Mini Lush (Halloween) Haul

You know me, when it comes to Christmas and Halloween I just can't help myself at Lush (not that I can help myself when I go in any other time either!) I was due a visit as I had counted down to the 3rd when they put all their exciting new stock out. While I was there I picked up a few other bits too. Everything smells extra lovely and is extra covered in glitter too. Mmm, perfection!

First off i pick up a a shampoo for my blonde/purple mop. I love Daddy-O and have used it lots of times in the past. This has a strong smell of violets so it can take some getting used to. This is meant to add volume and shine to your hair while also getting rid of the brassy tones in blonde and grey hair that can happen when dyed or just if your looking to brighten up your hair a little, This is packed with seaweed, lemon and lime juice, sea salt and coconut oil. I use this about 3 times a week just to keep my hair looking less dull and to even out the blonde tones. Its not one I would just daily as its €6.95 for 100g which is the smallest bottle. Something to look out for if you have your hair dyed and want a little boost. 

Next I had seen Grease Lightening popping up in lots of videos and favourites posts, so I decided to try it out. I have lots of face uglies to try it out on after all! This spot treatment is a see through gel that has antibacterial and antiseptic tea tree, rosemary and thyeme, grape juice, aloe vera and witch hazel. All help with inflammations, redness and reducing spots. You can really smell the antiseptic tea tree, which I like because it makes me feel like everything is extra clean. I'm not sure after appilying it for only a few days if I can see much of a difference, but I'll keep having a go and maybe do a review. This is €7.50 for 45g.

bath bomb and a bubble bar. Northern Lights is a lovely big bath bomb thats covered in stars, a little glitter and is my favourite colour, purple. When I bought this the girl replaced the first one for me as it had broken, and when I got home my second one had broken too. So if you want yours in one piece keep a special eye on it in the bag. Since picking this up I've used it in the bath and it makes the most lovely purple and pink bath water. Theres lots of colours in between when its dissolving in the bath, greens, blues and more. It has jasmine and ylang-ylang scents mixed into it to make a really relaxing soak. Its a nice bath bomb but for €4.50 I think I'll try something else next time. 

Lastly I picked up the really cute and over the top glittery Halloween Sparkly Pumpkin. This was €4.50 and I have yet to use it but I am expecting great things from it. It has a lovely slightly citrus  smell  and I'm sure I'll be covered in head to toe bubbles and glitter. I might do a little post on this too with some photos. Now all thats left is to start having a browse at all the lovely Christmas things!

I Broke My Ban For This!? Sakura

I know, I'm sorry. I'm not sure who I am saying sorry to, but none the less I am. I went into Lush to have a look at the Easter limited edition things one last time and thought I might pick something up but oh no. I had to go nosy at the non limited edition stuff that I'm not allowed to buy and find the shiny, pretty, colourful new thing and convince myself that its for the good of my health that I buy it, fuck the stupid ban...

Now don't ask me why the hell I took photos of it on my Audrey Hepburn book, but I did. I was feeling fancy, artist and well, it needed to be done. I thought it was going to be true love and I would look back in years to come with a fondness over our first pictures together and how wonderful they were. Getting sentimental over beauty products is what I do best, clearly. But its all been a waste. Oh Sakura, how could you?  

 On a side note, I bought this in the Henry St. Lush shop and was not at all impressed with the staff that day. Normally when I pop in they are friendly, helpful and lovely. But both my friend and myself were in agreement that it felt like a 'buy and get out' vibe was going on. When I flicked though the new Lush magazine and asked if they had a bath bomb in stock I was met with a kind of unhelpful short 'no' that was off putting and the last straw so we left. Anyway...

Sakura is new to me (and possibly a few of you too) so naturally I had to have it. Its inspired by the cherry blossom in Japan 'designed to evoke the burst of optimism the first sign of Spring brings'. It sounds pretty good huh? It has sea salt, lemon oil, orange flower and jasmine absolute and gardenia extract to name a few of the ingredients inside. Floral, uplifting and calming is what Lush is going for here, but my experience was nothing like it I'm sad to say.

With the little pop of sea salt colour on the top of the bath bomb I thought there might be more colour inside but that wasn't the case. Fear not I thought, it will be beautifully scented considering how damn good it made my room smell every time I walked into it, but nope. So that left the water itself, it has to leave my skin silky with all the lovely ingredients and oils floating about... No, can't say that it did that either. Le sigh.

I can deal with plain  looking water as long as it smells good and most of all, does something for my skin. Normally I can get the scent of a Lush bath product through most of the house but not even close up to the water could I get a decent smell of it. Even after I had finished the bath my dear mammy commented about the lack of Lush smell asking if I had used anything in the water, it was that noticeable. And then secondly my skin didn't feel any better or worse after the bath, just the same. For all the oils and extracts that have gone into this bath bomb its not impressing me. For €3.90 AND breaking my silly ban, its not been worth it. I wont be buying this fella again. 

 A few people were quick to flap on Twitter when I posted a photo of this along with my comment of disappointment purely because I used the hash tag of #whatbubbles - So just to clear this up in case anyone thought I was a total gobshite and know nothing about Lush (go on admit it, some of you think that! :D) its a reference to a joke with friends that I alwasy post pictures of my knees in bubbles when I'm having a bath. Chill lads, chill.

Have you had any nice baths recently? 

Lush: The Golden Egg

I hope everyone had a great Paddys day and is in tip top form for the week! If not then I get it, I myself was in town and saw the crazy drunken crowds of people. Little to my knowledge, not many shops open on the day but alas, Lush was. I popped in and got some samples and a free face mask as I had 5 empty pots to exchange. I had also gone in earlier to the week. Now lets remember, limited edition products don't count in my Lush ban!

The golden egg drew me in like a moth to a flame. Its part of their Easter range and honest to god would you just look at how sparkly that thing is! I knew one of them just had to be mine. This is a glittery bath bomb and a bath melt rolled into one egg shaped wonder. It smells like one of my favourite soaps from Lush, honey I washed the kids - a sweet honey and toffee scent.  Nothing could stop this blossoming romance.

Pop it in the bath and you get lovely yellow glittery water and a decent amount of bubbles. But if I was to split hairs here I would say that a regular bath melt is better for bubbles then this two in one style. None the less its just so lovely to steep in and I really needed it after a long day. It has fair trade cocoa butter, wild orange oil and olive oil to name a few of the ingredients in it that will leave your skin silky smooth when you eventually mange to drag yourself out of the watery world of relaxingness - totally a word fyi...

The one thing that I hated about it? And now, it is only a small thing but its wreaked my head. The glitter. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of glitter, a lover if you will. But it was all over my skin and towel. The shower the next day didn't get it all off and I made the mistake of using the towel from the night before which means I looked like I sloppily devoured a bowl of glitter and the towels needed to be thrown in the wash in order to try and rid the sparkles. Oh well lesson learnt!

Apart from having to keep all my towels separate in future, I might just be tempted to go back and buy another of these beauts. At €4.50 who could say no to that egg? 

Lush Valentines Love Locket Bath Bomb

I'm having a bit of bother writing my last juice detox post so bare with me pretty please! Today instead I thought I'd share with you some of my favourite place, Lush! Before anyone goes and points fingers, I got this before I decided to start my Lush ban and anyway, I don't think limited edition items should be counted as you can't get them any time you want. I was really excited to hear that Lush had their Valentines day range out and went in the next day to have a goo of everything. I was expecting to be forking out a fair bit as normally their Valentines things are really to die for, but I was wrong.

Thinking I would want some of their prince charming shower gel I had a sniff and came away disappointed, it was nothing to write home about, the same with their neon love soap. Even one of the staff admitted that he thought the soap was awful. I did like close to you (a sweet scent) and tender is the night (a faint floral scent) massage bars but they were a little more pricey then the normal massage bars so I resisted. They have three limited edition boxes out too which seem to be nice enough if you like the products in them - they don't actually have a lot of the Valentines products in them!

Apart from the kiss lip balm which I didn't try, only the love locket was left to tempt me. And I'm sorry to say I fell for it, it was massive and smelt like a refresher sweet. Remember them!? The guy in Lush told me there was three layers to this, but I'm not sure if I missed one or if he was having a bad day because when it broke open there was only two, an outer shell and a heart inside.

At almost €9 (see why I needed the ban?) this is the most expensive bath bomb I have ever gotten and I had to have a little sit down after I bought it to consider just how crazy I am. But off I went home happy as anything, that is, until I went to take a bath and all hell broke loose. 

Above you have seen my lovely big bath bomb in bits all over the kitchen table. Its true, when I picked it up to take it into the water it shattered all over my book, clothes and granny's fancy table cloth. It left me almost in tears! Needless to say its not the most sturdy bath bomb I have ever come across and at the price I paid I expected more. The disappointment continued into the bath..

Now its true to say not all Lush bath bombs will have bubbles in them, but my little heart always drops to my stomach a bit when I see that this is the case. I'm so sad but bubbles make my world! And yes, I know I should just stick to bubble bars if its that big a deal but variety is the spice of life I'll have you know. The water turned a pinkish red colour and when I got into it I got the fright of my life. Intelligence here didn't notice all the little heart confetti that was floating about. For a second I didn't know what it was and was half out of the bath before I copped. Let us all pause momentarily to shake our heads over the blonde moment. Its a nice added touch but warn a girl will you Lush!

Overall I was really disappointed with this bath bomb and with Lushes Valentines range this year. Could just be me being all fussy or not liking some of the scents that others could love, but I'm glad I only forked out a near €10 and not more. Sorry Lush but back to the drawing board. Two years ago was probably the best year for Valentines things as it was the year of the sweet smelling red topped mushroom bubble bar. Proves the saying 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. 

Hope everyone is having a fab day and keeping happy! :)

Sales Buys Part 3: Lush

I know, I know. Your scratching your head thinking 'did I not just read a post here a while ago about Cat's Christmas sale buys from Lush?' Yes good people of the internet, yes you did. But they announced on their Facebook page that they were restocking some of their Christmas things and they were all 50% off too.. What could I do? Say no? Nah. Heres round one of Lush sales if you missed it.

The golden wonder bath ballitic.. Its a gold covered present, for €2.25? And I've never ever had it before.. One thanks. 

Another sneaky bit of angels delight soap for €3 and a sample of let the good times roll. I really like the smell and wanted it but the Lush fella said it mightn't work for my skin, so the doll gave me some to try out just in case! Lush + nice friendly staff + samples = Happy lady.

I got a pot of this aqua marina for free in an online order way back, I hated it. But clearly if I'm buying it again then it must be something good! I'll do a post on it some time soonish - think I might need to space out the Lush posts a bit better though! This was full price at €7.94. Also the dust is off the product below, stuff gets everywhere!

Lastly my new favourite Christmas product, star light, star bright. I eh, got four. Cough.. But on the plus side they were only €2.25 each! I did a review of them over here. You can get a few more photos of the lovely yokes!

I will of course review and tell you all about these products, you can count on me! Tomorrow I have yet another sale bargain post to show you (HINT! its a fashion post ;D) then after that it should be back to regular posts and reviews, promise! As always stay fab you beautiful people!

Lush Shoot For The Stars Bath Ballistic

'Is she actually attempting to do three Lush bath related items in one month?' I hear you think. Yes. Yes I am.

 For me one of the things that make me feel like Christmas is getting near is seeing tins of sweets and biscuits in shops, the coca cola ad on telly and talk of the Late Late Toy show (which by the way I can not wait for!) But in the beauty world its seeing Lush bring out their shiny Christmas gift boxes. Theres something for everyone. If you don't fancy parting with your pennies on a gift set then you can cure your craving by picking out one of their many bath goodies to get you in the festive mood. I have already got my paws on Lord of Misrule and their Star Light, Star bright, and now it is time for me to tell you about Shoot for the Stars bath ballistic. 

What grabbed my attention to this bath bomb was when one of the girls in Lush offered to show me how it worked in water. When she plonked it into the bowl it started fizzing this lovely blue with a burst of pinks and yellows. One please! Its meant to smell the same as the Honey I Washed The Kids soap (- a kind of sweet smell thats just like honey and you just want to spread it on toast) but when it dissolves into the bath its barely noticeable, which is such a pity as I'm a massive fan of the soap and have a chunk of it in the shower with me most days. 

The bath bomb itself isn't the most pleasing thing to look at as its a bit plain but I thought the same with Lord of Misrule and have since gone back and bought about 4 more, so I had my fingers crossed for this guy. Nope, he didn't live up to my expectations at all. The amount of bubbles made in the bath were ok, but I've had better outcomes with other Lush bath bombs. The smell was ok too but nothing that made me go wow and the water colour was by far my most favourite thing. The deep blue was just lovely and there was a little surprise sparkle and tiny stars inside the bath bomb that floated around the bath. I stayed in it long after all the bubbles had popped and ran away (as you can see below). Theres nothing in the ingredients list thats worth mentioning either as nothing stands out for me, and we all know how much I love to tell you about stuff like that!

Overall a nice bath (who doesn't like a bath!?) but not something I would pick up again for the price of €4.25 - I think but I could be wrong, make sure and check in the shop. Never fear though, I will continue my search for the next best Lush bath and report back soon! 

Lush Lord Of Misrule Bath Bomb

Unlike the Soot Ball that I bought the other week purely on looks, I wasn't too taken with lord of misrule because well, it didn't look as pretty! (don't judge a book by its cover huh?) But when I was in Lush I picked it up and smelt it - it was a good move. It smells amazing, its massive and it actually looks really cool. Apart from the obvious Halloweeny green it has dots of pinkish reds, white and yellows too.

What I later learnt was that the design on it was based on the hats you find in Christmas crackers! Bit odd to be advertising them as Halloween editions. I've only just found out that they are in a good few of the Christmas gift sets and staying in the shops until the Spring. Don't get me wrong, it may sound like I'm complaining but what I'm really doing is rabbiting on autopilot while planning my next trip to Lush. Making a mental note to bring an extra bag too. Lord of misrule is just that good.


This uber big bath bomb has fair trade absolute vanilla to make you silky soft, black pepper and patchouli oil. It has a little surprise of some popping candy and amazing colours that fizz out leaving deep red bath water when its all dissolved. When I used my first one of these I ran the water and then added the bath bomb to watch it work its magic, so there weren't very many bubbles at all. However the second time I used this (yes, I have used a few since..) I let the water run as I dropped this little beauty in and I was amazed at how many bubbles it made. It kind of reminds me of a bubble bar.

Looks cool, leaves your skin feeling soft and moisturized and makes the whole house smell divine. Along with you too of course. Theres nothing I can even think of to say thats negative. It costs around €4.25 which isn't too bad for its size and compared to the prices of other bath bombs.

Lush Soot Ball Halloween Limited Edition Bath Bomb

The minute I saw this online I knew I had to go grab it before they were all gone. This little soot ball reminds me of the soot gremlins in Spirited Away by Studio Ghibli. I love this film and I love how this bath bomb looks!

This is a limited edition Halloween special along with two other Halloween pieces. I have to say I was a bit disappointed Lush didn't bring out a bigger range this year and its not clear to see them in the shops when you walk in either, Christmas gift sets and products have taken over instead.

 Soot is filled with shea and cocoa butter, frankincense, sandalwood and the burnt caramel sent of tonka absolute giving it a sweet yet spicy sent that will fill your bathroom once it is all dissolved in the water. It really smells lovely and warm, something you can't wait to sink into and relax. The only down side to this bath bomb is that there aren't a huge amount of bubbles, which I always like my baths to have. But it does make up for it in how moisturizing the bath water is.

Despite Lush's best efforts, the bath water does not go a golden colour but instead a shiny brown as the gold and black mix together. Look at the pictures below to understand what I'm talking about. Now some people will find this disappointing or even unappealing to get into, but for me I thought it was fun. My mind tends to run away with itself and as its nearly Halloween I was imagining all sorts of reasons as to why I had to bathe in this funny coloured water. I decided in the end that it was to find the Loch Ness Monster because only a pair of eyes were to be found at the end of this adventure. (I know, mind of a three year old over here. But it was fun!) I came away relaxed, softer skinned and smelling a bit Wintery if thats at all possible. Oh and some people have been a bit ifie over comments being made about this bath bomb. No it does not stain your skin and no it does not stain your bath. Theres no scrubbing involved when you get out of the bath I promise!

When I went into the bathroom to turn on the water this is what I was met with. A Dodie cat in the bath! I think she was looking for spider dinner as she often does. Shes doing her best 'I'm not doing a thing! I'm being really good' face. 

You can win your very own Soot Ball to try and love in my Halloween giveaway. Have you entered yet? This month is flying, do it soon!

Boots, Pennys And Lush Haul

All these things I have picked up in the past few weeks, just in case anyone thought I had gone off on a mad one and was now a share holder in all these places! But thought I would give everyone a look at my new buys, cos' I love being nosy like that too!

First off three Boots make up things. A repurchase for me, Rimmel's Exaggerate waterproof eye definer eyeliner (€5.49) - what a mouth full! Love this little pencil, you can see it in my whats in my make up bag post. Boots is doing a buy one get on half price on some products at the moment and so I picked up Seventeen's new On The Spot foundation (€8.89) that claims to give you clearer skin in 4 weeks.. We will see. And also Seventeen's new phwoarr paint heavy duty eye concealer (€5.49). I like the sound of it already!

You might see that I'm a bit of a fan of Lush, just a bit.. I got two things in particular that I had been lusting after for months now. I am currently using up all my cleaners and will be running out soon so I finally got 9 to 5 cleansing lotion (€10.95). I have tried it before and my word. Heaven. Can't wait to use it. Same goes for the Twilight bath bomb (3.95) that I have never had before but always looked at with such longing. However it broke on the way home and to say I'm upset is an understatement. I know I will get it again though, purely because it has made my room smell fab while its been sitting in the bag. Lastly I got a little Space Girl bath bomb (€3.85) I always get the Out of This World gift set for non Lush people that I want to try and convert because this one is a small fun starter and the box looks so cool. But I have never tried the bath bomb before so I thought why not!

I also went to Pennys and nabbed some leggings (€4.00) and a pair of really lovely floral shoes (€5) because cheap and cheerful is always welcome any day of the week!

Anyone been doing a spot of shopping lately? Talk to you soon, have a fab day! :)

Highland Aromatics: Coorie-in Basket Set

 Well hello! My week has not been going to plan as far as my posts and Valentines day posts go, so I thought I would post this review to give you all something nice to read! I hope that later today or tomorrow things will be back on track. Until then, fingers crossed it all goes to plan!

The basket, body butter, soap and bath bomb.

I was oh so excited to receive this because it was a name I had never heard before and I love trying out new things. The packaging alone was so cute and rustic looking. I am a sucker for packaging, especially if you can reuse it. The contents of the basket smelt lovely with a small, sweet smelling bath bomb, small soap and mini body butter. They looked amazing wrapped separately in little pieces of tissue paper. It had beautiful font on the bottle, along with the delicate matching tags. 

I researched the Highland Aromatics only to find that their website is a bit all over the place. A lot of links and tabs lead to nothing at all, with only half their products on the site. I found quite a lot of things produced by them on amazon.co.uk but because it wasn't the main site it didn't give a proper list of ingredients or information. Also, if you are thinking of buying something of theirs from amazon be aware that the picture is bigger then the product, as many people in the comments were angry about it. What I do know is that they are a family run business for 35 years who are best known for their soaps. Much of the Scottish highland inspires these products and they are environmentally friendly. 

The little bath bomb sunk to the bottom of the bath and disintegrated  into a white pile. To my horror it expelled little bits of lavender and what looked like twigs. before I got in I had to mix the water up to distribute the left over bath bomb which didn't colour the water or give out a smell. I sat in a bath full of plain water while twigs and pieces of foliage floated by. I got out early only to spend five minutes picking bits of the floating matter off me. I was not impressed at all and the bath was very hard to clean afterwards with the bits clogging the drain and sticking to the bath sides.

My bath water. There were bits EVERYWHERE!

I tried the body butter hoping that it would make me forget about the bath incident but it only softened the blow slightly - no pun intended! It wasn't what I was hoping for at all, being thick and hard to make sink into my skin. I had to stand like the statue of Jesus in Rio for ages and flap my arms about to try help dry off. I did notice once it dried in that the smell was really rich with earthy type undertones. It wasn't over powering and the smell stays on for hours after, something more high end products don't always do. 

Beautifully packaged and presented bath bomb.

Lastly there was the little soap. It smells like the body butter and is so moisturising. It left my hands soft and lovely. If I was to go buying it all over again it would be nearly worth it for the soap!

Overall I was very disappointed as I had high hopes for it. However, after looking at their other products I might try again and pick up something else. Maybe their shower gels and other soaps are the things to rave about. 

Have you ever tried Highland Aromatics?

Review: Oh So White Bath Bomb

 Well hello there lovely readers! I have a very exciting review for you, the Lush kind!  I am only able to start doing reviews on these things as there is quite a bit to test out! I got two lovely gift sets from friends for Christmas and also went to their sales to grab some really amazing bargains. Keep an eye out next Christmas as they do an Stephens Day 50% off on most of their stock. 

 This lovely Oh So White bath bomb that is a limited edition Christmas one, so you wont be able to go running to your nearest shop to try it out. However I do think there are quite a few places online that you can still nab one. Try the American Lush site, as I know the UK one isn't stocking them anymore. Ebay might be worth a glance too. 

This bath bomb was reinvented from previous years with a pink surprise inside it. You can fill your bath with warm water and then like a real snow ball, throw the bath bomb against the side of the bath. The white outter shell is thin and will break easily to reveal the pink, fluffy bubble bar mixture fun inside! 

Its something cool to add to your bath time experience thats made with neroli, rose sent and bergamont. You can really smell the rose and hints of something sweet but soft. You get into some really moisturising water but if your a bubbles person you will come away disappointed as the white and pink bubbles that were there while the bath bomb was fizzing away will have disappeared. 

This is one of the less attractive and plainer bath bombs that Lush have, along  with the fact that there are no bubbles is always a bit of a let down. But if you are all about feeling soft and silky after then this guy is for you. For around €4.50 you can get a little fun, lovely smells and pink swirls.