Thursday, December 12, 2013

A Lush-ful Christmas

As the holiday season is upon us, one of my must-visit stores is Lush. 

Although some people may find Lush stores overwhelming with its strong scents, colours and myriad of products, that is precisely what I love about the brand. Every time I step into a Lush store, I feel like a 5-year old in a candy store, in awe of all the vibrant colours, delicious scents and always excited to discover new products that are fun and effective. 

Lush has always made me excited about the holiday season, may it be Halloween or Christmas. I am always eager to discover their new seasonal products or restock on my favourite limited edition treats that they bring back each year. And Christmas this year is no exception.

One of the first things that caught my eye was Rose Jam Shower Gel. After a quick whiff in the shop I was immediately sold on this sweet, rose-berry scent. If you are a fan of the amazing Ro’s Argan Body Conditioner, you will love this shower gel. Sporting very similar scents and ingredients to Ro’s, Rose Jam contains nourishing argan oil, rose oil, rose absolute as well as goji berry and Sicilian lemon juice for a skin brightening effect. This shower gel is in a beautiful deep red colour and it truly looks like its namesake when spread on a loofa.

Like most Lush shower gels, the scent of Rose Jam lingers well after your shower. If you are a sucker for sweet rose scents like me, layer on Ro’s Argan. As the scent is quite strong, make sure you give it a good sniff before purchase since Rose scents are not loved by all. 
LUSH Rose Jam Shower Gel
I’ve always enjoyed the Lush Fresh Face Masks (and swear by Catastrophe Cosmetic when I need a quick skin fix) and when I heard there was a Christmas one named after our favourite reindeer I knew I had to have it. Rudolph the red nose face mask is described as “a smoothing, nourishing mask to clam skin from the cold” and contains cucumber, oatmeal and tofu. It’s a mask that is suitable for most skin types  (I have mostly dry skin and a bit of an oily T-zone). 

The first time I applied it I was taking a bath and the hot steam had warmed up the mask so it became runnier then usual. The mask had a cooling effect (probably from sitting in my fridge) and made my skin fairly smooth, but apart from that I was a tad disappointed in its overall effect. It was lacklustre compared to the amazing results I had when I first tried Catastrophe Cosmetic, which had effectively calmed the redness on my face and left my skin feeling nourished and brighter. Although the idea is cute and festive, Rudolph’s red jelly nose (which you are supposed to put on your own) is really just for novelty and requires a sort of balancing act to keep in place!
LUSH Rudolph Fresh Face Mask
Sitting quietly next to all the colourful and fun-shaped bath ballistics (Lush’s hand-made bath bombs) was So White. I picked up this giant snowball because it carries a delicious apple scent and has a name that pays homage to a certain fairy tale. So White fizzes well like most of Lush’s bath ballistics and turns your water into a silky pink colour when it reaches the core.  It leaves your skin feeling extra soft and I would definitely recommend it for days when you feel like a girly bath.
LUSH So White Bath Ballistic
I also adopted the Christmas Penguin Bubble Bar but haven’t had a chance to use the cute little fellow yet.
LUSH Christmas Penguin Bubble Bar
Unfortunately this year Lush did not bring back one of my favourites holiday products - Twilight shower gel, which is a shame (although I’ve been told you can purchase this online from the Lush UK website). I now need to ration out the remaining half-bottle that I’ve carefully saved.  

I hope this little haul/review has been useful and wish you all a Lush-ful Holiday season ahead!

Sugar Lust