Saturday 6 June 2015

Swapsies! With Rachel. (LUSH Cosmetics)

Rachel and I are both fond lovers of cosmetics and beauty products, one evening we were discussing our blogs and favourite products when suddenly, like a bolt of amazing genius (as always! She is a genius!) Rachel came up with this fantastic idea.

Let's swap favourites and write reviews! 

I honestly could not think of anything more fun. We both agreed on a limit of £20, ordered our favourite products and had them sent to each others houses, to test and review. Neither of us knew what the other had purchased, which makes this all the more exciting; it's like an early christmas present.  This week, we agreed to do a LUSH cosmetics swap-a-roo.
You can check out The lovely Rachel's reviews of the products I bought her, plus more here:
http://catchaneye.com/2015/06/10/lush-swap-with-natalie-catchaneye/

I received my box a few days ago and inside I found a collection of beautiful products.


(Left to Right)
Cupcake Fresh Face Mask
Bubblegrub Bubbleroon Bath bars.
You've been Mangoed! Bath Melt. 
Twilight Bath Bomb.
Vanilla Puff Dusting Powder
Samples: Retread Hair Conditioner, Ro's Argan Body Conditioner, Happy Happy Joy Joy Conditioner & Tea Tree Water Toner water. 


Cupcake Fresh Face Mask-Price: £6.50 for 75g. (vegan friendly!) 
Myself & Rachel both bought each other this face mask! It is one of my favourite masks for a number of reasons, but my love for chocolate definitely is one of the reasons why this is a dream boat mask. The face mask comes in the standard lush pots, black with the title and all ingredients on the front, when opening the pot you are greeted with the beautiful fragrance of chocolate-dough cake heaven. Dark brown in colour, the face mask requires like others, to be rubbed in as the natural liquids may leak from the product. The mask is quite thick and is made from ingredients which works all your skins possible needs! This deep cleansing uses the extracts of cocoa butter, mint, linseed and Rhassoul mud for many different skin needs; Rhassoul mud is a cosmetic clay originating from Morroco, works well with cocoa butter to strip the hair and face of all impurities, giving your skin and hair back some highly helpful minerals. The mint extract is used to tone and stimulate the skin, to calm any itching or infected skin, mint is an extremely good ingredient, which helps soothe and treat it. Whilst the Linseed works also with the cocoa butter, to moisturise and soften. All ingredients work well together, to offer your skin everything it could need.
I applied the face mask with my clean hands around my face and after 2 minutes, my skin felt a lot calmer and much more relaxed after a day of wearing make up. The smell of the face mask is a chocoholics version of heaven and the feel after washing it off 10-15 minutes later, were incredible. My skin was even in colour, felt silky smooth and toned well. I have used cupcake previously and it is a personal favourite, which is why I sent it to Rachel and probably the same reason she sent me one too in this swapsie! The long term effects on my skin after this face mask never disappoints!
Rating 4/5

BubbleGrub Bubbleroon bubble bars-Price: £2.95
This little guy was absolutely adorable in spite of the fact he was missing an eye when he arrived. The Bubblegrub bubblebar had the most lushest smell and made the bathroom smell gorgeous, until I eventually used it. The smell was a mix of cinnamon, caramel and vanilla, giving it a uniquely warming yet calming and soothing scent, especially when crumbled into the bath. The Bubblegrub is a "naked" product, which came completely without packaging aside from the box all the items arrived in and he sat comfortably in my bathroom draw until the need for soaking arrived.
The bubblegrub is made of a mix of ingredients, including the dried vanilla pods, which contain the antioxidants, antibacterial qualities and Vitamin B help to treat acne, have anti-ageing effects on the skin, soothe burns and promote healthy skin. Whilst the Sandalwood oils has anti-inflammatory, anti-sceptic and memory boosting qualities means concentration and relaxation can be optimised to maximum capacity.
I crumbled the first bar under the cold tap and allowed it to drop from my hand into the bath, which turned a light green colour; I like the optional choice you get with the bubbleroon bubble bars as to how much you put in, either one bar or two and both halves work well together, especially with this little gem. I could already smell the calming qualities and warming smell from the bar, fill the bathroom. The bubbles began to form but I love quite a few bubbles in my bath, so I had to put the other bar in to get the right amount of bubbles for myself but if you aren't a bubble lover, one bar is enough. When placing in the other bar, the two colours of green and orange mixed, I found myself stepping into a warm, relaxing sea of caramel coloured water and bubbles. Upon soaking my bath, the smells from the bubbles were helping to relax and soothe me, the smell was less strong however I found when using it in the bath, in contrast to the strong smell which it produced out and around the top floor of my house.
The bubblegrub is an adorable little creature that I would happily use again, the little guy made me feel more relaxed, more confident and more determined to get things done. When getting out of the bath, my skin felt a lot softer but the smell of the bubble bar didn't remain on my skin. I would use this little guy again when concentration is a miss and I need to get back down onto the ground.
Rating: 3.5/5.

You've been mangoed bath melt!-Price: £3.35 Vegan Friendly! 

You've been mangoed is now a personal favourite of mine, because I loved the smell of the lemon with the slight tints of the mango and how refreshed, clean and energised I felt after using this bath melt. This bath melt is another "naked" product, no packaging. The bath melt is a perfect rectangle, with "Mango" across the bar, its yellow/orange in colour and smells divine! I found it started melting in my hands as they were quite warm since I was perfecting the temperature for my soak. Upon placing the bath melt in, it began to leave a beautiful orange like trail and the lemon smells literally filled the air, instantly giving that refreshing and energised feeling. The lemon oils in this product help by acting as a anti-sceptic, cleaning all acne or other kinds of infection on the skin and with it slowly diluted into bath water, you won't feel the sharp sting if you applied it directly on (not that you would! Thats like putting yourself into a saw trap!) The high level of vitamin C found in lemon, has high levels of soothing qualities which help the skin calm down from inflation or irritation. Where as the use of the Mango butter and Cocoa butter, work together to help the skin hydrate and moisturise, whilst being full of Vitamin A, which is a very vitamin for anti-ageing; not only that but the two butters may help to improve skin blemishes, eczema and dermatitis.
I will admit I was expecting as the name suggests a stronger smell of mango, so when I dropped the melt into the bath and was greeted with the mix of lemon and lime oils, It was a pleasant surprise. The smell of lemons always reminds me of skin and energises me after a long day with very minimal energy. You've been mangoed! Left me smelling fresh, clean and feeling completely cleansed from inside to out and I highly recommend this product for anyone who needs an uplifting bath.
Rating: 5/5.

Twilight Bath bomb-Price: £3.35 Vegan Friendly! 

A new favourite bath bomb has been discovered after this weeks swap-a-roo! Twilight is by far an amazing evening bath bomb, perfect for helping you to relax enough to get a good nights sleep. Twilight is another "naked" product which came with no packaging, other than the box the products all came in. It's a rather big pink ball, with a beautiful picture of stars and the moon on one side of the bomb, I heard a lot of good reviews on this bath bomb and was very keen to purchase and buy it for the next set of reviews!
Twilight has a blend of ingredients such as lavender oil, Tonka absolute, ylang ylang oils and benzoin resinoid to help banish insomnia and sleep evasions. The lavender oil in this bomb works as a magic healer and I have loved the use of lavender in many products because of it's health benefits; lavender helps increase the circulation in the body, relieve pain and is sometimes used to treat respiratory problems at the same time, being so naturally calming in its scent helping to release any nerve tensions. Whilst the Ylang Ylang oils work as an antidepressant, sedative, hypotensive and maybe very good for those who suffer with eczema or skin irritation/inflammation, as it helps calm irritation and sooth redness. Tonka absolute is a seed obtained from the fruit of the Dipteryx odorata tree, found in Costa Rica, Brazil and Peru, this seed is thought to be an anti-flammtory and rumoured to help with joint pain. Benzoin resinoid is an extracted liquid obtained from Evergreen trees and is a deep cleanser which helps to soothe skin, add shine to hair and ease muscles.
Basically Twilight bath bomb has all the ingredients for a perfect relaxation before a goodnights sleep, and that is exactly what I got. I placed the bath bomb into the water and instantly left a trail of pink, blue foam in its path as it twirled in the water. The bomb turned the water a beautiful purple colour and soon split in the middle, to release the blue colour foam in with the pink; it literally looked exactly like a twilight. My skin instantly felt clean, soft and nourished after using this product and it seemed all worries and stresses disappeared, I highly recommend this product and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Rating: 5/5.

Vanilla Puff Dusting powder-Price: £4.95 Vegan Friendly! 
I have a set routine which this has now joined, that I do after a bath to keep my skin looking and smelling fresh all day; Shower, body butter (let it dry), body lotion (let it dry!) and now, followed by this beautiful powder. Vanilla dusting powder has a beautiful scent and locks in moisture, whilst clearing out all the unneeded oils leaving skin feeling soft, smooth and fabulous!
The blend of vanilla, Tonka and jasmine means that your body gets the full benefits of these organic ingredients. Jasmine absolute is solvent extracted like the majority of absolute products, which means two liquids are shaken in order to separate one from the other. Jasmine is used to relinquish depression, dry skin, exhaustion, labour pains and is kind to sensitive skin. This product feels so kind and light on the body in comparison to other talcon powder products, which sometimes I find can be quite heavy although gentle on the skin. Vanilla puff is very light, coming in a bottle in a form of glittery-like white powder, the product left my skin feeling, smelling fabulous all day and it feels so soft on my skin I love putting it on my body. The dusting powder kept access oils off my skin and allowed it to breath well all day long and it kept bad odours out of my problem zone! I smelt and felt fabulous. However like all body dusting powder products, I advice placing a towel down before applying so the dust doesn't spread over the bed sheets, although it is refreshing when bed time comes and you can smell the vanilla.
Rating: 4/5

If you want to see the videos and photographs of these products, you can visit my instagram page:
https://instagram.com/natiee_blogs/

I will be posting the samples in another blog review separate!
Thank you everyone for your patience! Have a LUSH Day!

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