My thoughts on: Lush Cosmetics

Hey guys, I've really been enjoying blogging recently and I thought I would create a couple of regular posts on my blog.

I've called this one 'My thoughts on', I thought this was a great idea to do a couple of times a month or even more. 

I think this is a great way to tell you my thoughts on products/places/pieces of clothing, etc.



This first post of this series is going to be my thoughts on the Shop, Lush Cosmetics.

 Lush Cosmetics, is a company that creates handmade bath and shower products. 


A few years ago I would always walk past Lush in my hometown but I'd never walk in as I found the smell of the shop quite overpowering, which I found quite distracting.

About two years ago I decided to just go in there and have a look at the products, I found a lot of the things quite pricey so I decided not to buy anything.

But recently (the past year and a half) I've been obsessed with Lush and their products.

Every time you walk into one of their shops you are always welcomed with such lovely staff who welcome you with open arms, each and every one of their staff is so happy and helpful.

A lot of shops that you go in nowadays I find a lot of the staff seem to be quite distracted, moody or rude.

But in Lush its a different scenario. My mum has recently been having Chemo and was finding it hard to find a certain shampoo to use on her hair, the lovely ladies in Lush were so happy to help her and give her a whole list of products that other ladies/gentlemen undergoing Chemo treatment have used and what worked for them. 

It made me feel even more comfortable as I feel that they are not just there to sell you their products but are also happy to help all different kinds of people going through all sorts of situations.

Although a lot of people won't give Lush a second look, as some might say their products are over priced. I personally think its nice to spend a little more on products that are handmade and of such good quality, as you know they won't be so harmful on your skin and do not contain any harsh chemicals.

The Company also do not test on animals, which I think is great.

Another thing I love is that every occasion that comes up from Christmas/Valentines Day/Mothers Day/Easter/Spring, etc. 
Lush are always bringing out new products to suit every occasion which I think is adorable.

Their original products are sold all year round also, but I personally think its nice to have a change once in a while and pick up a few limited addition bits.

A few of my favourites from the company are - 

Masks -
Catastrophe Cosmetic - £6.50
Mask of Magnaminty, Self preserving - £9.75 

Bath products -
Comforter, bubble bar - £4.75
Space girl, bath bomb - £2.35
Snow fairy, shower gel (LIMITED EDITION, only available at Christmas time) 
Magic Wand, bubble bar (LIMITED EDITION, only available at Christmas time)

Lip products -
Popcorn, lip scrub -  £5.50
Santa's, lip scrub (LIMITED EDITION, only available at Christmas time)



My overall thoughts on Lush Cosmetics -
An amazing company which I will forever repurchase from, the best quality of products, lovely staff and a brand that does no harm to the environment. 
I would really recommend this shop to all ages, especially a great place to go if you are looking for gifts for someone with a love of beauty products.


Hope you enjoyed this post!

Kat Von D Lock-It Foundation

I purchased the Kat Von D Lock-It Tattoo Foundation whilst I was in Florida, November last year.

I got mine in the shade Medium 53, which is the shade I use when I'm fake tanned.
I have combination to normal skin.

Packaging -
The packaging of this foundation is so fun and edgy, like Kat Von D herself.
The bottle is plastic where as a lot of other foundations I own are glass which is not the best especially when you're around hard floors, lol.

My tips -
If you have highly pigmented skin, oily skin or even acne prone skin, I would highly recommend this product to you. The foundation is very full coverage so if you don't need such a high coverage or don't like the look of such a heavy coverage foundation I would stay away from this product.

To thin the foundation out in the summer months I would maybe mix it with a moisturiser so it's not so heavy.

My technique -
I've really been enjoying using my MAC Cosmetics Fix+ spray.
I first start out by wetting my brush with the fix plus, then I will just apply one pump of foundation to my face and then start with dabbing motions onto my skin as this helps keep the coverage where as if i was to start blending straight away I'd probably end up taking away the coverage from the areas I want it the most.

I find one pump is all I need to cover my whole face, especially by pairing it with the Fix+
together they're the perfect combination, you'll never get a cake face if you pair the two!

Shade wise -
I really regret not picking up more shades as I'd love to wear this when I'm not wearing fake tan as I just love the finish it gives.

I picked up the shade Medium 53 which states to be for a light to medium complexion with golden yellow undertone, this is the perfect shade for when I'm fake tanned.

Claims -
This foundation claims to help cover tattoos, blemishes, be a matte finish, long wearing and much more.

Personally I haven't used the foundation without a primer underneath as I always apply a primer before using any makeup product on my face, but it is very long wearing with a primer.
I would always recommend using a primer with any foundation to be honest as I think you get the best results that way and it creates a lovely base.

If you have dry skin then I would say moisturise before hand as the foundation may cling to some dry patches if not, even if you have a Tzone I would still moisturise the other parts of your face to help the products you are using apply a lot nicer.

Powder -
For all the oily skin girls out there I would say if you are going out for the day then carry a powder with you, just in case you need a quick touch up of the Tzone area. 


Purchasing the product -
This foundation is not currently sold in the UK, but is available in the U.S in Sephora.
Sephora stock 19 shades and each retail for $34.00 each.


Overall Review -
I absolutely love this foundation, I would definitely say its my new holy grail foundation along with the MAC Studio Fix Fluid, I personally like a more full coverage foundation and a matte finish but that's just my personal preference. I would opt for this foundation more for a special occasion or when I know I'm having pictures taken, for example on a night out as it has no SPF where as the MAC Studio Fix does. 

January Favourites

Hey guys I thought I'd share some products I've been loving throughout the month of January :) 

The first product I've been absolutely loving this month is the Lush Cosmetics Santa's Lip Scrub.
My lips have been really dry the past couple of months and this scrub is great for getting rid of that. I first start off by applying the scrub to my lips with my finger and then rubbing it in, then afterwards i just lick it off (the scrub is edible) not only does it taste great but the scrub gets rid of the dryness and leaves my lips feeling really smooth and soft! Unfortunately this product is limited edition and only available around Christmas time, but Lush do other flavours such as Popcorn, bubblegum and mint jupps :) 

I then apply my 2nd favourite of the month, which is lip balm.
The ones I've been enjoying using are three from The Body Shop,
one is a lip butter, the other two are lip balms. 

Each one of these smells absolutely incredible and like actual fruit, I find with a lot of lip products they smell very artificial and very off putting, but these are completely different.

I find applying the Lush Cosmetics lip scrub with these lip products works absolute wonders and leaves my lips feeling lovely and smelling so yummy. 

Left to right - Strawberry lip butter, watermelon lip balm, satsuma shimmer lip balm.

Also from Lush Cosmetics, I have been trying out a sample I was given a few weeks ago which is their Imperialis moisturiser. 

I usually stick to my Simple kind to skin light moisturiser, but opted to try one thats made of natural ingredients as my skin has been very dry recently (around my forehead and cheek area), this moisturiser feels lovely on my skin and I find it sinks in really quickly and leaves my skin feeling really smooth. I apply this product before i apply my primer and I can honestly say it helps my primer apply even smoother than it usually does. 

For foundation I've gone back to my holy grail foundation which is MAC Cosmetics Studio Fix Fluid.

I will forever repurchase this foundation as its my go to, I find even when I'm having a really bad skin day this foundation just makes your skin look flawless. Its a matte finish, which for me is perfect as I have combination skin and have a Tzone. 

The great thing about this foundation is that it doesn't look cakey unlike some medium to full coverage foundations/bases, it stays looking perfect all day and is great for the hot summer days too!

Mine is in the shade c4.5 (the shade I use when I'm fake tanned) 

My next favourite face products have been blushers, 

I hardly use to wear blusher a few years back but now I can't do my makeup without applying some blush, my two favourites recently have been Makeup Geek 'Secret Admirer'  and Milani 'Luminoso'.

Makeup Geek Secret Admirer -  A cool tone pinky lavender shade with slight blue undertones, I find this shade is beautiful on pale skin and looks gorgeous with a warm smokey eye. 

 

Milani Luminoso - A beautiful peach blush with gold shimmers running through it, the amazing thing about this blush is although it has shimmer in it it doesn't appear too much or glitter like on the skin.

I purchased this blush when I was in America last year and I have to say this is now a holy grail product for me, I can honestly say this blush goes with any look from a full on dramatic smokey eye to a natural everyday look.

My favourite brush of the past year and January has been the MAC Cosmetics 217 blending brush, this is the best blending brush I've ever used, I wish I had about 10 of them!

Although the brush hairs are white they clean up like brand new, every single eye look I create looks flawless when I use this brush. 

From applying colour through the crease to packing shadow onto the lid, this brush can be used for anything! even to blend out concealer.

A product I recently mentioned in my last Haul video on my Youtube channel was the MAC Cosmetics Pro longwear eyeshadow in 'Uninterrupted', I purchased this eyeshadow as I heard it was being discontinued by a few people so I made sure I grabbed it quickly. 

I asked in Mac the day I bought it and the lady told me she hadn't heard of it being discontinued at all,  so I don't know what to believe lol.

Anyway, this eyeshadow is the most perfect transition shade I have ever tried.

 I usually use a bronzer through the crease but since using this I haven't gone back.

It blends every shadow so seamlessly and looks so so beautiful with a black smokey eye.

Over the past couple of months I've been loving using colour on my eyes more than usual, I think its because the English weather is so dull, lol.

My Urban Decay Electric palette has been one of my go to palettes for incorporating colour into my looks, the pigmentation of these eyeshadows is so buttery and so easy to blend and that is very hard to find with such colourful eyeshadows as some can appear very chalky, but not these.

I have a full review of this palette on my blog if you'd like to scroll down and take a read.

Heres a couple of looks I recently created using the palette - The lashes I'm wearing are the Illamasqua 'Lush' lashes.

My favourite lashes of the month have been Illamaqua's 'Lush' lashes and Red Cherry's '107' lashes.

I purchased the Illamaqua lashes as I had noticed them in their sale and they really caught my eye as I love a full on dramatic lash, although these lashes are very dramatic and thick they apply so easily!

They may be a bit too much for everyday wear for some people but I love experimenting with them as I find they go with so many looks.

I'm wearing the lashes in the photos above for anyone thats interested in what they look like on.

The Red Cherry '107' are more of a natural looking lash in my opinion, they're very fluttery and pretty especially with just a winged liner and a bold lip.

Whilst I was in America last year I purchased the Wet n Wild H20 liquid liner in the shade '881 ultra black', I wasn't really expecting much from this product as it was only $3.99 but my mind was blown when i used it, this liner is definitely waterproof and won't budge at all, infact it is very hard to remove so be sure to use a waterproof eye makeup remover. 

 The applicator on this product is great, you can create a very fine line or build it up to a very thick line.

I wouldn't recommend this product if you are a beginner in eyeliner as it can get quite messy, but if you are a master of winged liner then it's totally for you.

My last favourite, is just a random thing I thought I'd add in if you're looking for a bargain.

And that is these false nails from Primark, I have been using the Primark nails for over a year now and they're such good quality.

I apply them with a glue I bought separately as I find the glue that comes with them isn't the best.

The nails last ages and don't seem to ping off after an hour like some others I've used before.

The best thing about the nails is that they're £1! 

Hope you enjoyed this post!