Haul: Boxing Day

The long-awaited Boxing Day sale is here!  There are always huge rumors about if there will be a sale, what will be on sale, etc.

I received my email last night: buy one get one free on all holiday gift sets, regular gift sets, holiday products and soaps.  I quickly looked through my Lush times to make a plan.

Well, unfortunately for me, I don't like a lot of the holiday items or the gifts.  But I was excited about the soaps.  My top three favorites are Honey I Washed the Kids, Alkmaar, and Vanilla in the Mist.

Sadly, I can no longer get Vanilla in the Mist, because it was on the Discon 2011 list and my Lush store has completely sold out.  I think I did pretty well, regardless.

I purchased:

• 2 Christmas Delights tins, which include: Heavanilli massage bar, Angel's Delight soap, Candy Cane soap, Vanilla Dee-lite lotion, Sugar Babe sugar scrub, and Snow Fairy shower gel.
• 2 large Snow Fairy shower gels
• 2 Superstar bubble bars
• Appox 3 pounds of Honey I Washed the Kids soap (cut in two pieces)
• Approx 5 pounds of Alkmaar soap (cut into two pieces)

I think we're set on soap for the entire year!!

Haul: Soaps and Stuff

For Black Friday / Cyber Monday, Lush had a promotion for $10 e-Card and free shipping with purchase over $100 ($120 for air shipping).  I decided this was a good time to get some retro items and soaps for my family.

• Forever in Bloom conditioner
• Irrisistable Bliss shampoo bar
• Soaps: Alkmaar (2), Demon in the Dark (2), Dirty, Vanilla in the Mist (2), 13 Unlucky, 17 Cherry Tree
• Brrrrilliant Gift (includes Snow Globe soap and Australian Igloo sugar scrub)
• Samples: Alkmaar and Sexy Peel soap
• Dream Wash & Dark Angels (purchased at my local Lush today)

I expected the soaps to come in neat pre-packaged rectangles, like they do in gift sets.  It's ok -- soap is soap.  I'm just glad I didn't get any awkwardly cut shapes.

And my package arrived fairly quickly!  Maybe because Canadians don't celebrate Thanksgiving on the 4th Thursday. (:

Review: Butter Cream Soaps and Mud Flats

Lately, I've had a run in with a lot of weird Lush soaps lately -- not bad, per say, just not for me.

Two of them are the soon-to-be-discontinued butter cream soaps: Lemslip and Ring of Roses.  They are called butter cream soaps because they contain cocoa butter, to moisturize the skin.  Unfortunately, this cocoa butter prevents the soap from lathering!  It took a lot of effort to get my bar of soap to actually act like a bar of soap.  If I rub it on a sponge or washcloth, I'd get a little lather, but when using it solo, I was very dissatisfied.  Sure, the end result was good -- I was clean and moisturized -- but the experience was not up to par.

Ring of Roses had a really nice floral scent, but Lemslip was too lemony for my taste.  If I wanted zing, I'd grab a bar of Bohemian.  For both soaps, the scent was mild at best.  It just didn't have the "wow" factor for me.

Mud Flats was a whole different experience.  I was eager to give it a shot, because I wanted to see how effective the Rhassoul mud was in soap form.  Right off the bat, I was hit with an overpowering herbal scent.  I get it -- it's got rosemary oil, tea tree oil, and sage oil -- all, combined with the Rhassoul mud, should be very astringent.  But again, herbal scents are not for me.  Then I smelled it again and got a strong peppermint scent??  It was weird.  I looked at the list of ingredients and didn't see anything that would smell minty.   Did it get me clean?  Sure.  Would it clear up spots and body acne?  Hard to say.  But the scent alone would prevent me from testing any further.  But if you're into that woodsy, herbal scent, you should try Mud Flats. (:

MY SCORE: 1 OUT OF 5

I never thought there would be any Lush soaps out there I didn't love.  What's the phrase?  Can't please them all? (:

Review: the Snowcake Craze

Smitten lotion and Snowcake soap

When I chat with other Lushies and mention Christmas time, the word that usually spews from their mouths is "Snowcake!"  What is with this Snowcake obsession.  Seriously?

Snowcake is a limited edition soap that comes around Christmas time.  It is made of almond oils and is supposed to smell like marzipan.  Smitten, the Retro line lotion, has a similar scent.  What the heck, I thought, I like eating marzipan, I'm sure I'll like smelling like it too.

The first time I used Smitten, I was not smitten.  It has a very strong sugary top note, like frosting.  The texture of the lotion was actually quite nice -- very thick but fluffy -- and the fragrance lingered a while.  (Here's where some Lushies will growl at me)  Since I didn't like the scent, I started using Smitten as a foot lotion.  And it worked great!  I always put a dab of Lemony Flutter on the balls and heels of my feet after I shower, then apply a thick lotion over that.  Normally I use Helping Hands but ran out, so I started using Smitten.  The Lemony Flutter and Smitten smelled like a lemon dessert on my feet!

A couple of weeks ago, a Lushie friend gave me some Snowcake soap.  So I tried it out.

MY SCORE: 4 OUT OF 5

Hey, this stuff ain't bad!  The soap when dry smells really sugary sweet, but once you use it in the shower, it's not as overwhelming.  It was very creamy and luscious -- reminded me a lot of Alkmaar -- and the fragrance that was left in the shower was exactly what I wanted Snowcake to smell like: a very deep, sweet, just-baked marzipan scent. I would definitely recommend this to others, especially since it's a limited edition Christmas item.

And I'll have to admit, after a few weeks of using Smitten, I've really grown to love it.  Sure, it's not as warmingly sweet as Sympathy for the Skin, but that's the beauty of Lush products -- every one is unique!

If you really want to go Snowcake crazy, you can use the Marzibain bubble bar and the Melting Snowman with Snowcake soap and Smitten lotion afterwards. (:

2011 Discon List

Yesterday, Lush NA (North America) released their 2011 Discon List.  Not sure if any of these products will make it Retro, but they will definitely be taken off the shelves at the stores.


Helping Hands - 45g only
Pied de Pepper
Charlotte Island
Vit C
Vit E
Keep It Fluffy(Orange & Purple)
Lemslip
Ring of Roses
Joy of Jelly
Vanilla in the Mist
Noubar
Summer Pudding
All Emotibombs
Brimstone
Sugar Babe
13 Unlucky for Dirt
King of the Mods
Aromarant
Tuca Tuca Massage Bar

When Lush UK released their Discon list, I remember everyone freaking out over it.  Lush NA reassured us that just because it's being discontinued in UK, doesn't mean it will be the same in NA.  Phew!  They were right!

Some of the ones on the UK Discon list that I'm so very happy about not making it on the NA Discon list: Ma Bar, Mange Too, Creamed Almond and Coconut Smoothie (I seriously would have died), Heavanilli, Demon in the Dark.  You can see the full UK Discon list here.

I really don't use any of these products, except for Aromarant, which I'm totally bummed about.  What am I going to do?!  Go back to using deodorants that contain aluminum?!  Thankfully there's Toms of Maine.  And I think the Body Shop just came out with a non-aluminum deodorant.

I was also just starting to like the emotibombs.  I caught a small cold a couple of weeks ago, and sticking my head over a bowl of hot water with a Too Drunk in it was exactly what I needed.

The soaps: Lemslip, Ring of Roses, Vanilla in the Mist, Noubar, Summer Pudding, and 13 Unlucky for Dirt.  Lemslip and Ring of Roses are nice, but kind of pricey because they contain cocoa butter.  For a citrus-y soap, I really like Sexy Peel.  And for a floral soap, my all-time fave is Alkmaar.  I was starting to really like Vanilla in the Mist and 13 Unlucky for Dirt, so I'm hoping those will go Retro.

Shower scrubs... prepare for a review....