Lush - Emotional Brilliance

I knew about this a few weeks ago, as I discovered the video on the US Lush website as I was doing some browsing. After a bit of research on other people's blogs I found out that this was the launch of Lush's make-up line. As a lover of both Lush, and make-up this was very exciting news for me and I'm super excited to try it all out!

You can watch the video with a super catchy song by clicking here. It doesn't give too much away of what exactly Emotional Brilliance is but I can tell you here. The way it works is that there is a colour wheel which you spin after closing your eyes for 10 seconds. Once you open them, you pick the first 3 colours which stand out in your mind. Each colour has a meaning which is supposed to reflect your current mood. You may find that you choose colours you wouldn't normally go for. I found this very different as I haven't heard of any make-up brand ever having products which show your mood.

The launch is next week on July 21st. I visited the store last week and was speaking to the sales assistants about it, who asked how I had even heard about it because it had been kept very quiet and they hadn't been allowed to tell anyone about it, so obviously I felt pretty pleased with myself for hearing about it before most other people. They told me I could put my name down for their VIP party the night before where they would have all the products available before they go on general release. This news just made my day and I'm so excited as it is a week from today, and I can't wait to go and get some new products as I've looked at people's blogs who went to the press release and some of the swatches look amazing.

I'll do a review with swatches of my purchases the night of the release so you can all have a look at them to see how you like them! Watch this space!

Lush - Porridge Soap Review

I bought this soap around 2 months ago and I'm still using it now. I absolutely love the soap from Lush and I love how you can choose which size you want and how it's wrapped all nicely. I got just over 100g of this bar of soap after hearing a few people talk about it online and hearing it mentioned in some YouTube videos. I'm not normally a fan of the really grainy soaps from Lush, and usually go for the real sweet scented ones such as Rockstar and Honey I washed the kids. I had looked at it the past few times I'd been in and decided I would give it a try. It said to run it under the water for a few seconds before rubbing into your skin. It's a really creamy texture so you really feel like it's giving you a good wash which I love. The little grains also are really exfoliating so it's a bit of a two in one. I absolutely adore the smell of this soap and can't stop talking about it to everyone so that's definitely a plus for me. Unlike the non creamy soap bars from Lush, this soap shrinks a bit faster. I have about half of this bar left as of right now, but I have been going between it and my Snowfairy shower gel that I have left over from the Christmas sale in Lush.

Really easy to use, just run it under the water for a few seconds, and rub it over your skin. I find that I use the grainiest parts on my arms and legs, and then I'll look for a softer, less grainy side for the rest of my skin. A few people tend to cut off slices of the soap to bring into the shower with them, but I feel like that's a bit of a waste as whatever is left would be too small to use again, so I bring the whole bar with me. I then pat it dry with a towel when I get out of the shower, and then wrap it back up in the paper again.

Pros

• Really strong, gorgeous smell. (I don't think it really smells like porridge)
• Inexpensive (compared to the other soaps from Lush). Only £2.95 per 100g
• Can also be used to exfoliate.
• Creamy texture for that nice clean feeling.

Cons

• The grains from the soap to tend to come out very easily when using, so this could clog your shower.
• Despite the fact that it's good as exfoliating, the grains can sometimes be slightly sore rubbing on your skin!

All in all, this has probably became my favourite soap from Lush, even if I have listed 2 cons for it. I love the packaging that Lush use, and I love that I can wrap it back up to use it again next time I get a shower. Really love the scent of this so much and will definitely be purchasing again when this one is done.



Lush - Tea Tree Toner Tabs Review

I've been using these for a few months now and find they work really well. I had bought one a few years ago and tried it once and then forgot about it. Since I've got really into my Lush products over the past few months I decided to give them a go again. After buying one again, I've since bought a few each time I go in so that I have enough to do me until my next trip.

They're really simple to use, and the people in Lush will explain to you what to do if you're unsure. Firstly I boil the kettle and bring it to the sink. If there is hot water already I will fill part of the sink with that water and then top it up with the freshly boiled water. If not, then I'll just fill the whole sink with the kettle of water. I'll fill it up until it's about half full. Next I'll drop the Tea Tree Toner Tab into the water and let it fizz around until it's completely dissolved. I'll have a towel waiting for me to cover my head and the taps so that the steam won't escape from the sink. I'll then lean my face right over the water, keeping it as close as possible so that all the steam hits my face. I'll set a timer on my phone for 5 minutes and sit there until it's done. The steam is really hot and can be slightly unbearable, but you should keep sitting there as it starts to cool down quite fast. After the timer goes off, I sit up, and using some cotton pads that I will have left sitting beside the sink, I dip them into the water and clean my face and neck with the tea tree water that is left. This removes all the dirt from your skin as the steam has opened up all your pores. The first time I used one I couldn't believe the amount of make up that there was still left on my skin after cleaning it, and since then it's never been the same as I always make sure my skin is completely clean at night.

After using, my skin feels super soft and smooth and I love the clean feeling that it gives me. If I have any spots and use this, the next morning when I wake up I can see that they have started to fade.

What I like about the toner tab is that it can be used on more than one person. My two sisters share it with me when I'm finished. We'll reboil the kettle, and once I'm done, just top up the water again to create steam and then they will sit there for 5 minutes each and clean their face. I've also heard that you can reuse the water if you put it into a spray bottle and simply spray it on to your face each night as a toner.

Pros :

• Inexpensive, only 80p per toner tab.
• Works on more than one person.
• Leaves skin feeling soft and smooth.
• Helps clear up spots.

Cons :

• None!

All in all, definitely worth a try since they're only 80p each, so it's not really a waste of money if you feel it doesn't work.

Lush - Karma Komba Solid Shampoo Review

Karma Komba Solid Shampoo Bar

I'm coming to the end of my Karma Komba shampoo bar so I thought I would do a review of how I got on with it. I purchased this bar on the 14th January apparently, and there is still a good 2/3 weeks worth left in it, if not more. I use this every time I wash my hair, which is every other day, and it has lasted such a long time. I had used this shampoo years ago when my friend has bought it for me as part of my birthday present, but after it melted into the tin she got me for it I never bought it again. As I started to get back into Lush over Christmas I decided to buy it again and see if I still liked it. I looked up some reviews on it and read that it was supposed to be the equivalent of 3 200ml bottles of shampoo. I thought that this was maybe a bit of an over exaggeration and so took it with a pinch of salt. Now that it's the 4th April and I still have a few weeks worth, I can say that this is probably true, because this is nearly 3 months it has lasted me! I haven't used any of the other shampoo bars, but I already know that this is my favourite. When I first used it I felt that it gave me a really good clean for my hair, and I felt like it gave me an extra day out of my hair, because it didn't feel greasy the next day. I also love, love, love the scent of Karma (surprisingly I still haven't bought the soap of it). If you haven't used one of their shampoo bars I would definitely recommend it. Really easy to use, the person in Lush can tell you if you don't know how. I just run the water over my head first to get my hair wet, then I rub the bar at the front of my head, at both sides, and then also at the back, I rub it in about 2 or 3 times and then put the bar away. I then use my hands to lather it all up, and it creates a lot of lather! Then I just rinse it out and use my conditioner. Lush does have tins available that you can buy specifically for the shampoo bars, but after my first time using it when it melted into the tin, I wouldn't advise buying them. I simply pat it dry and put it back in the paper bag that I bought it in.

Pros :

• Equivalent to 3 x 200 ml shampoo bottles (I can say that this is in fact, true)
• Gives an extra day of clean hair
• Gorgeous smell
• Light and compact for when you need to travel

Cons :

• Zero! I have nothing that I didn't like about this shampoo bar.

All in all, I would highly recommend this product. I would say it's actually my favourite product from Lush because it done exactly what it said it would, and it's lasted me such a long time.