Cleansers -LUSH - Herbalism
shrimpski 8/24/2012 7:53:00 AM
I was recommended Herbalism because I have oily skin, however I didn't see any difference when compared to other cleansers. The texture is unique, can be fiddly, but once you have the jist of it, it's easy to use. Make sure it's in a paste, otherwise little bits will fall off your face when you apply it and you'll waste your product! I used a small pinch, made a paste with warm water in my palm, then applied it to my face. The smell is hard to describe.. slightly herby, vinegary.. it's bizarre! Not overly offensive though! It has a gentle scrub to it, which is nice and my face felt nice and clean. But, it's seriously nothing special. I don't get how it's meant to be good for oily skin over other cleansers. It didn't clean better than other "for oily skin" cleansers I've used, it didn't delay the shine coming back any longer. I said I used Proactiv, as I do have spots appearing. I was told it was the worst thing ever, I shouldn't use it, it's nothing but chemicals and how could I put that on my face. Um, seriously Lush? Then maybe I shouldn't buy and use any of your products with chemicals, parabens and SLS in them then... It's nice, but nothing special, especially not at AUD$16. Would I buy again? No. I wish MUA allowed half marks! I give Herbalism 2.5/5
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Bath Treatments -LUSH - Think Pink Bath Bomb
shrimpski 7/27/2012 1:37:00 AM
I was a little disappointed with this bath bomb! I was left thinking meh! It just wasn't very interesting to me and I couldn't smell anything once it started fizzing. Pro's: - The bath bomb itself smelt nice (vanilla) albeit not very strong or interesting - It fizzed well - The colour it made the water was lovely - The confetti hearts were a cute touch Con's: - The smell seemed to disappear almost immediately. Other bath bombs I've tried make the water and bathroom smell amazing. This didn't. - Not very interesting to me overall. Then again, I'm 25 and this is probably aimed at kids! - Smell wasn't anything to write home about. - Price. $5.50 for a bath that wasn't very interesting! 2.5/5 (I wish we could rate products with halves!) I wouldn't buy this again. Lush has many other more interesting scented bombs to try!
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Gels/Soaps -LUSH - Miranda Soap
shrimpski 6/25/2012 4:25:00 AM
I absolutely love Miranda! This soap is so wonderfully fruity, and not in a artificial fruity way, and has such a nice creamy lather. This is surprising seeing as Miranda doesn't contain SLS, which is a foaming agent which is frowned upon. It looks gorgeous with its green colour and the fun soap fruit in it! It has fresh kiwi fruit in it, coconut oil and a number of essential oils. It is $6.95/100g in Australia, so one of their mid priced soaps. Lush is not cheap, but I think it's worth it due to the ingredients and the unique scents. This soap is not drying, is soft and leaves my skin feeling nice and smelling yummy, as the scent lingers on the skin for awhile once I'm out of the shower or bath. It also leaves your bathroom smelling amazing afterwards and the scent wafts outside of it as well! I give 8/10, I do love it, but I took 2 points off due to the price and it would be nice if the ingredients list had less chemicals in it and if they didn't use artificial colours, but that's just me being picky!
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Masks -LUSH - Love Lettuce Mask
shrimpski 6/14/2012
This is the first face mask from Lush I have tried and I quite like it, I have it on right now! When you first open the pot, the lavender is quite prominent, and is good for balancing the skin's oil production. Smells lovely too! It also has honey and almond oil to moisturise the skin, kaolin and Fullers Earth (highly absorbing clay) to absorb oil, almond shells to exfoliate and agar agar to soften the skin. I love applying it straight from the fridge, it's so refreshing! I leave it on for 15 mins, apply a little warm water and massage my face, then rinse off. My skin is sooo soft afterwards, I can't help but touch it (bad I know!)! My face didn't feel tight either or dry. I bought this because I have oily skin. My skin stays shine free for a few hours, but it returns soon after that. It's not the mask's fault, it's just my annoying skin type. I'll have to try Lush's mattifying moisturiser and if that helps. In Australia, a pot costs $15.95, lasts 3-4 weeks in the fridge and is said to have 5 masks worth in a pot. I get more than that, even though I try and apply as much as I can. I believe I get about 8-10 out of one pot, making it worth the money. To get my 8-10 masks within the use-by date range, I use it every 2-4 days depending. Love Lettuce is recommended for normal to oily skin types, but I'm going to try Cupcake next (for teenage oily skin with breakouts) and see how that compares to Love Lettuce. If you have normal to oily skin, I would definitely recommend LL, your skin will feel amazingly soft!
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Misc Beauty Tools -LUSH - LUSH - Whole Store
shrimpski 6/8/2012 2:39:00 AM
I like Lush, but it does have its negatives. I first got into it from all the reviews I kept hearing about HIWTK. I love anything toffee and honey smelling, so I bought a bar and have been a Lush convert since! The highlight for me are the unique products and scents. I'm 25, but the kid in me comes out with the novelty of a bubble bar covered in gold glitter! Lush have products and scents that no other company has, and they actually invented the bath bomb! I know that some customers have come into the store and asked for lavender soap, which Lush doesn't have, because you can get lavender soaps almost anywhere and Lush tries to stay away from common scents and make their own special ones. The experience at Lush is a bit different from other stores, the sales assistants do their best to explain the products and how they work. They are pushy though. NEGATIVE STAFF EXPERIENCES: - Guy employee starts talking to me about a product I wasn't interested in.. before I knew what was happening, he was putting lotion on my arm without my permission. I didn't buy it of course, but wouldn't have been interested in that product regardless. - First time I went into Lush to buy HIWTK, I didn't know you had to buy 100g MINIMUM of soap. I asked for 50g. The SA laughed at me. B*tch. As a first time Lush buyer, she's lucky that didn't put me off entering Lush stores for life. I love how Lush has testers for almost every product in the store, so you can test it to see if you like it. If I go past a Lush but don't intend on buying something, I can't help but go in and use some solid perfume and some hand cream! I also like how Lush uses fresh, organic and fair trade ingredients wherever possible, and uses minimal packaging, which can be recycled anyway. If you go to Lush's YouTube page, you can watch vids on how they make the products, it's really interesting to see! You can see them peeling papaya's and kiwifruit and hand pouring pretty much everything into moulds. The price isn't fantastic to be really honest. If you have long hair and buy a hair treatment, you'll pay $25 to use it once, twice if you use it sparingly. Other things are good value for money like the lip balms/tints, solid shampoo's and Lemony Flutter, where a little goes a long way. Think of it like this; - Lush products contain ingredients you can pronounce and 90% would be familiar to you - The products are handmade; fruits are peeled by hand, products are poured by hand, mixed by hand, measured and weighed by hand, rolled and cut by hand, etc, etc. People do the work, not machines. Of course products will be a bit more because of these reasons. Overall, I love the store. It smells great, the products and scents are unique and you won't find them anywhere else! To the reviewer below me, the only face masks or scrubs that are uncovered are the testers, whose lids go back on at the end of the day, or they are covered in cling wrap and refrigerated. All the masks/scrubs for customers to purchase have lids and Lush are quite strict with stock rotation and not selling products past their use by date; these products get taken off the shelves. And if it was a scrubby face mask, you only have 3 weeks to use it and it must be kept in the fridge. EDIT: Lush does not properly train their new employees. They are expected to do most of their 'training' by themselves by doing a lot of reading. The excuse for this is that Lush "can't afford to train staff because of budget allowances". This is a cop out, as even not-for-profit organisations can afford to train new employees. Lush can't expect new employees to give the best service and provide the best product knowledge without sufficient training. It's cheap, lazy and not fair on new employees to expect them to learn so much in such little time. Employees are not their job, there is many more things to people than a job. They also expect employees to do 5 demos on EVERY customer. 5. Seriously?! As a customer, there's no way I could be bothered sticking around that long to go through 5 demos, so they can try and convince you that you need them all. I got rid of one lipstick because of these reasons.
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Eye Shadow -MAC - Wedge Eyeshadow
shrimpski 12/13/2010 3:43:00 AM
I got this eyeshadow last week and am already so pleased with it that I'm writing a review! It's a beautiful matte tan, almost the same colour as Soft Brown but a little more on the brown side, SB is a little warmer. I think most people would use Wedge as a crease colour on its own and/or as a colour to blend out other colours in the crease. I don't wear a lot of eyeshadow, just enough in the crease to create depth or something along the top and bottom lash line. This colour is perfect, it's subtle, but still looks like you're wearing eyeshadow. It's great for work, uni, BBQ's and interviews. As I'm in Australia, the price of MAC is outrageous; I bought mine from eBay brand new for about $6 cheaper than retail. This shadow will last me a long time, but I wouldn't hesitate to repurchase. Pros: Colour, finish/texture (matte, so not over the top) Cons: Price
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Lotions/ Creams -LUSH - Lemony Flutter
shrimpski 12/5/2010 10:01:00 PM
I bought this because I heard so many good things about it, as well as needing a good cuticle cream as mine are incredibly dry causing splitting, pain and bad things in general! In Australia, this retails for $15.95 which isn't cheap considering how small the pot is. I was even more disappointed to see the product was only filled up 3/4 of the pot. If it had been filled all the way, it would've been better value for money. Having said that, it will last a long time. One teeny swipe of the product could easily be enough to rub into three nails. The texture is really thick, but melts easily with the heat of your skin, kind of like a massage bar. The smell I wasn't too sure about. I'm not really a fan of anything lemon; lollies, beauty products, household products, etc - don't like it! It first reminded me of a household cleaner, maybe like lemon dishwashing liquid. It's a very strong, 'woah' kind of scent. Despite not liking lemon, this particular lemon scent is growing on me. As far as moisturisation goes, I'm not sure just yet. It doesn't seem to sink into the skin quickly and leaves a shiny 'greasy' film on my fingers around my nails/cuticles, despite trying to rub it in well. I feel I have to reapply this numerous times as my cuticles still seem hard and dry. I've tried doing nothing with my hands for 10 minutes to let the butter soak in, but my cuticles and the skin around my nails seem dry still. I think I need to try and find something more intense, but I will use this up first. I will edit this and update if I see a big difference in my cuticles dryness. Would I repurchase? Possibly if I couldn't find anything else!
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Lip Treatments -LUSH - Snow Fairy Lip Tint
shrimpski 12/5/2010 7:29:00 AM
I love a lip and cheek tint and love Lush products, so I decided to give this a go, despite not initially liking the scent. I'm not really a fan of bubblegum scented anything! The scent is quite strong in the tin, I don't think it lasts all that long though once it's applied. You do get a very faint whiff of it when it's on your lips though! I'm quite impressed with this tint. The colour is lovely, the perfect sheer pink colour for that flushed look. Normally, pinks and reds on my lips don't look good in my opinion, but this colour is fantastic, very natural looking. Anyone looking for a lip/cheek tint that is natural and is a good price, try this tint! As far as staying power, I don't think it lasts all that long, especially on the lips. On the cheeks it lasts a bit longer, however I have oily skin, so I would assume the colour would last longer on drier skin. The price isn't too bad for something that I believe will last a long time. In Australia it retails for $9.95, which is more than other countries, but I wouldn't hesitate to repurchase. The packaging is cute, a nice little tin that's small enough to be taken anywhere easily, in your bag or your pocket. Though, as I keep this in my handbag, it tends to get a bit scruffed up and dinted. It doesn't affect the product of course, it just doesn't look as nice as when you first buy it!
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Mascara -Cover Girl - Lash Blast
shrimpski 11/4/2010 7:14:00 AM
I bought this mascara after all the hype, and was left wondering why all that hype?! In my opinion this mascara is really nothing special. I don't know whether it was just my tube or whether it's the formula for all of them, but it was really wet. If I so much as blinked gently once after applying, I had a number of mascara lines under my eyes. As far as lengthening or thickening, it didn't do anything that other mascaras I own can't do. Because of the wetness of the formula, it made my lashes kind of clump together, there is not much separation, which is disappointing. The clumping is evident in some of the pictures attached to the review page of this mascara. I do like the brush, it's good for the top lashes, it gets all of them quickly, but it's hard to get to the bottom lashes because it's so big. I will use this mascara up, but I won't be repurchasing, as I much prefer my Max Factor 2000 Calorie mascara. Pros: Price isn't bad, the results are sufficient. Cons: Wet formula, clumpy because of wetness, results not mind blowing worth of all the hype!
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Lipstick -MAC - Cremesheen - Creme d'Nude
shrimpski 11/3/2010 12:41:00 AM
Oh, how I love this lipstick, perhaps even moreso than Myth! I actually only bought this recently and it's quickly become my favourite and most worn currently. It's everything I want in a nude lipstick - great colour, great formula, great finish, great smell! It's not as nude/opaque as Myth, but that's fine with me! It applies so well, smooth, it's moisturising. But it doesn't last all that well, in my opinion. I think it may have something to do with the sheerer cremesheen formula that may be susceptible to rubbing off a little more easily than, say, Myth - as Myth is thicker (I think so anyway!) because of its formula, it tends to 'grab' onto the lips a bit better and last longer. Anyway, the lasting power still doesn't matter all that much because I <3 it so much! Again, MAC in Australia have terrible $$$ prices, I bought my Creme d'Nude on eBay, but I'd be more than willing to purchase it at retail price once I run out.
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Lipstick -MAC - Satin Lipstick - Myth
shrimpski 11/3/2010 12:25:00 AM
I really love this lipstick! I'm a massive nude lip fan (reds/pinks just don't seem to work on me, whyyy?!), so I was so happy when I tried this for the first time. It has so many raves on YouTube and actually got my first Myth from eBay without trying it on first at a MAC counter. The colour is great, just as long as you moisturise your lips with a balm or something first (yes, it's drying, one of the only negatives I have), be light handed. Sometimes I top with a gloss, sometimes I don't. I think maybe a problem with some people with looking 'dead' is applying too much. I'm not a fan of MAC prices here in Australia. It's about $32 for a lipstick, which is ridiculous. I got my Myth backup in a MUA swap :) Pros - Great colour, fairly nice consistency/easy to apply, great smell! Cons - Drying!!, price point.
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Eyeliner -Rimmel - Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Pencil in Pure White
shrimpski 11/3/2010 12:14:00 AM
I was really disappointed with this product. The staying power is awful! A swipe on the back of my hand and two soft swipes over the top with my finger and it's pretty much gone! I bought this to line my waterline and it disappears very very quickly. As the name suggests, it is soft and doesn't drag on the skin, which I like, but the formula/consistency isn't great. More product in sections will come off on the skin/waterline, and in other sections it's less. I'm not sure if that description is helpful or makes sense, but it's the best I can do! In an eyeliner, I want one smooth line, consistent in opaqueness (is that even a word? Haha), not 'chunky'. I suppose I can use this for highlighting, as I would hate to throw this out as I hate wasting products. It only cost me about $8 from memory which is decent, but you get what you pay for! I won't be repurchasing and am on the hunt for a better white liner!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Moisturizers -Nivea - Visage Young - Control It gel-cream
shrimpski 11/3/2010 12:04:00 AM
I have fairly oily skin, so I'm always on the lookout for something to mattify it. This product is disappointing as it doesn't do, for me, what its sole purpose is. My face always ends up being oily after a couple of hours. I'm also not sure and can't comment on its claim about hydration, as my face gets so shiny I can't tell! I do love the scent though! Fresh, clean, really nice! Sometimes I'll slap this on my face just to smell it! I sometimes use this on its own, sometimes under a TM or foundation, and the oiliness is always about the same, regardless of wearing it on its own or under something else. I'll obviously keep using this to finish it, because its there, I don't like waste and it smells so nice, but I really don't think I'll repurchase. The price point is a plus though, it was only about $7 from Priceline. I'm going to try and find something else to mattify!
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Fragrances -Ralph Lauren - Ralph Rocks
shrimpski 11/2/2010 11:55:00 PM
I have a big thing for summery, coconutty fragrances, so I had to have this one! It's very fresh, light and screams summer to me. At first, there's a lot of citrus.. mandarin, orange, and a hint of alcohol, like a brandy note. Someone on Basenotes.net mentioned this initial alcohol scent, and I totally agree, but it disappears quite quickly as it dries. Then changes to something oh-so-subtly floral, then a hint of coconut comes in. There are meant to be woody base notes and passionfruit and kiwi top notes, but I can't smell them! The lasting power of this fragrance is pretty good, lasts most of the day. One good squirt is enough that you can smell it, but not so that it's overpowering and you can be smelt 100m away! This is one of my favourite fragrances and I always wear it in spring/summer, but sometimes wear it in winter to perk me up in bad weather!
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Gels/Soaps -LUSH - Snowcake
shrimpski 7/2/2010 12:25:00 AM
I got this soap last year in one of the many Xmas gift boxes Lush offer. I have to say I was expecting a strong marzipan-like almond scent, which definitely is not there! It kind of smells like almond icing/essence, but the scent is quite subtle, and there is another scent I can smell, that I can't put my finger on. The scent is still quite nice, I like it! It lathers quite well and very easily which I like. Another reviewer mentioned a kind of mousse-like hard-soft (hard-soft?! Anyone who's tried this soap should understand what I'm trying to describe!) texture; the soap definitely has it - when wet in your hands and you rub it between them, you can see and feel that mousse-y texture. I don't think the scent lingers on your skin, except maybe a few minutes after your bath or shower. Overall I like this soap, but I wouldn't purchase it on its own; I would buy it in another gift box.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No