The New Lush Face Masks

 If you follow me over on Instagram (where I basically just live!) then you'll have seen that I was at a Lush event recently. While I was there I got to poke and prod at all their lovely new products and launches - which is a serious amount of stuff let me just tell you that. I'll have a Christmas product post coming up soon, so do look out for that. But for now I want to, no wait, need to tell you about the two new editions to their selection of fresh face masks on offer. I'll admit, I only ever pick up a Lush face mask when I'm bringing back my 5 empty black pots. But once these two are finished I will genuinely be back to buy some, they've upped the Lush game!

First is the bright and beautiful blue Don't Look At Me. This is perfect for those who want to exfoliate away dead skin and get smoother, softer results. This surprised me as it smells and feels like some of the Lush Rub Rub Rub body scrub with sea salt, but its actually little bits of ground rice in there! It drys really well which is another thing that I was concerned about, as they are little chunks and I thought they might end up falling off if I wasn't careful. It contains murumura butter, grapefruit oil, tofu and Tunisian neroli. This is also meant to brighten skin as it contains lemon juice.

Highly recommend this one for those who like to exfoliate often or for someone who wants brighter and softer skin. I really enjoy using it and it also smells really pleasing - I wont mention here, that one certain garlic face mask that makes me want to be sick!

However, my most favourite out of the two has to be the utterly gorgeous Rosey Cheeks. From the smell to the texture of this, there is nothing that I don't love. If your a fan of the Lush body conditioner, Ros Argan, then you will think this stuff is the bees knees. With Turkish rose oil and fresh rose petal infusion being the main scent, theres also kaolin and calamine packed into the little pot. 

If your skin suffers with uneven skin tone or general oily patches then this will calm and sooth it, to leave you with a fresh matte complexion. I think everyone needs one of these in their collections, especially with the colder winter season thats come recently. Its perfect after being out in hash wind or if its a bit nippy. And remember, if you collect and clean 5 black Lush pots, bring them back to the shop and you'll get a free face mask!

Lush: Lifes A Beach, And Other Things

I'm back again lovely people of the internet! If you were wondering why I fell off the face of the earth, I explain it all over here. But lets get away from that for the moment to talk about all things Lush. Over the past few months I've been lacking an interest in anything beauty related, but not so long ago I was invited to have a goo at the new things that Lush has to offer, and it sparked something brilliant back into me, ( - Now now, dirty jokes are reserved for Sexual Sunday posts.) They have brought in so many news things and said goodbye to some old favourites as well. But while I morn the loss of my beloved Dorthy bubble bar, I have to tell you about the exciting new things to grace the shelves.

First is something very new to Lush, *Lifes A Beach is a body scrub in the form of a powder. A mixture of fine sea salt, sand, vanilla absolute, tonka absolute, and gardenia extract to name a few, this is a seriously beautiful smelling product. Not too scrubby and yet perfect to use before shaving or putting on some tan. However this isn't cheap at £12.50 (roughly €18) a pop for 400g, so this might be one to splurge on then save. It also comes in a pretty box, but be warned that cardboard boxes and showers don't mix very well together. This is one I'd give a miss if you were 'just in for a look' at.

*The Experimenter is one of the most colourful and visually pleasing bath bombs that Lush has stocked on its shelves. Not only does it look cool, but once you drop it in the bath it really makes for a show. Its not often I stick around to watch bath bombs do their thing, but this is the exception. This has tonka and vanilla absolute, along with vetivert oil to give it a strong masculine and what some would describe it as a woody scent. This isn't my cup of tea scent wise, but I can't fault it when it looks like that! This is £3.95 (the €5/€6 mark). One that you will either love or hate, do have a sniff next time you pop in.

A new product that blew my little mind when I first saw it, *Damaged. We all know and love the different hair treatments that Lush has o offer in their big roundy black pots of joy, but this is a whole new level of fancy. Now there are three different hot oil treatments to choose from, all in the form of cake pop like treats. You simply put a small amount of hot water into a cup along with your product and stir until its liquefied and your left with the stick and a lovely smelling thick and creamy product. Slather it onto your dry hair and leave it to work some magic for about 20 minutes. Damaged has olive, avocado and almond oil to help ease damaged hair along with some fair trade vanilla absolute to give it that divine scent. This is £6.50 (about €8.70). I'll totally be trying out all of these as I dye my hair so often.

This lovely bubble bar caught my eye when it was recommended by one of the lovely Lush staff. I asked him for something that would help take a guys clothes off, and so Karma was pointed out. Lemongrass, mango butter, patchouli and orange oil are just some of the good things packed into this little glittery purple pyramid. And I can tell you, that lovely Lush employee couldn't have picked a better product! This comes in at £4.25 (about €5/€6). 

Lastly one that gave me a little giggle, *Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair shower gel. This is right up my street, with rose, jasmine and ylang ylang absolute it makes it smell so lovely and sweet, while the sandalwood oil gives it that extra softening feel on your skin. Even if you don't own a bath to enjoy the bath bombs Lush has to offer, you can still indulge with this little bottle of wonderful stuff. For 100g its £4.75 (about €6.50).

*I did not pay for this item, it was a PR gift.  Please see my disclaimer here.

Empties #11

I'll be the first to say I am shitty at doing empties posts when I read back over them a few months on. Its times like this when I wish I made youtube videos, because then I could waffle on and it wouldn't end up being a massive long post with overbearing paragraphs and loads of photos. So with that in mind, I decided to take my photos differently to how I normally do for these posts and I also cut out some of the boring same-same shampoos, body sprays and the rest. Hopefully it might add something to them, but do feel free to tell me its awful, I'm chipping away at sprucing it up!

Above is some hair bits, most notable is my massive Pantene that I got on offer in Tesco and really liked considering its not a brand I use often. While it didn't give me a 'wow' factor, it didn't bug me and I ran through it. A quick rant for Herbal Essences cos' this gave up the ghost one day and refused to work, while still having half a bottle of product inside. I normally like this stuff, but man it bugged me!

Lastly from the pile, its clear to see I have a liking for the aul VO5 Give Me Texture goodness. I've even bought this when its not been on sale - lads that means a lot. I think this is great and if you have hair, I'd suggest trying it out. A little extra oopphh, while also smelling lovely.

I did a review on The Body Shop Fuji Green Tea range a while back, over here if you fancy a look at more of the line. But being honest, they were lovely to use but I wouldn't buy them myself as they cost way too much for what they are. A nice box of radox and some Ziaja scrub is much better for your pocket and the skin - or so I think.

Nip+Fab Detox Blend Scrub was something I bought from Cloud10 to try out ages ago and I thought it worked well enough. Not my first choice of body scrub, but I might pick it up again in future if I pass by. Side note though, the brand in general has some real gems so do check it out.

And a random one that the sister brought back from France for me, Caudelie Shower Gel. This was peach scented and I was sadly a bit wasteful with it, slathering it on in the shower instead of saving it up. So sad this is all gone and will totally be bothering her to bring me back some again in the future. 

Considering I really love the brand, I thought I'd be onto a winner with the Botanics 3in1 Cleansing Solution, but this didn't do it for me. I think a micellar water is basically more or less all the same, but some do genuinely stand out more then others. This was used up quickly purely because it was so bad at taking off make up I needed loads. Not one I'd ever pick up again.

My love for Ziaja is pure and true, and this toner has been bought more times then I can count. Love this brand with all my heart and love this toner equally. Although the star of the show and my number one product from the brand is in the next photo below.

If I'm feeling fancy, which is lets face it, often enough, I'll wonder over to No7. Theres something wonderful about this brand and although not everything they do I like, they do really know how to do cleansers. This is the beautiful skin cleanser for normal to dry skin. I have spot prone, combo skin but I love this so much I've yet to try one thats right for my skin type. However that said, it doesn't break me out or mess with my skin so I haven't had the need to try something different. Maybe the blogger in me will pick up some others, for science and review reasons. Cough. 

As I said above, Ziaja Rose Butter face scrub is my all time favourite thing from the brand and I've bought this easily 7-10 times since I found the brand. I think this is the best feckin scrub and every time I run out I'll try something different. It never matches up and I have to buy it again. Just. Pure. Love.

La Roche-Posay was a feckin gem in that mad heat. This is a little travel one, but I've a full size in the fridge waiting for me. Can't say enough good things. it has one job and it does it. Couldn't ask for more then keeping me from being an unintentional hot mess when I'm trying to be a lady. (Another side note, I add in bits of mildly sexual comments now and again in beauty posts, as you can see. But its gas when people complain that I only write one sex piece a week. If only they read my beauty stuff!) 

Something that I really disliked to begin with was Super Drugs Deep Action Facial Cleansing Pads. Nope, these were harsh, cheap, painful to use and smelled like I was on the hard stuff. But a few months later my skin changed a bit and I found them to be handy at making my face softer. But the real gem is that even when I have double cleansed, toned twice AND used some micellar water, these still managed to find dirt and traces to make up. I'm anal about my skincare routine so to see what comes off my mug after going at it with all that for a good 15 minutes means I'll be getting at least 3 pots when I'm in again. Mightn't suit the sensitive skin types though, as it is very alcohol-y.

  

Soap And Glory Sugar Crush is all kinds of good and one of my favourite scents from the brand. I'm actually running so low on S&G things, must stock up, cos' you can never go wrong with them! I'm a big fan of their body scrubs too.

A quick one on Lush now, just to say that So White was a Christmas shower gel and not really my thing. Kind of a more fruity bitter lime thing going on, whereas Its Raining Men is honey sweet and you can get it all year round. Its got to be the men for me. (But of course the ladies too!)

Yes, more Ziaja, and I enjoyed this micellar water way more then the Botanics one! I'd pick this up again no bother, but at €6 it is a little on the pricey side for the ml. This is where Garnier wins with their massive 400ml bottles for feck all.

Speaking of, Garnier 2in1 Eye Makeup Remover is life. I've bought easily over 12 of these bottles in the past year or two and I think its just really good stuff. Plus its normally on offer in Boots for under €3. It takes off all the heavy panda eye looks that I regularly sport, win!

This was fecked into the photo here because I forgot about it when piling all the hair stuff together. Tricky business, this blogging thing. Green Angel Conditioner was a little sample I got ages ago and honest to god its bloody amazing. Something I would highly recommend getting if you dye your hair a lot, use a lot of heat on it or in general have dry, frizzy, knotty, in need of tlc hair. Its the stuff.

All my favourite things in one photo. I have bought all these again and theres no real reason to say much about them, other then love, love, love. Seventeen is affordable, the coverage is intense, an SPF of 25 AND they make it in my colour. All hail Seventeen!

Revlon is also a good coverage foundation, a little more pricey but it stays put until its bed time. Honestly doesn't budge, love it! And then of course the cult love for Maybelline Eraser Eye is a concealer that I didn't like the look of, but fell for it once I tired it out. This this also on the pricey side but I've had 3 so far and will totally buy more.

Random section now/ Cutex is the best brand of nail varnish remover ever, just a fact! It doesn't do much in the line of strengthening or whatever else it claims, but it does take off nail varnish like a hero.

So this Garnier Body Oil was all the rage last year on the blogs, so naturally I picked it up. But man I hated the stuff as it was messy, didn't sink in and was like putting chip fryer grease on my skin. But after my skin had a seriously bad month of bring dry and my drawers didn't have any bath goodness in the line of softening me up, I fecked caution to the wind and plonked this stuff in. Its still going to make you feel a bit greasy, but man did this noticeable make a difference to my skin after steeping in it for 40 minutes. I towel dried and patted off the most of it, but in the morning it was like I'd brand new skin. Yes, it felt a bit gross, yes I did have to scrub the bath for a good 10-15 minutes, but totally worth it. I'll pick this up again purely for the bath.

Lastly in this massive long post (sorry lads, if you've read right to the end your all troopers and I love you like you don't even know!) is my favourite mask, Lush Mask Of Magnaminty. You don't need to leave it in the fridge like with their other masks and it lasts way longer too. Great one for helping fight spots and leaving your skin feeling fresh. Will buy this again soon!

Empties #10

I'm like a broken record saying I must do these more often and not have such a pile to talk about, but I have a box under my bed so I don't notice it getting full. And I'm also in denial about how much I spend and use so it doesn't help. But none the less, these posts always give a good indication of the things I really love and will get again. Especially when they pop up in every single feckin empties I do - sorry about that!

First I have the massive pile above of hair stuff. I wash my hair daily so I tend to get a big pile of shampoos and conditioners in no time. Favourites of mine are the Ultimate Blends in this brown and also in the red (which I currently have in the shower at the moment). Normally my hair loves this sleek restore duo, but this time I found I was switching up different products to give my hair a little break. I found it to weigh my hair down and it was annoying to be fecking around with. Would totally pick these up again though. Same goes for one of my all time favoruite brands, Aussie. I've nothing to say about them, as they can do no wrong in my eyes.

Blousey was a 50% off christmas sale buy in Lush. I really liked this and would love to have it again, but for the crazy price of €20 I doubt I'd get it a second time. I loved the smell of this and it did leave my hair so soft. Why you so expensive Lush!? My two regular dry shampoos are bought all the time to give some extra oomph in the mornings, but I have been switching dry shampoos a lot in the last while. I might do a quick post/Instagram photo with some info on it.

Lastly in this pile is the Ziaja shampoo that I just did a post on, so I wont go repeating myself! But if I find it in the shops, I'll be picking it up again. Such a big bottle too, it lasted ages!

More Ziaja stuff.. Its hard to deny that I really love the brand! These cocoa butter shower scrubs are amazing and if you see them, don't hesitate to buy them! (then tweet me where you found them!) I've actually asked my local chemist to please put in an order of them and stock them. They are so cheap and work so well, its no shock to say I prefer them to any S&G scrubs! Theres also the lovely Olive Leaf cleansing oil that I used in the shower. This isn't a must have product, but if you like a bit of extra spoiling yourself, then I'd recommend it. It always left my skin lovely and soft, not to mention a gorgeous scent that lasted a good while after.

Aussie no rush shower gel was lovely to try and if it was on special offer in Boots I would pick it up, but theres a lot of others that I would reach for instead of it. I was dying to try out all the scents though! And lastly theres the two Soap&Glory sugar crush body scrub and orangasm body wash. The scrub as I said earlier isn't as good as my new Ziaja love, but it was nice all the same. If I never had something else to compare it to, it would still be my favourite. And as for the shower gel, it can do no wrong, That scent needs to be in everything. Mmm.

Random essencials now. If you hadn't guessed it, Impulse hint of musk is my all time fav - and you can get it in Dealz too! Major stocking up did happen! Also over the past few months I've been getting really in to roll ons. I don't think they are as good for protection as deodorant sprays, but they don't stain, don't effect my asthma and don't clog up a room. So I don't mind having to apply them a little more often. 

I'm not sure whats been happening over the last month or so, but all my skin care went at the one time and I seem to be flying through it. I think its because I'm now wearing a lot of make up daily and in the evening I love to spend a good 20/30 minutes taking it all off and giving my skin a seriously good clean. Ziaja is again making an appearance here, can't get enough of it! The cleansing milk is easily a Boiderma dupe and so is the micellar water. I've not bought the cleansing milk again as I've been using my No7 cleansing lotion, but I've gone though about 5 of the micellar waters - I love them! Also my all time fav face scrub is from Ziaja, I honestly freak if I've run out of this stuff. (Yes, yes I did cry outside the chemist one evening in town when I went to buy it after not having it for 3 weeks and the place had closed for the night. Not a proud moment. But a very much sleep deprived one.)

When I can't get my hands on the Ziaja water, I use the Garnier one and its still quite good. If you were going on price alone then its better value for money. Also I'm beginning to use a eye make up remover again over the past few weeks as my eye makeup has been very heavy. I love the Garnier one and have just this week bought another to keep up the stock!

Waxpert pads are a big love of mine and although I can sometimes forget about them, they always make such a noticeable difference when I do start using them again. I'm going to be getting another pot when I place my next order on Cloud10. Lastly is a random little mask that I added in. I used it so long ago that I've forgotten why I didn't really like it. I think I thought if I put it in then I'd remember but nope, its not coming to me. So do ignore it!

And finally a selection of used up body creams that I've had for ages and used up. I think they are all grand but I'm not sure if I'll be buying any of them again for a while as it got to be a bit of a chore trying to finish them. Don't you just hate when that happens!!

Theres a Seventeen foundation, as normal in these posts! my all time favourite one for colour and some serious heavy coverage. I'm a little oily so I do touch up a little during the day, but I wouldn't hold it against the foundation itself. I think this is about my 7th or 8th. Just bought another two this week as well. Clearly, I have a problem! Same goes for the Wet'n'Wild powder, I really love it and will be picking it up when I'm next in Penneys. Currently I'm trying to finish off the many half used powders I have stilling around the place.

Lastly two very random ones. A Nima brush that I've loved for so long, but finally have to say goodbye to and a Beverly Hills toothpaste. I got the toothpaste at the beauty show and can safely say I don't think it does any of what it claims. I was going to write a ranty post about it, but its only toothpaste after all. Wont be buying it again though, purely because its claims are full of shit.

Man, that was a really long post, fair play if you read to the end you little rockets! :D

March Favourites

Look at me putting up a favourties post in the actual month its from! You swear there was an air of organisation about the place. This month I've been using and loving much of what I talked about in my last monthly favourties post, so theres only a few beauty related things to get through today. March is now lovely and bright with the clocks gone forward an hour so that makes me happy. Although its still so feckin' cold out, I'm a right aul one giving out about having to put the heat on still. 

This was the month of lots of Instagram postings (if your not a follower I'd suggest having a look at me over here and maybe sticking around!). I bought lots of make up, clothes and took many many pictures of my cats. Basically the perfect month! Blogger friend Emma from Mastering Your Makeup did her first Ziaja event and it was an uber proud moment, oh isn't she just fab! You have to take a look at her blog and tell her hello! Other then that, Netflix has been binged watched so much too. Books will win in April, fingers crossed.

Blousey banana shampoo from Lush is now all used up and gone to the empties pile, but I wanted to just mention how much I've enjoyed using it this past month. It always left me with soft hair and it smells so great. Nothing surprisingly like the scent of bananas thank goodness, as I'm not a fan! I got it on sale at Christmas and doubt I'll be picking it up as its over €20 normally. But if your in the market for a lovely shampoo and don't mind it being spendy, then try out that one!

 As I mentioned in my last post this month I ran out of all of my make up removing skincare at the same time and had a day or two of panic. Since then I've been seriously stocking up so that doesn't happen again any time soon. And one of the things I found when I the hunt for a remover was a mini No7 cleansing lotion for normal/dry skin. It feels utterly amazing and I was going to pick up a full size even though I have combination skin. I said this to my sister on skype one night and she pulled out her bottle that was half used and said I could have the rest. Happy days! I know I'll be picking up my own bottle though, its just lovely. Might do a review of it to rave some more!

A total bargain this month was Revlons colour burst in 001 Honey Douce. This was reduced to €2.50 one day in Boots so I nabbed it. Its the most lovely shade that isn't too dark on the lips and I've done nothing but slather it all over my face every chance I get. These are normally a ridiculous €11 but after trying them out, I think I'd actually fork out the money for more of them. Not sure whats come over me! Do have a swatch of them if you've not already tried them out by now. So worth it.

I wont natter on too much about Fuschia and their amazingly beautiful eye shadows too much, but I did do a full review of a lot of them along with a few blushers over here. These four are my most used this month and I'm loving the bright orange especially. I want, no wait - need more of them! They are so pigmented, easy to apply, buttery and have next to no fall out. Nothing makes me more happy then these beauts.

In non beauty things, Once Upon A Time is my show of the month. I've watched it on and off over the past few months, but really got back into it since February. I even have gone so far as to find more up to date episodes of it online instead of waiting for the Irish Netflix to catch up. Season 4 still has caption Hook and I swear I watch it half the time just to drool at him. I'd also highly recommend Peaky Blinders on Netflix. My future husband Cillian Murphy is in it. Thats all you need to know. 

Keeping on Netflix for a second, they don't have Avengers anymore so I bought myself the dvd and I couldn't be happier. Its my go to film when I'm happy or sad (is that weird?) and I'd say I've watched it 30+ times by now. Best film ever! I picked up a cute little SheHulk statue the week, which you can see over on my Instagram. She is the bomb! 

Have you any non beauty faves this month?

Easter At Lush

Why I'm not employed by Lush at this stage is beyond me. Seriously lads, the amount I blog and natter on about this shop, you'd swear I've sent up camp outside their door! - But if anyone is willing to make that happen, I'm totally up for that. I was in the Scouts for years I'll have you know!

Lush always brings out some limited edition things for most of the special days of the year. Most recently it was their mothers day collection, but now we have the Easter things. And I'm going to admit, not much in this years collection jumped out at me. Yes they have cute white rabbit bath bombs and different egg shaped delights, but when I looked at the prices, sizes and smells I wasn't blown over. I guess I'm getting picky now a days! But what I did come away with is below, so you know its going to be good uns'.

First it pot o' gold. Not normally a lover of the shower jellies but this caught my eye and when I had a sniff I knew it was coming home. A slight Partricks Day vibe to it, but none the less it smells of really sweet caramel and oh so lovelyness. (thats a word now. Just fyi.) Filled with orange peel, pineapple juice, vanilla extract and sweet orange oil to name a few, it makes your skin wake up and want to sing after you use it. I don't think this is one I'll use every morning as it is so sweet I know I'll go off it quickly, but this will be a by-weekly treat. You can use shower jellies in your hair and the bath too, so thats what I plan on doing with it next. It's gorgeous to display and at €4.50 its actually quite the bargain. 

Next is the bunch of carrots. Lush stocked this last year and I regretted not picking them up so I specifically went into Lush to pick them up. They are a reusable bubble bar - much like the fairy wand that Lush stock at Christmas. They don't have many ingredients from looking at the site, but they do have lemon, buchu and bergamont oil that make them smell great. I've yet to try them out, but I'm really looking forward to it. At €7.50 they are a little pricey but thinking about how many uses I'm going to get out of the three of them, its worth it.

Lastly is the mother superior thats actually from the mothers day collection. I picked up one of these for myself and one for the mammy when I was in. They look so funny and are quite big so I know that I'll be getting at least three baths from mine. The scent reminds me a little of my favourite bath product from Lush thats also a bubble bar, Dorthy. Packed with orange blossom, jasmine and lemon oil, its bound to make the skin feel soft and smell lovely. I've seen loads of positive reviews on it so I can't wait to try it out and at €4.75 it was an average bubble bar price.

Lush Mothers Day Haul

Special days and occasions means theres a new range in Lush! This is some of the mothers day limited edition products that are out and I'm really excited about some of them. I went in a week or two ago and picked up some bits, but had to go back in and pick up more when I was handing in my 5 empty black pots in exchange for a fresh face mask (oh how I love doing that!). I've had a go of everything so this is a show and tell, mini review of the bits above. 

First up is the massive rose bombshell bath bomb. It smells lovely and has rose wood, Turkish rose oils, orange flower and bits of actual rose petals stuffed into it, so you have things floating around the bath with you. This is a really nice bath bomb, but I think it might have been the size of it and novelty of not having used one in ages that has me bias here. I didn't think it was too nourishing or moisturising like some of the Lush bath products are, but the lingering rose scent on my skin after made up for it. This is €4.50 and although I don't think I'll be picking this one up for myself again, its one that I'll be getting for the mammy as I know this is something she would love.

Bubblegrub is meant to be a cute little fella with eyes and antenna but the one ones they had in the shop looked much like my scary one above. He would be better for the Lush Halloween collection looking like that! None the less, bubbleroons and bubble bars are my number one favourite things to get, so I had to pick up the half battered guy. I cut him in two (what a dreadful end, I know) and got a lovely bubbly bath out of my first half. This isn't the type of scent I'd normally go for as its an earthy smell of sandalwood, vetivert and some softening shea butter in it. I wasn't a fan of the colour it turned the water either, a kind of brown yellowy murky shade. I know loads of people will love this one, but for €3.75 I'll spend it on something else instead.

Now onto the things that really tickled my pickle. Yummy mummy is a shower gel that smells like Jesus in a bottle as I described it to himself when I suggested he buy some and save it for my birthday - its that lovely! Floral with orange oil, lilac, geranium oil and tonka absolute its one that you will either love or hate. Personally I'm all about the sweet floral smelling purple things. This little bottle is what makes showers long and all the hot water disappear. Really recommend giving this a sniff if your passing a Lush shop and like sweet smells. This same scent also come in the yummy mummy body conditioner  which is super moisturising and divine, but pricey at €24 (- If I can remember the price right!) I doubt I'll pick it up, but for the 100g bottle of the shower gel at €5.95, I think more is needed in my life.

Lastly here is the cute looking rose bubble bar. This one is right up my street and smells as good as it looks. It has Turkish rose absolute, fair trade cocoa butter and rose hip oil packed inside this tiny swirly rose. The one bone I have to pick with this is the size. Its so small and makes lots of lovely bubbles and leaves skin so soft after, but its pricey at €3.75. I think if it was a little cheaper I'd be a happier bunny. 

Theres two other bubble bars, a bath bomb and a soap in this years collection. I'm going to naturally be back into Lush in the near future to have a poke at the rest of the range and maybe pick up a few more things. I had a sniff of the mother superior bubble bar and it smells lovely but reminds me a little of my all time favourite dorthy bubble bar. Maybe a comparison post will go up on twitter or instagram, keep the eyeballs open for it!

Lush Valentines Day Bubble Bars

Its no secret that I'm a massive Lush fan and one of my favourite things from them is their bubble bars. Oh mammy, when I see that there are new bubble bars for me to get my hands on, I really can't help myself! Two of the limited edition bubble bars that have popped up this year are the Unicorn Horn and Heart throb. These are the two that really caught my eye, but there are some of lovely things on offer. I have my eye on some prince charming shower gel too.

Theres a third bubble bar in a heart shape called Lonely Heart for €4.50, but its not as good value as the almost two-in-one Heart throb thats also €4.50. In the middle, much like a macaroon theres a layer of gold glitter and I pull apart the two heart sides to save for future baths. Normally I spend a good 10 minutes cleaning glitter out of the bath after using something from Lush, but for some reason after using Heart Throb that wasn't the case.  With vanilla, geraniam oil, shea butter with a lovely sweet floral scent, it makes all the bubbles with just a little piece and makes you silky soft.

The Unicorn Horn has got everyones attention this year and the girl in Lush was saying that it makes the best colours when put in the bath. But after using it, I thought it was a bit of a let sown for the price and hype.  Unicorn Horn has lavender, neroil and ylang ylang oil to name a few. It also gives off a shimmer in the water an the confetti type stars stuck into the sides are really cool. This smells just as lovely as the other bubble bar, but I think Heart Throb is the best one to go for if you only fancy forking out for one as they are the same price.

January Favourites

January was a really bad month for good day time light. I know that its still considered winter, I'm not looking for miracles but I still give out no end about the crap quality of my blog photos. I can't wait for the summer light to come back! Netflix, melons and trips to Lush for 50% off Christmas stock featured heavily in January. After watching all of House of Cards, I can't wait for the 26th of February to see season 3, its addictive! Same goes for The Good Wife, I know season 6 is currently airing, but I want to wait and binge watch it. 

In other news, I am a massive comic fan and all things Marvel. I set my sights on this gorgeous Iron Patriot from Iron Man, one of my favourite films. He now stands on my book case with my other super hero figures. (Pauses for moment to admire him and pat myself on the back.)

Three bottles next, all things that I have a love hate relationship with. First is the amazing smelling Soap&Glory Super Tonic in the fragrance in Orangeasm. Its one of their newer scents and I use the body wash most days in the shower. My one issue with this is that the scent doesn't linger very long and I don't use it as much because of it. I don't like lugging the bottle around with me if I'm out so only on days when I'm home do I use it. Oh well, its still lovely!

Next is the new make up brush cleaner from Penneys that anyone and everyone is talking about. I've never used one of these before, instead just going straight to cleaning them, so I have nothing else to compare it to. But considering its only €2.50, I couldn't not pick it up. Theres been a lot of mixed reactions from people over it, but I find it great. I don't use it on my bigger brushes, but it cleans my eyeshadow brushes really well. Again, my one issue with it is that it gives off a very strong sweet smell. Not something thats a problem in the over all use of the brush, but I'm not a fan of feeling sick if a brush happens to pass my nose. I still prefer deep cleaning them, but for spot cleaning or being lazy, this is great. 

Lastly in the list of bottles is my Human+Kind family remedy cream. This is meant to be used for anything and everything that happens to skin. So with the long list, I've been using it for my contact dermatitis and eczema  with great success. Applying it about 3 times daily and things clear up within 3 or 4 days. But its very pricey and because of that, I'm careful with how much I use. When I got this bottle I noticed that it was only half filled, missing a lot of product. But as I needed to use it right away, I didn't send it back or complain to Cloud10Beauty where I bought it. Kind of a round about let down! 

After lots of make up in December, its all about the minimal face this month. I've been using Lush sweet lips lip scrub to exfoliate with and then putting on a layer of Carmex in cherry after it. I've never had better feeling lips then in the month of January!

Next is another Soap&Glory product, Thick&Fast mascara. I got it in a gift set at Christmas and decided to have a quick go of it one day, to find that it gave me lovely day time light lashes. The applicator is great and it does a really wonderful job of separating my lashes out. Big thumbs up with this one, I'd say it will be popping up a lot this year.

Lastly is a random tiny bottle of hair oil that I got ages ago in one of the beauty boxes. I used it when I first got it, but then I gave up on it. But I've noticed the past while that my hair needed a bit of extra love, so this has been really great for it. I've been on Boots having a look at different hair oils as I'm just out of this bottle, so I'll be picking something up soon. Maybe I'll do a review if its as good.

Empties #8

I had to have a look back over my old posts to see when I last posted one of these empties posts. It felt like only yesterday but apparently it was way back in November! Doesn't time fly when your having fun slapping things onto your skin and hair. 

First thing that I was sad to finish was the two Bioderma's. I used the mini one for oily and combination skin over Christmas when I was away and although this one is better suited for my skin type, I found the big pink bottle for sensitive skin better. When my sister heads back to France I'll definitely be asking her to pick up some Bioderma products for me, but I also think that any other cleansing waters are just as good as these and I'm not really sure where the hype for these products come from. 

I'm not going to say too much about my much loved Bia Beauty cleaner and exfoliator right now. I've bought another of these dinky pots and have a post coming up about it next week. (I promise I actually do, I just took some photos for it!)

The last thing in my skincare empties is an old packaging bottle of Soap&Glory's Peaches and Clean. I found it really hard to get the last of the product from this, so theres minus points for loosing product. But I actually prefer Soap&Glory's other hot cloth cleanser/make up cleanser as it doesn't have such a strong scent, it comes in a tube so you can get all the product and its more gentle to my skin. I doubt I'll be getting this Peaches and Clean again.

Two of my favourite shampoo brands, Garnier Ultimate Blends and also Aussie are always popping up in my empties posts. I consider leaving them out, but I don't want anyone to think that I've stopped using them! Its always good to recommend what you love, so apologies to those who regularly read my blog. If you've not tried either of these shampoo's or conditioners then you need to put them on the to get lists!

I had some mini's on the go over the past two months and I've not too much to report on any of them. I got some Body Shop Rainforest shine shampoo and conditioner from fragrance direct to try out before forking over almost €10, but I'm not taken with it. It does the job but not any better then the much cheaper brands you can find in Tesco or Boots. I wont be getting a full size. The same goes for the Great Lengths shampoo, I think I got it on one of my subscription boxes months ago. It was fine to pop in my bag, but nothing special that would make me buy a full size. 

The new Herbal Essence conditioner is the only one pictured here, as I had thrown out the shampoo bottle by accident, but I did a review about the new range and spray over here.

Then of course theres something form Lush. I will buy Daddyo shampoo every few months when I feel that my hair is lacking in the colour department and this shampoo perks up the colour, taking away any brassy tones and leaving it shiny, a lovely colour and smelling like violets! Its a small bottle but you only need a little and you don't have to use it daily either to get results.

Theres nothing much to say about this pile apart from I buy them all regularly and love them. I've talked in many monthly favourite posts about my love affair for Herbal Essences dry shampoo. Hair removal cream and Nivea roll on deodorant (the best one ever in my opinion) are both €1.49 from deals, bargain! The only thing that I wont be getting again from this pile is the Boots own brand nail varnish remover. It smells so bad and takes massives amounts of product in order for it to work. I picked up nail varnish remover in a pot from Dealz that works much better for next to nothing.

The candle is a gorgeous vanilla one that I've had for a few years. It only gets used on special occisions as I loved the smell too much and didn't want to waste it. Theres no sticker on it so I can't find where to buy it again and the shop (Evolution in the GPO arcade) doesn't sell them anymore. Very sad to see this one go.

Lastly is some sort of advertisement for Seventeen! I think its fair to say that I'm a big fan of the brand and I especially love their new Stay Time foundation (my 5th bottle) and the phwoarr paint concealer (easily my 12th). Theres nothing to say about them apart from try them all out because they are normally on offer in Boots and so cheap. 

Another little thing from Lush is the Charity Pot cream that smells amazing. For €1 that goes towards charity, I always pick up a little pot when I'm in Lush as they are so easy to keep in your hand bag. And the smell is so nice too. I have bundles of them floating about!

Soak And Float Shampoo Bar

Unintentionally it seems that January has become the month of Lush. I think I might have gotten a little too excited about Christmas and bought more then I was meant to. In fairness this particular product has been on the go with me for the past few months and I'm only getting to tell you about it now. (The fancy reason could be that I wanted to save the gem, the actual reason is that I normally have a new one gooy and have used before I remember that I wanted to take nice photos of it. Whats a dope like me to do!)

The not so sexy truth is that I sometimes suffer with patches of sore and irritated skin on my scalp. I'm not sure if its dandruff or if its eczema (- although I do suffer with that on my hands and arms) but whatever it is, it can be hard to find a shampoo that helps to calm the irritation while not messing up my hair. Anyone who dyes their hair, especially dyes that are different or neon shades will know how hard it is to keep it bright without products making it fade. I love my XXL Live dye, its long lasting and a gorgeous colour, but what I've found through a lot of trial and error is Lush shampoo is the way to keep it bright. Lush is one of the only brands I've found that wont strip the colour, while actually actively doing something at the same time.

No harsh chemicals to mess with the shade and things like cade oil, rose and marigold petals are all wonderful for soothing the scalp and reducing dandruff, eczema and a general sore head. While the ingredients list sounds fantastic, I'm not going to lie. It smells absolutely horrible. Not a lot of the Lush solid shampoo bars smell great, but they all work very well and so because of that, I can't slate them. But its something to mention as it nearly put me off buying it the first time, before I knew how well it worked. I tend to put in some dry shampoo to cover the smell for my own nose, or put in a little conditioner. But considering this is my 4th bar, so in the long run it can't be that bad!

This isn't my first Lush solid shampoo bar, I'm a long time fan of the lovely Seanik (one of the only nice smelling ones in my opinion!) and I have my eye on the newest additions the the line, namely Honey I Washed My Hair. Mmm, can you imagine the lovely smell of your head after a go of that!? These bars are over €7 which isn't actually not that bad when you wonder around Boots. Not only that, but this can last up to 2 months with me even though I wash my hair daily. I would totally recommend Soak And Float if your head is a little tender, or any Lush shampoos for those who don't fancy getting their colour stripped from their hair.

Lush, Rub Rub Rub

I think by now we can all safely agree that Lush is a way of life for me. I'm not in love with all things Lush, so when I bang on about something and say its just as good as sliced bread, its worth giving it a sniff/poke/slathering on yourself next time you pass by a shop. Today its all about Rub Rub Rub, or Rub as he likes to be called for short (little sexy devil that he is!). This is a shower scrub that can be used for body and hair. Its a bright blue salty goo in a tub of love. 

Theres nothing I don't think is just great about this, even the fact that its a total dupe for Lush's more pricey Big Shampoo. I am a long time fan of Big, but at €15 I can't be shalping it all over my hair daily and have been paying close attention to Rub for the past few months, intrigued to see if it might be as good as the shampoo, while being a little easier on the purse! Normally when I go to Lush its to pick up another bath melt or a face mask, so branching out to something else can take a bit of building up to. I'm sorry that I waited so long though, as Rub is just as lovely as Big shampoo with the added bonus of it being a multi use product.

Rub is mainly marketed as a shower scrub, and what a wonder it is to have in the shower with you. This is stuffed with mineral rich sea salt - a great antiseptic as well as an exfoliater. It has lemon juice and that will add shine to your hair and has jasmine and orange flower that will leave you smelling divine. I think this is the perfect all in one product to have during the cold months as it not only scrubs away all the nasty dry skin and goo while being oh-so-gentle, but I feel it also moisturises in the process. I'm not saying that its better then putting on a cream if you have very dry skin, but you can get away with it when your skin only needs a touch of hydration. In short, it means no freezing your arse off when you get out of a warm shower and have to rub in cold moisturiser, then wait for it to soak into your skin. All the bonus points in the world, right!? Its saved me from many cold naked dances. 

And if you fancy a little bit more of a good aul hard scrub, don't wet your skin before using it and when your done wash it off in the shower. I find that I rotate the wet and dry skin routine depending on if I have been using thick creams. I would say this would be a great one for taking off fake tans as well, while keeping your skin lovely and soft. So if your in the market for a unisex multi tasking product that lasts surprisingly well, then Rub is the guy for you at €10.50 for a 330g tub.

December Favourites

December was Christmas and that means good skin for applying lots of glitter and sparkle to. It was the month of much food, sending over 50 Christmas cards,baking and drinking a lot of alcohol. Dragging Christmas trees through doors and loosing cats to them for a full month, its been great! I took part in a blogger secret santa which was hosted by the wonderful TotalMakeUpAddict. I got so many lovely things from my secret santa but I didn't end up doing a post showing what I got unfortunately. However I am so grateful and will put up a quick Instagram snap of the haul to show anyone thats interested!

One of the lovely things that I've been using all month is the Revolution eye shadow palette. It has the most gorgeous shades, with a mixture of shimmers and mattes. I love the light champagnes and pinks, but I also love the golds and browns. Its the perfect palette to bring you from day to night and all the shimmers for party season! (not that it will stop me from wearing them all year round.)

Another thing that I am forever in love with, but especially this month has been my matte dark red Inglot lipstick. Red lips are the automatic thing to happen when it starts getting cold and Christmas is only around the corner. I have a full blog post about this lipstick and a matching lip gloss over here.

Not a new one to me, but I'm not sure if I've talked about it on the blog before. Lushes Mask of Magnaminty is the only face mask in their line that you don't need to keep in the fridge or use up within tow weeks. Its over €10 so I hadn't picked it up in a few months, but I couldn't help giving myself a little early present. This is full of minty peppermint and fights all those face uglies - spots. I put this all over my face and also once or twice on my arms, as I have had breakouts there too. The day after using it I always find a massive difference in my skin and my spots seem to particularly reduce on my arms. One that I would totally recommend picking up if you are looking for something from Lush that isn't bath related.

I've started a serious long term relationship with Sleek over the past few months. December hasn't been any different, with my contour kit that I've talked about in previous favourites posts (but its just too damn amazing not to talk about again and again) and my new blush in the shade antique. Its the perfect amount of shimmer and on the slightly darker side for the cold season. I'm not a fan of coral or bright pinks up I'm starting to come round to the lighter colours. In the mean time, this has been on my face all day, everyday. I've collected quite an amount of Sleek blushers, so I might do a separate post on them.

Boots own brand nose pore strips are my all time favourite guilty pleasures. You get 6 strips in the box and each one is a delight to use. Wet your your nose and apply the strip, leave it on to dry for a few minutes and then.. Rip it off! Lovely clean pores. See? Total dirty guilty pleasure.

A slightly different favourite is Bewleys Christmas chai tea. I'm so sad that that its only limited edition as I'm utterly in love with the drink. It was something stupid like €4, but I'm already looking forward to next year when they hopefully bring them back. Mmmm.

Lastly is the *Ameliorate body lotion. Its just so lovely on the skin, I use it on my arms most days and it sinks in beautifully without leaving oily residue or being too heavy. Its really expensive and I doubt very much that I'll buy it myself, but its just fab. 

*I did not pay for this item, it was a PR gift.  Please see my disclaimer here. 

October Favourites

I've had a little break the past few days, the Halloween festivities took over a little bit. October was a great month for the aul blog, I managed to write more frequently then most months and I hope that I'll keep it up in November too. October saw a massive increase in followers (hello there friends!) lots of sexy posts and doing mad amounts of Halloween make up friends and family. I was finally introduced to Walking Dead and Octobers issue of the Buffy comic was particularly brilliant. Pumpkin carving was upped a level and there was lots of time spent in Lush bubble baths. Over all, October was good to me.

Your going to notice a lot of conkers in the photos, but there not just for decoration! These are one of my monthly favourites because I've decked out the house with loads of little bowls of them. Not once have I seen a spider around since. The old wives tale about conkers warding off spiders seems to be true. Magic stuff. And if all the spiders suddenly appear back, I have ammo to fire at them! Its really a win, win situation. And also, appoligies for the dark, slightly out of focus photos, the light was fading fast and I really wanted to get this post up today!

As with every month, I've been picking up the odd bargain around the place. One of those was a dupe for the Bonrjois nail varnish remover pot. This Dealz €1.49 twist&out one has a fruit fragrance and works just as well as the €7 one. Totally blown away as I thought when it comes to nail varnish remover more expensive means better quality, but thats not the case here. Love it!

Next is a wonderful little offering from Lush, Grease Lightening spot treatment. You can put this on at any time of day and as often as you like. I slather a load of this clear gel on just before bed and in the morning my spots have done one of two things. The smaller ones have gone down considerably and the bigger ones have come to a head. This really seems to push out the impurities in the skin and its great if you have a covering of just a few small spots to send them packing. For the slightly bigger ones it will take a few days for them to be banished from your skin, but its a less harsh product to use then some of the spot treatments out there. I wouldn't recommend using this if you were going to put make up on over it, as it flakes slightly if you put on anything but the tiniest bit. 

I've blogged about the Hero Brush in October but I've honestly not used another foundation brush the entire month. This is a bit of a hassle for me as I'm forever applying make up and then running off to wash it and let it dry for the next day. Just goes to show how much I love it considering I'm normally awfully lazy about washing my brushes and only clean them after every single one has been used. You can read the full review over here. 

Never before have I made up so many faces as I have this Halloween. Friends and family all wanted some form of hallowed out, pasty and dead looking appearances so my gorgeous Sleek contour and highlighter palette got some serious loving and use. I'd forgotten just how great this is and know I'll be using it lots more again. Its under €10 and comes in several shades to choose from. It also has a handy big mirror and the packaging is really sturdy. I did a review of it way back, over here. 

Over the past few weeks I have been all about the bolder shades of lip stick. I have more reds in my collection then is healthy, so I'm starting to look to burgundy reds and even plums and purples. In comes the most gorgeous purple from Christian Breton. I was lucky enough to be given this from The Cosmetic Outlet to try out and my god, its just perfect. Available online for €17 from the Christian Breton site, I was shocked that The Cosmetic Outlet was selling it for the bargain €10. I'm going back in to pick up another as part of a Christmas present for a friend. Its moisturising, highly pigmented and lasts ages. Its all I've been wearing on my lips in October and without a doubt I'll be using it all Winter.

Lastly I'm a sucker for trying to find the perfect dry shampoo and Tesco has the new Herbal Essence range on offer, so I picked up most of them. By far I'm really liking the orange uplifting volume one. Theres no white powder like Batiste and it leaves a lovely smell in your hair. I wouldn't say its the most amazing dry shampoo if your hair is really greasy, but if your day 2 of not washing your hair, then its perfect. You can also get them all in Boots if you fancy picking up a few Boots points along the way.