Lush Christmas

Yesterday was the launch of, for me, one of the most exciting things about Christmas- the Lush Christmas collection 2014 was launched!

Before we get on to that, there is also a Halloween collection which is pretty exciting too. We were talked through the two new oblong bath bombs- The Sparkler and Northern Lights, The Wizard bubble bar and the gorgeous Sparkly Pumpkin and the amazingly shaped Fairy Ring Soap.

Then I took a look at my favourites- the bubble bars. There are lots of gorgeous glittery additions like the christmas pudding and the snow angel which is half bath melt and half fizzer. The cute penguin and candy mountain are back! There is also a cute new hedgehog and the beautiful Star Light Star Bright bath melt (not pictured).

Having said the bubble baths are my favourites it wasn't actually those that took my eye the most this time. As a all time Snow Fairy fan I actually fell in love with the new Hot Toddy shower gel which has a rich spicy scent not unlike mulled wine. Santa's Lip Scrub also caught my eye as it has a more balmy texture than the other lip scrubs, great for the winter months. It also has a great cola taste.

Something else that caught my attention this year that normally wouldn't is the soaps. I rarely used bars of soap but on smelling Yog Nog I was in heaven, the creamy, spicy scent is so beautiful. Snowcake also caught my attention as it looks so beautiful.

On to the bath bombs and fizzers- again, these wouldn't normally catch my attention as I love bubbles and always think they'd be drying. However, Lush fizzers leave the skin feeling so soft that I had to give them a go! Again there are lots of fun christmas additions, many with glitter! The Butterbear was a winner with me as I love the butterball, I also think the Christmas Pud is so intruiging! The Shoot for the Stars bath bomb caught me with it's incredible scent of honey (not pictured).

Lush were great hosts- look at those tasty looking cake pops!

Lush very kindly let us make a Christmas Wish List of 3 products to take away with us. I chose Hot Toddy Shower Gel, Shoot for the Stars Bath Bomb and Santa's Lip Scrub. I also purchased a Butterbear and some Yog Nog Soap.

What do you fancy from the new collection?

Review: Lush Buffy Body Butter

At the Lush Nottingham Bloggers Event I picked up a Buffy body butter after hearing about all the body butters and how they had exfoliating properties. I decided on Buffy as it was a mild exfolient so I thought it would be better for my sensitive skin.

Picture from Lush.co.uk as I'm a bad blogger who didn't photograph it before I used it!

The interesting thing about Lush body butters is you use them in the shower and the hot water helps to melt them so they can easily be spread around the body. I liked the idea of this as applying body butter after a shower can be quite time consuming and then you have to wait to get past that 'sticky' stage.

what the bar looks like after two uses

Using the bar was super easy as the hot water made it the perfect  consistency to massage it into the skin with the little bits of ground rice, almonds and aduki beans to exfolient. It wasn't a harsh sensation as an oily rich feeling was left on the skin when the bits were washed away, similar to that of the Soap and Glory scrubs I've tried but more luxurious and rich!

When I got out of the shower, I dried myself as normal but it took a little a longer due to the moisture in my skin.but when it was dry my skin was lovely and soft and didn't have the usual sore, dry, itchy skin that I seem to get from the water in my uni house!

This is a super easy way to moisturise and means that I don't have to always spend a while using products after my shower. This also combines using a scrub and a body lotion or butter. As far as the smell, It's pretty natural and neutral. I don't love it but it doesn't linger on the skin through the day so it's definitely not a problem.

Lush body butters are available from the Lush website and range from £5.25- £10.25 for 200g. There is also different levels of exfolients in each one so where you want a 'proper polish' or just the benefits of shea and cocoa butter, there is something for everyone!

Lush Soft Coeur Massage Bar review

I've been tempted by this for ages, sniffing it when I go into Lush. I normally end up going for a bath product instead, but as I've had more indulgence time recently I decided to finally give it a go!

Lush have a range of massage bars but I went for this one straight away, it's a nice little heart shape and has a chocolatey, vanillaey scent. There are actual chunks of chocolate in every one!

I've used the bar on most of my body three times so far. Initially, I was surprised that it took a while to start to melt in my hands (granted I have colder hands than most) so I needed to do it when I had plenty of time, maybe after a bath or shower would be a good idea. This bar was perfect for it's intention- massaging. I was, however, using it as a moisturiser before bed. It felt lovely on my skin but did stay greasy for a while and didn't absorb into the skin very quickly. I also noticed that the chocolatey bit didn't actually melt, it went a bit gritty and flaky when I was massaging the skin and sometimes left a brown residue. Nice idea, but I don't think the chocolate did much.

after 3 uses (the chocolate chunk is exposed!)

This is a lovely treat and I still smelt lovely in the morning but I'm not sure it did much for my skin in terms of moisturising. Great for a romantic massage session for couples though, but not me, sigh.

September Wish List

 So before I get onto my September wish list, an update on my August wish list. I didn't purchase many of the products due to available funds! However, I did buy Soap&Glory hand food and Lush Soft Coeur massage bar. Although I didn't buy the essie nail polish I bought an accessorize pastel blue shade instead!

Onto the September Wish List: 

Burt's Bees Lip shimmer in Watermelon- I've been loving purpley shades and Burts Bees are renowned for being moisturising and lovely.

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Crush- Again, a purpley shade and I really want to try these giant pencils!

Lush Vanilla Dee-Lite Body Lotion- My vanilla body lotion is running out and I just love lush and vanilla so would love this!

Stila One Step Corrector- I've heard good things about this as a moisturiser, highlighter and primer. Most of all I love the colours and the swirly bubble effect and would love to try it!

Burt's Bees Milk and Shea Butter Body Wash- My shower gel has ran out too and I love the sound of this, not smelt it though.

Rimmel Glam Eyes Liquid Eyeliner- I currently use this but need a new one, I love how thin the brush is and haven't found another one as good so far.

Ruby Bee's Candles- My mum has these in lots of scents and they are just lovely, so scented and burn really well. I feautured these in my bedroom decor post on my other blog, here.

August Wish List

Some products I'd love right now, I would make this a weekly wants but with my bank balance I think I'll be wanting them for a while! From left to right:

Lush Soft Coeur massage bar- I've smelt this in the shop and it smells delicious, I would just use it to moisturise after a shower, yummy.

Revlon Colourburst Lip Butter- I'm looking for a lovely moisturising lipstick with nice colours, this one has had excellent reviews.

Benefit Boo Boo Zap!- I've had terribly red and inflamed spotty skin recently and I want to see if this does the trick.

Essie 'Bikini So Teeny' Nail Polish- I've been eyeing up essie for a while now and this colour is lovely.

Benefit 'How to look the best at everything' flawless complection make up set- I love the benefit sets to experiment with the different products, this new one tempts me.

Benefit they're real! mascara- I love dramatic looking lashes.

Soup and Glory hand food- I love the smell and my hands are thirsty at the moment!

Essie 'Set in Stones' Nail Polish- I love this effect!

What products are tempting you at the moment?

AfterBath!

I was right, I avoided the post birthday blues by shopping!

I went on Wednesday as we had a day off uni, and got myself a big box of Lush goodies with my gift card and some silver earrings.

The set is called Happy Bathday and I chose it because it only has Bubble Bar's and Ballistics and I currently love the Bubble Bars to use in the bath. Also, as it was birthday themed, it was nice to open it up and find a streamer and a party horn (the blowey outy things!).

I chose it because I prefer the fresh fruity smells.

This is what's inside.

I chose to use the Blue Skies first and used half in one go which made a lovely blue bubby bath but the smell was a bit disappointing as it smelt relaxing and almost like lavender (it was supposed to be patchouli, maybe they're similar) and I wasn't a massive fan. I'm hoping that fizzbanger will please me tonight!

Yesterday was my last ever day at uni of year three! It feels very strange to think I'm not actually going to have any more seminars until January since I go straight into school in October.

Today I booked my nail appointment as a birthday present so I'll be posting about that next Friday and tomorrow I have a beauty makeover booked at Benefit so that should be fun!

I also made some candles today!

I ordered a set of wicks and sustainers of the net and used all the wasted wax from the candles I'd already burnt. 

I had some pillar candles that burnt a tunnel down the middle and wasted about two thirds of the wax and they all happened to be purple so it worked out! One of them had been in a glass jar so I washed that so I could use it again and found a lovely cup and saucer in the charity shop to use.

This was the result.

It was actually relevantly easy to do, the difficult thing was keeping the wick straight as it set (and clearing everything up in the kitchen!). But they are burning well and looking pretty!