(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) Christmas Eve: Hark! Hear the Bubbles!

Migraines.  If you get them, you definitely know pain.  They've been compared to childbirth, but since I've not been through the arduous task of passing a human being out of my body, I wouldn't be able to compare the two.  I do know however, that you shouldn't put a migraine sufferer in a room to sleep with 75 tap dancers next door.  Or you shouldn't throw open your daughter's bedroom door, flip on the lights, and ask in your booming fatherly voice if you're feeling better and if not can I have your dinner.  It astounds me how little care some migraine sufferers get, as people mostly consider it a bad headache.  Oh...if only...

Saturday night started out pretty chill.  I was sitting in my living room with my roommate, watching her grind through a dated RPG (in which she named her character "Chukibutt"...I have no idea) and chiding her for her commitment issues (she started that video game when we moved into the apartment...three years ago...).  And as I was talking, I noticed her face was...disappearing.  Like a layer of grey television static was a round little spot right in the middle of her face.  I looked around and the spot blocked whatever I was looking at.  I immediately excused myself as the spot took over more of my vision, making my way to my bedroom and slamming into a few walls.  I heard my roommate turn down the volume on the tv as I shut my bedroom door, shut off the lights, and immediately clambered into bed. 

I was experiencing what is known as an "aura", a visual disturbance that migraines and seizure sufferers experience before an attack.  I've been a migraine sufferer for 13 years, experiencing my first nauseating, head splitting attack when I was only 12.  The last time I had a migraine with an aura I was 17 and passed out from the pain (which was awkward...I was onstage rehearsing for a choir concert and I took my folding chair down with my in the middle of "Broadway Baby").  Needless to say, I was terrified.  I slept through most of the attack and had a moderate headache for the next two days that left me feeling disoriented and drained.  By day 2 I was coherent enough to get some work done around the apartment and take a much needed soak.

 

Christmas Eve bubble bar was something I was saving for the actual date, but I got impatient and used it early.  Oh well, plenty more LUSH Christmas goodies where that came from!  Christmas Eve shares its scent with Northern Lights bath bomb, which is jasmine and ylang ylang.  Christmas Eve has a touch of gardenia in it for an extra floral boost and irish moss powder for silky smooth bubbles, water, and of course, skin. 

So I schlepped my way to the bathroom, shakily clutching a bottle of Excedrin and informing my roommate to go outside if she needed to use the bathroom, as I would be in it for three hours soaking in a mound of bubbles (she replied she would start fights with dogs who would dare take her fire hydrant...there's a reason we're friends).  The pain was mainly gone, I just felt weak and drained. 

Christmas Eve smelled beautiful and fragrant, but subtle enough to not trigger the pain to return.  I crumbled it under the tap and watched as it turned the water a murky, dusty turquoise.  It reminded me of a faded Dorothy, which I love.  I used half the bar which, with some vigorous swishing, gave me a good amount of bubbles.  I soaked and read my book (honestly that's where I get all my reading done nowadays...) and could feel that drained, weary feeling turn into a nice sleepy feel.  I patted myself dry after a good few hours of soaking (in which my roommate didn't need to use her fire hydrant) and burritoed in bed for a good night's sleep uninterrupted by pain or my upstairs neighbors blasting their awful rap music.

For me, Christmas Eve was the epitome of a relaxing bubble bar.  It was great to use with a migraine, since scent can be a trigger for most sufferers.  If you suffer from migraines or insomnia I highly recommend this one.  The color wasn't anything out of this world but I was mainly looking for relaxation, something to help me sleep, and something to soothe me after a few pain filled days, and this bubble bar exceeded all of those expectations! 

**Christmas Eve bubble bar is certified Vegan
***Order Christmas Eve online HERE or pick it up at your local LUSH store!

Questions for the People: Which Christmas bubble bar is YOUR favorite so far?  Comments are open so let me know!

(Review) Northern Lights: A Soakable Light Show

Another blurry picture...the irony being my last eye appointment was only a few weeks ago...

For as long as I can remember, I've always had my head turned upwards.  There's something so mysterious about the night sky, I can't resist taking a peak upwards, seeing how many stars I can spot in the light polluted city I call home.  And I often wonder if someone's looking back our way, wondering if anyone else is looking their way.  It's a chilling and exciting thought!  I've always loved space.  The infinite darkness, the constant unknown, it's exhilarating and terrifying at the same time and that's what makes it so amazing to me.  Having my head turned upwards paid off for me once though.  Back in the days of community college (or as I like to call it, two straight years of partying) I was driving to a friend's house, singing along to the radio and looking forward to a party filled with loud music and good friends.  I remember getting stuck in a minor traffic jam and quickly becoming annoyed.  I'm not the most patient of drivers, so I sat in a huff, irritated that I was now running late.  I remember stealing a glance upwards, and despite not living too far north, I saw a brief glimpse of the northern lights!  A turquoise and neon green flash swooped across the sky and perked my attention.  It was quick, but I knew what I saw.  Traffic soon let up and I told my friends when I got to the party, but I doubt they cared (or they were too inebriated to care).  And when I left the next day, tottering to my car with a nasty headache and covered in sharpie (don't ask), that image still stuck with me.  Even writing this, I can still remember how exhilarating it was when I saw that celestial flash for the first time.

 

Northern Lights was a bath bomb inspired by those neon swirls that are basically the sun's way of saying "whoa, I almost burned you into crispy space bacon!  Sorry about that, here's a light show!"  Co-founder Mark Constantine designed it to match Sparkler, the other Halloween bath bomb into a wand shape.  With bath bomb mix at both ends and bubble bar in the middle, the ends were to fizz away while the middle took its sweet time melting into the water.  Scented with jasmine and ylang ylang, this bath bomb shares its scent with Christmas Eve bubble bar.

 

So one early, albeit chilly autumn night, I picked up this much sought after bath bomb (half of our shipment came in shattered and it sold out rather quickly) and dropped it in my tub of steaming hot water.  I was intrigued by the wand design and wanted to see it spin around in circles like a firework.  Sadly, it didn't do that.  It kind of rolled over and over, spitting out fluorescent purple froth.  I didn't find it aesthetically pleasing as it melted down (the bath bomb itself I mean...three guesses what it reminded me of) but as soon as it was met by the blue and yellow melting ends, that's when I started to take notice.

 

The color of it melting reminded me of Twilight bath bomb, melting in a beautiful silky lavender color that smelled heady and floral without being too cloying at the senses.  With both colors propelling the bath bomb stick around the tub, it reminded me of the retro game "Space Invaders," a game my dad would let me play on the box of a family computer we had during my youth. 

After the bomb was completely dissolved, I sank in, feeling like I was being steeped in a tub of brightly colored herbal tea.  I have to admit it was very relaxing, and I soaked for much longer than intended.  Out of all the bath bombs I've used, this one had to be the most fragrant, and while the scent of jasmine is something I can't stand, I liked how the ylang ylang balanced it out and lightened it.  When I got out, my legs were jelly, and the insomnia I had been experiencing for a little over a week all but dissipated when the last of the water flowed down the drain.  I clambered underneath my covers and slept like a baby for the first time in a long time, lulled to sleep by the faint glow of my tv and the scent of jasmine and ylang ylang on my skin.

 

Overall, this was a fantastic bath bomb that I'm glad will be sticking around until Christmas.  I will admit I'm not a fan of the wand shaped design, but maybe if it was tweaked a bit so it actually spun around I might become a fan.  It smells beautiful, it made me silky smooth, turned my bath water the color of lilac petals and lulled me to sleep like a tightly swaddled newborn.  Though it reminded me nothing of the aurora borealis I saw that one night a couple years back stuck in traffic, the colors were still beautiful and vibrant.  Definitely go out and get this one for yourselves, especially if you're having trouble sleeping!

**This bath product is certified Vegan   

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(Review) Dorothy: In the Merry Old Land of My Bathroom

A miracle happened this week.  I had to check my email multiple times to make sure it was accurate.  When checking my work schedule for the week, I found that I not only had one, not two, but THREE days off.  Three in a row!  In retail, that's pretty much unheard of.  Much more rare than no work on the day called Saturday, which is whispered about in myth and legend in the retail world (also like the mythical word "weekend."  I know not what it means anymore).  Needless to say my heart swelled with a happy song fit for a doe eyed Disney princess, the world seemed a little brighter, and everyone had a smile on their face.

...well not really.  I love my job very much, but I was looking forward to three days of not wearing pants.  Because pants are for squares.  And I celebrated this fact by drawing myself a nice, soothing bubble bath!

Enter Dorothy, whom I'm now deeming one of LUSH's most underrated bubble bars.  Dorothy initially had me worried, being a beautiful cerulean blue with a fiery rainbow atop it.  Being an art major, I knew right away these colors would not match up very well, as blue and orange are opposites and tend to "brown out" (aka turn brown when mixed...duh) so I was expecting kind of cruddy looking bath water.  But despite the color combo, this had me at first whiff. 

 

If you like LUSH's Figs and Leaves soap, you'll love this bubble bar, as they share the same scent.  It's full of orange blossom absolute, a very thick oil that ironically smells highly floral rather than citrusy as the name "orange" would suggest.  Gardenia and ylang ylang oils also help to balance out the scent.  To me it smells beautiful and powdery, very very light and perfect for someone who's sensitive to perfumes or scents in general.

So when I first bought this, it was a deep, ocean blue.  I love deep blue colors (think heart of the ocean-esque blue, tucked safely away in my bathroom and not thrown into the ocean by an old Kate Winslet).  After having for about a week or so, it started to gradually fade into a light, pastel powder blue.  I was kind of disappointed that the blue faded so quickly so that kind of stunk, but life goes on and I used it anyways.

 

When I use bubble bars, I always use half.  So I cracked this baby in half and crumbled it under my running tap water.  I strangely love the feeling of crumbling bubble bars.  It just feels so nice and melty, like a cake or sweet melting in the palm of your hand.  Immediately the bubbles began to form and I swished my hands around in the water to give the water more bubble fluff.  The bubbles I felt were light and silky, literally feeling creamy smooth in the palms of my hands.  The bubbles didn't look like a bunch of tiny bubbles wedged together like a lot of bubble baths do, but more of a creamy froth you get on top of a cappuccino.  I let the tub fill and parted the bubble sea to see what color the water was underneath.  To my surprise, it was a beautiful stormcloud gray that smelled like powder with an ever so slightly floral note.

I sank into the tub and immediately my limbs turned to jelly.  I was so unbelievably relaxed I just melted in, finding it hard to concentrate on my book and music and just lay there in my bubbly heaven.  The smell was amplified a lot in the bath, but not cloyingly so.  It was just a nice light fragrance perfect for a late, summer night bath.  When I got out of the tub, the fragrance lingered on my skin quite nicely and I felt super soft and moisturized.

Beautiful, stormy gray bathwater

Dorothy has to be one of my favorite bubble bars, taking second place behind my beloved Brightside.  I was pleasantly surprised by this bubble bar.  I bought it thinking I wouldn't like it because of the opposite colors and the fact that I wasn't the biggest Wizard of Oz fan (but I LOVE Wicked!) but I'm so glad I was mistaken!  Dorothy is a fantastic bubble bar with a light scent, great moisturizing properties, and will relax you to the point of zombification (seriously I got out of the bath not too long ago and I'm struggling to stay awake as I type this).  Highly recommended, fantastic product, verified by the Lollipop Guild, ruby slippers not included.

**This bubble bar is certified Vegan
***Purchase Dorothy at your local LUSH store or buy it online HERE

(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?!

   

(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