Skinthetics Coventry*

I can’t believe we’re already over a week into March, 2019 is really flying by but to be honest I am loving this month so far. It’s full of positive vibes so far, both in my personal life as well as with my blogging. I’m just loving it at the moment, I hope to bring you guys a very happy and positive catch up post towards the end of March.

Last week I was very much hungover after a night out of drinking with my work colleagues, so thankfully this treatment being booked in for the late afternoon was something I was really looking forward to having done!

I’ve never had a facial treatment before so this was a definitely first for me and due to that I wasn’t sure what to expect other than someone rubbing treatments all over my face.

Image taken from Skinthetics.co

Before I talk about the treatment itself, I’ll talk about Skinthetics. They’re a brand new clinic that opened at the start of March, so at the point of writing this post they’ve been open just over a week now. I was invited alongside some of the other Coventry Bloggers to the event last Saturday to partake in one of the many treatments they have to offer.

They’re located in Earlsdon and specialise in laser hair removal, beauty, weight loss, teeth whitening and more! They have so much on offer and it’s amazing!

When I was asked which treatment I would like to try I was offered loads of various different ones which ranged from:

Fibra DFA – a pain free laser hair removal.

T-Shape – body shaping machine that targets fat cells and uneven skin to smooth and tighten the target area.

Iridium – Eye treatment that helps active ingredients penetrate the skin deeper than usual.

Aqua 3 – An amazing facial that is ideal for oil, spot-prone skin and is a deep exfoliator.

I went for the Aqua 3* [GIFTED] treatment as it sounded right up my street due to it being ideal for oily spot prone skin and as it also offers deep exfoliation I really loved the sound of it.  I also found out during the treatment that this works on stretch marks too, which I would LOVE to give a go on the ones in my hips! This is also said to work wonders on acne prone skin too, which I think is amazing!

Whilst I was waiting for my treatment to be started I was reading one of the leaflets and inside it tells you a little more about the treatment, which I have added above as well as below. 🙂

Aqua 3 is a 3 in 1 system where the technology combines the properties of water based peel containing sequential acids with microdermabrasion and the transdermal delivery of cosmetic ingredients.

• Water based peel with sequential acids
• Deep moisturisation with hyaluronic acid
• Restructuring and oxygenating your tissues

When I entered the clinic it looked so clean and fresh, as well as welcoming. It was lovely and when I entered the building Emily (Drained Beauty) who runs Cov Bloggers had just finished her treatment (she had the same as me) so we had a little natter about the treatment as well as some general stuff.

The waiting room is gorgeous and for the grand opening of the clinic Skinthetics had some food and drinks out for people visiting the clinic, as well as some gorgeous cakes! At one point I heard someone ask, “Are they real?” as no one had cut into them throughout the day! I hope they were eaten eventually and also very yummy. 😛

My treatment was due to 4pm but I didn’t actually get seen for my treatment until around 4.30pm due to some communication issues. The clinic waiting room wasn’t exactly huge so I get why there had been those issues. Loads of people suddenly turned up and due to the size of the room it was getting all confusing. The wait was a tad annoying and it took me asking what as happening for me to get seen.

This being said though, the treatment itself and the service that was provided throughout it made up for the half an hour wait.

My treatment was done by the lovely Shahana who was chatty throughout the whole treatment with me, which I really loved! I felt so at ease and relaxed with her and just the fact we bounced on and off each other with conversation made her the perfect beautician for me.

FYI this photo was taken after the treatment, hence the paper being a bit messy on the bed where I’d been lying.

She took me up to the treatment room which was small so there was some privacy for just yourself and the person doing your treatment. There’s various seating so if you did want someone to come in with you you’d be able to. This being said I regret not inviting Dane in with me to take some photos of me during the facial. Again, it’s a lovely size and nothing too spacious.

The Aqua 3 facial treatment requires various different stages, all of which feel as good as the next one! I found a video on the Baldan Group website, who are the company to provide the Aqua 3 equipment and machinery to Skinthetics. I feel like the video will describe so much better than I ever will about the treatment and how exactly it works to leave you skin feeling and looking fresh, bright and silky smooth.

The treatment itself lasted for half an hour, even though I was told an hour originally when the treatment was booked. Either way the treatment was amazing and really did leave me feeling fresh and like a new woman! 😛

Shahana was so lovely throughout the treatment, making sure to let me know each stage of the facial, what it was, what it would do to my skin and even warning me about how each may feel.

The tool on the right is for deep cleansing and was a suction handpiece that had a mixture of water, mandelic acid and salicylic acid which helps to remove surface impurities. This can work on all skin types and sucks out all the dead skin cells, blackheads and whiteheads thanks to how strong the vacuum is. (info taken from Baldan Group website)

The tool on the left is the diamond tool that contains diamond granules to help with mechanical peeling on the thickest of skin. It helps to perform controlled, non-invasive microdermabrasion that can free the skin from the superficial stratum corneum. This improves the appearance and texture of the skin and restores elasticity. (info taken from Baldan Group website)

These both felt amazing on the skin and really did make me feel like I was being pampered, especially the deep cleansing tool. I’d honesty love something like that at home to use on both mine and Dane’s skin once a week! 😛

Now this tool, whilst I thought was going to be my least favourite part of the treatment ended up being my favourite and I’ve actually been craving it since which sounds so odd! 😛

When Shahana was talking me about how this treatment would feel I was worried I’d signed up to something I didn’t mean to. Alas this wasn’t the case. I was told it might feel painful in certain areas, especially my forehead and how it had a slight prickling sensation to it. This sensation was accurate but it wasn’t painful for myself at all and if anything, I didn’t even feel that sensation on my forehead! It was oddly relaxing and satisfying in the way it felt and for a couple of days after the treatment I wanted to feel it again on my skin as it just felt like it woke up my skin a little! It’s like the little dermal roll tools you can buy online but it doesn’t look as scary! 😛

How the tool works is by harnessing the power of the mesoporic handpiece’s transdermal delivery, the skin is restructured by hyaluronic acid and Dermakléb serums. (info taken from Baldan Group website)

The final stage of my treatment before some facial moisturiser was a bubble mask, which reminded me of the Elizavecca milky piggy mask (which you can read about here) and I loved the feeling of the mask expanding.

Throughout the treatment I was told by Shahana how lovely my skin was, which was such a compliment as I love to think I’ve looked after it pretty well the past 29 years. 😛 I asked her how often I’d need treatments and she told me either once a month or maybe even once every two months.

The cost of the treatment can vary depending on your skin so it’s best to have a chat with someone in the clinic to see what the options are for yourself. 🙂 Sorry I’m not able to give you guys a price. 😦

Before without glasses

Before with glasses

Straight after treatment without glasses

Straight after treatment with glasses

5 hours after treatment

5 hours after treatment

5 hours after treatment

24 hours after treatment

A week after treatment aka me sat in bed as I write this post… 😛

So here are some before and after photographs of my skin. I apologise about the amount of photos of my face, as well as the lighting by the way. I was trying to get some better photos but it just wasn’t happening for me. It’s definitely more noticeable in person than what any photo can show. I hope the photo from today helps you guys see how it’s left my skin.

My skin was a tad sensitive for the first couple of hours after the treatment itself but this soon faded and left my skin looking brighter and younger, which was lovely. I asked Dane how he thought I looked after the treatment and him being him I thought he was going to say, “You look the same!” but to my surprise he commented how my face looked fresh faced, plumper and bouncy. His wording was, “I mean if I flicked your cheek it would jiggle.” What a cutie. 😛

I think the only thing I didn’t like in the clinic was if you want to get your teeth whitened it appeared to me that you had to have the procedure done in the waiting room, in front of everyone else when you may have just wanted some privacy. I understand they’re new so this may be temporary but personally, I just wouldn’t enjoy it. It wouldn’t relax me and it wouldn’t add to the experience either. This being said, I didn’t have this treatment so I can’t really fault it… If that makes sense!

Overall I LOVED the treatment I received and it was definitely an amazing and memorable first experience for my first facial. I would love to get more treatments of the Aqua 3 done on my skin in the future as it’s really helped with my breakouts, as well as my oily t-zone.

I’m unsure if this was done to the facial or just the massive shift in the weather but a few days after the treatment my face was really dry on my cheeks and it was uncomfortable. I use tea tree daily to cleanse my skin and I’ve NEVER had a problem with it for the almost ten years of using it on and off. I’m combination skin so maybe on my dry patches on my face (cheeks and chin) this treatment may have been a bit too much for it. The dryness has gone now and only lasted a couple of days, but nonetheless it’s something to be wary of if you have combination skin like I do.

I wouldn’t let this affect my experience though as I honestly loved every moment of the treatment and I highly recommend Shahana for your Aqua 3 facial if you pop to Skinthetics in Coventry for a facial!

As I mentioned near the start of the post you can find Skintentis in Earlsdon, I’ll pop their address, opening times and contact information down below:

The Old Nail Factory

Allard House

28 Moor Street

Earlsdon

CV5 6EQ

Telephone: 01926 629 001

Email: info@skinthetics.co

Opening times:

Monday – Wednesday: 9.30am – 6.30pm

Thursday – Saturday: 9.30am – 7.30pm

Social media:

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

I know this is something different for my blog today, but I hope you enjoyed reading about the treatment I had just as much as I did when receiving it! As I mentioned this was [GIFTED] to me so I’ve popped the * in the title of the post as well as where I mentioned the treatment for the first time.

Would you ever give the Aqua 3 treatment a go? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below.

Until next time all, I hope you have a lovely weekend! 😀

Coventry Bloggers – The Body Shop Event*

Oh man I have been M.I.A. this past week and I am so sorry! I’ve been a mixture of poorly and too busy with personal life to do any blog work.

FINALLY THOUGH I am here and I am talking about an amazing blogger event I attended last Friday, which the gorgeous Emily over at Drained Beauty organised.

As the title reads, this was for the Coventry Bloggers community, which I’m proud to be a part of! I know, I’m not from Coventry BUT Dane is so we both visit the area regularly.

I was so excited for the event and made sure to leave work early so I could get to the event in good time. This is my first (and hopefully not last!) blogger event of 2018, so I couldn’t wait for 4pm to hit so I could leave work and make my way to Coventry.

Can I just say, the weather was so shit as I got off of the train in Coventry, it was chucking it down so I legged it from the station to the town centre. Thankfully it wasn’t raining on my way home, even though I’d bought an umbrella as soon as I got to Primark. MEH!

Anyway! I got to the event with about 15-20 minutes to spare and got to meet the lovely ladies who would be attending the event. I just want to say, the Coventry blogger babes who were at the event are by far some of the nicest I have ever met! I’ve been to many events in the past and whilst I’ve met some absolute beauts, they weren’t as friendly and chatty as the girls were last week.

Not only were the bloggers at the event lovely, but the two members of staff were also amazing. They were approachable throughout the event about all sorts and were thorough whenever they were talking about certain products. So thank you so much girls for holding an amazing event!

Right, onto the event itself now! I’ll be talking about all the new products we heard about, as well as what I got in my cute little goodie bag and what I bought.

The event itself worked out that we would have a nose around the shop, talk amongst ourselves, to one another and the staff all whilst trying certain products.

The first new product we were shown and told about is the limited edition banana range! I’ve already spoken about this on my blog and even reviewed the body yogurt (which you can read here).

Although The Body Shop has banana hair care in their permanent range, the body care is sadly only limited edition and I assume will be around until the Christmas stock is out. I’ll be sad when it goes, especially the body butter and body yogurt.

In the range there’s three items shower cream, body butter and body yogurt. The girls were telling us how banana is great for dry skin due to how rich in potassium they are. This helps to repair and hydrate dry and damaged skin. After hearing about the banana range and how amazing it is, we were offered demonstrations with both the body butter and body yogurt. I would have had a go, but I already own the whole range so I already know how amazing it is!

Before the next demonstration and talk went ahead on another new product, we were left to take ALL THE SELFIES with the banana range! I did a couple myself with two of my favourite products from the range. I cannot tell you how amazing the banana range is and I swear we all need to get a petition started for The Body Shop to keep it forever!

The next products we heard about were new face products that The Body Shop have in stock, as well as some old favourites that not many people know about. The first item we heard about is their liquid peels and they showed us the Vitamin C Glow Revealing Liquid Peel, Drops of Youth Youth Liquid Peel and Drops of Light Liquid Peel. I had a go with the latter and it is pretty cool and yet gross all at the same time!

Sadly I didn’t get any pictures of the demonstration I had on the back of my hand, but I’ve used liquid peels in the past by Korean brands. It’s a gel consistency and the more you rub onto your skin the more it works on the skin to gently peel away any dead skin. It’s gross and satisfying seeing all the gunk that rubs off of your skin! I love using my Korean one once to twice a week and I honestly plan to buy The Body Shop one in the future! This leaves your skin looking and feeling fresh, as well as brighter. I love how there’s the two different liquid peels to choose from. I tried the Drops of Light, but I’m 30 soon so I need the Drops of Youth one me thinks.

Alongside the liquid peels, the girls were also telling us about the new face mask to join The Body Shop’s growing collection! We heard about a couple of the face masks, but the newest member of the family is Mediterranean Almond Milk With Oats Instant Soothing Face Mask.

This face mask is designed for people with sensitive skin and is 100% vegan! This face mask also acts as an exfoliating face mask and reminded me of porridge when I looked at it inside the jar. It helps dry and sensitive skin from feeling tight and itchy, all whilst gently exfoliating your skin to leave you with smooth hydrated skin! I don’t know about you guys, but this is very much needed throughout the winter months, so this will be great to dig out whilst having a hot bath as the weather gets cooler.

I gave this a go in store on the back of my hand and it felt so gentle and the sort of product you would use in a spa. I know one of my friends definitely wants to give it a go after I showed it her, due to the sensitive skin idea! There is nothing worse than having sensitive skin and not being able to use face masks due to that.

The other face mask that the girls were talking about is the Japanese Matcha Tea Pollution Clearing Mask. I’ve wanted to try this since it came out and I had a little look at this face mask on the back of my hand, which felt amazing! I definitely need to give this a go in the future, especially as autumn and winter will be here before we know it.

After we gave the face products a go that the girls spoke about, they were showing us this box with loads of things inside of jars that you can look at. Each jar explains what the item is inside and where it has come from in the world. They also have the cards which explain where EVERYTHING comes from that goes into our products, which I think is amazing! If you visit the Coventry store the girls told me you can ask to see this box and honestly have a look when looking at certain products! It’s really interesting to see where they come from.

BUT an awesome fact one of the girls told me has really stuck with me since then and I’ve been sharing it with everyone I know! Basically Hartley’s sell seedless strawberry jam. Someone at The Body Shop knew this face and asked Hartley’s what they do with the seeds. I can’t remember what Hartley’s said but now they give the seeds to The Body Shop, which goes into their Strawberry Softening Body Polish. How cool is that fact though?!

After that we again got to have a little look around the shop, give the face products a test and take lots of pictures! I went around the bath products and had a nose at what The Body Shop has to offer. I’ve bought some of the bath bombs and bubble bars to try and so far I’ve tried the strawberry one, which I’ll also be reviewing VERY soon!

The last products that the girls told us about were make up related and sadly I didn’t get any pictures of the girls talking about these. I can of course fill you in on what new products we were told about.

The girls were talking about the new Matte Clay Powers that have recently launched, which come in six different shades. Sadly I don’t wear make up like this so these didn’t interest me in the slightest! They look pretty good for the price though and I’m sure they give good coverage too.

Then we were told about the new lipsticks that have recently come into store. I feel bad that I can’t remember for the life of me what they’re called and I can’t seem to find them on their website! They’re matte style lipsticks but with shine and comfort that a matte lipstick doesn’t bring with it. They came in a lovely variety of colours, with mostly nudes, pinks and reds! I sadly didn’t give them a go as I didn’t want to end up buying loads of lipsticks. 😛

However, I did give their Shine Lip Liquid’s a go as the holographic style packing was bringing out the magpie in me!

One of the exciting things we learnt about from The Body Shop girls is that The Body Shop is rolling out 3 for 2 in some stores right now, including the Coventry store as a trial run. This 3 for 2 applies to pretty much everything in the store and will enable people to try all sorts of different products! The 3 for 2 works like most offers of the same name, you pick up 3 products and you get the cheapest free!

 

Sadly I didn’t make the most of this promotion as I’m trying to be good, but I did end up buying one of the Shine Lip Liquid’s, which I have fallen madly in love with and worn ever since buying. I’ll definitely be reviewing this in the future! I picked up Blueberry Chew, which is a gorgeous pink with blue tones and shimmer. It’s definitely a lip gloss. These come in nine different shades, some shimmery and some normal. I would love to pick up more of these in the future!

Then it was time to grab my goodie bag and make my way back to Birmingham. I ended the evening buying 20 chicken nuggets from McDonald’s and going around the local area playing Pokemon GO. Oh how the other half live. 😛

I thought I’d show you guys what I got in my goodie bag as it’s so lovely and perfect for myself. I did want to give some of the products in here a go before writing this post, but sadly I just haven’t had time to. Hopefully in the future I can give them a go and give a proper review!

First of all I’ll show you guys the gorgeous cosmetic bag* I got in my goodie bag! It’s a black bag covered in pink bunnies, writing which says, “Forever Against Animal Testing” and The Body Shop logo.

Inside the pouch are three products, a full size bottle of Strawberry Shower Gel*, a full size tube of Almond Milk & Honey Calming & Protecting Hand Cream* and a travel size bottle of Banana Truly Nourishing Shampoo*.

I’ve used the Strawberry shower gel for about 20 years now and it’s always a fond favourite to have in my shower. Dane loves it so much that he bought 2 massive pump bottles in the sale! So this will go down a treat in my bathroom.

I’ve grown to love the Almond Milk & Honey range SO MUCH recently and I especially love the hand cream. Sadly however it doesn’t do as much for my hands as it could and should. This being said I still use it and use it daily at work.

Finally the banana shampoo has been a love/hate product of mine and Dane’s since we started dating. One minute I love it and what it does for my hair and the next I feel a bit meh about it. Mostly because you pay quite a lot for the product and I don’t feel the price is worth what it does. Sorry The Body Shop! Dane loves it though and these little travel bottles are handy for have for weekends away.

The other goodies I got in my bag came in this cute little pink and white polka dot paper bag. Inside there are loads of little samples, including the Japanese Matcha tea Pollution Clearing Mask*, Mediterranean Almond Milk With Oats Instant Soothing Mask* Vitamin C Glow Revealing Liquid Peel*, Banana Shower Cream* and finally the Banana Body Yogurt*.

I honestly cannot wait to give the liquid peel and the matcha face mask a go over the weekend! I plan to have a proper pamper day on Sunday and these two will be used in that regime. 😛

As I mentioned I bought the Shine Lip Liquid in the shade Blueberry Chew and thanks to my £5 discount voucher, I managed to bag it for £2! Bargain!!! I honestly can’t wait to review this on my blog.

Overall I LOVED this The Body Shop event and I cannot wait to attend more Coventry Bloggers events in the future. Again I want to say a massive thank you to Emily for hosting the event, as well as allowing my brummy self to attend. 😛

I’m going to pop the Coventry The Body Shop Instagram down below, make sure to go and check them out and let the know I said hi! 😀

LoveYourBodyCov

What do you guys think to some of the newbies that The Body Shop are bringing out? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time all, take care and I hope you’re ready for the weekend.

Lush Kalamazoo Beard & Facial Wash – Review

This week I’m handing over my Lush review over to my boyfriend, who is going to be talking about Kalamazoo Beard and Facial Wash, which of course I can’t review considering I don’t have a beard… 😛 Over to you Dane!

Howdy! As you may know I am a man and with being a man it means I have some facial hair. In my need to express my manliness I have wanted my beard to become long and flowing like a wizard’s, or plaited and magnificent like a legendary viking or dwarf. With every attempt at growing facial hair there is always the horrible itchy stage before it starts to really take shape. I always struggle with that and end up shaving it all off or picking it all out at work. It makes it more difficult that I sport the goatee look and need to keep my beard well-groomed and shaped. I have more of a neck-beard than an actual beard and have to work with what I have but I still want that glorious length.
I desperately searched (ahem, Natalee searched) for something to ease the discomfort and spoke to some heavily bearded friends to get some advice on how to get past it. Most said grin and bear it like a man but I prefer the easier route, like most people. Some suggested beard oils but no specific products were recommended and I had no idea where to look. Natalee suggested I have a look in Lush, I was very skeptical at first due to personal views on the brand, but after she went out of her way to grab me a sample of Kalamazoo Beard and Facial Wash I became intrigued and decided to give it a go.

For the first few days of using it I wasn’t that impressed as I was stingy with the amounts I was using. It smelled pretty good and got rid of the mucky and greasy feeling that you usually get when you wake up in the morning. I just thought it was a bog standard face wash, nothing special and I didn’t see what the hype was about the product. Wanting to know what all the fuss was about I decided to use a big dollop of it and really give my face a good scrub and massage to ensure my face took in all the goodness, as well as my facial hair. After I rinsed it off I noticed a hell of a difference! My bit of chin fluff felt like I was stroking a mass of puppies clinging to my chin and my mustache flowed like kittens had nestled under my nose. You may realise I am slightly exaggerating but it did feel really good! It also left my skin feeling squeaky clean, and soft. Hence why I didn’t just go out and buy a small tub of the stuff, but a big tub of it too!

It has a consistency that you would expect from a tub of thick white goo. If you hold the tub upside down it won’t come dripping out anytime soon. It’s a creamy consistency, which means it won’t lather up when you rub it on the skin. Due to how thick this is, a little does actually go quite a long way as it you massage it in but I personally always feel the need to get a little bit extra just to rub into my beard and mustache. To give it that extra bit of time to work its magic I leave it a minute to soak and then rinse it out.

This smells really fruity, which makes a change when it comes to men’s facial wash. They usually have nice smells, yes but they’re always of mint (which I don’t overly like) or something manly. I like my sweet scents, so this was right up my street. It contains pineapple juice, apricot oil, lime oil, and orange oil, which gives it its light fruity scent.
I find it quite comical that this contains pineapple, as we all know that pineapple contains the enzyme Bromelain which is a digestive aid. That’s why when you eat pineapple your mouth feels funky, you’re essentially eating yourself from the inside out. I suppose that’s why it’s used in this wash as it helps eat away all the muck and grease. As well as the flesh-eating pineapple enzyme you will also find almond, apricot and jojoba oils which helps with keeping my face and beard so soft. Yeah I don’t know so much about that stuff, it clearly seems to be working for me though.
As well as keeping my face and beard soft, this has really helped reduce the amount of ingrown hairs I get on my face. Something that Natalee has noticed (considering she is my groomer). I’ve not as of yet found anything that helped my ingrown hairs until now, and all men out there who grow facial hair will know how much of a pain in the arse ingrown hairs can be.

Now I own the tub I make sure to use enough that I am happy with how my face and facial hair feel afterwards. I do think I am using a little too much however, and have cut down how much I’ve been using. I’m not even halfway through the tub and I’ve owned it a month now! That’s pretty good really, especially considering I bought the smaller of the two sizes you can pick up (the bigger tub is pictured here). I first picked up the 100g tub, which cost me £6.75. This does also come in a bigger tub which I picked up recently and is 240g and costs £12.25. At first I regretted not picking up the bigger tub, but I just wanted to test this out at first. My reason for picking up the big tub was so I could keep it at Natalee’s to use whilst there. My beard can feel uncomfortable if I don’t use this product in the morning, which just goes to show how much of an impact it has had on my face and beard, as well as how much I love it.

I don’t know much about many other products so it’s not fair for me to judge and say it is entirely worth it as there may be a cheaper alternative out there that works better, but there most likely is, there always is. For me though, at this present time I am pleased with Kalamazoo Beard and Facial Wash and until someone shoves a new thing in my face to try I will most likely stick with it and recommend it to others to give it a go. Lush do say that you don’t need a beard to use this product, but that it helps, so I’m pretty sure women could try this out too!

A picture of me in my Totoro onesie after using Kalamazoo

So that was Dane’s review of Kalamazoo Beard and Facial Wash! I’m really happy that he has decided to join my Lush reviews, as it is always great to gain a man’s perspective of beauty products like Lush, especially when it comes to products designed specifically for men. He has loved this product since picking it up and I’m really pleased.
Guys, will you be giving this product a go for your beards? Hey, maybe this could be a great Christmas present for parents, siblings, other halves, etc? Let me know your thoughts on it in the comments below!

Until next time, take care all and have a great weekend.

Lush Ocean Salt Face & Body Scrub – Review

Another week, another Lush review! This week I’m talking about Ocean Salt Face And Body Scrub. This is actually a product I have now finished, which I feel sad to say as I loved this scrub! Including this version, this came in four different types and I found it a little trialing to try and decide which one I wanted to buy. I finally settled on the original Ocean Salt, and I’m pretty pleased with my choice.

I first tried this product when my local Lush gave me a sample of this a month before I finally picked it up. I’d always wanted to give Ocean Salt a go, but I worried that it wasn’t for me. I’d heard various people comment on how this was too rough for their skin, sensitive or not, so I of course worried it would be the same for me. I also worried that this wouldn’t last me that long… But more on all that throughout the review.

I bought this scrub towards the end of July, start of August and it’s lasted me just over a month… Something that was rather disappointing. I expected it to last me at least two months like my Soap & Glory Sugar Scrub did. I guess I’m just glad I picked up the bigger size! You can get this in two sizes, 120g for £7.75, or the 250g for £13.95, which is the one I bought. Also as I mentioned previously including the type I bought, you can pick up Ocean Salt in four types, the original, alcohol free, self-preserving, and alcohol free and self-preserving. These are also all the same price as the original, which I think is good. They of course come in the same size tubs too.

As you can see from the above picture, I had used nearly all of this when I took the pictures for this post. I wish I had taken pictures sooner to be honest, but it was only recently I decided I would start this series, as regular readers will know. This is a creamy product that smells really fresh, and reminds me of holidays. It’s white in colour, but when you get a new tub there is some blue swirling and coloured sat on the top, which makes it look really pretty. There is thick, course sea salt throughout this product as well, which makes it great for a good scrub!

Ocean Salt contains lime, coconut, and vodka, which of course gives it that rich holiday type smell. I wouldn’t say you could smell the vodka that much, but when it comes to that sort of scent my nose isn’t all that sensitive to it. If you don’t like that smell however and are thinking of ordering this online, I would advice popping into Lush and giving it a good sniff beforehand, just incase you don’t like it. You can definitely smell the lime throughout this product, something that really appealed to me. It’s a fresh scent and you can smell it on the skin all day long after use.

When using this on both my face and body, I noticed that it would leave behind a sort of moisturising layer on the skin. Nothing too thick and greasy feeling, but just enough to leave me feeling gorgeous and smelling lovely too. If I didn’t use this all over my body, I would definitely use it on my feet, my thighs, my bum, and the tops of my arms to ensure they got a good scrub.

I mostly used this product on my face once a week when I first bought it, and it would leave my skin feeling soft and smooth! I have sensitive skin and I did worry that this may irritate it, but if anything it was really good! Vodka being alcohol is actually really good for spots, so it really did help in that department.

I noticed when I used this on dry skin it did go that little bit further than it would when I used it on wet skin, which might be a reason why it didn’t last me so long… But I don’t see why that should be an issue. This is definitely not a product where a little goes a long way, which was something I was really disappointed about again, especially considering how much it cost.

However after I bought Cup O’ Coffee Face And Body Mask (review here) it was soon replaced and that’s when I decided to use it on my skin as a once a week, or fortnightly treat. Although I love Rub Rub Rub Shower Scrub (review here) more than any other scrub I’ve ever used, this has been used more so than that. Why? I don’t really know to be honest, as Rub Rub Rub to me is the better body scrub. I think the scent reminded me of holidays abroad so much, that I just enjoyed using it more so, especially with the summer season coming to an end.

So, would I buy this again? I don’t actually know. I really loved Ocean Salt, but I didn’t love how long it didn’t last. I guess if I had just used this on my face like I intended to when I first bought it, I would probably still have loads left. So I may pick this up again in the future and make sure I JUST use it on my face, not my body. But that won’t be until I get back from my holiday, or at least when I run out of Cup O’ Coffee, as that is lasting me ages already, and it runs out of date in November! Oops!

Do any of you guys own Ocean Salt, or want to pick it up? If so what do you like about it, and has my review helped you decide whether to buy it or not? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time all, take care and have a great weekend.

Lush Halloween & Christmas 2015 LEAKED! Part Two – Christmas

It’s here! Part two, and it’s going to be a long post. There is more information about the Christmas products than there is about the Halloween ones. Apart from the gifts, everything that is on offer looks to have been leaked, which is pretty exciting! I don’t know what September 15th will hold, but from what I have read from official UK Lush stores on Instagram, the winter range (Halloween and Christmas) will be out at the start of October, SO we have less than a month to wait! Exciting huh?

Without further ado, I’m going to share with you all what we’ll be getting awesome for Christmas this year.

Bath Bombs (and one Bath Melt):

Ignoring the bath melt at the bottom, this is the line up for the bath bombs! Not including Lord Of Misrule (as that’s a Halloween product) there are 10 bath bombs all together, 2 of them being new, whilst the rest are returning products.

I am of course really happy to see that So White is back for another year as it’s my favourite bath bomb from Lush and always reminds me of Christmas time. I remember when it was teeny, but it’s really evolved over the years, which is great to see. Alongside that I’m happy to see the return of Shoot For The Stars, as I loved it when it first came out, but never got to try it last year. I’m also glad to see that Father Christmas and Golden Wonder are back, as I got to try Golden Wonder thanks to the Boxing Day sales, and luckily have one left, which I’ll be using soon! It’s such a gorgeous bath bomb and I’ll be stocking up as and when I can. As for Father Christmas I wanted to try that so much last year as it shares its scent with Snow Fairy, my favourite from Lush! I’ll be making sure I try it this year.

The one product I am SUPER excited about is Yog Nog. Oh my GOD! I loved the soap last Christmas and bought myself some when I did some shopping in Lush, and you know what? I STILL own it. I haven’t used it, and it’s still in the packaging. I intend to start using it soon, but now that there will be a bath bomb out with the same scent, I’ll be buying these up as much as possible. Inside the bath bomb there is a luxury bath oil and also contains some bubble bar grating so this bubbles up when popped into the bath. Isn’t that just the perfect bath bomb???

There is only one bath melt being released this year, which is of course Snow Angel. I’m quite sad to see there will only be one as I really wish Lush would bring back the old Snow Fairy Bath Melt. That was probably one of my favourite Lush products from Christmas in 2009/2010 and they never brought it back. Sad faces all round.

Bubble Bars & Resusable Bubble Bars:

I’m really excited for some of the newbies that are coming our way with the bubble bars! There are 5 altogether, 3 of them being new and all of them sound amazing! I always love the bubble bars that Lush come out with, but this year they just look and sound really lovely.

Every year I love that Lush bring back Candy Mountain, even though it is just a nicer looking version of Creamy Candy. There are quite a few bubble bars that have gone this year, so Lush have had to make sure they replace them with goodies, which they have done! I’m going to be trying ALL the new ones. Five Gold Rings sounds really creamy and delicious, and looks really nifty too. I just hope it isn’t too glittery, otherwise I may just have to leave it… I hate when bath products are glittery, I get covered in it! Peeping Santa is another one which sounds delicious! It sounds like it’ll smell of yummy strawberries, and you can never go wrong with something like that. It would probably go really nice with So White Bath Bomb to give you a fruity bath! Finally the other new bubble bar that I am excited about is Bar Humbug. I’m not the BIGGEST fan of liquorice scents, but I’m pretty sure with Christmas around the corner this will be perfect. I’ll definitely give it a smell before I buy it mind, just incase I don’t like it.

I love reusable bubble bars, and I’m super excited to pick up Magic Wand! I’m sure this has been out previous years but sadly I’ve never bought it before, something I’m going to make sure I do this year! It’s said to share its scent with Snow Fairy, so I can’t pass this product up!

FUN:

I can’t say I am the biggest fan of FUN. I’ve used it before and enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong and really liked it, but I would prefer to pick up other products over FUN. The main thing I love using it for is to shave with. I recently used some of my boyfriends Pink FUN and I loved it. So maybe I’ll see if I like the look of one of these. I can’t really imagine how any of these will smell to be honest, but I’ll be giving them all a sniff, and see what I think. I love how creative you can get with them all though! It makes for something cool to pop into a friends stocking, something I might do with my friends and family.

Shower Gels & Jellies:

If there is one thing that I get excited for every year it’s Snow Fairy Shower Gel. Ever since I can remember I’ve bought at least a tiny bottle of the good stuff to keep me going. I still have my bottle from last Christmas, something I’m probably going to keep for when I go on holiday as a treat to wash with in the evenings before nights out.

I’ll be picking up loads of huge bottles of Snow Fairy to keep me going throughout the year! I’ll also be keeping my eye on it in the Boxing Day sales, I missed out last year, which was a shame. Alongside that I may pick up one of the jellies, I’m unsure at this moment in time as I’ve never been that bothered about Snowman, but Santa’s Belly does sound rather nice for winter! I’ll give them a sniff and see how I feel!

Soap:

I’m never a huge fan of the soap from Lush, as the majority of it leaves me with bad allergic reactions, however there are a couple of the Christmas soaps that I can get away, and I can’t resist either to be honest! There are 5 soaps, only one being a new face this year. Last year I picked up Reindeer Rock and Yog Nog, two soaps I LOVED so much and ones I’ll be picking up again this year. Reindeer Rock smells of The Comforter Bubble Bar, which is really comforting. Yog Nog reminds me of cheesecake, which again is comforting. Old Father Time is the new soap this year, which really isn’t something I’ll be buying, sad to say.

Shower Products:

Bar the roulade, I love everything on this page! Christingle Body Conditioner sounds like a gorgeous and menthol mint conditioner, which will be good for cooling down in the summer, and maybe even in the winter. I love mint scents, and Intergalactic Bath Bomb (review here) will work perfectly with this one before I go out for Christmas parties, or maybe even after a day of Christmas shopping. Either way I really can’t wait to pick this up and I can see me stocking up so I have enough to last me through the year. The Salt And Peppermint Bark Shower Scrub looks and sounds amazing, not to mention delicious. This would be great to use alongside Christingle and Intergalactic to give me a proper minty scent and feel! Icing On The Cake does sound delicious, but I’m not a huge fan of the roulade, so I’ll more than likely give this a miss.

Body:

I’ve never used Dusting Powders before but I’ve always wanted to. Last year I was going to pick up First Snow, but I left it as I didn’t think I would use it in the end. Now that Lush will be bringing out Fairy Dust I’ll be making sure I pick some of this stuff up! I would wear it before nights out, and for days out with my boyfriend. I’d be tempted to buy it and take it on holiday with me to wear in the evenings, something I still might do. I’m so excited to give Fairy Dust a smell though! I can see it flying off the shelves alongside Snow Fairy.

Face & Lips:

I’m not all that fussed about the face and lip products this year, but that’s mostly due to the fact I already own both the lip products from last year and the year before. Although I would love the Santa Baby Lip Tint in the new tube form! I may just pick this up to replace my old tin version. I might try and grab a sample of the Cranberry Festive Fresh Face Mask as I don’t feel it will do much for my skin but it would be lovely to try.

Sadly those are all the Lush Christmas products for Lush 2015! As I have said previously, I can only imagine what America get is exactly the same as what we get too. I hope so anyway as there are some gorgeous products that I can’t wait to get my hands on.

So, now you know what products are out for Christmas, what are you most looking forward to buying? I’ve already stated mine, I want to hear yours. Make sure to let me know your thoughts on the 2015 range in the comments section.

Until next time, take care all and keep those eyes peeled for Lush news!

Lush Halloween & Christmas 2015 LEAKED! Part One – Halloween

I’m super excited to write this post at the moment! I had recently discovered the leaked Halloween products, but in the past ten or fifteen minutes I’ve heard about Christmas leaks, and boy are they good! I haven’t been this excited for Lush Christmas products since 2009! I know it’s probably naughty sharing leaked products with you all, but honestly I am just too on the edge of my seat to wait for an official announcement.

As these leaks are from America, I’m not even 100% sure if we’ll get these over here in the UK, but I’m pretty sure we will, and maybe more considering Lush is from the UK originally. But I just couldn’t help but share, I know a few blogs from over the pond are at the moment, so I don’t see the harm in doing the same. I’ll be talking about which items I’m excited about and why.

I want to say thank you to Golden Glamor for all the pictures and information on these leaks, she’s been very thorough about everything, which is amazing and due to that I have copied and pasted some of her information here, as she just explains it all better than I do! You can read her Halloween post here, and her Christmas post here.

So here it is, Lush Halloween and Christmas 2015, let’s start with Halloween first for part one of this two part post.

I apologise that the picture for this isn’t that great, but it’s the only one that is lurking around the internet at the moment. Lush Halloween this year is mostly Lord Of Misrule themed, which I should have seen coming to be fair! As usual, the bath bomb will be making an appearance, which I think is staying around until after Christmas. There will also be the Oxford Street exclusive shower cream and Aliens and Monsters FUN coming to stores, which is pretty exciting! I’ve never been a HUGE fan of Lord Of Misrule I’m more into my sweet scents, but I want to give it a chance this year. I really do like the smell of the shower gel. Alongside those three there will also be Sparkly Pumpkin Bubble Bar which I’m sure came out last year and has a boozy citrus scent to it. The one product I am most excited about though is the bat shaped shower jelly Nightwing! No one knows quiet yet what it’ll smell of… Hopefully not Lord Of Misrule! 😛 There are rumours it will replace Sweetie Pie for Halloween and smell of blackcurrant. It would be pretty awesome if that were the case, AND if it is I’ll be picking up multiple pots to last me for as long as possible!

So the list includes (thanks to GG for this list):

Lord Of Misrule Bath Bomb
Sparkly Pumpkin Bubble Bar
Lord Of Misrule Shower Cream
Nightwing Shower Jelly
Aliens and Monsters FUN

Of course there will be gift sets too (thanks to GG for this list):

Pumpkin Heebie Jeebie – includes Sparkly Pumpkin and Lord Of Misrule Bath Bomb
Bat Heebie Jeebie – includes Nightwing and Lord Of Misrule shower cream
Firecracker – includes Cinders, Experimenter, and Lord Of Misrule Bath Bombs
Full Moon KnotWrap – a super adorable, spooky knot wrap with a purple moon and bat outlines.

I’m pretty damn excited for Halloween! I don’t know when it’ll be out in the UK, but I imagine towards the end of this month. I know where my earnings will be going. 😉

So now we’ve spoken about Halloween, we can talk about Christmas… BUT due to how big that post is going to be, that will be up on my blog tomorrow. I feel mean making you guys wait, but oh well, it’ll be worth it! It’s going to be a very Lush themed week on my blog this week, but is that really a bad thing?

What do you think of the Halloween products that Lush are bringing our way this year? Are you a Lord Of Misrule fan and mega excited about all the goodies? Or do you hate it, and wish Lush had brought out something different? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time though, take care.

Lush Cup O’ Coffee Face & Body Mask – Review

If there is a Lush product I have been super excited about, it’s this, Cup O’ Coffee Face And Body Mask. I was meant to pick this up in London when I visited the Oxford Street store, but I never got around to it. I never even picked up a sample! I had heard nothing but good about this, so I was pretty sad that I was missing out on such an amazing product. SO when Lush announced that this would be coming out for Lush’s summer collection in all stores in the UK, I visited my favourite Lush store and picked it up, the DAY it came out. So I couldn’t wait to review this for you guys.

I’ve been using this face mask for three to four weeks now and I can safely say that I really have seen a difference in my skin, and one I really love. This face mask comes in two sizes, 150g pot for £6.50 which is the one I picked up, or a larger 325g pot for £12.00. I wanted to pick up the larger of the two tubs so that it would last me ages, but I didn’t bother considering this only lasts three months, whether you open it or not. This also means it’s a longer lasting face mask than the usual Lush face masks which tend to only last a week to three weeks. I’m also glad I only picked up the smaller tub as this so far has lasted me ages, a little bit really does go a long way!

One thing I want to say about this face mask is, if you don’t like the smell of coffee, then I recommend you at least give this a sniff in store, and get a sample to try before you buy. I love the smell of coffee, and to be honest I have to at least love the smell of burnt coffee by now considering I smell it at my job everyday. That is exactly what this smells of, strong, burnt coffee. It isn’t the nicest smell in the world, but I rather like it.

The texture of this face mask is really odd, but somewhat nice too. It’s a thick sticky mask that you really need to dig your fingers into. As I mentioned before, a little goes a long way and due to how thick it is you don’t need to really apply much to get a nice layer of mask on the face.

I leave this on for 10 minutes, maybe 15 depending. This is a pretty messy face mask, and one I tend to use in the bath due to this. It rinses off better and you can lie back and relax with a good book, something on YouTube, or like me, South Park on my iPad, or Kardashian Hollywood on my iPhone… FYI I hold my phone over the bath! I’m not stupid. 😛

So onto what is in the face mask, other than coffee of course. Ground coffee is good for the skin as it evens out skin tone, and helps with cellulite, which is why this is also a body mask. You can use this on your thighs to get rid of any cellulite. Something I need to try myself! It also contains cocoa extract to help keep the skin soft and smooth.

When I rinse this off my skin looks bright, and feels soft and smooth. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a quick change in my skin after using a face mask until now. This is definitely a weekly staple for me, whilst also being a gorgeous weekly treat that I use midweek.

This sadly doesn’t share it’s scent with anything from Lush. I wish it did, as I love the smell of coffee… As I said previously.

I’m just so damn happy that this is now no longer an exclusive. It’s done really well so far sales wise, and on the day it was released on the website, the small tub sold out in hours! Amazing, huh?

What do you think of Cup O’ Coffee? Is it on your wish list, or have you already bought it? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

I’m currently on my way to the Lake District for August Bank Holiday. But until next time all, take care and make sure to have a good weekend too!