All Things Lush and Beautiful

Everybody that reads my blog must know by now how much I love this company and the wonderful luxuries it makes. This year I’ve been treated to – and treated myself to – a whole new host of their products. So here’s my take on all of them, one by one...

New Christmas Edition: Maple Taffy Lip Balm

I really wanted to get this review out sooner as sadly this little beaut won’t be back on the shelves until December later this year. However initially when I got to Lush this Christmas I was instead very sad to find that the Christmas edition ‘Let Them Eat Cake’ lip balm had been discontinued. This was my favourite Lush lip balm in the collection, so much so I stocked up on enough for the year ahead last year so that I wouldn’t run out (and can I add that I only needed two lip balms for the whole year?!) It was also a winner amongst all of my clients as they love the smell when I use it on them as a moisturising base before applying lippy.

But soon all woes were forgotten when I found the new Christmas edition lip balm in its place – ‘Maple Taffy’. Smelling of and containing maple syrup I think I actually prefer this one now. The smell lasts longer and yet the ingredients list is simpler: Extra Virgin Coconut oil, Maple Syrup, Japan Wax, Shea Butter, Illipe Butter, Carnauba Wax and Glycerine.

The other difference – which admittedly takes some getting used to at first – is the waxy consistency. ‘Let Them Eat Cake’ was a lot oilier and glossier, I think owing to the Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Whereas ‘Maple Taffy’ contains Extra Virgin Coconut Oil and a lot of rich butters and these seem to provide a much waxier base. If you don’t mind it though I think it’s worth giving the lip balm a chance because I maintain this one moisturises better because the waxy layer that it forms seems to keep moisture in more effectively and stays put whilst Let Them Eat Cake could sometimes eventually slide off.

Vanilla Dee-Lite Hand & Body Lotion

This lotion is my new Holy Grail Lush product. It’s a light moisturiser, but lasts the mile. The smell is so scrumptious, it’s one that’s truly addictive and makes me feel, well put quite simply, happy. I’ve always been a fan of vanilla, so it’s an easy sell to me really. However they’ve put kiwi fruit in this lotion, and as odd as the marriage of these two scents sounds, I think that’s what gives it the amazingly addictive twist! It’s not as sickly as some vanilla-scented products can be and I think that’s owing to the kiwi – it balances out the sweetness, like lime does to coconut!

As I mentioned above the durability is great too – I can wash my hands after having using it on my arms, get a hairstyling product all over my hands whilst styling my hair and I can still smell Vanilla Dee-Lite on my mitts long afterwards! I can also often smell it on myself as the day winds on which is always a bonus for me as isn’t that the reason we use lovely smelling lotions and potions?!

The only disadvantage to this hand and body lotion I’d say is that it may not be nourishing enough for everyone’s skin. The skin on my arms and legs can lean a bit toward the dry side so I still need to use nourishing exfoliants as well as working this into my skin. However Lush does have the name bang on as it really is a delight to use!

Christmas Edition ‘Cinders’ Bath Ballistic

Again another Christmas limited edition – sorry! But if it helps I’d be curious to see if you’d feel let down by this one too. I'm afraid to say I was a little disappointed by this bath bomb. It smelt so exciting and promising when I took it home and of all the bath bombs Lush sells I think it’s one of the prettiest as the colours are gorgeous.

I could definitely smell its cinnamon leaf and sweet orange when it was solid, but when I popped it in the bath I could barely smell anything as it fizzed away. It turned the water a lovely warm, buttery yellow colour and it did feel like it was moisturising my skin once it had melted into the water but other than that I wasn’t blown away.

The bath bomb promised an experience like “falling asleep in front of a log fire and hearing the crackling embers as the snow falls down” – the crackling effect that it produces comes from very cute red popping candy that’s set into the bath bomb! But whilst it did have great fizzing quality it left much to be desired for me. The fragrance that was left on my skin wasn’t very detectable and I couldn’t smell it when I woke up in the morning at all. So sadly out of the three, I won’t be buying this again in future Christmas shopping sessions!

Now normally this is the bit where I point you in the website direction for your own bottle of Vanilla Dee-Lite lotion, but sadly the Lush UK site has fallen victim to hackers recently and as a result no trading’s taking place on there at the moment (more info at www.lush.co.uk) But as an alternative in the meantime you can get in touch with the Lush team on 01202 668545 to place an order or head down to your local Lush and have a sampler there!

The Vitality Show 2009

This Saturday I went along with Gemma (Anderra) to London's Vitality Show, held at Earl's Court 2. It's the largest annual health, beauty and wellbeing show in the UK with more than 350 health, beauty, fitness, healthy eating and wellbeing companies exhibiting over four days, so we had to go along and see it for ourselves!

In its 10th year of running, the event's aimed at any of you lovely ladies really, whether you're a fitness fanatic, a make-up maven or you just fancy having a good old girly trip with a difference! You can get some exercise at some fitness classes, or you could just relax and be spoiled rotten by a number of beauty therapists, make-up artists or masseuses. And if you like your smellies and skincare then this is a great place to spot some brands that you won't ordinarly see on the high street. It really has everything girly, there's something for everyone.

We rocked up at 10am to get a good look-in ahead of the crowds (especially for freebies hehe!) and among some of the attractions there were:

Yoga classes being held for anyone to come along and join in

Reiki and Indian Head massage, amongst other varieties of massage to boot!

Nails Inc. and other nail bars were there to give your hands and feet a treat

The 'Philadelphia Kitchen' had chefs at work throughout the show teaching everyone some great healthy and tasty recipes to try at home

A catwalk show

A day spa courtesy of Oasis

And even pole dancing!! :-)

Not only that but there were lots of bodycare, skincare and makeup companies on hand to let you try out their goodies and get hold of them at a discounted price! There were apparently a great deal of experts and celebs milling around too - Nicky Hambleton-Jones to name just one, who I was particularly keen to talk to! Sadly we didn't see any of them during our visit (anyone who did let me know, ha!)

We came across some great brands though - Tropic Skincare was one of my faves of the day - they had a team of ladies giving everyone that came by a hand massage with their body scrub and it was to die for! Their products are 100% natural and contain very yummy ingredients such as Jojoba and Patchouli. We also came across a few organic ranges such as Spiezia Organics that did an amazing cleanser which smelt a lot like green pesto :-) A body scrub with brown sugar in (so safe that you could eat it... But we gave it a miss!) And a lovely facial oil with rose and vanilla in.

And of course... Make-up!! There were a lot more make-up stands than I thought there would be! I eagerly bounded over to the Benefit counter which was choc-full of makeup artists ready to paint faces, but be warned people - this counter is absolute mayhem from the very beginning, I couldn't even get a look-in at 10am and I sadly missed out on the opportunity to grab a couple of freebies :-(

I also spotted Bourjois, which also had queues of women waiting for a bit of a makeover! But I bought my goodies from Helen E and Miss K Co who were doing some fantastic deals on bronzers, brushes, eyeshadows, glitters and other kits. I won't go into too much detail on these as I'll be digging into them very soon and producing some looks and reviews to let you know what they're like then!

Not only that but for any of you make-up addicts out there who like the right tools, CrownBrush also had a stand selling every type of make-up brush under the sun. Along with great make-up palettes - ideal for a start-up kit or just getting a great deal of shades for your money, with a typical palette costing no more than £25!

Overall we had an ultra fun day exploring what was on offer, milling around and coming out at the end smelling blissful after all of our sampling :-D It's a real buzz and it's great to chat to some of the exhibitors about what they sell and if you're keen to network then by all means go ahead, they love to hear from you if you're keen on reviewing their products online.

On the other hand don't expect many freebies. Fussy I hear you say? Not when you pay £14.50 for the ticket alone. We at least expected a free massage for 5 minutes for instance or a few more free samples. It seemed to us more of a trade event in some respects - some stands were so frantic and if you didn't want to buy that very instant they lost interest in you immediately! Some of the discounts didn't seem very reasonable with only £1 or £2 off the normal prices. Our best discovery however was with Spiezia Organics who were giving away their cleanser - normally priced £20 and a facial oil (normally £25) for only £20 for the two!

We also expected a few more organic skincare companies - we were very surprised to find so few amongst the exhibitors, especially as the show centres around wellbeing and healthy options. We decided it might be worth another visit in a couple of years, rather than annually as by then there may be a new focus and different developments.

All in all I thoroughly recommend going to the next one if you haven't been before - there's plenty to look at, do and try and overall it's a fun day out to have with your girlfriends, mum, or any other female who loves a little TLC!

Visit http://www.thevitalityshow.co.uk/index.php for more information

Other useful links

Spiezia Organics

Tropic

CrownBrush

Image Sources:

Logo courtesy of The Vitality Show

Image courtesy of www.vegfamily.com

Because Beauty's Skin-Deep :-)

Hello fellow makeup-addicts!

I can't believe I've been away this long! A slight lack of funds and time in the past few weeks has meant I haven't been able to blog as much as I'd like. However I recently became the proud owner of the eagerly awaited MAC Hello Kitty bits and bobs, some Helen E makeup, Miss K Co makeup and this weekend I went to the Vitality Show in London so I have lots to update you with :-)

I also want to make it my aim to post on a daily basis, if and when possible, so I won't be taking such a long vacation away from my blogging from now on!

Today's post is one I've been meaning to write for a while now. Make-up's fantastic (obviously pfft!) and can transform any look, spice up an outfit or simply hide the mistakes of the night before! But as any makeup artist worth his/her salt will tell you: looking after your skin is essential for providing a great canvas to start with! This means getting plenty of sleep and water, eating the right foods, exercise and of course using great skincare that's right for you and your skin's needs.

My friend Gemma is a natural skincare and beauty fanatic and she has created a fantastic website called Anderra, a great resource for any of you who share her passion or just want to know more. We've all heard about 'natural' and 'organic' products, but before I saw Anderra I wouldn't have been able to tell you the difference between the two! And as more and more of us become aware of what potential damage some synthetic ingredients can cause (like parabens) it's useful to know what alternatives there are and what they can do.

The website is packed full of product reviews on soaps, shampoos, right through to toothpastes and multi-purpose products. Plus if you feel like having a go yourself, hunting around for your own organic or natural faves and would like to review them drop her a line - Anderra's open to anyone who wants to add a review themselves. I'll be sending mine very soon :-)

In addition it's got loads of information on understanding all the jargon on skincare labels, plus a great glossary of A-Z of all the ingredients - natural and synthetic - that you'll see in everyday skincare products, what they're used for and how safe/dangerous they are for the body.

My ultimate favourite section has to be the blog where you'll even find recipes for making your very own bath bombs and much more so you can have a go at home - something I really want to try out myself at some point! Why not have a bash at making the Cocoa Butter Bath Melts?! They look good enough to eat... But I wouldn't advise it :-P

Finally, if you're not sure where to start looking or what brands are out there, Anderra offers a Brands section where you can find a rundown on many of the organic and natural skincare ranges on the market, a little bit of history on how they each came about and where to find them. Because of Anderra I've even found the smaller specialists that are just starting out and whose products are simply gorgeous and are very good value - it's well worth a look!

To find out more you can find Anderra here

Enjoy! x