Lush Haul- Popcorn Lip Scrub, Breath of Fresh Air Toner and Cupcake Face Mask

LUSH is one of those stores I find myself going to when I need an inexpensive treat such as this little haul. I popped into my local Lush and picked up an old favourite- Breath of Fresh Air Toner which I have used in the past and I love it. I also decided to pick up the Popcorn Lip Scrub because my lips need some real good exfoliating. Guess what? I got the Cupcake Face Mask for free. I was amazed and very delighted. The sales lady said they just got a free carton of Face Masks and I could choose one and I chose Cupcake because it looked and smelt amazing...so let's get down to the nitty gritty of these products shall we?



Breath of Fresh Air Toner-£3.95
I love this toner and as mentioned earlier, it's an old favourite. It feels very, very refreshing. It can be used as a toner or as face spritz or a makeup fix. Either ways, it is fab. I tend to use it mainly as a toner although sometimes, I find myself giving my face a quick spritz when things get a bit too dry on my face. It contains Organic Aloe Vera, Spring water, Fresh Sea water, Seaweed, Rosemary Oil, Rose Absolute in addition to a host of other lovely ingredients.  As a toner, I find it just gives my face that needed moisture and freshness especially after cleansing. I just love it. I picked up the smaller bottle which costs about £3.95.



Popcorn Lip Scrub-£5.50
I have been  wanting to try this for the longest time after reading a few lovely reviews from fellow bloggers but somehow I never got around to it. I know there are many DIY lip scrubs which are mightily similar to this but then, hey, sometimes you need to treat yourself. As the name implies, it tastes just like popcorn mainly because Castor Sugar is one of its major ingredients. It's very hard for me not to lick this off and it's delicious but I don't think it's advisable to do so..lol. It contains Jojoba Oil, Sea salt, Coconut Oil, Popping Candy (oooh no wonder it's delicious) and some flavouring. As un-serious as some of the ingredients look, it is effective. It exfoliates my lips really effectively to reveal softer and smoother lips ready for matte lipsticks which look horrendous on cracked lips. Personally, I dissolve some the scrub in some Vitamin E oil and apply it gently across and its efficacy is optimized with this method. It retails for £5.50 which I think is a little pricey but the packaging is cute and can be re-used for any future DIY lip scrubs so I can't complain.




Cupcake Fresh Face Mask-Free
I have not tried any Face Masks from Lush so I was pleased to try this one. It looks delicious-just like chocolate pudding and if you have kids, you better keep it away from them. Lush describes it as Chocolate Heaven for Oily and Teenage skin as it helps absorb excess oil and calm breakouts which is music to my ear as I was having some little hormonal breakouts which I thought was a thing of the past. It contains, Rhassoul Mud, Cocoa Butter, Linseed, Cocoa Powder (hence the gooey chocolatey look), Peppermint, Spearmint and Sandalwood oil. To be honest, I am not a huge fan of the smell and it's because I hate chocolate mixed with anything minty and I can't stand mint chocolates...Ugghhhhh!!! On application, I don't really mind the smell as it seems quite okay and bearable. I apply this generously on freshly cleansed skin and try and cover all parts of my face especially my cheeks and nose where I have blemishes and blackheads. I leave this on for about 10-15 minutes as recommended.



It hardens slightly after this time and I wash it off with warm water and a flannel. Taking it off is easy and my skin feels really soft and fresh. I noticed that my hormonal breakouts appeared much better the first night I used this and after subsequent use, it was almost all gone. I am not sure if it is all down to this mask but I think it had a good part to play. If you have sensitive skin, you may want to try a less drying mask because my skin felt a little dry after use but not in a bad way. If like me, you have combination-oily skin, you definitely want to try this. This small jar is supposed to last for 3 weeks which is impressive and I intend to use it all up. One thing to note is this mask is preservative-free which means you need to store it in the fridge (away from kids because they would eat it I promise!!) to preserve its life span. See you in my next post..x

Lush Tea Tree Toner and Lush Grease Lightning Spot Treatment Review

Hi My Lovelies,

I popped into Lush after almost 2 years because I wanted to stock up on an old favorite. Back then, I bought the Lush Breath of Fresh Air Toner and I really liked it and I kept saying to myself I would stock up but I had other toners to use so it didn't happen until a few weeks ago.  This time around I didn't end up buying it rather I was convinced by the ladies who work there to try the Tea Tree Toner as my skin is prone to acne and it is a bit on the oily side. I listened to them and also picked up the Lush Grease Lightning Spot Treatment which I had heard many good things about.

Lush Background

I am pretty sure you have already heard about Lush but it won't stop me from rambling a little bit about their background in case there is an off chance that someone here has never heard of them. They are a cruelty free beauty and skin care brand which specialise in mainly skin care items ranging from Bath soaps, Bath Bombs, Spot Removers, Toners, etc. All products are handmade is brilliant.

Lush Tea Tree Toner

As mentioned earlier, I had already tried the Breath of Fresh Air Toner which I really liked but I was keen to try something new and this toner was highly recommended by the Sales ladies.I like the packaging because it’s black and really stands out from all other packaging. However, as expected with all black/opaque packaging, you can’t see how much product you have left so you have to guess or estimate. It smells of Tea Tree Oil which is its main ingredient but it’s not an over powering scent. I use this straight after cleansing and it is really refreshing. Sometimes, I spray it directly on my face and other times, I spray it on a cotton pad and swipe it across my face. Tea Tree oil in itself has numerous benefits for the skin including reducing inflammation and redness that accompany acne and it also helps clear the acne. It does exactly what it says but I won’t go as far as saying it works really fast. It is an effective and natural way to help keep the skin free from nasties and I find it really refreshing on my skin.

Lush Grease Lightning Spot Treatment

I have seen this floating around a few blogs and I thought it was about time I tried it for myself. I was not disappointed. It come in a smaller bottle compare to the toner but it also has a pump which is really handy. In addition to it Tea Tree Oil content, it also contains Grape Juice, Aloe Vera , Seawater, Rosemary and Thyme which all have various functions ranging from antibacterial to antiseptic to acne/spot blasters. I really love the combination of ingredients because it treats the acne and also helps nourish the skin around. many spot removers end up drying out the spot and the skin around the area but that;s not the case with the Lush Grease Lightning as it leaves the area really smooth and soft while effectively treating the spot. The only snag is it may take a longer time to clear the spot completely compared to other fast acting spot treatment gels. The product itself has a gel-like consistency so it is rather easy to apply. I rally don't have anything bad to say except the length of time it takes to work compared to others I have tried but the fact that the ingredients are natural and handmade scores it really high points in my books.

Personal Thoughts

I am really pleased with my purchase and I think Lush products are fantastic. Their Tea Tree Oil range is super for acne and combination/oily skin which is what I have so I have no complaints with it. I guess they are never going to change their packaging because it 's their signature look so I can stop complaining about not knowing when the product finishes or not. See you in my next post..toodles...x

My Go-To Makeup Essentials

                    

Hey Lovelies,

The weekend is here already and I have been waiting for it for like forever. I hope everyone has had a nice week. Mine has been super busy and I am not even going to talk about it. Let's talk about lovely things that make us feel elated.

I love makeup which you may know by now but I don't have the time to make up to my heart's content because I am always dashing off to work which is why i have my Go-To Makeup Essentials.  My routine includes:

                 

Moisturizing: I have oily/combination so i prefer a moisturizer that will hydrate my skin without leaving it oily. I find Nivea Express Hydrating Primer perfect for that. It feels really light when applied (I can't stand heavy duty moisturizers) and it gets absorbed within seconds leaving my skin really soft. I originally bought this solely as primer even though I had doubts about its "priming" qualities. My instincts were right; it does no priming for my makeup/skin whatsoever but i think it's an excellent moisturizer.


                  
Concealer: My MAC NC50 Studio Finish concealer is definitely my best concealer. It is full coverage and it hides all my dark spots and blemishes. I actually think this magic tiny mini deserves its own blog post. It is very easy to apply with a brush or you can tap it gently into your skin with your fingers.

                  

Toner: My current toner is from Lush and its called a Breath of Fresh Air. It really feels very refreshing but i do not apply it directly on my face rather i spray it lightly on my concealer and foundation brush which also makes application of my concealer and foundation very easy.

                  



Foundation: I have already raved about this product a lot so I won't bore you. My current and favorite foundation is the YSL Teint Eclat Foundation in B70. It is a light to medium coverage but thankfully my concealer does most of the work. This basically illuminates and gives my face a natural finish. If you want more details about this foundation, click Link to the blog post for it.

                    

Brows: I have been flipping back and forth from Brow Kits to just using Brow pencils to outline my brows. At the minute, i just use a Brow pencil. My current one is the Sleek Eye Brow Pencil in 191 Brown. It is my exact shade of my brows so i just outline and fill it in and voila, I am out of the door. I must say using just a pencil was made easier by getting my brows threaded so I just basically fill it in.
                     


Lips: First product that goes on my lips is my Lip Balm just to moisturize my lips because it has been a bit chapped by the horrid weather. My current favorite is one from H and M and its called the Vanilla and Ginger lip balm. It smells really good and works well which is excellent for a £1 product.

                    

Next on my lips is my Lip liner which is a really random brand i got from Pak Cosmetics and it was 3 for £1 which is surprisingly really good. Its a brownish pink color which is perfect for my nude lipsticks. My all time favorite lipstick is MAC's Hug Me which is a nude/brownish flesh pink color (thumbs up for weird descriptions). I have a blog post on this lipstick; so click the Link if you want more details about this Lippie.
                       

Face Powder: The Only powder that works for me to keep my skin matte with an oil and shine free appearance is the MAC Studio Fix Powder and I am in a shade NC50. I love this powder to bits because it properly takes care of my oily skin. I apply this with a huge powder brush all over my face.

And, I am good to go. These steps only take me about 15 minutes because I do the same steps everyday and it's a routine I have stuck to for a long while which works for me. I grab my bag, my lunch and I am out of the door ready for a busy fulfilling day.

What are your Go-To Face Makeup Essentials?