• Fairy Jasmine bath bomb (retro)
• Father Christmas bath bomb
• Party Popper bath bomb
• Twilight bath bomb
• Christmas Eve bubble bar
• Karma bubble bar
• Pop in the Bath bubble bar
• A French Kiss bubble bar
• Sunnyside bubble bar
• Karma bath melt
• You’ve been Mangoed bath melt
• Aqua Mirabilis body buffer/butter
• Karma cream hand and body lotion
• Cosmetic Warrior face mask
• Flying fox shower gel 250 size
• Shine so bright
• Veganese conditioner 100 size
• Big solid conditioner
• Seanik solid shampoo bar
• Sun 25g size perfume

This all comes to like £120. FML! Will have to buy it in two stints when my loan comes in, and I am getting a frick tonne of Lush for Christmas, sooo sooooo excited!

Bliss, Body Shop and Lush haul!

I picked up a few things from Lush as I had completely ran out of bath bombs, melts and bubble bars! So I picked up a Twilight bath bomb, a Karma bubble bar, The Comforter bubble bar (never used before, what a sin!) The Enchanter bath bomb (also never used!), and a Melting Snowman bath melt. All delicious, and I am excited because soon all my stuff I asked for Christmas from Lush will join it, I have so much Lush coming for Christmas it’s actually insane!

Went to Debenhams and got a load of Bliss stuff, which is a sister company for Elemis, and I never knew this! So that set of three you see there was ridiculously good value for money. Altogether, those items separately come to over £60, but I got it for £14.50! A steal! It has a Pore Perfecting facial scrub, a delicious smelling face wash and a big tube of Lemon and Sage body butter! So then the lady said, if you buy one more thing you get a free gift, so I got the Blood Orange and Pepper bath gel for £15. They all smell so good, and the free gift is amazing, it’s an entire range of their lemon products, including shampoo and conditioner, soap, oh my goodness, got all that lot for under thirty pounds! When it should have cost me thrice that! So pleased!

Also today the UK Glamour mag had Body shop giftcards in them, and depending on what code you had on the back of it, you could either get 3, 15 or 100 pounds to spend in store, and while people in front and behind us in the queue got £3 gift cards I got £15! Was very happy, so I needed a new body scrub and they were sold out of the coconut one, so I got the cocoa butter one, it looks so rich and smells divine! Then I also got the Chocomania lip butter.

All in all a successful day, will post reviews about all the products later :)

I did not take pictures of how the bath looked or anything and I MUST get into the habit of doing so but I am sure many of you have seen pictures of what the Lush bath ballistics look like in action!

Big Blue Bath Ballistic:

I love love love this! And because it is so big, I usually get two uses out of it! It smells zingy and fresh, like citrus-y lemon-y and limes, just, mm! I like that it has lots of bits of sea weed in it, and it turns the water a turquoise blue. I don’t think it’s the most moisturising bath ballistic but still, I like it and will repurchase.

Price: £3.20

Verdict: 4/5

Blackberry Bath Ballistic: 

This one is just as big and is so moisturising that I don’t even have to put body lotion on after a bath with this! I also love the little bit of paper inside the bath ballistic, was a nice touch. This smells very fruity and has some floral notes in it too. I will always repurchase this.

Price: £2.95

Verdict: 5/5

Avobath Bath Ballistic:

I love anything that smells like lemons or any fresh smell, and this one ticks all the right boxes. Again, it is a decent size, so perhaps would get two uses out of it, except I didn’t do that, I chucked the whole thing in, and it was delicious. Turns the bath water a creamy green and the scent lingers on the skin, and in the air.

Price: £3.20

Verdict: 5/5

Dorothy Bubble Bar:

I really love the smell of this, floral and fresh, and I get two uses out of this, the bubbles it creates are immense! And it makes my skin and the bathroom smell so damn good! It contains ylang ylang oil and orange oil in, which explains the floral/fresh combination. Always repurchase!

Price: £2.99

Verdict: 5/5

Pop in the Bath:

This to me smells like fresh fields and flowers, but with a sweet tinge to it, I managed to use this twice, and it produces so many bubbles, how do Lush do that?? This was the first ever time I had used it and I will buy it again. The smell didn’t kast as long as Dorothy though.

Price: £2.90

Verdict: 4/5

Herbalism Facial Cleanser:

This has the right amount of scrub in it, and is recommended for spot prone skin, which is me :( It smells like vinegar and I actually quite like the smell but most people tend to hate it. It contains ground almonds which slough off dead skin cells and has rose and chamomile in it to calm and balance the skin. It lasted me a long time, and left my skin so soft and smooth but I don’t think it helped to clear up my skin per se, it did control oil pretty well though.

Price: £6.25

Verdict: 3.5/5

Dark Angels Facial Cleanser:

This is very VERY abrasive, but my skin felt so deeply cleaned afterwards! I wanted to love this though, but because of how abrasive it is, I think it made me break out, not because of the ingredients but because it aggravated my skin a little bit. I am unable to use it up because of this reason. I am wondering whether to try Aqua Marina or Let the Good Times Roll or Fresh Farmacy, you know, something less abrasive! I did love the smell of it, and my skin has NEVER felt that smooth, but then again, because of the grains in it, no wonder!

Price: £6.25

Verdict: 2/5

Love Lettuce Fresh Face Mask:

I am impressed with this. After wanting to move away from Cupcake because my skin does not always warrant using it, I decided to try this one, because I love lavender and I know my skin agrees with it. Plus it is the only one that is particularly scrubby. I put it on using circular motions and leave it for ten minutes and wash it off. My skin looked brighter and felt lovely, and it REALLY calmed my skin down, despite the scrubby ground almond shells. I will repurchase this!

Price: £5.95

Verdict: 5/5

Catastrophe Cosmetic Fresh Face Mask:

Another product that I am impressed with. Not only does it smell like blueberry pie, it really calms my skin as well. I think it must be the calamine powder in it. It has no scrubby bits in it, but my skin felt very soft afterwards. I will also be buying this again (bye bye money!)

Price: £5.95

Verdict: 5/5

Big Shampoo:

Oh my god I love everything about this. I asked for a sample of this aaages ago, and I was so skeptical because of the large bits of sea salt in it, I was thinking to myself, “How do those sea salt bits not get stuck in your hair, and how does it lather properly??” Well, it does and they don’t get stuck. I hardly need any and it produces a lovely soft silky foam and the smell! It smells like fresh tropical seas, really fresh, and it lingers on my hair until I next wash it. I did not notice a change in the volume of my hair, but to be honest I bought it for the softening properties and the smell, not volumising purposes :) so yes I will buy this when I run out but I don’t think it will be any time soon! I recommend anyone should buy this if they buy anything from Lush.

Price: £11.25

Verdict: 5/5

Rub Rub Rub Body Scrub:

This is the best body scrub I have ever used! It isn’t too abrasive and it is incredibly mosturising. And it is a good sized tub. AND it smells so nice, I think it’s partly down to the mimosa in it. I love Mimosa. Everything about it is amazing.

Price: £7.95

Verdict: 5/5

Miranda Soap:

This is very creamy soap, is moisturising and fruity. I use it everyday and the smell lingers and it scents my bathroom the most. It contains Fresh Kiwi, Juniperberry Oil and ylang ylang oil, which makes for a heady concoction! Can sometimes make me feel a little sick for some reason though but I will carry on using it!

Price: £3.40 per 100 grams

Verdict: 4/5

Sea Vegetable Soap:

This smells like lemons and limes and grapefruits and has bits of nori seaweed in it. I like this because it wakes me up, yet I don’t use it in the morning, I use Miranda, I use Sea vegetable at night, is that weird? I will buy this again.

Price: £3.10 per 100 grams

Verdict: 5/5

Ghost Shower Jelly:

When I saw this I was like MUST BUY QUICK and sure enough it didn’t take very long to sell out and never to be bought again, well, for another year anyway! It smells like baby powder to me, perhaps that’s the floral lilies in them, but yeah, it reminds me of babies haha! I don’t mind that though, some baby products smell lovely. I love the scary face in the jelly too, made me laugh, oh Lush :P the smell lingers nicely and doesn’t lather lots but I didn’t expect it to!

Price: £4.95

Verdict: 4/5

So there you have it, I have reviewed the lot, and my bathroom is chock full of Lush, just the way I like it. Cannot WAIT to try all my Christmas haul stuff, and I am not even done buying yet, my boyfriend is going to kill me haa.

Part One of my Christmas Lush Haul! I think I have in total spent like 200 or more in the past few weeks…

So anyway, here is what I got, and I will post reviews as I use them!

Bath Ballistics:

• Father Christmas Ballistic

Bubble bars:

• Christmas Eve
• Candy Mountain

Soaps:

• Snow Globe
• Mr Punch
• Northern Lights
• North pole

Lip Scrub:

• Popcorn

Shower Gel:

• Snow Fairy

Sample I got:

• Mask of Magnaminty

I will post what else I got later!

So I have been buying farrrr to much Lush lately, so I thought I should do a haul post about them all. I haven’t used everything yet but obviously they will not remain unused for long! 

Bath bombs:

• Big Blue
• Magic (halloween collection)
• Blackberry Bomb
• Avobath
• Jacko (halloween collection)

Bubble bars:

• Witches Ball (halloween collection)
• Dorothy
• Pop in the bath (I did use it though…)

Bath melts:

• Something wicked this way comes (halloween collection)

Toner Tab:

• A Token to the Forest Gods

Facial cleansers:

• Herbalism
• Dark Angels

Fresh Face Masks:

• Love Lettuce
• Catastrophe Cosmetic

Hair shampoo:

• Big

Body scrub:

• Rub rub rub

Soaps:

• Miranda soap
• Sea vegetable

Shower Jelly:

• Ghost (halloween collection)

The products that I have used I will post full reviews of them. I also have another Lush haul to do in the next few days as when I saw all the christmas stuff was on their website I died a little with excitement and spent like forty quid getting some stuff, and I am still not done, I may go to my local Lush today, even though it isn’t all out in store yet. Too much excitement, damn you Lush, I have spent about 150 quid on you recently, thank goodness for my student loan!

So I am now poor this month because this happened.

However it is done now, can’t take it all back can I?

So I knew, like thousands of other people, about the MAC Heavenly Creatures collection wayyyy before it was actually released. I had my eye on a couple of things, which I have purchased. Also got a lipstick that I had been wanting ever since I had it put on me in my local MAC store. 

I am mad on Lush and could have bought way more, but settled on a few things to curb my addiction. Thought I might as well review some of these things now, I haven’t used them all quite yet, but will do reviews of the rest in a separate post. 

MAC Lipstick in Rebel:

This was recently featured in the Fashion Sets collection, which were amazing but I did not manage to get my hands on any of the lip glosses, which I am annoyed at myself for, but nevermind. So a month ago I went into the MAC store and I don’t really know what made me pick it out, I knew it was a popular shade but when you look at it even in the picture I took it looks frighteningly dark. I guess I thought since I have been dyeing my hair darker I thought it might suit me. Oh my god, I love it. It looks much less scary when it’s on and the colour is a deep berry shade, and it stays on well. The finish is satin, and the colour is so vibrant and it doesn’t dry my lips out. It is hard to get this on perfectly without using a lip brush and perhaps a lip liner, but I couldn’t get that at the time. It goes on smoothly, and isn’t glossy or anything, but not too matte, I would say it is just right. And as always, I love the smell of MAC lipsticks, vanilla goodness.

Pro’s: Good colour pay-off, feels really smooth on lips, not drying, long lasting.

Con’s: I can’t really think of any, would be great if it was a bit cheaper (ha!)

MAC Heavenly Creatures Mineralise eyeshadow in Water:

I had this tried on me in my local MAC store as well, and she picked out the neon green, sparkly green and then swirled them all together and it came out a lovely shimmery green smokey eye, which made me want to buy it more. It doesn’t crease because I use a good eyeshadow primer, but as the day goes on, no matter how hard I try, the colour intensity does fade, which I am pretty sure was also mentioned on Temptalia, so that disappointed me, considering how expensive they are, but oh well, it isn’t the worst eyeshadow in the world, and it looks cute on my dresser. I like that you can pick out the individual colours or mix them all together so I guess you can create a few looks from just the one eyeshadow. 

Pro’s: Pretty colours, can create many looks.

Con’s: Fades throughout the day.

MAC Mineralise Skinfinish in Star Wonder:

I really really love this, it is so pretty on the cheeks! The light gold shimmer swirly colour is my favourite and looks like it could be used as an eyeshadow as well. It is the perfect flush of pink with golden shimmer, and I am picking out the gold shimmer to use as a highlighter on my cheekbones or anywhere that I want the light to catch. It lasts all day, the pigmentation is amazing, and this being my first MSF, I am very impressed. I like the idea that no two are the same, because they are hand made (or so they say). I also like that there is a lot of product and for 21.50 I would expect there to be! 

Pro’s: Lasts all day, can pick out different colours, nice amount of shimmer, product should last a long time.

Con’s: None!

I then went to Lush and picked up some things, damn you Lush being so delicious!

LUSH Herbalism face scrub:

This is meant for skin that is oily/combination and is prone to the odd breakout, which is just perfect for me. It is quite a big tub, considering how much product you use each time, and is thick in it’s consistency. You take a pea sized amount, add water, rub into a paste, rub all over, work it in and then rinse. It has all good stuff in it, nettle extract, rose, ground almonds, rice bran, the list of skin goodies is endless. It smells mostly of vinegar, which may put a lot of people off, but if I know it is doing my skin some good then I can happily put up with weird smells! 

I really like this; my skin feels really clean afterwards, without feeling tight and dry, which is what I wanted. 

Pro’s: Leaves skin feeling very clean, non drying, a lot of product, cheap.

Con’s: To be honest none!

LUSH Blackberry bath bomb:

I love love LOVE the smell of this, fruity and fresh, and quite large too, so plenty of fizzing to happen. When it had dispersed enough, I felt my skin and it felt SO SOFT, to the point where I didn’t even need to moisturise after having my bath. I also liked that at the middle of the bath bomb it has a message on paper that says “boom boom!” it made me laugh. I wouldn’t exactly say this smells like blackberries, however it is a pale blackberry colour. It just smells really delicious and makes your skin feel luxuriously smooth. The only problem is it leaves an oily residue around the bath but that is nothing some bath cleaner can’t fix!

Pro’s: Smells divine, makes skin very smooth, has a cute message in the middle of the bomb, turns the water a deep purple colour, very pretty!

Con’s: Leaves a residue around the edge of the bath.

LUSH bath melt in Happy Blooming:

I am yet to review this! But the initial smell is a sweet cherry smell which is what made me purchase it in the first place!

LUSH Fresh Face mask Love Lettuce:

I used to use Cupcake fresh mask and I still want to buy it and alternate between the two, depending on how my skin is behaving, but THIS one is just frigging amazing! It smells like lavender and is a scrubby mask, which I think is even better. It also has in it Agar Agar gel, honey and ground almonds. It is meant for skin that is combination, so has dry flaky bits and also oily skin so this is again perfect for me. The scrubby effect sloughs off the dead skin and the honey calms and the lavender is a calming antiseptic. When applying, I do it in a circular motion so I get the full effects of the ground almonds, and then I leave it to work it’s magic.

Pro’s: Gets rid of flaky bits, tones the skin, feels incredibly smooth, smells lovely, don’t need a lot of product each use.

Con’s: Absolutely nothing, it is the best face mask I have ever used next to Cupcake!

I then picked up another pastel nail varnish colour from Mavala called Blue Mint, but I am also yet to try this!

I have made a vow to actually for the FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE to look after my nails and paint them. I am currently using Lemony Flutter by Lush to help with my overgrown hideous cuticles and then I shall give them a trim and shape. What caused me to do all this was basically every shade of Barry M nail varnish. They look amazing and are stupidly cheap so I will be stocking up soon!

OK so I finally managed to get my hands on Mac’s Watch Me Simmer Amplified lipstick and I have to say that it is EXACTLY the colour that I have been looking for, a pink based coral that stays put no matter what I am doing. I have searched in every single make up brand and I couldn’t find the perfect one until now. I absolutely love it! I had never used the Ampilifed finish until now and it is officially my favourite, purely because it lasts longer on my lips than most other lipsticks. I also went to Lush and as I had ran out of a standard bottle of shower gel I fancied trying their shower jellies and I chose the Sweetie pie one because it smells just like jelly babies! I actually want to eat it whenever I use it. It doesn’t lather lots but that’s because it isn’t full of harsh detergents and it makes me smell good so I don’t mind that it doesn’t lather as much as other products do. Also got another lip scrub, I still use their limited edition Christmas one (can’t remember off the top of my head what it’s called but it tastes of lemon and cranberries and is delicious) but I got the Sugar Lips chocolate and vanilla-flavoured one and I want all of them, especially the bubblegum one. The Sugar Lips scrub really does make my lips less dry and sloughs off any dead skin, however it isn’t as moisturising as the lemon one, the lemon one is like a scrubby lip butter ahhh it is so amazing! I also finally bought myself the Dorothy bubble bar, for ages I have been going into Lush and smelling it but never buying it, but now I finally have one, and I am saving it for another time. It smells quite fresh to me and not too overpowering and will no doubt turn the water a funky colour (Magic Mushroom was the best for funky coloured water, and it smelled divine, but was limited edition, my cries!). And I think I already mentioned in a previous post that I got my bottle of Escada Rockin’ Rio in the post and I cannot stop wearing it, I wish all cocktails smelled like that.

Also got my make up storage holder in the mail, and I love it, I will probably buy another one, I like to have it all on display and organised.

Best body moisturiser:

I love any body moisturiser from The Body Shop, particularly the Coconut shimmer one, because it smells divine and gives your skin a subtle glow, also very VERY moisturising, and I have very dry skin on my body (complete opposite to my face!) so it suits me well.

Best gradual tanner:

Has to be Dove Summer body moisturiser, over a few days it builds up a nice golden tan without any streaks or mistakes, definitely an easier way to look like you have been on holiday.

Best anti-cellulite products:

Jergens Naturals do a body firming moisturiser with pomegranate extract and it really does make a difference. Obviously nothing will make a difference quite like a good diet, drinking lots of water and regular exercise (I never exercise, super super lazy, however I do eat well and drink enough) however this does improve the condition of your skin noticeably. It makes it super soft for a long while after application, it’s non-greasy and smells fruity. It is also quite cheap (big pump bottle dispenser is under ten pounds). I also use and very highly recommend Nivea’s Goodbye Cellulite Gel-creme. Sinks in very fast and it definitely makes a difference. I used it solidly for three week and I did notice an improvement. I don’t have very visible cellulite however so perhaps I am not the best candidate to test it but it improved my skin quality overall. I also use Nivea’s Anti cellulite ten day serum as it is more concentrated and so using the two in conjunction with each other is doubly effective. I have noticed that Nivea’s anti cellulite products get rave reviews on the internet as they are the cheapest (about eleven pounds each) and do the same as the more expensive creams. 

Best face wash: 

I am prone to spots so I use a face wash with salicyclic acid and sometimes kaolin clay in, to absorb excess oil. The best one that I continually go back to upon having cheated on it with another product for a month or so has to be Garniers’ Pure 3 in 1 wash. It can be used without water as a mask, or used as a scrub or wash, so it’s versatile and it definitely helps with my problem skin, and no other seems to be as good. 

For normal skin I would recommend anything from the Simple range; it doesn’t contain any perfume or irritants and gets skin feeling squeaky clean without feeling overly tight. 

Best toner:

Simples’ pore minimising toneris fantastic, it has a weird gel-like consistency and it really does make my pores look smaller and leaves my skin feeling fresh for hours afterwards.

Best facial moisturiser:

I don’t really need to moisturise however I do use a product from Lush called Colour Supplements, it is basically a tinted moisturiser and it works almost like a BB cream, providing some coverage and is a good base for make up. The shade I use is called Jackie Oates for very pale skinned people. 

Best pore minimising product:

Any of Cliniques’ Pore minimising range is brilliant. Leaves skin feeling baby soft and although pricey it really does work and after a while of using any of the products, your pores look far far less noticeable. I am very impressed!

Best anti-spot product:

Oxy spot cream, without a doubt. Benzoyl peroxide based creams are the only thing to shift stubborn spots or acne and I put a 2.5% benzoyl peroxide cream on my face every night and it really does control my outbreaks. It can make your skin peel but then you just have to compensate by applying more moisturiser day and night, or cut down how often you use it. But oxy spot cream contains this chemical and works just fine. In the UK you can have stronger strength creams prescribed or perhaps bought over the counter at a pharmacy. These would contain 5% or 10% benzoyl peroxide however I tried the 10% and my skin felt like it was on fire! 

Best eye cream:

I am sure I have already mentioned this somewhere in another post but Benefits’ “It’s Potent” eye cream is unbelievable. It is very expensive and so I asked for it for Christmas (it’s £23.50). This does everything it says it’s going to do. I don’t really have dark circles anymore thanks to this and my entire eye area is so soft and smooth, it makes my make up go on better, and you need the TINIEST amount for each eye. I also find a lot of eye moisturisers make me break out near my eyes (horrid) due to them being greasy but this one doesn’t do that one bit. I have never used eye cream until I heard other reviews about it saying it was good, and now I know what they were raving about! If you can, buy it, it’s the best eye cream out there.

Best eyelash serum:

L’oreals Lash serum is very good. When I was in my younger teens, my eyelashes were, in a word, shit. They were pretty short, sparse and no matter WHAT mascara I used, they would sit there, flat, not doing anything for me. But as I got older they DID get longer all of a sudden but still weren’t how I wanted them. So I bought this lash serum and my eyelashes are amazing now. They are thicker, break less, much much longer, and I can use most mascaras and they look pretty alright. 

Best cuticle conditioning product:

Lemony Flutter by Lush is very intensely moisturising and smells like lemon sorbet and every time I use it I have to resist eating it! I use it like a “nail mask”, so I leave it on for ten minutes on my entire nail and then wash it off and afterwards my cuticles look less dry and just overall look neater.

Best body scrub:

It is a choice between either The Body Shops’ body scrubs, particularly the Mango one, or Soap and Glorys’ Flake Away. Both smell lush and they are incredibly moisturising to the point where you do not in any way need to put on even a light body lotion afterwards. It does it all for you, pretty much like a two in one, and neither are that expensive.

Best shower gel:

Any of the Dove Go Fresh range shower gels smell delicious and make your skin super soft afterwards, plus the smell lingers on the skin for a while. For a more luxurious choice I would go for any of the Philosophy range, particularly the Melon Daquiri or Cinnamon Buns shower gels. They smell edible and also linger on the skin but are triple the price of the Dove but they do last a long time, and some can be used as bubble bath and shampoo so it’s a good multi-use product.