Skincare - Nivea Clear-Up Strips

Purifying clear-up strips enriched with fruit acids

Hi everybody!

Yep, I'm obsessed with skincare at this moment. I really want to work towards this perfect poreless skin, so I'm trying out tons of skincare to try and achieve better skin. Using new products, obviously means my skin is changing.

My dry skin, now has some more oily bits and some larger pores around my nose and forehead. With larger pores, come along the black heads.

I've seen tons of videos doing the black blackhead masks, even DIY ones with craft glue and charcoal powder. There's no way I'm putting glue on my sensitive skin, so I went on the hunt for blackhead masks in my local stores. At DI, I found these Nivea Clear-Up Strips, so I decided to try these out.

Facts

In a package, you get 4 big nose strips and 2 bags with 2 smaller patches, which you can use on your chin and/or forehead.

Retail Price at DI: (I will check when I pick them up next)

Retail Price at Kruidvat: €6,79

The strips are advised to use on normal skin, although they are not really harsch, you can get away with them on dry skin too. 

The strips are skin-friendly and dermatologically tested.

How do they work?

The strips are only activated when in contact with water, which will make them attach to all impurities that clog up the pores and they deep clean them.

I like to use water from a spray can (like the Evian one in the picture) because you can literally spray and immediately apply the strip. I've tried with a washing cloth before, but it was just not wet enough.

Do not put water over the strip at any point, because the glue doesn't work anymore after that. 

Make sure you let the strip dry down completely before slowly removing the strips for the edges towards the centre.
More detailed instructions can be found on the individual packages.

While wet, the strips are really flexible and movable, so you can make them fit around your nose really well. 

The formula has a delicious lemon smell, wish leaves your skin feeling fresh and clean.

I'm really a fan, because they do the job and they are not harsh or irritate the skin!

TTFN! Ta Ta for now!

MAC Cosmetics - Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour Simply Smoked

Matte reigns supreme

Hi everyone!

Back in January, MAC launched eight new Retro Matte Liquid Lip Colours to add to the existing 15 shades. With a combination of muted and deep tones and a liquid matte formula, MAC is really hitting the trend. 

A little round up before

Before diving in, I just wanted to give some thoughts I had after trying the shades from the first release. The formula was extremely dry, it left my lips feel like the desert. The darker shades applied really patchy and hard to build up, making it really hard to make them look nice on the lips . The applicator is really nice, it's not your classic foot applicator, it's a flat, teardrop shaped applicator, which is really easy to work with. My favorite shade was tailored to tease, which is a cool-toned, rather bright plum colour. 

If you want to read about the first release of the Retro Matte's, click on the picture below.

Why did you buy one again?

The reviews on the first release weren't that great, but everyone seemed to find their way to work with them. I will discuss mine further down.

I would've been surprised if MAC would release eight more shades, without doing something with the feedback of the make up lovers, so I decided to get one more of the new release. 

Simply smoked

I am a big fan of the matte lipstick in the shade Stone, so I decided to get a similar shade in the Retro Matte range. Judging from the tube, I picked out Simply Smoked. 

Simply Smoked is described is a neutral taupe color. And I must say I totally love it! I'm not sure if MAC has changed up the formula, or if the formula works really well with this pigment, but this shade is amazing! It really makes me want to try more shades again.

Here you see Stone and Simply Smoked swatched next to each other. As you can see, Stone has a slightly more red tone, while Simply Smoked has more grey tones in it.

How I make them work

First method: conditioner

- Make sure your lips are exfoliated, you can use premade scrubs (like Lush) or make it yourself with olive oil and sugar (which I do)

- Take care of your lips, use lip balm or lip conditioner regularly. I always do my lipstick last when I do my make up, so I have lip conditioner on the whole time while doing the rest of my make up. My favorite balm/conditioner is the MAC Lip Conditioner

- You can go in with an extra primer, but sometimes I feel like this makes your lips a bit too slippery, so be sure to wipe off any excess product before applying any lipstick

- Make sure your lips are dry

- Apply your lipstick evenly and work with it while still matte

Second method: gloss it up

Do you love the shade of your lipstick, but hate it being so dry on your lips? There's a simple hack!

I use the slightest bit of MAC clear Lip Glass Lip Gloss over the top, which will make the lipstick less dry and a little more glossy.

Facts

Retail price: €24,50

I hope you enjoyed this little update and review!

TTFN! Ta Ta For Now!

xo

Gaëtane

Make Up - Kat von D Beauty

Once you go Kat, you never go back!

Hi Mad Family! 

I've been trying out a totally new brand of make up recently, at least it's new to me, and I'd love to talk to you about it! So if you want to read about Kat von D Beauty products, just scroll down!

Why Kat von D Beauty?

I've been a fan of Kat von D ever since the first seasons of Miami Ink. Her portrait tattoos are to die for! She's such an idol to me, because she doesn't take shit from anyone, she knows what she wants, basically everything I'd want to be! Back in 2008 (if I recall correctly), it was first announced that KvD and Sephora would collaborate to design a line of lipsticks. Quickly KvD Beauty grew to a full range of make up with foundation, powders, eyeshadows, lipsticks, just everything you need. There was only one downside: it was so hard to get my hands on from here in Belgium. I'm not a person that shops for make up online, because I'm always scared that the images online will not be try to reality, also foundation is really hard to match online. So I was really happened when it was announced KvD Beauty was coming to Debenhams in the UK (which is still not close, but we do you to London twice a year)! And also recently they announced the launch in Sephora France, so I can't wait to pick up more stuff!

How I choose what to get

Because I had been researching and waiting to get the make up for so long, I really went into Debenhams on Oxford Street with a mission: I wanted a Full Face of Kat Von D Beauty Make Up. For people not familiar with this term, it basically means that you can do your full make up, using only make up from one brand.

The products & first impressions

Face

KvD Lock It Foundation in the shade Light 47 Neutral. It is a 24hr wear, full coverage, transfer-resistant foundation with a matte finish. The shade range is really big, with 33 colors available, it's really easy to find the perfect shade for your skin. For a full coverage foundation, the texture isn't really thick (not like the Urban Decay All Nighter Foundation at least). The finish is indeed really matte and even a bit powdery. I wouldn't say that it is transfer-proof, because on my nose for example, it easily rubs off. Anyway, it gives you a really flawless look, even if you have dry skin. The actual tube is a bit chunky, but I like the way it's working. When you push foundation out, the bottom actually moves up, so you don't waste any product in the tube. 

KvD Lock It Concealer Crème in the shade L7 Warm. I got this shade because it's two shades (approximately) lighter than the foundation. This concealer is available in 21 shades, one of which is basically white, which is lovely! It says to be super-creamy, blendable full coverage with 24hr wear, which is all true! I love the concealer. Only think I'd have to say about it, is to work quickly with it, because it sets rather quickly. So I recommend to work it in quickly or use a damp brush while working with it. I like this a lot, because it doesn't go into my fine lines, which the Nars Concealer does.

KvD Lock It Translucent Setting Powder. This is really THE discovery of this haul for me. I've informed multiple times at MAC to get their loose setting powder, but every time I walk out with something different. So I was convinced to pick it up and I've never realized how much one needs a loose powder in his life. It has a light shimmer in it and makes your skin even more lovely matte, without the cake. You get a big tub of 19grams of powder, which is really good value.

KvD Shade 'n Light Face Contour Palette. Without a doubt the most hyped face product by Kat von D Beauty and which a reason, because it's amazing! It has 6 contour/non-shimmer highlight shades, divided in light/medium/dark. The palette has a large mirror in it and the powder are highly pigmented, so a little goes a long way. My favorite combination is the light contour shade called Sombre, with the highlight shade from the medium area, called Lyric. This palette recently was released with refillable pans. I am not familiar with any other contour palettes, but I feel like this palette works for everyone!

Eyes

KvD Shade 'n Light Eyeshadow Quad in Plum. This was a bit of an impulse buy if I'm honest, I had the Metal/Matte palette on my list, but this wasn't yet available at Debenhams. So I remembered a video by Helen Anderson and she had the Plum Quad which looked beautiful on her, so I decided to pick up that one. It goes really well with my green eyes. The colors are very pigmented again, so you only need a little for a full look. On the back, it actually says base, define, contour and highlight, which makes it really easy to use, but of course you're free to use the colors however you want. Another hit, although four colors is a bit limited to create an eyelook with for me personally.

KvD Tattoo Liner in Trooper. I never want anything else! I had never used this type of felt-tip pen to apply eyeliner, you don't need a hand as steady as a liquid eyeliner, but you can create more movement than with gel eyeliner. The tip consists of individual hairs if I can say that, with makes the tip ultra-fine and moveable. The liner itself is extremely black and matte and lovely to use. I really want to try some more dramatic eyeliner option with it.

And last but not least, I picked up three of the KvD Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks. These are available in 30 shades. They are long-lasting and highly pigmented. Only remark I have to make that they are rather drying for your lips, but so are most matte (liquid) lipsticks. They do are long lasting and really easy to apply. I picked up the shades Witches (pitch black), Ayesha (midtone purple) and Exorcism (deep red).

It's also nice to note that all these products are 100% cruelty-free and vegan!

When buying 50 pound worth of products, you got a free tote bag

Full Face of KvD Beauty tutorial

On the Wishlist

- Metal/Matte Eyeshadow Palette

- Alchemist Palette

- Pastel Goth Eyeshadow Palette

- Brushes

- Priming mist

- Lock-It Color Correcting Eyeshadow Primer

I hope you enjoyed this little review. Let me know if you are planning on picking up some KvD products or if you have already tried them, which ones are your favorites?

TTFN! Ta Ta For Now!

xo

Gaëtane

Skincare Review - Lancôme - Energie de Vie

Made of unstoppable energy

Hi Mad Family!

Good skincare, that's what everyone is looking for right? Good skincare is relative, because a product can work for one person, but do nothing for another and vice versa. Good skincare doesn't have to be expensive, you just have to find something that works for your skin! For me, the journey was at least to say: rocky! My skin is a weirdo, it likes every product for a little while and then it starts reacting badly: pimples, spots, decoloration, the full package. But after trying multiple brands of multiple price ranges, I'm happy to say that I have found a products range that works for my dry, sensitive skin.

Inspired by the power of nature, discover Energie de Vie at Lancôme.

A skincare collection that combines 3 exceptional plant life-forces; leaving your skin brimming with vital energy every day. As if bathed in morning dew, skin regains its natural quality;

a refined texture, healthy glow and renewed bounce.

Stimulate your skin and your senses for visible results with Energie de Vie

The Collection

The Collection consists of three products: a pearly lotion, a liquid moisturiser and a sleeping mask. I've tried two, namely the Liquid Moisturizer and the Sleeping Mask. The products were recommended to me by Nicole, the owner of my local beauty store. 

Energie de Vie Liquid Moisturiser

The smoothing & glow boosting liquid care is enriched with Goji Berry and Lemon Balm Oil. It is the perfect all-in-one liquid care for your skin. It really helps revitalize your skin if it feels dull, tired or dry (or all for those). The product smells really fresh, even minty sometimes. I like to use 3 to 4 pumps on my face and rub it gently. Even though the texture is oily, it doesn't leave your skin greasy or overly shiny. You end up with a healthy glow and skin that radiates from health! I also use it under my make up and it really helps set your make up into place and not break the foundation on top down.

This product really helped getting my skin more healthy. Because of the plumping ingredients, I always end up with a natural healthy glow. I even use it underneath my make up. Under my eyes I was struggling with really rough patches, which was gently fixed by this product. Your skin looks radiant all day, but it doesn't make your skin overly shiny or sticky... Perfect!

The moisturiser retails at £28 (30ml) or £42 (50ml) (official website) - €31,9 (30ml) or €48,5 (50ml) at Ici Paris XL Belgium
This product is also on the Glamour Beauty Power List

Energie de Vie Sleeping Face Mask
The overnight recovery sleeping mask is enriched with the same smoothing and hydrating ingredients as the moisturiser. This mask has a more gel-like texture, which makes it really light on your skin but rich in hydration at the same time. You can use this mask in two ways:
1/ put a thin layer all over your face and leave it set for the whole night for a daily hydration boost
2/ put a generous layer and leave it on for 10 minutes and remove the left over product with a tissue

Personally, I like to use a small amount every day, because I already had dry skin and now with the cold it dries out my skin even more. Maybe in summer I'd use it 2 to 3 times a week (as the website recommend), but now in winter I like my skin to be well hydrated. Also because in winter I like to use full coverage foundation, which tend to cling to dry patches more than medium or light coverage foundations.

The face mask retails at £42 (official website) - €55,5 at Ici Paris XL Belgium

I definitely recommend using the combination of the two products, because they work complementary day and night. If you don't have extremely dry skin, the moisturizer only would go a long way in my opinion. I wouldn't recommend this product for people with oily skin, because the product is so intensely hydrating, but please to ask for advice when in the store.

What is your favorite skincare? Any recommandations for products I should try? Let me know!

xo
Gaëtane

Skincare Review - L'oréal Paris - Pure Clay Face Masks

Pure Clay Your Way

Hi Mad Family!

Today I'm back with a new Beauty post! About a month ago, I discover these new face masks from L'oréal Paris tried them out for a bit, so now I can give you my honest opinion about it along with the official info provided by L'oréal!

The Collection

This new release consists of three brand new Clay Face masks. Each kind is a blend of three pure clays along with a unique natural ingredient with a specific target to help your skin.

The Masks

The masks retail at less than 10 euros per pot, each pot can be used up to 10 times.

Pure Clay Purity Mask

This is the light green mask. It has eucalyptus which works deep into the pores of your skin. L'oréal says it mattifies oily, skiny skin. 

Efficiency: purifying and mattifying

My opinion: This one is my favorite if you want to clean your skin, but not in a very intense way. This one is the most gently one out. I have dry skin and it gives just the right amount of intensity in purifying, without leaving my skin extra dry. It leaves my skin feeling soft and still nourished even tho it's a 'clearing' mask. I like to use this mask all over the face when I want to gently clean out my skin, or just on the cheeks when I combine with the others, when I feel like my skin needs a more thorough clean.

Pure Clay Detox Mask

This is the dark grey mask. It has Charcoal as the working ingredient to draw out impurities out of the skin and clarify normal, congested skin.

Efficiency: detoxifying and clarifying

My opinion: This one is definitely more intense for the skin, but this is my favorite out of all three. After it dries down, you can clearly see where the mask pull out impurities out of your skin. I like to use this in areas where I have black heads.

Pure Clay Glow Mask

This is the red mask. It has Red Algae as the working ingredient to exfoliate your skin, to illuminate dull, uneven skin tone.

Efficiency: exfoliating and smoothing

My opinion: This is my least favorite of all, even though this is a gentle exfoliating mask compared to other scrubs and stuff. I like to use it in areas where I have active breakouts, for me that's my mouth area where I tend to have breakouts most frequently. If you have very oily skin, this might turn out your favorite!

How to use / How I use them

Make sure you start with clean skin.

Take some of the product out of the pot, preferably with a scooper and not with your fingers (but I'm guilty to using my fingers too) and apply evenly to the skin. You can use one kind of mask all over your face or combine them the way you want/need for your skin. Leave the mask on for 5 to 10 minutes and they tend to dry down completely (the red one dries less in my opinion) in that time. Take a warm washing cloth and remove the mask with circular motions. Make sure to rinse the cloth regularly while taking the mask off. L'oréal states you can use these masks up to 3 times a week, but with my sensitive skin one time is more than enough, because they are quite intense after all

My favorite way to use them

- Detox Mask (grey): on the T-zone, down and around the nose

- Purity Mask (green): on the cheeks

- Glow Mask (red): around my mouth

*this is just the way I like to use them, you can mix and match how you want*

Are you planning on picking one of these masks up? Leave a comment down below!

TTFN! Ta Ta For Now!

xo

Gaëtane

Make Up - Urban Decay - Lipstick is my Vice

Too much vice is never enough

Hi Mad Family!

I still remember the press release by Urban Decay coming out: they were going to relaunch their existing lipstick range and were going to be added shades to reach a huge launch of 100 lipstick shades! Yes 100 shades! Which girl wouldn't swoon away by the thought of that?

Urban Decay only became available in Belgium in April 2015 at Ici Paris XL, but only in certain bigger stores. My fellow make up addicted friends had told me 5 million times before: you have to try Urban Decay it's great! But for some reason and also because it was hard to get, I never really bothered. I always kept track off their releases and at the end of last year, when they released the Gwen Stefani collab, I picked up the products from that range and fell in love with the brand (which is hard to admit as a former hard core MAC junkie). It was hard not to pick up any of the lipsticks then, because the word for the relaunch was already out. So I saved up a fair bit of money to have a big haul when the new lipsticks launched.

Information

The relaunch consisted of 100 shades (some of them already existing, most of them new ones) in 6 different finishes: mega matte, comfort matte, cream, metallized, sheer and sheer shimmer. Alongside, they launched 52 24/7 glide on lip pencils matching the shades. Are you impressed yet? Well, it gets better! They also launched an app for smartphones where you can take a selfie without any lipstick on and try on all shades, swiping left/right for like/dislike. It's basically Tinder for lipstick. 

The Official Urban Decay website: Lipstick is my vice!

In Belgium available at Ici Paris XL: Vice in Belgium

Get the app: search for Vice Lipstick in Google Play or App Store

A little review
The budget I pulled out for this haul, allowed me a fair amount. So in advance, I made a list of the shades I really wanted to pick up. In the end I also picked up the Ultimate Ozone Primer, which is really a must have primer in my opinion! It is amazing and helps your lipstick last a long time, even when eating or drinking.

I picked up 19 shades in total, with at least one of each finish. Going from nudes over purples, to the really out there blue and black.

I took picture of every shade individually, but posting all those pictures would make this post extremely long. So I have selected some group ones. The packaging is really beautiful black with a sliced up lipstick on the front and says VICE in golden lettering. There's a sticker with the name of the shade and a representative of the color inside on the side. I do feel that the actual color in the bullet is slightly different, but at least you can see what shade is inside without having to open the whole thing. The bullets themselves are very sleek and are silver with a golden bottom. When I first opened a packaging, I did struggle a bit to open them, as the base is really small to grab on, but when you get used to that, that's totally no problem. One slight issue I've had a few times carrying these in my handbag and having to go through an X-Ray, I get stopped and asked to take them out and show them to security, probably because they are so metallic and hard to distinguish in an X-Ray.

I had watched a ton of YouTube videos with swatches before deciding which shades to get. The main thing for me to make a decision was that the colors had to be different from the MAC lipsticks I already had. Knowing me, I did end up with some purples similar to ones I already had, but you can't have enough purple lipsticks!

Top row: Backtalk (Comfort Matte) - Violate (cream) - Peyote (Metallized)
Second row: Frenemy (cream) - Amulet (Metallized) - Perversion (Comfort Matte) - Heroine (Comfort Matte)
Third row: Rapture (cream) - Conspiracy (Metallized) - Blackmail (Comfort Matte) - Liquid (Sheer)
Fourth row: Pandemonium (Mega Matte) - Afterdark (Comfort Matte) - Venom (cream) - Bad Blood (Comfort Matte)
Fifth row: Jawbreaker (Mega Matte) - Twitch (cream) - Bittersweet (Comfort Matte) - Seismic (sheer shimmer) - 

Generally, I can say I am really happy with this haul! The shades I picked up are amazing! They are so pigmented, are long lasting and are very hydrating for the lips (even the matte ones)! I have used every single one of them multiple times already. The only two finishes that I'm not a fan of, which is totally personal, are the sheer and sheer shimmer. I had picked up Seismic (Sheer Shimmer) & Liquid (Sheer) and they are just not my cup of tea. I like the out there very outstanding colors, so when I have lipstick on, I want them pigmented. These two are just a bit to transparant on their own, but I do like them as a glossy layer over one of the matte purples. I am definitely planning on picking up some more shades!

The Nudes: Peyote (Metallized) - Violate (cream) - Backtalk (Comfort Matte) - Rapture (cream)

Have you already splurged on some of these lipsticks? Or did you get tempted reading this post? Which one is your favorite? Feel free to leave a comment!

TTFN! Ta Ta For Now!

xo

Gaëtane

Lush Cosmetics | I'm out of Lush! | A realistic review

The discovery
I discovered Lush Cosmetics last year (2015) around March by accident. I was walking through Ghent when a nice smell attracted my attention. I went in the shop in the Langemunt in Ghent, not really knowing what I was going for. When I saw the large range of bath bombs, I didn't know where to start. So I only took one home, the Sex bomb. Good way to start right? I was drawn to the colourful shop and the lovely product descriptions on the package. Talking to the nice girls in the shop, I also took a small Buffy body scrub bar. Let's try this stuff out!

Sex Bomb Bath Bomb - €4,95 / £3,5
Jasmine, Ylang Ylang and clary sage

First haul

Before I knew it, I was one of them... A dedicated Lushie! I roamed YouTube, Instagram and the blogging community for videos, reviews, recommandations... Only a week later, I did my first haul. I picked up another small Buffy, because I had no experience 'taking care' of a Lush product, on which I will get back to later in this post. So my first Buffy died a slow, painful dead in the shower, melting all over. Next up were three bath bombs a Dragon's Egg, Fluffy Egg (seasonal Easter) and Immaculate Eggception (seasonal Easter) Bath Bomb, a Honey I washed my hair solid shampoo bar and a piece of the Bohemain soap. A first try-out of these led to a second minus: the Eggception Bath Bomb left a HUGE bright yellow line all over our bath tub! All the color seemed to be sunken into the walls of the bath where the water ended, so off cleaning the bath I went (that's not what you want after a nice relaxing bath).

Up: Dragon's Egg Bath Bomb - €4,95 / £3,5
Lemon sherbet & a hint of Jasmine
Down: Honey I washed my hair shampoo bar €8,95 / £5,95
Toffee-scented, wild orange and bergamot oils for sofn

Buffy Body Butter €10,95 / £11,95

Bohemian Soap - €5,35 / £3,25 / 100g
Light citrus

Immaculate Eggception (yellow) & Fluffy Egg - Seasonal

Second haul

In May, I went back into Lush Ghent. I just had the urge to try more stuff + I needed a small gift for my parents. The bath bombs I picked up were: Tisty Tosty and another Dragon's Egg. The dragon's egg has been my favorite ever since, but the Tisty Tosty? Not so much. The smell was okay, but the dried flower pressed in it, became such disgusting balls of dewyness.

Tisty Tosty Bath Bomb - €4,95 / £3,5
Floral orris root rower, rose and lemon

Tisty Tosty & Dragon's Egg

I picked up two bath melts, You've got mangoed and Melted Marshmallow, which I both loved! You've got mangoed really smelled like a tropicana fruit juice, but if you have a large bath, you definitely need more than one in the bath. 

You've been Mangoed Bath Melt - €3,45 / £2
Butter of mango and avocado, oils of lemon, lemongrass & lime

The Melted Marshmallow had a sweet scent, but not like the comforter, it's more subtile, that's why I prefer it over the Comforter in the end. 

This product is replaced by the MMMelting Marshmallow Moment Bath Oil

For the hair part, I picked up I love juicy, a fluid shampoo for greasy hair and it smells like you're rubbing a banana smoothie in your hair. If it gets older, it does start to smell like overdue fruit, so better use this up quickly. 

I love Juicy Shampoo
Juiced pineapples, kiwi, mango & papaya for deeply cleasing and clarifying your hair

For the solid shampoo bars I got Jason and the Argan Oil and Brazilliant, which I both love! Jason does smell a bit like beer when you first smell in under water, but the smell gets better once you get used to it! The most important thing is that they are effective!

Jason and the Argan Oil Shampoo Bar - €8,95 / £5,95
Rose jam scented with argan oil for stronger, shinier and softer hair

Braziliant Shampoo Bar - €8,95 / £5,95
Andiroba oil and organes for shine and moisturing

Final to this haul was the Lush Spa gift set. The retro packaging immediately spoke to me and as we have some kind of small welness centre going on in our bathroom, I decided to get this for my parents. It contained some nice postcards, and five products. The products inside have changed in the meantime, but when I got it it had the Dreamtime Temple Balm, Golden Slumbers Bath Bomb, Stepping Stone Foot Scrub, Therapy Massage Bar and a solid Chocolate Scrub (I can't seem to remember the name). This box is really a hit and miss and maybe it's a good thing they changed the products inside. The box had my favorite product ever inside, the Temple Balm for ultimate snorry nights. I wish this was easier to get your hands on individually, because it's only available in the stores where they have a spa (aka nowhere in Belgium). The rest of the products inside was 'okay', not bad but not the most amazing ones either. The face mask I never even bothered to use it. Why? You have to take a pan, melt down the bar, let it cool and then put in on your face/body. Even for a hasslelover like me, this is too much.

Third haul

Yes peeps, more is to come! We're building up to an ultimate haul here! This haul was just a mix of everything I saw on the internet and that I really was drawn to to try. More Dragon's Eggs of course, because they're just my favorite ever! On the bath side of thing, I got the Comforter Bubble Bar for the first time! At this time I just got addicted, but things can turn can they? 

Bijschrift toevoegen

The Comforter Bubble Bar - €6,95 / £4,95
Cassis, blackcurrant & bergamot for an uplifting note

I got three more bubble bars the melting marshmallow (again!), the creamy candy Bubble Bar (no picture) and the Dorothy. Not really my favs, let's say I ain't missing them now they're discontinued. They really didn't make that many bubble, unlike the Comforter that takes you to foam heaven! 

Dorothy Bubble Bar has been discontinued

Two new Bath Bomns to try out: Sakura and Fizz Banger! And I love love love the Fizz Banger! The smell is so refreshing and it goes out with a BANG! 

Fizz Banger Bath Bomb - €4,95 / £3,50
Citrussy apple, cinnamon and ylang ylang for relaxation

Sakura? Not so much, just not fan of the smell I guess.

Sakura Bath Bomb - €4,95 / £3,50
Calming mimosa, jasmine oils, orange flower and lemon oil

Another one of my favourite products was the Marilyn hair mask. Yes, WAS because it's also discontinued by now. If you were living the blonde life or platinum or grey, they was the ultimate hair mask! It made your hair so nourished and the color really vibrant! But anyway, not anymore because it's gone in the puddle of discontinued lovely products. 

Also hairwise I got the Sea Spray for texturizing and volume. I love this product, but for my hairtype, it's a bit too strong. My dad on the other hand, he loves to use it as like a spraytype gel to style his hair.

The Dream Cream entered my life and I honestly do love it, but (hellow contradiction) I gave it away to a friend. The tub is just so big and I only use it when I have like redness or eczema, but my friend really loved it a an everyday whole body moisturizer, so I gave it to him. I was so much a fan of smelling like a Lavender plant all day.

Dream Cream Hand- & Body Lotion - €19,95 / £12,50
Oat milk, rose water, chamomile blue oil and lavender for calming down irritated skin

This trip I was surprised with a little gift. I was talking and discussing with the girls at Lush and in the end they gave me a large bottle It's Raining Men shower gel for free! It was such a sweet thing to do!

It's raining men - Price depending on size of the bottle
Honey, bergamot and wild orange oils

Fourth haul

This smallish haul was the last haul I did in Belgium (hint hint!). The result of another urge to try more new stuff. The Happy Hippy Shower Gel must be my favorite shower gel of the bunch! It's just so fresh and does what it says: wakes you up in the morning! I especially love it in the summer when it's hot outside, the freshness of the grapefruit inside helps cool down your body.

Happy Hippy - Price depending on bottle size
Pink grapefruit and frankincenze oil

My first two skincare items I intentionally picked up: the Vanishing Cream and the Tea Tree Water. Both of the products I loved when I just got them, but unfortunately, I got allergic to the Vanishing Cream. Also I most say that for me personally it's very hard to wear a face moisturiser that smells so strong. I'm really sensitive to smell and easily get headache when I smell something too strong or too long, so not the best choice for me. If you have dry skin, I wouldn't advice getting the Tea Tree Water either. I love the freshness of it in summer, but it really dried my skin out, which is not the best thing in autumn/winter. It really really supposed to be a toner, so I can't really pull it of just spraying it as a 'refresher'.

I picked up another solid shampoo bar, the Jumpy Juniper. And I also love it, I finished it in one go, but due to my change in hair color, I didn't pick it up again.

Last but not least, I picked up the Gay is OK amour soap. I love the smell and I loved the fact that the money went to charity, but due to glitter overload, it's still lying around untouched in the bathroom

The Ultimate Haul

Here it is the ultimate end to this list of hauls. In August, I went to London with my dad. And having turned into a major Lushie and following the grand opening of the big Oxford Street store and their exclusive products online, a visit was due. OMG, this shop is heaven, but OMG auwtsch my bank account. I spend so much money in there and I just finished the stuff now (4 months later). I tried to stick to just the exclusive products in this haul sooooooo... Let's jump in!

Bath Bombs & Bubble Bars
This is the main part of this haul! Stepping into Lush Oxford Street was bathing heaven! First I picked up the Frozen Bath Bomb, because I mean, IT'S FROZEN! I loved the smell of this one as a twinny to the Happy Hippy Shower Gel, but the bath after is a huge mess! There's a much glitter in this bath bomb the whole bath is covered in icey white powdered glitter.

The Ickle Baby Bot is actually a Bath Ballistic and is a little sleepinduced baby robot.. This is definitely one of the thing that if you have a big bath, you might better pop in two at the same time.

The Butter Ball. I love love love this little nourisishing ball of loveliness. Same goes as the ickle bot, big bath = use more than one 

The Milky Bath Bubble Bar smelled like orange oil and was very nourishing on the skin, but unfortunately not my fav. It did not create any bubbles, but it did turn the water silky and it really made you feel like you were bathing in milk.

Skydancer Bath Bomb, I mean fav fav fav! I wish we had this here in Belgium because I love love love it!

The Experimenter. Sigh. I mean, I'm not a negativity spreader, but this was the worst bath bomb ever! I do not get at all why this is so hyped on the internet. It turns your water a disgusting kind of grey and it does smell like cigarette ashes. This was really a no go for me! I would've rather emptied my bath again and get fresh water than stepping in this. NO NO NO!

Avobath Bath Ballistic. I kept this one till one of last ones, because I was not sure if I'd like it. Procrastination goals! In the end, I loved it, but do not use this one in an evening, because it really wakes you up and gives you loads of energy

Intergalactic Bath Bomb! Win! I loved this bath bomb! I felt like stepping into a galactic galaxy with the right amount of sparkles and deep blue/purple color.

Karma Bubble Bar. Yet again, not a favorite of mine. It seems that I do not like anything to do with patchoulli. The consistency is very soft too, so you can barely hold it, so you have to place it somewhere and never pick it up again before you use it. I did like the colors it made my bath.

Sacred Lotus Bath Bomb, Oops. Did really did not do anything! It was also already broken before I got home with it, so just NO

The next three reusable Bubble Bars are the bomb! All of these are amazing! You can put them in your bath in one go or as the name says reuse them, but the shape and smell doesn't stay the same in my opinion. So I'd say, be crazy and pop the whole thing in! Live a little!

Others
I picked up another two Massage Bars and I literally don't know why. The ones I already had I never used, because they are such a mess to use. They melt at body temperature, so they get all over your hands and places where you don't want them to go. I know, body lotion also gets on your hands, but it's not handy because you're still holding a solid thing in your hands while moisturising. Honestly, these are also still lying around untouched in the bathroom

The last four products were kinda skin care. One is my absolute fav, the other three not so much. Let's get the least favorites over with to stay positive. First the Cup O'Coffee Exfoliating Face Mask, which I loved at first. But after a few uses, it did not do it for me. It left my skin irritated and drier than ever before, also the chunks of coffee beans are just to big and very harsh on the skin. 

Second, the Comforter Shower Gel. No! The smell is sickly sweet and it's just too much. It's actually made me turn away from the smell complete and de-fanned me from the Bubble Bar unfortunately.

Third not so loved product, is the Life's a Beach body scrub. I got it in the retro cardboard (!) packaging. I do love the vanilla smell, which is amazing, but so many but's made it a no-go for me. The cardboard packaging is so hard to work with. You obviously cannot leave it in the shower because the water really sinks into it and turn the packaging just gross, same goes if you are in the bath, you can barely touch it with wet hands. Also packaging wise, the hole where the product comes out is very badly placed and the product spill everywhere. Talking about spilling everywhere, this is my last issue with this product. When trying to put it on your body, the sandy texture makes the product fall out everywhere! I feel you waste a lot of product by fall out and if you use it in the bath, it very uncomfortable as the sand stay on the bottom and scratches everywhere.

The product that I do fangirl all over is the D'Fluff Shaving Foam. The texture is amazing, the smell is great and it's very effective. Most shaving foams turn my skin red after a few days, but this is very gently on the skin!

The End
So finishing of most of these products, it made me decide to take a little break from Lush. I used so many products and tried so many that I have enough for now. I had so much stuff lying around that I almost felt forced to use them up, which was all my own fault for buying so much at once. So if I now want to treat myself, I will go and grab one or two and really enjoy using them!


Conclusions
Generally, I must say that the bath bomb are the best products from Lush (in my opinion). Second up are the shampoos and shampoo bars.

But the products also have a few downsides, which are bases on my own preferences

• The Shower Gels and Shampoos in bottles start to look a bit disgusting after a while. I feel like the components start seperating after a while and this made me not want to put this on my hair or body
• The Clean Up after using. I mean who wants to start cleaning the bath after you're all relaxed from having a bath? This goes along with the third point here: WHY SO MUCH GLITTER?! You can obviously not leave this lying in your bath, so you have to clean this up before it dries out, because once dry it's even harder to remove
• WHY SO MUCH GLITTER. Lately, I feel like Lush puts so much glitter in all bath bombs. It's cool and stuff, but sometimes it's just too much and make you want to take a shower to rince it all off. And all gets lets behind on the bottom on your bath.
• I like to keep my stuff where I can see it, so I keep my Lush stuff all spread out in our bathroom. And maybe it's my own fault again, but I feel like the smell fades and if you leave different things together, they start to smell the same.
• Hard the use consistencies. Especially the massage bars, because they melt at body temperature, they slide all around in your hand while moisturizing and fall out of your hand etc,
• Difficult packaging. Life's a beach Scrub, not doing the rant all over :D
• You cannot just keep the products where you need them, like the shower, because they need some kind of maintainance. For example the scrub and shampoo bars, you have to take them out of the shower (wet environment) everything you use them and let them dry EVERY TIME or they just melt.

Ultimate tip for bubble bars!
At first using bubble bars, I was complaining about not getting enough bubbles to my expectation. At Lush they usually say crumble it under a running tap, but this really didn't do it for me. So my favorite thing to do is to put the bubble bar or part of it in a strainer and keep it under the tap like that. I feel like the water gets into the product more that way and creates more bubbles.

Favourites (likey to go and pick up now!)
- Dragon's Egg Bath Bomb
- You've been mangoed Bath Melt
- Fizzbanger Bath Bomb
- Frozen Bath Bomb
- Butterball Bath Ballistic
- Intergalactic Bath Bomb
- Pink Flamingo - Little Dragon and Cherry Blossom reusable Bubble Bar
- D'Fluff
- Marilyn Hair Mask: bring it back please

Regrets / not buying again
- the Experimenter Bath Bomb
- Life's a Beach scrub
- Massage Bars
- Karma Bubble Bar

Click on the flamingo for more product photos
 

I hope you enjoyed this long review and please let me know in the comments which products are your most and least favorites!

Xx
Gaëtane

All opinions in this review are my own. Prices mentioned may have changed in the meantime or products might be discontinued.