Lush Cosmetic Warrior Face Mask Review

I recently traded in 5 black pots at Lush to receive a free face mask. I have used a couple of Lush masks before and always like to try something new so this time I chose Cosmetic Warrior. I'm surprised I hadn't tried this one before. It contains tea tree oil, which is pretty much the dominant smell when you open the lid, and also happens to be one of my favourite ingredients of skin care. It has natural anti-bacterial properties so is great at combatting spots.
Lush masks feel like a real treat, even though they're quite inexpensive compared to some brands, and in this case, completely free! I think they're great for prepping yourself for a night out, but I would suggest possibly doing the face mask a few nights before you go out as it brings spots to the surface the next day. This does not mean the mask causes spots, but it draws all your impurities out.

This mask has a nice feel to it as it dries. It contains eggs which you can feel give the tightening effect on your skin, but it also contains honey, so when washed off, you're left feeling nice and moisturised. Definite thumbs up from me.
I feel I've been missing from the blogging sphere for a while. I've been back at my parents house in the Midlands for a few days and didn't take my laptop. Sometimes I think it's nice to have a little break, though I have missed it. Whilst up there my brother turned 30, so I went out for a surprise meal for him to celebrate. It was a lovely evening, in one of my favourite restaurants in the town I was born in. It's a little family run Italian restaurant and the food there is absolutely amazing, as is the service.
I also finally got to meet my best friend's little baby boy called Harry, who at 11 months, is surprisingly not so little anymore! I'd only seen him in photographs before and was expecting the same tiny little man, but he's grown so much.
I've had a lovely few days up there, but I'm back home now with lots of posts lined up. Now to sit and catch up with your lovely blogs!

MAC and Lush goodies

Here's a few things I treated myself to this weekend. I stopped by MAC and my favourite Lush store on S.Molten Street (less crowded and more friendly).

I traded in five black pots for a face mask and also picked up these toothy tabs which I've been meaning to try for a while. Quite excited about these!
A new found love in MAC was Arena eyeshadow, a gorgeous shade for all you neutral lovers out there.And a total impulse buy, I knew nothing of this lipstick, nor the current collections, I'm completely out of the loop on current MAC collections these days, but this is from the Fashion Flower collection. I will post a full review of these items next week, but for now I can say, Growing Trend, an amazingly gorgeous nude, was love at first swatch.

I hope everyone's had a fabulous weekend!

Recent Beauty Buys: Lush, GOSH, Sleek Paraguaya Palette

Here's a few of my recent beauty buys. I wanted to try this bubble bar from Lush called Dorothy. It smelt rather lovely, and sent my bath water a rather rainbowy shade! I also got one of the mother's day flower bath ballistics which I sent to my Mum. I didn't realise it at the time but they are not a new scent, they have used 3 other bath ballistics ingredients, so this one was Space Girl. It came with some seeds that you can plant and grow your own wild flowers, quite a sweet little extra I thought. I got another pair of my favourite lashes which are by Eyelure, I always go for the lengthening ones as I think they make the most impact without looking obviously fake. These are number 050. I also wanted to try another Maybelline mascara as I got on really well with the Falsies mascara and this is equally as good. If I put this one over a coat of the Falsies it actually gives me a false lash effect! This is a really great mascara for thickening your lashes but separating them at the same time, hence the name One-by-one. The wand is very similar to Loreal's Million lashes mascara but this has a lot more impact, I would use the Loreal Million lashes for everyday use if you want a really low-key look. Also in the picture are the GOSH nail polishes I picked up on Superdrug's 3 for 2 offer, they are FABULOUS...more about those below.This palette is Sleek's latest offering, part of their avoir la peche collection which is limited edition. I thought it looked nice for Spring/Summer as they are quite cheery colours. It also has a few shades in there you can use to create a smokey peach eye. I think the peach/orangey pink shades are gorgeous colours in their own right and I won't neccessarily reserve them for eye shadows as I think some would make amazing blush shades, making this palette a perfect multi-use travel kit!Finally the nail polishes, LOVE these! I always tend to buy colours that look good together when I buy 3 for 2's which is silly on nail polishes as I won't wear them all at the same time! This one is called Groovy Grey which is a rather distinctive light beigey grey. I have a couple of grey colours, but they're both quite dark in comparison, it's nice to find a shade like this.Miss Sweety is a very gorgeous girly pink. It does in some lights appear to blend in with my skin so I would recommend it more for a paler skinned person or someone more tanned and olive than myself! It's still a gorgeous shade though and clashing doesn't put me off wearing something if I like it! I think this may be my go-to shade for work after Easter. Finally this is Lavendar Love, and I am pretty much IN love with this. It's a cool, blue based lavendar. It's bright enough for Spring and Summer without screaming neon at you. I can't compare it to any other shade I've seen it's just lush. The consistency of all these polishes is fantastic too, en par with Barry M for there chipping quality, you can get a good 3 days with these chip free, unless you're playing frisbee in the sun like I was when I wore Miss Sweety, dang my frisbee catching skills! They are all also very glossy, Miss Sweety has an incredible shine on it which I couldn't stop looking at in the sunlight, so glossy! This is my first experience of GOSH polishes and I will definetely be buying more of them, not sure why I always overlooked them because they have some quite impressive shades to choose from, they just never really grabbed me before, I don't think it helps that the stand often appears dirtied with makeup, Superdrug seem to be on top of this now so these are in my good books. Have you purchased any of the GOSH polishes? Let me know your faves!

Lush Wild Child gift box and a few extras...

First of all, I loved the name of this gift box from Lush. Wild Child is full of sweet and fruity scented goodies. It contains the blackcurrant fruit pastille scented shower jelly Sweetie Pie which I have previously reviewed. It has the Rockstar soap which is the same fragrance as Snow Fairy shower gel. Bubblegum lip scrub, Up you Get shower emotibomb and Happy Hippy shower gel. It's a great set with a good mix of products in it and I will review these items individually at a later date.

I also got a few extra Lush bits as stocking fillers, you're never too old for a stocking!Daddy O shampoo which smells like parma violets, I've never tried a Lush liquid shampoo so was quite excited about this.Honey trap lip balm, again another product I have not tried before, I've already clumsily dug my nail in it.

Mask of Magnaminty which I have used about 3 times since Christmas already, it's great stuff. It has a few little exfoliating bits in it which is a nice touch, and it tingles but not in an acid way, but in a natural minty way!

Lush Xmas Collection

I find it hard to get into Christmas this early on, aside from getting all my shopping out of the way, I don't really like to think about Christmas until a couple of days before. Popping into Lush and looking at all the Christmas goodies helps me feel Chistmassy.

Recently I picked up Sugar Plum Fairy sugar scrub, I wrote about a previous sugar scrub experience on here before. This contains plum kernel oil which is fantastic for dry skin. I thought it was unusual to find a scrub which is used to exfoliate, also contains a decent moisturising ingredient. It's good because it should replace any moisture you might lose from removing the dead skin. It apparently has an almondy fragrance to it aswell, the sweetness reminds me of marzipan, but in a good way. A lovely little Christmas scrub, and great value at £1.95 too.
Along with this, I got Christmas Eve bubble bar. It contains ylang ylang and jasmine which instantly puts this in my favourites. I loved the Youki-Hi bath ballistic but it was sadly discontinued. That contained nearly the same ingredients and smelt the same as this so I am tempted to stock up on this beauty. It does look glittery, (and I've discovered I'm no longer a fan of copious amounts of glitter in the bath, yes it looks pretty but it is incredibly inconvenient to remove!) but it's only on the outside of the bubble bar which I'm glad Lush realise is all you need. The rest of the bar crumbles and bubbles away to leave your bath water a lovely relaxing midnight blue colour.

So that is all I've picked up from the Lush Christmas collection, there's a little bit too much to choose from, it seems to grow every year. There's a few other things I'd like to try though, those gingerbread bubble bars look too cute, and Christmas wouldn't be Christmas if I didn't get a bottle of Snow Fairy shower gel.

What are your Lush Christmas favourites?

New Lush Bath Ballistics Review

I waited until I tried out all of the new bath ballistics before reviewing any of them. Supposedly it's still summertime, so I thought it would be a while before I used up all of these, but I really feel like summer has passed us by here in the UK, after only visiting us for briefly, oh I don't know 3 weeks or so! Colder weather definitely calls for more baths rather than showers, and I've really enjoyed trying out these new installments from Lush.

Top right of the picture is Mrs. Whippy. Love this. Love the name, loved everything about this one. It's a lot creamier/frothier than any Lush bath ballistic experience I've had. Most have been fruity and colourful, but this one left the bath water very white and milky. It's made with soya milk powder and it's more pleasant than it sounds I promise! I imagine a milk bath sounds pretty gross to a lot of people, but it's actually really moisturising and the scent of the bath ballistic also features a strong presence of "tonka" which I'd never heard of until I checked out the Lush site. Not sure what it smells of?... think stawberries.

Dragon's Egg was the ballistic I was most excited to try. I'd seen a demo of this one in the shop in Covent garden, it was dropped into a little bowl and fizzed and hissed brilliantly. Have to say, a little disappointing once dropped into a bath full of water, the fizz spectacle wasn't as intense, but it was still more impressive than the older bath ballistics that just tend to melt innocently away.
This is supposed to resemble...and I'm quoting the website here, "a baby dragon breathing fire as it hatches into the world". It's things like that, that are the reason I love Lush! It didn't quite look that way, but it was still pretty. I love the way the orange kind of fizzed out like a catherine wheel without me having to make it go that way, and along with the orange, lots of glittery bits were dispersed all around the bath. It was pretty, relaxing and refreshing!

Twilight: This one fizzed similarly to Dragon's Egg. It seemed to be a bath ballistic in two parts. Once the main part had fizzed a while, a new part seemed to break off and it was like having two bath bombs in there. It made a nice bathing experience, a pink and blue bath ballistic, both releasing lots of glitter in to the bath, and mixing together to make an unusual shade of violet bath water, which the glitter made seem even more alluring. Out of the four ballistics, this one was the most relaxing scent, it also features tonka, as well as lavendar, which we all know is famous for it's relaxing properties and ability to bring calm. Interestingly, Twilight also contains Ovaltine, which I only know as the nasty smelling drink people used to drink to help them sleep. Somehow it works. One thing I will say with Twilight and Dragon's Egg, is "Beware Glitter". Serious glitteriness faces you when you get out of this bath, so you'll need a good hose down, that's all.

Finally Fizzbanger. I didn't see this coming, but this is one of my absolute favourite bath ballistics/melts/anything I've put in my bath water. (Sakura holds top spot though.) It's an invigorating scent, relaxing yet uplifting at the same time. It's a citrusey scent, but there's also heavy undertones of cinnamon and a little hint of apple. I love the way the water changes colour with this one, yellow, to blue, finally green, and it takes so long to fizz away. Even when the ballistic appears to have all dissolved, there's still lots of crackling sounds. That's why this really reminds me of late autumn and Bonfire Night, and so I will be buying a few more of these once summer has ended. I love how smells remind you of certain things, and this really reminds me of freezing my ass off whilst watching impressive fireworks displays. It's also exactly the kind of smell I love, relaxing but not too heady that it's going to send you to sleep in the bath, invigorating enough to clear your head. It wakes up your mind but relaxes your body, perfect!

It feels ages since I last blogged, I've been away in Cornwall as I tweeted about, I will post a few pictures of this beautiful part of the world soon.

xXx

Lush Loot, I went Bath Ballistic

As the title suggests, I did go on a bit of a jolly with the new bath ballistics. I only really wanted my AOBS face wash and to trade in 5 washed black pots for a free face mask, but then I saw all the new bath ballistics. There was quite a crowd in there at the time so I couldn't really see anything properly so I figured try them all out and decide which one's best at home! I've never really had a bad experience with Lush bath ballistics anyway.

So from top right going clockwise, we have Dragon's Egg, Twilight, Mrs. Whippy and Fizzbanger. Twilight had practically sold out at the Lush in Covent Garden, I got the second to last Twilight left! Clever marketing by Lush on their part, I'm not expecting much from this one, it seems like it's a lavendar scented, relaxing bath bomb, nothing too out of the ordinary but it's seen a surge in popularity just as it's name sake film.

I'm looking forward to trying all of these ballistics out, I will post a review separately, the one I'm most looking forward to trying is the Dragon's Egg as the lasy was demonstrating the product in the store, it did a colour changing, noise making spectacle I can't wait to see in my own bath-tub! I do love Lush for making bath-time fun! Above are the more essential products I bought, AOBS which I have previously reviewed, Brazened Honey face mask which was a freebie after trading in 5 old pots. Again it was difficult navigating my way around the store so I just grabbed the one nearest/most appealing to me, which happened to be this. I liked the look and the name of it, but I should've paid a bit more attention because this is actually more suitable for dry skin which I don't have. There are a few others that would certainly be more appropriate for my combination skin, I'm thinking more along the lines of Cosmetic Warrior to try out as I've tried Sacred Truth before. This one actually smells how I remember Sacred Truth to smell, which made me think I'd picked up a wrongly labelled mask. I don't know, but it just doesn't smell anything like honey to me. It does have exfoliating properties in it which I think is good for any skin from time to time and I think all of Lush face masks will leave you feeling pampered and that's what it's all about for me.

Also in the picture is Summer Pudding soap which I threw in as a last minute whim because it was love at first sniff! Absolutely amazing. It has glacier cherries in it and I know everyone says this about Lush, but this soap really does smell good enough to eat. Cherries are my favourite fruit so that's a bonus. I love how in the shop it actually looked like a big summer fruit pudding as well, I needed me a slice! It looks and makes my bathroom smell great and is very kind to my skin. I'd used Sea Vegetable before this which was a lovely, fresh smelling soap but somewhat drying, so I'm pleased this one doesn't dry my skin out.

Beauty Product of the Month: April - Lush Shower Jellies

I currently have two shower jellies on the go so just wanted to share my love of them with you. I got one as part of a Lush gift set, and the other was given to me for free from a Lush store that was about to be renovated and they needed to clear a lot of stock. Sweetie Pie was from a gift set I was given a while back and is overpowered with the smell of blackcurrant and a hint of bergamot. It also has glittery bits in which are more for an aesthetic purpose and wash off before you notice them on your skin.

The one I was given was called Whoosh which has contains a blend of lemon, lime and grapefuit juices as well as rosemary and geranium making it a very fresh scent, one that I immediately associated with a masculine smell so this is a great one to buy for your man.

When I first used the shower jellies, admittedly I was not impressed. I found them messy, and very difficult to use. On the packet it recommends how to use them, by crumbling, freezing or storing at bathroom temperature. I froze Sweetie Pie, which made a nice treat during the brief hot spell we had a few weeks ago (where has the lovely spring weather gone by the way??), it didn't freeze completely due to how it's made which is from a seaweed derivative, but it hardened and was easier to break a piece off. For the most part though, I store this in the bathroom, and use it with a shower poof. You need to crumble off a generous amount, probably a little bigger than a pea size amount, and bury it in the shower poof, hold it under the shower and then it's ready to use. This technique means it lathers pretty well and you don't end up wasting a load of product. Now I've found a manageable way to use it I can comment more on the product's value for money and am able to say at £2.30 this is actually brilliant value. It's lasted longer than a bottle of shower gel, and like the majority of Lush products, the smell lingers long after you've used the product, not something you find with conventional shower gels, but something I appreciate since I choose my bath and shower products based almost solely on the smell, and would like them to last longer than the duration I'm using them! The carrageen extract which holds them together helps to infuse the ingredients and acts as a natural surfactant which helps the product lather up which is why these have long lasting smelling power!

The only down side I'd bring up about this product is the choice. I've mentioned two of the shower jellies available, and asides from these, there's only The Joy Of Jelly left to try. I know Lush are famed for their bath products, most notably the bath ballistic, but I would like to see a brand that I deem to be one of the most "green" out there, to recognise most people shower, since it's quicker, cheaper and overall better for the environment. So I would like to see a wider range of the shower jellies available, maybe featuring some of Lush's classic, signature scents.

Has anyone tried and liked the shower jellies?

Beauty Product of the Month: February - Lush Sea Vegetable

I’m running late on my products of the month, I usually do this at the end of the month, but I still haven’t mentioned February’s favourites, so here I go. I don’t think this is one of the most obvious products to buy from Lush, there are a lot of soaps that probably look more appealing, I know I’m usually more drawn to the girly, pink products but sometimes I like to mix it up a bit and go for something a bit different. To me this is almost a masculine scent, but I still find it very appealing so not sure what that says about me. It says on the Lush website it’s great for sharing amongst the whole household, and is perfectly balanced for boys and girls, which I’d agree with, because my boyfriend loves it too. I love it because it smells so FRESH! A mix of lime, lavender, and seaweed which is actually a lot nicer than it sounds. I keep this on my sink in the bathroom for hand-washing along with liquid soap, but I think it would be a nicer soap to use in the bath or shower because it contains sea salt for good exfoliation. There is one part of the soap which I think has bits of seaweed in, it’s kind of coarse feeling so while this is great for giving your skin a good scrub, I don’t really think it’s entirely necessary just for hand-washing. The only other con with this is the shape of it, but the good thing about Lush is they will cut the soap for you, any shape or size you want, so you don’t have to settle for the pre-cut slices. I did because I’d already spent far too much time in there, and I bought home a cube of soap which is not very practical. Aside from this, I really love the soap, Lush soaps are a great buy, and if you like your solid soaps, they are ethically the best to go for since they use a palm free soap base.

Beauty Product of the Month:January - Lush Sugar Babe scrub

Yet another fantastic product from Lush and this one is both innovative and practical, exactly why I love Lush. Sugar scrubs, or an exfoliant of some description are an important part of skincare, I wouldn't say essential because for some they might be harsh on their skin, but most of us will be left with better conditioned skin.

This is a solid sugar scrub, the only one of its kind to not need any packaging. I'm all for recycling, but I think it's even better when products just don't need packaging! There are two scrubs to choose from, which I felt was a bit of a shame because I thought Lush could do a lot more with this product and introduce many more varieties. There's the green one called "Sugar Scrub", which is supposed to help tackle cellulite. I haven't tried it, so I won't knock it, but I am somewhat dubious of it's cellulite fighting properties. It didn't smell that great either, so when it came down to it, I had to choose the nicest smelling one. "Sugar Babe" smells divine. It contains coconut oil so this is one for leaving your skin really soft and moisturised, but the smell is floral since it's also made from ylang flowers and mimosa blossom. It's a very girly smell, although I let my boyfriend use it and he loved it too! It's ok because he never reads this.

At £2.60 for 100g I think this is really good value for money from Lush. After using it a couple of times in the shower, the scrub went a little softer and I was able to squish it into an empty Body Shop exoliator pot to make it easier to use, and last longer. I'd recommend this for use a few times a week, probably not every day because since it's sugar, it is kind of rough. It does a great job at exfoliating, so if your skin isn't too sensitive then it'll work just fine.

Beauty Product of the Month:December - Lush Snow Fairy Shower Gel

This has been my staple shower gel every winter time for about the last 3 years. It's a candy scented, glittery gel that lathers up really well in the shower. Don't be put off by the glittery bits though because they don't show on your skin! I think it might be a love it or hate it kind of product, because it is pretty strong and bordering on sickly sweet. I love Lush shower gels though because the scent really lingers on your skin unlike conventional shower gels where the scent tends to get washed away.
This is one of Lush's limited edition products that only gets released in the run up to Christmas. You can no longer buy it on their website, but if you're quick it should still be available in the Lush stores.

Happy New Year's ladies, hope everyone has an amazing evening. I'm off to Bristol for a change of scenery. I've always wanted to spend NYE in central London watching the fireworks at south bank but decided it's probably a bit too cold and overrated, and going out in London afterwards would be mega expensive, so I'm going to spend it somewhere not ridiculously overpriced!
See you in 2010.
xXx

Lush Humperdink

Yesterday I went to Leicester for the day. It was a bit of a mission from London, I had to get up super early. I had to go though because I had a dress fitting for my best friend's wedding. Its' the first time I've ever been a bridesmaid so I'm quite excited. I met with my parents for lunch afterwards because it seemed silly to travel all that way, be really close to where they live and not see them. I wandered around the shops afterwards and because it's now properly cold in England, all I could think of was getting back in to my warm flat and taking a bath.

I love the range of Christmas goodies they have in Lush, and this year they've really gone all out with the selection of bath and shower goodies. I'm a little bit addicted to the Snow Fairy shower gel and have used it the last two winters (if there's still some left by spring I put it away!), but never tried any of the bubble bars or bath ballistics. The bubble bars are my personal favourite, a bath is just not the same without bubbles! I found this little one called Humperdink which is supposed to be a Christmas elf. I think they put the eyes on too low, but if you use your imagination you can kind of see it. This is also supposed to be special to Leicester but I checked on the Lush website and they have this exact bubble bar available on there but under the name Wee Harry. Anyway, this has a gorgeous cinamon and spice scent, very nice for the winter time, and very relaxing too. I only used a third of this bar and that was plenty. I think I will have to check back at Lush and try out some more of their Christmas goodies, especially a bit nearer the time to get me in the Christmas spirit.

I hope everyone's had a great weekend so far. I'm off to see Paranormal Activity later. :s I probably won't sleep tonight.

Skincare Routine: Updated and budgeted!

Every now and again I like to mix up my skincare a bit. I find something, or a combination of products that work for me, but then still feel the need to try something else, in case maybe it’s better. I’ve been on the poor side recently so I’ve been looking for inexpensive yet efficient products. I love the brand Simple, and have done for a long time now, I like that I’m using products that both do the job they’re intended for and are kind to my skin. Their oil balancing moisturiser is one I’ve stuck with even if I’ve changed my cleanser and toner. It’s not that I don’t want to try anything else; I know that one day my skin will change and I will need a moisturiser more hydrating, but for now this is the perfect moisturiser for me. Having said all this, I did actually change it recently! I ran out of my HG moisturiser and had to replace it, I only had time to go to one shop and they only stocked the light and heavy (or intense?not sure what it’s called) Simple moisturisers. I went for the light, and I think it’s great. I really don’t like to use perfumed moisturisers, or perfumed anything for that matter, on my face. This is just a really basic, no frills moisturiser that will suit most people, yet when I buy Simple I still feel like I’m buying a decent product, where the quality isn’t jeopardised. I’m also using Biore’s Pore Unclogging Scrub in place of my favourite face wash Lush’s Angels on Bare Skin, because it’s half the price! It does the job, but I don’t believe it’s a better product in any way and I can’t wait to go back to my Lush. The cleanser by Simple is pretty standard, not designed for a specific skin type as is the toner which I’m using in place of Lush Tea Tree Water, all to save the pennies!

I start my new job tomorrow (eeee!) so after payday I can carry on shopping as normal and would like to experiment a bit more with high end products, or at least return to my favourite mid-range: Lush, but really I’m wondering if I need to spend a lot on beauty products. I know I shouldn’t really moan about having no money in times like these because I wasn’t made redundant unlike the scenario for a lot of people out there, I left my job willingly to move to London, and luckily it worked out for the best. But in my time of thrift, I’ve learned how to budget properly and not waste money, important life lessons! I was thinking, when it comes to skincare, what products do I really not need to spend very much money on. For a face-wash, I like the product to be as close to nature as possible, which often means it’s more expensive. I prefer using Lush because even though the product gets washed away, there are no nasty chemicals in there which can make your skin worse. I believe a cleanser, since it’s a product that has a primary purpose to take off make-up and wipe away impurities, can be skimped on. It doesn’t really benefit your skin too much to have fancy ingredients. The ingredients will not stay on your skin long enough to make any real difference. Toners and moisturisers on the other hand stay on the skin longer. Toners leave a residue as they tighten and close your pores, and moisturisers are obviously designed to sink into your skin. So finding a good quality moisturiser that works for you is important, since this is also the base for your make-up. I’ve always felt like I would be willing to spend more on a great moisturiser, but then I’ve seen television programmes and read in magazines how Simple comes out on top even next to a brand like Chanel in a blind test and wonder if it’s really necessary to splurge, especially since I love Simple myself.

So I guess this is a post to show you what I’m using right now, and give you some ideas if you’re budgeting like me! But also to ask the question: which high end skincare products do you use that you don’t feel like you could find a drugstore equivalent to? Or are you happy using drugstore?

xXx

The Sacred Truth

I've had a lovely weekend so far, I hope you all have too. Earlier today I went over to Greenwich market to pick up a last minute Father’s Day gift. Greenwich market is a great place for gift buying, there’s so many unusual things there that you can’t find elsewhere. On Saturday I met with a friend I hadn’t seen for ages, she had a few spare hours in the city before she went home so we had a little catch-up. I also went to the Lush store in Covent Garden. Until recently I hadn’t been in, I thought it was a tiny branch and I prefer bigger stores that stock everything. I discovered that it’s actually HUGE, I didn’t realise there were stairs leading down to another floor. Downstairs it’s like a basement shop, with different sections and I think they pretty much stock everything. What I was looking for in particular was facemasks. I’ve tried a lot of products from Lush and have more often than not been impressed, sometimes a little weirded out, but mostly impressed! Lush have a long standing offer where if you return 5 black pots for recycling you get a free face mask! So I’ve been saving up my little black pots and finally reached five. These are the things that I returned.
1x Helping Hands – This was a hand cream that came in a little pump bottle, contains chamomile and rosemary, very good for dry skin.
2x Angels on Bare Skin – The best face wash ever! I’m obsessed with this, and have just got back in to using it, I wrote a review on it a while back.
1x Herbalism – the most vegan friendly, organic face wash they make, good for oily skin but I’m not too keen on the smell, and prefer AOBS.
1x Imperalis – An all rounder moisturiser, I used this on my face, and it works well, nice consistency, but probably better just for night time so it has time to sink in to the skin, it’s quite heavy otherwise.
It took me a while to choose which face mask I wanted. They all looked and smelled so good and most served the same purpose. I ruled out the ones for dry skin and the chocolate one because it smelt far too much like something I would eat, it just seemed wrong to put that on my face.
I opted for The Sacred Truth which seemed to be the best for detoxifying the skin. It contains wheatgrass, ginseng, Green Tea, fresh papaya, cleansing clays and nutritious butters. I thought the consistency of this one was the easiest to apply, some looked a bit too thick. The smell is gorgeous too, it has a somewhat floral scent to it, possibly from the ylang ylang. I was amazed at all the ingredients that went in to making it actually, free range eggs, yoghurt, honey...So Lush face masks are very fresh which means you need to keep them refrigerated. That’s why I think these face masks are perfect for this time of year. When you’ve had a hot day outside, it’s nice to come home, relax and apply this all over your face, very cooling and refreshing. Here I am modelling it!

My skin felt amazing afterwards, it was a little tightening on my face as it dried, but it meant when I rinsed it off, I felt like I’d used a strong toner. You can pick these up in most Lush stores for about £4.80, but for some reason they’re advertised on the website as £6.31, maybe they’re a bigger size? I’m keen to try out the other face masks available, but really they work out quite expensive considering they only stay fresh for 3 weeks! They make a nice treat, but I’ll probably get saving my black pots again, or maybe have a bash at making my own!

My skin care regime, for oily / combination skin

I just wanted to show you the skincare regime that i’ve been following for the last year or so. The products that I use are for oily/combination skin so if you’re this skin type and having problems, i’d recommend trying these products.

If you live in the UK, and most of Europe these products are cheap and easily available, for the US im not sure if they stock Simple, but it's a good brand to hunt for if you can find it.
My first tip for maintaining healthy skin would be to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables and drink plenty of water. I know that maintaining good health is more complicated than that, but I think this simple step is a good start.
I use the same routine in the morning as at night. At night I use a facial wash to begin, then I take my makeup off using Garnier sensitive eye make-up remover, and no matter how much I use, however carefully I think I’ve cleansed my eyes, there’s almost always a tiny amount there in the morning still, just under my eye, so if that’s the case I’ll just sweep a tiny amount around my eyes.

Once you've ensured all the make-up is off, begin with No.7 Beautifully Balanced purifying cleanser for oily/combination skin. It’s fragrance free, non-drying and pH balanced. You can also use it as a wash, but i prefer to just rub it on and wipe off, leaving my skin really mattified. This is a pretty unique cleanser in the way that it's versatile and is a cleanser that not only cleanses but mattifies as it does so.
Next on to the toner. I use Lush Tea Tree Water, and truly believe this is the best toner for my skin. The problem with a lot of toners that are designed for oily skin is that they are extremely harsh. Prior to this I would use Bioré triple action toner which seemed to be a great toner, it controlled excess oil and breakouts and left my skin feeling tingly clean. I thought this was a great product until a friend of mine used it. She had fair, sensitive skin, and said after using it, it felt like her skin was burning. I figured this must be the acid. The toner contains salicylic acid which is used in treating acne. I think the formulation is a little strong for every day use, and I want a toner that I can use every day. The ingredients in this toner are as follows: tea tree water, grapefruit water, juniperberry water, Limonene which occurs naturally in essential oils, perfume and methylparaben. And that’s it! Where I can buy a good product that is as close to nature as possible and actually works I always will. You really want to look after the skin on your face as it’s the most exposed, and remember your skin is delicate so avoid harsh chemicals and excessive rubbing of the skin where you can.
The final step is to moisturise. It may seem unnecessary to moisturise oily skin, just adding to the problem right? If you use a moisturiser targeted at oily/combination skin, your skin will benefit a lot more. Simple do a great range for this skin type, and I am a huge fan of the moisturiser. It contains Zinc PCA to gently absorb excess oil, it is Natural Antibacterial which helps reduce blemishes, and is 100% shine free, so mattifies all day long. Used over time you will see a difference in your complexion.

Herbalism

I stumbled upon this one accidently, after leaving my Angels on Bare Skin behind at a friend's house. Not being able to live without my miracle facewash I had to buy some more. However when I was inside Lush, like any other time I'm in there I can't help but look at every other item the shop has to offer. I always find the displays enticing, especially when you get to see the items full size before they've been measured and cut down.
This facial cleanser is aimed at oilier and problem skin, moreso than Angels I think. The label states: "Join the cult and achieve beautiful skin. Clean, Control excess oil, prevent breakouts."

Herbalism is quite similar to Angels in the way it appears and the way you use it. Although it's a vibrant green colour, the consistency is much like Angels although not at as sludgy, and more crumbly. Again you just need to take a pea-sized amount, mix it with a drop of water and rub together to form a paste like substance. Herbalism does however have a few obvious differences to Angels. Namely the smell of the products are VERY different. I've noticed some people comment on the smell of Angels not being very pleasant. All I can say is if you don't like it, then you should probably give this a miss because the smell of Herbalism was almost enough to put me off buying the product. I do believe though, that the ingredients that go into Lush products are picked for their individual properties and it's what make them works so well, so I accept that sometimes, they aren't going to smell too pretty.
If you can get past the smell, this is another very effective face wash. It contains Nettle, Rosemary, Rice Vinegar Extract (this is what makes you shudder when you smell it), Rose, Chamomile oil and Sage oil, which work together to absorb excess oil on your face as well as having antiseptic and soothing properties. Weirdly, because I haven't seen this anywhere else, it contains Chlorophyll to "balance and protect the skin".
I don't know if Herbalism will replace Angels for me, but after using it for over a week now I am very happy with the result I get with it. I do have an oily t-zone, especially around the nose area and this is particularly good in helping to clear that. I'm finally growing out of teenage skin though and Angels is a milder way to control any excess oil I do get. After finishing this I will probably go back to Angels and then use Herbalism during the summer months when my skin often plays up a little more than usual. Both products are priced the same so if you've used Angels before but found it's not helped your problem skin, then this is worth giving a try.