Lush Charity Pot Hand and Body Lotion Review

I bought Lush's Charity Pot as an impulse buy at the till while waiting to buy all the various bubble bars I picked up, it cost £6.95 for 95g and is a vegan product. All of the cost aside from VAT goes to the charity displayed on the top of the lid. There are two other sizes, 10g for £1 and 240g for £12.75.

It is a very light, quickly absorbed body lotion, it smells like white chocolate to me mixed in with a floral scent, the scent is quite strong and will last about an hour at least before settling. The only potentially "bad" ingredients on the list are parabens, otherwise it has almond oil, cocoa butter and other lovely moisturising ingredients like ylang ylang oil.

The pot has lasted me quite a while too, at least two weeks with regular use and I have some left. I love the charity side to this, I think it's brilliant that my £5.56 went straight to the named charity and I got a body lotion! Lush most definitely do not test on animals either. I like the simplistic packaging too, also if you collect five of Lush's pots and take them in empty you can get a free fresh face mask.

I would consider repurchasing, but not for the moment as I already have many more body lotions and creams to use up!

Have you tried this? What's your favourite body lotion?

September Empties - 2011

I really like doing these posts because it makes me feel better about what I've used up! :) For the month of September I have used up a lot of samples and sachets and a few full/travel-sized products.

Starting off with some samples, I used up 2 REN face creams, one for night and the other for the day, I really liked both of these but I don't think they were a perfect match for my combination skin.

I also used up my Tropic Body Smooth Refreshing Polish from my Boudoir Privé box this month quite quickly, I thought this was pretty good, it's like a sugary scrub but once applied to the skin the scrubbing parts seem to melt into the formula, smells strongly of lemons and leaves skin moisturised after use too.

I'm so glad I finally used up this Neutrogena concentrated hand cream, I found it to be extremely moisturising to the skin but didn't love the texture very much after a lot of use, it lasts for donkey's years though. I love the scent of this Ted Baker bodyspray I tend to carry it around with me and spray it all day because it's so lovely!

I've been using The Body Shop's Seaweed Mattifying Moisture Lotion SPF15 for ages, it's a great moisturiser for combination skin although sometimes my skin can get very oily after about 6 hours of having it on, also glad I finished this!

I used up 2 Lush Fresh Face Masks, technically only one because I had to bin the Love Lettuce mask due to mould constantly forming on it. Way before the expiry date and afterwards. The BB Seaweed mask had the same issue but once I took the layer of mould off it didn't reappear, so I wasn't too dissapointed with it. However the Love Lettuce mask was basically throwing away £5.50 for nothing.

The Brilliant Brunette Shampoo and Conditioner travel sized items by John Frieda are amazing and I loved them both, you can read a more in depth review here.

I also finished one of three Dove Intensive conditioners, they came with Marie Claire and I can safely say I loved it and it's a great product for taking away frizz and making my hair feel nourished, unfortunately I threw it into the plastics before I had a chance to take a picture!

Thank you for reading x

August Empties - 2011

This month I have used up the following products, I was aiming for at least 10 empties every month but I guess I'll have to try harder in September! (Please click on names to be taken to the review post on my blog.)

1) No7 Radiance Boosting Hot Cloth Cleanser (200ml) - The first hot cloth cleanser I've ever used, I really liked this, it cleansed well and removed makeup too, the cloth with it was the only downside I think.

2) No7 Radiance Revealed Exfoliator (75ml) - I've used this exfoliator a lot, I think this was my second tube, it's a lovely creamy exfoliator suitable for more sensitive skin as well.

3) Olavie Chardonnay Wine Therapy Antioxidant Body Butter (30ml) - I received this in my Boudoir Privé box and I loved it, the only downside to this is the price for the full size, otherwise a fantastic, luxurious feeling, thick body butter.

4) Lush It's Raining Men Shower Gel + Shampoo (100g) - I didn't love this shower gel, it says that it's a shampoo too, and it absolutely sucked at lathering as a shampoo for me. As a shower gel it was fine, I used it with a puff and it did the job well enough but again lathering up was an issue and the smell wasn't as addicting as it is in the Honey I Washed The Kids soap.

5) The Body Shop Seaweed Clarifying Night Treatment (30ml) - I really like this, the only issue was that it makes me wake up to an exploded oil rig on my face...however it works very well. After I wash my face in the morning my pores look better and my overall complexion is improved. Works best with the entire Seaweed Range.

6) Simple Sun Sensitive Protecting Lip Balm (5g) - SPF 20 with 3star UVA protection, this lip balm is in a lipstick format and I love this. If I only were permitted to use one lip balm for the rest of my life (from everything I've tried so far...but then again I do have a lip balm addiction...) this would be it. Why? It glides on perfectly, no smudging, yellowing of the product, no seeping or separation of formula like some liquid lip balms, easy to use, one swipe is perfect and with added vitamins and SPF protection.

7) I managed to use up all the samples Amarya Beauty kindly sent and the perfume samples from Beauty Boxes.

Hopefully I will meet my minimum of 10 empties target for September! Thank you for reading :)

Review: Lush Lip Scrub in "Sweet Lips"

I love this lip scrub! The taste/smell is very yummy and luxurious, it was my favourite out of all their available lip scrubs, this one is called "Sweet Lips" and contains vanilla extract and cocoa absolute - YUMMY! It also has jojoba oil and flavouring.

In terms of effectiveness as a product to be honest I don't think it's a miracle worker, I try and use it as much as possible and there's still so much left, I love that it's all natural and suitable for vegans, and I really enjoy licking off the scrub after I'm done with it, although initially I struggled with it, (I thought it was really weird...).

The only issue I have with it, is that as opposed to scrubbing my lips I find that it softens them so much that any scrubbing of flakiness or dry bits doesn't occur, but I'm not complaining about the softening properties...

I give this scrub 8/10 :)

Thank you for reading! (Scroll down for more pictures)

The Makeup Ban - Exchange No1

Hi!

I have finally finished 3 products so I was fortunately authorised to purchase another beauty item (thank goodness! I've been struggling!), to read about my makeup ban please click here.

The 3 I finished:

• Lush's Honey I washed the Kids soap
• Soap and Glory's Facial Peel Mask
• The Body Shop's Seaweed Toner

This magically resulted in the following appearing! :o

BeautyUK's Glam Nails Nail Polish in Smokey Lilac - No51 for £1.99 at Superdrug, I have yet to try it but hopefully it'll be good! :)

Thank you for reading, nav x

Top 5 Skincare Winter Essentials

Hi there,

With all the cold and miserable weather, we certainly need richer and more moisturising products than usual, here are my top 5 skincare items for the winter. It is in no particular order.

1) Handcream! - This is most definitely required many times a day by myself and is vital for keeping your hands comfortable, without it they start to feel very tight and dry as the winter takes all the goodness out of them! I like Soap & Glory's Hand Food, £4.75 at Boots

2) Moisturiser -  this is for night and day, a thicker moisturiser to make sure that your face and neck are getting all the moisture they need, preventing tight, dry skin and dull skin. I find my skin gets a lot duller and paler in the winter and am yet to find a moisturiser that fixes that unfortunately, but for the moment I do like Organic Surge Overnight Sensation Night Cream, which has a rich consistency - however I dislike the rosy/flowery smell...£7.99 at Boots

3) Body Moisturiser! - A must! Dry, flaky skin is unattractive and very uncomfortable, I get itchy and yucky when I'm standing next to the radiators trying to keep warm, my favourite at the moment is Strawberry Body Butter, £5-£12.50 at The Body Shop, keeps you moisturised and smelling A-mazing!

4) Lip balm - another vital item to carry around with you, preventing dry cracked lips, my favourite at the moment are the Carmex lip balms, in a handy tube so your hands don't get covered in it, available at many retailers for £2.59 at Boots

5) Lip Scrub - I hadn't ever used lip scrub before and after reccomendations of Lush's I am now addicted to Sweet Lips Lip Scrub for £4.50

And make sure you keep wrapped up warm and take care of yourself in the miserable weather!

Thank you for reading! :)

Review: "Honey I Washed The Kids"...

This is a VERY popular hand and body soap by Lush. Named intelligently with a pun, it describes the soap perfectly.

As I'm sure you've gathered by now, Lush is a reputable retailer of gorgeous smelling bathtime products. This soap is of no exception and is most definitely a favourite of mine. It costs £2.95/100g or $7.95/3.5oz which I think is reasonable enough. It resembles honeycomb which is cute!

The soap itself can be of any size you choose, you will need to ask the shop assistants or just pick up a package that they've already wrapped. (Please note this can vary the price due to weight of product). It smells of honey and toffee, pleasant and not too strong to overwhelm the senses. It lathers up well and is like any other soap - apart from all the amazing, natural ingredients and the smell. I guess not like any other soap then!

The vital ingredients making it a lovely soap are:

- honey water
- rapeseed oil
- coconut oil
- beeswax
- sweet wild orange oil
- bergamot oil
- aloe vera extract
- gardenia extract

While bathing with this soap the skin does not dry out, even after your bath/shower. I think the reason behind this is the number of oils adding moisture to your skin and protecting it from dehydration. The smell of the soap is also lovely and remains on you for the majority of the day. Smelling of honey and toffee I do think is attractive... It also fulfils the purpose of a soap - to clean! Very well as I always feel very cleansed and fresh after using it.

Please leave a comment telling me about your favourite Lush product and why, I'd love to know!

Thank you for reading x

Review: Glittery Bubbly "Sunny Side"

I think I've found the most amazing bubble bar ever...or even bubble bath ever! (For the moment at least) It's called "Sunny Side" and it's from Lush.

It costs £3.30 in the UK and $6.95 in the US, which isn't too bad but there are many more cheaper products available in other retailers. But aside from the price, I do think this bubble bar is amazing! It smells lovely, obviously I won't be able to send the smell virtually (even though I can't wait for that day...) and I don't think it's worth describing it as who knows what I'll come up with! But I'll tell you what's in it so maybe you'll have a rough idea but I do think all noses will love the smell.

OK FINE! Basically it's a citrus smell...I tried to make it sound more incredible but yep, citrus smell. Everyone will still love it though! :)

It is a round, golden soap-like "bar" with lots of edible glitter on it - but don't eat it...

So it has the following ingredients in it, which make it even more gorgeous;

• Sweet Wild Orange Oil
• Lemon Oil
• Tangerine Oil

All of these oils make the bath more moisturising but to be honest I don't think any bath/shower is very moisturising unless you're bathing with an oil/cream in it's natural form.

You place the bar underneath a running tap and crumble it with your hands, it feels very smooth and I enjoyed playing with it because it was so soft! It breaks and forms bubbles, bubbles and more bubbles. After you have the amount of water and bubbles you want, stand back to look at the water and it will have become golden and glittery. I thought this looked truly magical and couldn't wait to jump in!

The bubbles last for a very long time but bathing for as long as the bubbles last will transform you into a mermaid - fully.

It's an amazing, rich, gorgeously scented bubble bar and not just for bathing - I kept it in my wardrobe for fragrancing and even though I've used it now my wardrobe still smells of it.

I definitely recommend this bar, and I can almost guarantee everyone will love it.

Thank you for reading!

Review: Lush "You've Been Mangoed" bath melt

So this is the first ever bath melt I've tried from Lush, and I wasn't too dissapointed. The only problem is that I wasn't amazed either, and I feel the melt should have been named something along the lines of "You've been lemon-ed"!

The bath melt cost £2.80/$5.95 and is available in 30g/1oz sizes, despite the reference to the mango, the melt smells of lemons, limes and oranges. As with all Lush products you are encouraged to use 1 item per bath/shower, however I split the melt into 2 so I could use it twice. The smell is gorgeous even though it's not like that of a mango, however once melted in the bath the bubbles stay for 5minutes then disappear into mysterious murky water created by the melt. I wouldn't say it's very moisturising either...unless you want it as a fragrance in your home I wouldn't spend my money on it.

Pros:

- smells nice

- small and cute product

- good for fragrancing room/wardrobe

- it's suitable for vegans

Cons:

- very small for such a price and only a 1 use product
- doesn't smell of mangoes as expected
- not super moisturising
- bubbles don't hold for very long
- end up with murky water once bubbles have gone

I'm not really sure what rating to give this product as I don't feel the great smell outweighs the negatives...that's why I've outlined the pros and cons so that you can decide for yourself :)

I'm giving it a 6/10 because it's not a terrible product, just not as expected. To try it for yourself you can visit any Lush store near you or order it online,

US: http://www.lushusa.com/shop/products/bath-shower/bath-melts/youve-been-mangoed
UK: http://www.lush.co.uk/products/bath/bath-melts/you've-been-mangoed_102.html
Other Countries: http://www.lush.com/

Thank you for reading :)

nav x