Dermalogica Clean Start Starter Kit review

(I was sent this to review but all thoughts are my own)

A long time ago now I was sent Clean Start by Dermalogica's starter kit to review (also sent their lip balm/gloss which I previously reviewed here ) and am finally getting round to it. My excuse is that I needed a long time to test it out to see how it worked with my skin. And well that's partly truthful, but also I am just rubbish at posting recently :P

Anyway while I am definately still able to review the products I have realised that I was not their demographic at all. It's aimed for teenagers and young adults, which i guess i still am but in the loosest possible sense of the word, but a lot of the products seem designed to counteract oily, acne prone skin. My skin is very dry, never greasy and I get spots now and then but it's so rarely that I really have no need for special skincare.  My point is that while I will review the products the best I can I can't say how well some of these actually work on the problems they are designed for as i do not have these problems.

I was sent the Clean Start Starter Kit, which contains 5 products and the basis of a proper skincare regime. The products are mini sized, each one is 15ml, however I found that they all lasted a long time. Oddly the exfoliator was the first to go because, even though i used it the fewest times a week, I found I had to use a lot to cover my face. That lasted about for about 10 uses, the cleanser I used for about 2 months and it's still going strong as you need so little.

The kit arrived packaged in a half clear half foil resealable pouch and also included 2 leaflets about the brand. I also recieved a lot of little sample sachets, I'm not sure if this is because it was sent to me for review or if everyone gets them. I really like the products packaging, with it's bold colours on a stark white background it's sort of pop-art-ish.

The Starter Kit costs £22.50 which I think is a fair price for the amount you get. It lasted me for at least 2 months, which seems good for a starter kit, you can easily see if the products are right for you. Though of course if you don't like the products then £22.50 is very pricey.

Wash Off cleanser

I really liked this cleanser. It's quite a thick gel and you only need a tiny bit, it lathers up beautifully. The gel smells slightly medicinal but not horrible. It's herbal, I can definately get lemongrass but not sure what the rest of the smell is. It's quite nice but not my favourite scent. Anyway it doesn't linger at all after I wash it off. I found it removed makeup well, though not all of my mascara. It left my skin feeling clean and refreshed and ever so slightly tingly, but it did not make my skin feel dry or tight and did not at all sting my very sensitive eyes. Very nice face wash, but it doesn't quite beat my holy grail Body Shop Passionfruit cleanser.
The full size is £14.30 for 180ml

All Over Clear toner

I really can't give a long review for this because I can't for any toner. I sometimes use toner (when I'm being good with my skincare routine anyway) and find it refreshing and, perhaps psychologically, feel it makes my skin feel more clean than if i used cleanser alone. However I have never found a toner that really makes any difference to my skin. I like the feel of it but it doesn't do anything to me. And this toner is no different. The smell is not exactly the same as the cleanser but very similar, herbal and slightly clinical and 'clean' smelling. The smell really does make it feel more refreshing. It comes in a spray bottle, which is nice for spritzing all over your face, however I prefer to wipe my toner over my face to remove the last bits of my makeup. The formula itself is no better or worse than any other toner I've tried, but I prefer my (sadly discontinued) Boots Original Formula Rose toner purely because I like the rose smell better and it has gorgeous vintage style packagaing. If you prefer a more medicinal scent and like a spray bottle then this is a damn fine toner.
The full size is £12.30 for 120ml

Ready Set Scrub exfoliator

This is an interesting product as you can use it as both a masque and a regular exfoliator. Or at least in theory it's both. I have very sensitive skin in that lots of products cause my face to have what I can only assume is a very mild allergic reaction. It starts to tingle and then it gets worse and worse until it is stinging and horribly painful. This exfoliator set off this reaction but only mildly. Basically if i use it as just an exfoliator, i.e. I put it on, massage it a bit and then wash it off, it's fine, it does tingle a bit, but no pain. But if I leave it on to use as a masque it started to sting and become painful. So I can't tell you how effective it is as a masque. As an exfoliator however it is fine. Again it has the same lemongrassy smell. It has the consistency of a clay masque but with tiny tiny grains. Because of this slightly dry, clayish consistency I had to apply quite a lot in order to cover my face. I found it quite gentle as an actual exfoliator, probably because it is meant to be kept on your face for extended periods as a masque. It left my skin feeling very cool and tingly and I don't know if that's due to my sensitive skin or if it does that for everyone. However it made my skin feel cleaner and got rid of dry, flaky patches of skin i had without making my face feel dry or tight. If you have very sensitive skin I'd avoid this just in case you have the same reaction as I did, if not then I think this is a good product anyway and would be even better if you could use it as a masque too.
One thing I did find odd was the the tube suggests you use this 3-5 times a week, which seems very excessive for an exfoliator to me. I generally use a scrub 2-3 times a week, and as this one irritated my skin I definately would not have used it more. People without my sensitivity might not have the problem but I still think there is no need to use a scrub 5 times a week.
Full size is £14.30 for 75ml

Bedtime for Breakouts nighttime treatment

I used this every night for about a week and then gave up on it. I didn't notice any difference at all. But then I wouldn't as I don't tend to get breakouts anyway. So I really can't review this at all, it didn't do anything for me but it's not designed for me. It's a quite runny gel with the same sort of herbal, medicinal smell as the other products, but it's not noticable once it's on the face. I found I had to use quite a bit of this to cover my whole face as it seemed to 'set' on my skin quite quickly.
Full size is £14.30 for 60ml


Welcome Matte Spf 15 moisturiser

This is the one product I haven't used very much. I tried it a couple of times but didn't like it. It made my face feel a little tight, not terrible but not pleasant. Other than that I didn't get anything out of this, it didn't feel moisturising or hydrating to me. However as I have dry skin I am used to rich moisturisers and I have no need to mattify my skin. I actually was excited about this when I first heard about it, but I was being stupid. I love a matte look to my foundation (I don't understand why anyone would want to look dewy) and somehow managed to confuse myself that this would sort of give me the same look. But of course it doesn't as this is just a moisturiser, but one that meant to help combat oily skin.
The full size moisturiser costs £15.35 for 60ml

So as you can see I had a mixed bag with these products. I liked the cleanser and toner a lot, although they are not my favourites, but the moisturiser and nightime treatment did absolutely nothing for me. However I cannot say at all that this is because they are bad products simply because they are designed for a completely different skin type from me. Overall I would say that if you have oily or spotprone skin these are definatley worth a try but if not, while most of the products are still good, you would not get the best out of them and could do better. I also would not say the products are overpriced but they are expensive, especially when they're aimed at teenagers who obviously do not have as much disposable income.

I've just seen this post at British Beauty Blogger which brings up some slightly questionable tactics of the company. I don't know enough about it to comment, if true it's slightly dodgy. But I must say the people who contacted me were very nice and personable so I'm not going to complain about something I don't know anything about.

My favourite perfumes

I really love perfume, but don't wear it everyday. The reason is simply because i keep it on my vanity table and quite often forget to pop any on if i haven't been sitting down there (which i don't do when i'm in a rush). I tend to like very typically girly fragrances, light and fluffy and fun, usually with very fruity tones. I also love perfumes from indie brands that smell of sweets (i have a great perfume oil i was given as a gift and don't know the brand of that smells just exactly like bubblegum) with only one note. I dislike vanilla, musk (which is good as some are still made from poor mr musk rat :( ), woody or spicey smells. 

Anyway here are my top 5 perfumes.

I apologise because i am useless at describing scents and don't know anything about notes or stuff like that.

Le Belles de Ricci

 

My absolute favourite perfume ever ever ever! You can't really get it anywhere anymore except for on ebay and i am out of it, i need to get a lifetime supply somehow. I would bathe myself in it if i could!

I love everything about it, i think the bottle is beautiful, the colours are so pretty and the smell, oh god it's just angelic. To me this smells just like tomato flowers. This might not sound nice but i swear to you it is just the most beautiful smell ever. It lasts all night but isn't overpowering (as long as i resist drowning myself in it). Just perfection and it makes me so so sad that it's not being sold anymore.

Gap So pink

This is the perfume i wear most often and, as i don't have any Belles, is probably what i'd consider my 'signature' scent. To me it does somehow smell 'pink' like some sort of cynnasthesia thing, if a bright, hot pink had a smell i bet it would be very similar to this. The bottle isn't particularly interesting but the scent makes up with it. To me it's main note is of grapefruit, but also has a hint of bergamont and some sort of floral all mixed together, it's very fun and feminine but not really delicate, it's brash and fun and a bit trashy. It lasts quite a while but not all night.

Lush The Comforter

 

The scent of this is just lovely and very edible and tasty smelling, it reminds me of a blackcurrant pastille or cordial. It's main note is of blackcurrant but also has a bit of something a bit like pepper. I love the smell so much but don't wear it so often as the others as i find it's solid formula a bit of a pain to work with. It doesn't melt easily so it can be difficult to actually get it to go on. It seems to me to stay more on the finger i apply it with than on the skin where i intend to put it. It doesn't seem to last very long, but that might be because i can't get it to apply well. The little jar makes it nice and easy to carry around with you for though.

Babydoll

This one was my signature scent for a few years but i have moved on to the others on the list in recent times. I love the bottle, it is so cute and actually works as a spinning top! The scent of this is more floral than my other scents, but still has a distinct fruitiness. Like So Pink this has a main note of grapefruit, but this is covered by florals, there's some rose and a tiny hint of vanilla (weak enough i can cope with it). It's very sweet and almost sickly, but i like it.
Sadly my bottle of this appears to have soured a little, i have had it for a long time though and it was on my window sill in the sun for a while. I am dumb.

Claire's Accessories Cherry perfume.
Super cheap but super good! (couldn't find a photo online) This smells exactly like Cherryade, which to me is a great thing. There are no other notes at all, it's just pure fizzy, sugary, candy cherry flavour. 
The scent doesn't last that long but for £4 nd from Claire's i wouldn't expect it to, and it doesn't disappear instantly, just after about an hour. I left my bottle of this in the sun and it went 'off' after just a few month, so i'm not sure if that's just what happens to it or if it was because i left it in direct sunlight. I'll get another bottle and see what happens if i keep it out of the light.

Based on these does anyone have any suggestions for scents i might like? I think my next perfume purchase will be Next's Diamonds, which is meant to be an exact dupe of Miss Dior Cherie, which in turn is meant to smell like the Soap and Glory scent that i love so much (sadly the Soap and Glory perfume isn't quite the same as their products scent. At least it isn't to me!)

Also just a little note:
I will try my best to have my blog sale goodies sent out tomorrow, but it depends on if some money has come into my bank. It's going to get in tomorrow, but it might be too late to get to the post office, if so i will send them tuesday morning. Sorry about that. x

Also i have started writing in my other blog, i know i've gone to and from using that blog a million times but i've decided i want a blog for my everyday musings as well as reviews of things like films and somewhere I can link to on my art website. If you';re interested in my paintings or any of the stuff i just described please follow me here   :)

Skin MD Natural Shielding Lotion Review

This is the first review i have ever done where i have been send the product for review. I was kindly sent this by the lovely people from Skin MD who have been exceptionally kind and helpful (they also offered to sponser a giveaway but it would only be available to people in the US and, seeing as i am in the UK and a lot of my readers are outside the US i didn not take them up on this). I know some people may be put off by the fact that i did not actually shell out my own money for this product but please be assured that i will be treating this product like i would if i had bought it myself.

When I was also offered to test this i jumped at the chance, having read up about it this stuff sounded amazing. Not only is it a moisturiser but it also acts as a shield from outside pollutants, it's been recommended by doctors and is not only vegan and never tested on animals but is an eco friendly product, using solar power in its manufacturing and is full of natural ingredients.  'Hello, wonder product alert!' thought I.

Along with the bottle i was sent a few leaflets explaining more about Skin MD and a few sample sachets of the lotion (i gave these to my Mum to try, which i will discuss later).

So here is some information about Skin MD Natural Shielding Lotion (nicked from the very informative website which offers reviews and free samples)

'Skin MD Natural lotion combines Aloe Vera, Vitamin E, Arnica, Comfrey, Chamomile, and Yarrow to provide the gentle, soothing moisture needed for natural skin that is healthy, soft, and touchable...
 
Antioxidant-rich Aloe Vera and Vitamin E help soften skin while Arnica soothes and revitalizes. Chamomile enriches the skin while vitamin-rich, Comfrey and Yarrow, help the skin to look its best. The ingredients in this natural lotion work together for skin that has rarely looked or felt so good...


For healthy, natural skin, what's not in a skin care product is as important as what is in it. Our Skin MD Natural lotion is free of parabens, fragrances, colorants, mineral oil, propylene glycol and many other potentially harmful and drying chemicals found in other skin care products. It is a non-toxic and hypo-allergenic skin care solution.

Skin MD Natural also uses only the highest quality food-grade ingredients with no animal products or animal testing. It's naturally vegan, and cruelty free...

Skin MD Natural lotion for dry skin will leave your skin feeling and looking soft, radiant, and hydrated. Skin MD Natural lotion is the natural skin care alternative to the many dry skin care products that can actually dry the skin. Lotions for dry skin that contain petroleum, artificial fragrances, para­bens, colorants and other chemicals may cause dry skin to worsen. Avoid dry skin care products with harsh chemicals and use Skin MD Natural lotion for dry skin on the face, hands, or body.

Let the gentle blend of Aloe Vera, Vitamin E, Arnica, Comfrey, Chamomile, Yarrow, and other food grade ingredients in Skin MD Natural turn your dry skin into silky smooth natural skin that glows. Find the moisture you've been looking for; without the greasy surface created by chemicals with Skin MD Natural. You can finally say good-bye to dry skin and hello to natural skin with Skin MD Natural lotion.  '

Now i want to talk a little about my skin. On my face, overall, i have pretty good skin, I very rarely have breakouts, clogged pores or any oilyness but i do suffer from dryness, especially on and around my nose which is often a bit flaky. My complexion isn't the best, i have a lot of redness in my cheeks, however my skin is very smooth and is usually quite soft to the touch. I'm not the best at skincare. My general routine is pretty shameful. I only cleanse my face once a day at night, and that's only if i've been wearing foundation or powder. Otherwise i cleanse, exfoliate and occaisionally use a mask 2-3 times a week.
I try and moisturise at least once a day, but quite often it just doesn't happen :P
Before using Skin MD i had been using a rich night cream before bed and a lighter day cream in the morning.

Now on to my actual review! (took me long enough didn't it :P)

While this can be used everywhere i decided to use it on my face and hands as i assumed the little bottle would be used up really quickly if i used it on my body. I used it as the bottle suggests, at first every 2-8 hours (for the first week) and then every 12-24 hours. The lotion is a milky, slightly watery cream that has no smell on the skin but if you smell a blob of it really close up (i like smelling things :P) has a slightly odd herbal/vodka scent. I was amazed by how little of this you need. A drop about the size of a 5p piece (or a dime in the US :)) would cover my whole face very easily and then with very little effort the lotion sank into my skin and was absorbed almost instantly leaving no greasy feeling. However what it did leave really shocked me at first, i was totally unused to anything like it. Basically after this absorbed into my skin it left behind a layer that i guess is the reason this is called a 'shielding' lotion. I felt like i had a very thin layer of wax over my face, like the skin of an apple. At first i hated this because it just felt bizarre, but after a few uses i grew used to it and it didn't bother me at all. In fact i began to see the benefits, because if i can feel this layer on my skin i figured that it would be acting as a barrier against dirt and other nasties :)
After a few hours the waxy feeling layer subsided and my skin was left feeling smooth and sort of 'plumped' up. However these effects were quite short lived, disappearing after a while and leaving my skin much the same as it was before use.
After using the lotion skin didn't feel any softer at all, not instantly and not in the long run. At first this didn't bother me but after a few weeks i could really feel the difference and began to long for a richer cream to add some hydration to my skin. Usually the dry skin on my nose will disappear after using a good cream but with this it didn't get even slightly better.
Towards the end of the trial i decided to go back to my old creams but used this as a top-up during the day. My skin felt a lot better for using my richer creams but i began to realise that the Skin MD didn't seem to be making any difference at all :/


I also used this on my hands and I actually did really like it for that purpose. While again it didn't moisturise them as well as my usual lotions the shielding effect really came into it's own. The shield layer really seemed to help protect my hands so even though they didn't seem to be moisturised by the lotion itself, it seemed to help my hands keep in their natural moisture. I could wash my hands and there would still be a protective layer keeping my hands safe.

My Mum tried a few samples of this product and really liked it but annoyingly wouldn't tell me anything more detailed. After i had used this for 2 months (more than long enough to really review how it worked for me) i gave it to my sister Lydia who suffers from bad exzema. She is still using it so i will be writing a follow up when she gets back to me about how it worked for her :)

So all in all i thought it was an interesting product and it worked well in some ways i wouldn't use it myself as it was just not moisturising enough for a moisturiser.I think maybe this would work a lot better on people who have oily or normal skin, with my dry skin i really need a stronger, richer lotion and i think other dry skinned people might feel the same. For me it certainly is not 'The Ultimate Dry Skin Solution' as the websites suggests.

I would recommend getting the version with SPF 15 if you were thinking of buying it because... well why not? You might as well have the added benefit!
I'm not sure about the price, it does seem expensive compared to my usual drugstore brands but is cheap compared to a lot of high end lotions, also you need to use such a little of the lotion each time one bottle will last you a long, long time (i used mine at least once every day for 2 months before giving it to my sister and it's still going strong now).
So overall... i don't know what to say about this! It didn't work brilliantly for me, but it was still pretty good and i think it's a really good, innovative product. But i personally wouldn't repurchase it.

The Body Shop Reviews

I'm on a big skincare review kick at the moment :P After this i have some Soap and Glory reviews and then i think i'll have talked about everything i've used up (or enough to review) or far.  I hope you enjoy reading these toilettrie based posts as well as makeup ones :)

Also coming up soon i will be posting a series of blog sales including makeup, clothes, accessories, shoes and miscellaneous stuff. I am absolutely skint at the moment and have an entire room full of stuff i want to sell (i'm serious, a whole room! D:) so i figured i would actually finally get round to photographing it all. I'll be offering it at prices i think are fair but i want to get rid of as much as possible (everything that doesn't sell here will be going on ebay) so i will be up for haggling :) Sorry if you're not interested in blog sales but i do have some nice stuff and want to offer it to my readers first :)

Anyway here comes the body shop post, hope you like it!

Lush Reviews

Firstly I want to thank each and every one of you who commented on my last post so so much. I'm usually alright talking about my disorder but there is still a stigma attached to mental illness so i was a little worried posting such personal details in public but your responses were so wonderful i am just overwhelmed by your kindness. I'm going to reply to each and every comment but there are so many and they are so long and indepth i want to really take me timeabout it. Thank you all again, you really have no idea how much it means to me <3

Also in other news I found out yesterday that the book i illustrated (you can see pictures here) seems very likely to be published in the near future (the author recieved proofs so unless anyhing drastic goes wrong it will be coming out soon). Not all of my illustrations made it in but a good few did and while it's not going to be a huge book and i won't be recieving proceeds just having my pictures in a real book is amazing. I'm a very happy girl :)

Now please go behind the cut to see a big lot of Lush reviews :)

Some Lush Reviews

I was feeling a bit low earlier so i had a really long, hot bath and it made me feel a lot better :) I finished a few Lush things i had been trying, so thought i would do some quick reviews.

Mmm Melting Marshmallow Moment


Lush says:
'Slow melting musky marshmallow marvel. MMM melts into a pink, fluffy waterbed of marshmallow and moisturizing cocoa butter. Each Melting Marshmallow Moment is made with marshmallow herb, which produces a sweet, skin-soothing mucilage that was used to make sugar candies for hundreds of years, and marigold, which is equally calming for your skin. Take your time, savour each moment and have as many marshmallows as you like.'

I tried this in my bath today. You pop this in your bath with yourself when it's full and hot and it melts (shocking considering the name :P) into your bath, though i did have to crumble it a little to help it's on it's way. It's a lovely big pink lump, i got 2 uses out of one melt, you could probably get 3 but it would be more cost effective but a bit 'weak' or if you used the whole one in your bath it would be stronger and probably more effective. This smelled delicious, similar to the creamy candy bubble bar, a sort of sweet, slightly fruity, marshmallow scent. It left a tiny bit of white foam on the surface of the water, but didn't colour the water or anything. The water somehow felt 'softer' but as i used a bunch of other stuff on my skin i can't really tell you if the melt had any effect on my skin itself. The smell was nice and strong in the bath but did not linger on my skin (could also be because of all my other soaps and things i used). It was a really nice bath thing, and really relaxing, i would definately buy it myself (this one was a gift from my friend) but i do prefer bubble bars, because bubbles are always fun! One of these is £3.50 which i think is reasonable, especially as you can definately get at least 2 uses out of it (unless you want a really concentrated bath) and it's a really lovely product.

Space Girl


Lush says:
'Here comes a ballistic of astronomical proportions. We were inspired by The Imagined Village's intriguing interpretation of Space Girl from their second album, Empire & Love. It's shaped like Saturn with added space dust for our alien friends, and the refreshing scent of blackcurrant sweeties will make you hungry for your own space adventures. Space Girl is stellar, just remember your blaster and your freezer gun.'

This is a fun product, i love it's flying-saucer shape and it smells amazing. This is a bath bomb, so you pop it in your bath when it's run and it spins around fizzing madly until it disappears into nothingness. It really does smell like blackcurrant sweets with a hint of bergamot, i think it's absolutely delicious, i love sweety-smells. I was a little bit disappointed because when i read the description i thought that when it said it had added 'space dust' it meant it had popping candy in it (space dust used to be a brand of popping candy over here :P ) and it doesn't. The ballistic also has a bit of glitter on the outside, but there isn't enough for it to glitterfy you like their old Fairy Jasmine used to. It does however leave your bath a nice deep greyish purple. I do like bath ballistics as the fizzing is fun but i don't like them as much as Lush's other bath products as the effects (other than colouring the water and the scent) are short lived, whereas the bubble bars and bath melts stay in the water with you. This is £1.85 which i think is pretty reasonable, though you only really get one use out of it. I think all of Lush's bath ballistic are nice luxury items to pamper yourself occaisionally.

Coolaulin conditioner:


Lush says:
'Coconut conditioner for dry, curly or processed hair. Coconuts fresh from the tree are completely different from the ones we find in the west. Their milk is amazingly nutritious and is used for all kinds of tropical beauty and medical treatments; coconut flesh is soft, calming for the body and softening for the scalp and hair. Our Coolaulin conditioner has a load of coconut milk and fresh coconut flesh to make dry, curly and processed hair soft and shiny. Exotic, Eastern essential oils of vetivert and benzoin gum calm irritated scalps. It's been with us for eleven years and is still going strong.'

I purchased just a little 100ml bottle of this for £3.25. I don't really know what to say about this. My hair is dry, processed and curly so this should have been perfect for me. It's not a bad conditioner at all, it left my hair soft and smelling lovely (though to me this doesn't smell like actual coconut, it's sort of nuttier in a way) but really just wasn't all that special. I generally just use regular drugstore brands of shampoos and conditioners (anything not tested on animals, my favourite is Original Source's White Pear and Avocado for reference the price is £1.96 for 250ml) and i really couldn't see or feel any difference after washing my hair with this. It's nice, works fine, nice to know the conditional is handmade with fresh ingredients, organic and smells good, but i really personally don't think the price is justified as, to me, there was no real difference between this and a normal, cheaper conditioner. I Would not buy it again but might try another one of their conditioners.

American Cream Conditioner:


Lush says:
'Double-strength conditioning cocktail. American Cream was inspired by a vision of 1950s US milk bars, bright red-leather-and-chrome, neon-lit cafes, where teenagers would meet and drink frothy, fruity, thick, creamy milkshakes. Our fruity, creamy conditioner is what the girls would have used to make their hair soft and strokeable before going out on a date, dressed up in their bobby socks and circular skirts. The scent of honey, vanilla, strawberries and oranges is so sexy and sweet that dates can't stay away. If your hair gets a bit messed up, American Cream makes it easy to brush through and smooth out again.'

This is much, much the same as the Coolaulin conditioner, a good conditioner but nothing special. However this one smells better to me, though i don't get any fruit scents coming though, to me it smells of vanilla with honey and possibly some sort of wine. This is slightly more expensive at £3.80 100ml. It was nice to try it but i wouldn't repurchase just because i don't think it is worth the money.

Crème Anglaise


Lush says:
'Creme Anglaise is made with some of the finest ingredients available. We've used toning sweet orange oil and moisturising natural butters blended into an almond infusion. An infusion of saffron, the world’s most expensive spice, gives it the authentically golden colour of real Creme Anglaise. This hand and body lotion will lavish a new kind of luxury on your skin and make you proud to be British.'

Now i'm going to be honest from the start. I HATE the smell of this and in no way would have picked it up of my own choice, but i was given a little sample pack the last time i shopped at Lush and a small pot of this was included, so i thought i would wear it to see how it works. Smell is a personal thing, lots of you reading this will probably love the scent but i find it quite horrible. To me it smells like cocoa butter that's gone a bit 'off'. I tried it on and it's a really nice body lotion, it sinks in easily without any greasiness or tackiness and then made my skin feel really silky and soft. It almost felt 'powdery' as if i'd used talcum powder or something. It is a good lotion but i wouldn't say it's amazing, my skin felt nice but very similar to the feeling it takes on after i use any sort of body moisturiser. The smell does linger on my skin quite stongly, if you like the smell this would probably be good, but as i don't like it i wish it didn't :P This stuff is damn pricey at £25 for 220g (probably that expensive Saffron, though oddly mine was just a light creamy shade, not yellow at all) so i would definately suggest, even if you try it in store and like the smell, you ask for a sample to test at home before you buy the sample. The sample i got was enough for my whole body apart from part of my back, but as it came in a sample set you'll probably get a slightly bigger one. I personally would never buy this, even if i liked the smell and the lotion was the most amazing thing i'd ever tried simply because i would never pay £25 for a smallish pot of body lotion. As it is i think the lotion is nice, but nothing special, and i don't like the smell at all.

Lush Review - Marilyn

It pains me to write this review. I am a huge fan of Lush, as you may have gathered through some of my recent hauls and my current giveaway, and on the whole i love their products. This one however i cannot possibly give a good review for. But do remember that everyone will have different results so while it didn't work for me it doesn't mean it won't work for you.

Lush describes Marilyn so:
'Softness, brightness and shine for blonde hair. Marilyn is for blondes who would like to stay blonde and become even more so, in a gentle, shiny and natural way. It's not good for your hair to bleach it, so we suggest that you use The Blonde shampoo, then use Marilyn pre-wash conditioner as a regular top-up. We make it with softening linseed gel, chamomile for lightness and to calm your scalp, saffron for golden colour, lemon for shine and olive oil to moisturize your hair. It also lightens hair gradually. All things come to she who waits.'

This retails for £7.60, generally i wouldn't spend so much money on a hair product but i wanted to test out Lush's haircare products as previously i had only tried soaps, bubble bars and other nice smelling bits for in the bath, also i bought this during the 'spend £20 get tonnes o freebies' time, so it seemed like a better deal than buying it another time. This is marketed as a 'Hair moisturiser', used on dry hair before shampoo or conditioner to soften and tame hair. This one is specially designed to help blonde hair. As i am complete bastard Monroe complete with peroxide curls the consistency of straw i figured this would be perfect to control the zombie hair.

So i eagerly scooped into the creamy coloured goop (it smells a bit like tea to me) and slathered it on my head. I don't have long hair, it's not shoulder length yet, and to get the majority of my hair covered (i didn't put much on my roots) used about a quarter of a pot. The pot tells you to 'apply a lot' but i didn't want to because i'd already used so much i didn't want to 'waste' any more. I was a bit disgruntled by the amount i'd used, as £7.60 for 4 washes didn't really sound like a good deal to me.

I left it on my hair for approximately half an hour each time i used it, then rinsed it out and washed, conditioned and styled as usual.

The first time i used it i didn't see any difference at all from after my usual hair washes (using just shampoo and conditioner) but figured maybe it would just take a couple of washes to make an effect. And well i was right.

Somehow this stuff made my hair even more dry and unmanageable than before! I don't understand how, but after every use of this my wet hair would have managed to knot itself together and felt drier than before! It also seemed to break more and was a lot more difficult to style. In fact it made my hair feel so bad i took to drenching my hair in leave-in conditioner after each washing. And i didn't see any lightening, brightening or added shine.

So basically i paid £7.60 for something i only got 4 uses out of and made my hair feel and look worse than usual :/ personally i can't recommend this at all and i definately wouldn't repurchase.

Haul!!

Ok like i said in my last post i've been very very naughty recently.
Firstly i got some bits from Asos:




Models own lip glosses in blackberry, fuschia and red.

The Asos/Ciate nail paints were only £1.50 each! I got all 3, Mary Kate which is A black with gold sparkles, pixie which is a sort of racing green colour (it looks much lighter and brighter in the pot than when you swatch it) and Agyness which is a sparkly purple. I realised Agyness is basically exactly the same as my Barry M vivid purple, so if anyone would like this i'll sell it for £2 including shipping in the UK (i've only swatched it once. On asos it would be £3.50 including postage).
I also got some gorgeous tights that were in the sale (they're gold and black and sort of a houndstooth design). I also got 3 Models Own lipgloss and nail polish sets in red, fuscia and red/black (you can see the red/black set is in it's case) which also included a nail buffer thing and were £4 each. The red and fuschia lipglosses are gorgeously opaque but the blackberry one is sheer, also the red/black polish is a dupe of my Barry M red/black colour so again if anyone would like this set it's yours for £5 including shipping (and also i'll be donating 10% of anything i sell for a while to Haiti). Finally the only thing that wasn't in the sale was the Urban Decay lip primer potion, but even then i got a discount as there is an Asos 20% code :) Haven't tried this yet but will keep you posted.

Then I went into town to get something secret for my Goomba's valentine gift and ended up getting far too much for me!

Firstly i went a bit mad for nail polish in superdrug. I've gotten really into nail varnish at the moment, i'm absolutely desperate for some China Glaze and color club, but as i cant afford the shipping from the US at the moment i thought i'd stock up on some cheap drugstore brands. The collection 2000 polishes were under £2 each and go on really nice and opaque. I also discovered a secret clearance stash of old Urban Decay polishes (they must have been hidden in the stock room, i don't even remember when my superdrug sold UD!) so i got 3 of them for £1.99 each. I also picked up a collection 2000 base coat/ridge filler that isn't pictured.


From left to right the colours are:
collection 2000 Hot Looks: Wham (a light grey), hoola hoop (a sort of bubblegum pink), minx (a pinky-purple glitter), vixen (a fuschia glitter), BMX bandit (a kind of cornflower blue, love the name!), button moon (a very pale blue with a slight green tinge. Again wonderful name!).
Urban Decay: Trip (a bright fuschia pink with slight blue pearl), X (a sort of brown/purple/gold duochrome) and finally Freakshow (which is purple with green and blue duochrome).

and here are swatches of all the polishes, including the ones from Asos. A lot of them look awful, they're gorgeous in real life. Annoyingly the 2 i'm hoping to sell don't look anything like they do in real life so if you're interested please tell me and i'll try and take a better photo!:



Models own red/black, red alert and foxy fuschia, Asos/ciate paints in pixie, agyness (looks dark grey here, actually a metallic purple) and mary kate (which has gold shimmer in real life you can't see at all here), Urban decay in X, trip and freakshow, collection 2000 hot looks in minx, wham, bmx bandit, hoola hoop, button moon and vixen.
Then i got this gorgeous pearl necklace from Accessorize. I've always wanted a necklace with just giant pearls (a bit like Frank n Furters :P) and while this one isn't my perfect version it's pretty close:



And lastly, Lush. Now i know, i know, i have already got enough toilletries to last a year or so, but i couldn't help but grab some of the valentines range and some others of their new products. I was also really really brave and it payed off! I love the sound of their new Turkish Delight shower smoothie but as it's £15 i couldn't possibly buy it without trying it out, so i asked for a sample. Now this might sound like nothing but because of my disability i was literally shaking and on the brink of tears thinking about asking because i was just so scared. But i managed to find the courage and asked and as a reward for my bravery (though of course the lovely guy at the checkout didn't know it was a reward, he was just being nice :P) not only did i get a sample of Turkish Delight, but he gave me a little pack they'd put together which includes their new Creme Anglaise body lotion, Sexy Peel Soap, American cream conditioner and Smitten hand cream. I left feeling really proud of myself :)



Anyway i picked up Love Soap (and of course i had to get it in the gorgeous heart shaped box even though i'm keeping it for myself!), magic mushroom bubble bar, space girl bath ballistic and Happy blooming bath melt and my sample pack :)

So that's all the shopping i'm allowed to do for myself for at least a month! (though internet shopping doesn't count :P) I'll be reviewing most of the things anyway, but if there's something specific you want to know about just leave me a comment :)