Vanilla Puff dusting powder

Lush Cosmetics always strive to provide multiple-use products that provide value for money, and this is one of those items that feels luxurious, yet lasts long enough to make you know you are getting plenty of product for a fair price.

Vanilla puff dusting powder is in effect, a scented powder, a little like talcum powder, that can be used in many ways. It is a year-round product, but one you might not choose to pick up immediately due to it being pretty plain in colour. But as I have learned, it isnt always the colourful, 'showy' products that are always the best ones.

This dusting powder is white in colour, and the scent is great. Sharing it's scent with Lush's Vanillary perfume and the other products sharing the Vanillary fragrance, it boasts a homely, comforting vanilla aroma, with the slight burnt-caramel undertone of the tonka also contained within. It reminds me of freshly baked cupcakes, but it's a very natural scent- no way overpowering or artificial. Lush have even added a whole dried vanilla pod into each bottle, which will keep infusing it's scent into the dusting powder, long after its left the Lush factory.

Dusting powder from Lush can be used in several different ways. Firstly, it can be sprinkled over dry skin and rubbed in to make your skin feel soft and smell delicious. I generally do this, as I rarely wear perfume and this is a good alternative.

Secondly, it can be used as a finishing product after massaging someone with a massage bar, to soak up the leftover oil which may not have absorbed. I got an arm massage in Lush with Strawberry Feels Forever massage bar, and they finished it off with a sprinkling of this powder, which complimented the massage bars' scent perfectly.


Thirdly, you can sprinkle Vanilla Puff on your sheets, which is comforting when you are about to go to bed. It freshens your sheets up and makes them smell delicious, and also soothes you towards a good nights' sleep. I use my dusting powder this way a lot, and I really like it.

Last but not least, you can use this to absorb excess sweat if you are out in warm conditions. It is not a deodorant and doesn't claim to be one, however it does freshen you up if you are hot.

So although the price tag of £4.95 for 50g did seem steep at first to me, I have been using this product for around four months now, twice a week or so, and there is only a tiny gap in the bottle. I think this makes it great value for money, as I can imagine it lasting for a year, maybe even more.

This powder can get a little messy when applying to skin., so make sure you start off with a small amount, and build up until you have the desired amount on your skin. Applying before you get dressed is also a good idea too, as this white powder can  stain dark materials.

Overall, I would recommend this to those who enjoy sweet, gourmand fragrances like I do, and those who want a treat from LUSH that's long lasting and multi-purpose.

8.5/10

The Comforter bubble bar

Lush always encourage customers to convert from liquids to solids, as it's better for the environment and the solid products have a longer shelf life. For some solid products, I think there is still room for improvement, however, this product I am about to review is an example of how LUSH have really excelled themselves when it comes to delicious smelling products that are kind to the environment, and kind to your skin!

The comforter is a large bubble bar, that is designed to be split and used for 3-6 baths. It is one of Lush's most expensive bath items at £4.75 a pop, but you have to take into account that this can be used multiple times and it's a lot more caring to your skin than a regular bottle of cheap bubble bath.

The smell of The Comforter is gorgeous, a sherbety blackcurrant aroma which is almost like undiluted blackcurrent squash or jelly. It's sweet enough to be appreciated by those who enjoy fruity scents, but it's not as in-your-face sugary such as Snow fairy.

The Comforter shares it's mouthwatering scent with Sweetie Pie shower jelly.

You only need a quarter or so of this bar to create amazing bubbles and silky, magenta-coloured, softening water. Just crumble it under the tap, and bubbles will form. The water will turn a rich pink shade and the essential oils in the bar will get to work at making the water feel soft and luxurious.


Afterwards, the scent lingered on my skin and I didn't need to use any moisturiser. I feel that if you did want to use a body cream afterwards, the LUSH special edition comforter lotion would be a great one if you managed to snap a fresh tub up on Ebay. You could also layer the scent with the limited edition Comforter perfume if you have any of that.

Overall, this for me is a LUSH classic, and I would recommend it to anyone.

9/10

Sweetie pie shower jelly

Lush are often known for their limited edition products grabbing the most attention from customers, and the other, year-round items being pushed aside as they are constantly available. This shower jelly is one of Lush's permanent line, that I feel often gets overlooked in favour of other products.

Shower jelly is Lush's invention as an alternative to shower gel (although they do still sell shower gel). They come in a plastic container, and only a couple are available all year round to try, although they often bring out seasonal ones in their limited edition collections.

Sweetie pie is a girly, fruity scent, which shares it's fruity blackcurrant aroma with the popular comforter bubble bar, as well as seasonal favourite, Reindeer rock soap.

Although it does smell deeply of blackcurrant, it is certainly not a sour smell- far from it. It reminds me of Ribena and jam. It is quite sugary, but not in an overpowering way. I think it would be the perfect smell for someone who doesn't like a traditional citrus aroma, but doesn't want something as candy-sweet as Snow fairy.

Sweetie pie is deep purple in colour, with silver lustre running through it. Fortunately, the lustre doesn't stick to your skin or the shower or bath when using it, although this could be seen as a disadvantage for the bath, as several Lush customers enjoy glittery bath water.

Shower jelly by lush can be used in several different ways. Firstly, you can rub the whole slab or a torn-off piece onto your skin to create a lather. Personally I find this method difficult, as the jelly tends to fall out your hands as it is so slippery.

Secondly, you can rub the slab or a piece into a shower puff and rub this on your skin. This for me was the most successful way of creating a soft, cleansing lather.

Last of all, you can chop the jelly into pieces and use each one to create bubbles in your bath. I find this method average, as although it does create bubbles, the scent becomes pretty weak and it doesn't soften the water in the slightest.


Shower jellies by LUSH can also be frozen, and used as an ice-cool treat to wash with in the summer. They never freeze completely solid, so they are still able to be torn or chopped up after being left in the freezer overnight. However, they do change colour once frozen to a more opaque shade

I found that with Sweetie pie shower jelly, the lather was only easy to create if I used the shower-puff method. It cleansed well and left me squeaky clean, however my skin felt a little dry afterwards so I used a body lotion to put some moisture back in.

 In the bath, it created a few bubbles, but not many, and the glitter didn't float in the bath water either.  Also, the colour of the bath water didn't change either, which I found a little disappointing.

The scent didn't linger, so you would be able to use a perfume afterwards without it clashing. However fans of this scent might be disappointed, and if that is the case, I recommend you seek out Limited edition comforter body lotion or perfume to top up on the smell.

5.5/10

Lush Cocktail: Fairy gold.

When I first wrote up this LUSH bath cocktail, I knew that there was a chance I might not enjoy it, due to one of the products in the mix, Pot o Gold shower jelly. This limited-edition Easter shower jelly has got to be one of my least favourite lush items I've tried.

So why make this cocktail?

Well, due to the fact I was not keen on using this shower jelly in the shower, I wondered how it would fare being paired with other items in the bath, and if the smell would change slightly.



You will need.


Pot o' gold shower jelly (a small piece broke off about the size of half your thumb)



Gold F.U.N  (a centimetre-thick round slice)



Snow fairy sparkle bar  (a quarter of a bar, or if you are feeling generous, half. This bar will act as a bath melt)


Snow fairy shower gel (a few drops)



Vanilla puff dusting powder







1. Run your bath, and put your small slab of Pot o' Gold shower jelly in. This will create some bubbles, but don't worry if there isn't enough, as there will be more soon once the other products have been added.

2. Carefully crumble your gold F.U.N under the running tap, and swish the water about a bit with your hands to get even more of a lather going. The water should have turned a pale shade of gold now and have a little lustre/sparkle in it from the shower jelly and F.U.N.

3. Put a few drops of snow fairy sparkle in, under the running tap. Your bath now should have plentiful bubbles. The scent of the water will soften slightly, with the candy snow fairy scent and the toffee-honey scent of the F.U.N slightly cutting through the aroma of the Pot o' gold shower jelly.

4. When you are almost ready to get in and your tap is turned off, drop your snow fairy sparkle bar quarter into the hot water. This will melt over the surface, distrubuting oils and softening the water. It will also provide more lustre. Don't worry about the amount of glitter in your bath, as it will wash away with ease afterwards.

5.After you are done in the bath and dried off, sprinkle vanilla puff dusting power on yourself and massage it in. You skin will be left smooth and smelling sweet.




-My opinions on this Lush cocktail-

Overall, although it did contain 4 products which I liked this cocktail was average for me due to the Pot o' Gold shower jelly being included in it. I am just not a fan of the strong, heady, musky aroma of this shower jelly, and feels it cuts through and ruins the scents of the other products that are trying to compete with it in the bath.

I have often paired the massage bar quarter with one cleansing item, and it softened the water extremely well, however this time, the water was not as moisturising as I had hoped, despite using the massage bar quarter. I believe this may have been due to putting a lot of 'soapy' products into the bath, such as the shower jelly, the shower gel, and the F.U.N. Next time I will be sure to only include one, unless I add another water-softening product such as a bath bomb or bubble bar.

The vanilla puff at the end was the highlight for me, as it masked some of the Pot o' gold shower jelly scent from my skin, and provided a warm vanilla sweetness which I much prefer. I would definitely consider using this a lot more in Lush cocktails as it also leaves my skin feeling great.

As well as this, I have also realised the recipe would probably work well as a cocktail if I took the Pot o' gold shower jelly out the mix,. It would hopefully still retain that Gold colour element to it, but provides a sweeter, milder scent.

5/10

Pot o' gold shower jelly

Lush bring out an Easter range each year, with limited edition soaps, bath bombs, shower jellies, bubble bars and gifts each year. This shower jelly is part of Lush's 2015 easter range, and was the first item in the range that caught my eye when browsing online.

Lush's shower jellies are an alternative to shower gel. They are available in several different scents, some of which are limited edition, and only a couple are available to buy year-round. This is a limited edition scent, so if you are interested in it, make sure you try it out before they stop selling it.

Pot o' gold shower jelly has the same scent as Lush's discontinued crème anglais lotion. I had never tried this, so I had nothing to compare it to, but after reading a little about the lotion online, I expected a sweet, luxury vanilla aroma.

After unscrewing the lid, I was surprised at the aroma which greeted me. It is a pretty complex, layered, strong aroma. It is pretty in-your-face and I don't expect fans of floral or soft scents will particularly appreciate this offering. It has vanilla in there, of course, but is overpowered by a top layer smokiness which is perhaps caused by the myrrh contained within. It has a faint underlying fruity smell of oranges too, which is barely noticeable. The scent of Pot o' gold is very difficult to describe, and one that I think needs to be smelled in person to be appreciated.

The colour of the shower jelly is beautiful, however, and the bright gold is filled with flecks of lustre and bubbles. It is very pretty and this is what drew me to it in the first place.


Shower jelly by lush can be used in several different ways. Firstly, you can rub the whole slab or a torn-off piece onto your skin to create a lather. Personally I find this method difficult, as the jelly tends to fall out your hands as it is so slippery.

Secondly, you can rub the slab or a piece into a shower puff and rub this on your skin. This for me was the most successful way of creating a soft, cleansing lather.

Last of all, you can chop the jelly into pieces and use each one to create bubbles in your bath. I also find this method pretty successful for this particular shower jelly, as there are a fair amount of bubbles created and the aroma lingers for a long time.

Shower jellies by LUSH can also be frozen, and used as an ice-cool treat to wash with in the summer. They never freeze completely solid, so they are still able to be torn or chopped up after being left in the freezer overnight. However, they do change colour once frozen to a more opaque shade.

I have to admit- I am not the biggest fan of the scent, and wasn't looking forward to using it incase the smell elevated under the hot water. However, after trying it out, although the scent did get a little stronger, it wasn't in-your-face terrible. The shower jelly was one of the more solid ones, so didn't lather up as easier as some of the others I have tried.

Overall, I really did want to like this, but the scent just isn't for me. I am normally a fan of gourmand scents, especially vanilla, however the myrrh in this totally killed it for me and was too strong. I will continue using up this tub until it's finished, however I can't see me buying another one.


4.5/10

Whoosh shower jelly

Walking into a lush shop for the first time is a good but a somewhat daunting experience. You will see all sorts of cosmetics you probably haven't seen often in regular high street drugstores and supermarkets, such as massage bars, unique unusual soaps and shower jellies. The latter is what I am about to review today.


Whoosh shower jelly is part of Lush's permanent line, so you will be able to get this year-round. Shower jelly is a shower gel alternative that is sold in little plastic pots. It is available in different types of scents and very popular amongst Lush fans.

Whoosh is probably geared towards guys and girls. It is quite a citrus scented product, although it's different layers of scent make it a little more special than your regular fruity offering. It is primarily lime and lemon scented, with a natural sourness that makes it great for waking you up first thing in the morning. It is a scent that is suitable to use year-round, and one which would be ideal for all the family.

Whoosh is blue in colour, but doesn't have any flecks of glitter or added extras.

Shower jelly by lush can be used in several different ways. Firstly, you can rub the whole slab or a torn-off piece onto your skin to create a lather. Personally I find this method difficult, as the jelly tends to fall out your hands as it is so slippery.

Secondly, you can rub the slab or a piece into a shower puff and rub this on your skin. This for me was the most successful way of creating a soft, cleansing lather.

Last of all, you can chop the jelly into pieces and use each one to create bubbles in your bath. I find this method average, as although it does create bubbles, the scent becomes very weak and it doesn't soften the water in the slightest.

Shower jellies by LUSH can also be frozen, and used as an ice-cool treat to wash with in the summer. They never freeze completely solid, so they are still able to be torn or chopped up after being left in the freezer overnight. However, they do change colour once frozen to a more opaque shade.


I found Whoosh shower jelly the easiest jelly to lather up out of every one I have tried from lush. This may be down to it being particularly soft and pliable. The scent didn't last amazingly well, however it cleansed well and left me feeling squeaky clean without drying my skin out.

I am always more of a fan of shower gels than jellies, but if I had to pick out of all the shower jellies I have tried by Lush, this would probably be the best one.

6.5/10

Lush Easter range 2015

This blog post is going to be a little different from my usual reviews on LUSH products. I visited Lush Braehead yesterday (saturday), and managed to have a look at the Easter range. I picked up brand new 'Pot o' gold' shower jelly, however i am sure I will be returning to buy up a lot more of the limited edition selection of products available.


These are the items available to buy this year;

-Pot o' gold shower jelly-



Pot o' gold is the only Easter product I have picked up (so far). This smells identical to the discontinued lush crème anglais lotion, which I haven't tried before, so it was a brand new scent experience for me. I thought the scent of Pot o' gold was unusual to say the least. Lush claim it to be a very decadant concotion scented with vanilla, mandarin and myrrh. Personally, I found the scent very layered, musky and unique. I am not quite sure what I think overall about this as I haven't used it yet, so I'm going to give it a few tries and see what I think of the scent when it's used under the heat of the water.



-Golden Egg-




- Golden Egg-

Golden egg is a duo bath melt and bomb. The outer layer melts and the inner layer then fizzes away to create a moisturising bath which smells divine and really nourishes your skin. This was one of the most popular products being bought, but there were a few people in the queue who were complaining about the glitter all over their hands! The assistants were lovely though and brought plenty of tissues. This smells of the popular 'Honey I washed the kids' soap, so it's a lovely, buttery caramel type of scent.



-Fluffy egg-




Fluffy egg is a cute little pink bath bomb that carries the gorgeous Snow Fairy scent- for those of you who haven't tried Lush's snow fairy shower gel (I have a review on here), it is a sweet, bubblgum and candy type aroma. Perfect for anyone who enjoys girly, gourmand scents. Fluffy egg is also one of the cheaper bath bombs in the range.



-Immaculate Eggception-





Available in 2 separate cute designs, this is a huge bath bomb that is designed to last you 3 baths. Immaculate Eggception is a zesty offering that would make a great alternative to an easter egg as a gift for a friend or family member. Once you crack open the 'egg', you will find a surprise mini bath bomb inside!



       
           -Hoppity Poppity-




This is possibly one of the cutest bath bombs I have seen! Designed to look like the easter bunny, this herbal bath bomb from lush is laced with popping candy to add a little something extra to your bath. It is also one of the cheapest in the range, and I think it would make a good gift for a younger Lush fan as it contains lavender which is well known to aid a good nights sleep.



-Somewhere over the rainbow-













This soap particularly caught my eye due to the beautiful design. It smells primarily of lemon, and is a simple scent, but one which is strong and would appeal to those who love their citrus scents. I am not the biggest fan of citrus scents personally, but I might give this a go.



-Carrot-




Carrot is a fruity soap which smells identical to Lush's Snowman shower jelly in the Christmas range and Bunch of carrots reuseable bubble bar in the Easter range. It has a warm, tropical aroma, with elements of pineapple, grapefruit and passionfruit. It has a cute design too, and each slice in the huge carrot of soap has a little rabbit on it. I have heard mixed reviews on how this soap cleanses the skin, though. Some people claim it dries their skin out, but as I haven't tried it yet I can't comment on that.





-Bunch of Carrots-


Bunch of Carrots is a reusable bubble bar which is said to last for around 8 baths, depending on how generous you like to be with your bubbles. It also has the same tropical fragrance as Snowman shower jelly in the Christmas range and Carrot soap in the Easter range. It contains nourishing bergamont and lemon oil, so I imagine it would soften the water beautifully and create a fruity relaxing bath for you to enjoy. I will definitely be trying these out.





There are also a couple of Easter gifts available this year from Lush, which are:


Funny Bunny

A knot-wrap containing Dragons egg bath bomb, Fluffy egg bath bomb, Bunch of carrots bubble bars and Hoppity Poppity bath bomb


Carrot

A carrot shaped parcel containing golden egg bath bomb, bunch of carrots bubble bars and carrot soap


Rainbow bright

A beautifully wrapped box containing Somewhere over the rainbow soap and pot o'gold shower jelly





I hope my post has given you some useful info about the Easter range, if you have any questions about my website or LUSH products, just let me know on the post, or in the guestbook, and I will answer them :)