Review: Ro's Argan Body Conditioner

I think it's been made quite clear, in what is less then a month of blogging (woot!) that I'm kind of a big fan of Lush. I know some people seem to have issues with the brand, but to me i find they always try really hard to be natural and friendly, perhaps at times the products might not succeed but they try harder then any other skincare brand i know to be open and to be on good terms with their community.

So the product I'm looking at today, I'm looking at for a very good reason; today Lush announced that the  Australian Business Awards have named Ro's Argan Body Conditioner this year's Best New Product. High praise indeed :)  I think? honestly i don't know, but it's an honor anyhow and a good reason as any to review this gorgeous product.

I was kind of hoping to wait to post this review until a) i got a new ..bottle? cup? of Ro's Argan and b) until Blogs developed smell-o-vision(?) because the scent of this is what i love the most about this product. I would make everything i own smell like this if i could, i would use this as a perfume, as as body wash, a hand cream, a night cream, as cake frosting, as desert, basically pretty much anything.

That's not to say the smell is all it has going for it, but it's hard for me to focus on any of that other good stuff now that i have the smell on me from swatching it for you guys. It's incredibly distracting (and yummy)  it makes me want to lick my own hand in the hope it will taste as good as it smells (it doesn't btw...no reason at all why i might know that)

The smell is kind of a mix between Roses, Coco and Vanilla with the tiniest hint of lemon, but not like grandma type roses, more like a very subtle sweetness that's not too overbearing. It's just absolutely gorgeous, i cannot say that enough.

I say this with a great deal of skepticism, BUT, it might be too much for some people, It's a sweet, beautiful but heavy scent so definitely have a smell next time your at Lush.

As you can see I'm near the end of my .....container, and that makes me sad because it's sort of on the expensive side for something that i could probably go through in a single week if i so desired. I use this before special occasions now or when I'm really craving that lovely smell. ( It's 29.95 for 225g)

It is, as you can see a very gooey creamy colored substance that's incredibly soft and goes on very smooth; they way it works is you put it on at the end of your shower rituals. Just rub it in and enjoy the smell then wash it off and pat dry; kind of like a conditioner for your body. This means you can skip having to stand around nekkid and use a body moisturizer cos you're already done! 

It might feel a little odd at first when you put it on, since it has so many happy oils it it, it basically feels like your skin is waterproof, so water kind of just slides right off but it's not an uncomfortable feeling and you're already clean by that point so it's not a big deal for me, but i guess some might find it uncomfortable.

It is a pretty awesome idea, and the product certainly works like a dream. Except for a minor issue, and it is minor except when you consider the price tag your using it in the shower so your hands and presumably the rest of you wet also, so it's slippery, it's easy to drop the jar(?)  when trying to open it and it's easy to get water into the container when you do get it open.

So just be careful, if you get too much water into it the consistency will be altered and it probably won't work as well or smell quite as delightful.

This stuff works a dream, and I imagine it will be double wonderful if you have dry skin. 

Love it, if your looking for a way to cut down on the moisturizing (especially in the colds of winter) this might just be the product for you and if not go in and smell it anyway!

Now just as a tiny side note; the smell (again!) is actually why i bought this product.

I went along to their launch night and this was one of the products coming out (along with the totally awesome Dirty soap) and i tried this on really early in the night, then moved on to look at the other stuff (their new dry shampoo was lots of fun, and they had a wicked rose petal jam (to eat not put on your skin, though i doubt it would hurt) that i have searched in vain for since). 

So the evening was winding down and i was considering what to pick up to take home with me. As it turned out the entire evening i had been smelling my hand, like some sort of puppy with a complex and i hadn't even realized it at first, just kept doing it the whole night till mum pointed it out.

So i knew i had to have whatever it was that i had put on my arm at the start, who cares if all it did was smell so nice. Lucky it turned out to actually be quite awesome overall, but if it wasn't i would not care.

I hope they make a whole line of Ro's scented stuff, i know their Imogen perfume is rose smelling but it's not anywhere near this level of win.

(Btw, I'm back at school now, so posts might not be quite as frenzied as they were the last three weeks. But i have some nice things coming in the mail for me which i think we will all enjoy :)

p.s. go smell it

Lust Have it July

Yay, today my Lust Have it box came in the mail :)

So since I've seen a few versions floating around i though i would do a quick post showing what was in the "box" this month. This is my third box so far and so far I'm quite happy with it since i like getting stuff in the post and i like having the surprise of different stuff.  So although i might appreciate more make up stuff i really don't mind receiving skin care stuff wither since it's all just fun stuff to try out that i might never have touched otherwise.

So my orange box ( gold star if you get the reference) had the following;

Matrix  Smoothing Shampoo and Conditioner  (30 & 50ml)

Interesting but not hugley excited to try this, after the fiasco i had with my last paraben free shampoo (see Sukin Shampoo & Conditioner Review ) which i still have a lot of, but i do like changing up my shampoo so I'm sure I'll find a chance to use it, unless mum wants it then I'll pass it to her since she recently got her hair done too.

Haven't tried anything from this brand before so that's probably the most exciting bit.

Avene Eye Make-up Remover and  Purifying Scrub (25 & 5ml)

These make me a little more happy then the Matrix stuff, i like face scrubs and trying new ones is always enjoyable as i don't have particularly sensitive skin so it's never really a huge concern for me.  The eye-remover is cool but i still haven't the one i received in my first box so it's going to be a little while before this goes into rotation though i have bought a new eyeshadow recently so maybe it's fate. 

I have the Avene facial mist and it's quite loveley so im am quite happy with the inclusion of this stuffs :)

Pure Fiji Hydrating Body Lotion in Orange Blossom (350ml)

I don't really use Body Lotions much, it's not that i have anything against them but i can just never seem to find a good time for it though i have a few body butters and the likes that get used very occasionally, however this really does smell quite sweet and inviting so i might have to make an exception with it.

Tigi Beg Head Junkie lip gloss

The only "full size" product of the bunch, a redish coppery  lip gloss with a faint peppermint scent, it seems quite pigmented and from the little i have tried so far seems to have a lot of silver  micro glitter in it so it is not for everyone, the texture itself kind of looks like a mousse - very thick. Might get some use out of this, though i would have preferred  a lipstick over a gloss.

Overall a nice box with nothing really special, after three boxes i still enjoy the experience but some of the brands involved really don't seem to be making a huge effort to provide samples, the brands that made me choose Lust Box over Glossybox were OPI,  Bobby Brown, Lancome, Burt's Bees and Laura Mercer) have not really included much so far; not ever a mascara or an eyeliner pencil. Still i do hope they have something more exciting planned for their birthday box next month.

I do kind of wish i had gotten the "Baby Foot" sample i have seen in other boxes though :)

Jelly Sandwhich anyone?

Yesterday i had a pretty chaotic day dealing with banks and Transperth both of which really wanted my money, so i was feeling a little overwhelmed by it all and to cheer myself picked up two new polishes; "Whisper" from the Sally Hansen Smooth and Perfect line and a glittery purple thing from Savvy (it calls itself "Purple Viking").

So when i finally got home i wanted to try these out together and i thought what better way then to attempt my very first glitter/jelly sandwich as whisper (actually the entire line) are incredibly sheer and require 3+ coats to build up opacity. however some experimentation proved that my glitter polish was much too fine and got too easily overwhelmed by Whisper. So i started again on that particular trail nail and picked a different glitter polish to try.

My nameless Faceshop polish of glitter and pink love hearts, which worked a treat.

I love the color and finish of Whisper but i can't really recommended, i fell in love with the color knowing full well that the formula on this range is quite atrocious; anywhere from super thin and drippy to globby and sticky; as well as taking ages to dry.

So I'm quite happy with my first jelly sandwich, a little happy to be back at school. 

Emotional Brilliance Hoopla!

Que golden beams of light and heavenly music.

Today, via kind invitation from the girls at City Plaza (in Perth) i went down there to check out their totally cool new range of "Emotional Brilliance" makeup line, i got shown around all the pretty new things and got to play around with a lot of them too. (hence when i walked out my hand looked like a multicolored zebra from color swatching).

First things first; as it was described to me this makeup range is about wearing colors that help you visualize something that you need in your life or that reflects your personality; confidence, ambition, charm, ambition.

At the store you can get a reading done , or here on their website (though it's totally less cool) , how it works is you sit at their color wheel and it gets spun, then you open your eyes and pick whichever three colors appeal to you most, not necessarily your favorite but the ones that speak to you on an "emotionally brilliant" level.

Each color is associated with a feeling and a product, here was mine;

The colors i picked out; in photo order were; Confident (lipcream), Sophisticated (eyshadow) and Calm (an eyeliner) (And say hello to the ultra friendly staff)

Since my camera choose this day to get snarky here's a better picture of each of those from their website. 

Isn't the packaging cute? Kind of medicinal and minimalistic. But it's very lush; recyclable, vegan, natural. All good stuff!

So let's see some colors;

Especially unique i found were the following; 

Believe a red/pink lip cream (bottom picture), 

Fantasy a gold slightly olive toned eyeliner, very bright and one of two quick setting eyeliners (the other is the black) (middle picture)

Motivation a dark blue leaning teal eyeliner with shimmer (swatch further below) (middle picture, looks really blue there)

Sophisticated a Burgundy leaning taupe eyeshadow (pictured above) and

Success a silver eyeliner (went well with pink hair!) ( 3rd picture bottom left)

Pictured: Motivation (eyeliner!)

Here are some more appealing pictures;

In addition to this is their Deserted Island range of supplement products;

apparently based on what necessities  you would want to take to a deserted island, and either no one at Lush HQ said something sensible like toilet paper or a solar powered iPad and their crazy,  but instead I'm going to choose to believe they are just very dedicated.

This is two new skin tint's; a particularly awesome iridescent light reflecting highlighter, a very warm  blend-able bronzer, a translucent setting powder and a natural vegan mascara.

You can play with all of it in store, so you can see if you like the texture/color and how it works on you.

Feeling Younger is the completely awesome highlighter!

So i walked away with; Confident (the lip cream), Eyes Right (the vegan mascara), and Feeling Younger (the awesome highlighter from above) though to be honest my heart does call for Sophistication, the eyeshadow i mean.

Hopefully someone does right by me, next month, for my birthday.

Swatches below; see the wonder that is Feeling Younger;

As you can see in the tub it's a kind of gray-metallic-white, not particularity appealing but wait till this baby gets it's hands on you, or in this case vice versa.

Suddenly it's no longer white or dull, it's iridescent and warm and peachy. Absolutely gorgeous color, and can be completely blended. Take note, this product like most of these does react to your skin chemistry and the colors will look a bit different on everyone, so dark red on one person might turn into an orange red on someone else. True story, i saw this happen.

For instance as you can see on me  this product is a very light golden peach tone, the girl showing it to me ended up with a sort of warm iridescent pink and when i put it on my boyfriend earlier this evening (minimal protesting, thank you dear) it was a darker almost orange toned gold. Awesome, crazy madness right there.

(BTW the nail polish here is Re-fresh mint by China Glaze)

When it comes to the mascara i was a little concerned at first, i got this one the day before via my boyfriend  (thank you again dear)  sight unseen and the brief research i did before hand had me a little concerned. Unnecessarily so it turned out as this will now be my everyday mascara as it separates lashes incredibly well without clumping. It's not a lengthening or volume mascara, more like a definition mascara.

I was previously using Burjois Volume Glamor Ultra Curl for everyday and it was a bit too much  for me, and Loreal Telescopic for outings. However i have pretty long lashes and although these (especially telescopic) are great at showing that off, they do not perform well for just going out everyday where they take ages to drive and due to the long lashes i end up with zebra striped on my eyebrows and cheeks. Not attractive.

Sorry about the redness, mornings and me don't work so well together. So here is the mascara at work in all it's separating glory, this is just one coat too, feel free to  layer it to your heart's content. It still won't clump up. (that's hard to say!)  The eyeliner I'm wearing here is "Success"  the silver eyeliner (duh).

One teeny tiny almost non issue, the brush is small, tiny really, very good for letting you get your corner lashes but might be a turn off for some people; but instead just get a disposable mascara wand!

P.s. This mascara is vegan too, only has one preservative in it, as opposed to like a million.

Annnnnnnd Confident, definitely darker then my usual lipsticks ( i tend to favor mauve/plum colors) and I'm amazed at the pigment in these colors, very rich and soft. Bendable as well so if you want a less intense look that works well too. They lip creams seem to be quite softening  in addition to the great color. Part of the formula i was told includes Lush's softening Ultrabalm as a base, which is a simple blend of organic jojoba oil, candelilla wax and rose wax.

It does have a strong scent to it to begin with, im not sure how to describe it; at first i thought maybe licorice but on closer scent inspection i would lean more towards something like a blueberry or some kind of dark berry scent. Noticable i did not really notice this smell on any of the lighter toned lip creams and it doesn't hang around long if it's not your cup of blueberry licorice.

Here's how the color looks (unblended) very deep rich Burgundy

Here it is blended out, reminds me of my favorite  Berry Smoothie Lip Butter.

 So that's what i found, a very cool collection for Lush's first foray into the makeup world and a very welcome addition it is. Totally go have a play and see what you like, most of the stuff is about $24 so a little on the hefty side if you haven't tried it out.

Thank you for everyone at Lush for showing me around and explaining the collection. I'll be back for that eyeshadow! 

Since i hate to disappoint, as asked here is a picture of my new bright pink hair. Which i now, that the shock has worn away, love to death.  (Done for my my best ever hair stylist Sophie at the Hair Salon at Ocean Keys, if you want awesome hair go see her)

Living up to the "Cat" part of this blog; my sweet kitty cat Bella (not names after Twilight). Sadly i moved out of home last year and so she is now an orphan kitty who loves with my parents, but i am sure to visit often. I will try to find a good picture of my older fat cat Miffy.

Congratulations if you made it all the way to the bottom of this long post, you deserve a reward. Go get yourself something nice :)

( This post was not sponsored or anything, i just really love Lush)

Review: Revlon Lipbutters

A look to the past before a progressive look at something more current next post.
(promise)

Well, at least i think it's a look to the past, after all these are like 3 months old now in Australia (of all places), but i recently got another one to add to my lil stash and though i would do a review for that one person out there who hasn't heard of/tried these yet. So you, the one living under the rock, this post is for you. :)

Now when i first heard of these i was still very much in my "meh makeup" stage of life ,but Hunger Games nail polishes had just come out and they just kinda kept poping up in places while i was doing regular non-makeup Internet things.

The obsession started and it led me to these, these lovely things which at the time were not out yet. (not here anyway) So i waited, when mum went over to Singapore i asked her to look as well. Then, the day she left, i go into a chemist near my house and what do i see but a shiny new pristine and completely  untouched stand of the Revlon Lipbutters. Fate. Must be. Why else would they bring it to a chemist first right? 

So originally there was only really two colors i wanted (Gumdrop and Berry Smoothie), but i was a  newbie and did not expect the massive price hike that the lip butters suffered upon entering Australian waters, i guess something in the air means as soon as it crosses the border it gains another 100$ value thus doubling the price from what it was in the US and UK?

So on that first trip i got Gumdrop and (don't remember why) Strawberry Shortcake, and walked away happy. These are very soft and smooth, probably closer to lipstick then balm but they do sit that fence very well and certainly do moisturize.

Revlon; Sweet Tart, Strawberry Shortcake, Gumdrop, Cupcake, and Berry Smoothie

Berry Smoothie and Cupcake came into my possession about three weeks later when Priceline held a buy 2 for 1 deal and once again for some reason i got a dark lip butter next to a super light one, mum got the same deal picking Sweet Tart and Berry Smoothie and we went away happy.

These feel really nice on your lips, literally buttery smooth, but they are not great at lasting. Maybe an hour or two assuming you don't eat or talk too much, and so require frequent application. If you leave them anywhere too warm they will without a doubt melt in a nanosecond. But for treating your lips they are lovely.

The quilt-pattern on the packaging is also a treat, this packaging is one thing i really love about Revlon products it seems both safe and at the same time high end ( reminding me vaguely of the Burberry packaging) 

So yesterday mum gave me her untouched lipbutter in Sweet Tart saying she only really used Berry Smoothie and kept forgetting that this one was in her bag, so i happily accepted. Thus below are the swatches of my five lipbutters (3 more then i though i would have);

In all honesty i have to agree with my mum that Berry Smoothie is the finest of these (flavors?) and the one i reach for the most, in fact since i keep it with me all the time it's developed a bit of a rattle where the stick of product no longer sits entirely securely in the packaging. Hopefully it lasts!

Happily i think Sweet tart is close enough to Berry smoothie just without the shimmer that i will wear it quite often. Cupcake is almost too pale for me and seems to sink into the cracks on my lips a little too obviously.

Shortcake is nice, and the swatch doesn't really do it justice, it's a lot closer to cupcake then to sweet tart and has some similar issues but much more wearable then cupcake.

Lastly gumdrop, i liked this when i first got it and wore for about two weeks then switched over to berry tart and forgot it a bit, but now my pink hair seems to make it look a bit more natural and closer to mauve then blue and so i no longer look like the dead while wearing it.

So which was your favorite?

Also, sorry if this post was a little outdated, next i promise something brand new and totally shiny; a peek at Lush's just released Emotional Brilliance range.

(oh also very happy to say i just placed my first order at Haus of Gloi and One Hand washes the Others, very excited to see)

Nailpolish Stash

I looked at my box of polishes today, and decided that it would be cool to count how many i had and take some photos to  share with you :)

So with now further adu i present my nail polish stash;

The reason my nail polish has grown in the last 5 months was the China Glaze  Hunger Games collection which sent me spinning into nail polish hording :)

China Glaze; Riveting, Stone Cold, Harvest Moon, Electrify, Smoke and Ashes, and Agro

Riveting is my favorite of these, its sucha beautiful unique color.

China Glaze; Re-fresh Mint, For Audrey, Secret Peri-wik-le, Meteor Shower, and Optical Illusion

I couldn't decide between Re-fresh mint and For Audrey, so i got them both. Bad Me.

OPI; Actually Black Onyx, Just Spotted the Lizard, Sparrow me the Drama, I Don't Give a Rotterdam, and Give me the Moon

 OPI Lincoln Park After Dark, Not like the Movies, DS Reflections, DS Radiance 

Now that i look at the photos side by side im almost 100% sure i mislabeled these, Black Onyx is on top and Lincoln Park after Dark is in the bottom photo. Sorry they look really alike in bottle.

BTW my version of Not Like the Movies is the proper duochrome!!! I previously owed the dud version but once i got this one i gave the old bottle to mum. But if anyone wants to see the two side by side just let me know!

Also I'm sad the OPI DS Range is no longer holographic : ( Their holo range predates my love of nail polishes.

Chi Chi; Doris Day, Choose Chi Chi, Before you Go Go, Boom Boom Boom, Relax Don't Do it and Jitterbug

Got this set as a gift, havent tried any of them yet, but i might try a skittle mani when it warms up a little :) Thie quite cute. But calling one of their own polishes "Choose Chi Chi" seems a little arrogant to me.

Essence; Grand-ple in black, Gold old Buffy, The Dawn is broke x2, and Hunt me if you Can

I think it's no secret that when it comes to Essence I'm a little obsessed, so here are my Vampire and one Ballerina nail polishes; among them my all time favorite polish; The Dawn is broken. Hence why it's the only polish i have which i have a back up of, i adore this color; it's edgy, different, not traditionally pretty but when you look closer it's absolutely gorgeous.

Essence; Back to the 50's, I'm a Martine Girl, Love me Tender, Love Peace and Purple, My best nude friends and me. Just the nude of us, Brightmates, and We are all Bright

Most of these i've shown before; the exception being Love Peace and Purple which i have tried to put on about 10 times and every time i finish a single nail i look at the color and hate it so i immediatley remove it. I really need to trey give it a better chance. Also i added "My best nude friends and me" to my collection of the extremes trend, i like it but not as much as "Just the Nude of Us".

Essence; Sparkling Water Lilly, Make it Golden, Fateful Desire, Better late then never, Meet me Now, Where is the Party, Absolutely Blue, Hard to Resist, Blue Addicted, and Galactic Black.

The essence permanents  that got me hooked by their cheap cheap price! I particularly love Better late then never and blue addicted. Meanwhile Make it golden is an awesome addition to any mani.

Revlon; Cherry Crush, Royal, Popular, Scandalous, and Electric

I'm never sure if i like the Revlon polishes; some are gorgeous and some are so vanilla i feel I've seen them everywhere before. My all time favorite from these is Popular it's a beautiful jelly sandwich in a bottle. (This color i have it on good authority used to be called Starry Pink which i think i kind of like better) In the same vein of though i've been searching for it's baby brother "Whimsical" but havent seen it anywhere. Does anyone know if this polish even made it down under?

Rimmel; Green with Envy, Red Carpet, and Princess Pink

Eh Rimmel polished don't really wow me. Their nice, good application and brush.

Sally Hansen; Pixel Pretty, Blu, Lady Luck, Showgirl
Chic, Blue it, and Antique Gold Crackle.

I've owned many Sally Hansen polishes in my life, until about 6 months ago i didn't really care. But i like their brand, it's very reliable quality and they usually do a nice mix of things and bring out something interesting every now and again. BTW i a) didn't know what a crackle coat was when i bought  this, b) i don't really care for the effect. Now that i see the gem the gem crushes seem to be separating a bit oddly in the bottle.

So why is it the most used?....geek moment; i and a friend painted a Dungeons and Dragons miniature with it.

Ulta3 Bewitched, Layla Turquois Wave, BYS In Da Club, BYS Magenta, and Miss Shop Edward Dare

I like magnetics but their formula generally seems to be very thick which is a little difficult to work with. Don't really like either of the BYS polishes probably won't repurchase any new polishes from that brand unless something really unique shows up, and the Miss Shop was a gift. The color on it is nice but the formula is very watery.

MODE Soho, Mode High Fashion, Faceshop Wh003, Pk103, Wh002, and Tickled Pink by Savvy

My most random polishes. The first two are my most recent purchases both picked out by my boyfried to match my new haircut ^^ The faceshop ones are quite good, i love the little glitter harts one and the PK103 is awesome to give shimmer to nay manicure as it's so incredibly sheer.

Color Club Fashion Addict,  Color Club Worth the Risque, Essie Lilacism, and Australis Speck-tacular Top Coat 

My first and (currently) only Holos!!!!!!!

I got them in the middle of winter and haven't had a chance to try them with any sort of reasonable sunny day though :(

My only essie is much treasured, i wore it for a week straight when i got it (only the dawn is broken has achieved the same status) yet i havent bought nay more essie, i think their brand is lovely and neutral but when i have the chance to buy a higher end polishes i try to get something more unique i guess.

BTW this top coat, if you like flakies is the bomb.

So let's count them shall we? 78? not bad for 6 months right?

Let me know if you would like to see a swatch or review for any of these :)