Bath Treatments -LUSH - Honey Bee Bath Bomb
daffydill 1/8/2012 7:53:00 AM
Yellow 'pee' coloured bath water, on dissolving surface of the bath felt gritty. Scent is honey with floral tinge, it's lovely like HIWTK soap, but this ballistic's scent does not linger.
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Gels/Soaps -Soap and Glory - Clean On Me Creamy Clarifying Shower Gel
daffydill 1/8/2012 7:50:00 AM
The 500 ml bottle is beautifully packaged. The pink logo is next to a retro black and white photo, with a lady who clearly enjoys her showers as much as I do! The 500 ml comes with a pump dispenser, this makes the shower gel easy to dispense when in the shower, however I find this form of packaging wasteful in bath and body product. With my previous Soap and Glory pump dispenser shower gel I was really struggling to get the last 30-50 mls or so out of the bottle. Another small gripe with the packaging, is as the bottle is so big, and may I point out great value, it stays in my shower for a couple of months at a time, and the screw dispenser top has turned brown in some places, almost like it has mould in it, so I have had to clean my shower gel bottle as well as the shower. Smells fruity-floral and lovely. Can't say I noticed a difference in the texture of my skin.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Lotions/ Creams -The Body Shop - Body Butter Shea
daffydill 1/8/2012 7:48:00 AM
t always happens that special occasion comes around, and you want to wear your most expensive perfume, and have the smoothest skin, but the body lotions that you have left all have very strong, powerful scents that would interfere with this perfume. It may be just me, but this seems to happen often to me, and as I don't wear fruity perfumes, all the grapefruit and cherry body butters are the last thing I want to use, this is where shea comes in. Shea is a hard scent to describe, but you will almost certainly know the smell it's creamy yet clean, homely and fresh, neither is it particularly nutty, I would argue it can have a slightly artificial slightly plasticky undertone. On the skin, the fragrance is barely noticeable, I would argue I smell a little cleaner. This means I can layer whatever perfume or body spray I want on top knowing that the shea fragrance won't be fighting it, and I will have great looking skin. The texture of this body butter is very thick when getting it out of the tub, not that dissimilar from butter itself. This butter is probably so thick as it is designed for dry to very dry skin, and is a lot thicker compared to my body butters from The Body Shop designed for normal skin. It is a creamy coloured opaque butter, and when it has come into contact with my clothes has resulted in no staining. Here is a point I really want to stress, so get ready for it. Never, I mean never, and believe me I know a good body butter when I get one, absorbs as quickly as this body butter does. I am actually amazed it goes from being so thick one second, and easily rubbed in to fully absorbed the next, with no greasiness or residue. I challenge anyone to suggest a product that absorbs as well as this one. This probably has something to do with the fact that shea butter happens to melt at body temperature. A little of this does go a long way, I have been using this daily and quite liberally on my hands for about six weeks, and still have over half of my tub left. This along with quick leg and arm touch ups when at work. As far as moisturising goes, I have normal to dry skin, and this formula really does keep my skin moisturised. If I use it in the morning, I wouldn't need to moisturise until well into the next day. My skin feels soft, supple and fully hydrated, making it certainly one of the best on the market.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Moisturizers -Soap and Glory - Catch a Wrinkle in Time Moisturizer
daffydill 1/8/2012 7:46:00 AM
I was originally really impressed with my new smooth feeling skin, and really enjoyed my new morning skincare routine so I could apply the product. However, after a week I did notice breakouts on my T zone. I have dry and slightly sensitive skin, so for me to get spots is rare, but I was very soon bringing out a whole host of Clearasil products to try and resolve the product. Needless to say I tried removing the High Beam, before I stopped using the cream altogether and found my skin cleared up within a week of me not using the product. I did have a slight amount of tingling when applied to my skin, but was no more irritated than any other day or night creams that I apply to my face. This product was also supposed to moisturise my skin, however during these cold February months I found using the Catch a Wrinkle in Time in the day, along with my Nivea at night my dry patches were persisting. This meant my skin now appeared combination to the outside world, even though I really only have a dryness problem. Did I look any younger for using the product? Well to be honest, no, my skin did feel smoother but my fine lines didn't appear improved. The tri-peptides and youth boosters seemed to have no effect on my skin either. However, I'm not surprised as the skin does not have large enough pores to absorb large molecules like these long chain peptides that are often contained in these products. Will this product prevent me ageing? With the drying effect on my skin and total lack of SPFs and UV protection, I don't think this is going to stop the clock. The strange thing is the smell is a citrus smell with a hint of sun tan lotion, so I was expecting a UV protection, very disappointing for a product that certainly wasn't cheap. The best part of the whole anti-ageing claims is that the packaging advises you to stay out of the sun, avoid cigarettes, alcohol, caffeine and fun generally. I believe that it is this advice on the outer packaging that will prevent you getting wrinkles in any form.
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Blush -BeneFit Cosmetics - Coralista
daffydill 1/8/2012 7:44:00 AM
Coralista is unsurprisingly a coral coloured blush, which for me leans more pink than orange on the coral spectrum. Right now I'm going to give out a shimmer warning, yes we have so much gold/ pink shimmer, that I have stopped using my High Beam. If you don't like shimmer this isn't a good product for you, but if you like a sparkle this blush should be right up your alley, and it is a two in one product. So on the pigmentation front, Coralista looks amazing when swatched on the back of the hand with great colour pay off. Sadly, this did not translate when applying to the face, I am of a light to medium skin tone, and felt I really had to pack this on to get the effect I wanted. I do have slightly fairer friends who use this product and it seems to go on quite strong, and requires a lot of blending to look natural. When blended in, this product does result in a healthy summer glow, with defined cheek bones due to the shimmer; just as long as you aren't too tanned! Our skin tones aren't far apart, but for some reason the product seems to behave much differently. To try and stop me using so much product and also to get a little more orange into the coral tone, I now use a cream coloured peach blusher underneath and find the effect is much improved, still natural and summery, but without the clown cheeks issue. Since purchasing these products Benefit has released a new lip and cheek tint Cha Cha Tint, which has a little more orange than Coralista and would look great when paired with Coralista to give that summer glow. Texture of the product is again exceptional as with Dallas, when swirling the brush you don't kick up too much dust, so less of the product is wasted. It is a blusher that feels nice on the face, and is not chalky or gritty in anyway. Another point to mention is the smell, I find Benefit almost always get this right, and in this case it is a triumph. Coralista smells of tropical fruit, non-descript tropical fruit, but tropical fruit all the same, which does remind me of being on holiday, although not necessarily in Rio. As far as wear and removal goes, this blush is average at about four to six hours wear on bare (no foundation) skin, with an extra hour or two with primer, foundation or in my case cream blush. The product can be easily removed with standard make up remover or wipes. Also I am not a fan of the brush, nor of the new packaging!
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Scrubs -The Body Shop - Raspberry Body Scrub
daffydill 1/8/2012 7:41:00 AM
The scent itself is unmistakably a raspberry one, it is a big punch of berry. I would not describe it as overly fresh more of a jammy, boozy raspberry scent. I do not find this scent a real 'wake-up' scent, more for a luxurious treat. I would personally prefer a slightly fresher smell, as I don't feel particularly cleansed after using the product. The scent lasted on my skin after showering for only an hour or two afterwards, a little disappointing, but can be layered with other product from the raspberry range. Consistency and Scrubbing Abilities The scrub itself does actually look and have the consistency of raspberry jam. The product is thin, particularly when I compare it to the Coconut version of the product, so I find myself scooping some product into the lid before I scrub my limbs and body. My findings on this have been that I use about twice as much per shower with this scrub compared to the coconut. Time to exfoliate! The little scrubbers themselves consist of ground walnut shell and raspberry seeds. I find that per scoop I don't get as much exfoliating particles as I would normally like, so end up with a more gentle exfoliation, or a mere buffing of the skin as opposed to a good scrub. For this reason I would recommend to those with more delicate skin, and an avoid warning for the fake tanners amongst you. The product does wash off easily merely because it is so thin, but on the downside, I do find pieces of walnut shell all over the place throughout the day. I'm not sure how they get there as I feel like I have thoroughly washed the product off. Another point about this product, is that the product is such an intense berry colour I would be careful of staining, particularly if you use white towels and the such like. I haven't tested it, but I wouldn't be suprised if this product turned it into a fetching pink shade. The Body Shop claim this product is designed for normal skin, and contains moisturising raspberry extract. I personally didn't find my skin didn't feel any more moisturised compared to other scrubs on the high street, particularly compared to the creamy texture of The Body Shop's own coconut scrub. I have relatively dry skin anyway so have to moisturise after a shower, but didn't find I needed less moisturiser after using this product.
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Shampoo -Batiste - Original Dry Shampoo
daffydill 1/8/2012 7:39:00 AM
The final result is hair does look less greasy, smells clean, with more life, and in my case slightly lighter, however this may be due to the light colour that comes from the can. Due to this problem that was recorded Batiste have since released a range of dry shampoos that are tinted to suit different hair colours. The scent I am left with on my hair I really enjoy, and is certainly nicer than smelling of booze or whatever else my hair had been through. The scent is a clean, chemical with a slight citrussy scent, but mainly chemical. However like furniture polish it is a scent that is not offensive to the nose. My hair does not appear or smell as nice as it would with a normal hair wash, however it is great if you're in a hurry, or can't get to a shower easily, such as at festivals.
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Lotions/ Creams -Soap and Glory - The Righteous Butter
daffydill 1/8/2012 7:38:00 AM
Packaging Like many body butters this product comes in a tub with a screw top lid. It is a fairly bright pink in colour with the name of the product in yellow and black lettering. It is certainly not my favourite design from Soap and Glory's range, but it serves its purpose. The lid is easy to remove and screw back on. The design of the tub makes the body butter easy to reach. This is my favoured type of packaging for body butters as I can always scoop out the desired amount of product, or if I grab too much, easily put some back in the tub. The product comes in a travel size 50 ml and a larger 300 ml tub. The Scent - Righteous? The Righteous Butter is part of Soap and Glory's original pink line, and has a distinctive, but nonetheless gorgeous scent. It is young and fruity, without being fruit salad. I have listed the notes below to give you an idea of the scent. Top Notes * Bergamot and Peach Heart Notes * Strawberry and Jasmine Base Notes * Mandarin and Musk The overall scent is well blended, so it is hard to pick out individual notes. I personally find the peach and the strawberry to be the most dominant, which are just pegged back slightly due to the inclusion of the musk which also makes the aroma seem a bit more grown up. The list of notes given in this format implies that the scent changes over time, I personally did not find that with this product. Shea butter has also been added to this product, however it lacks the plastic aroma Shea can sometimes bring, this is particularly noticeable in The Daily Smooth Body Butter by Soap and Glory. The reason for this may be due to the addition of aloe vera which gives an added freshness to the aroma. As far as longevity goes if I apply the body butter in the morning I can still smell it mid-afternoon, and this could be extended further with layering of the associated products. Moisturising Properties I can not fault the moisturising properties of this body butter. The butter itself is cream in colour and is thick in colour, but not as thick as some of the really thick Body Shop butters such as Shea, Coconut and Nut. The butter absorbs very easily and feels particularly luxurious on the skin. There is no residue or tackiness, and the small amount of greasiness that is present on application quickly disappears. My skin feels soft for the rest of the day after application, due to the addition of the shea butter. The aloe vera in the product means that after hair removal my skin doesn't look as red and blotchy as it sometimes does. I am coming near to the end of my travel 50 ml size tub, and it has lasted me between 10-15 applications which tends to just involve my limbs and any further dry areas that I find throughout the day, as I tend to carry the tub around as it is such a portable size.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Bath Treatments -LUSH - Big Blue Bath Bomb
daffydill 1/8/2012 7:35:00 AM
It's big, it's blue and it's from Lush, so what's not to love? I have been meaning to try the Big Blue for a little while now after a couple of lovely Lush sales assistants recommend I try it for a relaxing summer bath. It is my last bath at home before I move out, so I figured it had to be a Lush one! Stepping away from my usual vanilla and tonka bean comfort zone, I took the plunge, excuse the pun to try this seaweed enriched ballistic. The Appearance This ballistic is a biggie from Lush, a whole 200 grams of it making it similar to the size of a hockey ball; this satisfied the slightly greedy person in me. The ballistic itself is a lovely bright cyan shade with areas of white running through, the dried seaweed can also be seen sticking out of the sides. Let The Ballistic See The Bath Dropping the ballistic in the bath it quickly started to fizz, and when I mean quick, we're talking blink and you miss it. It certainly took less than three minutes, as I had the radio one and this ballistic had burned out well before the end of the song playing. As the ballistic floated on the top it was fascinating to watch the bath water slowly turn into a clear, and very bright turquoise, permeated with little black bits (the seaweed) that soon sunk to the bottom of the bath. Suddenly I was transported to some Mediterranean rock pool with a fresh sea air blowing, well that might have been the draught! The colour makes this a very relaxing and refreshing bath, the seaweed that softens as it floats to the bottom do help you give the impression that you are in your own private lagoon. The bits of seaweed themselves are each an inch or so long, and you seem to get a lot of them in this ballistic, they are not uncomfortable to lie in. I also find this ballistic quite soothing and non-irritable, I got into the bath last night with a heat rash on my thigh, which felt considerably less itchy and hot whilst in the bath. What makes up the scent? Answer: Seaweed, seaweed and more seaweed. Lush says that this ballistic is made up of four components for a relaxing bath: seaweed, sea salt, lemon and lavender oils. * Seaweed - To be honest this is the only component of the above four I can actually smell. Seaweed is full of those antioxidants which no cosmetic company seems to tell us how they work, but apparently they make our skin radiant. Sea vegetables such as seaweed are also packed full of vitamins, such as vitamins A and C, aiding collagen production; collagen is a protein we lose as we age resulting in skin sagging and wrinkles. My skin did certainly feel a little softer after a bath, but not to the extent of other milk baths and baths rich in various plant butters that Lush also produces. Apparently this wonder ingredient will also help draw out toxins from our skin, as well as increasing circulation to the skin, for an overall healthy glow. * Sea salt - This contains a number of elements that aren't just sodium and chloride that are proven to be beneficial to the body. Magnesium prevents skin aging and prevents fluid retention. The calcium present should not only strengthen nails but further reduce fluid retention. Potassium and bromides both ease muscle stiffness. Sea salt is also supposed to be particularly beneficial to those with osteoarthritis. I may not be a world athlete or a sufferer of arthritis but I do work nine hours a day on my feet in a shop, and my muscles certainly felt relaxed, even if I didn't look ten years younger. There was a fresh scent to this ballistic, even though it wasn't overly noticeable I wonder if this was some of the sea salt coming through. * Lavender Oil - Another wonder product, it is antiseptic and antifungal, it is also added to chamomile to help provide relief from skin irritation. It is obviously used for its relaxing scent as it is known to help induce sleep. I didn't fall asleep in my bath, but my inflamed skin did feel soothed, and I felt more relaxed generally. The lavender is certainly dominated by the seaweed, even though I couldn't smell it, I could detect its relaxing presence. * Lemon Oil - Another insomnia beater! The lemon oil in this product did help me feel as if my batteries had been recharged. It is also used in cosmetics to improve the radiance of dull skin, and for its soothing properties of inflamed skin. Lemon is not a dominant note, however the ballistic definitely does smell a bit like, dare I say it, household cleaning products, so it certainly adds a little of that citrus freshness. Is this my favourite scent? No, but if you like fresh scents this ballistic does it well, even if it does have a cleaning product tinge. The scent on my skin sadly didn't last more than an hour, but the scent in the room was definitely still there the next day. It is certainly a lovely clean and refreshing scent that I think could be enjoyed by both men and women alike. ===How my skin felt after?=== My skin feels cleansed, soothed and refreshed. This is the cleanest I have ever felt after using a Lush ballistic, and although I didn't find the product awfully moisturising, it certainly didn't dry it out, so I did top up with a little bit of body lotion. Although I think I need tips of a body lotion to go with this one, I have a lot of shea and cocoa butter based scents, however I think something more refreshing and soothing which was aloe vera and cucumber scented may work better. I did manage to find a body spray that layers brilliantly with this product and it is a bargain at £2.03 from Boot's Natural Collection in the scent Samphire and Sea Minerals. A Cautionary Note Watch when getting in and out of the bath with this ballistic and other Lush products, I find the water becomes more slippy compared to the normal bubble bath I would purchase in the supermarket. This can mean getting into the bath is a little treacherous, so I would plan your exit route carefully. As far as cleaning goes, this brightly coloured product doesn't sta
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Bath Treatments -LUSH - Gingerbread House bubble bar
daffydill 1/8/2012 7:33:00 AM
So this is my second favourite time of the year at Lush when all the wonderful Christmas range is released, Snow Fairy, Cinders, Glogg shower gel etc. all return. my favourite time of the Lush year is obviously when these items are reduced in the Christmas sales. This time a bubble bar called Gingerbread House caught my eye, what's not to love it not only produces bubbles but has that classic Christmassy ginger scent, and did I mention it looks like a little house with real rainbow sprinkles on it???? Appearance This little oblong, orange/ ginger coloured house, is topped with a white 'icing like coating' smattered with rainbow sprinkles. Like last year the chimney was made out a cinammon stick, pretty cool, but the one I bought looked like it had a little sad piece of cinnamon bark for a chimney. Let The Bubble Bar See The Bath These bubble bars are really easy to use, just crumble into warm running water. The consistency of the Gingerbread House means it easily crumbles into the water, meaning no lumpy baths. I personally used the whole bar, but I reckon you could get at least two baths out of this bubble bar. The colour of the bath itself is an orange/ red rust colour, not my favourite colour from Lush, however I'm not sure what other colour you could turn this bar to fit in with the theme. It is not the bubbliest bubble bar, but certainly satisfied my need for bubbles. This bubble bar does feel smoothing and moisturising without the lumps of cocoa butter that make hair removal in the bath impossible. Another important note with Lush products is clean up after using this one is minimal, as long as you pick the cinnamon stick out. What Makes Up The Scent? The overall vibe I get is that homely gingerbread scent with an extra Christmas fruitiness. As a cautionary note this one smells way better in the bath than it does dry in the shop, so this is one you have to trust the Lush staff when they say it does smell really good! * Ginger - This is literally the bread and butter of the fragrance. It is warm and spicy. Not only does it make you all warm and fuzzy inside. Ginger is known to help relax all those tense muscles, great after a long day of Christmas shopping. * Lemon Oil - One of nature's great cleansers. The lemon does cut the ginger slightly, to give it an uplifting feel to the bubble bar. * Buchu Oil - Made from an evergreen shrub native to South Africa, the aroma it gives is blackcurrant with a little bit of mint. Adding Christmas fruit and candy cane vibes to make this bubble bar uber-Christmassy in a very subtle way. * Cinnamon Sticks - I didn't get much cinnamon from this one, but Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a little bit of cinnamon. Adding a different spice into the mix brings the bubble bar all together. Overall this is one of my favourite scents Lush has ever produced, but I am a little biased, as I am a massive sucker for ginger scents in beauty products. However, if you like ginger, this is ginger with a bit of twist, done well. How My Skin Felt After? My skin felt lovely and soft, certainly hydrated. All these benefits without the very slippy bath that Lush often leaves me with. The scent lingered on my skin for hours afterwards a big plus. Price and Availability The Gingerbread House is available for only a limited time in Lush this Christmas time, so if you're a fan of these bubble bars head on down to Lush. They are £2.95 for one bubble bar and you may get two or three baths from one bubble bar. However, it is such a unique scent that I struggle to find elsewhere on the high street I believe it is worth splashing out on. It is also available in the £14.95 Gingerbread House Tin along with other Christmas edition products. As far as layering goes, sadly Lush doesn't seem to do a range which would layer well with this product. However Origins' ginger range particularly their body souffle would be fabulous with this. Overall This is a one of a kind scent, with a price tag that is a little steep, but I'm prepared to pay to get something a little different this Christmas.
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