Scrubs -LUSH - Ocean Salt
pink3rbellx 9/11/2011 1:54:00 PM
Let me start out by saying, I have extremely acne prone, blackhead-y, clogged up skin on the oily side. Oh, and huge pores. My skin isn't sensitive at all. I've tried out LUSH skincare in the past - did not work for me. At all. Really wanted it to, but everything ended up breaking me out. Enter Ocean Salt. Now, I should say that I never thought I'd use this. I felt it was truly unhealthy to rub salt on one's face, and yes, what about the microscopic tears in your skin being formed as a result? In fact, I just didn't support exfoliation at all. I felt that washing one's face was exfoliation enough. However, for my face, it wasn't. My pores were seriously clogged, and exfoliation was probably what it was missing (my face needed something stronger and deeper than just daily cleansing). I had tried exfoliating in the past, and the results weren't good. I used LUSH's Dark Angels, and the charcoal granules got stuck in my large pores.. yeah.. not good. This resulted in congestion of my pores and eventually, a break out. However, with Ocean Salt, since the exfoliating granules are salt pieces, they wash right off and have no way to lodge into pores since they melt with water. The avacado butter and coconut oil really sink into your skin and make it even softer than your face already is from the exfoliation. However, I didn't buy this to make my face soft. I bought it to help my skin's overall complexion and help with my break outs - and it has. This stuff kind of pulverizes everything off your face. The blackheads begin to diminish, and after a few uses, are barely noticeable. Pores shrink because there is a natural astringent in Ocean Salt. The best part for me is the effect on acne; yes, if you have open acne wounds or an active pimple, this will burn. It has happened to me many times. This is because salt is a natural antiseptic, and I love the effect this has, because it dries up and diminishes my pimples after just one use because it gets rid of all the bacteria. It rinses clean and soft, but I definitely have to moisturize afterwards. Not because it leaves my face dry, but to kind of calm my face down after it all. It's generally good to moisturize anyway. By the way, this stuff smells, looks, and feels amazing. I always grab it and just open it to sniff it.. smells absolutely tropical. Awesome blue-green color too! I use this pretty much nightly. Sometimes I forget or skip a night, but I aim for nightly. I don't recommend that everyone does this. Usually, people use it once or a few times a week. It's just that my face is tough and can handle it nightly. A word to the wise: Remember people, when you're using it, push it lovingly around your face - not rigorously or angrily! You are almost certain to have irritation/a bad experience if you really try to work it in. The salt granules do half the job for you by just being there, so be gentle! Finally, when it comes to face products, ALWAYS get a sample first. Update: I firmly believe this is what cured my acne. Okay, cure might be a strong word, but I don't break out much at all anymore! Sure, I get the occasional hormonal pimple, but that's all. Amazing.
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Bath Treatments -LUSH - Avobath Bath Ballistic
pink3rbellx 7/3/2011 7:29:00 PM
This bomb did not make me go "omg", and that is what I look for in deciding whether I'll repurchase a LUSH product or not (especially their bath bombs - expensive!). I used this bomb all at once because I have a huge tub (it's about five feet long). I love the scent of this bomb on dry sniff - a beautiful lemon-limey, sort of sprite soda-like, but a stronger citrus kick. The scent came up while the bomb fizzed, but I couldn't really smell it after 10 minutes. Disappointing. The water was a gorgeous green, with barely noticeble sparkles on the surface. The tiny microshimmers give the top of the bath a hazy effect. Soo pretty. The tiny shimmers stuck to me, and although I am a complete glitterphobe, I thought they were fun and cute.I bet you won't even notice them unless you're under a bright light and go looking for them. Anyway. The scent did not linger - at all! So disappointing in the scent department. Didn't moisturize nearly as much as it said it would - my skin felt "normal" when I got out (at least I wasn't dry, I guess). It's a nice bomb for the experience of lazing in pretty green water, the dry sniff smell, and the fun micro shimmer afterwards.. otherwise, this is a dud for me. I MAY repurchase for the color and dry sniff alone, but all in all I said I wouldn't buy it again - another reviewer is right, go put food coloring in your bath water.
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Bath Treatments -LUSH - Mrs. Whippy Bath Bomb
pink3rbellx 7/3/2011 12:55:00 AM
This smelled okay in store, but started smelling increasingly more milk shakey as I made my way home. In the tub, it turned the water a milky light pink. Meh. But the smell was horrible. The sweetness of it almost gave me a headache (this is coming from someone who adores Godmother). I did not find it to be moisturizing in the least, which is funny because it is the first LUSH product that claimed it would and did not. Sorry to be the voice of dissent here, but I don't get how others found it moisturizing. It mainly provided scent for me. It fizzed more slowly than the normal bombs, but not as slowly as slow-fizzing ones (which this was supposed to be..) like Twilight. It was gone in 3-5 minutes. The experience with this bomb was mediocre for me, but if another person enjoys the scent, it is strong and it would probably be a good experience. I wouldn't repurchase.
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Gels/Soaps -LUSH - Rub rub rub showergel
pink3rbellx 7/1/2011 2:39:00 PM
I've fallen hard and fast for this stuff. Smell: It's the Sakura scent, which is supposed to smell like cherry blossoms... maybe a medicinal cherry blossom? It's extremely hard to pinpoint what this smells like. Laundry, but not as fresh? It's not a very "summery" scent to me though. I'm not a fan of the smell, but I'm sure it'll grow on me. This gives me a really good scrub, and I don't even need to use a lot! I take an amount that's probably equivalent to the size 2 or 3 quarters (if that makes sense..?). I rub it everywhere except my thighs and legs. For some reason, I can even shave my underarms right before using this stuff and it won't sting, but if it comes into contact with my thighs and legs (even 48 hrs after shaving them) it burns like hell. Do not do. Let the soap from your upper body clean your legs as it's coming off. Anyway, I don't use this under running water. That'd defeat the purpose of this stuff. I wish this foamed up a bit more, but I don't care. I feel so clean while using it and afterwards. After I rinse off, my skin is unbelievably smooth and moisturized, which is funny because salt is supposed to be drying. The scent does linger a bit, which I don't care much for, but I love everything else about this so much it doesn't matter. Oh yeah, and the blue color is awesome.
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Lotions/ Creams -LUSH - Fair Trade Foot Lotion
pink3rbellx 7/1/2011 2:25:00 PM
As a fan of all things minty, I was super excited to try this lotion out. I expected it to make my feet tingle and be super soothing. My verdict after using this lotion is: meh. For reference, I don't have rough feet, in fact they're pretty soft, but my feet are pretty sensitive (aka: I cannot wear flats without coming home with sore heels). Smell: This lotion smells as equally cocoa buttery as it does pepperminty... meh. Consistency: This stuff is thin, which is nice. It'll last a while. Spreads easily on the feet. Effectiveness: I didn't expect this to make my relatively soft feet any softer, and I don't think it has, which is fine. However it is a bit cooling.. just a bit. There's a slight sensation there, but nothing to write home about. It is nice, though, don't get me wrong. One day, I was writhing from cramps during that time of the month, and I rubbed a bit on my belly. It felt nice for a few minutes, but then the pain came back. Verdict: the arnica is almost minimal in its pain relieving abilities, but it is not ineffective. I selected that I wouldn't buy this again, but I might if I had a bunch of money to blow. I might cross paths with this lotion again. Highly unlikely any time soon, though. (will update if I change my mind, as I'm not nearly done with my pot).
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Fragrances -LUSH - Tuca Tuca
pink3rbellx 7/1/2011 2:06:00 PM
A whiff of this stuff makes me wretch. It's also rather headache inducing for me. Who knew violet could be so potent and nasty? I agree with other reviewers, it's like a foul body odor. Sorry Tuca Tuca lovers, for me this should be called Yucky Yucky.
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Toners -LUSH - Tea Tree Water
pink3rbellx 7/1/2011 12:16:00 PM
I'm close to running out of the small sized bottle of this, which has lasted me.. about a month and a half to two months. I like this product, but not as a toner. I'm pretty sure I'll repurchase. I don't use this the way most people use it (Cleanse - Tone - Moisturize) because I didn't like the extra step in my routine, and felt it just did too much for my face. My face is picky, oily, and acne-prone, but simple, and gets angry if I do too much to it. Additionally, the cleansers I use are rather drying and deep cleansing, so I don't need the toner to remove extra gunk off my face. I use this a few ways: 1) I use this in alternation with the Mask of Magnaminty at night. If I don't use MoM, I spritz this on my face 3-5 times, and wipe off with a cotton pad. The whole day comes off on that cotton pad, and my face feels nice. Much gentler than cleansing, so it doesn't disturb my very active sebacious glands (which get super active and oily with twice a day cleansing). 2) When I use masks (other than MoM), I use this toner afterwards to remove any final traces of the mask. 3) If I'm about to go out mid-day and I notice some oil on my face, I just spritz this on and pat my face down with a cotton pad. If it's hot out and I'm feeling gross after a long day or something, I'll spritz this on and feel refreshed. I've read about people using this on oily hair too.
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Lip Treatments -Kiss My Face - Organic Lip Balm - Treat Mint
pink3rbellx 7/1/2011 11:18:00 AM
I have to agree with another reviewer or two on this balm - it was fine at first, and I originally bought it to replace Burt's Bees for an alternative with SPF. I liked that it felt slick on my lips and I could rub them together more easily than with Burt's Bees, and it also gave a bit of shine. I really liked that.. except a week later, my lips dried out. I had to repurchase Burt's Bees. Maybe this would work on top of Burt's Bees? I didn't try it; I misplaced this tube after I bought BB and didn't care to go looking for it. This balm is simply made out of oils that'll sit at the surface of your lips and never sink in, eventually starving your lips of moisture. This is not it.
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Lip Treatments -Burt's Bees - Beeswax Lip Balm
pink3rbellx 7/1/2011 11:11:00 AM
This is the best lip balm I have ever tried, period. I have tried to stray from it with no luck of a formidable replacement. It feels great, cooling, soothing, and tingly when one puts it on: I love the feeling. This was a much more intense feeling when I first bought this lip balm, but after having gone through two tubes (which take forever for me to use up, by the way) I have gotten somewhat used to it. The soothing, cooling effect is still there and it is extremely pleasant, but not as intense as when I first bought it (I remember I used to be like "woah!" in my head). This lip balm does what it's supposed to do and really coats your lips with hydration. When you rub your lips together, it does not provide a slick feeling. I guess this is from the beeswax? Either way, the moisture is really sunken in and looks matte on your lips. No shine from this balm. Even if I go a day or so without putting this on, my lips are still smooth and never chapped as long as I have a tube of this around. It maintains the smoothness without necessitating re-application, which means it really improves your lips. Once I tried to switch over to another lip balm (Kiss My Face in Mint) and my lips just didn't feel as good as they did with Burt's Bees Beeswax. They became slightly chapped after a few days, and I had to buy Burt's Bees again. Nothing beats this balm.
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Cleansers -LUSH - Herbalism
pink3rbellx 6/23/2011 12:36:00 PM
I would like to preface this review with my skin type. I have oily skin (mostly the Tzone!) that is extremely acne prone. Herbalism was recommended to me, and although the SA suggested I buy a $5 trial sized sample, I deided to go for a sample that she said would last me about two weeks. I'm glad I did. This stuff is okay, and I really wish it had worked for me. Let me tell you what happened: I began using it daily. I'm the type of person who does not care about the scent of a facial care product as long as it works, so the herbal scent (reminiscent of vinegar) did not bother me in the least. At first, I was pleased because it truly did balance my skin out in terms of complexion and my skin looked nice. However, like another reviewer stated, Herbalism leaves a film on the face, and I felt it did not get my skin clean. For example, if I would scratch (or dig into..) my nose after washing with a nail, I would be able to catch some sort of filmy or waxy residue, or perhaps dead skin that this cleanser did not get off. Whatever it was, I did not like it. I tried using more Herbalism when I cleansed, but my skin still did not feel totally clean (I am used to a squeaky clean face feeling from having used Zapzyt acne wash for about a year before that). Then, after a few days, my skin got greasier and greasier. Shortly thereafter, my skin began to break out. I gave two stars for the glowy, healthy look it gave me skin for maybe two days. I would not repurchase.
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Gels/Soaps -LUSH - Angels Delight Soap
pink3rbellx 6/15/2011 12:34:00 PM
This soap is decent. I like the pink parts; I got a yellowy part from the moon and for some reason am more hesitant to use that. The reviewer who said this smells like tangerine fruit punch was almost dead on. This is a fruity smelling soap, sure, but not really what came to my mind when I imagined "fruity" or when some people said "fruit punch". If it is fruit punch, trust me, it is a VERY pineapple-y, tangerine-y fruit punch. I also detect a soapy undertone, which makes the scent *kind of* nauseating when combined with the pineapple-tangerine scent. In one sniff it nauseates me, in the next, I love it. Ultimately, it is a tropical punch scent. The smell is alright. This soap has a decent lather, which I appreciate, because I love my lather. It veers on the edge of drying, but it is not drying. Some pieces have glitter on them, but it doesn't really stick. I'm not a fan of glitter though, so that's not a plus for me. I may buy it again - if I would it would be for the nice lather and pretty pink color (not a moon portion..).
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Cleansers -LUSH - Dark Angels
pink3rbellx 6/13/2011 4:52:00 PM
I really wanted to like this. My friends like it. But I just can't. For reference: I have VERY acne prone, enlarged pores, and oily skin that is not sensitive in the least. Pretty much the skin type Dark Angels was aimed at, right?.. This stuff if really cool, first of all. It's black, smells like charcoal (kind of citrusy to me) and is really fun to use. I love smearing it on my face and scrubbing it around. It feels really good while I'm scrubbing, but I can see how some people might find this abrasive. Anyway. Once I rinse this off, even if I try to do so thoroughly (I mean, splashing water all over my face for two minutes) it is not enough. I look in the mirror and my face feels scrubbed and exfoliated, but there are no other benefits. The sight isn't pleasant. My pores look congested and...full after using this. Worst of all, I turned my face and saw a bunch of little bumps - not acne, but something that looked like either the beginning of a large breakout on the side of my face. What the heck? My skin isn't sensitive, and this stuff didn't hurt my face, so it's not because I over exfoliated or something. Something in the Dark Angels was about to break me out in angry spots of irritation, and that has never happened to me before. I grabbed my tea tree water toner, toned the crap out of my face to get the charcoal out of my pores, and washed with my beloved coalface. The bumpy formations went away right away. I don't know what it is with Dark Angels.. it feels so good but treats me so bad. I have a large sample I'll be handing off to my friend, and no, I wouldn't buy it.
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Bath Treatments -LUSH - Butterball Bath Bomb
pink3rbellx 5/21/2011 9:32:00 AM
I bought butterball just to try it because everyone raves about it and I simply had to try it out. I don't have dry skin, but I was interested anyway. This bomb smells of baby powder - I don't know where anyone gets the vanilla notes from. Truly, all I smelled was baby powder, which was pleasant. I combined it with the comforter bubble bar and if I smelled the bath closely, it smelled slightly of pez. I don't know why, maybe I don't use enough, but I rarely get any scent at all from the comforter. Anyway, I plopped it in and immediately saw a circle of white foamyness and touched it - pure moisturizer in that circle. I moved it around to distribute it around my bath and got in - I almost slipped! I always think, haha, slipping in the bath tub? Right. But seriously. Next time I use butterball, I'll be sure to get in first, wash up, then put in butterball. It's better too because then after you wash up and you already have some butterball on you, your soap will wash some of the moisturizing properties off. I will buy again though, as a luxury, because I like how it made my skin already feel lotioned when I got out. It also was a nice shave but the oils can clog your razor a little. Also, once my bubbles went away, I noticed oils at the surface of my bath..kind of grossed me out a bit, but I can deal. After getting out of the bath with this I felt ready to sleep immediately. I'd buy again, as I said, but it's not a 5/5 because it's not a staple. If I had dry skin, maybe it would be.
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Masks -LUSH - Mask of Magnaminty
pink3rbellx 5/20/2011 8:43:00 PM
To me, while face masks are for helping my face out, they are just as much about helping me relax. This accomplishes both. This mask smells like mint chocolate chip and contains exfoliating aduki beans. It is easy to apply, and dry time really depends on how much you apply. My favorite part of the mask is the refreshing, minty tingle. It not only makes it feel as though the mask is working, but lets me know when to take it off (i take it off once it has stopped tingling). It's a very relaxing feeling for me, and I'm sure I'll love it even more this summer. The first time I used this mask, took it off, and toned afterwards I went through like six cotton balls getting nasty gunk this mask brought to the surface of my face off. It definitely cleanses deeply and detoxifies your face, and really helps to dry out spots. It's not a miracle worker, especially in the long term if you stop using it, but it certainly helps and has been doing wonders for the black heads on my nose! My friend has remarked how it has made her pores smaller. I think everyone is going to see some sort of results from this amazing mask. I never want it to be discontinued. As for the bang for your buck, I got the small sized tub and have about 1/3-1/4 left and have gotten about 8-11 uses so far. I apply thickly. For reference, I have very acne prone skin that is slightly on the oily side.
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Lotions/ Creams -LUSH - Sympathy for the Skin
pink3rbellx 5/13/2011 10:50:00 AM
Oh LUSH, stop pulling me in. This product is amazing - point blank. I don't need to say more, but I will. Bang for your buck: Although this lotion is over 20 dollars, I find it to be well worth it. I like to lay my lotion on thickly and in the moment I feel as though I am wasting a bunch of SFS, but I look back at the pot, and I haven't even made a dent. Love that. Smell: I LOVE the smell of this. Admittedly, it does smell like half play-d'oh, half vanilla. I think the banana properties in the lotion make it smell a little play d'oh-y, but it's not play d'oh in a bad way. It is a sweet smell, and over all it makes me feel like a vanilla cupcake or vanilla pudding, which is awesome. It is a subtle scent though.. someone standing like a foot away from you will not smell it. However, someone who is close to you within an hour or two of applying it will smell it, which is nice. People might find this to be positive because it will not compete with any other scents you might wear. However, I find it to be my only qualm with the product - I wish it smelled stronger - I love the smell of it! Favorite LUSH scent by far. Look: I love the way this product looks. It is white with vanilla pods all throughout it. Yes, the vanilla pods do go onto your skin and are visible after application. They do disappear after a while, and I don't mind them at all. They're not huge, black dots that will make you look dirty. They're small, brown, and like I said eventually disappear. They don't phase me. They also don't come out ALL OVER your skin - I'd estimate maybe 15 for my whole body per heavy application, and they're really not noticeable. Effect: SFS is pretty rich, which I love. My skin has never been softer! It makes my skin look and feel supple and moisturized, and I don't have to wait for it to sink in at all, which is great because I love to slather lotion on thickly. Oh, for reference, my body skin is pretty normal, just *slightly* dry in some places after showering. In comparison to Dream Cream: If you are looking for your perfect LUSH lotion, as I was previously, you might be wondering if you should pick this or Dream Cream up. DC has many soothing properties and it is significantly more watery than Sympathy for the Skin. If you want a richer lotion, SFS would be better. The scents are also miles apart as well: DC has an herbal-y scent that kind of whacks you in the face which is way different from SFS's sweet, kind of subtle scent. LUSH, don't stop making this.
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