Lush Halloween & Christmas

Posted on October 30, 2017 by Fiona Martin

When it comes to special occasions Lush always bring it out the bag with an array of exciting products to fit the season and always manage to be innovative in their designs and ideas. I was lucky to get a preview of the Halloween and Christmas ranges and am pleased to be able to share with you some of their fun themed products.

One I’d definitely buy for my children this Halloween is the Ectoplasm bath bomb, with citrus fragrances it bubbles up and leaves a slimy layer on top of the bath water, which is great for softening the skin but even more fun to play with.

A new addition to the range of lip scrubs and stains is Black Rose which looks so pretty. If you are a fan of the other lip products then this won’t disappoint and gives a lovely deep pink colour on application of the stain.

Bewitched has to be one of the cutest Halloween bubble bars with it’s black cat head and yellow eyes. Packed with bergamot it smells rich, spicy and fills the bathtub with bubbles and you can use it several times over which is a bonus.

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Moving on to Christmas, there were some exciting new arrivals, how about these Golden Pear soaps. With a rich luxurious lather, these are a pleasure to wash with packed with lots of golden ingredients – pear puree, cardamom oil, agave syrup, orange oil, cocoa butter, almond oil among other things.

One thing I must mention are the new Lush Naked products, that is products without packaging – quite literally with no plastic bottle or tub. So how does that work then, well a shower gel or body conditioner is thickened up until it is in a solid state but still lathers and feels like the product it should be. In the picture below you can see the Snow Fairy Naked body conditioners. This is a new idea but one that we should all be embracing as think of how many fewer plastic bottles would end up in landfill!

Man in the Moon just has to be the bubble bar for my son, the colours and style are right up his street although the added cocoa butter is great to keep his skin soft and moisturised. Lime and neroli oils keep this one smelling fresh and clean.

Snow Fairy cold pressed soap looks pretty and would make the perfect stocking filler for any Snow Fairy fan. With it’s familiar scent it’s a great way to lather up in the bath or just use for washing your hands.

Twilight Sparkle Jar has to be the cutest things I’ve seen for a while. This massage bar melts into the skin with it’s moisturising cocoa butter along with lavender and tonka. When you are done, simply tip it up and shake a golden lustre powder over your skin to leave your you shimmery and soft.

Some great ideas from Lush this year – what will be on your Christmas list?

Child Friendly Products from Lush

Posted on July 12, 2017 by Fiona Martin

Lush is the home of bath bombs and a multitude of other cruelty free products and always the place to visit for a bath time treat although equally great for body care, skin care and even makeup but have you thought about grabbing a few goodies for your children? I know my daughter has tried a few bath bombs and soaps out but my little boy was new to the Lush experience. We were excited to be invited to a Mother and Child event at our local store, Lush Plymouth, to check out some of their top ideas for kids.

After a warm welcome by all the staff and a round of introductions it was time to get hands on. The children were all super excited to actually get the chance to make their own bath bomb from scratch – how cool is that? (although I must admit I’ve made a Big Blue before myself). The super cute ‘Ickle Baby Bot’ is packed full of lavender, perfect to relax children before bedtime. Suitable for babies over six months, it’s aromatherapy oils also work to soothe irritable skin as well as calm and relax. The children started using their hands to mix the ingredients in a big bowl before individually packing the mixture into robot shaped moulds as tightly as they could whilst we watched on and learnt about the process.

The robot needs to be left in the mould for a minimum of 24hrs before taking out to ensure it is dried out enough and solid making the perfect bath bomb. The children were really excited with their creations and it was definitely an experience that they loved, remembered and talk about. I also think it’s really nice for them to see how Lush products are made first hand and realise how natural they are with minimal ingredients.

A few days after the event the children had a bath with their own hand-made Ickle Baby Bot bath bombs. They smelt gorgeous, I’ve always been a fan of lavender and it’s the perfect scent for a relaxing bath time.

Having a bath bomb meant they had an extra long time in the bath tub and their skin was lovely and aromatic at the end which meant they got extra cuddles before drifting off into a heavenly sleep!

Fun was the next item on the agenda and oh my – this really is a fun product – modelling clay that doubles as a bath/shower/soap product! How can that not be appealing to kids? Whilst the children played and created random aliens, the adults learnt of the joys of this product. Versatile is an understatement – you can mould, play, roll, cut, design, but then run it under water and you have bubble bath, shower gel or soap to make you clean and fresh. Double the fun in one product!

Next we checked out some of the honey products, one of which was the Honey I Washed The Kids soap, a delectable caramel smelling soap with a rich creamy lather. Both the children and I love using this in the bath and a chunk actually lasts a good while. Also containing honey is the It’s Raining Men shower gel which has a creamy consistency and sweet smell suitable for all the family.

Shampoo bars aren’t something I’ve tried before but after seeing them being demonstrated they look really simple to lather and creamy enough that I would consider using them on my hair. We had a look at a few including the Honey I Washed My Hair and Trichomania which both smell good and look really inviting to use to clean my hair.

Shower Jelly was next on the agenda and has proved a huge hit with my children over the last couple of weeks. The boy chose Refresher, the girl Whoosh (their favourite colours of course!) and they couldn’t wait to give them a try at home. In the shower I tip these into the palm of their hands and they have a wobble of them before lathering them up over their body. The bathroom smells good too when they are using these and it’s certainly given them motivation to wash!

On to body products and along with the ever popular Dream Cream we were shown Sleepy, a body lotion perfect for using at night time as it’s enriched with lavender and cocoa butter. It’s a really pretty pale lilac colour and comes with a sprinkling of silver on the top! I really like this and find it the perfect lotion to use after bath time on either me or the children. Therapy is a massage bar made with a blend of cocoa and shea butter along with sweet orange, neroli and lavender oils. It melts at body temperature so you just rub it up and down your body to spread the sweet smelling product around leaving your skin super soft. Finally onto Powdered Sunshine, such a unique and clever product. Sun protection in a powdered format, you just sprinkle it on, spread it around and you are sun ready, great for things like scalps or places you don’t like putting lots of sticky lotion. I know for me it’ll be ideal for putting behind kids ears and around the back of their necks.

The array of bath bombs adorning the shelves in Lush are always something I love to look along and admire and the children were no different, fascinated at all the different shapes and colours. They were lucky to bring home a Yellow Submarine bomb which has a lemon fragrance. It has the most amazing fizz in the bath filling it with yellow followed by a trail of pink which merges to make the most gorgeous Summery coloured bath tub.

All in all we had an amazing experience at Lush Plymouth with a friendly, knowledgeable bunch of staff who did their utmost to tell us about the products while keeping the children occupied throughout letting them try, smell and experience the products first hand. There certainly are many products that are ideal for kids and families to use. The children always talk about Lush now and tell other people about it so they are definitely helping to spread the word about the amazing products Lush has to offer!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.

Lush Halloween and Christmas 2016

Posted on October 29, 2016 by Fiona Martin

Lush is perfect for Christmas treats, amazing smelling gifts and pampering yourself from head to toe in naturally handmade products that leave your skin feeling soft, smooth and totally relaxed. I was excited to find out from Lush Plymouth about the latest arrivals for this years Halloween and Christmas ranges, some brought back from previous years and others new and intriguing.

The array of goodies on the shelves as you enter the shop keep your eyes wandering in excitement whilst the aroma hits you and instantly makes your feel relaxed. I love looking at all the Christmas gifts wrapped in pretty boxes or super cute tins. They have a great choice to fit everyones tastes and price points.

We started off by having a demonstration of the Halloween range which has some super cute items including Boo a fun little bath melt, packed full of cocoa butter and ginger oil for a relaxing, softening bath. The bath bombs that stood out for me in this range are Autumn Leaf which looked so pretty as it melted away in the water and Monster’s Ball which looked fantastic as it dissolved as well as having the most heavenly fragrance full of both lime and neroli oils. What also looked amazing was the way the eye of the monster floated around in the water as the rest of the bomb dissolved – eek, a little creepy but perfect for Halloween!

Then is was time to check out the Christmas ranges and there were so many fun things, even my children would be spoilt for choice by some of the cute bath pieces. The Christmas Penguin bubble bar looks too cute to break up but it’s worth it for the mountain of bubbles it produces. Santasaurus would sit just perfectly in my little boys stocking this year, a reusable bubble bar meaning he could have several baths swishing it around creating bubbles whilst relaxing and playing in an aroma of orange and bergamot oils. For me I was tempted with the Golden Wonder bath bomb. It looks rather grand as it’s shaped like a huge present box and covered in a gold shimmer. It has one of my favourite fragrances, lime oil in it and as it melts away in the water is a secret surprise inside. Why not try one out for yourself for a long relaxing treat?

Another bath bomb that looked fascinating as it swirled around in the water is Northern Lights. With it’s purple barrel shaped exterior, it spun around fizzing away in with colours shooting out of each end.

As well as all the bath treats are some rather fun looking soaps such as Shooting Stars with a fresh citrusy fragrance, Snowcastle which looks really creamy and Santa’s Postbox. I must also mention the shower jelly’s that had extra large versions on display in the store, Santa’s Belly and Snowman look like great wobbly fun for in the shower!

At the end of the event I was able to choose some of the goodies to take away and try at home. It was easy to pick bath and shower products as that’s what I normally stick to in Lush, but looking for a body product I wanted to try something new and different that I wouldn’t normally use. With my favourite Rose Jam shower gel in my basket (a must for any fans of Rose fragrances), a couple of exciting looking bath bombs and some soap samples, I decided to opt for my something else a little bit different.

I’ve never really used any of Lush’s face and body products so decided to go out of my comfy bath bomb box and try something new, not just for myself but to share with you, my readers. I tried Bûche De Noël, a facial cleanser, a totally fresh, natural cleansing product packed full of ground almonds, kaolin, fresh mandarin, dried cranberries and cocoa butter. It does have a very festive touch to it but how would it work?

I’ll be honest, the first couple of times I used it, it is a little messy. You need to take a generous pinch and mix in your palm with a few drops of water to make a paste and then massage across your face. It has a light exfoliating action but gives a really deep clean. I still wasn’t too sure about it, that is until I washed it off – Oh My!! My face felt incredibly baby soft, smooth, ultra cleansed and looked really fresh.

Lush at Christmas as you can see is packed full of amazing and exciting products that smell divine. They have a fabulous gift range which is worth checking out and lots of fun little products that would make ideal stocking fillers!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.

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A Sparkly Christmas at Lush

Posted on October 21, 2015 by Fiona Martin

Christmas at Lush is a sparkly, glittery and seasonally fragrant affair that will leave you feeling all festive with all the products and gifts they have on offer. I had a preview on the launch day of the new Christmas and Halloween ranges as they were fresh into my local store in Plymouth, to see what amazing new products have launched and which firm favourites have returned from previous years for another festive season.

We were greeted with drinks and some fabulous cupcakes from the local Mrs Brown’s bakery which looked too good to eat and very festively decorated!

Then it was on to the bath section, packed full of glorious bath bombs, melts and bubble bars. We had some demonstrations of bath bombs in action but here are some that caught my eye.

The Magic of Christmas reusable bubble bar is so festive, a star shape decorated with cloves and star anise, it’s perched on a cinnamon stick. It’s burnt orange colour gives a warming feeling as the chilly evenings draw in and it’s covered in golden glitter, perfect for a hot bath to relax in the evening. It has a cute ribbon tied around it’s collar along with a cute anti rusting bell. The idea is you swirl it in the bath water to create a heavenly, softening bubble bath, packed full of bubbles and a Christmassy aroma of cinnamon, orange and almond.

Stardust is a snowy white Frozen inspired bath bomb with bergamont to uplift you. Inside it’s white exterior lies a blue and white swirly mass of bubbles and a surprise of edible stars that will float around your bathtub twinkling under the lights.

Magic Wand is a silver glitter coated pink bubble bar on a stick with a festive bell and ribbon attached. I know my daughter will just love this so got her one to try out.

Five Gold Rings are individual bubble bars, glistening and tied onto a ribbon. With a sparkly gold coat they are infused with fair trade vanilla and uplifting moringa oil.

Peeping Santa is a rather cute bubble bar that can be split into two halves for two baths! Bursting with strawberry sweet bergamot and geranium oils and cocoa butter in the middle section, this sounds like a refreshing but relaxing bath full of bubbles.

Candy Mountain is a swirling pink bubble bar rich in vanilla for a soft, relaxing soak.

Next stop, the shower section which was packed full of an array of different and interesting products. First off, Snow Fairy, a popular favourite with candy floss aromas in a delectable pink colour. I was tempted but opted to try the Rose Jam as I’m rather partial to to roses and love their fragrance. Never having tried Rose Jam I’m keen to give it a try in the shower over the next few weeks and trust me, it smells heavenly!

The Icing on the Cake Roulade is a shower smoothie and definitely one that looked quite luxurious, full of citrus peels and chestnut puree. Perfect for a relaxing shower at the end of the day.

Santa’s Scrub is a mixture of castor sugar, dates and cherries to leave your lips smooth and soft and then you can follow it with Santa Baby, a long lasting lip tint with carrot oil and cinnamon.

Something that was new to me was shower jelly in the form of Santa’s Belly or Snowman. They literally are just like jelly but quite stable and you rub them over your body to lather them up and wash.

The Cranberry Festive Face Mask smelt lovely and felt great on the back of my hand. I think this would be wonderful on your face, packed with cranberries, fennel seeds, argan oil and rose clay. It left the back of my hand feeling smooth and soft.

The soap bars available this Christmas are Yog Nog, Snow Cake and Baked Alaska shown below along with Reindeer Rock which I didn’t catch a picture off.

With so many products on offer, you really need to visit a store to check them all out. Some I haven’t had time to mention are Christingle a body conditioner, Fairy Dust a fun glittery powder along with lots of other bath bombs and bubble bars. Get along to your local store today and check out the amazing array of ethical goodies to fill your bathroom during the festive season.

I must just mention the Christmas gift selection with it’s cleverly thought out packaging, all very ethically sourced I must add. Christmas Wishes is a wind up carousel that plays a festive tune, Sleeps ‘Til Christmas has a countdown dial on the front to help you count down the days and The Human Cannonball with it’s cracker snap to open the box that greets you with a colourful display!

I’m going to finish off with a quick overview of the Halloween range of which includes Lord of Misrule bath bomb and shower gel, Nightwing shower jelly and Sparkly Pumpkin which I couldn’t resist trying. With juniperberry, lime and grapefruit oils this filled my bath with bubbles and left my skin feeling supersoft and relaxed. Definitely one to use again.

Keep an eye out for my review of the Xmas products once I’ve tried them in a future post.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received some Lush goodies in order to write an honest review.

Autumn Beauty Wishlist

Posted on October 5, 2015 by Fiona Martin

As the summer ends it’s always time to rethink my beauty regime to ensure my skin is protected over the winter months and also look at the wonderful gift sets that are out there ready for the festive season.

L’Occitane have a great range of high quality gift sets that always smell amazing. I love the look of this Elegant Néroli & Orchidée Collection. With a variety of products included such as a body lotion, soap, hand cream and Eau de toilette, this is a lovely set and beautifully presented in a round pink box. With hints of Orange Blossom and White Orchid, this has a delicate but feminine fragrance that sure to have wide appeal.

There’s nothing more I love than painting my fingers and toes, and this cute Festive Folk set from Nails Inc comes in really pretty colours that takes you through from Summer to Autumn. The three colours work really well together and can be worn separately or with a sprinkle of the glitter on top!

Benefit Air Patrol is a fabulous new BB cream eyelid primer with added SPF 20, perfect for protecting your eyelids this Autumn. Not only does it protect the delicate skin on the eyelid from harmful rays, but it provides a calming and soothing base upon which you can apply eyeshadow leaving your lids looking crease and smear free all day!

As the evenings get darker and the nights draw in there is nothing better than having an evening soak in a hot bath to feel totally relaxed, calm and ready to curl up in bed. Rose Jam Bubbleroon from Lush is the perfect accompaniment leaving your bath water filled with bubbles, softening your skin and leaving you feeling relaxed and lifted on a cold, dark night.

This is a collaborative post.

Lush Blogger Night and Product Reviews

Posted on August 30, 2014 by Fiona Martin

At the start of the summer I was invited to a blogger event at my local Lush store. Lush being that shop that emits a heavenly fragrance across the mall before you even reach it, inviting you to step inside and try it’s delectable handmade products. Being 100% vegetarian, not tested on animals and using only natural, ethical ingredients, this certainly ticks a lot of boxes for me so I was intrigued to find out more.

Walking into the shop, you can’t help but be mesmerised by the vast arrays of freshly made products, sitting naked on the shelves waiting for you to inhale their individual aroma’s, eager to try them on your skin. When I walked in I was greeted by a friendly bunch of staff who turned out to be incredibly knowledgeable and full of facts and information about each of the numerous products on their shelves. They gave us a demonstration of some of their top summer products, showing us the individual raw ingredients as well as letting us smell and try them out upon our skin.

Buffy – a body butter with exfoliator. Made with cocoa and shea butters for moisturising, ground rice, almonds and aduki beans for exfoliation and some essential oils for both calming and uplifting. This is a must have shower product to leave your skin silky soft all year round.

African Paradise – a body conditioner designed to be used in the shower and rinsed off leaving your skin perfectly hydrated. This is made with softening and scented ingredients from mango juice to moringa oil, shea butter to aloe vera – leaving a very relaxing soothing, finish to the skin.

One of the highlights of the evening has to be making my very own Big Blue bath bomb!! I never expected to get this close to making a product let alone actually doing it! The Big Blue has calming properties using arame seaweed for it’s softening ability along with many vitamins and minerals. Also both lemon and lavender oil are included which are both fragrances that appeal to me.

Once seeing a demonstration, it was time to make our own. We were each given some ‘attractive’ blue rubber gloves, a Lush bomb mould with which we filled with ingredients, swishing and turning until we had the perfect ball!!

Ta-dah!! Above you can see my perfectly formed Big Blue, I’m still in shock I actually made this and didn’t really want to use it but, well, I kinda had to!

So how did it feel? Incredibly softening, more than I could have imagined. It had a heady, calmy fragrance that was totally relaxing. I was really surprised at how soft the water felt, really leaving my skin feeling soothed, mosturised and supersoft. With it’s turquoise blue hue and floating bits of seaweed, it felt tranquil and allowed me 20 minutes of child feel relaxation, something that’s a bit of a rarity these days!

After receiving a demonstration of Stepping Stone, a foot shaped scrub, we were given one to try at home. I was so looking forward to trying this as my feet do suffer, particularly as I’m prone to wearing flip flops over the summer months which doesn’t do my heels any favours leaving them dry and prone to cracks.

Stepping Stone can be used as a foot pumice or foot soak and I did both by breaking a piece off and letting it fizz in water to soak my feet and the rest I used to scrub over my feet to combat the dry skin. With lime, lemon and lemongrass oils to combat foot odour this really smelt heavenly!

The new range of suncare products from Lush was rather interesting. With unusual formats and textures they were very different but seemingly effective. Sesame Suntan Lotion is a light creamy lotion giving SPF10 that sinks easily into the skin. The Sunblock is a solid sunscreen wash giving a high SPF30 protection. It works by massaging onto damp skin in the shower then with a gentle pat dry you are fully protected head to toe.

I took home a tub of Lifesaver, a rich, highly moisturising sunscreen cream with an SPF30 protection. I saved this little tub until I went on holiday to really test it out. With the sun quite hot and a tendency to get burnt shoulders I covered my arms and shoulders with this quite liberally and then sat on the beach. Being on their for 3 or 4 hours I didn’t reapply but found this easily protected me and I didn’t burn in the slightest. With moisturising shea butter this meant my skin didn’t dry out either leaving it feeling soft and soothed even at the end of the day in the hot sun.

I’ve really enjoyed trying out some new and different Lush products, it’s definitely made me realise that Lush has so much more to offer than just bath bombs and soap bars which are the main products I have used from there previously. Being a highly ethical company and using lots of amazing natural products and fragrances, I’d definitely suggest popping in to try something out. The staff members are welcoming and knowledgeable and can guide you towards products suitable to needs and skin type.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received some Lush products in order to write the review.