Christmas at Lush

Hey there!

Hope you're having a lovely weekend! Mine started when I went to Lush in Cardiff for the launch of their Christmas range.

I won't say too much, I'll let the photos of the gorgeous sets in beautiful wrapping paper to do the talking for me:

The Jolly holidays set has the most beautiful wrapping don't you think??

The gifts range from £10 to £100 so there really is something for everyone. There's the extravagant All I Want for Christmas priced at £99.95, containing a whopping 21 products, to Festive Cheer for £10.25.

You're a Star is a gorgeous set too, coming in at £42.50 and containing 9 indulgent products with the theme of Hollywood glamour. If I'm being honest, the gift sets are so amazing and the variety of price and contents so impressive that I wouldn't have a clue what I'd choose!

Baked Alaska might be one of my favourite soaps ever; it's beautiful and is supposed to represent the Northern Lights and smells of lemon and grapefruit, perfect for s citrus lover like me.

How beautiful is the Reindeer rock! I love the print on it, so festive.

As if that wasn't enough, there's a whole load of bath bombs and bubble bars to take your fancy! Below shows Northern Lights, and below that shows the bath bomb fizzing in warm water, such beautiful colours:

They even had a pink sparkly drink and mince pies to get you in the festive mood, who doesn't like Christmas treats?? These are the first ones I've seen this year, it must be time to start getting all other festive treats too!

Their range is endless, it's very impressive if a little overwhelming. I'm glad I've got the photos to remind me of all the products as I'd probably forget some gems otherwise!

Of course, everyone knows about Snow Fairy and they had tonnes of bottles everywhere for the people who love to stock up for the year; get in quick! They also had the infamous lip scrubs and lip tints in the Santa range







And how cute are these melting snowmen?! Adorable!

I managed to catch up with the lovely Charli from Charli Blogs who I haven't seen in MONTHS and it was lovely to rummage through everything with her. I might have been responsible for adding a few things to her basket too, oops!



We were given some lovely goodie bags on leaving with a Father Christmas bath bomb, Christmas Eve bubble bar and shower gel, mine was So White. I also picked up Mask of Magnaminty as my skin has been playing up quite a bit lately and I've heard it's really good.

It resulted in a huge pamper session after my gym class this morning and I spent ages in the bath which is really unlike me as a bath hater! Coincidentally my shower has been leaking and the kitchen ceiling is coming through, so it's bath only for me anyway at the moment.



I used the Father Christmas bath bomb this time, it was so fun to see it fizzing around and suddenly it went green! I was very surprised as I hadn't expected it at all, I've only used 1/2 bath bombs before so this was fun!

Are you a lush fan? Do you obsess over which gift set to put on your Christmas list?
Which would you recommend?

I'm going to be browsing through the lists and making my choices; I've also seen some other skincare I'd like to pick up soon!

L xxx

Rimmel Brow This Way Styling Gel

Hey there!

Everyone loves a dupe, and I have been looking for some time for a dupe for Benefit's Gimme Brow. I will put my hands up and tell you that when Gimme Brow came out I wasn't sure....I wasn't convinced it would be any good, that it would last, that it would look any good or that it would be easy to use. I was very wrong and I will admit that!

However the £17 price tag does make me a bit squeamish...it just sounds a bit much. So I've been looking for a product that's as similar as possible....cue Rimmel's Brow This Way.

Brow This Way comes in four different colours, I picked Dark Brown due to my near-black eyebrows but there is also blonde, mid brown and clear available in the range. I think the colour range is great, the colours cover the biggest range of hair colour and is obviously better than the Benefit range which has only two colours.

The packaging is pretty simple but quite chunky, I'm not sure which I prefer out of the two of them to be honest, though it is easier to find the Rimmel product in my make up bag with it being a bit bigger! Gimme Brow feels a lot more dainty and is great for downsizing as it's a staple on my face and comes everywhere with me. So ultimately they are a tie on packaging.

What about the main deal, the brush:

Like the packaging the brush in the Rimmel product is also bigger, it's a lot more like a mascara brush. Gimme Brow has a tiny brush that perfectly shapes and brushes through brow hairs and fills in gaps.
Rimmel does exactly the same but the brush has its negatives with the size. It does comb through really easily and dispenses product evenly but it takes a few goes to get the knack of using a larger brush. The end of the brush holds a lot of product and I seem to knock it onto my face every know and then which is quite annoying! However, once you've used it a few times and got the technique down, here's the results:

They're natural, even and not too defined as I like my brows to look realistic. Working with men and in a not so glamorous occupation I tend not to wear anything that stands out too much so for me natural is 100% key.

I'd say Rimmel's Brow This Way is a contender for the crown for dupe of Gimme Brow, it gives a similar result and lasts just as long. The only issue I can see is the size of the brush, it does take a bit of getting used to, however with the Rimmel coming in at £3.99 and very often involved in a 3 for 2 deal, and the Benefit costing £17.50 it is definitely worth persevering with.

Have you tried Brow This Way? Have you seen any other brow products that could be dupes?

L xxx

Ener-chi

Hello there!

We've got a joint review for you today, courtesy of a lovely spa in Cardiff called Ener-chi. They have two branches in Cardiff, one in Radyr and one in Penarth.

They aim to combine the mind, body and spirit of individuals through the medium of beautifying, healing and relaxing rituals.

They have a wide range of treatments including facials, massage and personal grooming with products from brands such as Dr Haushka, Caudalie, Antipodes and Glamglow.

They sent us a beauty pack for our own little relaxing pamper sessions at home, and before we went out last weekend we put a girly film on and put our feet up..... 

The cute beauty pack contained a Glamglow Youthmud Tinglexfoliate treatment, Caudalie Detox Oil, Dr Haushka Rose Day Cream and a Pukka Cool Mint Green tea for a start to finish pamper set.

We've both heard a LOT about Glamglow and their mud treatments; their results have been raved about and we couldn't wait to get the packet open and onto our faces!

It definitely does what it says on the packet; it tingles! When we first put it on we did a little dance around the room as it tingled and then it settled down and began to dry, here's a quick selfie:

The most interesting part was as it dried, you could see all of our pores! It was really weird but hopefully this means our pores were getting an extra deep clean.

We also boiled the kettle and made ourselves a cup of mint green tea to fully relax, mint teas are one of our favourites and a daily occurrence.

After it had dried we washed it off with warm water and a muslin cloth, it came off quite easily and our skin felt really clean and smooth afterwards.

Next we applied the Caudalie Polyphenol Overnight Detox Oil. As we were going for a night out we didn't apply as much as was stated but the few drops we did apply absorbed really quickly into the skin and didn't leave any trace.




I've used it since and applied the full 6 drops as an overnight treatment and my skin drank it up!

It's really quite nice and I'd definitely look into purchasing it in future, I've heard a lot about Caudalie but this was the first product I've tried.





The tiny vial was so cute but actually held a lot of product as I thought it would only hold enough for one application. But I've used it at least twice since and still have another left.

A few hours later we then applied a Rose day Cream from Dr Haushka, another first for me. Dr Haushka is a brand that I've heard so much about but have never tried anything from. Their packaging and display are beautiful, and the product itself was luxurious.





Allegedly the centrepiece of the Dr Hauschka range the day cream nourishes and protects a wide range of skin types including from redness and irritation which is something that we all experience at some point.

All of these products were lovely to try out and it was lovely of Enerchi to send us samples of their range. After having a full body massage there a few weeks ago I will be sure to visit again, their staff were really friendly and my massage was out of this world!Not only was it a head to toe massage it included a facial too and I was honestly the most relaxed I've ever been (if extremely oily afterwards too!)

You can find Ener-chi's website here, check out their range of treatments and the brands they stock!

What's your favourite treatment? Have you tried anything from Caudalie, Glamglow or Dr Hauschka?

L xxx

Hey all

As L said we decided to treat ourselevs

ourselves to a full on pamper before we went out. Glam glow is something i was so excited to try after hearing so much about it. The fact it fully opened the pores impressed me and my skin was so smooth after wards! It was quite red though but it did go down within the hour.

As our skin was so soft we followed up with the oil. Being oily skinned i was dubious to put this on before a night out so had planned to leave it on for a few hours then cleanse my skin before I got ready. I was so surprised though as my skin just soaked up the oil and was left feeling soft and smooth and not at all greasy. This is now firmly on my wish list.

I love trying new products like this and it wad good to be able to try a little routine. As L said they have two salons in the local area and stock a lot more products including some amazing scented candles and some great gifts. You can also buy online at ener-chi.co.uk.

Happy Friday!

Love M

xxx

Orla Kiely - Bergamot Collection *

Hey All

Late post from me tonight. I've been in the kitchen busy baking as in work we are having a Great British Bake Off thing where each week one of us bakes. My turn was advanced dough week so I tried my hand at Luis' Raspberry Mojito Doughnut. It's safe to say I wouldn't be winning prizes for consistency!

Anyway on to today's review. We were recently sent some of the Orla Kiely Bergamot Collection to try. The first thing I noticed was the gorgeous print on the bottle! These would look so pretty in a bathroom or kitchen. At my house we did have a dispenser till I knocked it off. These are a product safe from the clumsy people like myself!

I was excited to receive the hand wash and hand lotion and these came straight to work with me. I work in a laboratory so my hands are washed a lot everyday so get really dry from the horrible soap in the dispensers! It's been lovely (I almost put lush there but lately I'm very aware of how welshie I am and saying lush doesn't help!) having a more caring product to use!

The bergamot is new to the range and follows on from the success of the Geranium range. Something L and I look for in products is sulphate and paraben free. These are that as well as free from petrochemicals and artificial colours.

The Bergamot range is fresh and floral but not over powering with a slight spicy, peppering smell meaning if this is in the bathroom I'm sure guys wouldn't complain. They are made with 100% essentials oils included in this range are cedarwood, patchouli, grapefruit, bergamot, neroli and cardamom to name a few.

The hand cream easily rubs in, leaving hands from soft and not greasy. It smells amazing on the skin and it does last a while. It's really been helping the dry skin on my hands! It's nice to use a hand wash that is sulphate free and I think this is also helping the dry skin on my hands! 

With Christmas fast approaching I think these would make a great gift! I think my mum will find the hand cream and hand wash in her stocking!

These can be purchased from John Lewis and Fenwick stores as well as independant sellers and online.

Have you tried any of the Orla Kiely range? A good bit of packaging really sells a product for me!

Love M

xxx