Refreshing LUSH Soap Loving :)

I get really OCD with soap - I love having ones that match my mood. For example, one fruity one for refreshing feelings or one sweet one for cozy feelings. Recently with the heat still going at me with full force, I've been opting for 'refreshing' but leaning towards more the citrus scents :)

Because of how easily sweetness can turn into sickliness in the heat, I felt the Body Shop ranges (one of my faves!) were a bit too sweet. So naturally, I turned to my other favourite bath/shower shop - LUSH, which I kind of see as a similar type of brand with good ethics and good products but with a twist of creativity, a sense of humour and an offering that's very different from the BodyShop!

The soap that I'm using now is called Sandstone which you can see above. It has a citrusy scent to it, and the soap itself has some tiny sandbits that help exfoliate your skin (and it's small enough that it doesn't clog your bath!)

I really like this soap, and find it a good middle between a soap and a scrub and don't mind using it everyday. The scent is really refreshing and unoffensive (which I find is kinda rare in LUSH soaps!), and the scrub slowly gets rid of bumps and spots. However, the lack of soapy bubbles makes me wonder how much cleansing it's actually doing.. but it leaves your skin feeling clean and leaves no residue or unnatural squeakyness and leaves your skin feeling like it should - not too dry, but not waxy/greasy - which I absolutely love! :)

The soap that I used before the Sandstone was the Sexy Peel soap (above), which also falls under the category of citrus, but it has a bit of a marmalade-y sweetness to it too. It's still very refreshing and leaves your skin clean, albeit with bit less perfection on the aftertouch than the Sandstone. However, I found that this soap was more suitable for humid weathers as the finish keeps you having fresh skin for longer! Would recommend this for those who play sports or the like :)

The bits of orange peel occasionally falling out and the less bubbling up compared to some other soaps on the market are just tiny blips of a product that does what it says on the tin and smells absolutely amazing! Definitely a must have for the summer!

So which would I prefer? Probably the Sandstone, as while Sexy Peel is better for a soapy cleanse and for humid weather, there are other soaps I like for that! The Sandstone's gradual exfoliation and aftertouch is pricesless, and I would say is the solid version of the Simple Exfoliating Gel - AMAZING stuff! I feel like with both soaps bumps/body spots have gradually gone away. I'm sure if I looked I could find soaps that do it faster - but maybe not necessarily as gently.

What's up next? I recently bought this set off my mom - as my mom runs a charity store, she gets loads of donations, and while this was a great donation she has a policy against cosmetics so I offered to donate some money to her cause in exchange for this set :) I love the little "YOU CANNOT EAT THIS" paper that comes inside the box lol!

I was SO happy when I saw what was inside (I bought it off her without taking a look, as I never mind donating to her cause) - two products I'd considered getting: a 100g bottle of Happy Hippy (which contains pink grapefruit) and a bar of Bohemian soap (which is primarily lemon and is probably the simplest/gentlest soap LUSH offers).

I'm really excited to try these out next - I LOVE LUSH! :D But I'm not sure how much I'll crave refreshing citrus in England's weather at the moment! :P My favourite 'sweet' LUSH soap is Porridge, although I really want to try Miranda too!

What are your favourite 'refreshing' body soaps?

Any favourites from LUSH? :)

<3yu

Picking Up Some Essentials.. #2

These days I've been buying a lot more beauty 'care' products than make-up, and because a lot of them are feeling like they'll be essentials, I decided to do a second part of a post I did ages ago about picking up some essentials :)

Sally Hansen Hard As Nails in Clear - £4.75

Tangle Teezer - £11.99

Good Things Miracle Mattifier Moisturizer - £8.16

The BodyShop Lip Roll-On in Orange - £3 (introduction price)

The BodyShop DeoDry in Fresh & Floral (refill) - £2

LUSH Grease Lightning - £5.65

The Good Things Miracle Mattifier Moisturiser caught my eye on Ellie's Beauty Blog's May Favourites and as the summer was making oilier than usual I had high hopes! I love that it has such good ingredients, very light and the smell is berry-like. It lingers for a short while, and is quite strong so if it wasn't as fruity I probably wouldn't like it, but because it's a very natural smell I don't mind it. As for the mattifying effects, I don't find it amazing - I find it reasonable. For that I'd recommend Boot's Tea Tree & Witch Hazel Mattifying Lotion, but that one smells horrible! So I think I'll be sticking with this :)

After not being able to locate my hair brush, I bit the bullet for the Tangle Teezer which I've been lusting after for ages! It's a lot lighter than I thought it'd be, but the results are about what I expected. I didn't expect a 100% WOW factor, and while I was right, I'm still impressed! My hair does feel softer, and brushing my hair is easier - I love the idea of protecting my cuticles and the instruction leaflet was so helpful. I'm not sure if it was £12 worth, but other than that, no regrets here at all! :)

When I got my nails done in Malta, the nail woman told me my nails were weak, and recommended Decleor's treatment oil.. for £52. I quickly refused and went on a search in Boots yesterday - as you can see I haven't opened this Sally Hansen Hard As Nails yet, partly because I'm not 100% sure how to use it.. most people recommend it as a base coat, so I'll be doing that soon :) A bit concerned that it's not natural and doesn't promise an infusion of nutrients.. anyone have any cheap recommendations? :/ But I did learn that when you paint your nails you have to leave a gap at the bottom because that way the live cells on your nail can breathe :)

I had no plans to get the new BodyShop Natural Lip Roll-On in Orange but I'm so glad I did, I am in LOOOOVE! Again, the natural ingredients are a major plus for me and the applicator is a metal ball that applies the oil onto your lips. And I LOVE the idea of applying oil onto your lips because that way your lips actually absorb the oils, instead of a cream that just sits on your lips, and so they feel moisturized from within. This deserves a post of its own really, but definitely recommend picking up while it's on introductory offer price! It comes in Orange, Mint, Rose, Coconut and Grape :)

The BodyShop DeoDry in Fresh & Floral is my staple deodorant - full review here :)

I first heard about LUSH Grease Lightning from Vivianna and I've been quite impressed! While I was a bit skeptical because the tea-tree oil from the BodyShop never worked on me, this one has been great! It's an antiseptic, with a gel-like consistency and a pump, and smells like a mix of tea tree oil, lavender and rosemary - gorgeous. I had two under-the-skin pimples right next to each other on my chin, which made me look like I had a Siamese chin, but since I've applied it each evening underneath my night moisturizer it's been getting a lot smaller - very impressed :)

So there it is! My recent essential purchases :)

What have you been buying/loving in your essentials recently? :)

<3yu

What I Took To Malta: Beach/Pool Make-Up!

I'm back! Hello to the new followers, and a big I-missed-you hug to the old! Malta was absolutely gorgeous and the perfect wind-down from 3 years of uni. Ben and I also found out that we have graduated with a 2:1 on our degrees - so it was a great week in general!

Today I'll show you what I brought to Malta - hopefully you can take away what I think is great to have for a beach holiday, in case some of you are off on one soon! We had a 15kg limit so a lot of the stuff were compact :)

Before that, I'll show you some snaps of our week there :) We stayed at the Radisson Blu on Golden Bay, courtesy of Ben's aunt for his 21st - we were there with Gary Neville!

Mokka Bar - We always had after dinner drinks here :)

Our kitchen/dining room/living room - I KNOW! We had a suite! :D

TV in bathtub - very convenient for the Wimbledon season! :)

Golden Bay

The pool

The Malta busses - 54p to the capital! :O

Streets of Valetta

 Ben & I at the Grand Harbour

Honestly, I am struggling a bit with a lack of foundation/powder/concealer to match my skin! I also got my nails done, which was fun - OPI Glitzerland is very pretty! On days where we weren't by the pool or the beach, we went to other places like St. Julian's and Mdina - I think my favourite was Valetta - it is absolutely gorgeous!

On to the make-up!

I bought myself a brand new make-up bag for this holiday, and it's this baby from Glitzy Glam. It is so much fun to come up with your own bag, and it's absolutely massive! You can see more in my June Favourites video :) Anyway, this is great for if you're going anywhere for over a week. It also fitted my brushes, moisturizer, and my mini-shower stuff too.

I brought loads of make-up, but the ones I used were things that gave me the most natural and beachy look - here are the kinds of things I'd recommend to someone who is off on a sunny holiday :)

- NIVEA Stay Real Blush in Shades of Rose

This is a great summer shade because it's like a really tanned pink, so it's very natural and goes with the golden glow of a tan! :) Anything else felt too unnatural and unbeach-like because it was too much of a pop of colour.

- CANMAKE Gokubuto Mascara

Waterproof mascara is a must - this one is also natural, in that it separates and lengthens so it was good for a natural beachy look.

- MAC Paint Pot in Rubenesque

I only wore this in the evening, just to add some colour on my eyes - it's a bright gold with a salmon duochrome, which again compliments a tan, and you don't need a brush!

- UNE SkinGlow Pencil in G04

I didn't really use this too much - it got too light as my tan grew! But it's still a great summer-time product that opens up your eyes and no worries about the black eyeliner melting :)

- Lipice Suncare SPF25

Somehow a lipstick seemed too unnatural, and I felt like with such a dark tan, a natural lip was best. So I used this lipbalm with SPF the most, and the lemon-scent is gorgeous! :)

- MAC Moisture Tint in Medium Dark SPF15

While the Bourjois Healthymix was light and natural enough for a beachy feel, I didn't need a lot of coverage because of the tan and my blemishes were going away with the healthy amount of sun! The SPF was a good reassurance too :)

For the bath essentials, I brought mini-things of my favourite body wash and cleanser - the Bodyshop Grapefruit Shower Gel and the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish. I also brought the BodyShop Grapefruit Body Butter, which helped a lot with dried out sunkissed skin!

The biggest difference from my usual routine was my shampoo and conditioner - the LUSH Godiva Shampoo/Conditioner Bar. I picked this because 1) it smells amazing and 2) it's a 2-in-1. It is far from the best haircare, and I felt my hair wasn't in the best condition, but it's definitely a good product for holiday :)

So there you go! I had an amazing time, and I'd definitely want to go back to see more of the country some time. The atmosphere, the architecture, the culture - everything was lovely! And I hope you got some good tips for products or what kinda stuff you might wanna bring to your holiday :)

Who else is off on holiday?
What are your beach holiday must-haves? :)

<3yu

Lush

Lush skin care

Hiiiii guyss :) im sooooooooo excited for this review like u have NO IDEA! wellll idk if u girls out there have the same problem I do but here we go....

Couple years ago I was under A LOT of stress bcus of school and personal stuff that were going on in my personal life! good  thing everything its fine now ;) hahaa anyways since I was under all this stress my skin started to breakout :( and I tried many many maaany products but they didnt work at all :/ they damaged my skin even more :( they would make me breakout more, make my skin all red and super dry.. idk it was horrible! but few months ago I was shopping with my mom and we saw LUSH (my salvation hahaa!) I went there and talked to the girls, that btw they are superrrrr nice :) so I talked to them and they gave me some samples of the skin care routine to try it out. They told me to used it for one week and that I was going to see huge results. and guess what girls? I DIDDDDD!!!!!! I saw AMAZINGGGGGG results even the NEXT DAY!!!! My skin was super smooth and whiter and it was just AWESOME! so I finally went like 2 weeks ago and bought the whole skin care routine and girls my face its looking gooooooooooooooddddd! and yeaaa its kinda expensive but its worth it seriously! :) so here its the review of the products i've been using and LOVINGGGGG♥ & guys if u've used lush, I would loveeee to know whats your favorite product :) http://www.lushusa.com/shop/

Holaaaaaaaa chic@s!!! estoy supeeeerrr emocionadaa por este review!!! bueno no se si a ustedes le pasa lo mismo que a mi pero aqui vamos..!!!

Hace unos años estuve bajo muchisimo stress por las clases y cosas personales que estaban pasando en mi vida, pero bueh ya todo esta bien ;) bueno como estaba bajo todo éste stress me empezó a salir acné en el rostro :( y trate muchisisisisisisiimos productos pero no me servian :/ es más me resecaban la cara muchísimo  o hacian que me saliera más acné, la cara la tenia super roja y se me ponia toda seca asi feita.. fue horrible! Pero hace unos meses estaba de compras con mami y vimos LUSH mi salvacion!!!! hahaa bueno entramos a la tienda que por cierto, las chamas que atienden son SUPER chevere :) bueno bueno sigo.. entramos, hablé con ellas y me dieron unas pruebas chiquitas para que probara  y me dijeron que en una semana vería mi carita muchisimo mejor. y adivinen que?? SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!! Mi cara estaba ufffffff superrr diferente fué lo MAXIMOOOO!! vi resultados super cheverisimos EL DIA SIGUIENTE de usarlo!!! Mi carita estaba muchisimo más suave y más blanquita o sea, ya no estaba tan rojita! sooo por fin hace como 2 semanas fui y compre toda la rutina para diaria. Y chic@s solo han pasado 2 semanitas y mi cara se ve muchisisiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimoo mejor! Y si los productos son caritos pero en verdad que vale la pena! :) Bueno a lo que les importa aqui esta la reseña de los productos que yo he estado usando  y amandooooooo♥ por cierto, si ustedes han usado Lush, me encantaría saber cuales son sus favoritos :) http://www.lushusa.com/shop/

Morning cleansers



Herbalism

Benefits: Reduces oil, calm acne, reduces redness, mild exfoliation, balances PH.

How to use: Mix w/ warm water and massage onto damp face. Rinse using warm water

Beneficios: Reduce la grasa, calma el acné, reduce las partes rojitas, exfolia, balancea el PH.

Como usar: Mezclalo con agua tibia y masajea la cara. Quitalo con agua tibia.

Ocean Salt

Benefits: Brightening, exfoliating, cleansing and fight acne.

How: Use 1-2x a week. Wet face and massage ocean salt onto the face.

Beneficios: Illumina, Exfolia, limpia y combate  el acné.

Como: Usar por 1-2 veces por semana. Moja tu cara y masajea el ocean salt.

Evening Cleansers

Ultrabland

Benefits: Remove foundation, mascara, calms sensitive skin, moisturizes, heals acne, heals dry chapped skin.

How: Massage a thin layer onto skin and then moisten cotton pads w/ recommended toner to remove. Do this until cotton pads are clean.

Beneficios: Quita la base, rimel, calma la piel sensible, hidrata, cura el acné, cura la piel agrietada seca.
Uso: masajea con una fina capa sobre la piel y humedece el algodón con el toner recomendado. Haz ésto hasta que el algodón esté limpio.

Toner

Eau Roma water

Benefits: Balances oil production, reduces redness and calms sensitive/mature skin.

How: Spray onto the skin before moisturizer and work moisturizer in while the skin is still damp with toner.

Beneficios: Nivela la producción de aceite en la piel, reduce el enrojecimiento y calma la sensibilidad/  ideal para pieles madura.
Cómo: Aplicar sobre la piel antes de la crema hidratante y humectante, mientras que la piel todavía esté todavia húmeda del tóner, aplique la humectante.

Moisturizers

Gorgeous

Benefits: Brightens, tightens, hydrates, natural AHDs and cold pressed oils.

How: Wash, use toner and apply moisturizer to damp skin.

Beneficios: Da brillo, hidrata, AHDs naturales y aceites prensados ​​en frío. Es una humectante elaborada con productos naturales ideal para todo tipo de piel,es  excelente para pieles maduras.
Cómo: Lavar, usa el tóner y aplica hidratante sobre la piel húmeda.

Celestial

Benefits: Calms and soothes dry sensitive skin.

How: Wash, use toner and apply moisturizer to damp skin.

Beneficios: Calma y suaviza la piel sensible seca. 

Cómo: Lavar, usa el tóner y aplicar la humectante sobre la piel húmeda.

Serums/Treatments

Grease Lightning

Benefits: Fights acne, fights black heads, calms t-zones.

How: Apply directly onto breakouts after cleansing, or apply to the t-zone before a moisturizer.

Beneficios: Combate el acné, los punticos negro y calma t-zones.
Cómo: Aplicar directamente sobre los brotes después de la limpieza, o solo la aplican en el t-zone antes de la humectante.

05.13.11 - LUSH Bubble Bar Haul :)

I honestly believe that once you bathe with LUSH's Bubble Bars, it's REALLY hard to find anything that compares. After using my last bit of Blue Skies last week (which so far I think I can say is my favourite Bubble Bar), I stocked up on my trip to Oxford with some friends, including the lovely Danni from Ellieand :)

Oh the yellow paper goodness.

I decided to try some new Bubble Bars, as well as some old favourites. Here are the newbies to my LUSH experience:

A French Kiss - £3.95

Probably the most expensive Bubble Bar, considering it is nowhere near the size of the Comforter or Blue Skies, which may be in price more expensive at £3.99, but can be used about 4 times. For this reason, I expect this little lavender-scented bubble bar to blow me out of the water (preferably not literally).

Dorothy Bubble - £2.95

So bright, so pretty. Smells gorgeously fresh - a bit worried my water is going to turn green, but we shall see :)

And here are some old favourites:

Amandopondo - £2.50

After my review of it here, I did say I would get another one to see if the detoxing effect was really there, of it I was just extra tired that night I tried it for the first time. It's also just irresistibly cute and the smell is gorgeous lemon sweetness :)

The Comforter - £3.99

Who doesn't love the Comforter? I think in general I do prefer Blue Skies, just because it's a more refreshing smell, which is the main reason why I take baths and treat myself to LUSH Bubble Bars. But because the rest of my Bubble Bars this time were all zingy smells, I decided to go for something sweet :) And the pink is gorgeous in the bath!

So that's all I got! :) Very excited to use all these, especially because exam times are ahead and I will need all the relaxing help I can get!

What are your favourite LUSH Bubble Bars? :)

<3yu

Review: LUSH Amandopondo!

Recently, I've been going through a LUSH addiction and last week when I went to visit Birmingham, I picked up a few things, including the Amandopondo bubble bar. This one has caught my eye several times but I'd always passed over it. This time, knowing how stressed I was going to be over Spring Break, its lemon-ey fresh scent caught my attention.

Now I know it's not Spring Break yet, but I busted this out after standing in the cold fundraising for 3hrs!

"Lemon oil and rose absolute to inspire new beginnings - If your New Year's resolution is to forgive and forget, then hop in the bath with one of these creamy white cakes. Sweet orange, lemon and rose oils ease a troubled mind and worried heart. Fans of our Ring of Roses soap will love Amandopondo's familiar fragrance, perfect for new beginnings."

The good news is, I 100% agree on the easing of the "troubled mind and worried heart bit". The smell of lemon is so subtle, fresh, inoffensive and calming and it really does feel like a full-body, internal & external detox.

The bad news is, I did not smell the orange, nor did I smell the rose, until I scrummaged around the bath for 5min looking for the rose and brought it to my nose.

Now I paid £2.50 for this, and while I adore the subtle and modest smell and the calming effect - I'm not quite sure it's worth the dosh for one bath. Why?

First, because it's not that bubbly. It has less bubble than 1/4 of a Comforter bubble bar.

Second, because there's no special colour - just a clean greenish blue bath that happens in some baths without anything in it.

Third, because the rose doesn't do anything and you could probably get the smell in a massive bottle in a drugstore for £2.

As you can see, it's nothing special.

I do, however, really really want to emphasize the detox effect this bath had on me. I don't know if it's because I was extra-tired and just needed any old bath or if it was the Amandopondo's magic, but due to this, I am tempted to try it one more time, just to see. So I probably will rebuy in the near future.

So in conclusion, I'd probably say go for it if you're stressed and you need a treat. Otherwise, this isn't for your everyday bath.

Anybody else tried this? Am I being too critical? :P

<3yu

London Haul - 02.22.11 :)

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I spent the day down in London yesterday to take a look at some unis. Obviously, wasn't leaving without a trip down Oxford Street so I covered the whole area from Marble Arch to Oxford Circus and these are what I ended up with..

LUSH:

Got myself a comforter and a Porridge soap, the latter of which I used this morning and if there is such a thing as HG soap - this is it. Went to the South Moulton St. one, the staff was absolutely amazing as usual! They have a great newspaper as well :)

LIZ EARLE:

I've only used this once, so I can't say I've been blown away.. yet. The service at John Lewis wasn't amazing - disappointment, cuz I've heard so many good things about their staff. That being said, I'm really excited to keep using this after hearing so much about it :)

PRIMARNI:

Okay a bit of a lie, the blue and pink shirt is from Bury's Primark but I loved them so much I went to get some more in London. The texture is nice and not cheap-looking, design is pretty (I usually go for solids cuz I usually don't like most designs but these, I like) and each for £3. Get. Innnnn.

This one's completely Corrie's fault btw, she's got so many nice bikinis from Primark and this one was my favourite - was £7, so I couldn't get millions but there were about 3 that I would've bought - they're all real nice!

I love the jewelry in there atm, the ring was £2 and earrings were £1 (again, from Bury not London). I also got a slim taupe/grey belt but it didn't photograph well.. lol.

I stopped at Selfridges and got an idea of what I'd like from MAC, but I think I will order it from Debenham's as I've got my Beauty Card now - wheyyyy! :)

I also sat next to an MUA on the bus ride back and we literally chatted for the whole 2 hours about make-up, beauty tips, everything and it was so, so, so much fun! What a coinkidink? :)

<3yu

P.S. Don't forget to check out my blogsale - lots of cheap bits and bobs :)