Lush is Lush!

A few days ago, I treated myself to some little goodies from Lush. I haven't been there in soooo long, and it was nice just to have a little mosey around all of the products on display. The shop assistant introduced me to the new 'Emotional Brilliance' cosmetics range, which I have to say has a fabulous (if not a little daring) colour palette, and the skin tints are to die for! The products include eyeshadows, lipsticks, eyeliners, skin tints, loose powder and even a mascara, and range between £12 and £14.50 per product, which I have to say seems a little on the pricey side. In fact, is it just me, or has the Lush range as a whole become more expensive? I say this, because I also got to try out the Turkish Delight Shower Smoothie, which comes in at a hefty £15.95 for a large 200g black pot. The shop assistant informed me that 15,000 rose petals have been used in each of the pots, and even though it did smell divine and leave my skin feeling super-soft, I think its one of those products to splurge on when you're feeling flush!!

Anyway, back to the products I did purchase...

I'm going to start with the Stepping Stone Foot Scrub. This is a much wanted product as I work long shifts and sometimes you just want to come home and pamper those poor little tootsies that have been put to use all day. This funky little scrub, aptly moulded in the shape of a foot, smells quite citrussy and really refreshing - just the ticket for pampering those hot, tired feet. It obviously contains lashings of Jojoba oil, as the bag has become quite greasy, and has rubbed off the 'instructions' for use. On their website, they advise you to 'Give your feet a good workout with this little green footprint - because all that pumice in there will scrub and smooth away dead skin, whilst the jojoba oil will moisturise and make them soft without leaving them slippery or oily' . However, reading the reviews, most people have commented that the slightest drop of water makes this product disappear rapidly. One suggestion is to crumble the entire thing into a pot and use a little at a time, so I think that's what I am going to do!! I may also try massaging it onto dry skin then rinse off. At £2.95, its a little pricey to waste in one go!

The next product I purchased is the Green Bubbleroon Bubble Bar, which has a zingy, citrus scent to it. As a bath product meant to be twisted into two halves and crumbled under running tap water, it is suitable for two uses (one half for each bath), but I have previously purchased the Yuzu & Cocoa Bubbleroon, and I literally just smashed it up into bits using a rolling pin, then sprinkled a little into each bath I took - this way you can easily get four (if not more!) baths out of one Bubbleroon. I loved the Yuzu & Cocoa one, which left my skin feeling soft and scented for ages afterwards, so I am really excited to try the Green one out! This product cost £3.25 (another reason to try and make it go that little bit further).

Ocean Salt Cleanser - this is a facial scrub which contains sea salt, coconuts, limes and 'lots of great things that will moisturise and treat the skin'. It smells Amazing - there is just the right scent of lime, and it is also infused with fresh grapefruit - sounds like an ideal product for waking your skin up in the morning!! At £6.95 for a smaller 100g pot, it is not cheap by any means, but it smells delicious and I have never tried a facial scrub with sea salt in before, so I am really looking forward to giving this product a go! Having read some other reviews, it appears that this product can be quite drying if overused, despite Lush's attempts to prevent this by adding in Avocado Butter, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Lanolin, Seaweed Absolute and Violet Leaf Absolute. This product has also been described as a 'Harsh Scrub' and as I have dry/sensitive skin, I am hoping that it is not going to dry my skin out too much. I am now feeling a little apprehensive about trying this out....eek, but I will let you know how it goes!!

Oatifix Fresh Face Mask - I have heard alot about the Lush range of Fresh Face Masks, which have to be refrigerated, and was so intrigued that I decided to give one a go. I opted for the Oatifix, priced at £5.95 for a 75g pot, which smells deliciously of vanilla and contains Oatmeal, Ground Almonds and Fresh Banana (hence why it should be stored in the fridge). The shop assistant commented that this pot comes from a 'sticky batch', and if too thick, a little splash of water can be stirred through to make the consistency more manageable. I am really excited to try this mask, as my skin tends to love any product that is oat-based. However, the only downside I would have to point out is the shelf life of the product as, even if stored correctly, the period of time from manufacture to use by date is roughly 1 month!! I purchased this pot (made 30/8/2012) on 3rd Sept and now only have 23 days left in which to use it - the pressure is on!!

So that's it for my little Lush haul peeps, please let me know what you think and if you have any
recommendations for me :-)

Claire

xXx

I've been shopping - HUGE Haul - Lush, Revlon, Oasis, River Island, New Look, Primark....

Yesterday I returned from a week away in Paris (Eeeek!!!), and in the few weeks before I left I was busy gathering together a few new items to take with me - I use the word 'few' lightly here!!

First stop, Primark. Normally, I either see lots in Primark or nothing at all. I have problems with the style of alot of their clothing, but for the items that do fit me nicely I am a huge fan. Primark, in my eyes, coined the term 'disposable fashion'. They create of-the minute items at a really reasonable price, but this is reflected in the reduced quality fabrics that they use. This is not to say that their clothing is shambolic, but simply that they are by no means made to last. One seasons wear has normally tired out the items that I have purchased in the past, but for the prices I have paid I cant really complain.

I picked up this cute little peter pan collar tunic for £6.00, a floral tote bag for £3.00, a cute leatherette purse to store my euros for £3.00 and a pack of earrings for £2.00. I have also fallen in love with their scarves - I picked up three in the prints pictured below, and am really impressed with the quality for the price of £3.00-£4.00 a piece. Im sure I will be back for more!!

I love Oasis, and I picked up a quite a few bargains in their sale. Although I am a big fan of their clothing and jewellery, sometimes I just feel that they can be a little over-priced, especially on their basics range. As almost everything I bought was around half price, I was a very happy little shopper. I will say one thing though, in comparison to Primark clothing, you do get what you pay for in Oasis, and on the whole their clothes are really made to last more than one season.

I used to be the biggest fan of River Island. I did most of my clothes shopping there, I could always find something there last minute if I needed to, and I was always spolied for choice. But then they just seemed to go down the route of chavtasticness and I could never find anything that suited my tastes there anymore. I'm not sure if this was due to a possible change in their design team, but the River Island that I knew and loved - the one that sold the gorgeous, floaty, feminine, items - had almost disappeared. For this reason, I hadn't been into a River Island Store for over a year until last week, and was shocked to find that their prices seem to have dropped significantly. Tops that previously would have retailed at around the £40 mark are now £25 full price, and they also have a massive sale on. I picked up one top for a bargain £10 in the sale, and two shirt dresses at £25 each full price - but still a bargain really, as they are great quality and I love them!!. I was really shocked to find the store almost empty of customers though - even with such a great sale on - I only hope that this combined with the fall in prices isnt spelling the end for River Island....

For a while I have been thinking of buying myself a pair of coloured jeans, but the notion of turning thirty had left me pondering as to whether I am now 'too old' to wear them. However, the thought 'you only live once' over-rode this and I purchased not one, but two pairs. The first are a pair of full length dark jade green jeans that are made of a really soft denim. The second are a pair of bright blue capri pants. I found a really pretty top in the River Island sale to wear with the jade jeans for £12, it is made of a really pretty cream & multi-colour heart print fabric, with a cute bow sewn onto the shoulder one side. I also bought a few tops in New Look, and I had to make a sharp exit as there were so many more items that I had my eye on!!

And to finish, a shopping trip wouldnt be complete without the purchase of a few beauty items. My sister and I love Lush, and a 'browse' turned into the purchase of a Fluffy Egg bath ballistic and a Yuzu & Cocoa bubbleroon. They both smell good enough to eat, and I cant wait to use them!!

Boots had a 3 for 2 deal on across all of their cosmetic brands and so I picked up this gorgeous rainbow-silver sparkle glitter polish from Revlon in Shade 340 'Stunning', and one of the new much-blogged about Revlon lip butters in Sugar Frosting (separate reviews to follow...).

I also discovered the 'Look Beauty' cosmetic brand that is stocked in Superdrug. This brand was launched in November 2011, and all products have been tried and tested by the workers at Look magazine, which can only be a good thing!! I decided to give one of their Nail Pop Polishes a go, and the Nail Pop in Shade 4 Bling immediately caught my eye. It is a clear polish with a dusky pink glitter, that will be great worn over a pink polish for sparkly summer nails.

So thats it for my recent uk shopping haul - have you bought anything nice lately?

xXx