Lush - My new favorite organic brand

Recently I discovered the brand Lush. Lush is fresh, handmade, and all natural and my new found love.  I seriously love this place. I love this place so much that I went back the week after discovering it to get more samples and products to try! It is really lucky that there happens to be a shop quite close to me. As you can see from the pictures, there is a lot of products for me to discuss. I will also continue updating this post in the future with more of their products as I continue to play with this awesome brand! So far I have tried two of their Fresh Face Masks (Catastrophe Cosmetic and BB Seaweed), 2 of their cleansers (Aqua Marina and Angels on Bare Skin), their lotion in Sympathy for the Skin, 2 of their new Emotional Brilliance Fresh Face Colors (lipstick in Drive and eye color in Happiness) a bath bomb (Twilight) and one of their Shower Jellies in Whoosh. Few! That's quite a few products! Let's Begin =)

I'm going to start with the Fresh Face Masks because they are by far my favorite of their line thus far. These guys are so fresh that they must be kept in a fridge (sorry to those who don't have a Lush near them, because this means they can only be bought in store) and have a two week expiration date. But not to worry, they are $6.95 and you can get around 5-6 applications from the pot (depending on how often you apply masks). Fresh Face Masks are made from the freshest fruit, vegetables and essential oils. 

Out of the two I tried so far I preferred the BB Seaweed. The BB Seaweed is "a redness reducing, scrubbing oceanic mask for any time." It contains rose, Vancouver Island seaweed, sweet violet, and ground almonds. This mask went on quite thick, but was wonderfully moisturizing and made my skin feel soft, supple, and clean. I liked the texture and the scent and overall loved the experience. The Catastrophe Cosmetic mask felt more like your typical mud mask. Whereas the Seaweed mask didn't constrict my face as it dries, the Catastrophe Cosmetic one did. Catastrophe Cosmetic is made with "calamine and blueberry to expertly combine to calm and mother your skin." It contains Irish Moss seaweed to soften and chamomile blue oil to chill out stressed skin. This mask felt far more cleansing than the previous mask, but not as gentle or moisturizing. The texture was also much like a mud mask in that thick and muddy sense. I liked it, just liked the Seaweed one better. Those who have skin on more of the oilier side who want a deeper cleanse would most likely prefer this one.

Another plus is that if you save the black containers that most of Lush's products come in, you can get a free Fresh Face Mask. All you have to do is turn in 5 cleaned containers! What an awesome deal.

Fresh's cleansers are produced in solid rolls. They contain minimal to no soap content so they are gentle yet effective. Aqua Marina is for dry, sensitive skin and is described as looking kinda like a sushi roll (because the roll is wrapped in seaweed) and contains calamine to sooth and moisturize. I found this cleanser to be too gentle. It left my skin feeling soft and nourished, but I didn't feel like it left me feeling as clean as I would have wished. I found that I much preferred Angels on Bare Skin. It contains an almond base, soothing lavender, and hydrating rose extract. I found it to be just as gentle and nourishing as the Aqua Marina, while being more effective at cleansing the skin. I do have to say though, these little rolls were fantastic! They are just as fresh as the fresh face masks while having a longer shelf life (due to them being made as a solid), contain no preservatives, and felt awesome on my skin! 

The lotion, Sympathy for the Skin, was definitely not my favorite of all the things I tried. As much as I loved the scent, I felt it wasn't as moisturizing as I prefer my lotions to be. This lotions is made from fresh bananas, vanilla, and sandalwood. It is made with a loos emulsion so that it absorbs into your skin really quickly. Because of this, I found I needed to use more of it than my usual moisturizer to cover my body. If you love the smell of bananas as much as I do though, you will surely love this scent. I have taken to using my sample as a light hand lotion, and love it for that purpose. I just like something a little thicker as a body lotion. 

Recently, Lush has taken steps to foray into the world of makeup and I loved both of the samples I tried! The lipstick comes in a little bottle with a sponge applicator (not pictured because I received a sample and they don't have this product listed on their website yet so I could not get a picture for you). The makeup is all vegan (which is really nice for products that you are placing on your lips) and they come in an array of amazing colors. The color I received was Drive, which is a Pinky Purple. It went on super smoothly (I applied with a lipstick brush) and lasted all day. I have worn it matte and with a gloss on top and neither ways made my lips feel dry at all. The lip color can also be worn as a blush, just dab it on your cheeks and blend well. I was told that in theory, the eye colors can be worn on lips and the lip product on the eyes, but found that the lip product was much thicker (as can be seen in the picture, the eye color settled on the bottom of the container while the lip product is still sitting on the side where it was placed in) and probably wouldn't work well on the eyes. I tried the eye product in Happiness, which is a pretty copper color. I really liked using it as a second eyeliner for the new double eyeliner fad. It really stands out, glides on smoothly, doesn't smudge, and lasts all day. I am in LOVE with these products! 

The bath bomb in Twilight I was lucky enough to receive as a prize. The Lush by me had a Halloween party and the first 20 people who walked through their door got this bomb. It was a lot of fun! It turned my bathwater pink, then orange, then blue, and finally settled on a midnight purple color. It released the scent of lavender and tonka and was wonderfully relaxing. It even created bubbles in my bath. The smell was so pungent that my bathroom smelled like the bomb for 3 days after and my living room (where the bomb was housed until I used it) smelled like the bomb until it's use. I almost feel like these things can also be used as a room freshener. I loved this bomb so much I wanted to try another. I have since gotten Dragon's Egg, and will let you know when I try it.

Lastly is the Shower Jelly in Whoosh. I really love this thing. It is so much fun to use in the shower. It is a gelatinous soap that smells like lemon, lime, and grapefruit. The scent is absolutely wonderful and the gel feels awesome when rubbed all over yourself in the shower. It suds up nicely and the jelly kept its shape for quite awhile before falling apart. Now I just brake off pieces to use. Even better these are made with "aromatic essential oils and carrageenan seaweed gel, which is full of minerals and vitamins to nourish and soften skin and hair." I love things that are both fun and good for you. 

A few things on my wish list that I still want to try is: Let the Good Times Roll Exfoliating Cleanser, Love Lettuce Fresh Face Mask, Cosmetic Warrior Fresh Face Mask, and Henna Hair Dye. What are some products you would want to try?

Well, that is all the products for now. Can't you just tell how much I love this company? These products can be purchased at a Lush near you or at http://www.lush.com/