Review - 'Snow Fairy' Shower Gel

Snow Fairy Shower Gel from Lush is potentially the greatest thing I've ever smelt in my life. Its gorgeous, and amazing, and it only comes out at Christmas. If it was here all year round, it just wouldn't be as special. It just reminds me of Christmas. Mm, I love me some Snow Fairy.

Any Lush fan will have heard of this shower gel before. It smells like candy floss and bubble gum and lollies, and it is sprinkled with pink glitter. The smell lasts on your skin for most of the day, but isn't as strong as it is when its in the bottle, which is probably a good thing. Its a kind of cloudy pink color, and is opaque in the bottle.

Lush Says: "The smell of candy floss and pear drops transports you back to days of standing in the sweet shop with your pocket money clasped in your fist, trying to decide what to buy. Snow Fairy works her magic on everyone then vanishes until next Christmas."

Just like all the other shower gels it comes in three sizes. I have the 250g bottle which was $9.90 (NZD) in the boxing day sale ($19.90 full price). It also comes in a 100g bottle which is $11.50, and a 500g bottle which is $29.90. Like a lot of their other Christmas products, this gel is limited edition, and although it comes out every year it disappears pretty quickly.

Like 'Honey I Washed The Kids' (review HERE), it lathers quite well but stays bubbly as apposed to foamy. A little goes a long way as well with this product.

The only thing that bothers me is that the glitter settles to the bottom. I don't think there's much that can be done about that, but even when I shake it the glitter refuses to move.

Did you get your hands on this shower gel last year? Do you have a favorite Christmas item? I can't wait for it to be Christmas again so that I can try everything that I didn't try last year.

Till next time, Alice x

Review - Garnier's Charcoal Scrub

I think that I've finally sussed out my skin care routine (can I hear a woot), so heres the first installment of the products that I use. I am in love with the Garnier Pure Active Intensive Charcoal Scrub (bit of a mouthful).

I've had pretty spotty skin ever since puberty hit, and while my body settled down a couple of years ago, my skin continued to keep sprouting more blemishes. Now, to the standard person I don't think my skin looks bad at all, but I hate pimples, and am always trying to rid my face of them. I've never dealt with scarring or acne or anything like that, but I seem to have a consistent collection of little pimples at all times.

The scrub claims to reduce and prevent blackheads, pimples and marks, and it has done exactly that. Some of these products dry my skin out, and while I need to use moisturiser after getting out of the shower once using this, it doesn't cause flaky or irritated skin for me. I hardly get any pimples at all, and the redness in my skin has reduced significantly.

I use the product every morning, however if you have sensitive skin I would save it for every few days or once a week. I found that I went through a period where I wasn't at home that much and didn't take the scrub with me and my pimples started to pop up again.

It doesn't feel too rough on the skin and just leaves me feeling really refreshed. It has a distinctive smell which isn't pleasant or unpleasant, but it doesn't matter because its not a very strong one. I bought mine at the supermarket for around $10 (NZD), and it lasted me two/two and a half months - really good value for money.

What are your favorite pimple preventers? Do you have any tips or tricks? Let me know below.

Till next time, Alice x

Review - 'Honey I Washed The Kids' Shower Gel

Aah the sweet sweet smell of a new Lush product. The Honey I Washed The Kids soap was actually the first product I ever tried from Lush. I loved everything about it except the fact that it was soap. I don't like soap. Some people do, some people don't. Body wash on the other hand, is an entirely different story.

It smells like, as the name suggests, honey. It also has some hints of floral in it, which Lush confirms with its description. I love the smell, and while it can seem a little too strong while you are using it, all it leaves is a faint honey smells which only really lasts the better part of the morning.

Lush Says: "Lotus flowers and tiger lily surround you with beautiful blossom while honey moisturises your skin into blissful oblivion."

It doesn't leave my skin overly moisturised, but it also doesn't dry it out. Its really the perfect balance. It lathers well but seems to stay pretty bubbly. You need to work it against your skin for a little longer before it gets foamy at all.

A little goes a long way with this product! While its not the cheapest body wash on the market, you don't need much. I have the 500g bottle which was $29.90 (NZD), but it also comes as a 250g bottle for $19.90 or as a 100g bottle for $11.50. You get more bang for your buck with the bigger bottles, but the smaller bottles are great to travel with.

What are your favorite Lush bath gels? Or do you prefer soaps? Let me know below, I'm always on the hunt for something new.

Till next time, Alice x

Review: Lush's Dragon's Egg Bath Bomb

Oh dear, another Lush post. I feel like this blog is quickly going to become centered around all things Lush, but then again, is that such a bad thing? I went a little Lush crazy today and bought way too many things, one of them being the Dragon's Egg bath bomb, $6.70 (NZD). Unable to wait, I had a bath once I got home, and used this little bomb in it.

Lush's Description: "Bath tub fireworks, fizz, froth, fruity fragrance - what more could you ask for?"

The reason I bought this particular bomb was because other people's rave reviews. Upon smelling it in the store I wasn't sold, but I bought it anyway, hoping the smell would improve once in a bath. It smells really citrusy, definitely more specific than just fruity. While I love citrus scents, it was more on the earthy side than the sweet side, and I really don't enjoy that kind of smell.

It cracked in two the second it hit the water to reveal it's orange centre, something that I wasn't expecting but was pretty thrilled about. It fizzed reasonably quickly, and the orange layer disintegrated to reveal a block of solid gold shimmer. This is by far my favorite thing about the bomb! It turned my water a beautiful orange, with waves of gold floating through it, almost identical to the Sunny Side bubble bar.

Something I wasn't so pleased with was the discs of rice paper circles that seemed to float around my bath. They didn't add any color, smell or general goodness to the bath, so I'm a little unsure of why they're included. They would be better if they were soap flakes or something along those lines.

Overall, I wouldn't purchase this bath bomb again. I didn't like the smell, which is kind of a major factor, and the jelly rice paper circles weren't my favorite. I loved the golden shimmer waves, but I think that you can get exactly the same effect from the Sunny Side bar, with a better smell (in my opinion).

What do you think? Have you tried it? Can anyone tell me if there's a purpose to the rice paper discs? let me know below.

Till next time, Alice x

Favorite Shampoo and Conditioner - Herbal Essences

Ring the bells, alert the people, I have an announcement; my all time favorite shampoo and conditioner duo has been decided! None Of Your Frizzness by Herbal Essences.

In fact, I think that these were decided years ago when I first started using them at the age of 13. Five years later, and I've never looked back. I think the packaging as been through about three different upgrades since I first started using the products, but the formula has never changed (and fingers crossed it never does). 

I have really frizzy, quite thin hair, and a rather small budget, so finding a shampoo and conditioner that worked wasn't easy. I've tried many other brands since, but I always come back to Herbal Essences. I use the Mandarin and Pearl Balm version which comes in lovely orange bottles that fit together perfectly (and look so cute in the shower).

They both smell amazing! I get sick of scents quite easily, but I still love the smell of these. I don't really smell mandarin, just more a general fruitiness, and they make your hair smell great. I always get comments about how good my hair smells, and it makes me grin.

The shampoo is nothing too special, and I've swapped it out for other shampoos before, but it lathers up really nicely and while it gets rid of excess dirt and oil, it doesn't dry my hair out too much. 

The conditioner is beautiful. It moisturizes my hair, and noticeably reduces the frizz. I still have frizzy hair, but its a lot more manageable. Also, its a gorgeous peachy orange color which is great. 

Both the shampoo and conditioner are around $8 a bottle, and I use around a bottle of each a month, although I generally get through the conditioner faster (who doesn't?)

Well, thats all from me this time. Let me know what shampoos and conditioners you use, especially if you are blessed with the frizz like me!

Till next time, Alice x

Review - Lush's Snowman Bath Bomb

Here I am with my first post! I'm reviewing the Snowman Bath Bomb which I bought in a set with some others during Lush's boxing day sale.

Lush's Description: "What a softy! Scented with the same vanilla fragrance as our Butterball bath bomb and loaded with skin-softening cocoa butter."

To be honest, thats pretty accurate! Having not tried the Butterball bath bomb before, I had nothing to compare it to, however it did smell lovely and vanillary.

It didn't take long to fizz which I enjoyed, and it gave off tiny little mini bath melts (the cocoa butter). The water was pretty silky, almost like a toned down bath melt. I actually find that the bath melts make the water a little too slippery, so to have something a little more subdued was nice. There were no bubbles, which is fine by me.

The water went a kind of cloudy cream, and was next to colorless. I find that with a lot of bath melts the water ends up being that kind of color also, and thats probably the only downside in my opinion. I like to have a beautifully colored bath. The red and orange in Mr Snowman are a little misleading.

This is a limited edition christmas bath bomb, so you won't be able to purchase it until next christmas, but when the time comes I'd definitely pick one up!

Till next time, Alice x