Lush Part 2

I felt it was necessary to write about the new products I have played with before the list got out of control. I also wanted to do it before many of the products I tried became discontinued as many of them are only here for the holidays. One thing is certain, the more I play the more I love this stuff. Many of the things on this current list were samples I received at separate times and since I didn't want to take pictures of each individual small sample, many of these are stock photos. I have now tried the hair Henna, Dream Steam, Moon and Stars Steam, Rehab Shampoo, Let the Good Times Roll, Buche de Noel roll, Love Lettuce Fresh Face Mask, and Cosmetic Warrior Fresh Face Mask. If you missed the original Lush post and would like to check out those products you can check that post out here.

Henna in Caca Rouge:

Lush states that they "use the finest Persian henna; the leaves are dried and ground into a powder and mixed with conditioning cocoa butter, which format the basis of our Cacas. Organic lemon juice helps to bring out the redness and gives hair shine and lustre. You're left with stunning, shiny and healthy-looing hair." This stuff comes in a solid brick and is a process to melt it down. They will do this for you in store and even apply it if you ask. You can see in the image above it being melted down to a thick, gooey paste. This stuff is nasty, feels nasty, and is impossible to get our of your hair afterwards. It took 5 shampoos and a few tears to get it out, however once successful, it looks wonderful. I love the redness it gave off. Its a wonderfully orangey red that has a somewhat natural look to it. It also lasts far longer than any other hair dye I have ever used. I'm 5 weeks in and still going strong. The only negative (other than the application of course) which I didn't know before I gave this a try, was that you can't use regular hair dye on your hair after you use this. I'm not exactly sure why, I just know you can't.

Toner Tabs - Moon and Stars and Dream Steam:

These guys are steamer tabs. You throw them in a pot of steaming hot water and put your face over the steam with a towel. The Moon and Stars tab (the second one) refreshes and hydrates your skin with lavender oil, which also has antibacterial properties, so is the "perfect ingredient for a facial steam. Neroli oil helps improve the tone and texture of the skin and is known in aromatherapy to enhance feelings of serenity and well being." 

The Dream Steam (the first tab) was inspired by Lush's Dream Cream body lotion. It contains "the most calming ingredients to soothe troubled skin." This steamer is great for sensitive skin. It contains "rose absolute to calm redness, antibacterial tea tree oil to cleanse and the lavender and chamomile oil blend to make skin and minds feel at peace." Once you are finished with your steam you can throw the extra water into a spritzer bottle and store it in the refrigerator for 2 days to spray face for a pick-me-up during the day. I don't have a lot to say about these guys except that they really hydrate the skin and feel wonderful. I like using them before exfoliating and a mask to open up my pores.

Rehab Shampoo - 

This shampoo was given to me as a sample to help rid myself of the henna from my hair. This is one of their liquid shampoos (I have also tried one of their solid shampoos, but will review that in my next Lush post). This shampoo is called rehab because it is meant to help recover abused hair back to health. "Enzymic papua cleanses, while almond oil softens the follicles." This was a very light shampoo that smelled minty and really got into the nitty gritty henna that was in my hair to remove it. My hair was really quite cleansed with this product (or it might have had to do with the five shampoos necessary). Either way, I liked it and would recommend it if your hair is in need of some TLC.

Cleansing Rolls: Let the Good Times Roll and Buche de Noel

These two cleansing rolls are limited edition for the holidays. They smell like the season and I really wish they would make Let the Good Times Roll a permanent product. Cleansing rolls are Lush's solid facial cleansers. You break off a bit of the roll, add water, and mix it together in your hand until it forms a bubbly paste and then you use that to wash your face like normal. Le the Good Times Roll smells like popcorn. I want to eat it. it is made "with maize flour, polenta and a popcorn topping. We combine these ingredients to give you a very soft scrub, leaving your skin bright, clean, and smooth." I found it too harsh to use as a daily cleanser, but I love to use it as a mild exfolient twice a week. It just smells so GOOD! 

Buche De Noel is very similar to Lush's Angel's on Bare Skin. The major difference is the scent, whereas Angel's doesn't contain any scent, Buche De Noel smells like christmas. "It is names for the log-shaped French dessert. Ground almonds gently exfoliate away dead skin while kaolin clay acts as a mild, deep cleanser. Then we added almond oil and seaweed to nourish and moisturize seasonal dry patches and leave skin softer than a freshly fallen snow." I still liked Angel's better as I found it a bit more gentle and a bit more cleansing.

Fresh Face Masks: Love Lettuce and Cosmetic Warrior

Do you remember how I stated that BB Seaweed was my favorite mask in my last post? Well Love Lettuce has far surpassed BB Seaweed in my affection since then. If you don't recall from my last post, Lush's Fresh Face Masks are made with such fresh ingredients that they must be refrigerated and only have a 2 week shelf-life and as such cannot be shipped. They can only be purchased in store. Love Lettuce is an exfoliated face mask. You put it on like a mask, let it sit for a bit, and then I remove it by making circles so that you get the exfoliating action. This mask is made with a blend of "fresh seaweed to nourish and soften and 1005 pure French lavender oil to balance an oily T-zone and ease any inflammation." This is probably why I like it so much, it combines the softening and hydrating qualities I loved so much in the Seaweed mask with a bit more of a zing cleansing wise by combining the lavender and scrubby ground almonds. It is just an amazing mask. 

Cosmetic warrior is probably the nasties smelling of all Lush's masks. Every time I bring a new product home from Lush, I immediately stick my nose in it as I LOVE the scent of lush products. Please, if you buy Cosmetic Warrior, don't do that. This product is made with tea tree oil and garlic and boy does it smell like those two ingredients. This mask is a bit more aggressive than the ones I have tried before. It is made for more breakout prone skin that needs a bit more cleansing. However, Lush keeps in mind that breakout prone skin is generally a bit more sensitive and as such also includes honey and egg whites to "smooth and tighten pores." So this product really gets in and cleans pores while still being soothing for more sensitive skin. I loved how my skin looked after using this.

These products can be purchased in your local Lush store or online at http://www.lushusa.com