Showing posts with label stress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stress. Show all posts

Monday, May 19, 2014

(Review) Twilight: A Soothing End to a Grumpy Sunday


So to start this blog entry off, I'm going to share with you a riddle.  What does a time of day and a bored Mormon housewife have in common?  Hint: the answer's in the picture above.  And if that's too hard of a hint for you to figure out, it's Twilight!  Advertised as Lush's most relaxing bath bomb, Twilight has a whopping 93% repurchase rating on famed cosmetics site Makeupalley, one of Lush's highest and most reviewed products!  Also whenever I walked by the bath bomb display, my nose would always pick up the floral and sweet aroma, so when the chance to purchase this came, I snatched it right up!

I specifically chose this bath bomb for my bath last night because I've been a busy little Lushie.  Working lots of hours at my shop, loving every second of it, but as I am human, my feet get sore and I get tired.  So when I saw I was scheduled to close on Sunday with a 2 hour meeting right after, I knew this bath bomb would do just the trick to help wind me down after a busy week! 

So into my apartment I trudged, clutching the bag of free bagels the people at Starbucks were so generous to give me, lamenting my sore feet and the fact that I was a walking human shaped ice cube.  I waved a tired hello to my roommate, and slumped my way to the bathtub, the sound of the running tap enough to relax me at this point.  I dug out the pinky lavender bath bomb and once my tub was filled, chucked it in and watched the moon and stars melt into a creamy, cotton candy pink marshmallow fluff.

Bubble bubble toil and trouble...

So while Twilight was dissolving, I spent much of that time fighting with and cursing at my camera, who has been acting up a bit these past few days.  So I do apologize for the lackluster photography.  I need to break out my old photography textbook and study up on my shutter speeds!


I specifically chose Twilight because it's loaded with one of my most favorite scents in all of Scent-dom.  Lavender!  Lavender is nature's glass of warm milk before bedtime.  Its soothing scent is not only great for relaxation, but for sore, achy muscles, as well as skin conditions like sunburns and bug bites.  It's antibacterial, antiseptic, and a sebum balancer, so if you have very oily skin, check for lavender in the ingredients list, and it'll tell those overactive sebum glands to chill the heck out!

Twilight also contains Tonka Absolute, which I like to refer to as vanilla's dirty cousin, as the scent is similar to vanilla but a bit more deep and musky, and Ylang Ylang, which is not only a relaxing scent that helps you de-stress, but a mood lifter as well.  The latter two scents mix with the lavender very well, creating something that isn't overly floral, but not overly sweet as well.   

 
As Twilight continued to dissolve, I noticed the water becoming a gradually deeper shade of purple, and saw that a beautiful pastel blue had begun to foam out of the bath bomb, spinning it in hypnotizing circles.  The pastel pink and blue together reminded me of the cotton candy I would get at the local fair every year, something I would meticulously chew as I contemplated going on the big kid rides like the roller coaster and the rocking pirate ship (which I actually almost flew out of one year and was forbidden from going on ever since).  Twilight also has a creamy frothy coating that I like to trace patterns into as it covers the bath in bubbly, cappuccino-like froth.  Underneath, the water became a darker and darker shade of purple, like the sunset slowly becoming night.

I like to trace patterns in the froth and pretend I'm a misunderstood cappuccino artist yearning for their big break at Starbucks

Twilight soon split in two, and each part dissolved slowly.  It's a slow "burn" so it took a while to fully dissolve, but once it did, I lowered myself in and let out a sigh of relief as my popsicle toes were soon warmed by the silky sweet deep purple water.  It was like laying on a warm fluffy cloud of cotton candy and lavender sprigs.  It was fantastic!  When the froth dissolved, I noticed two things.  1. that the water was almost the exact same color as Inhale Exhale (the bath bomb I used last week, check out the review here, and 2. there were tiny silver sparkles shimmering through the water.  I can see where Twilight gets its name...not from the shimmery vampires in that god awful piece of "literature," but because the bath water looks like a beautiful clear night sky with the stars shining down, like a blanket someone poked tiny holes into.  They didn't photograph well and I apologize for that, but take my word for it, they were there!

I soaked for about two hours, getting out only when the water was turning cold and my fingertips resembled peachy pink raisins.  About a half hour later I was in my pajamas in bed with my laptop in my lap, all set and motivated to write this review and...I promptly fell asleep.  Twilight just conked me right out!  When I say this is nature's glass of warm milk, this IS nature's glass of warm milk!  So I woke this morning refreshed, smelling floral and sweet with bits of silver glitter shimmering against my skin, and pumped for a new week full of possibility and awesomeness.

Overall Twilight has a high repurchase rate for me.  I can see why Makeupalley users rated it so highly, and it's something I'd recommend if you have insomnia, or are stressed or tired or in need of some me time.  It's relaxing, beautifully scented, and it's like bathing in a field of stars.  Because seriously...bathing in a starry night sky?  How freaking cool is that?!

   

Sunday, May 11, 2014

(Review) Inhale Exhale: A Guide on Breathing

"Keep your head above water, but don't forget to breathe" - Alexi Murdoch

 
There's nothing I love more than a Sunday.  Waking up without an alarm clock blasting you deaf, the promise of a new week ahead, it's the perfect day to just sit back, relax, and decompress.  There's something sacred about a Sunday.  With society's whole "I needed this done yesterday, rush rush, busy busy busy" attitude, a day off is something that's become a foreign concept to us.  However, there are those of us that keep the traditional alive.  Some find solace in Sunday mass, some choose the meditative monotony of cleaning relaxing.  But for me?  It's my weekly Sunday soak.  I can't start my week without a nice, long, 3 hour soak in my tub.  Complete with a bath bomb from Lush of course!

I can never get flash to work properly...

Enter Inhale Exhale.  A dual colored reminder to take time for ourselves now and then.  Limited edition for Mother's Day, Inhale Exhale is not only dual colored, but dual scented as well.  The pink side is scented with Inhale, a bright, fresh melon scented perfume, while the blue side is scented with sandalwood and amber, giving off a peppery, incense vibe.  These two perfumes combined make up the Breath of God fragrance Lush currently sells.  For me this was love at first sniff.  I'm an avid incense burner, never going a day without lighting at least one smokey stick of Dragon's Blood, so this was right up my alley as far as scents were concerned.  This was inspired by Tibetan incense after all, so the heady, smokey notes make sense.  So let's test this baby out, shall we?

Poor little guy is camera shy...
Upon dropping this into the tub, I noticed the pink side fizzed away within seconds, filling the bathroom with this fresh and slightly floral aroma, while the more heady, spicy blue side took its sweet time.

The pink had fully dissolved within literally a minute, leaving in its wake a warm lavender color and a creamy, bubbly coating that felt soft and fluffy when touched.

Braaaaaains.  Fizzy, sweet smelling BRAAAAAAAAINS
 

 Inhale Exhale not only contains sandalwood (which, in my opinion, is the sexiest scent on a man) but neroli as well.  What do these two oils have in common?  They're both soothing!  Neroli and Sandalwood oils help sooth and calm any inflamed, red, and sore skin.  I chose this one specifically because I had an allergic reaction a week before to a product I had used (a blog entry soon to come about that) which caused a rash to spread across my chest and down my ribcage.  Inhale Exhale also contains cade oil, which is that smoky smelling oil used in the Soak & Float shampoo bar.  Cade oil works as a stimulant to help improve circulation in the body and remove any debris in the body.  I hate the word "detoxify" because it's a hot button word tossed around like a rodeo clown, but that's precisely what it does.  Upon getting out of the tub, I did notice that my chest felt better.  The redness was toned down and it wasn't tight or itchy.  Which was nice, since scratching your boob in public isn't the classiest of moves.

Wait...what's that?  In the top right corner...do you see that?
It's a note!
A little affirmation pops out of the bomb when it's dissolved enough.  A nice little reminder that we all need to take five minutes and just breathe once in a while
Once the bomb had fully dissolved, the water turned a beautiful cool lilac color, reminding me of my great-grandma's favorite flower.  And when I sunk into the nice, warm water, I felt like I had wrapped myself in a fluffy down comforter in a warm, incense filled room.  I laid back, stared at the remnants of Essie's Aruba Blue on my toenails and contemplated the meaning of life for a good 30 minutes.  And by the meaning of life, I mean how the hell I was gonna get the rest of that polish off of my toes (seriously, it won't budge!).  I breathed in the spicy smokey aroma and marinated for about 2 hours before I dried off, slapped on a face mask, and started this entry.

Overall, this was a fantastic bath bomb.  A not too strong heady, herbal smell with water the color of sugared violets.  My skin was soft, the rash on my chest looked worlds better, and it inspired me to just stop and breathe, and take in everything around me, whether I have 5 minutes or 5 hours.  In this hustle bustle world, filled with caffeine and deadlines and unnecessary stress, whenever you feel overloaded and on the verge of exploding, just keep one word in mind.

BREATHE