Lush-related post of extreme boringness to most people
I am now going to be incredibly tedious. Those of you who know me well may be aware that when I'm really ill, especially with ENT or chesty infections, I avoid getting wet as much as possible because it tends to worsen my symptoms. I definitely don't wash my hair. So if I'm ill for quite a while, this is not a good thing for my general pleasantness-to-be-around.
I'm still feeling quite rough today, but having not washed my hair in a week, I thought it was about time. Since I haven't done anything else of any interest this week, the obvious answer was for me to review my bathing activities, in which a grand total of 14 Lush products were used. Because baths are awesome, everyone loves Lush and I'm stuck at home with nothing else to do (except watch 'Being Human' and eat spicy veggie wraps).
The first thing I did when I felt well enough to get up today was to pamper A. by giving him head massages and face masks prior to his own ablutions. So he kindly repaid the favour by giving me a back mask with Mask of Magnaminty. I've used it on my face before when my skin was feeling very robust, and it's really lovely, refreshing, gives a very clean and zingy feel. I wouldn't use it when my face is feeling delicate, though. A. reports that my back now feels very soft. I have also experimented with using it as a BUM MASK (well, why not?) and, other than not being able to sit on things, results are good. It smells lovely too. The mask, I mean.
While covered in green minty stuff, I steamed my face over a bowl of boiling water + Vitamin C toner tab, the water from which I later used for face mask removal. While I really like the idea of the toner tablets, they always sit around in my bathroom for ages because they're such a faff, and they don't really mesh with my normal routine, which involves doing everything while in the bath. The strawberry flour does make this one smell amazing though, and I do think it's my favourite of the tabs; I just think they're more of an occasional thing and not really useful for regular activities. Since Lush have finally, FINALLY got a liquid cleanser in the form of 9-5, I used that after the steaming for a very gentle, light cleanse without scrubbing. I can't vouch for its make-up-removing qualities as I didn't test them, but it's pleasingly gentle and has a soft, floral smell. My hot pink skin was soon calmed, so it was time for the Catastrophe Cosmetic face mask. This is one of my old, old favourites, and I always come back to it. I've tried other face masks, and there are good ones, but for some reason this seems to work best for me, even though I don't really have the problem skin it's designed to tackle.
After this, is was time to soak! Nice hot bath was the perfect receptacle for the new Dragon's Egg bath ballistic, as also recommended by hazyjayne. Now, this smells absolutely wonderful, sweet and fruity, and its layers of different coloured froths are beautiful, with the core being a swirl of glittering gold. However, I'm not a big fan of glitter so, although it doesn't spread as much around as many of the ballistics, I'm still not keen on that aspect. Also, it produces more froth than many other ballistics; this is fine in its own way, and it does dissipate (it's not actually a lather), but it's a big product and may be too much if you only want a lightly augmented bath. It could be a bit overpowering! Still, cute as hell.
Very very recently, I let my arm be twisted into doing something I'd never done before, and I placed an online Lush order so I could get hold of a few Retro items. Now, I usually prefer to buy items in store, and I find Retro overpriced market-grabbing; however, the hair recommendations were absolutely spot-on. I've falled head-over-heels for Gentle Lentil solid shampoo & Okra conditioner. Not only to both smell wonderful (and hard to describe), but they're quite fantastic on my hair. Usually, when my hair's as filthy as it was, my regular Trichomania doesn't quite do the trick, and I switch to the excellent but expensive Big; however, Gentle Lentil is amazingly cleansing, and I think Okra is now more effective than American Cream, since I have to use less of it to get my hair in condition, and let's face it, I have a lot of hair. I'm annoyed to realise I may have got hooked on Retro items, but they're so nice it's hard to be cross.
It was good to try new Xmas item Glögg shower gel, which both A. & I had been quite excited about. It really does contain red wine, and smells delightfully spicy. The efficacy seems otherwise the same as all the shower gels; I don't really notice much difference between their cleansing and softening abilities, so the shower gels are, for me, definitely a smell preference. I still adore Flying Fox, but I'm happy to dabble a little. Did you know Ghost is now available again for Hallowe'en? I didn't until I'd placed my order, grumble grumble. I'm a little disappointed with the Stepping Stone foot scrub; it smells really good, very lemony and refreshing, but the tiniest hint of moisture makes it crumble everywhere, and it's hard to know how much I'm meant to be using. It hasn't had much impact on my feet, but I don't know if that's the product itself or my stinginess coming into play. At any rate, I think I might be better off with a regular pumice stone and soap. Shame.
I had the remains of a You Crack The Whip body butter to scrub my arms and legs with, and very welcome it was too after feeling so filthy. This is another of my long-standing favourites that I've been using for years. I tend to switch between that and Aqua Mirabilis at different times of the year, with YCTW being great when I need vigorous cleansing and AM for when I'm feeling more delicate. I'm sure I'll buy this many more times in the future. One thing I am now a complete convert to, though, is the King Of Skin solid lotion, because it's a beautiful answer to one of my long-running dilemmas. Usually, I mean to put body lotion on after I bathe (I currently favour Karma Kream), but my aversion to sudden temperature change means I don't actually like feeling damp and sticky again once I'm already dry, especially if I'd trying to dry off and get dressed. But King Of Skin gets smoothed on when wet and then rinsed off! It's all part of the bathing/showering routine! So much quicker, and my skin feels much better now, because the reduced faff makes me more inclined to bother. This is especially good for my legs. It does smell of bananas too, which is a definite plus. It's now become the final touch of my toilette, which I find very pleasing. I'll definitely be buying more.
Post-bath, I slapped some Skin Drink moisturiser on my face, followed by a splash of Eau Roma toning water, both good staples. I used not to like the smell of Skin Drink much, but it's very effective. Since my face has been rubbed dry by all my sneezing, I've also been topping it up with the Full of Grace serum. For anyone who hasn't yet used the serum bars, I really recommend them. This is the dry/delicate skin one, which smells a lot like Fresh Farmacy face soap and is equally soothing. The good thing about the serum bars is similar to King Of Skin; unlike cream moisturisers, they can be easily and quickly stroked over dry skin for swift moisturising/calming effect, and they're quite light too, so easily absorbed. If you don't like going out with your face feeling slightly greasy, give these a go. I find them also very useful for rubbing onto a dry lip or nose in this very chapping weather, and they won't tingle painfully like a tea tree-infused solution! Another product I've been quite taken with. They've got me alright. I'd worry more about my hopeless addiction, but I seem to be in good company.
Thus ends my self-indulgent epic about getting clean. Tune in next week for an exhaustive investigation of hair-brushing. Next month is toe-nail-clipping; remember not to do it in bed, k people?
This entry was originally posted at http://nanaya.dreamwidth.org/343847.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
I'm still feeling quite rough today, but having not washed my hair in a week, I thought it was about time. Since I haven't done anything else of any interest this week, the obvious answer was for me to review my bathing activities, in which a grand total of 14 Lush products were used. Because baths are awesome, everyone loves Lush and I'm stuck at home with nothing else to do (except watch 'Being Human' and eat spicy veggie wraps).
The first thing I did when I felt well enough to get up today was to pamper A. by giving him head massages and face masks prior to his own ablutions. So he kindly repaid the favour by giving me a back mask with Mask of Magnaminty. I've used it on my face before when my skin was feeling very robust, and it's really lovely, refreshing, gives a very clean and zingy feel. I wouldn't use it when my face is feeling delicate, though. A. reports that my back now feels very soft. I have also experimented with using it as a BUM MASK (well, why not?) and, other than not being able to sit on things, results are good. It smells lovely too. The mask, I mean.
While covered in green minty stuff, I steamed my face over a bowl of boiling water + Vitamin C toner tab, the water from which I later used for face mask removal. While I really like the idea of the toner tablets, they always sit around in my bathroom for ages because they're such a faff, and they don't really mesh with my normal routine, which involves doing everything while in the bath. The strawberry flour does make this one smell amazing though, and I do think it's my favourite of the tabs; I just think they're more of an occasional thing and not really useful for regular activities. Since Lush have finally, FINALLY got a liquid cleanser in the form of 9-5, I used that after the steaming for a very gentle, light cleanse without scrubbing. I can't vouch for its make-up-removing qualities as I didn't test them, but it's pleasingly gentle and has a soft, floral smell. My hot pink skin was soon calmed, so it was time for the Catastrophe Cosmetic face mask. This is one of my old, old favourites, and I always come back to it. I've tried other face masks, and there are good ones, but for some reason this seems to work best for me, even though I don't really have the problem skin it's designed to tackle.
After this, is was time to soak! Nice hot bath was the perfect receptacle for the new Dragon's Egg bath ballistic, as also recommended by hazyjayne. Now, this smells absolutely wonderful, sweet and fruity, and its layers of different coloured froths are beautiful, with the core being a swirl of glittering gold. However, I'm not a big fan of glitter so, although it doesn't spread as much around as many of the ballistics, I'm still not keen on that aspect. Also, it produces more froth than many other ballistics; this is fine in its own way, and it does dissipate (it's not actually a lather), but it's a big product and may be too much if you only want a lightly augmented bath. It could be a bit overpowering! Still, cute as hell.
Very very recently, I let my arm be twisted into doing something I'd never done before, and I placed an online Lush order so I could get hold of a few Retro items. Now, I usually prefer to buy items in store, and I find Retro overpriced market-grabbing; however, the hair recommendations were absolutely spot-on. I've falled head-over-heels for Gentle Lentil solid shampoo & Okra conditioner. Not only to both smell wonderful (and hard to describe), but they're quite fantastic on my hair. Usually, when my hair's as filthy as it was, my regular Trichomania doesn't quite do the trick, and I switch to the excellent but expensive Big; however, Gentle Lentil is amazingly cleansing, and I think Okra is now more effective than American Cream, since I have to use less of it to get my hair in condition, and let's face it, I have a lot of hair. I'm annoyed to realise I may have got hooked on Retro items, but they're so nice it's hard to be cross.
It was good to try new Xmas item Glögg shower gel, which both A. & I had been quite excited about. It really does contain red wine, and smells delightfully spicy. The efficacy seems otherwise the same as all the shower gels; I don't really notice much difference between their cleansing and softening abilities, so the shower gels are, for me, definitely a smell preference. I still adore Flying Fox, but I'm happy to dabble a little. Did you know Ghost is now available again for Hallowe'en? I didn't until I'd placed my order, grumble grumble. I'm a little disappointed with the Stepping Stone foot scrub; it smells really good, very lemony and refreshing, but the tiniest hint of moisture makes it crumble everywhere, and it's hard to know how much I'm meant to be using. It hasn't had much impact on my feet, but I don't know if that's the product itself or my stinginess coming into play. At any rate, I think I might be better off with a regular pumice stone and soap. Shame.
I had the remains of a You Crack The Whip body butter to scrub my arms and legs with, and very welcome it was too after feeling so filthy. This is another of my long-standing favourites that I've been using for years. I tend to switch between that and Aqua Mirabilis at different times of the year, with YCTW being great when I need vigorous cleansing and AM for when I'm feeling more delicate. I'm sure I'll buy this many more times in the future. One thing I am now a complete convert to, though, is the King Of Skin solid lotion, because it's a beautiful answer to one of my long-running dilemmas. Usually, I mean to put body lotion on after I bathe (I currently favour Karma Kream), but my aversion to sudden temperature change means I don't actually like feeling damp and sticky again once I'm already dry, especially if I'd trying to dry off and get dressed. But King Of Skin gets smoothed on when wet and then rinsed off! It's all part of the bathing/showering routine! So much quicker, and my skin feels much better now, because the reduced faff makes me more inclined to bother. This is especially good for my legs. It does smell of bananas too, which is a definite plus. It's now become the final touch of my toilette, which I find very pleasing. I'll definitely be buying more.
Post-bath, I slapped some Skin Drink moisturiser on my face, followed by a splash of Eau Roma toning water, both good staples. I used not to like the smell of Skin Drink much, but it's very effective. Since my face has been rubbed dry by all my sneezing, I've also been topping it up with the Full of Grace serum. For anyone who hasn't yet used the serum bars, I really recommend them. This is the dry/delicate skin one, which smells a lot like Fresh Farmacy face soap and is equally soothing. The good thing about the serum bars is similar to King Of Skin; unlike cream moisturisers, they can be easily and quickly stroked over dry skin for swift moisturising/calming effect, and they're quite light too, so easily absorbed. If you don't like going out with your face feeling slightly greasy, give these a go. I find them also very useful for rubbing onto a dry lip or nose in this very chapping weather, and they won't tingle painfully like a tea tree-infused solution! Another product I've been quite taken with. They've got me alright. I'd worry more about my hopeless addiction, but I seem to be in good company.
Thus ends my self-indulgent epic about getting clean. Tune in next week for an exhaustive investigation of hair-brushing. Next month is toe-nail-clipping; remember not to do it in bed, k people?
This entry was originally posted at http://nanaya.dreamwidth.org/343847.html. Please comment there using OpenID.