Lush Eyeliner: Motivation in a bottle!

I received this Lush eyeliner in my goody bag from the Fabb event in Newcastle on Sunday (post here), I was really excited as I have wanted to try their new makeup range for a long time but the price has always put me off, all of the colours available are £14.50.

You can see my previous post about Colour Therapy at Lush here.

I do love the pipette packaging of the colours, but it is tricky to tell whether the colour is an eyeshadow/liner/lipstick as you have to check the tiny writing on the attached label. 

The liner brush itself is flexible so it is a bit harder to get the perfect line if you aren't used to liner, I also found you needed to go over the line a couple of times to get the best colour pay off.

The liners have been made with the same base as the cream eyeshadows so they are designed not to set straight away so you have the option to blend, but if you want a no-smudge liner Independent and Fantasy have been created with a stay put formula.

Excuse the giant eye photo!

This is such a pretty colour, it's not something I would normally pick up but I'm looking forward to using it in the summer when the sun finally comes out!!

You can find Colour Therapy Emotional Brilliance at Lush here.

Elaine

Lush Emotional Brilliance Makeup Range

Lush have now released their first makeup range of fresh handmade colour called Emotional Brilliance, the release has been widely anticipated as it seems everyone is talking about Lush products at the moment. They have a range of colours that can be used for lipstick, eyeshadow, eyeliner and mascara, for £14.50.

On Lush's website they have a colour wheel game, you spin the wheel and immediately pick 3 colours that are drawn to you and not just your favourites, I thought I would show you the 3 colours that I was drawn to, you can see the full range of colours here.

1. Your Strength or Weakness

 

Today your strength is that you are DYNAMIC in all that you do. It will give you the ability to be energetic and effective in your actions. You have the drive to achieve and it is wide-ranging today. You are putting your mind to action and getting things moving and shaking. This can only be perceived as your weakness if those around you are not as DYNAMIC as you. They may feel intimidated by your pace.

2. Your Subconscious

Mind flitting about all over the place is it? Your subconscious is reminding you that a little bit of FOCUS will go a long way to improving any situation. So, come on! Whatever you know needs to be accomplished, FOCUS on it, stay on track and the results will speak for themselves.

3. Your Aspiration

 

DRIVE is your talent today. It is something that you already do well and it will help you achieve your subconscious need. You are compelled today to move forward and are guiding everything around you with the same energetic motion.

 Overall I like the idea of linking the colours to your emotions rather than the colours that you normally like or wear, it's a great way to introduce people to colours that they wouldn't normally of considered, it's a fun gimick on the website.

However when I nipped into my local Lush shop, I was disappointed that the display of the products was pretty ordinary and it was actually quite difficult to tell which product was an eyeliner, mascara, lipstick... The colours do seem very pigmented and vibrant, but I can't justify trying these products out on a whim at £14.50 each.

Have you tried any products from the Emotional Brilliance range at Lush?

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, work has been a bit crazy for both of us! We have loads of posts to write so will be back on form soon.

Elaine 

Lush Catastrophe Cosmetic Face Mask Review

Catastrophe Cosmetic Fresh Face Mask 75g  - £5.95

What Lush say - Irish moss gel will soften the skin, whilst almond oil will moisturise and leave it supple. Fresh blueberries are full of vitamins and minerals and are anitoxidant. Rose absolute and chamomile essential oil will reduce redness and irritation. Calamine and talc will deep clean and soothe the skin at the same time.

Combined together they provide your skin with a good deep cleanse without causing puffiness – leaving the face cool, clear and calm. This is a deep cleansing mask that it designed for regular maintenance to keep the skin clean and clear. Regular deep cleaning can avoid spots occurring and keep skin in top condition.

I was luckily enough to get this for my Birthday – I’d had my eye on Lush face masks for awhile and as I’d heard great things about them and as my skin went a bit awol I decided Catastrophe Cosmetic was on the one for me.

Pros  

• I love keeping this in the fridge as its cooling and refreshing on the skin – perfect to calm nasty red spots. Because I keep it in the fridge and as it only lasts a month this means I was more likely to use it than other masks I have lying around the house. A perfect incentive for pampering.
• I really like drying hard clay like masks – this was lovely and easy to put on. It dried hard to give that deep cleansed oil free feeling – be warmed it will flake off all over your jeans!
•  I think it really did help to calm and soothe my break outs, it was nice to treat my skin with a cooling mask and spot redness did seem to reduce after using it.
•  I LOVE that its natural and handmade – it might be more of a placebo effect but it does make you feel lovely.
• It may look like a tiny pot, but you only need a small amount to cover your face so you get plenty of uses out of it within the month.

Cons

• It was a bit messy and difficult to remove – but that’s all the fun of a face mask eh!
•  It didn’t really smell very nice and the colour was more green sludge like with bits of blueberry than the beautiful blue it looks in the picture.
•  This isn’t a con for me as I liked using it up quickly but it’s worth noting it does only last a month.
• Although I found it was cooling for my spots I do think it’s more of a relaxing treat than something that’s going to work wonders on my skin.

Will I repurchase?

Hmmmm I enjoyed it but I’m not in a rush to buy another lush face mask, however I would buy it if my skin flares up again. I would probably try the Lush Brazened Honey mask next but at the minute I’ve got my eye on a few other face masks.  I’m dying to try out the Ren Invisible Pores Detox Mask and the Origins Drink Up Intensive Mask, have you tried either of these?

Rachel

Lush My Boy Lollipop Bubblegum Lip Scrub Review

Photo From Lush's website

I got this adorable Lush sugar lip scrub as a birthday present from Elaine. As you can see it’s a glass pot (quite large in size) filled with sugary, bright pink bubblegum goodness. I’ve been using it throughout June and I haven’t even made a dint in the pot (it has a use by date of 15/07/13) so here are my thoughts -

What Lush Say - The pink all things girly, bubblegum flavour lip scrub. Clears dead skin and flakiness from lips, leaving them moisturised and smooth. Our lip scrubs are made from castor sugar to act as a gentle scrub and jojoba oil to be wonderfully moisturising but light enough not to leave you feeling greasy.

Pros

The smell and look of this product is adorable, it instantly cheered my when I got it for my birthday. Also it really does work, I don’t take as much care as I should of my lips and therefore they are often dry but since I’ve been using this every day at work I have seen a huge improvement. It’s great to use under lipstick before applying balm to ensure your lips are in tip top condition so your lipstick lasts longer. And finally It’s also a yummy, sugary, bubblegum pick me up, you simply rub this product all over your lips then lick it off - YUM!

Cons

I know I shouldn’t have looked as it was a present but for the purpose of this blog I checked and it’s £4.95, for the amount of product you get I don’t think it’s too unreasonable but if you are on a tight budget it’s probably not a must have. it’s also worth noting that it is just sugar and additives (Castor Sugar, Organic Jojoba Oil, Methyl Lonone, Colour 45410, Colour 45380 to be exact)  so it’s very easy to make yourself.  I don’t personally find this a con but I know a lot of people won’t really like the strong bubblegum taste, they do sell chocolate varieties too if this isn’t for you. Personally I’d love to see them sell a sugary lemon one – would be a perfect Pancake day limited edition. Again I don’t find this a con but it is quite harsh so only use a little bit and don’t rub too hard! if you do find its too harsh you could always mix in a bit of moisturiser or other balm.

Will I Repurchase –

I will definitely be buying these for presents in the future, I think it makes a lovely gift and I will without doubt be buying this for friends birthdays. However I don’t think I will repurchase this for myself, as it’s just something that seems like it should be a present (if you know what I mean) so basically I would love to receive this as a present again HINT HINT although I think this one will last me ages! That being said I bet if I’m in Lush and see that they have released more flavours (fruity would be great) I won’t be able to help myself!

What do you think of the Lush lip scrubs? Which flavours would you like to see them release?

Rachel

Lush Controversial Animal Testing Window Display - My Personal Thoughts

www.fightinganimaltesting.com     www.lush.co.uk

Lush Website Banner

I really wasn't sure if I was going to write this post as already there are a lot of posts, forums and articles offering their two cents of the controversial subject and I personally wouldn't like to think I have offended anyone, however after thinking about it I thought why not? I whole-heartedly support this cause and I'm fully behind Lush's actions, so I guess this post is just a way to show my support and discuss the backlash.

One point I'd like to cover is that many believe this stunt/performance was overly sexualised and are pointing out that the artist wore a 'sexy' bodysuit... hmmm who finds that sexy? It was up to her neck and made her look almost asexual, naked as an animal or alien-like, exactly their point. Also people have complained that the artist Jacqueline Traide was a pretty young female, I am in no way naive to advertising techniques and without doubt I count myself as a feminist but why should an attractive female artist NOT be used? if she is passionate and willing to support this fantastic campaign 'fat, thin, beautiful, normal' who cares?! Lush's main target audience and customers are female, so why not use a woman. The only thing I wish they'd done was use a female doctor, but then that's my personal view in hindsight and no doubt the media would have construed that as sexual too.

I've also seen a lot of comments regarding how this stunt/performance is not appropriate on the streets for children to see. To a degree I agree with this however, I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult to hurry your child along and or explain that its 'pretend', 'art' or simply explain the cause (however of course I'm not a parent so perhaps my views would be slightly different if it were my child walking past I'm not sure.) I wasn't there but I have also heard that there were Lush staff stood before the window trying to highlight to people what they were going to see and trying to protect people who may have been offended from the sight.

I believe the people behind this campaign were doing it for the right reasons and I'm 100% behind their campaign, of course they are a company and at the end of the day they want sales but I feel if they were trying to increase sales they wouldn't have had the balls to back and produce such a shocking, thought provoking and controversial campaign. I work for an ethical retailer and I commend Lush on their courage to back this. Okay so bad press is good press right...hmm in this instance I'm not sure. I've seen countless comments of blogs saying they will NEVER buy from Lush again because of this and I'm sure Lush spent a LOT of time debating on how this might shock and offend a proportion of its customers. Lush are not strangers to controversy either: remember their mermaid window display in 2008?

I believe it's fantastic that this shocking display has brought this issue of animal testing in ingredients / products sold in the UK to the forefront of peoples' minds. Personally it has made me rethink about the companies I support regarding their animal testing policies and I hope if anything it has made you do the same, regardless if you support or buy Lush products.

Anyhow of course that is just my personal view on this controversial subject, and I will continue to follow this and hopefully learn more about this campaign. If you would like to read Lush's comments regarding the criticism please read their statement here.  You can also see some photos here, please note I hate the Daily Mail but they had the best photos I could find.

Rachel