Lush Ultra Bland Cleanser Review

I can't say I had a real fondness for Lush,  in fact, I have only ever been in the store once before and that experience only lasted about ten seconds. It was the smell, it just invades your senses (as well as the horde of customers); but when one of my favourite skincare gurus raved about this on one of her YouTube videos I decided I would give this one a go.

 

The texture of this cleanser is incredibly thick, and feels like your lathering oil onto your face, but as the Lush lady demonstrated in store with a swatch of lipstick (at least I think that's what it was) is that oil digs deep into the pores, and the right oils lift dirt and cleanse without clogging them. While she was explaining this to me I checked the ingredients on the back: Almond oil, beeswax, honey, olive oil… and I just remember thinking how in the world this was going to fair on my oily, acne prone skin. So yeah, I did freak out a little, but my skin had been looking quite grotty and dull recently and I was desperate to find something a little more solid that wouldn't strip my skin. 

I was pleasantly surprised by how much this cleanser improved my skin overnight. The next morning it looked brighter, cleaner, and felt incredibly soft and moisturised. On top of that, existing acne was greatly reduced.  So I will admit, I have a new found respect for Lush and cannot wait to get back in there and buy up some of their toners and moisturisers. 

I'm going to be so broke this Christmas.

BellaBox November '12

The November '12 Bella Box arrived on my doorstep this morning and I thought I would share what I received in my batch for you guys:

Bioderma Sebium H20 Cleansing Water sample

I'm a big fan of bioderma and have been recently trying out the Sebium foaming cleanser so it will be interesting to see how this one compares.

4ME Nail polishing remover pads

I'm really lazy when it comes to my nails so this is a heaven sent.

Swisse Hand Cream with Vitamin D and Pomegranate

It's hand cream, what else is there to say?

Palmolive Luscious Mango Body Butter Wash sample

Unfortunately I don't really care much for body washes, they never smell as nice on the skin as they do inside a bottle.

Bloom Glitter Liquid Eyeliner

Cool! I don't actually own anything like this, but I think it will come in handy once the 21st birthday parties start rolling in.

Ocean Essence Nourishing Cherry Face Mask

I've never heard of this brand before, but I love face masks and don't have many that moisturise and brighten so  I'll definitely be trying this out.

Organicspa Face Exfoliant sample

Another organic product and brand I've never heard of. Sounds kind of cheap...organic-spa? Apparently the full sized products cost $32.95 so maybe not...never the less, I'll give it a go.

And apparently there was supposed to be a moustache necklace but I never received one of those :( oh well.

This is my third Bella box and I've been quite impressed with what they've sent me. This month would be one of the least exciting ones so far but in every box there is always an item or brand that I have wanted to try out.  I also love the fact that there is always at least one full sized product in the box every month, which is great because those products are usually worth more than the $15 monthly subscription alone.

I'm new on the beauty box band wagon and I am currently looking at other Aussie boxes to try out later, so if anyone has any recommendations let me know!

BRTC Jasmine Water BB Cream Review

I have been on the BB band wagon for quite a while now, and now that summer is on the horizon I've been testing and using them a lot more; but today I thought I would share with you one of my favourite BB creams: BRTC's Jasmine Water BB.

Like all BB creams on the market today, well, the Asian ones that is, after long term use it's guaranteed that you'll see an improvement in your skins overall texture and tone. The Jasmine Water offers improvement in the areas of whitening (or brightening) of the skin (arbutin), the healing of scars and blemishes (zinc oxide, green tea, almond oil and aloe vera), and also the improvement of existing wrinkles (whatever that means).

I will admit, I didn't really like this product the first time I tried it, mainly because of the scent, a hint of jasmine smooshed under a lot of chemicals pretty much sums it up. Also, all the other BB creams I had tried previously had lovely scents, Skin79, Missha, hell, even the freaking snail mucus ones smelt nicer. Thankfully, I've become more accustomed to the smell because honestly, this product is too good to dismiss on scent alone. Plus if your are in the market for a BB cream that offers you a flaw-free, ghostly complexion, then this is the one for you! But seriously, those of you with darker complexions may want to stay away from this one because the colour is quite light; light beige with pink undertones.

I have quite problematic skin and the Jasmine BB cream offers medium to high coverage that actually hides your blemishes and redness. It's also incredibly moisturising and lasts for around 6 to 8 hours before it needs a touch up. This is one of the few BB creams that I can actually wear just on its own. Unfortunately, you wouldn't want to put foundation over it anyway. The cream itself it quite thick and doesn't like to collaborate with anything other than skin. When I applied foundation on top  my skin looked congested and cakey. But this doesn't really bother me to be honest, the cream does a great job of hiding my blemishes and redness by itself (as you can see below).

Before // After

Overall, this is one of my favourite BB creams, mainly because the coverage is a life saver for me. It brightens my skin, reduces redness, hides my acne, and moisturises my skin, and on top of that, it has helped improve my skin in the long run, but give me ten years and I'll get back to you guys on the wrinkle front.