Personally, I have never celebrated Easter as a religious holiday; it has always meant bunnies, lots of chocolate and candy, and a hearty holiday meal.  These little Happy Easter gifts by LUSH are just adorable–don’t you think?  I love the idea that they’re taking a stance of ‘egg-cess’ packaging, but I just think it’s utterly cute with the way the egg is hollowed out and can later act as a bath bomb.

This Easter, you’re in for a real treat as LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics crack open three new delicious Easter egg gifts that look so good, you’ll want to eat them! The HAPPY EASTER 500g hollow egg is made from bath bomb mix and contains two products inside, for an egg-shell-ent bath time experience. Once you’ve finished with the inner products, simply break off bits of the shell and throw into the tub for a really great soak. This is yet another novel idea from LUSH on how to cut down on egg-cess packaging, while still offering sumptuous gift ideas. And where there is packaging, it is bio-degradable. So get your hands on these indulgent, guilt-free and limited edition LUSH treats for $29.95 at www.lush.com.

LUSH Knows How to Spend Valentine’s Day

As evidenced by our guide to pampering yourself when you’re single, LUSH knows how to make the 14th one rockin’ day.  I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I adore LUSH’s massage bars for their portability and moisturizing capabilities.  So, it’s obvious I had to try out the Massage a Trois set ($29.95) as well as the Play Your Cards Right massage bar ($8.95).  I am happy to report that both are worthy of earning my approval.  I had the pleasure of having these fabulous products tested out on me (too bad I had to return the favor!), but they sink in so nicely and make massaging effortless. 

Massage a Trois includes Soft Coeur (honey cocoa treat with a melty center), Mange Too (lickable honey, white chocolate, and peppermint), and Nutts (extra rich, smells very nutty, and it’s a vegan product).  Of course, they all come shaped in big solid hearts, and I’m girly, so I love the shape.  I used Mange Too on my boyfriend’s elbow/arm because it’s been stiff lately and it made it so easy to get my fingers into the muscle and massage everything into a boneless puddle.  Oh, and while these are specially packaged together as a trio, all three flavors are available in the permanent LUSH line in their standardized shapes and sizes, so don’t fear getting addicted, there’s more where it came from!

Play Your Cards Right is a special Valentine’s Day offering, and it is a regular massage bar in the shape of a playing card.  Instead of numbers, it has hearts in the corners.  The red dye from the hearts does seem to smear a touch when you put it to the skin, but it disappears instantly once you start to work and knead your hands into the muscles, so it didn’t bother me.  The scent is full of jasmine and ylang ylang, as it is the famous Sex Bomb scent. 

As with whenever I use a massage bar, I like to sprinkle (I always tell my boyfriend I’m seasoning him) Silky Underwear dusting powder ($10.45) at the end, because I find it really locks in and absorbs the melted massage bar and lets you go about your business completely relaxed.

While many parts of the body are covered once the winter wind starts blowing, don’t forget to keep all your parts deliciously soft all year round!  Especially if you’re in the warmer parts, winter doesn’t always mean pants every day!  Here are four fabulous solutions to soothe that scaly skin.

Lancome Nutrix Royal Body ($34.00) is an incredibly luxe, entirely rich kind of body cream.  It is truly meant to help heal the driest of skin.  According to the description, it is equipped with Royal Lipideum, which helps to “supplement skin’s own natural lipids for intense hydration.”  Whatever that really means, I buy it.  I’m a believer, because this stuff really turned my dragonscales into gorgeous lady legs.  I have always suffered from drier legs with only sometimes-dry arms (used to be worse, but rarely get an issue in the past few years).  I find applying this in the morning provides me with a good amount of moisturization throughout the rest of the day.  For extra pampering, I’ll apply a light coat before bed and donning my stretchy yoga pants (don’t confuse this with the notion I exercise, they’re just comfy!) so I can awake with ridiculously supple skin.  Don’t let the price trick you–you get a huge TUB!  Honestly, it is more like a jug than a little jar you might expect when you buy a face cream.  For reference, most face creams come in 1 oz jars, and for $34.00, you get 7 oz.  Nearly half a pound! 

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Intensive Moisturizing Body Treatment ($25.00) is part of the miraculous eight-hour family (hands and lips complete the trio).  I adored what it could do for my hands, because I have to have a hand cream that sinks in quickly if I’m going to use it regularly.  The Body Treatment acts the same way; it absorbs into skin within minutes leaving behind no greasy or slippery feeling behind.  You just feel soft and re-hydrated, which is exatly what I want to feel.  The same pleasing scent of lemony-herb accompanies this lotion, but it is a very subtle scent that will probably go unnoticed.  Personally, thats a good thing, because I’d rather have the ability to spritz a perfume on without it being clogged by my body cream.  This is one skincare line that has won numerous Allure beauty awards, and I have to agree with the choice!

LUSH Running to the Embassy ($10.95) is exactly what it is described to be:  “a clean, minty-cool scrub for the feet.”  I found I got the best results when I applied this to rough, cracked skin around the elbows, feet, and knees and working it in for a few minutes.  After this, I would rinse them off in luke-warm water.  Results?  Oh, yes, indeed–incredibly soft skin that was practically smiling.  What I love about the body butters by LUSH is that they melt when they come into contact with the body as the heat melts it into your skin.  They work easily into the skin with your hands, and it is easy to rinse off the excess.  Running to the Embassy is meant as an exfoliating body butter to help slough off the dead skin and rough patches often found on feet.  You can easily use this on any part of the skin that cracks or is especially dry.

LUSH King of Skin ($11.95) is another body butter available by LUSH that is another hit in my house.  A subtle sent of sandalwood accompanies this moisturizing solution.  Body butters are great to use right after the shower, and what I like about King of Skin is that it sinks in so well that you don’t even need to rinse off afterwards like some of the other body butters.  I prefer this at night time, or on weekends, when I have time to give myself a bit of pampering.  When I’m in a rush, I find I turn to a lotion or cream (but to be honest, I tend to forget to use anything), like Dream Cream.

Missed part one?  Well, what are you waiting for–go read it!

While many parts of the body are covered once the winter wind starts blowing, don’t forget to keep all your parts deliciously soft all year round!  Especially if you’re in the warmer parts, winter doesn’t always mean pants every day!  Here are four fabulous solutions to soothe that scaly skin. 

vedaMAMA body creams ($50.00) in Relax and Scrumptious are both ultra hydrating, luxe creams targeted to soothe and moisturize the body.  Relax is a more typical body cream with a chocolate mint scent that restores the skin’s balance.  Cocoa butter is one of the main ingredients that helps to hydrate the skin, while peppermint helps to alleviate muscle soreness (hence the name “Relax”).  Scrumptious is a restorative body cream with shea butter to work actively against super dry skin.  Both creams contain organic coconut oil, Vitamin E, and Rosemary as some of their key ingredients.  Each cream comes in a cute little white tub with pink detailing, but I feel like the amount you get is small relative to the price.   I personally enjoyed both creams, but they aren’t far superior to other less expensive varieties.

LUSH Dream Cream ($20.95) is one of the first products I had ever tried by LUSH, and it is utterly fabulous.  I really love that it goes on easily, isn’t too thick of a cream, and it dries quickly.  I find that it does a good job hydrating my skin throughout the year.  I like that it is a year-round product, because I can maximize my usage out of it.  The amount of product you get relative to the amount you need to moisturize the body makes this a cost-effective choice.  It is lightly scented with a woody/natural scent.  If you’re familiar with LUSH products, you’ll instantly recognize it as one fo the scents of LUSH.  A part of me loves to dabble into these kinds of products, because I just know that they feel healthier and seem better for my skin because of their organic content.

bliss lemon+sage body butter ($35.00) comes in a large, bright blue tube.  The scent is actually incredibly pleasing; a light sweet lemony scent with an undertone of vanilla.  It’s a very luxe, thick cream, despite it’s tube packaging–so don’t let it confuse you as if it were a regular body lotion.  It contains both vitamin A and E, which are good antioxidants for your skin.   I found a little goes quite a ways, needing no more than a one inch “line” of cream for each leg (and mine always get a touch scaly come winter!).  Regular use of this completely eliminated any dryness, but if I stopped using it for more than two days, it would begin to return.  Although initially it seemed pricey and offended my delicate price sensibilities (okay, not really, these days I’m not usually shocked), knowing that it will last me six months or more makes it much easier to swallow and seem more in line with what I’d expect.  I can run through a tube of B&BW lotion in a month or two with regular usage because I find I need at least two inches of product, so it comes out to be roughly the same when the two are compared!

von Natur Grapefruit Whipped Butter ($42.00) is a thick cream (borderlines a solid, really, you kind of “scoop” out product because it’s so thick) with a very nice scent of grapefruit.  They advertise that “according to a study by Chicago’s Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation, the scent of grapefruit on a woman’s skin can make her appear up to six years younger.”  I can’t buy that personally, but maybe other people’s noses would say it about me (then again, I’m not particularly old, so I’m not the best test subject!).  Despite its thickness, the cream absorbs fairly quickly, which is always a plus, because nobody wants to sit around waiting for their skin to dry!  Lots of essential oils can be found in here (far too many to list), but you’ll find shea butter as a key ingredient, as well as organic jojoba oil.  You get a fair amount for your money, better than vedaMAMA, and you don’t need to use much to soothe your aching, dry skin.  ]

Stay tuned for part two of our body series featuring Lancome’s Nutrix Royal for Body, Lush’s King of Skin and Running to the Embassy body butters, and Elizabeth Arden’s 8-Hour Cream for Body!
 

Long Lost Love Box
When you’re overcome with feelings of nostalgia for loves long past, console yourself with this collection of LUSH bath and body treats from days gone by. Our very elegant, beautifully presented hat box features:  Kiss me Klimt Bath Bomb, It’s a Date Bubble Bar, Queen of Hearts Soap, Potion Body Lotion, Black Magic Massage Bar

Play Your Cards Right Massage bar
If ever there was a sure fire way to win your sweetheart’s favor, this is it! Rich, sensual, and scented with our ever popular Sex Bomb fragrance, this playing card of a massage bar is just the ticket for perfect night in (and TV or sleep won’t be on the agenda). You’ll want a few of these!

Perfect Match (Honey or Silky)
Elusive and always just on the edge of attainability, the perfect match is something to be held closely and treasured dearly once you find it. We have two fragrantly perfect matches that include our best-selling soaps and the most popular of our new solid perfumes. Making these perfect matches even more precious, the packaging is 100% biodegradable. In fact, if you plant the box with someone special, you can watch your love grow - literally. The entire box contains real seeds and when you plant it you will grow beautiful wild flowers to enjoy together. How special is that?  Honey: Scent: Honey & Toffee; Contents: Honey I Washed the Kids Handmade Soap & Solid Perfume.  Silky: Scent: Jasmine & Vetivert; Contents: Alkmaar Handmade Soap & Silky Underwear Solid Perfume

Message a Trois
A romantic, candlelit massage is the perfect way to share your affection for someone special… any time of year and especially on Valentine’s Day. To make your Valentine’s celebration extra romantic, we’ve created a trio of very special, superbly fragrant heart-shaped massage bars for you both to mix and match to your hearts’ (and bodies’) content.

Let me just say I will for sure be picking up the massage bars!  I adore these, and they last quite awhile.  They’re really great even for just moisturizing to the nth degree, because they are SO luxurious.  Everything is available at www.lush.com!

Check out more photos… Read the rest of this entry »

Harsh winter winds can create the worst of chapped, cracked, dried-out lips, and when that happens, it’s a rough time, figuratively and literally speaking. Lips should be smooth and soft to the touch, especially for those who want to wear lipstick. Rougher surfaces make it difficult to both apply lip color as well as have it look nice. Some suffer from chapped lips throughout the year, but take heed, there are some solutions.

LUSH Lip Service ($7.95) comes in a cute, thin tin with a solid lip balm inside.  It’s colorless and leaves a matte finish behind, rather than any glossiness or sheen.  LUSH offers eco-friendly beauty addicts to nab a lip balm that has several organic ingredients by a company who loves to be green.  This lip balm has cocoa butter, beeswax, and shea butter–all major helpers in giving you soft, supple lips.  In addition, there are a number of essential oils used to increase moisturization.  I found this to be a great no-muss, no-fuss lip balm that fits in your pocket (and even better to carry there because the body heat melts it just a touch so it is super easy to apply) or purse.  My only problem is my apartment gets quite cold at night, and I find I really have to use the heat of my finger to soften the top layer to get enough to apply on my lips.  LUSH also offers several flavored lip balms, Honey Trap being one of my favorites from the past

Treat’s Cacao Lip Scrub ($16.00) might seem like a small tub, but trust me, a little goes a long way, and this jar should last you quite awhile.  Lip scrubs are designed to exfoliate and remove dry and dead skin cells from the lips.  It is sugar-based as the particles have some roughness to them, but it is still a gentle exfoliant.  This product uses all natural ingredients, so you can actually lick it off (I wouldn’t say I’d love to eat this stuff, but I did test out the flavor, and it wasn’t half-bad), or at least, not fear you’re ingesting something terrible if you accidentally do (or have the habit of doing so!).  The main ingredients are shea butter, sugar, and cacao.  Cacao is an antioxidant with a lot of Vitamin C, which we learned is a vital nutrient for skin health.  I find I only need to use this once a week or less, and I find this less abrasive and harsh than using a toothbrush or washcloth as others have recommended as cheap and easy ways to exfoliate the lips.

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Lip Protectant Stick ($17.00) comes in a lipstick tube, making it easy to carry in both your purse or your pocket (I go the pocket route often).  It has SPF15 in it, and while more of us are paying attention to sun protection, I am sure we often forget that perhaps our lips need some SPF, too!  It never hurts, right?  Arden’s Eight Hour family of products is a remarkable line of ultra-hydrating and moisturizing products that last for several hours at a time.  I liked the stick formula, because I didn’t have to worry about clean fingers before applying.  It also went on quite easily, albeit a touch slick.  It left only a semi-glossy sheen, and it can be used sparingly or more generously for a desired feel. 

Clinique Superbalm Moisturizing Gloss ($13.50) is a super glossy lip balm (though it really feels more like a gloss, I wouldn’t call it a balm as I associate balms as being more solidified) that comes in a variety of colors.  I tried Apricot, as it is a nice pink with only a touch of peach undertones.  When applied, I didn’t notice much more than a pink tint (and only slightly) on my semi-pigmented lips.  While some of the other lip products I tested seemed to sink into my skin, Superbalm felt more like it was a surface protectant.  It took much longer for me to feel like some of it sunk into my lips (which may or may not be relevant, just an observation).  It definitely feels like a gloss on the lips, and it does look glossy, so this is something you wear alone or on top of a lipstick, but not as a primer to lipstick.  There are eight shades currently available in the Superbalm family, and I think I would love Raspberry (deeper hued) for a slightly tinted ultra moisturizing gloss.

Did you miss part one of this series featuring Eminence’s Citrus Lip Balm, Principessa’s Bacio Me Lip Balm, and Von Natur’s Lip Treatment?  Well, don’t!

LUSH wants you to “Go Green” this 2008, and I think it’s obvious that I am a definite LUSH fan, but me?  Green?  I’m a bit loathe to admit it, but I’m not necessarily the greenest nor eco-friendliest person you’ll meet.  Despite this, however, I have attempted on several occasions to try more organic and environmentally friendly products, but I have met mostly mediocre results.  Becoming a LUSH junkie has given me a better taste for more natural and green products, though, so when they came out with some eco-savvy products for their Go Green promotion, I felt I had to give them a whirl.

Inspired by UK-based environmental activist, Rebecca Lush (really, that’s her name), Go Green is a whole new line of fragrance dedicated to those who focus on making a environmental difference by walking the walk, literally. A genuine lady, Rebecca eschews single-passenger vehicles and routinely walks, cycles or takes public transportation. But, sometimes such activities leave her feeling less than fresh. So, Mark Constantine, our founder, created a fragrance just for her (and those of us like her).

GO GREEN — THE SCENT | You must enjoy the Go Green scent, as it is infused into each product of the Go Green promotion.  If the scent makes you cringe, it’ll be hard to see you loving any of these!  The scent itself is a citrus-y scent with a woody after-scent; it tends to smell almost like cleanliness does (just that good clean scent).  It will definitely give you a vision of earthly delights and a touch of nature whenever you use one of the products.  I found that the perfume is the most heavily scented, while the other products are more subtle (which makes sense).

For reviews of Squeaky Green Shampoo Bar, The Greench, Go Green Solid Perfume, and Go Green Body Spray… Read the rest of this entry »

To help get you kick started on your Go Green beauty resolution swing by your local LUSH store between Dec 26th and January 20th to get some serious deals with Clean Slate 08. In an effort to stay true to our name (LUSH FreshHandmade Cosmetics) we are hoping to clean out all stock made before December 07 and stay fresh! That is not old stock by most companies standards but LUSH wants to start the new year with a clean slate so here is what deals we have to offer with Clean Slate 08:

• Buy ANY bath bomb, bubble bar or soap made BEFORE Dec’07 and get any TWO bath bombs, bubble bars or soaps made BEFORE Dec’07 of equal or lesser value FREE
• Buy ANY regular item or gift made BEFORE Dec’07 and get a second item or gift made BEFORE Dec’07 of equal or lesser value FREE (excludes bombs, bubbles and soaps)

For those that are too far from a LUSH store, there is a smaller online promo where you can select a free item with several products. If you go for products under ~$8, you don’t get much to choose from, though, just as a heads up. Still, something free is always better than nothing for free, right? e.g., if you buy the “Think Pink’ gift set ($95ish), you can get a Gorgeous ($75ish) for free. Use code CLEANSLATE to get your free items.

For those that are too far from a LUSH store, there is a smaller online promo where you can select a free item with several products.  If you go for products under ~$8, you don’t get much to choose from, though, just as a heads up.  Still, something free is always better than nothing for free, right?  e.g., if you buy the “Think Pink’ gift set ($95ish), you can get a Gorgeous ($75ish) for free.  Use code CLEANSLATE to get your free items.

Beauty Resolution: Go Green in 08

It’s a new year, so welcome in a new you! Yes, we all know the ‘New 2008 You’ will eat less and exercise more but how about making a New Year’s resolution that will actually make a difference? Make 2008 the year when you go green and let LUSH help you stick to it! Going green doesn’t necessarily mean you have to spend a fortune, or give up all your favorite luxury products. LUSH makes it easy for you to help the planet by offering a shop full of fresh handmade cosmetics made from the finest natural ingredients, containing minimal or no preservatives and packaging (which means less waste heading to landfill). Going Green has never been easier and so much fun with these new offerings from LUSH!

• Go Green Solid Perfume ($11.95) - A citric blend of grapefruit, bergamot and neroli oils refresh while earthy vetivert calms and sweet, woodsy sandalwood oil encourages well-being. Cedar leaf, fennel and thyme oils add to the fresh, just-emerged-from-a-field aromatic bouquet.
• Go Green Body Spray ($19.95) - A fragrance that meets the challenge of a busy lifestyle and keeps you feeling fresh. This body spray is dedicated to those who focus on making a environmental difference by walking the walk, literally.
• Squeaky Green Shampoo Bar ($7.95) - Peppermint stimulates growth, while tea tree and rosemary help reduce dandruff and flakes. On top of being environmentally friendly, it’s fabulously fragranced with our refreshing Go Green scent.
• The Greeench Deodorant ($7.50) - A herbal fragranced, aluminum-free underarm freshness with no harsh chemicals or unnecessary packaging.

I can’t wait to receive some of my Go Green goodies!  I’ll have reviews for you soon (but of course).  But for now, check out great photos of the environmentally-friendly treats! Read the rest of this entry »