(Review) Rose Jam: Goes on Toast

There are many things that I associate with the colder months.  Warm fuzzy boots, steaming hot mugs of tea or cocoa, and of course, the gradually increasing blood pressure of the stress that is trying to drive in the snow.  Even though it's still autumn and even though there's a (hopefully) long way off before any of the devil's fluff touches the ground, there are some good things about those cold, barren months.  The tea and cocoa for instance, and any and every excuse to stay inside and watch as much Netflix as I can cuddled under as many blankets as possible without crushing me to death.  Oh yes, winter definitely has its perks!

With Lush's early launch of holiday items, I seem to be gearing up for winter far ahead of time.  The shop definitely smells of Christmas, and it really makes my head spin that it's already THAT time of year.  Where everything will soon be holly jolly and barely an inch of breathing room will be had in my small little shop.  But it definitely warms my heart to see some old favorites return, Rose Jam being one of them

Rose Jam is definitely one of those fragrances I always associate with wintertime, mainly since this shower gel is usually only for sale during Christmas.  Last year, my first Christmas working for Lush, I was shocked to see these bottles practically fly off the shelves.  Hands down it had to be the best selling shower gel of the season, even outselling the ever popular Snow Fairy (at least from what I saw).

I don't know how to really describe the scent of Rose Jam.  For one thing I do know that rose jam is an actual food, usually eaten during the end of the harvesting of roses in Turkey (where we get our rose oil from, and have been for years!).  As one who isn't keen on florals, I was a bit skeptical to sniff this at first, but when I first inhaled this delicious scent, I really didn't know what to think.  And to be honest, I still don't!  Rose Jam is unlike any perfume I've ever smelled before.  For one thing let me just point out that I do enjoy it, but the blend of rose, lemon, and vanilla is something truly unique!  And when I wash with this in the shower, I feel I get a bit of everything.  A dash of floral rose, a bite of citrusy lemon, and a smattering of sweet sweet vanilla that lingers oh so nicely on my skin in a creamy floral froth.

The shower gel and overall scent are definitely a crowd favorite, and it was a smart move for Lush to bring it back for the holidays this year.  It's something I recommend if you really want to experience one of those cult scents that only rears its head during the holidays, and to me just smells of Christmas.  Year round, the scent can also be found in the bubbleroon of the same name, Jason and the Argan Oil shampoo bar, Ro's Argan body conditioner, and Pearl massage bar.  However, if this is your first holiday season with Lush or if you've never tried out Rose Jam before, I highly recommend you pick this baby up.  It just isn't a Lush Christmas without Rose Jam!

  **Rose Jam shower gel is certified Vegan

(Review) Dirty Springwash: More Refreshing Than A Popsicle!

It's hard to believe summer's already at an end.  It seems like it was only five minutes ago my thighs were sticking to all the leather furniture and frantically trying to tame the steel wool-esque shrubbery that was my hair.  Usually the hair taming and sticking to things a la Spiderman would've had me clamoring for cooler weather.  But now that the time is here, where the leaves are starting to change, everything is coated in a fine layer of pumpkin spice, and nary an even can be found, I'm finding that my body is so not ready for the cool weather.

Sensing this disturbance, Mother Nature must've granted me a little more time, as the past few weeks have been nice and toasty.  I would happily peel myself from whatever furniture I was stuck to, tie my shrub of hair into a ponytail as to not trap any small woodland creatures (or entice them to build nests) and skip off to work with a smile on my face while my coworkers baked in the heat and humidity.  Even though my apartment doesn't have air conditioning, I still managed to keep cool with a fan, ice cold drinks, and a certain shower gel.

Dirty Springwash is part of the Dirty range at Lush (obviously) which was originally designed with men in mind.  Obviously women and all of those in between can use it as well, hence why I decided to give it a shot!  Since my dearly departed Freeze shower gel, I've been looking for a tingly and refreshing replacement to get me through the hot and sticky weather, and I had high hopes that Dirty Springwash would do that.  Even the name sounds refreshing!

Dirty Springwash contains a hefty dose of spearmint, mentholated crystals, a touch of fine sea salt, and believe it or not, thyme.  Dirty's signature scent has always been spearmint and thyme, giving an odd savory twist to the refreshing kick of spearmint.  Lush fragrances have been anything but ordinary, and Dirty is no exception.  So when I squirted that first blue blob onto my shower poof, I was expecting a minty, tingly kick when I actually got a hefty dose of spice filling the air.  All I could pick up was the thyme, with a few base notes of spearmint and nary a bit of minty tingle on my skin!  Mind you the scent wasn't offensive or something I deemed bad, but it was a lot different than what I thought it was going to be.  Honestly it reminded me a lot of tabbouleh, which is great to eat, but not so great to shower with.  Once I lathered a bit on my skin, I found the spearmint notes became stronger, but not as strong as I would like.  Nonetheless, by the end of my shower, I felt clean and refreshed and ready to take on that midwestern humidity.

Overall, Dirty Springwash was an interesting one to use.  The savory notes were something I found quite strong, but if working at Lush has taught me anything, it's that a person's scent is almost as unique as their fingerprint.  While I mainly smelled thyme in Dirty Springwash, someone else could come along and smell nothing but spearmint.  It's funny how scent works that way.  I ended up using the entire bottle, and while I liked the clean and fresh feeling it gave me, I don't think the scent worked for me.  And that's okay!  Because what doesn't work for myself works well for someone else, and I will give Dirty credit for being a totally unique scent...something I never would've seen someone put together.  And who knows...it could be that bottle you reach for when you need some cooling down on those hot, sticky nights!

***Dirty Springwash is certified Vegan

(Review) The Christmas Hedgehog: Snooping As Usual I See

I think I have a love/hate relationship with snow.  Growing up in the midwest, it was a given that we had at least one terrible, horrible, no good very bad snowstorm at least once per season.  One where you'd look outside to see fat fluffy flakes gently pillowing on the frozen ground, and depending on your age, would either whoop with joy or groan with annoyance.  Some days I love the snow.  I can just wrap myself in the fluffiest of blankets, park it on my couch with a cup of tea or hot chocolate, and relax with a movie, book, or video game.  Because there's a certain stillness about snowfall.  It's like all the sound outside is muted and it's so still and quiet.  It's peaceful and it's quiet.  Unless you have to drive somewhere.

I consider myself a very down to earth, laid back individual.  Very few things can spike my anxiety to critical mass.  One of those things is driving in the snow.  Back when I was a youth of 19 (get off my lawn) I was in my final year of community college, before I moved out to the city I currently reside in.  One snowy December night, my literature teacher dismissed us early, citing worrying weather as a reason.  "I don't want you getting into any car accidents!" he warned with a chuckle.  Oh the damn irony of that statement.  Twenty minutes later I was in a gas station parking lot with a busted right bumper, standing next to the girl I hit and the two of us glaring at the douche waffle (to be polite) who cut her off, causing her to slam on her breaks and me to skid into her through a patch of black ice.  Though the gas station attendant was nice enough to bring us paper cups of hot chocolate, I was still peeved...and scared.

Though I walked away with a slightly damaged bumper, a bruised sternum, and a doubled insurance rate, it was enough to put the fear of god in me when it came to driving in the snow.  Even years later (not that many, I'm not THAT old) it still scares me a lot.  So after one particularly rough morning where I white knuckled my steering wheel all the way to work, I knew I needed something to soothe my rattled nerves.  Enter this little guy!

 

 

The Christmas Hedgehog is a bubble bar I received in my staff box.  A new product to this year's Christmas range at Lush, Christmas Hedgehog has the same scent as last year's Noriko soap, which was composed of lavender and ylang ylang.  His little body has a thick layer of shea and cocoa butter "frosting" (from the Luxury bath melt) for supreme amounts of hydration for thirsty winter skin.  And when it comes to relaxation, nothing says it better than a hydrating, soothing bath with lavender and ylang ylang.

I'm quite fond of the two scents together, and when I came home I hastily took off my snow soaked boots, threw my coat off, and grabbed this guy out of my ceramic dish of Lush goodies, intent on sacrificing him to the bath gods (for good instead of evil of course).

 

So as some of you guys know, I usually only crumble half a bubble bar into my tub, because my tub is small and it seems to be enough for me.  Well, when I crumbled half of this little guy into my tub, I was met with a disappointing lack of bubbles.  I was actually quite shocked to find there were little to no bubbles at all!  So I did something I never do, and that was to use the entire bubble bar.  Even after the entire thing was dissolved, even after swishing my arms around vigorously to agitate the bubble mix, and even after the tub was filled all the way, there were still way less bubbles than I was used to.  Other small bubble bars that I used half of (like Dorothy) had given me plenty more bubbles than this guy.

The water was nothing too spectacular.  A cloudy snow color with a light dusting of bubbles.  I was disappointed with the bubble turnout, but I can't deny that the scent and the softness it left on my skin were spectacular.  Also it did calm down my anxiety from speeding home at a vicious 25mph in the middle of a damn blizzard, so I can attest to the relaxing properties!

Overall I have to say I was quite disappointed with this bubble bar.  While it worked great as a bath melt and stress reliever, it didn't live up to the notion of a bubble bar, having produced barely any bubbles.  But at my shop we've been selling out of The Christmas Hedgehog quite quickly, so it works for some people!  The hedgehog I got in my staff box was also quite a bit smaller than the ones available to the public, so that could've also been a deciding factor in my less than stellar experience.  Plenty more bubble bars where that came from though!

**The Christmas Hedgehog is certified Vegan
***Purchase The Christmas Hedgehog at your local LUSH store or online here      

(Review) D'Fluff: Bigfoot Tested, Chewbacca Approved

If there's one thing I know to be true, it's that the simple things in life that give me the most joy.  Like waking up to silence and sunshine and not the drunk college students that inhabit my building slurring and shouting their way up the steps to nurse a massive hangover.  Or going through one conversation with my mother without her mentioning my singleness and ebbing fertility.  And of course, that amazing feeling of dropping trou once you set foot in your apartment after a hard day of work.  Throwing all caution to the wind.  And by caution I mean pants.

But in all seriousness, simple things really do give me the most joy.  Give me my bed, a good book, and a mug of hot chocolate and I'm in total bliss.  Or a nice hot bath with a book and a bowl of fresh fruit to sustain me in my efforts to become the first ever human prune.  With two retail jobs and not much free time, these simple things have become a luxury.  While I may not always have time for a luxurious bubble bath or a piping hot mug of hot chocolate (sprinkled liberally with cinnamon of course), I find luxury in my morning routine.  A nice hot shower, an abrasive yet skin softening scrub, and of course, the silky smooth feel of freshly shaven legs.

I won't lie to you dear readers.  I, your loyal blogger, am a hairy she-beast.  Thanks to my father's lovely genes, I have head full of thick, black hair that takes two hair stylists to blow dry whenever I go in for a trim.  That hair also migrated to my legs.  Just my luck of course.  While some women elect not to shave their body hair (which is totally cool.  I have a strange admiration for a woman who can rival a man's pit hair with her own) I elect to shave mine.  There's just something about leg hair and stubble rubbing together that gives me the same effect of nails on a chalkboard.  So when I saw Lush was coming out with a new shaving cream this summer, my curiosity was piqued, as I was looking for a replacement for the aerosol shaving creams that left my legs unbearably itchy.

Staff box version of D'Fluff

D'Fluff was actually on its way to being a shower smoothie, but co-founder Mark Constantine shaved with it one day and found it a fantastic shaving soap, so its development was changed into the pink fluffy cream we know and love today.  D'Fluff was also inspired by strawberry marshmallow fluff, which I find heartwarming as it reminds me of my mom, who would eat the stuff by the jar, spoon in hand and fixated on her latest TV obsession (right now it's the reboot of Dallas in case anyone was wondering).  And since this soap includes strawberries, sugar, and syrup, it sounds good enough to eat!  But one thing that attracted me to this soap was the inclusion of fair trade organic cocoa butter, which I hoped would cure my post-shave itchiness.  Other moisturizing properties in this soap include coconut oil, rapeseed oil (pronounced "wrap-seed"), and rosehip oil to leave you with buttery smooth legs.

I was really excited to use this, as straying from my *insert crappy drugstore brand of shaving cream here* was a big step for me.  So I spun open the pot, scooped out the amount of about a silver dollar, lathered strawberry milkshake suds in between my palms, and spread on my pale, stubbly legs.  The lather felt very creamy and soft to me.  Barely any bubbles or foam, just a nice, creamy surface to glide your razor over.  I did chuckle a bit as I remembered my last foray into shaving alternatives (it involved cold wax, my sister's cameraphone, and myself earning the nickname "Patches" from a dear friend.  It was an unfortunate and pain-filled day) and hoped this wouldn't end the same way.  But as I ran my hands over my freshly shaven leg to check for any bits I might've missed, I was surprised at how silky smooth my legs were, and even more surprised when I toweled off and found no desire to scratch them raw.  The next day, they were just as silky smooth as the day I shaved them (I shave every other day or so).  Maybe the smallest, microscopic bit of stubble, but I was still incredibly impressed with how well this stuff worked! 

Keeping with the theme of "fuzz" my making this pic blurry.  Or maybe I just suck at photography.  Artistic interpretation and all that...

One thing I learned from further use of this product is that I have to use the exact size I started with.  No more, no less.  Too much is too thick and won't give a close enough shave, too little and it doesn't cover your whole leg, which gives the soap no slip and warrants a patchy shave.  But overall, this is a fantastic shaving cream that has deterred me from aerosol cans for good.  It smells fantastic too, not overly fruity or floral, and can be used by both men and women alike (though I find men to be deterred from the fact that it's pink...the male ego can be so fragile...) on any shaveable part of the body. 

The fuzziness represents the fuzziness we all have on our bodies and in our hearts.  Or is just another unintentionally blurry picture...

**D'Fluff is certified Vegetarian
***Pick up D'Fluff at your local LUSH store, or order online here

**Also just wanted to add that my readers mean the world to me, and subscriptions brighten my day.  Please take the time to subscribe to me via Bloglovin, Google+, or any other way of subscribing, and of course, comments are open and very much welcome!  I love to hear what you guys think and what I could add to make this blog more enjoyable for you!**

(Review) Blue Skies and Fluffy White Clouds: Get Your Zen On

You ever notice how when you squirrel away a little money, everything that costs an arm and a leg to fix starts breaking?  Yeah...that's one of the reasons I haven't updated this blog lately.  A fried video card dampers the ability to edit pictures without the whole damn computer freezing.  It's also quite an expensive fix.  So I decided to take a break from dabbing my weepy eyes with my credit card statement to write a review after a very long dry spell.

I won't lie, the past few months have been stress upon stress frosted in a buttercream layer of stress.  I left the sprinkles of stress off because you know...wanna keep my figure and all.  I now have two jobs and have worked almost every single day since starting the second.  It's kept me on my toes and I do love running around like a rabid hamster, but sometimes I just want to sit down and stare at the walls for an hour or six.  So I took a vacation.  Took a really nice vacation back to my hometown to visit my family, got my computer fixed, squeezed my dog half to death because she's adorable and fuzzy, and came back last night.  Today's my only day off this week, so I'm making it count by taking a nice, frothy bubble bath.

 

I'll admit, at the beginning, I wasn't sure if I loved or hated this bubble bar.  When the store was slow, I would waltz on over to the bubble bar area, pick up a bar of Blue Skies, and sniff with a hand on my hip and a concentrated look on my face (which probably scared a lot of people since I was staring out a huge window into the mall...but whatever).  Part of me loved the way it had a very incensey sort of smell due to the frankincense and patchouli notes, the other part thought it smelled like the cedar I put in my hamster's cage as a kid.  But I concluded that I did like the smell, and picked one of these up to test out.  I'm an avid incense burner and lover of trance/ambient music, and that's what this bubble bar was inspired by.  Co-founder Mark Constantine loved listening to trance/ambient music, as it was big around the time of the bubble bar's creation, and he created this bubble bar after a track of the same name he was listening to.  The blue would be the water, and the bubbles would be the fluffy white clouds!  It's one of Lush's best selling bubble bars and given its size, it's big enough for two baths!

 

Since I have freak small hands for someone my age and height, I break the bubble bar into quarters and crumble two of the quarters under the running tap.  I read somewhere that letting the bubble bar sit under the water for a bit helps create more bubbles, so I did that for a while and crumbled the rest.  I found this is a fabulous technique that works and will be using it from now on.  I then swirl my hands in the bathtub like I'm scrubbing it clean, but this helps whip up more bubbles if you don't have jacuzzi jets and helps dissolve any little chunks that might not have crumbled.  And I'll admit, when I was finished I was pleasantly surprised with how much creamy lather this bubble bar kicked up.  It smelled positively divine, very earthy and grounding, and I lowered myself in with relish.  The smell was noticeable but not overwhelming.  I honestly feel like out of all the bubble bars I've used, this one kicked up the most bubbles and had the most long lasting bubbles as well.  I got out nearly 3 hours later and there was still quite a bit of bubbly in the tub.  I kind of laughed because I had to sit at a weird angle so my current book (2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson in case anyone was wondering) wouldn't get eaten by the bubbles.

 

I have to say, even though I've been a Lushie for a few years, I'm pretty new to the bath stuff, and every bath product that I thought was going to be "meh" or mediocre has blown me (not literally) out of the water with how fantastic they are.  Blue Skies and Fluffy White Clouds was visually stunning (I did no color correcting on these pictures whatsoever, just some lighting and that's it) delivered with "fluffy white clouds" of bubbles, and gave me a heady, aromatic soak that was thoroughly enjoyable.  It was also more moisturizing than I thought it would be too!  So overall, a clear winner for me.  If aromatic, incense and herbal scents are your thing, this is the bubble bar for you!

**This bubble bar is certified Vegan
***Purchase Blue Skies and Fluffy White Clouds at your local LUSH store or online HERE   

(Review) African Paradise: It Means No Worries!

I don't know about you darling readers, but I am NOT a morning person.  There's nothing I dread more than hearing the shrill, incessant beeping of my alarm clock in the morning, going to turn it off but end up slamming my palm into my glasses, letting out a stream of curse words and praying that my glasses aren't broken, then five minutes later find said alarm clock and press snooze.  This practice usually repeats 2-4 times until I realize I'll be late for work, in which I pretty much ooze out of my warm, cozy bed and slither into the shower like the abnormally pale, night-dwelling creature I am. 

So by myself (and I'm guessing most of you, because I'm convinced morning people aren't human) not being a morning person, I like to keep my morning routine simple and not too complicated.  Because until I get that first taste of sweet heart palpitating caffeine, I'm pretty much comatose in the morning.  And because I'm not so much a morning person, sometimes I run late, which means I sometimes need to speed up my already simplistic morning routine.  Needless to say, African Paradise, LUSH's newest body conditioner has been a total game changer.

It kind of baffles me when people come into my shop and are completely confused as to what a body conditioner is.  Part of me kind of understands, but the other part is like "it says right there...on the...on the pot...right there."  For those of you that don't get what a body conditioner is, it's a conditioner for your body!  But for those who still don't understand it (and I do get some people who still don't get it after I've told them that, but that's okay, because I'm here to save the day!) I describe it as an in shower body lotion.  You wash with your soap or body wash of choice, then you smooth this on, do whatever you do in the shower (shave, wash your face, contemplate the meaning of life and existence as we know it) and rinse it off.  No need for lotion afterwards, because body conditioners do all the work that body lotion is supposed to!  And African Paradise is the newest to the body conditioner range, joining the classic Ro's Argan Body Conditioner (which smells DIVINE)!

LUSH staff box version of African Paradise

So when I bought my first full sized pot of African Paradise, I notice that it was a beautiful creamy cappuccino color as opposed to the slightly pastel white color of the one included in my staff box.  Still had the same scent though!  The scent is described as a "frangipani-scent"(which is a fancy word for Plumeria) and smells very light and powdery.  Honestly, it smells very similar to the new self preserving Charity Pot that should be out in September (which you can read all about here).  Among the frangipani (that's a fun word to say!  Just try it.  Say it out loud like, right now.  I'll know if you don't!) fragrance, there's also a smattering of fair trade, exotic ingredients from all over Africa!  For instance, the aloe, kalahari melon oil, and baobab oil included in African Paradise are from Kenya, completely fair trade, and very soothing if you had a long day out in the sun and have transformed into a human lobster hybrid.  Fair trade shea butter and fair trade moringa oil are both from Ghana and are super moisturizing.  It just blows my mind that everything in that little tub of goodness was once on a tree or harvested from somewhere in Africa.  Talk about an exotic bathing experience!  LUSH has also included fair trade vanilla into African Paradise, and we are the first company to EVER use fair trade vanilla!  But the best part about this new body conditioner.  It is totally and completely 100% self preserving, meaning no preservatives or parabens are included whatsoever.

Fun fact: LUSH includes hidden messages underneath the made by stickers!  Check some of yours out for a little message from the compounders!

So cut to a few days ago, to myself having my annual slapfest with my alarm clock's snooze button.  Realizing I hit it one too many times, I immediately rushed into the bathroom, obscenities streaming from my mouth like it was going out of style, leaving a trail of pajamas and underthings in my panic.  I hopped in the shower and furiously began scrubbing away, thankful that I'd washed my hair the night before.  In my sleep deprived haze, I remembered that I had bought my full sized tub not too long ago, and hastily rubbed every inch of skin down with the stuff.  I had previously used Ro's Argan and loved it, but I noticed how much lighter African Paradise felt on my skin than Ro's did (I still love Ro's though!).  After washing my face, I rinsed the conditioner off, patted myself dry, and marveled at how my skin felt, looked, and smelled.  The thing I still can't get over is how LIGHT it felt.  I was really surprised that something so light feeling could leave me so well moisturized.  And being that it was quite hot and humid out, the lightness was a welcome feeling as opposed to being sticky and gross.  I smelled very light and powdery, and my skin looked opalescent and even.  I was actually surprised I was awake enough to remember all of this!

Overall, I'm in love with African Paradise.  In my store amongst my coworkers, it's pretty much the universal favorite, and on the first day, we were selling it like CRAZY, and the customers are still coming back for more!  It's a fantastic product that feels so incredibly light, but moisturizing, and is made from quality, fair trade ingredients.  It's great if you don't like the feeling of lotion on your skin, or if you beat the snot out of your snooze button like I do.  I love demoing this on people and seeing their faces light up when they touch their arm.  It just makes me happy that I can love a product so much and show people why I love it, how it works, and why they'll love it too!

   
**This product is certified Vegan

**Pick up African Paradise at your local LUSH store, or buy it online HERE

(Review) Honey Bee: Bathtime Sweetness

I've been feeling just awful lately (hence no bathtime blog entry last week).  Allergies bite the big one.  All week I've been in a fog, with a clogged head, raw, itchy throat, dry eyes (as in dry enough that my coworker thought I was crying because they were so red) and a stuffy nose.  But on the positive, I get to experience the sweet satisfaction of having that one clogged nostril pop in the morning.  You know, that one clogged nostril you get when you're sick or have bad allergies.  Aww yeah, it's a great feeling!  So while I was feeling cruddy, I decided that I needed a nice, cleansing bath.  So I chose to have a sweet scented bath filled with soothing and cleansing clays!

 

Scented with the lovely Honey I Washed the Kids fragrance, Honey Bee is nice and sweet, but not too sweet!  HIWTK is one of my favorite scents from LUSH, and is my mother's all time favorite soap (I bought her a huge hunk of it for Mother's Day and I'm now convinced I'm the favorite child).  There's something about that salted caramel toffee scent that just makes my mouth water.  And I'm sure it made the inventor's mouth water too, as this was the whole point of the bath bomb!  Capturing HIWTK in a bath bomb!

Dragging my sorry butt to the bathroom, clutching my antihistamines and kleenex to my chest, I started up the bath tap and fished out the brown and yellow bomb.  Honey Bee may not be the prettiest bomb, but it's one of the sweetest smelling bombs!  The brown tone comes from the rhassoul mud, a rich clay that can only be mined from underground.  It's used to soften and cleanse the skin, and I needed a good deep clean.  Honey is also included (making this bomb vegetarian rather than vegan) to soften, and aloe vera to soothe.  It's fantastic if you have body acne or are just feeling like your skin is congested.

So into the tub Honey Bee plopped, immediately fizzing away.  The funniest complaint I hear about Honey Bee is that it makes the water yellow.  Well...DUH.  It's a yellow bath bomb, thus it will make your bath yellow.  Common sense really.  So I sat beside the tub, watching the bomb fizz as it sat rather close to the bottom.  It was quite a fast fizzer, gone within a few quick minutes.  It did turn my bath water a pale yellow, a color most people complained about as they found it looked like urine.  Well, if that looks like urine to you, some of you guys need to drink more water!  

Flakes of rhassoul mud clearly visible amongst the bath bomb froth

So I sank into the tub, sniffling away, massaging my temples with Vapo Rub in an effort to soothe my aching head.  The smell did fade a bit once dissolved.  I only caught occasional whiffs of it as I soaked.  And I didn't soak for long.  After about 30 minutes my legs started to get rather itchy.  Like I was wearing leggings full of sand.  I soaked for another 30 minutes, than clambered out, desperate for some body lotion.  I did find the scent clung to my newly cleansed skin quite well, smelling stronger on myself than it did in the bath, but I felt it did dry me out a bit.  I didn't like the itchy feeling it gave my legs.  It was very uncomfortable and I found I was hard pressed to even sit through the extra 30 minutes in the tub.  My skin can be a bit sensitive to the weirdest things, and I'm kind of glad I wasn't too fond of this bath bomb.  Because what didn't work for me might work for you and vise versa.  If your skin isn't as sensitive, or is head to toe oily, this bath bomb would be fantastic for you!  If you find you're more on the dry or sensitive side, I'd avoid it.  

Overall, this was a nice smelling bath bomb, but unfortunately made for an uncomfortable bathing experience. I loved how the smell stuck to my skin, but disliked how dry my legs felt afterward.  I still recommend you pick one up so you can try it for yourself!  The sweet toffee smell is hard to resist!

*This product is certified Vegetarian

*Purchase Honey Bee at your local LUSH store, or buy one online here

**Remember to comment and subscribe!!**

(Review) Phoenix Rising: Feathers Not Included

"We believe in the right to make mistakes, lose everything, and start again."

Just a small snippet of LUSH's "We Believe" story.  When I read the full statement, that particular line resonated with me quite strongly.  Goodness knows I've made many mistakes during my life, and many of you readers have too.  I feel for any company to admit that they've made mistakes and talk about them at length and detail is a bold move.  It was one of the things that piqued my interest in LUSH, and showed that behind this company were humans with hopes and dreams and feelings like me.  It makes them relatable and it's one of the reasons they're a fantastic company.  Phoenix Rising was a bath bomb designed to pay tribute to that statement.

Phoenix Rising is a royal purple and gold pot shaped bath bomb that packs quite a punch in both color and scent.  It's half bath melt too, so if moisture is what you're looking for, this bath bomb is for you! 

I have to admit, lately I had been feeling a bit down in the dumps.  I'm still wallowing in that post-college lost phase a lot of twenty somethings my age go through.  For the most part I'm fine and dandy, but sometimes I get a little sad and feel a bit lost and lonely.  So Phoenix Rising seemed like it would be a great pick me up.  Plus I'm nuts about cinnamon scented things!

Not only was Phoenix Rising inspired by the We Believe story, but the We Believe story was inspired by LUSH's own story.  Before LUSH became LUSH, they were Cosmetics To Go, a company many U.K residents would be familiar with.  Cosmetics To Go was a popular cosmetics company back in the late 80s-early 90s that had the same goals and morals LUSH has today (i.e. no animal testing, natural ingredients, etc), but ultimately went bankrupt.  For the founders, it was quite a dark time, until they rose from the ashes and formed LUSH in 1994.  And it's been all uphill ever since!

So into the tub Phoenix Rising went.  It immediately plunked to the bottom with a loud "thunk", but soon rose up to the surface, letting loose a beautiful, floral patterned purple froth that smelled warm and cozy.  I could see some oil floating around the surface, which didn't surprise me because of the bath melt interior.  Phoenix Rising contains tons of shea and cocoa butters, which are super moisturizing, as well as bergamot (a known mood lifter and one of my favorite scents), jojoba, and cinnamon leaf oils.  The bomb kind of swam around the surface like a flying saucer, taking it's sweet (and spicy!) time fizzing away, the tub becoming a gradually darker shade of purple.  Soon, flecks of green and shimmer started to appear.

Phoenix Rising's inner bath melt core is a light, seafoam green that doesn't clash with the purple and make it brown.  The green is a frosted holly luster (the same luster that's also in the Avobath bath bomb) and isn't opaque enough to clash.  I stuck my hands into the water and could feel how silky smooth it was, but not greasy.  On the contrary, it felt like a very light oil, not heavy in the slightest.

So into the tub I went, sinking into what felt like silk bedcovers.  The bergamot helped tone down the cinnamon scent so it didn't singe my nostrils and added a lighter note so it wasn't so heavy.  I could see oil deposits outlined in gold shimmer floating around the tub.  I soaked for a good two hours, feeling like royalty in a royal purple bath speckled with gold shimmer.  When I patted myself dry after, I found I didn't need lotion afterwards as the oil was enough to moisturize my skin and leave it lightly scented.  The only downside is that it left a bit of a purple stain in my tub, but it was faint and easily washed off.  I've heard of this bomb staining before, so it had me a bit worried, but it was easily removed with some bath cleaner and some elbow grease.

Overall, Phoenix Rising was a fantastic bath bomb to soothe a sad soul.  The cinnamon was invigorating and a deep purple bath just had me totally psyched.  And it looks like a bath bomb Dumbledore would use...which is of course, awesome.  Was it a miracle worker in terms of mood lifting?  Of course not.  If all of our problems were solved with baths I'd never get out!  But it did help clear my mind and help me focus.  And it did help me forget my troubles for a while, which is always a good thing.  But overall, I was pleased with this bath bomb.  Happy or sad, I'd use it over and over again!

  "It's okay to make mistakes, and it's okay to fall down.  Get up.  Look SICKENING.  And make them EAT IT!"

                                                  - Latrice Royale

** This bath bomb is certified Vegan

** Purchase Phoenix Rising at your local LUSH store, or buy it online here