(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) Don't Look At Me: Da Ba Dee Da Ba Die

If there's one part of my life that I'm glad is over, it's the ravages of puberty.  Once in a while I'll reflect on my teen years and remember the frizzy hair, the braces, the odd paunch of baby fat here and there, but most importantly, I remember the acne.  While my skin wasn't nearly as bad as some of my friends, it was still bad enough for me to be embarrassed by it.  I remember gazing in the mirror after washing my face in the morning, seeing what new hellish red abominations had popped up onto my face as I slept.  My mom, ever vigilant on my skincare routine (I largely credit her with my obsession with it, as well as my good skin!) had me try everything, from products high end to end of the line, antibiotics, prescription creams, even the vile smelling Proactiv line.  While some products worked temporarily, nothing was ever a permanent fix.  Only when I was out of high school and a year or two older did my skin start to clear up.

Now that high school is a distant memory covered in scene kid hair extensions. old Hot Topic t-shirts, and more regrets than I care to count, my skin for the most part is clear and pristine.  Every so often I'll get a few breakouts here and there, but nothing too terrible.  But this past week, when I woke up bright and early for work, I took one look in the mirror and was shocked to find breakouts everywhere!

Don't Look at Me is one of two new fresh face masks available from Lush (in-store only!).  Inspired by the (really really bizarre) song of the same name by the band The Lovely Eggs (eggs are quite lovely, aren't they?), Don't Look At Me is an obscenely bright blue mask that smells remarkably like tomato salsa (a good thing, because who in their right mind doesn't like salsa!?).  Described as "Cupcake mask for grown ups," Don't Look At Me has tons of lemon juice in it to brighten, cleanse, and soak up oil, kaolin to clean out what ails your skin, and ground rice for some awesome scrubby action.

I couldn't believe my skin's timing with the release of these once Oxford Street exclusives, so I snagged five black pots from my garbage bag full of empties (no I'm not joking) and snagged one after my shift.  During a long luxurious bath, I cracked open the pot, scooped out the refreshingly blue goop, and slathered my skin with a good coat of it.  Being in a hot bath, this cooled me right down and I sunk back with my book and let the mask do its task. 

Apologies for the derp face

Now, a little prior history about my skin.  It's mainly combo-dry, but in the humid climate where I dwell during summer, it gets much more oily, especially on my forehead.  My breakouts are usually hormonal and are centered around my nose and cheeks, but every so often I'll get a painful cystic bump on my chin (you know...for fun).  When I'm talking about how I had a massive breakout, I'm talking all of the above seemed to have hit me overnight (again...for fun!).  When the mask was about 75% dry, I splashed my face with water and massaged the ground rice into my skin before finally rinsing my skin clean and patting it dry.  When I wiped the remaining bits of blue away, I actually remember stepping back from the mirror a bit and letting out a Fonz-esque " 'eyyyyyyyyy" when looking at my skin!  While Don't Look at Me didn't make everything disappear, I could tell a HUGE difference when it came to my red, broken out skin!  The tone and texture of my skin was more even and bright, and the red areas were a tad more dulled down.  This made me extremely happy, as red breakouts on my pale skin stick out like crazy, and cause me quite a bit of embarrassment, even when makeup or color correcting can't cover it.  

Pretty sure if you threw compounder Dan in a pit with my coworkers, they'd all be fighting over him.  We have a thing for beards at my shop ;)

Overall, Don't Look at Me after one use became my all time favorite fresh mask.  I've used it twice more since that first time and each time I've been blown away with my skin after I wash it away.  While I do love the bright blue color, the only downside to it I feel is that if you have any dried skin on your face, the pigment kind of gets absorbed by it so you have some dull blue looking flecks of skin.  I feel as though it's good for any skin type, although you might want to be careful if you're sensitive, since the lemon oil might be a bit much.  The ground rice made for a gentle but effective scrub and the fresh scent was an added bonus to the near miraculous power of this mask.  After using this mask, I think you'll all be saying...DO...look at me!  Am I RIGHT?!

...terrible jokes are awesome!

 *** Don't Look At Me is certified Vegan

(Review) Granny Takes a Dip: For Groovy Swirly Baths

So this past week, I woke up like I always do...hissing at the sunlight peeking through the blinds, silently cursing whoever decided to blare talk radio at full blast, beating the snot out of the snooze button and burritoing myself in my fluffy cloud of a comforter, begging the sleep gods for just a few more winks of shut-eye.  Alas, I did eventually get up, as staying in bed all day without reason is just depressing, and was struck by a sudden urge to exercise.  I just needed to get up and move!  So I popped in my favorite aerobics DVD (which you can find on Amazon here) and blasted through it.  Feeling all limber and warmed up, I went about my day with a little more pep in my step.  The next day though, I was creaking like a rusty drawbridge.  I love feeling sore after a workout...it's a great feeling of accomplishment to know that I pushed myself, so I thought a nice, hot bath would soothe my sore, achy muscles.

Enter Granny Takes a Dip, the trippy disc of a bath bomb that will soon be out for the summer.  Named after the song Granny Takes A Trip by The Purple Gang (a surprisingly catchy song) and the clothing boutique of the same name, Granny Takes a Dip was inspired by anything and everything 1960s.  The colors match the jackets the Beatles wore on the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, and was also inspired by kaleidoscopes.  When I first laid eyes upon this bomb, I was immediately reminded of this jumbo jawbreaker my mom got me when I was 8.  I carried that thing everywhere with me, and got halfway through it before my mom found it and threw it away, claiming it was gross.  I don't think I've ever been that upset over candy in my life.

So to the bathroom I trudged, filling up the tub and snatching up ol' Granny.  Waiting for the tub to fill, I huffed the interesting fragrance.  GTAD is very spicy in scent, being filled with invigorating black pepper and ginger oils, as well as some lemon oil.  Black pepper and ginger oils are also used in the Hottie massage bar, which is renowned for warming and soothing achy muscles.  Hence why I decided to use it in the first place.

 
So into the tub went Granny...who promptly flipped over and sank like a fizzing stone to the bottom.  The pink side is a bit heavy, so I reached in and flipped her over and watched the kaleidoscope form.  The inner layers of red, green, and blue are made to be fast fizzing, but the outer pink layer is coated in a bubble, slow fizzing film.  And there it went, zipping around my bathtub leaving a rainbow of froth in its wake.

Once Granny was completely dissolved, the water was a crystal clear lavender color with a light frothy foam swirling over top.  Into the water I gingerly stepped, and I felt my body sigh in relaxation.  Once completely dissolved, the spicy notes had dulled down a bit and the lemon came to the forefront giving a nice citrusy yet spicy tang that invigorated the mind, body and soul.  This isn't the most moisturizing bath bomb, so if you're looking for something super moisturizing then this isn't the one for you.  But it's great if you're feeling sluggy, groggy, or it's just too hot to function.  I felt invigorated, snacking on watermelon and humming "Age of Aquarius" as I read my book and marinated.  Once I got out I found the scent lingered subtly on my skin, which was nice because I didn't want it to be too overpowering.  It did leave a slight pink ring around my tub, but it was easily cleaned off with some scrubbing bubbles and a warm washcloth. 

Overall, Granny Takes a Dip is a bath bomb I was extremely impressed with.  When I first smelled it, I admit I wasn't too taken with it, but it definitely grew on me.  I was invigorated and my muscles were soothed.  Granny Takes a Dip is something I'll definitely be stocking up on this summer!

*This product is certified Vegan