Is Lush's Sugar Scrub Really All That Sweet?

While I wouldn't say I am the biggest fan of Lush, it isn't often that I travel to the city without popping in to play around in the sensory wonderland. I have a few favourites from the brand, particularly the shower gels and jellies which always smell amazing and do a great job of cleansing, but trying the full range is something I am yet to accomplish.

Back when I was still subscribed to a host of beauty sample boxes, I received the hard Lush Sugar Scrub more than a few times, so I feel like I've given the product enough time to really impress me. Unfortunately for this scrub lover, this one sort of let me down.

The Lush Sugar Scrub has a lovely herbal lavender scent which I like, and is a pretty green shade. It is said to stimulate your skin and the fennel and ginger inside it supposed to tackle your cellulite (high five to that, Lush!) In the official description it asks you not to let the bar come under running water as it will disintegrate, and I found this to be true the very first time I used it. The next few times I made sure to keep the packed sugary substance away from the running water (bit of a mean feat in the shower...) but I still found that this broke down easily and I couldn't manage to get more than two uses from each lump. I agree that the scrub works well at leaving soft and smooth skin behind, but for $6.50 a pop (100g) this is just too pricy for me. If it came in a large tub and was scoopable perhaps I would get along better with this, but for now I say sayonara to this one.

What sort of body scrub floats your boat?
I think the Lush Rub Rub Rub shower scrub sounds like a better option, don't you?

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty

*Product came in a sample box, as stated above. Honesty, always.

Pushing into Purple

Do you have one of those colours that you just never reach for? I think green and blue are quite elusive eye shadow shades for most people I know, though personally I love a good navy for my smoky eye and am not afraid of a little pale blue on the eyes if it is anchored down with some eyeliner! 

 

The elusive shade for me? Purple! While I can definitely see the appeal and think that it is a pretty colour, I just find it needs more effort to look good on me than other colours. I have had some success with some lilac and violet shades though, as evidenced by the things I've rounded up to play with here.

 The Colour Theory palette in Verry Berry (not a fan of the name...) is really pretty and I'm totally loving that brand at the moment. A shadow duo I am yet to try is the Nars duo in Marie-Galante which I tend to just take out and stare at rather than actually use. I think Taylor Swift Wonderstruck rollerball fell into this image because I am interested in the new scent she has out, I think all of her fragrances are really lovely.

 

Purple lips totally remind me of Angela from One Skim Mocha Please who I just adore, and my brave lip choice is MAC Sheen Supreme in Asian Flower, which is ultra glossy and a beautiful lilac shade. For a deeper and more wearable purple lip I turn to the Covergirl Jumbo Gloss Balm in 260 Plum Twist*. 

 

I have a lot of fun playing with colours despite them sometimes being a bit daunting - that is what makeup is all about, right?

What colour do you find hard to wear?

 

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty 

Classique // a fragrance by Jean Paul Gaultier

Jean Paul Gaultier released his first fragrance in 1993, originally self titled but later renamed Classique.

Since I am far from a perfume expert, I headed online to to look up the notes for Classique. They include orange blossom (love!), rose (could detect that), musk (yep), mandarin, aniseed, ylang ylang, ginger, vanilla, wood, orchid, bergamot, iris and carnation.

I stumbled upon a great review of this fragrance on 'Now Smell This', and found this quote from Gaultier himself:

One part dusty loose powder, like my grandmother wore — I think it was old Coty; one part that smell you get when you are sitting in the front row of the theater — for me, I think of going to The Chatelet when I was 12, and the curtain goes up, and the hot lights are on the costumes, wigs and sets, and you breathe it all in. And, just to be modern, one part nail polish remover!

But listen, this is not a joke. I set out to create something you really want to wear. Smells are important because they remind you of certain people. If you smell this and you think of me, I want it to be good! And there are flowers, vanilla, a lot of things.” (via Women’s Wear Daily, 3/12/93)

On me, it smells powdery and sweet, with a floral edge that makes it wearable. My sister isn't a fan of 'nanna' fragrances like lavender, rose or anything powdery, but when she smelt it on me she really liked it. We both agreed that though it was definitely musky and powdery, there was something else that made it stand apart from a 'nanna' fragrance. I attribute that to the floral notes within the scent, and also to the inclusion of mandarin and vanilla within the concoction. Having said all of this, let it be known that I am partial to wearing 'nanna' fragrances, so it would be wise to sniff this and see how you feel about it on the skin as well.

I love the lace adorned frosted sample vial of this fragrance, and I love the quirky female torso design of the bottle that appeals to the classic and quirky sides of this fragrance.

 

Are you a fan of 'nanna' or powdery fragrances?

What notes are your favourites in perfumes?

*Pretty sure I obtained this in a beauty sample box. Honesty, always.