All about lip colour

 Today I am going to talk a little bit about my favourite lip care and lip colours! I have a lovely array of LUSH cosmetics lip tints and balms and scrubs- if you follow my blog you should know that I am a little bit LUSH obsessed ;) I love LUSH lip care because it is more natural than other big beauty brands, and it looks great! The tins might look small for the price, but they last forever!
The deep red coloured one at the very top is the newly released LUSH lip tint, A Million Kisses ($8.95), which I discussed in my last blog post. It is a deep, rich, smooth red that really makes a statement when you wear it! Also pictured are: Honey Trap lip balm ($6.95), Celebrate lip tint ($8.95), Snow Fairy lip tint ($8.95) and the Bubblegum lip scrub ($8.95).

Honey Trap is my go-to lip moisturizer. I will layer this under my LUSH lip tints to ensure they glide on smoothly. As you can tell by the photo posted, my current pot is well-used. I bought it last May (2011) and it is still about half full even though I use it daily so this speaks toward the excellent value these products have! With oat milk to calm and soothe your lips, this balm has a vanilla-honey, white chocolate scent and flavour, with just a touch of peppermint to cool and soothe dry lips. If you hop over to the LUSH link posted, you can see the ingredient list for this balm and notice that the majority of the ingredients are completely edible, making this a safe choice for licking ;)
The Bubblegum lip scrub by LUSH is one of three lip scrubs in the current line up: they also offer a mint flavoured scrub and a chocolate flavoured scrub. Bubblegum is the winner in my heart- it tastes delicious and it is completely edible! All you do is glide some of the sugar-y scrub over your chapped or dry lips, rub your lips together, and then lick off. Made primarily of castor sugar and organic jojoba oil, this scrub is very friendly to winter lips! It also lasts forever, making it a great purchase for the price. When I use it, I will actually put a touch of Honey Trap on first to ensure the scrub sticks easily to my lips. If you try to apply it to bone-dry lips, it may get a bit messy!

Two of my lip tints are seasonal wares that are currently not available for sale- this is a crying shame! Celebrate is my favourite every day lip tint- it is subtle and understated in a light, shimmery pink that goes well with my skin tone. Packed with sweet orange, lime and cognac oils, I find it to be a moisturizing lip tint. However, if you do have dry lips the colour will stand out in the creases so I always layer honey trap underneath before applying Celebrate.
Snow Fairy lip tint is a bright pink colour that is not quite my cup of tea. It goes on pretty much as seen in the above photo: a deep and bubblegum-y pink that is not my personal taste. I have read online that some girls are using it as a cheek tint as well, although I personally would not do this because I have acne-prone skin and it would most likely cause a break out! This lip tint smells delicious, like cotton candy! It has shea butter, cupuacu butter and murumuru butters to ensure your lips stay nice and soft while wearing it, and even contains dried cranberries which contribute to the colour and taste of this seasonal tint!
I know I come off as a die-hard LUSHie in this blog, but I do use other lip glosses, tints and balms by other great brands. Last year, I did a purge where I threw away a lot of old lip colours- many brands use ingredients that are not safe for human consumption in their lip care items; being as we put these things on our mouths and will no doubt consume part of the product, this makes no sense to me. We could be poisoning our bodies by accident in the name of beauty, which doesn't sit well with me. That is why I mainly use LUSH for my lips now. However, these products were keepers based on their prettiness. From left to right, I have: a MAC lustreglass in Wonderstruck ($17.50), MAC plushglass in Fulfilled ($22.00). Before buying LUSH, I was a MAC junkie. I support MAC because it is a Canadian company, and also because I like the quality of the products. The Lustreglass is extremely sticky. It is not user friendly unless you plan on wearing your hair up for the night! It will get all stuck in your hair and if you plan on kissing anyone, they will end up wearing half of it, too! I used to wear it a lot but stopped for those reasons. The Plushglass is meant to plump up your lips for a sensual pout. I bought it to try out, and I find that it irritates my lips. When I wear it, they burn a little bit. And YES it works- they do get plumper, but I actually do not like the look of it. I think I like my lips better au natural.
The third product in is by Estee Lauder, an Ultra Brilliance High Gloss called Honey. I like this because it is less sticky than MAC. The colour is quite sparkly and beige-tinted on my lips which looks better on me when I have a tan. I got this as a gift from my mom a year or two ago, and I cannot locate a price online. I keep this gloss in my purse for when I need a little razzle-dazzle on short notice. Fourth from the left is another MAC lipglass, called Oyster Girl ($17.50). This highly sticky lip gloss goes on pretty opaque, making my lips look very light pink and sparkly. I like to wear it when I do my eye makeup dark, as the contrast looks pretty cool.
In the middle is my precious Burt's Bees beeswax lip balm! At just under $5.00, this is a great product. It has mint in it which leaves my lips tingly and soft. It lasts forever and I keep it in my purse for on-the-go moisturizing. Alongside LUSH, Burt's Bees products are more natural and therefore a much better choice than synthetic offerings by other companies.
Beside my lip balm I have my beloved bareMinerals Pretty Amazing lip colour in Free Will ($16.00). This high-impact, opaque lip colour is ultra-shiny, but I do not find the staying power on this to be very impressive. It is not insanely sticky like MAC's products, which I love. I find the colour to be understated and neutral, which is also a plus for me. I like this brand because they also like to use natural ingredients in their products, which you know I am all about!
The final four lip products are rarely used by me, but I said I would show you my entire stash so I had to hold true! The peachy one is a drugstore brand, the clear one is a gloss by Joe Fresh, and the far right is a highly sticky gloss by American Eagle. In the bottom is my sole lipstick, a nice pink colour aptly named Pink Berry by Estee Lauder.

My three most used non-LUSH lipcare products: Burt's Bees beeswax lip balm,  bareMinerals Pretty Amazing lip colour in Free Will , and Estee Lauder's Ultra Brilliance High Gloss in Honey.

 Well, I guess that is all for now! What are your favourite lip colour items?
--S

Mini LUSH Haul!

Guess who went to LUSH today? Me me me! I spent just under $90 on a couple of bits and pieces including: a large sized American Cream conditioner ($29.95/500 ml) for my mother -- American Cream is scented of strawberries, honey and vanilla- it is one of LUSH's most popular conditioners. I will be quite honest: I do not use LUSH hair care. I tried Daddyo because I liked the smell and colour of it, but it is for light-haired people and it was draining the colour from my dark hair so I ended up giving it to my sister. I also found it to be quite drying, so it kind of turned me off LUSH hair care. I told the sales assistant this today, and she hooked me up with THREE samples to try! I got Rehab, which smells kind of herbal to me, and is meant for damaged hair; Cynthia Sylvia Stout (say that five times fast!!) which smells like beer -- and has actual beer in it! This tongue-twister is meant to add shine and body to hair. I also got a chunk of one of their solid shampoos, called Trichomania. Smelling of coconut (YUM!) this solid shampoo is uber eco-friendly due to no packaging, and is meant to moisturize and condition dry hair. I can't wait to try them each out and see what I think. I am definitely intrigued with the idea of solid shampoos for their portability, eco-friendliness and affordability!
LUSH states that one of their solid shampoo bars will last 80-100 washes, saving around 3 bottles from going into landfills. These shampoo pucks are free of preservatives as well.
The hand-shaped thingy in the photograph is LUSH's solid lotion, adorably named tiny hands ($7.95/60g): made with a TON of soothing ingredients, this package-free lotion has argan oil, aloe vera, cocoa and shea butters for uber soft hands. In my opinion, it has a floral scent (apparently marigolds). I am not a fan of florals personally, but my mom asked me to pick this up for her. To use it, you just rub it between your hands and your body temperature softens it for use.
I also picked up a Valentine's Day gift set! The gorgeous PS I Love You gift set ($34.95) comes with 2 ml of Love perfume, A Million Kisses lip tint (10 g), Love Potion massage bar (95 g), Sweetheart soap (60 g) and a small sized Ro's Argan Body Conditioner (45 g).

A Million Kisses lip tint, Love perfume (2 ml), Ro's Argan Body Conditioner

I immediately unloaded the Sweetheart soap on a LUSHie friend of mine, because as I mentioned in my last post, I am NOT a fan of the scent. It is supposed to smell of jasmine and vanilla, but it honestly reminds me of one of the products I use to clean my bathroom, which is not a good thing! If you are a fan of florals, you might enjoy this soap.
I tried the Love perfume (available for sale online only!) which has citrus, rose and jasmine oils. LUSH suggests that the main notes are lemon, lemongrass, bergamot, apple, cinnamon, jasmine, rose and ylang ylang. When I tried it out on my skin, it smelled earthy and fruity. Not exactly my personal favourite in scents, but I am not a huge fan of many of LUSH cosmetics perfumes. This is a perfume I most likely won't wear too often.
The Love Potion massage bar is scented of Love perfume, but because it isn't mixed with my body chemistry it smells different than the perfume to me. It smells much more fruity and bright, with a sweet citrus undertone. This luxurious massage bar is filled with oils such as carnation, ylang ylang, apple blossom and jasmine. For those of you who haven't heard of or tried a massage bar before, they're a unique LUSH offering. They are solid bars of moisturizing butters and essential oils that melt at body temperature. If you leave one by a heat source, it'll melt and make a mess so be careful with your storage choice! They are preservative free, and can be used as a solid moisturizer just like tiny hands. LUSH offers a variety of massage bars for things like sore muscles, stretch marks or sensual love time ;) I will state that these things last FOREVER so they are worth the money. LUSH even offers edible massage bars that you can lick right off your skin if you so please!
There were three reasons I wanted to buy this gift set: firstly, the box itself is adorable and I wanted to keep it for storage; secondly, I really wanted to try Ro's Argan body conditioner, and thirdly, I wanted to try the Million Kisses lip tint and it is not yet available for sale outside of this gift set due to sourcing issues with the ingredients used. I talked to the sales associate regarding Ro's, which is a fairly pricey investment at $29.95 (225 g); this product is obviously rose scented, and I have noted that I dislike floral scents. This is an exception: Ro's truly smells like candied roses. It is very sweet smelling, and due to this I adore it! This product is meant to be used as a shower lotion- made with cocoa butter, cupuacu butter, almond oil and argan oil, you are supposed to use this in the shower as a conditioner for your body, much like you would condition your hair. In other words, you rub it all over your freshly cleaned body and rinse it off before exiting the shower. However, if I am paying such a high price for such a lovely scented product, I don't want to wash it off!! I asked the sales associate if I could just use it as a moisturizer for my body, much like any other cream. She smiled and said she had been doing this with great results! So today, after my shower, I used Ro's as a moisturizer and it worked great! And I smell great too :) If you decide to invest in this product, try using it outside of the shower to really ensure the scent lingers.

Finally, A Million Kisses lip tint (not yet for sale individually in North America) is a bright red lip colour. The texture is creamy and rich, and the colour is extremely vibrant. I am modelling it for you in this photo so you can see the colour in the flesh. The main ingredient for this lip tint is organic rose hip oil, which is meant to moisturize and hydrate lips, making them ready for a million kisses and then some! I was surprised at how nice this colour looked on me, as I usually prefer more subtle lip colours. Expect a blog post regarding my favourite lip balms/glosses/tints coming soon!
--S

LUSH UK package arrived!

This morning I awoke to the sound of my doorbell ringing. I ran to the front door and saw the postman outside, which I knew meant my LUSH UK order had arrived! I placed an order for standard delivery from the UK last Wednesday and it arrived 4 business days later! How awesome is that? 

You might be wondering why I would order LUSH all the way from the UK when we have our own LUSH cosmetics in North America. There were a few reasons I did this: 

1. LUSH UK has much cheaper prices than LUSH NA on most products. This factors in after the conversion of pounds to dollars. For example, this package cost me $52 and some change after shipping. To get the exact same package from LUSH NA would have cost me $74.83 after shipping. The savings vary, and some things are much cheaper to buy in the the UK, namely anything that comes in a black pot or shower gel bottle. Soaps/ballistics/bubble bars have less of a savings.

2. LUSH UK still had a great variety of sale items available for purchase, where LUSH NA had barely anything on sale that interested me. LUSH NA is still having a sale as we speak, feel free to check it out. It is BOGO. LUSH UK didn't do a BOGO sale, they just did 50% off everything seasonal and seasonal retro, which I preferred. 

3. LUSH UK had released their seasonal Valentines Day products long before LUSH NA and I wanted to get in on that action! However, LUSH NA did just release their V-day products yesterday, available here. 

 I got: 2x 100ml Narcotic shower gel, 2x magic mushroom bubble bar, 2x three gold ring bubble bar, 3x I should coco soap, 2x sweetheart soap, 1x celebrate lip tint

I should coco soap -- retro item

The I should coco soap is no longer available for sale on the UK site, it was a limited edition release of a retro soap. "Retro" is LUSH cosmetics way of bringing back older and discontinued products. These retro items are only available for purchase online, not in store. This coconut soap is extremely mild in scent. I would say that it doesn't smell very coconutty at all, which made me sad because I adore coconut scents. I will have to try it in the shower and report back, because I have heard other LUSHies rave about this soap. I paid only £1.78 per 100g block for these at 50% off. 

Narcotic shower gel, 100ml -- retro item

Narcotic shower gel is a retro item that is deep blue in colour. It smells like tea tree, very medicinal and herbal. It is not my favourite scent, but tea tree works wonders for acne, and this shower gel is made to combat body acne! And although I would love to pretend I am unaffected by body acne, I sweat a lot at the gym and it definitely affects my back in a negative way :( So I decided to try this. I got two 100ml bottles, one for me and one for my friend. They were insanely cheap by LUSH standards at a mere £1.78 each. I will report back on how well it actually works !

Sweetheart Soap -- 2012 Limited Edition Valentines Day soap

I bought two 100 g chunks of Sweetheart soap (£2.50 each, or $6.95 each from LUSH NA) as gifts for special loved ones on V-day. I had never smelled this soap prior to ordering, as it just came out. The online description stated that Sweetheart soap is supposed to smell sensual, with a blend of jasmine, mandarin and vanilla. The online write-up sounded good enough to me, so I ordered two. I have to be honest: I am majorly disappointed with the scent of this soap! To me, it smells like bathroom cleaner! I don't get ANY vanilla from it at all, although there's a chance it'll smell better when wet and in use? I got these for gifts and I hope the people who receive them will find them more pleasing in scent. I have stashed these away until the time to give them up comes, because I don't want my room smelling of them!! 

Celebrate lip tint - Christmas 2011 Limited Edition

I purchased a tin of Celebrate lip tint for myself back in November of last year. I love it and I get tons of compliments when I wear it! I plan on doing a lip tint post soon, and you'll hear more about it then. This tin was on sale for half off so I grabbed it as a gift for someone special <3 It smells of LUSH's snowshowers scent, which is meant to smell of champagne. It has sweet orange, lime and cognac oils. As it was on sale, it cost me a mere £1.98 ! I paid $8.95 +tax for it at full price in November 2011. 

The magic mushroom bubble bar is a fan favourite from last years limited edition V-day releases. I am not a bath-taker, just a shower girl, so these are gifts for others. However, if you ever feel like trying a LUSH bubble bar and do not want to take a bath, you can enjoy it in the shower too! Just break off a small piece of the bubble bar and smoosh it into your shower puff! It'll lather up tons of amazing smelling bubbles and you can wash up with it. I do this from time to time. One bubble bar could last you 10 showers, I'd say! The magic mushroom is so cute. It smells of strawberries and vanilla, making it a winner in my heart. These are on sale in the UK for £2.45 each, or $5.95 if you buy it from LUSH NA. 

Three gold rings bubble bar - Christmas 2011 Limited Edition

The final gift I purchased were 2 Christmas limited edition bubble bars, three gold rings. Very pretty and golden! And a decently large size, too. Scented of creme anglais, with myrrh resin, sweet orange oil and vanilla absolute, this bubble bar turns your bath water a shimmering gold! I got these for a steal at £1.57 each. Sorry I couldn't take them out of their packaging for a closer look, as they are gifts! 

So that concludes my LUSH post of the day! Do you think you'll be placing a UK LUSH order soon? With fast shipping and much cheaper prices, it's a win-win! 
--S

I am addicted to LUSH soap.

In May '11 I decided to make a positive life choice. I already live a pescetarian lifestyle, but I wanted to do more for my body and the environment. I decided I wanted to lower my consumption of artificial sweeteners (I am a Diet Coke addict) and stop using aluminum based antiperspirants. I also wanted to start using more 'natural' and organically based beauty products. In my search for new brands, I came across LUSH cosmetics. I found their various philosophies to be align with my own. I made my first online order, and I've been addicted ever since.

My modest LUSH soap collection: 5x snowcake, porridge, candycane, sandstone, godmother, sultana, rockstar, noubar

From May '11 to now, I have tried something from every category of LUSH products: haircare, facial care, body care, bath bombs and bubble bars, shower gels, soaps- the list goes on! I am a through and through LUSHie. I intend on going over every inch of my LUSH experience with you all, and I decided to focus today's post on SOAPS. 

LUSH has a wide assortment of soaps that do various things: there are exfoliating soaps, soaps that are extra creamy, soaps that smell like flowers, or candy, or something indescribable. 

Rockstar (left) and Noubar soaps by LUSH

Every person has different taste in scents. LUSH realizes this and makes a variety of scents to please one and all. Pictured above is Rockstar soap ($7.95/100g). Loaded with vanilla absolute, it smells like bubblegum! This soap lathers well, is moisturizing and has a delicious scent. You may be tempted to take a bite, but please do not! It tastes like soap ;) I will note that the scent of Rockstar does not linger on the skin post-shower, which is a shame. It is an adorable bubblegum pink shade, which makes it all the more lovable.

The green soap pictured is a soon-to-be-discontinued LUSH soap, Noubar ($6.95/100g). Noubar is insanely creamy. If you hold a freshly cut piece, you feel as if you could smoosh it with your hands. The scent is very, very unique. To me, it smells smokey and sweet. Noubar was inspired by Italian nougat, and has actual chunks of peanuts, walnuts and pistachios in it which make it look very interesting. These nuts can be used for exfoliation. Vetivert oil and rose absolute give this creamy soap a lingering scent that lasts much longer than other LUSH soaps I have tried. Try this unique creation before it disappears from LUSH shelves for good!

Godmother (left) and Sultana soaps by LUSH

The Godmother ($5.95/100g) soap is the very first soap bar I purchased from LUSH. I picked it for a few reasons: firstly, it is cheaper than many of the other soaps, secondly, I love sweet scents and it sounded delicious. Luckily, I was right in my choice-- it smells even more edible than Rockstar to me. Scented of cotton candy, this soap is not creamy like the Rockstar or Noubar. It does not lather as much, and the scent does not linger on the skin. However, it is still worth purchasing for its delicious scent. Please note that LUSH prices its soaps based on their ingredients: if a soap has expensive essential oils or other ingredients, it will cost more. The Godmother soap derives its scent from perfume, not natural ingredients, hence its cheaper price tag.

The Sultana of Soap ($5.95/100g) was love at first sniff for me. I purchased a big chunk of this at the LUSH Mississauga location upon my first visit to an actual LUSH store. I had been doing online purchases prior to this experience, and getting the chance to actually smell things, rather than read about what they supposedly smelled like, was invaluable. The day of this trip, I ended up purchasing Sultana as well as Demon in the Dark ($7.95/100g); both soaps need to be smelled in order to be fully appreciated. Much like Noubar, they are both hard to describe using only words. Sultana is unbelievably creamy, lathers well and I find the scent to linger well on the skin. It is packed with dried apricots, currants and cranberries which give it a gorgeous appearance and a slight exfoliating advantage. The soap itself has a light, fruity and floral fragrance from bergamot oil that LUSH claims has a natural anti-depressant effect, meant to clear the mind of anxiety and improve mental clarity. Sultana is one of my all-time favourite LUSH soaps.

Three lovely slices of the seasonal Snowcake soap. Notice the pretty golden lustre on top :)

Finally, Snowcake soap ($7.95/100g) is a holiday soap that is only released for the Christmas season. This is why I currently have 5 chunks of Snowcake! I try not to hoard soaps and other LUSH products like some other LUSHies do because LUSH products are fresh and made of natural ingredients; as such, they only have a shelf life of anywhere from a month to 14 months depending upon what you buy. LUSH soaps have a recommended shelf life of 14 months and because I am only one person, I try not to over-purchase. The amount of soap I currently have stored is probably enough to last me 14 months, but I already have a new order on the way (teehee) with two bars of soap in it. Snowcake is an ultra-creamy soap that smells of almond icing or marzipan. I enjoy how smooth it is, I enjoy the scent, and I love that the scent lingers on the skin post-shower. I highly suggest you get a slice (or five!) next holiday season. 

Other soaps that I have in my stash that were not discussed in this post include: candycane soap ($6.95/100g) (seasonal exclusive) which smells of vanilla and mint; sandstone soap ($6.95/100g) which smells of lemon drops and contains actual sand for the ultimate exfoliation; and porridge soap ($6.95/100g), which you HAVE to try. It is chock full of oatmeal which gently exfoliates, and it smells like cupcakes! It is divine in every sense of the word, super creamy and luxurious. 

I have a couple honorable mentions- these are LUSH soaps that are very popular but are not my personal cup of tea. Honey I Washed The Kids (HIWTK) soap ($7.95/100g) smells of toffee and honey. It is very popular with the general LUSH masses. I have tried it and the scent lingers very well, but it is not my favourite in terms of scent. Sexy Peel soap ($5.95/100g) is packed with lemon, orange, grapefruit and lime juice for an invigorating shower experience. While I enjoy the scent of this soap, I prefer Sandstone for my citrus soap experience. And finally, Karma soap ($7.95/100g) is LUSH cosmetics signature scent- a mixture of patchouli, lemongrass, orange oil and pine that seriously lingers on the skin.I personally cannot stand the scent of patchouli and to me, it is the strongest scent in Karma. If you enjoy patchouli, you will love Karma. As LUSHies say, with Karma, you either love it or hate it.

I hope you enjoy my review of some of my favourite LUSH soaps!
Happy bathing,
--S

Review: LUSH & Cake Beauty dry shampoo

Have you ever worked a long day with plans to go out straight from work? No time to shower and freshen up your hair before hitting the town? Or maybe you just want to take a day off of shampooing once in a while! Well, my friends, I have a solution to ensure your hair always looks fresh, voluminous and grease-free and it is called dry shampoo.

Dry shampoo seems to be all the rage these days, with lots of brands coming out with their own versions. I personally have been using Cake beauty's dry shampoo for at least 5 years, if not longer.
Cake's satin sugar refreshing body and hair powder ($18.00) comes in two shades, one for darker hair and one for lighter hair. For quite some time, I had coloured blonde hair. The Cake dry shampoo was a life saver for me as it lightened up my roots between colour treatments. It smells amazing, adds a decent amount of volume to the roots of your hair, and soaks up any oil. I currently own this dry shampoo in both shades because it lasts FOREVER. It was well worth the price paid based solely on this. I actually have two of the darker hued powder currently because I use it on a weekly basis and I don't want to risk running out!

Light vs. Dark hued Cake dry shampoo

LUSH cosmetics recently created its own dry shampoo, aptly named No Drought ($12.95/bottle). Their dry shampoo offering is definitely not as friendly for those with darker hair. I am a brunette and I highly prefer my Cake dry shampoo for darker hued hair. I obviously use No Drought, but I only use it when I am going to the gym because I don't care if my hair is lighter looking at the roots when it is piled atop my head for a workout. No Drought smells absolutely amazing- I actually prefer this scent to Cake's. It smells like lemon drop candy to me, and the scent is very noticeable after application and throughout the day.

LUSH coconut deodorant powder, Cake satin sugar dry shampoo

Prior to LUSH releasing its dry shampoo, I was already using its coconut deodorant powder as a makeshift dry shampoo in the summer. My hair was dyed lighter at the time and I couldn't get enough of the intoxicating scent of this product. It smells like delicious coconuts and I was using it as a deodorant but found it to be lacking in coverage for hot summer days. I still wanted to smell of it, and I started touching up my roots with it between washes. It worked magically and smelled amazing. It is also considerably cheaper at $7.95 a bottle.

Cake satin sugar dry shampoo, LUSH dry shampoo

Dry shampoo is a definite must-have in any busy girls beauty regime. Whether you're an athlete, someone who works long hours, or just someone who likes to give your hair a break between washes, dry shampoo is a fool-proof way to keep your hair looking fresh and full of volume. I highly recommend the brands listed in this blog post because they are tried and true! Check them out for yourself and let me know what you think.

--S 

dry hands? dry feet? dry everything??

Canadian winters can really wreak havoc on our precious skin. In particular, I suffer from dry hands, dry feet and dry facial skin - especially around my ear area oddly enough. 
I have tried all sorts of lotions and creams to combat the harsh Canadian climate, and these are a few of my favourite products to ensure silky smooth skin all winter long:

All of the above products are made by LUSH cosmetics. LUSH is a green company who is against animal testing. The majority of their products are vegan, although some are only vegetarian. They "believe in making effective products from fresh, organic fruit and vegetables, the finest essential oils and safe synthetics" and their price point reflects the quality of the ingredients they use. 

Dream cream ($5.00/45 g) is a classic cream made by LUSH. It is suggested for troubled skin that is chaffed, chapped or extremely dry. It has chamomile, oat milk, rose essential oil and lavender essential oil to calm irritation and diminish redness. Personally, I find the mild scent of this cream to be a bonus. It smells primarily of chamomile to me. It is fairly thick in consistency and a little goes a long way, making it worth the price tag. I have been using this on my dry hands with much success although it hasn't done enough for my dry ear area. 

Lemony flutter ($14.95/45 g)  is a thick lemon cream that is advertised for softening cuticles. I personally use it to soften my hands, elbows and dry ears. Lemony flutter is packed with lemon juice, shea butter and beeswax. It also contains cold-pressed avocado oil, which moisturizes and softens skin. I find the scent of this butter to be very pleasing. It smells like lemon icing- good enough to eat! I have found this to be the best treatment for my stubbornly dry ears. I would highly suggest this product as a deep moisturizer for dry patches. This product combined with dream cream have left me with extremely soft and supple hands! 

Ultrabalm ($12.95/40 g) is LUSH cosmetics vegan answer to vaseline.  Simple and effective, it has but three ingredients: organic jojoba oil, candelilla wax and rose wax. This multi-purpose balm can be used as an intensive lip balm, an effective healing balm for tattoo aftercare or cuts and scrapes, as a brow and fly-away smoother, or for cracked and dry heels. I personally find it to have a very dull smell- it is not scented. I use it for my dry ears, and the soles of my feet. I have also used it as a hair serum when my hair is too volumous and it smoothed it out quite nicely. I like that its completely natural with no preservatives or artificial ingredients. I have read online that many new mothers like to use it as a natural cure for diaper rash. I think this is a must-have for every person on earth! 

Cake beauty is a Canadian beauty brand that likes to create products that smell delicious and make us feel luxurious ! Their products are made up of 90 - 95% natural ingredients,  and all products are 100% paraben free. 

Cake's satin sugar all purpose treatment balm ($24.00/60 g) is primarily made of shea butter. It smells like cake, and has a very thick texture. In fact, I would compare it to the texture of cold butter. It is very difficult to get out of the round container. I use this product on my feet, and in order to get it out with ease I will put the container on the heater for 5 minutes before attempting to extract any of the balm. At room temperature this balm is very difficult to work with. The smell is divine, and the results of the balm are worth the extra effort. With this product, I've had soft footsies all winter long!  

So there you have it, four of my very favourite products for dry skin on the body. I will be posting shortly about my favourite dry shampoo's and LUSH soaps- stay tuned!

--S

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my blog! I am ever so excited to be doing this after much contemplation. I promise to give you my absolute best in reviews of products that you might like to try.
My favourite beauty brand is currently: LUSH cosmetics  -- I am also quite fond of a Canadian company, Cake beauty. I will get into more detail and some honest reviews of products from both brands in the coming weeks!
Thank you for checking out my blog- leave a comment and tell me what you think! Feel free to follow me on twitter @beautyreviewsca
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