Father's Day - Stairway to Heaven soap

Stairway to Heaven

Firstly, I apologise for the extreme lack of posts throughout the whole of April. I don't have a phone currently, and my laptop keeps turning off on its own. So, this will be a short post, as I'm too scared to type too much in case it gets lost in the no-man's land of the internet world.

So, something I am super excited about this month is the launch of Lush's Father's Day exclusives! You can see everything on the website, I have added a link above to the one product I am most excited about this year - Stairway to Heaven soap. The reasons for this are pretty straightforward: I have been a Led Zeppelin fan for most of my life, due to my dad listening to them as I was growing up; It's a fucking massive guitar!!! (excuse my language. But click on the link and I'm sure your reaction will be the same); and, obviously as I work at Lush, we get things in before they are launched and we have training sessions etc, so I was lucky enough to have a smell of this soap and it is TO DIE FOR. I am a fan of the bergamot scent, and the rose absolute really compliments it. With the ingredients in this soap I am sure it will be good for sensitive skin like mine, so I can't wait to try it.

If my dad is lucky enough I may grab him some too, what with being the one to introduce me to Led Zeppelin in the first place!

(p.s - the Father's Day gift boxes are awesome too!)

x

Ocean Salt - face & body scrub

Ocean Salt is my favourite exfoliating product that Lush currently produce. This is mainly due to the fact that I fell in love with it's scent the first time I used it, and it's addictive; a mix of grapefruit, seaweed, lime, and violet leaf work together to awaken the senses.

Avocado butter and seaweed absolute work together to soften, while course and fine sea salt gently but thoroughly scrub away any dry or dead skin. Lime then works to brighten the complexion, leaving your face and body feeling refreshed and ready for whatever life has to throw at it.

I find that Ocean Salt really helps with two main problem areas of mine: patches of dry skin on my face, and ingrowing hairs on my legs. I also have found that this scrub is great for when you're feeling as though you need a really thorough clean, such as after exercise or even a stressful day at work. It genuinely leaves me feeling new and revived.

Ocean Salt comes in several different versions: Ocean Salt; Alcohol-Free Ocean Salt; Self-Preserving Ocean Salt; and Alcohol-Free Self-Preserving Ocean Salt. The alcohol used in the original formula for Ocean Salt is vodka, used to infuse the fresh organic lime. All four versions are on the Lush website, with their ingredients listed beneath.

So if you are looking to brighten your skin, or just feel more awake in the mornings, Ocean Salt is definitely worth a go!

SHOWER JELLIES!

Today's post is brought to you by the fact that I am moving house soon (exciting!), and that I am going to have to bid farewell to my bath (booo!). Our new house is going to be perfect...except it only has a shower room as opposed to a bathroom. Granted, the shower is big, but I will have to halt my bath bomb obsession for a long while. This, as you can well imagine, has upset me quite a bit. However, I am trying to stay positive and have decided that, rather than dwelling on the lack of bath bombs in my future years, I am going to concentrate on the amazing shower goodies that Lush have to offer!

There are many colourful bottled, potted, and naked products in Lush's shower range, for those among us who aren't lucky enough to have a bath, or maybe even prefer a quick wash 'n' go shower situation to a long, wrinkle-inducing soak in the tub. I have decided to start my shower endeavours by taking a look at, and playing with, Lush's really funky invention: The Shower Jelly!

There are quite a few different shower jellies available online and in stores, Whoosh (pictured above) being one of the more readily available, all year round jellies. Whoosh has secured the number one place in my heart when it comes to jellies, granted I have only tried a few as I've always been more of a bath gal, but the oceanic scent of it is beautiful. Grapefruit, Lemon, Lime and Rosemary combine to give a fresh, uplifting fragrance, not to mention the brightening properties for the skin.

Shower jellies are made with Carrageenan Extract, basically an extract of seaweed! So great for the hair and skin, and also the environment. There's a page on this ingredient on the Lush website: https://uk.lush.com/ingredients/carrageenan-extract .

A great bonus with Shower Jellies is they are multi-use. You can rub them between your palms and use the lather to wash your body and hair, alternatively you can hold them under the tap when running a bath, and they make a great solid bubble bath! They are also a fantastic idea for kids, my toddler calls them "wobblies" and loves to throw them around in the bath. At work the shower jellies are located close to the till, they always seem to bring the kid out in people, who take the opportunity to give the demo jellies a little poke to make them wobble.

The Shower Jellies come in two sizes, 100g and 240g, and they last and last, until eventually they start to break apart a little. I have had one 100g shower jelly last me months before, and I have daily baths, so these are great value for money.

Another great bonus is the fact that the clear tub which the jelly comes in actually counts towards the five black pot scheme which Lush promotes. (Bring in five clean pots and get one fresh face mask free.)

Feel free to comment, which is your favourite shower jelly? x

Lush Kindness

This photo is a bit of a throwback to last year, in February 2016 I took a trip to my local Lush in Cheltenham, basically it was my husband's idea to spoil me for my 25th birthday. I was heavily pregnant with my youngest daughter and was definitely in need of some goodies! (This was just before I started to work there.)

The super lovely staff at Lush Cheltenham overheard that it was my birthday and slipped a 100g bottle of It's Raining Men honey shower gel into my bag, sneaky! This little card was at the bottom of the bag and I genuinely welled up when I read it, that could have been the pregnancy... but I was so happy. I had never tried this shower gel before, and now it is still my favourite all year round shower gel. It's so thick and very sweet, the honey also makes it very moisturising, so much so that I can also use this in my hair.

This is just another reason why I love Lush as a company.

Lush bags - 2017

Can we just take a minute to appreciate Lush UK's pretty floral bags this springtime?

The main focus for Lush this season is Self-Preservation, basically making as many products self preserving as possible, which means eliminating synthetic preservatives and replacing them with natural preservatives, such as honey, salt, clays, and powders. The paper bags are basically depicting the honey part of this movement.

One big bonus is these pretty bags are environmentally friendly and FREE. Yet another reason to love shopping at Lush!

Birthday Lush Haul!

It was my 26th birthday over the weekend, and I am pleased to announce that I indulged in my biggest and most impressive Lush haul to date! I was lucky enough to purchase £256 worth of bath and body goodies! My main aim was to really pamper myself, but keep it fun; so no essentials (toothy tabs, deodorant, etc.) and I made sure I kept to bath bombs, bubble bars, hair goodies, and shower gels that I hadn't tried before.

As I'm sure a lot of you already know, Plum Rain Shower Gel is now in stores! It was a kitchen exclusive up until now, and I have been lucky enough to purchase a 500g bottle from Lush Cheltenham. I will be reviewing it asap, I am currently at my mum's house in Wiltshire with my two daughters until tonight, so I will promise to get back to blogging as soon as I get home! Also, my phone has decided to refuse to turn on, so I am currently blogging on my mum's laptop. Everything is working against me but I am being stubborn as I need to let you guys know how amazing all of my birthday goodies were. HINT: Plum Rain is addictive.

I also purchased two good chunks of soap on my birthday: Serendipity, Lush's super lavender-y soap, and Sultana of Soap, the beautiful creamy-white one covered in apricots and sultanas. I think it's safe to say that Sultana of Soap is now my favourite Lush soap to date, and I will review it and Serendipity over the next week.

On a more personal note, my thoughts go to my mum who is currently going through a scary health struggle, and is giving up vaping. Wish her luck!

x

Big Blue Bath Bomb

Big Blue.

Anyone who knows me will know how much I love this bath bomb, I tell pretty much everyone who comes into our Lush shop and pretty much everyone who has tried it will agree with me, it's so relaxing.

This bath bomb was a lifesaver when I was going through my two very recent pregnancies. I really did struggle, but it all was okay when I got to have my Big Blue bath at the end of the day.

The sea salt in this bath bomb helps to soothe aching muscles, the lavender oil is so relaxing, and the seaweed softens the skin. Not to mention the beautiful deep, bright blue the bath turns once the bomb starts fizzing away; I wouldn't change a thing about Big Blue.

I think my real love affair with this bath bomb began when my husband treated me to a massage at the Lush Spa in Bath, back in 2015. He had bought me The Good Hour treatment. Before the massage began, the spa therapist dropped a Big Blue into a big jug of dry ice, coating the treatment room floor with a thick layer of ocean scented mist. It was to die for. Now every time I use Big Blue, I am reminded of the most relaxing experience of my life.

Big Blue, I love you!

Sea Spray Hair Mist

Wanna have beach hair? Then look no further, Lush's Sea Spray will accentuate any natural wave or curl with just a few quick sprays.

My go-to hair product when I am in a rush (which is most of the time with two very small children!), Sea Spray is a beautiful product which takes bed hair or frizz and makes it beautiful! I can personally vouch for this...

It's also great for adding volume to limp, lifeless hair, this is due to the fine sea salt it contains.

A 100g bottle lasts my husband and I around three or four months. Yes, my husband uses this every day, it makes his hair smell amazing so I'm not going to complain!

Neroli oil is scientifically proven to increase serotonin production in the brain, making you feel uplifted and motivated, while grapefruit and rosewood oil give your hair a beautiful, fresh scent which lasts all day.

Sea Spray is also vegan, and obviously cruelty-free. So there is absolutely no excuse not to try it!

Oral Pleasure Toothy Tabs

Probably the most awkwardly named product while talking to fellow lushies and new customers, for obvious reasons, let's talk about Oral Pleasure!

My current favourite out of the large range of toothy tabs, Oral Pleasure are the purpley colour toothy tabs which taste of passionfruit. Toothy tabs are a self-preserving, kaolin-based alternative for toothpaste. Just chew, brush, and spit! They foam up like little mini mouth bombs, and leave your mouth feeling super clean.

One amazing fact I learnt while working was that the Electric Daisies Tincture in Oral Pleasure toothy tabs actually help with toothache or sore gums, as they are a natural analgesic!

These little tablets taste so much better than conventional toothpaste, with rose oil, almond oil, sweet wild orange oil, and fair trade vanilla absolute, they are perfect if you have a sweet tooth.

And in 100% recycled and recyclable bottles, these little toothy wonders are great for the environment!

Give them a go, they come in a variety of flavours, from mint to lime to charcoal!

Golden Slumbers Bath Bomb

Anyone who knows me will know I am obsessed with the all year round Big Blue bath bomb. So when I bought the Lush Spa gift last year I was so happy to find the Golden Slumbers bath bomb in the box! It smells very similar to Big Blue, due to the lavender oil, but it couldn't look any different in the bath.

It is SO glittery. To be honest, I am writing this while in a golden slumbers bath...I have to be at work in an hour and a half! And I am covered in a golden shimmer. It's beautiful. Any fans of mermaid water? (Big Blue + Sunnyside)...you HAVE to try this.

Golden Slumbers is currently available to buy on the Lush website at https://uk.lush.com/products/all-exclusives/golden-slumbers . However, I just checked and it is currently out of stock. *sadface*. I will, however, keep checking on it for anyone who is interested to know when it is back in stock.

Below is a photo of Golden Slumbers inside of the bath, then one before it was in the water. I have also attached a photo of my published review for Golden Slumbers, which can be seen on the website.

Overall, I'd give this bath bomb a 9/10. The only downside being, I wish it smelt slightly stronger. 

Yuzu & Cocoa liquid perfume

As mentioned in the previous post, last month I purchased a 30ml bottle of Yuzu & Cocoa liquid perfume from the Lush Kitchen. I chose to buy this alongside the Rose Jam liquid perfume as, judging from similar existing Lush products which share the same scents, I was expecting the two perfumes to be very contrasting scents. I couldn't have been any more correct, and in such a good way. Where Rose Jam is floral and relaxing, Yuzu & Cocoa is citrusy and uplifting. It's a real pick-me-up for those sluggish days.

When I first took it out of the box I loved the simplistic labelling and bottle. And what really caught my eye was it's dark caramel colour, I really wasn't expecting that! Maybe because the bubbleroon and shower gel of the same name are bright yellow? I don't know, all I do know is I like it. There's something really warming about how it looks in the transparent bottle and how the natural light reflects golden tones from it.

As much as Lush likes to describe Yuzu & Cocoa as chocolate orange, that is not what I can smell at all. The bubbleroon, shower gel, and now the perfume, all smell very tropical and coconutty to me.

The scent lasts all day. One or maybe two sprays are enough. It is very overpowering, to the point where I would probably advise against three or more sprays. Mainly because the one time I did it was quite sickly and I had to wash it off...silly me. Due to this I would give this perfume an 8/10.

I am in love with this fruity fragrance and I really hope it makes it's way back to the kitchen some day soon.

Ingredients:
DRF Alcohol
Perfume
Bergamot Oil
Cocoa Absolute
Tonka Absolute
Grapefruit Oil
Benzyl Alcohol
Citral
Coumarin
Limonene
Linalool

Rose Jam liquid perfume

As I'm sure a lot of you fellow Lushies already know, the Lush Kitchen did an exclusive perfume week last month, and I was lucky enough to have the chance to buy two 30ml liquid perfumes: Rose Jam, and Yuzu & Cocoa!

With p&p, these totalled at just above £60. Personally, I think this was quite the bargain, and they arrived around 3 days after I ordered them! I was a very happy bunny.

First, I shall concentrate on the Rose Jam perfume. At first glance, I loved the very classical, plain bottle and labelling, a real contrast to the bright labelling of the non-exclusive Gorilla perfumes.

Out of the two, I was most excited to try Rose Jam, as I am in love with the shower gel and bubbleroon. I was worried it might not smell exactly as I'd imagined, mainly due to the fact that Imogen Rose, of the all year round range, smells very smoky on me. However, to my delight, Rose Jam perfume smells identical to the shower gel. It's sweet and floral, sweet enough for it to not smell too "granny-ish", but floral enough for it to be very calming and relaxing.

The scent lasts all day. And I mean, all day. One or two sprays is enough, which is what I love about Gorilla perfumes.

I would give this perfume a solid 10/10.

I hope for everyone's sake that this comes back into the Kitchen so everyone who hasn't enjoyed it already will have the chance to.

Ingredients:
DRF Alcohol
Perfume
Rose Absolute
Geranium Oil
Rose Oil
Sicilian Lemon Oil
Citral
Eugenol
Limonene
Linalool
Citronellol
Coumarin
Geraniol

Vintage Knotwraps

*sigh* O' knotwraps. How I love thee...

Lush Knotwraps. The versatile decoration/handbag/wrapping/scarf/headscarf amazingness. Knotwraps are an absolute must-have for me now. I wear one in my hair most days. I now own around ten, not nearly enough.

So you can buy knotwraps in store, both separately or if you want something wrapped it can be made into a cute little parcel with a bow and a gift tag! Or you can purchase one online, either pick your design or opt for a lucky dip with a vintage knotwrap! I have never been disappointed.

At a cost of around £4.50 (depending on whether it's vintage or seasonal), knotwraps come in all sizes/materials/colours/patterns. So you can be sure that you'll find the perfect one for you. One thing that is also certain is that every knotwrap is 100% recycled and ethical.

You can reuse them in so many ways, like I said, I basically live in mine. They're great for bad hair days (which, in my case, is every day.).

So if you're umming and ahhing about whether or not you should give them a go, I would urge you to try. And if you're not sold? -wrap the next birthday present in it and save the planet!

Peace,
Jade
x

Oh, and bonus points if you noticed the Caca Rouge shade of henna in my hair...

Bath Bomb Cocktail!

If anyone was wondering what my background photo is ...

It's THINK PINK vs INTERGALACTIC!

Bath bomb cocktails make the most beautiful bath art. Once these two had completely fizzed into the bath I was left with a dark purple, sweet yet minty scented water. The best part? -the swirling love heart confetti and chunky gold glitter!

This one was a real pick-me-up. And a really fun idea for kids (or the kid at heart!).

Welcome!

Thank you for visiting my blog! This is my very first post ever, so I'm guessing I will label it as an introduction.

First of all, I'll do a quick little obligatory "about me" bit. My name is Jade, I am a mother to Evelyn and Forest, my two beautiful daughters. They're both under three years old so my life is pretty hectic right now to say the least! I have a wonderful husband of three years, Scott, he is my absolute rock, he's really helped to push me to follow my passions and is the main reason I am working for Lush in the first place. Scott is a very talented human, he's a tattoo artist working from Seven Swords studio in Cheltenham, UK. His full name is Scott Owen, you should probably give him a little follow on whatever social network you prefer (cheeky little name drop there!).

Now, a little bit about my love for Lush. I have shopped at Lush Cosmetics for almost a decade. When I was a teenager my nearest Lush shop was in Bath, back when it was a lot smaller and was located on the corner, but it was about an hour from my hometown so it was only a special occasions situation. Nowadays I am a lot luckier. I live just outside of Cheltenham, around a fifteen minute drive to my nearest Lush, and the place I now call work! I have now visited quite a few Lush shops around the country, one of my favourites being the first ever Lush shop in Poole! My husband and I visited 29 High Street on our second wedding anniversary in 2016, the staff were incredibly lovely, the Gorilla Perfume section was to die for, and they even gave me a personal tour around the new spa! Oh, and they gifted me a beautiful polkadot vintage knotwrap. I was in love!

I have been working for Lush for about six months now, I applied to work there when Forest was only eleven weeks old, and I was lucky enough to be chosen! There were a lot of people at the interview, I'm taking around thirty people, and only three of us were chosen. Due to my lack of flexibility because of being a mother of two babies, I didn't think I stood a chance. But this was my first lesson about Lush as a company, they really value individuality and passion. I believe it was my genuine passion for the company's ethics and for the products themselves that got me the job. I thought I knew a lot about the products, but I'm still always learning something new and exciting every day.

My overall goal with this blog is to help people decide on what products would be best for them, as I know I've searched high and low on the Internet before to try to find what would be best for my sensitive, combination skin, and dry, frizz-prone hair, and I aim to give an educated and honest opinion in the hope to give others a bit more of a fun and exciting glimpse into the world of Lush and how it too can improve your life!

Any feedback on my reviews would be amazing; I hope to post as often as possible. In the meantime, have an awesome day and I hope to get a visit from you again super soon!

Jade (the one in the amazing photo of an even more amazing fresh face mask, Ayesha)
x