Have a Lush Easter!

When it comes to fun, beautiful smelling bath products Lush is definitely the place to go to, and they certainly know how to keep us interested with their limited collections throughout the year. We've barely stopped shopping the Halloween range before the Christmas collection tempts us, which is then swiftly followed by the Valentines range. I might possibly have gone a little bit over board when I shopped the Christmas collection (see here), but there were so many amazing products to choose from, and I still have a little bit left of some of the shower gels. For me the Valentine's collection this year wasn't as tempting, and I actually didn't buy a single thing. The Easter collection is a completely different story with a fab range of products and again I might possibly have gone a little bit over board, but just look at these goodies - can you blame me?

One of the things I love about Lush is that they keep things fun and interesting with their with their cute Russian doll take on some of their bath bombs. The Immaculate Eggception (£6.95) is a lovely big yellow bath bomb egg, that has a little something inside of it, either a bunny or a little chick. I'm not sure yet what's in my egg  but getting two lovely bath bombs in one, is a great treat and I'll share with you on Instagram what I find inside it. It has an absolutely gorgeous soft lemon scent, but it's more creamy and sweet than zesty and sharp because of a hint of vanilla, and it reminds me a little of a lemon soda popsicle. According to Lush it'll dissolve into beautiful sunset colors in the bath of pink, yellow and orange which sounds very inviting and I'm so eggcited to try it out.

No limited edition from Lush is complete without something beautiful sparkly and the Golden Egg (£3.50) is exactly that - not even a hardy magpie like myself could wish for more. This is another 2-in 1 product that starts off as a bath melt and when that layer has melted away, its bath bomb core will start to fizz and release the eggceptionally delicious and yummy scent of toffee, sweet orange and honey. I adore this scent and wish I had a golden goose that could give me golden eggs like this all year around, I know it's the same one as in Honey I washed the kids but the golden egg format is just so much more fun. One small thing though - this is a VERY glittery bath product and while that is great in the bath, as soon as you pick it up you will get a lot of glitter particles everywhere that will transfer to your face and clothes, so be careful with it.

When I saw this little white rabbit I just had to have it. The Bunny Bubble Bar (£3.25) is one of the cutest things I've ever seen, with its little candy eyes and tail but it's not only adorable it also good for you since it contains shea butter and coconut oil to nourish your skin, making it soft and supple. I must admit that I probably would have bought this regardless of what it smelt like but luckily for me, it comes in one of my most loved Lush scents - the Creamy Candy bubble bar, which is a gorgeous soft whipped vanilla scent with a fruity candy feel to it. Apparently this little cutie has a surprise inside it and if you can bare to crumble it up in the water it's filled with pretty blue cornflowers that will make your bath a bit eggstra special. 

Next is one of your 5 a day, a Bunch of Carrots (£5.95). As much as I love Lush products, I try to make them last as long as possible by sometimes breaking them into smaller pieces, but with this colorful bunch, you don't need to do that since they are reusable. Rather than crumbling this bubble bar, you simply swirl the carrots around in the bath until you've got enough bubbles, and then you can put the rest away and save for another day - it's a super concept! If you're not a fan of carrots, don't worry because the bubble bars don't smell anything like it, instead it's a beautiful warm and eggsotic scent with lemon, grapefruit and blackcurrants. This is probably my favorite out of all of them and I'm already picking up some more of these vegetables to last me a while.

The final product is one that I tried for the first time last year and feel completely in love with, it's the gorgeous Fluffy Egg (£2.95) bath bomb. You may remember that I'm a massive Snow Fairy addict and a few of these pretty pink eggs will help to keep me going until I can get my next stash of Snow Fairy since it's the same scent. It's an eggstraordinary lovely fresh and fruity, fairly sweet scent of candy with a light touch of musk that prevents it from getting too sickly sweet. I adore it and I'm so happy that Lush is nice enough to think of us who are missing Snow Fairy desperately.

I really like the Easter collection - the products are fun, cute and colorful with amazing scents and I just love seeing how they are displayed in Lush, it always puts me in such a good mood. I would highly recommend that you stock up on the Easter eggs, and not just the chocolate kind!

Lush bath times

Back in the old days when views about cleanliness and hygiene weren't quite the same as today, a lot of people only had a wash perhaps once a week or in many cases even more rarely. However, when it was time for Christmas it was a tradition for the whole family to have a Christmas bath to make sure that everyone was nice and clean for the big Christmas meal. Well things have certainly changed since then and I'm sure I'm not the only one bath lover who looks forward to the Christmas collection from Lush every year to indulge in all things fun and seasonal, although a lot of the products are almost too cute to use up. I got a little bit carried away this year when I saw the new collection, but at least I will have lots of gorgeous products of all kinds, colors, shapes and scents in my bath basket to choose from.

If we start with the shower gels I had actually already bought Snow Fairy and Ponche when I happened to see Glögg (£13.50) on the website. Glögg is a traditional heated red wine based winter drink, similar to mulled wine which is spiced with cinnamon, orange, cognac and cloves and something I'm very familiar with as I'm Swedish, and the thought of a glögg smelling shower gel was just too much to resist. It doesn't smell exactly like the glögg from my family home, but it's close enough and it has beautiful warming essential oils for a feel good shower after you've been out in the cold.

Next is my annual shower gel highlight and all time favourite Lush scent - Snow Fairy (£10.95). This is a bit of a love it or hate it scent and I'm very firmly in the love it camp because of its pink and sweet, fruity bubblegum scent. It's fresh, fluffy and light like candy floss and I have had such a hard time to stop myself from using it before December, but today I will celebrate first of advent with an indulgent Snow Fairy shower.

The last shower gel is Ponche (£8.95) which is a citrusy, juicy tropical sweet scent with a very light hint of cinnamon and buckets of tequila. Apparently this is a traditional Mexican Christmas drink, and although I prefer warmer scents in the winter, I do like the zestiness of it and could see myself still using this in Spring time for a bright, sparkly and refreshing shower.

Now we come to all the bath bombs, melts and bubble bars. Golden Wonder (£3.50) is a bath bomb in the shape of a gorgeous glittery Christmas present and it even has a bow on it. The scent is sparkling, citrusy with sweet orange and lime but with a warm undertone to it, making it great for winter time. Apparently this is a bath bomb that you should take your time to enjoy and that releases wonderful colors and stars when you drop it in the bath. But be careful when you pick it up because it has soo much glitter on it, that it gets absolutely everywhere - and yes I did walk around with gold on my nose for a few hrs...I've seen photos of this in the bath and I'm very excited to try it and to let it wrap me in gold while I enjoy a glass of chilled champagne - now that's how you ease in Christmas!

Next bath bomb is Cinders (£2.45), less sparkly on the outside but just like Cinderella has a bit of a transformation in the bath. It also has a very fruity and spicy scent of orange combined with cinnamon and which smells very comforting and relaxing. The transformation of this one in the water is down to the popping candy which should crackle like a log fire. Sounds interesting and it'll be fun to see if it actually works.

Lush has really latched on to the Christmas drink concept and another bath product to resemble a traditional hot drink is the Hot Toddy bubble bar (£3.25). You crumble it under running water for lots of creamy bubbles to form and the bathroom will be filled with that luxurious and whipped spicy but soft scent of eggnog, citrus fruits and nutmeg. It's a warming and relaxing scent and since the bubble bars are so foaming, I'll probably split this in two to get more use out of it. 

Christmas is a very sparkly time of year and even more so if you use the Star Light, Star Bright bath melt (£3.30). It's such a pretty bath melt, covered in a heavy dusting of silver that unfortunately goes absolutely everywhere and again that sticks to your fingertips for hrs. It has a rich and moisturising center of shea butter and is supposed to make the water feel soft and creamy and turns it silvery turqoise. This is a more piquant and invigorating scent than the other bath products because of the ginger and lime and it's deliciously refreshing.

We're now on to the bath products that are almost too cute to melt, although this little guy looks as if he's already well on his way - it's the Melting Snowman bath melt (£2.25). The shape is different, but it has the same warming scent as the Hot Toddy bath melt and the same moisturising qualities that will leave the skin nice and soft. So if you don't have the heart to finish our snowman off, you can get the same scent and effect from the Hot Toddy melt, but with less of a guilty conscience.

The cuteness factor is at an all time high with the Christmas Penguin bubble bar (£2.95). It's a very fresh and almost Mediterranean scent of sweet orange flower and mandarin oil a and it's so refreshing that I'll probably save this for a morning bath, to set me up nicely for the day. I would like to try and split this bubble bar into two as well, but I suspect that it'll just fall into pieces if I do - as if it isn't bad enough that we have to dissolve him... Poor penguin...

Last up we have Father Christmas himself (£3.25) with his cheery, merry face in a cute pink and white bath bomb, but when you drop it in the water it'll completely unexpectedly turn green! It has a lovely fresh but warm orange scent and for me I think this will be the one to save for Christmas day, after all I need Father Christmas to drop off my pressies before he fizzes away!

As a bath lover I'm so glad that things have changed since the old days, and it probably wasn't easy getting hold of a decent bath bomb either... Luckily I'm all sorted with lots of goodies and I'm looking forward to some lush bath times before Christmas.

Be my honey

When I was a little girl, every morning my dad would insist that I ate a teaspoon of honey saying that it would be good for my immune system and it would keep me healthy and strong. At the time I didn't particularly care about that bit, I was more interested in getting a yummy sweetie after having finished my breakfast - no wonder I was bouncing off to school every morning on a sugar rush from the natural sweetness. But in addition to keeping me happy and energetic as I left for school my dad actually had a very valid point, since honey contains antiseptic and antibacterial properties and has been found useful to fight off infections. Honey is also a well known natural ingredient for nourishing, soothing, rejuvenating and hydrating skin and hair so today I thought I would show some of my favourite honeypots.

 

Up until a few weeks ago I hadn't used anything from Herbal Essences for a very long time. Their shampoos have always smelled amazing, but completely stripped my hair of hydration and turned it into a tangled nightmare of a mop. Having read some great reviews of the Bee Strong range, I thought I would risk it and see if the Herbal Essences products had improved so I got the shampoo, conditioner and the mask. The Bee Strong Shampoo (£3.89) is specially formulated for dry and damaged hair and it contains extracts of honey and apricot to repair the individual hair strands as well as strengthen them. The shampoo works ups a generous lather that gives a great deep cleanse, but without leaving the hair in a tangled mess and compared to the Herbal Essences shampoos I've used previously, it feels wonderfully hydrating and nourishing. The Bee Strong Conditioner (£3.89) contains the same strengthening ingredients as the shampoo but also has a serum to add extra moisture, and the richness of it makes the hair feeling super soft and cared for. If I haven't used the conditioner after the shampoo, I've applied a generous amount of the Bee Strong Mask (£4.19) which is a strong and intensive mask that feels quite heavy on the hair. It's a really lovely mask and it leaves your hair feeling very luxurious, nourished and detangled - as if you were using a much more high end deep repair mask, so it's incredible value for money. All the hair products have a nice and creamy golden consistency but to my surprise neither of them really smell of sweet honey at all, instead the scent is much more of a fresh tropical scent of warm mango, papaya and delicious apricot. I love this new formula from Herbal Essences and they have certainly redeemed themselves a lot in my book and I might even consider trying some of their other shampoos too. I may not look as fabulous as Nicole Scherzinger, but my hair certainly likes the Bee Strong range, and so do I

A few days ago I did a post on a wonderful plumping lip balm from Gatineau which admittedly is a little bit too expensive to use more than as a prep in the morning and a treatment in the evening, so in between I'm using an old classic, Burt's Bees Honey Lip Balm (£2.99) which I slap on a good few times every day. It's made from 100% natural ingredients and in addition to honey also contains beeswax, shea butter, cocoa butter and lanolin. It's a fuss free, cheap and cheerful product that you can afford to be generous with and there's nothing like it to keep your lips soft or to heal chapped lips. Burt's Bees also do tinted lip balms, but since I like to use this under a lip stick or lip gloss, this sweet honey balm is just right for me.

For a long luscious bath you need a Lush product, and when you're skin is feeling a little angry or sensitive, the Honey Bee Bath Bomb (£3.25) is just wonderfully soothing. It's a gentle and almost therapeutic bath bomb with honey (obviously!), rhassoul mud and aloe vera. The rhassoul mud softens the skin, scrubs away dead skin cells and helps to rebalance the oil production and tightens the pores, while the aloe vera and honey adds plenty of moisture. The bath bomb isn't as colorful and pretty to look at as many of the other Lush products, but it turns the water into a lovely warm yellow color and it's gentle enough for even the most delicate of skins. To me it doesn't smell anything like honey or even particularly sweet, and instead it's a nice and refreshing scent of very faint orange, bergamot, and gardenia which together form a very light floral that has a subtle sweetness to it.

Having indulged in a lovely relaxing bath, your skin will need a little treat in form of a rich and moisturising body butter and the Body Shop Honeymania is absolutely wonderful. It's very similar to most of the Body Shop body butters with it's smooth and almost "fatty" consistency that melts into the skin as it's heated up between your hands when you massage it in, and it really soaks the skin with hydration that lasts almost all day making the skin feeling very silky and soft. As with the hair care products, I was surprised that this doesn't smell particularly of honey. It's a harmonious scent that does have a noticeable rich and sharp sweetness to it, but it's of a floral kind and it reminds me a little of the Moringa scent as it's quite strong in a slightly artificial way, and if you're not keen on florals - you might give it a miss.

All of the products I have mentioned are pampering and indulgent to use, although most of them haven't really smelt that much of honey. But what they have lacked in terms of honey scent, the L'Occitane Immortelle Eau de Parfum makes up for with exuberance. This wonderful EdP comes in a beautiful but plain heavy glass bottle which has a very exclusive feel about it, that makes me think of bespoke perfumiers where the scent does all the talking, not the packaging. When Him Indoors bought this for me, it was a horrible cold and blustery day and when I tried this on it took me to a sunny, scorching Mediterranean filled with aromatic scents and I was completely bowled over. It's a very warm and luxurious scent that blends essential oils from rich honey like immortelle, powdery rose, deep animalistic musk and sweet iris - all vibrant and strong scents in themselves. This is not a fragrance for the faint-hearted or for anyone who wants to blend in and there is nothing girly, light or playful about it. It's a very womanly, intriguing, sensual and fascinating scent that creates an air of warm golden nectar - it's definitely a statement and I absolutely LOVE it.

I have been waxing lyrically (ha, ha - see what I did there...) about these wonderful honey products, but for good reason. Honey is the ultimate all in one beauty product - it hydrates, soothes, nourishes and smells wonderful and is definitely worth getting now that winter is coming to help keep your skin soft and smooth. But Behive and don't spend too much ... sorry - I blame it on the sugar rush from the honey I just had...