Journeys Are My Diary

Life, Adventures, Entertainment and more - A little bit of everything blog!

Big Bang – Lush Bubble Bar Review

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Transferred from Twice the Mum blog when it closed.

Yesterday it was my birthday (yay!) and today it’s my party, so I don’t have an awful lot of time to post this week. However I couldn’t let too much time pass without telling you all about some great Lush products I’ve been trying.

Lush – London Oxford Street has always had a few products that you can’t get anywhere else, but right now they have over 200 products that can only be bought in that particular store. I discovered this by reading a couple of blogs and since we went to London last weekend, it seemed only right to call in and see for myself. I left with quite a haul so I’m sure this won’t be the only post I make. However sadly information will be limited!

My first pick of products to try was something called “Big Bang” bubble bar. I had to google even to figure this out as stupidly I said I was okay without labels on all my bags – to make it easier at the till! The smell is just amazing, though sadly I can’t tell you anything that’s in the product. To me it smells a bit like Sherbet Lemons but I could be way off.

I have no idea about the price either, as I didn’t keep my receipt (a bit of a fail going on here I’m afraid) and even googling doesn’t seem to work. The blue is a bubble bar as standard but the pink seems to be a bath melt. Whatever it is, it’s wonderful and I highly recommend it.

If you’re anywhere near to London Oxford Street, I definitely think you should pop in! I hope that some of the products prove to be popular enough to make it into regular sale, at least that way I’ll find out what was in them! If you’re interested in the exclusive products, just type Oxford Street Lush exclusive products into a search and you should find loads of info – especially on blogs!

Unicorn Horn – Lush Bubble Bar Review

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Transferred from Twice the Mum when closed.

Last week I went to London for the Game of Thrones Exhibit and while I was there, I treated myself to a bit of a shopping trip. Part of my shopping haul was a couple of Lush items and this week I got to try one of them out! Today my post is all about the Valentine’s special item – Unicorn Horn – a bubble bar made just for the love season and sadly its gone again now!

Lush described this bubble bar as:

Sweet dreams are made of these

Sink into a magical bath filled with beautiful essential oils, colorful candy stars, sparkling glitter, rainbows and dreams. Gorgeous pastel colors and a shimmering luster create enchanting pink waters with silvery trails sparkling through it – just like the dazzling pools in magical forests that unicorns can be found bathing in. Lavender, ylang ylang and neroli create a unique and uplifting fragrance as you surround yourself with mounds of bubbles that will leave you feeling perfectly serene.

The bubble bar itself is so visually appealing – the colours and the design are so catchy and definitely pull you in to make a purchase. This is the only Valentine’s range product that I actually bought and that says it all really, since I technically banned myself from buying any!

Once in the bath, its fairly regular and dare I say, boring. However glitter and fizz and sparkle isn’t everything so that’s not really the point. The smell was lovely, though actually not what I’d expected. To be fair I hadn’t read the description and a sniff didn’t give much away. But once it was in the bath I definitely got hit by the lavender smell and while its lovely, I don’t really do lavender.

I love the look of this bubble bar and the bubbles and feel of the water is exactly what you expect from any Lush product. For me it wasn’t one to buy again but that’s only because I’m not a lavender fan. Honestly, looking as beautiful as it did, I would have wished it had sweet scents and verge on being like a candy mountain – but maybe that’s just me!

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Father Christmas – Lush Bath Bomb Review

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Transferred from Twice the Mum when closed.

Last month I posted about a bath bomb from Lush, called Butterbear. It was a fun little teddy bear, perfect for kids. Today I want to bring you another bath bomb I’ve come across – again, great for the kids, especially at Christmas!

This bath bomb is called Father Christmas, which of course is the person this bath product gives a resemblance to. It was sold to me on the fact it smelt like Snow Fairy, one of my favourite Lush scents and of course the Christmas aspect.
Lush sells this product as:

A festive bath bomb to bring Santa’s presence into the bath. Once you pop this jolly bomb in your bath, it turns your water from bright red to vivid green. This year, Father Christmas will fill your bathroom with the popular sweet scent of Snow Fairy. All we want for Christmas is this Santa, baby!

I obviously hadn’t read this before using the bath bomb and secretly I’m a little glad. I threw Father Christmas into my bath and didn’t really expect much. However instantly there was a pop of green and I realised Santa had a surprise! As the bath bomb fizzed away, the green was released and before I knew it, my bath was a beautiful, if not a little unexpected, shade of green!
I am happy to report that my bath did indeed smell of Snow Fairy! While the usual pink of the shower gel was replaced by a rather vivid green, the smell was definitely the same. As with all bath bombs, I miss the bubbles of a bubble bar, but I love the smell that comes with these bombs. Father Christmas is now high up on my list of recommendations and I might even buy it for my kids on Christmas Eve!

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Wizard – Lush Bubble Bar

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Several times over the last week I’ve been posting about the products I bought in a recent Lush haul – when I went to Edinburgh. Products I’ve covered have included Sparkler, Northern Lights, So White, Hot Toddy and over on Twice the Mum (later published on my own blog), even the Butterbear. Today is the turn of “Wizard”, a bubble bar that I bought, largely because of the name (huge Harry Potter fan here) and also cos it looked interesting!!

Unfortunately “Wizard” was just for Halloween, so its now unavailable (that’s why the link is actually to the US Lush site). This makes me twice as glad that I got to try it when I did and hopefully one day it might be back again!

Wizard bubble bar looks a lot like a wizard hat and not only that, its a funky colour. To be honest, if it wasn’t that colour, I think it could quite easily be confused with the Penguin bubble bar!

As I’ve mentioned before, I love the idea of a magical bath and as a Harry Potter lover I’m always sold on anything witch, wizard, magic related. This bubble bar was no different, almost excited to see how it turned out.

 

As I crumbled the bubble bar, the water turned a beautiful shade of purple. The smell was lovely too. However as the bath filled more, the water took on a slightly darker shade of purple which was still nice but just not as pretty as the shallow water. While I could place the scent at all (and having this eternal cold it seems) it did seem familiar and in the end I associated it with lavender. As with all Lush bubble bars, the water felt beautifully soft and moisturising, the bar creating loads and loads of bubbles.

Lush describe this product as:

As the weather casts a cold, frosty spell over us, there’s only one thing better than soaking in the bath: the Wizard. This magical, handmade companion will help keep your spirits bright even on the darkest days. Energizing tangerine, juniperberry and fennel essential oils help balance the skin, while its warming and uplifting scent banishes stress and helps you recover from the day. It’s pure magic for your mind, body and soul.

While there is no mention of lavender, I feel sure that there is something in the bubble bar with the same qualities.  After getting out of the bath I felt incredibly relaxed and then not long after, tired. I slept really well that night too and so I would have recommended it for people with sleeping problems.

This was a lovely bubble bar and I’m genuinely sad it was here only briefly. I hope it makes a re-appearance next Halloween as I’d definitely stock up on a couple for those exhausting days when you know you need a good night’s sleep.

Still to review: The Christmas Hedgehog, Father Christmas, Sparkly Pumpkin and my all time favourite, Candy Mountain!

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Butterbear – Lush Bath Bomb Review

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Transferred from Twice the Mum when closed.

Over on my personal blog, Journeys are my Diary, I’ve been blogging a lot about my recent Lush Haul (purchased on our weekend away to Edinburgh).

I’ve covered So White, Hot Toddy, The Sparkler and today I want to talk about Butterbear. The main reason I’ve decided to place this review here, is because I definitely think its something very child orientated and that our lovely readers over here might like to know about it!

When we first picked up Butterbear in Lush, Megan misread the sign and thought it said Butterbeer. This is of course a Harry Potter reference and then made the bear, a must buy! A part of me did wonder if there was a connection, but I don’t think there is. That said, he’s a very cute little bear!

Lush describe the product as:

Cocoa butter creates a creamy soft bath that is great for nourishing and protecting your skin, with the same vanilla-like fragrance as Butterball bath bomb. Moulded into a friendly and sweet-smelling bear, this is sure to be a winner with little and big kids alike!

My little bear got a bit dirty! By dirty, I mean my “Sparkler” bath bomb disintegrated all over him – that’s the yellow bits. Otherwise, you can see this little chappy is a white/cream colour with flecks of brown.

When we first placed him in the water, he acted exactly like a regular bath bomb – fizzing and bubbling away. However as he started to dissolve, you could see bits of brown and I began to worry that it was one of the few Lush products that leave bits in your bath (I’m not a fan of those!).

 

However I shouldn’t have worried as given a little time, that dissolved too, leaving a very clear bath. You could see the oil in the water from the cocoa butter and Lily who was having the bath, seemed very happy with the vanilla smell.
I would definitely recommend this bath bomb for kids as its kind and gentle on their skin, plus it smells good. That said, kids also love bubbles and if you’re looking for that then you’re not going to get any here! Perhaps throwing in a Lush bubble bar as well, might be a bit extravagant for the kids…

Product Review – Lush So White Shower Gel

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A few days ago, I posted about one of the new shower gels I recently purchased from Lush. I also mentioned that I picked up another one – So White. Today I’m going to tell you all about this new shower gel, what I think and how it smells.

You might think that the name “So White” sounds familiar. That is because for many years Lush has made a bath bomb called So White. Deliberately sounding like “Snow White”, So White is an fruity smelling bath bomb and the new shower gel So White, is very similar!

Lush describes this product as:

A crisp apple shower gel to leave you feeling the fairest of them all. This creamy, shimmering wash is made with cleansing fresh apple and cyder vinegar as well as soothing rose water to leave you feeling fresh and soft. This contains organic rose absolute and bergamot essential oil to help clear the mind and leave you feeling as pure as the driven snow.

While the bath bomb has an orange/citrus smell, the shower gel is apple. This to me makes far more sense, given the actual name of the shower gel.

The consistency of So White shower gel is a little strange. I want to liken it to “off milk” but at the same time I don’t want to put you off. For the most part, the shower gel feels normal, however I don’t know if you can see from the picture, but it has sort of lumps in it. It almost looks like it should be exfoliating, but it isn’t as the lumps do just dissolve as you rub it into your skin. I did notice on the Lush website that someone else commented on the consistency of the product which is good (though bad for Lush) as I wondered if I just got a bad one!

Either way though, the shower gel does rub in normally and does lather as it should. Perhaps the lumpiness is just moisturiser as I have no complaints about the actual product. The smell is really good and apple is definitely the main scent I get. It’s delicate and subtle, but still lingers. I definitely wish the bath bomb smelt this good!

Would I buy it again….? Maybe. The consistency is a little off putting. If it was more like the other shower gels, I think I probably would as the smell is great. However pouring off milk into your hand, probably isn’t top of my list when it comes to taking a shower!

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Product Review – Lush Hot Toddy Shower Gel

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You may remember that I mentioned a “Lush” Haul, well this is yet another product review! So far I have mentioned both the “Sparkler” and “Northern Lights“, both of which were for Bonfire Night. This particular Shower Gel however, covers the whole winter period. “Hot Toddy” is a Shower Gel, much like all the other Lush shower gels. It comes in 100g, 250g and 500g. As always I bought the 100g, as even that costs £3.95, a price I would never justify if I was shopping in Tesco! However, sold as always on a Limited Edition shower gel, I had to at least give it a try!

Hot Toddy is a beautiful red colour, with little flecks of gold that make it look like its shimmering. The smell is quite strong but not in a bad way – a total memory of Christmas Markets, spiced candles, just pure Christmas really.

Lush sells the product as:

With all the spice of a Christmas market, this deep red shimmering shower gel is sure to blow away the bah humbugs. Laced with softening seaweed, fresh ginger, cinnamon leaf oil and cleansing lemon oil, this will warm up even the chilliest of days and bring a sparkle to your shower. 

I could definitely get the cinnamon but otherwise the rest of the scents are subtle. I actually didn’t fully expect to like this shower gel but I was pleasantly surprised! Having used it twice now, I can honestly say I like it. I actually hope that this becomes a Limited Edition a bit like Snow Fairy, making a reappearance every Christmas. I do have a cold so I can’t say for sure, but sadly I didn’t smell it on my skin afterwards. I’m hoping that is just my cold though, as one thing I’ve always loved about Lush shower gel is that you catch a whiff every now and again after the bath or shower!

Still to come, So White Shower Gel, Butterbear Bath Bomb and Wizard Bubble Bar! I have more, but these are the ones I’ve tried and tested – coming to a blog post near you (soon!).

Week 45 – Monday Round-up

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Back to work and back to being miserable! That pretty much sums up last week. Luckily that’s a bit melodramatic, but you get the idea…

Monday to Friday was work and school for all of us. It was the first week back after a few weeks off too, which is always the worst. Work is still up and down as always, except since the chef left at the end of last term, we now have an agency chef – which brings with it, several pros and cons! Anyway, work was meh some days and okay the others.

In all honesty, I don’t remember a lot of what happened this week. I remember that Monday I felt pretty miserable and that it was work related, but otherwise I have no idea what I did in the evening – other than I probably watched TV with Chris and/or wrote blog posts. The girls had Singing Stars after school, that’s pretty much all I know! Tuesday I know the kids were with their dad after school so Chris and I spent time together. Again, sadly I don’t really remember much more. I think I had a blog catch up night though! Wednesday I know Chris was working and the girls and I were at home relaxing. In the evening I had a Lush bath and it was heaven. I tried out loads of new products – all of which I’ll be reviewing on my blog soon.

Thursday Chris was working again and the girls were home so we just chilled out. In the evening, Nat came around and the evening flew by way faster than expected. Amy also sent me a box of Lush which was much appreciated, especially as it had all my favourite things in it! When Chris came home, it was his last shift of his current job. Next week he starts a new job at BT and I think he’s looking forward to it.

Saturday I’d agreed to help my brother move house so Chris and I dropped off the girls at my mum’s at 8.45am and then drove to the storage container to unload all the stuff my brother and his girlfriend wanted. It started to rain midway through and we all got soaked but really it was just the beginning of how the rest of the day would be! We drove to our house and swapped dinning tables, then my brother’s new house to drop stuff off. We went for dinner at Subway (my brother’s treat) and then back to his old house to collect more big furniture. We then headed to his new house one last time to unload everything, before Chris and I headed off. Luckily we weren’t responsible for moving everything, just the large pieces of furntiture. It didn’t take too long and I did catch a few amusing pictures while Chris hoisted my brother up so he could look in the loft!

After dropping off the van, Chris and I headed to mum’s to spend some time with the girls before they were going to their dad’s. I was incredibly tired and really just wanted to go home, but I also wanted to spend some time with Megan and Lily. It was about 6pm when their dad came for them and Chris and I headed straight home. He ordered takeaway and we sat down with a bottle of wine and Indian, to enjoy our evening. We caught up on “The Flash” and “Arrow” but midway through an episode I started to drop off so Chris suggested it was time for bed. It was only 9.30pm and it went so against the grain to go that early, but I agreed, knowing I needed it.

In the morning, we didn’t have much of a lay-in but it was no surprise given what time we went to bed. However we had a nice relaxing morning and just took it easy. I spent majority of the morning planning the next two party’s food and then went to Tesco to pick up a few essentials. In the afternoon Chris and I put up a huge mural on our bedroom wall and then I sorted out all of the Christmas presents I’d already bought and still need to. The girls got home at 3pm and I then hung out with them, caught up on the X Factor and just enjoyed time with them, all before they went to bed. Once Lily was asleep, Chris, Megan and I watched the Finale of “Next Great Baker” and we were pleased with the results. Once Megan was in bed too, Chris and I watched loads more Arrow until we tired enough to go to sleep.

This is the basic round up of my week, but what I do feel like overall is that November is not turning out to be as good as October. I wrote about my dieting issues over at Twice the Mum, but it goes deeper than that really. All the organising, all the motivation, all the blog plans I had during October have stopped now I’m into November. I feel like work, my emotions, everything is effecting my mood and how things are feeling now. I don’t quite know how to get back to the place I was in, but I know I want to.

Sparkler – Lush Bath Bomb

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As today is November 5th – Bonfire Night, I wanted to share with you one of my latest Lush product purchases! When we were in Edinburgh a few weekends ago, I popped into Lush and bought somewhat of a haul. Included in that was this awesome bath bomb – the Sparkler.

The Lush “Sparkler”, pictured above – the long yellow stick – is a bath bomb that smells amazing. Sadly, though, its a little soft and while sat in my box of lush goodies, actually ended up breaking apart! As such, I don’t have a “before I threw it in the bath” shot and the spoiler of seeing gold in the middle of the bath bomb, was revealed before it even got to the bath.

Lush claims the product to be:

A crackling and fizzing Rose Jam-scented bath bomb that makes bath night fireworks night. The soothingly-fragranced bomb fizzes and crackles in an explosion of colour, spinning around the bath turning it into a fiery, shimmering display.

Because the bath bomb was broken, I can’t completely confirm these claims. I can tell you however that the colour of the bath was a beautiful yellow colour that turned gold and sparkly as the bath bomb disintegrated. Sadly I also have a terrible cold and I can’t even tell you if it smelt good – but I’m sure it did!

The colour of the bath water, definitely had a sparkly feel to it. For me it appeals, in the same way Sunnyside does. I love the idea of a magical bath and this is exactly what it felt like. I was almost tempted to drop my Dragon’s Egg bath bomb in, just to feel like I was having a Harry Potter bath!

Even better, when you get out of the bath, the gold sparkles stay on you! Its very subtle and not that obvious, so you might even miss it. However I assure you it does happen. Every now and again you can just catch a glimpse of the odd sparkle here and there – but I think its even more obvious to others, even if you can’t totally see it yourself.

While I won’t rush to buy it again (and I’m sure it will disappear after Christmas anyway), I’m really glad to have tried it. I love magical and sparkly baths and if you do, then I would definitely recommend it!

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Northern Lights – Lush Bath Bomb

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Last week I posted about the new Christmas (and Winter generally) range of products being released by Lush. They are now in the shops and this week I was lucky enough to be given one by my best friend Nat. Yesterday I wasn’t feeling very well so after work I headed home and climbed into the bath. I decided to use my new Northern Lights – Bath Bomb.

The Northern Lights bath bomb is so pretty, even before it goes in the bath. It’s purple in colour, with tiny little stars decorating it. However the real magic happens when you place the bath bomb into the water. Then you definitely understand where the bath bomb gets its name from.

When your first drop the bath bomb into the water, you’re greeted with an amazing purple colour, with hints of blue. However as the water runs and the bath bomb dissolves, the colours just get more and more beautiful.

The name “Northern Lights” is just perfect for this bath bomb. I can see exactly why it was named that. Truth be told though, there isn’t much else to say about this bath bomb. It doesn’t especially smell of anything and it doesn’t especially make the bath water smell of anything. It is however, a lovely colour and great fun to watch. That said, I seem to have lost some elements of taste and smell, so I could be wrong and maybe it smells awesome haha.

At £3.50 its certainly not the cheapest of bath bombs, but its definitely an experience to watch and use. I won’t be rushing out to buy it again, but I’m definitely glad to have tried it!

Have you tried any of the new Lush range yet?
Leave your link, I’d love to see!

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