using it on my arms and legs I could feel it starting to break up and it lost some of its shape but it seems to have dried okay and I'm hoping to get at least another 3-5 uses out of it. 

It feels really good on your skin and depending on how much pressure you use, you could get both a gentle or rough scrub (unlike Sugar Scrub which I found scratched my skin if I wasn't gentle enough). Since it's a bar you can rub it into an area of your skin and get a really good scrub with out the salt instantly dissolving, which is something I look for in a scrub; I hate when the gritty bits of whatever I'm using disappear before I have a chance to really exfoliate my skin. It smells refreshing and I love the mint scent. I know a product smells good when I find myself sniffing my arms after I'm out of the shower and dressed which is exactly what I did with this.

Would I buy it again? If it was cheaper.. At £5.95 I think it's too expensive for a product that may dissolve right in your hands during the first use if you aren' careful with it. I also only see myself getting a couple more uses ou of it which is a shame because I had high hopes for this scrub!

Have you tried Salt and Peppermint bark?

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Shopping My Stash [Empties]

 

I'm sure that just like me you all have a bunch of products which kind of just sit there waiting to be used right? I'm a self confessed lip balm junkie and over the past year or so I have made little collections of these things. In particular I seemed to have more lotions and lip balms than anything else, so I set a task for myself recently to use up some of my products before allowing myself to buy anything new.  

Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter / I cheated a bit here, I've included this even though I didn't finish it. The more I used this product, the more I realised I just wasn't a fan of it (way too oily for my liking) and I really don't like how it smells. It had been sitting in my stash for so long it had turned a really pale yellow colour and so I decided to just get rid of it.

S&G No Clogs Allowed Face Mask / This is a self-heating face mask from Soap and Glory which I wasn't too crazy about either. I didn't see any improvements in my skin after using it and so I won't be repurchasing.

Dolce and Gabbana Light Blue lotion / This is the hand lotion that corresponds to their Light Blue perfume and I absolutely love the smell as well as the way this lotion sinks into your skin. I did notice towards the end of the tube though that is has plenty of parabens listed in the ingredients, so as much as I love it, I'm not in any hurry to get another one (I'm slowly trying to cut down on the amount of products I use that contain parabens).

Caudalie lip balms / Whenever I visit France, I always pick up one of these lip balms because I just love them. They're under 4 euros each but feel like the most luxurious balm I have ever used. Although I'm trying to cut down my collection, I already have two more of these sitting in their place ;)

You can read more on what I think about Lemony Flutter, No Clogs Allowed and the Caudalie lip balms by clicking the links.

What are the types of products that you seem to collect or need to whittle down?

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Friday Favourites!

Happy Friday! I haven't done a Friday Favourites in quite some time even though there have been lots of products that I have been really loving lately, so I thought I would share a few of them today.

I've been wanting to try out The Body Shop scrubs for the longest time now but they are particularly pricey (£13!) and I just haven't been able to justify spending the money. For my birthday last year though, my cousin gave me the mango gift set which included a body scrub along with a tub of mango body butter. This scrub has a pretty thick consistency (do they still sell them like this? Newer ones I have had are much runnier) and is full of lovely gritty, scrubby bits. I'm fussy when it comes to a scrub; I want it to stay gritty and not melt off into the water right away so I can really get a good scrub out of it and this one does just that. It has an almost artificial smell to me but it smells good none the less and although I really enjoyed using this but I still wouldn't fork out the full price. 

I can not believe I haven't already included this in a FF, I had to go back and check to make sure but it doesn't look like I have. I LOVE this stuff. I love how it smells, I love how it lathers and I love how it makes my hair feel. It's a bit pricey at £12.95 a tub but I just use it a couple times a week to really give my hair a deep clean and one tub lasts a decently long time. Does it make my hair 'big'? Eh, I don't really notice a big enough different to say that it does but as a general clarifying shampoo, it's amazing. The smell also transfers onto your hair really well and after I've used this, I just want to keep sniffing it! 

I've recently started using a few of the products from the Baylis & Harding Beauticology range, including this Marshmallow Frosting body butter. It smells to me like cherry yoghurts which I actually quite like but what impressed me the most about this body butter was it's drying time. It dries on your skin super quickly and doesn't leave it feeling greasy at all. Some of their products are also paraben free which has drawn me to the brand even more (although, check before you buy as it seems not all of their products are!)

Finally is Ultraviolet Bubblebar from Lush. I really like the colours of this one but the smell of this bubblebar is just amazing. The violet scent is really strong and I can't get enough of it. I've since bought a couple more of these because they are part of the Mother's Day collection so I know they won't be around for much longer! 

What products have you been enjoying recently?

I hope you all have a lovely Easter!

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Lush Shampoo Bars

A shampoo bar was one of the first items I ever bought from Lush (Seanik I believe). At the time I wasn't really too fussed by it but I recently decided to try the bars again and now I have a little collection of three!

New - This cinnamon and clove scented bar (which is what drew me to it - it smells amazing) aims to promote healthy hair by stimulating your scalp and boosting blood flow to the hair follicle.  It lathers up really nicely and my hair always feels clean after I've used it. Unfortunately though, the smell doesn't linger for very long in my hair which I wish it did.

Squeaky Green - With more of a herbal scent to it this one contains 'invigorating' cleansing herbs and essential oils to again stimulate your scalp and promote hair growth. I find the dried herbs in this one, that you can see in the picture, really snag and pull on my hair when I'm using it which is a bit annoying. I'm hoping they might soften over time/use.

Lullaby - This one has a really strong lavender scent, which I love but it again doesn't seem to transfer onto my hair. I really wish they did because these bars all have lovely scents. Lullaby also lathers nicely and it seemed to rinse out of my hair much easier than the other two.

You can use the bars by rubbing them in your hands first or just straight onto wet hair, which is what I do. Lush claim that they should last between 60-80 washes. I have found that after quite a few uses they haven't really changed much in size but I haven't completely finished one yet so I can't really comment on that! I don't really see much difference between the three (besides smell of course) and I don't feel they give my hair the same softness that a regular shampoo does but I do really like them. 

Have you tried any of the Lush shampoo bars?

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Lush Valentine's Day Haul

I couldn't resist but pop into Lush and pick up a few of the products from their Valentine's Day collection that was released last week.

Lonely Heart Bubblebar / Unicorn Horn Bubblebar / Floating Flower Bathbomb / Heart Throb Bubblebar

To be honest bubblebars aren't my favourite thing that Lush sell, so I was a bit disappointed that it seemed like this release had more bubblebars than anything else but as you can see, that didn't stop me from getting a few of them to try.

The only thing that I have used so far is the Prince Charming shower gel. To me it smells like Turkish Delight (the sweet, not the Lush body lotion), so I expected to see rose in the scent description but it isn't. The scent is described as grapefruit, sandalwood and geranium oils. Hmm. The shower gel itself is a lovely thick consistency that lathers up really nicely and you only need a tiny amount. I'm just not sure how much I like the smell..

Have you bought anything from the Valentine's Day collection?

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Friday Favourites!

Hey guys! Just super quick favourties from me this week since I haven't done one in while! 

First up is the Rimmel Stay Matte powder. I've been using this powder for years (around twelve to be exact!) and have never felt the need to switch or even try anything else. It's light, it sets my foundation well and it's affordable. This one is always a favourite.

Linking nicely from the powder is the Real Techniques Powder Brush - this brush is around £12.99, so not the cheapest but it picks the powder up well and I find it's the perfect size to apply the powder to my face.

Next is the Lush Bubblegum Lip Scrub. If I'm honest, I bought this because the scent reminded me of Snow Fairy but it sat in my drawer for ages and ages without me using it. I recently dug it out again and I've been using it frequently. Does it do anything? Who knows really but it smells amazing and does feel good on the lips, so I can call it a favourite, right? ;)

 Lastly is the Pacifica Tuscan Blood Orange perfume - I got mine from America but I have seen the odd one sitting in random places in Tesco, although I've never actually seen a spot for them on the shelves. Anyway, when first applied this has an odd scent but once it's had a few minutes to sit on your skin it has a beautiful citrus-y/sweet scent which isn't something I would typically go for but I really like this. I just which it wasn't in a roller-ball form because I find that a paint to apply. 

What have been your favourites recently? 

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Lush Fun

In theory, I really like the idea of Fun - the 4 in 1 product can be used as either a soap, bubble bar, body wash or just for fun to play with which makes it a great product for kids but in reality it just doesn't always work out..

My first use of Fun was the green citrus version which smells great but when I walked back into the bathroom after having used it a while before, I found it had completely melted and had just left a green streak running down my sink. I then couldn't resist the Snowman Fun, a cute and festive black, orange and white version of Fun which was part of Lush's Christmas collection. I went to use it a week or so after purchasing it to find that it had again melted into a soft, gooey mess in its wrapper. I emailed Lush and they offered to rectify the problems by sending me some other products of my choice but it seems like Fun just can't stand up to any kind of heat and melts way too easily which is a shame..

As you can see from the photo above, Snowman Fun is a pretty intense soap on your skin and turns your bathwater completely black. It left my hands a little stained but otherwise washed off fine although your bath/shower will definitely need a good rinsing out when you're done!

On a much better note, Fun is actually a really nice product to use (when you get to use the parts that haven't melted). It feels nice on your skin, they (Green and Snowman) both smell really good and it lathers up really nicely. It's also easier to use than your normal soaps as it moulds to your hands making you way less likely to drop it! If I wasn't worried about losing the £5 that Fun costs each time with it melting, I would definitely keep repurchase it over and over again...

Have you used Fun? Did you have any trouble with it melting?
Happy New Year!

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Boxing Day Sale Shopping

Did you do any Boxing Day sale shopping? I don't usually venture out into that madness but I was really hoping to pick up a few things from the Lush 50% off sale and after the website meltdown that happened my sister, mum and I decided to take a little trip into Wimbledon so that we could go into the store instead and have a look around a few shops while we were there. I was a little disappointed that a lot of what was on sale on the Lush website wasn't also on sale in the store but I managed to pick up a few things still.

Starting with Lush, who had a 50% off sale on their Christmas stuff (and more on the website) I picked up a few bath bombs (Northern Lights, So white, Luxury Pud & Shoot for the Stars) but now thinking on it, I wish I had picked up more! I also picked up the smaller bottle of Happy Happy Joy Joy conditioner. I wanted a few Sugar Scrubs and the Squeaky Clean shampoo bar but those weren't on sale in store.. I will grab them another time. 

We popped into Next and I found this simple grey jumper for only £7 down from £18 and then in Boots I picked up a No7 polish in 'Moon Shimmer' which wasn't on sale but I had a £3 off voucher so only paid £4

Finally I grabbed one of the No7 Illuminated Make-up Mirrors which I have been wanting for a while now but never actually got. It was £19.99 down from £49.99 but are they ever actually sold for £49.99?!

So, as you can see I didn't get too much but I was really pleased with what I did get and was glad I managed to make it to the Lush sale since the site was down until early in the evening. 

I'd love to hear what you picked up if you've been to the sales!

You can click here if you'd like to see what I got for Christmas!

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Lush Haul: Halloween/Christmas 2014

To say I wasn't excited about the Lush Halloween/Christmas releases would be a lie and a pretty big one at that. I have been SO excited and I'm not really sure why. So of course I went into my local Lush the day they were released to pick up the few things I knew I definitely wanted, I then made an order online for some of the items I wish I had picked up but didn't and I then went back into the store this week to get yet more (and would like to point out that I still would like to get the Halloween Pumpkin bubblebar, Lord of Misrule bathbomb and Snow Angel bath melt, eek).

Anyway, I thought I would share what I got!

Top L-R: Dashing Santa bath bomb, Luxury Lush Pud bath bomb, Baked Alaska soap, Candy Mountain bubble bar

Bottom L-R: Melting Snowman bath melt, Snowcake soap, Cinders bath bomb, Golden Wonder bath bomb

I couldn't resist the Snowman fun and on my second trip back into store, decided to grab one of the Snow White bath bombs.

I made the mistake last year of only buying the smaller bottle of Snow Fairy, so I had to get the bigger bottle this time around. I did get the smaller bottles of both So White and Hot Toddy though since I haven't used them before..

Speaking of Snow Fairy, I picked up one of the Father Christmas bath bombs since that along with Candy Mountain all have the same scent!

As for the Halloween collection I only picked up two things; Northern Lights bath bomb and the Wizard bubble bar. I ordered Northern Lights online and as you can see, it arrived broken which is a shame..

So that was my little haul of the Lush Halloween/Christmas goodies. 

Have you picked anything up?

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Lush Dark Angels Face & Body Cleanser

After looking at it almost every time every time I've been into a Lush over the last few months, I decided to finally pick up the Dark Angels face & body cleanser. 

The cleanser smells like mud (not surprising since it contains mud) which at first, I found a bit off-putting but I was willing to look past that if the product itself worked well. Which for me, it didn't..

Directions tell you to mix the mud/charcoal mixture with water to form a paste and then apply it to your skin. It was easy enough to apply and I found it spread out across my skin nicely but it dries incredibly quickly, so if you want to add more to a certain area of your face, the rest underneath is already dry. I then rinsed it off like I would any other face cleanser/product and looked in the mirror to make sure it was all gone. I found that it had sunk into all of the pores on my face making them look huge and dirty (keep in mind this is a black coloured product) and that I had a pretty big black streak along my jaw and up to my cheek. So, overall it left my face looking dirty and dull. I tried to wipe it off with a wash cloth to no avail and it this point I was worried it had stained my skin! I decided to completely re-wash my face with my normal cleanser and luckily it removed it all.

So, pretty disappointing. I guess this would be okay if you are someone who always double cleanses but I wouldn't recommend this if you don't. Now I really wish I had just ask for a sample of this one before I went straight ahead and bought it! 

I gave half of it to my sister to try and she found the same thing happened to her, so I would love to hear if anyone had the same experience with it as we did..?

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My First Lush Bath Bombs!

Hey lovelies, Happy Easter!

If you have read much of my blog lately, it's clear to see I'm currently going through a slight (more than slight) obsession with Lush and my most recent purchases, which I had never tried before, were a few of their bath bombs or 'bath ballistics'. I spent a pretty long time in the shop, as I always do, sniffing everything to see which items I like the best and I ended up with these four!

Fluffy Egg - (Part of the Easter collection) I bought this one because I loved the smell of it in the shop and it doesn't disappoint once dissolved into your bathwater either and leaves it a pretty vibrant pink colour. I've since gone back to Lush and picked up a couple more of these because I'm expecting them to be gone pretty soon and love them!

Space Girl - For some reason this one has never really appealed to me but I liked the smell of it and so ended up with it in my basket. Apparently it contains popping candy but had I not read that on the description, I would never have known. Space Girl leaves your bath a purple/pink colour but most importantly it leaves it smelling amazing - I didn't want to use any other bath products in case they masked the smell of it! I also found this one to be one of the more stronger/long lasting smelling bath bombs that I've tried so far.

Secret Garden - While I think this is one of the prettier bath bombs that Lush do (in general appearance and in the way it looks whilst dissolving), I was pretty disappointed. Mine just didn't seem to end up quite as pretty in my bath water as what I have seen in pictures over on Instagram, it also ended up under the running water, so I had to push it out of the way which messed up any pretty-ness that it had made. When I first put this one in, the water just looked dirty but after a while it ended up being quite a deep green colour and it left little flower petals floating about. I expected them to clog the plug or for me to have to wash them all away but they did flow easily away with the rest of the water. The biggest disappointment though was that there was NO smell at all once I put this one into my bath.. So this one was a waste of money for me!

Sakura - I wasn't expecting too much colour wise from this one as after I had bought it I saw other people say it doesn't really change the colour of your water - which it doesn't. Sakura has the same scent as their Rub Rub Rub scrub, which was pretty strongly scented and I could smell it on my skin after I got out. So scent wise, this one is good but colour wise it doesn't do anything!

Do you call them bath bombs or bath ballistics? Which are your favourites from Lush?

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Friday Favourites

Happy Friday! 

I wanted to share another five products that I have been loving recently with you.

Lush Dirty Springwash Shower Gel
If you saw my Lush haul then you would have seen that I recently picked up this shower gel because of the peppermint scent it has which smells amazing (I keep randomly opening the bottle just to smell it). I've been using it since then and just can not get enough of it.. I still wish I picked up the bigger bottle.

Umberto Giannini Dazzle Shine Spray
I have very dry hair and find that that can leave it looking very dull.. I spotted this while I was in Boots a couple of months ago and decided I would give it a go just to try it out. I didn't expect much from it but I spray a little bit of it on my hair after I'm done with straightening it and I feel like it actually does make my hair look shiny and less dull, it also smells really good.

Dead Sea Spa Magic Age Response Eye Cream*
Now that I'm in my mid-twenties I'm trying to take better care of my skin. I've been dabbing a little bit of this eye cream under my eyes and on my eyelids once a day but as with any eye cream, I can't really make comment on how well it works in terms of wrinkles as right now I'm just using it as a prevention product. It has a subtle floral smell which is nice and it feels good on your skin, it also dries quickly which is an added bonus for me. Although I can't comment on how well it works as such, I can say that general I really like it.

Caudalie Lip Conditioner
I picked this up while I was France which is just a clear lip balm but it's the most luxurious feeling lip balm I have ever used. It's thick, stays on your lips and just feels amazing. I've finished this tube though now, so at the moment I'm trying to dig out the last little bits of it because I don't want to be without it!

Tweezerman Travel Size Tweezers
I had heard so much about these tweezers but at £12.50 (for the travel size ones) I put off buying them. I use tweezers to shape my eyebrows myself at home but it is a job that I despise doing so finally with hopes these might make that job easier for me, I decided to go for it. To be honest, I couldn't see how these could be 'so amazing' like everyone kept saying they were but they proved me 100% wrong. Not only do they grab onto hairs easier than any tweezers I've used before but they also pull the hair out easier which I've found causes less pain. I find that even though these are the travel size ones, that they're perfectly easy to hold and use. I regret not buying these sooner because they make the tedious task of doing my eyebrows so much easier!

Earlier favourites:
- January Friday Favourties
- October Friday Favourites

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Lush haul + thoughts!

Hey guys! Okay, let me apologise first of all for the shoddy picture above. I meant to take another one after realising I wasn't pleased with it but I completely forgot and started using the wrapped products, so we're stuck with it! Awkward positioning of products in photos aside though, I recently made a trip into Lush and picked up a few goodies.

Big shampoo £11.50

Normally, I would not spend £11.50 on a shampoo but Big was a product I went into Lush deciding I wanted to try after hearing so many good things about it. Washing my hair with it for the first time was definitely interesting with the big chunks of salt that the shampoo has in it but it lathered really nicely (more than I expected it to), smells really good and left my hair feeling clean and soft. 

Dirty springwash shower gel £4.50

I also went in there deciding I wanted a new shower gel and so I spent the next 5 minutes sniffing them all.. Once I realised this was a peppermint scented one, my choice was made. I love peppermint scented products and this stuff smells amazing. I do think £4.50 is a lot considering its a small bottle though.

Porridge soap £3.10 per 100g

I've been really into exfoliators recently and if you like the more gentle type of exfoliation then I think you would really like porridge soap. It contains oats which gently buff your skin while the soap lathers and cleans it. It smells good but can be a bit messy. For reference, the chunk I got cost £3.60, although I'm not sure if you can tell exactly how big it is from the picture.

Rub Rub Rub shower scrub £8.95

Since this is a salt scrub maybe it should have been obvious but please learn from my mistake and do not use this on your legs after you have shaved them because it hurts. Like hell. I think Rub Rub Rub should come with some kind of warning like I have seen on other scrubs because it felt like I was rubbing little pieces of glass into my skin. I figured I wasn't the only person who experienced this and after having a look online a lot of people mention stinging, so if you're about to use this for the first time, be weary! Anyway, this scrub smells good but it has a pretty watery consistency and at £8.95 per tub I'm not sure how long this is going to last because to get the kind of scrub that I like, I have to use huge handfuls of it. Pretty disappointing all round really.

Sugar scrub £2.95

Sugar scrub is a product that is meant to work on cellulite and buffing the skin by boosting circulation. I used this on my legs and found it be an extremely abrasive scrub which unless used with a gentle hand kind of hurts.. I looked down to find that my leg was actually bleeding! I again had a look online at what other people thought and read lots of comments about this leaving scratches on people's skin or making them bleed, so this is another product you need to be careful with. However, it smells good and when used gently also feels good and I actually really love this product. I got four uses out of it before it finally crumbled up which I don't think is bad and my skin was left feeling so soft after each use. Next time I'm in Lush I will be picking up a couple more of these, I love them!

What have you been picking up from Lush recently?
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Cuticle Care!

I don't push my cuticles back, it makes me feel sick (anyone else?) which means most of the time I am usually left with pretty messy looking manicure. So, I decided I would try some products which are made for your cuticle area to see if they could at least make them look a little better. 

You can grab this at Boots for £8.99

The first one I tried was by Essie and is a product I'd been wanting to get my hands on for a while. I like the nail polish style application on this one since it is literally of an oil consistency which it makes it easy to apply. I don't know if I would say this smells like apricot but the smell itself is pleasant. I just dab a bit of this on each cuticle and then rub it in, Essie says to then gently push back your cuticles but I obviously skip this step and instead just let it soak into my skin for a while before washing my hands or wiping it off (I find this does leave your fingers very oily until you wipe it off, it doesn't ever fully soak into your skin). As a result, my cuticles look softer and seem to blend in with my skin more making them a little less noticeable and easier to work with when I'm painting my nails. 

LUSH £6.50

Next I tried 'Lemony Flutter' by LUSH, a product which is called a cuticle butter but which also suggests using on ANY area of hard skin you may have. This has a pretty strong lemon/citrus scent which at first I really like but then gives off an odd after smell which I'm not too keen on but not off-putting enough for me to not want to use the product. In the tub it's an extremely thick consistency and this time I simply scoop some out with my finger, place it onto my cuticle area and rub it in. At first this one is more like a lotion but quickly melts into a more oily product. This again doesn't fully absorb into your skin and I always have to wipe it off when I'm done. My cuticles are left looking soft and neater just like with the Essie one. I don't have dry elbows or heels (which this would be perfect for) but have used this on my knuckles which worked really well. If you do buy this with the idea in mind of just using it on your cuticles like I did, I don't see how you could ever finish this entire pot!

So basically, I love both this products, I can't fault either of them and can't choose which is my favourite!

What is your favourite cuticle treatment?

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