LUSH Haul #2 : stocking up and trying new things!

Hello everyone!

     So it is time for a promised LUSH haul! If you saw my last post you know that I recently got a job at LUSH Cosmetics, so I decided that while I was in the mountains this weekend I would take a day trip to Georgia to (for the first time ever) go into a LUSH shop. 

I also hadn't made an order in a while and was running low on shampoo… 

and also wanted to pick up a few things I got to try while training.

If you want an in-depth look into a product let me know in the comments! But for now I am just briefly going to introduce each item.

I suppose I will start with the shampoos that I bought first since I already mentioned them. 

 This is the Seanik shampoo bar, and you may recognize it from my last LUSH  haul/review. 

I really liked this bar because it added volume and shine to may hair, and made it feel super soft!

Karma Komba shampoo bar is another repurchase from my last Lush post. Karma is the name of Lush's signature fragrance, and I cannot get enough of it! My hair smells amazing after I use this shampoo, and there are essential oils in this that help detangle hair which is an added bonus for me!

This is NEW! shampoo bar. I haven't used this one before… but I fell in love with the cinnamon smell the first time I got a whiff! 

This last shampoo bar is Ultimate Shine. I bought it because it has a similar kind of spicy smell like NEW! has, and because who doesn't want shiny hair?!? 

All of these shampoo bars are $11.95 and these four bars should last me around 6-8 months! 

Sticking to the subject of hair products the next thing I picked up was a conditioner.

My hair fell in love with Veganese the first time I tried it! So of course I had to get some, it smells amazing and makes my hair super soft! I got the biggest one that is 16.9 oz for $32.95

The last product for hair that I picked up is Sea Spray Hair Mist . It may sound kind of weird, but I use this instead of hairspray now.

 I have naturally curly/wavy hair so this makes my hair look super curly and be achy.  $12.95

 Moving away from hair care the next thing I got is a facial cleanser.

  I decided to go with Herbalism instead of sticking with Angles on Bare Skin. When I made my first purchase at LUSH I got a lot of mixed messages when picking out a face cleanser, some people recommended Herbalism some Angles on Bare Skin.

 So I decided, that since I was about to run out of my other cleanser, I would try out Herbalism.  $21.42

Now, I know what you are thinking… yes, I did do a post where I did a DIY lip scrub but Mint Julips  just works way better than the one I made. This lip scrub has essential oils and is made from castor sugar which is a total 180 from the one I made ….  $9.95

Then I headed over to the emotional brilliance and got some confidence (see what I did there? hehe) , I tried confident out in training and didn't expect to like it, but my coworkers kept telling me that it looked awesome on me so I decided to get one.  $18.95 

I wasn't planning on getting soap when I walked in because I wasn't running low, but as soon as I saw that they still had Demon in the Dark I had to get some! I got a quarter of a pound, but after I left I wish I had gotten more … oh well maybe if enough people miss it LUSH will bring it back!  $9.40

The last thing I got while I was there was Karma solid perfume. I love this scent and the solid perfumes are awesome to take on the go! $10.95

I hope you all enjoyed this haul!

 If you want to know about any of these products in more detail let me know in the comments! 

Or if there are any products from LUSH that you want a review on let me know!

Until next post,

Ashton

                x

First ever LUSH Haul and Review!

As my first post for the month of April I thought it would be nice to try out a new brand at the start of a new season!

I just want to mention this briefly, I am in no way trying to show off or brag about products that I buy and how much money I spend on products. Specifically, so far, in this post because this is most likely (apart from furniture) the most I have spent at one time in one store. I am simply just wanting to share products that I like (as friends do :)   ) because I am excited about them!

If you couldn't tell this is my first LUSH haul, but it is also my first LUSH purchase ever! I heard about the company through some YouTubers that I watch (SprinkleofGlitter, Zoella, Tanya Burr, and MissGlamorazzi) so I had to take a look at their website and see what all the big hub-bub was about!  

Before I start going over what I bought I want to let you in on a little secret…

If you, like me, don't live near a LUSH store and the closest one is close to six hours away then you are most likely to order products if you look into the company and decide to give it a try. So thats what I did, only after I looked through the site and then paid attention to my shopping carts price I was stunned! I know that the products are as close to 100% natural as they can be, not tested on animals,  and that the products are handmade but I didn't think that my total would be as high as it was (but I did have a lot in my cart hehe!). And as this was my first order I wasn't sure I was willing to commit to the price so I started trying to find coupon codes, with little luck. 

However I did find out that if I ordered from the UK Site and not the USA Site some things were considerably cheaper when I converted the pounds (money in the UK) to US dollars! The only down side of this is that it takes a few days longer to get to my house then if I ad ordered from the USA Site, but to save some money I was willing to wait.  Another thing you have to consider when ordering from th UK site (if you live in the US) is that banks take out an extra fee as a currency conversion or international fee charge. So before ordering I would suggest that you contact your bank to see what the rate that they charge is.

As per-usual the product names will take you to a link for that specific product, and the brand name will take you to the over all website! I will also include both UK and US prices :) However these will not be the UK prices converted into dollars, just what each site has as the listing price!

Sorry the pictures are a little smaller than my other posts, but if you click on them you can view them a lot bigger, and read the ingredients and labels!

 

The first product I am going to talk about is my new everyday facial cleaner called Angels on Bare Skin and I got it in the bigger size which is 250g! (£ 15.87  &  $ 33.95) And it is LUSHs best selling cleanser for all skin types …   I fell in love the moment I started washing my face with this for the first time. Well, no I lied, I fell in love with this the second I opened it and got a whiff of one of the most amazing scents that I never knew a face wash could have! 

It is lightly exfoliating thanks to the ground almonds and lavender flowers that are in it, which helps get rid of those dry flakey patches (if you have them). It also has lavender oil and rose absolute which helps soothe, balance, and calm redness! My skin was so soft after only using this once, and the next morning (I used it before bed the first time I tried it) a couple of blemishes I had on my chin and forehead were hardly noticeable anymore!

                       

The next product I want to share with you guys is the Dark Angels facial cleanser I got this in the smaller size of 100g because I will not be using it daily! (£ 6.35  &  $ 12.95)

I cannot decide which face cleanser I love more! The smell of this just makes me happy, and even if I am not cleaning my face at the time and I am just walking by my bathroom I will walk in just to open this and smell it. (is that weird?)  

It is more exfoliating than Angels on Bare Skin because it has black sugar crystals and charcoal in it, so I only use this about once a week. The charcoal also helps absorb any extra oil on your skin without stripping it completely and making it dry. And even though it has these ingredients that are exfoliating it also has essential oils that help calm and sooth your skin! The base of this cleanser is rhassoul mud which helps get rid of and control breakouts! (And who would complain about that?!?)

So this next little item is a shampoo bar tin (£ 2.50  &  $ 3.95), this is pretty easy and simple to explain. Basically it keeps your shampoo bars safe from the hot water in your shower and from melting away. This is sold separate from shampoo bars, but is recommended to get because a lot of products do not have packaging, which is another unique thing about this company and one of the many ways that they are environmentally conscious. 

So by now, if you haven't heard about LUSH until now you are probably thinking 'What the heck is a shampoo bar?!' 

I was skeptical at first as well, but just hang in there and stay with me … You can use these by either rubbing it between your hands to lather it up, or you can rub 

it straight into your hair!  

The blue bar is called Seanik (£ 5.50  &  $ 11.95), it has things in it that come from the Sea -Hence the name- like sea salt which is very volumizing for your hair, irish moss seaweed and nori seaweed (yes, that is what those green bits are); these help make your hair super soft!, lemon oil that gives your hair that amazing shine you are always looking for, and mimosa and jasmine oils to make your hair smell absolutely amazing (which they do!!). 

I lather this one between my hands, for fear that a piece of sea weed might get tangled up and still be in my hair later in the day… which might be weird and embarrassing if someone noticed lol! This lathers nicely, its not a huge poofy kind of lather but you can still tell that you are getting product onto your hands and into your hair.

The green bar is called Karma Komba (£ 5.50  &  $ 11.95), and this is what LUSH has lab led as their signature fragrance so I just had to try it out! This shampoo bar is a miracle worker if you have super tangly hair like I do! it has tons of essential oils in it like orange, pine, and patchouli that help keep your scalp soothed. These oils are what help this shampoo bar tame your locks so that brushing your hair after you get out of the shower does not seem like a painful chore any longer! 

Before i used this one I pulled off the cute little clover so that It didn't get left behind in my hair because with this bar I rub it right into my hair. It lathers amazingly and I only rubbed it a few times across my scalp! 

Being a shampoo bar in and of itself makes this product unique but so does its life span! depending on your hair length and thickness it can las anywhere from 60-90 washes! I have even seen reviews on youtube that say these bars last even longer! So you really get a bang for your buck when you invest in a shampoo bar.  

Just be sure to keep it in a tin and pat it dry after using it!

One thing I saw that came up a lot in reviews online was that if you use a conditioner after these bars than the scent from them disappears, I found that once it is almost or completely dry you can just rub it  through the ends of your hair (this does not use up any product!!) and your hair will smell amazing for hours!

Oh and one more thing about these bars that I cannot believe I almost forgot to mention! Since these shampoos don't have all of those nasty chemicals in the that regular shampoos have, they don't completely strip your scalp and hair of natural oils! Which means second day hair still looks like freshly washed hair without having to use any sort of dry shampoo!

The last thing that I ordered is the Tea Tree Water which I got in the smaller 100g bottle 

(£ 3.95  &  $ 9.95). I use this after each time I wash my face, it not only acts as an astringent (a really good smelling one!)but also as a makeup remover at night! Its ingredients like tea tree water, juniper berry water, and grapefruit water help this product to control blemishes and helps reduce redness and remove excess oils wit out drying out your skin! 

All in all, yes you guessed it, I would 100% recommend not only all of these products (which is weird for me to say because it has been a really long time since I have found something that clears my face up this good and fast) but the LUSH brand as a whole!

If this post introduced you to this company go check it out! You will not regret it, and if you make any purchases I want to know what you got and what you think of the products! And if you have been a LUSHie for a while I want to know your recommendations as well! So be sure to let me know in the comments! 

I cannot wait to see what your favorites are!!

Ashton

                        x

Simple Skin care Starter Kit Review!

It is time for my first review! I hope you like it! 

I was on a search, for a new face cleaner because the one that I was using didn't help with break outs at all! I am even convinced that it caused more breakouts than one it made go away, so I picked up this little kit! 

Simple Skin Care Starter Kit: I used this everyday for one week

 I decided to buy the Simple Skincare Starter Kit on a whim when I saw it while in Target one day (I go there a lot don't I?). I had seen commercials for Simple but had never bought it because I heard some people say that the smell was horrendous. And I don't know about you but when I hear someone talk about how bad a product smells, I do not really want to buy it.
 Never the less When I saw that it was only $4.99 for the Starter Kit I thought I would give it a go! 

Starting off with the Facial Wash;  I was surprised by how little of this you need (a dime sized amount or maybe even less!) because other face washes like this I always found my self using quite a lot at once. This face wash lathers really nicely, it is not a soapy kind of lather but more like a smooth silky feeling. As most face washes it was very straight forward on how to apply, The only negative thing I have to say about this is that I wish their was some kind of exfoliant in it (even if it is just barely noticeable). Now, I do know that this brand makes other types of face washes, and I believe that they do have a couple with exfoliants in them so maybe this just is not the one for me as far as exfoliation goes. But it is great as an everyday cleanser! As far as results go, it did keep my problem areas from getting worse like they would if i didn't wash my face, but it didn't make them disappear either.  I am not sure if I would recommend this particular face wash, but I would recommend this brand! 

This Replenishing Rich Moisturizer is amazing! It is by far the best one that I have tried so far. Again with this product a little goes a long way! But saying that it goes a long could be different for other people, when i apply moisturiser after I wash my fave I normally just put it on my dry skin spots; my forehead and cheeks … and use what ever I have left over on my have for the rest of my face (which isn't much).

 I would certainly recommend this for all skin types because it didn't make my skin oily, it made my dry skin less noticeable, and my skin was super soft all day! 

Last but definitely not least are the Cleansing Facial Wipes! These are so soft on the skin I was amazed. Most facial wipes I find are always too rough on my skin, but these were just right! I used them at night to remove my makeup and to start my nightly face cleaning routine. Even though I didn't solely use these as a makeup remover and cleanser in one my main 'experiment' with these was to see if what they advertised (takes off water proof mascara easily) was true. And to my surprise it was! with just a couple wipes my mascara was off with no hard scrubbing or pain. I really recommend getting these especially if you have had trouble finding something to get your waterproof mascara off! 

I will definitely buy these again in the future!

I hope you guys found this helpful if you have seen this brand around where you live, and aren't quite sure if you wanted to try it out or not. If you do decide to give it a go let me know what you think about it and how it worked for you in the comments! 

And if you liked this review and want to see others like it leave your suggestions down in the comments or tweet me @PhotoBeautyBlog of what you like to see, and you just might! 

I hope you guys are having an awesome weekend! 

Ashton
                   x

My Makeup Organization!

      Normally most beauty gurus would do this much later, after they have gained a following (hopefully not the same kind as the TV show "The Following"). But seeing as you all don't really know me yet I thought that it might be a good sort of introductory post. I am hoping that it lets you get a sense of my personality and blogging style.    So without further a-do … Here is a little look at my makeup collection / storage! (links to websites will be at the end of the post)

      The picture above is what I keep all of my makeup products in. This is the HELMER Drawer Unit on Casters in Silver from IKEA.  A lot of people use the Alex drawer unit to store their products, but seeing as I don't have a majorly huge collection that it taking over my room (yet) I bought the HELMER because of its size, and it comes with labels for each drawer!

I also have a little desk that I got from IKEA from the series called MICKE that I use as a vanity… I keep all my makeup brushes in the drawer of this desk.

So, while this post is about how I store my makeup, it is also a mini look into the products that I have. but i did not what to overwhelm your senses with pictures of every product in every possible colour that it is available in. Things like eye shadows are represented by which ever one looked the neatest and clean at the moment when I took these photos.

If there is a specific product that you see or have any questions about leave it in a comment, tweet me, or email me at photobeautyguide@gmail.com  and I just might do a review and some swatches of it!

Starting with what I keep on the top of my HELMER Unit: This is where I keep my makeup remover and setting mist. I also have managed to fit my entire lotion collection and perfumes on top of my drawers!

In the first and top drawer I keep all of my primers, tone correctors, and concealers. I don't keep any sort of dividers or anything in each drawer, so everything is just thrown in and mixed together. 

Now, even though there are a lot of e.l.f products, that is not the only brand that I use. Last year I went on a makeup rampage when I discovered e.l.f cosmetics … I got rid of all of my previously owned makeup and bought all e.l.f because i just loved that they are a hypoallergenic brand that does not test on animals. But not to worry, I am beginning to branch out with my cosmetic brands! 

The second drawer contains all of my foundations, bronzers, matte powders for shiny spots, and blushes. Depending on if my skin is cooperating with me I use both powder and liquid foundations, with a translucent finishing powder.

Drawer number three holds all of my eye makeup! Everything from all different kinds of eyeliner anything from liquid to pencil and all the little in-betweens, powder to creme eye shadows, to waterproof and volumizing mascara.

In the fourth drawer I keep all of my 'kissable' products. In here you can find anything from simple boring chap stick / lip balm, lip gloss, plumping lip gloss, lip stick, as well as lip exfoliators.


The next drawer is really boring, mostly because I haven't figured out what I want to keep in it. So it is currently empty…

In the final, and probably the most colorful drawer is my nail polish collection. Christmas of 2013 was unofficially the year of nail polish, or everyone was tired of my nails being boring and colorless … shown in the picture is one example of every brand that I have in my collection, but the colours go on and on for each brand! I don't think that I am going to be running out of nail polish anytime soon. 

The last thing I wanted to show you a bit of is a very minimal look at my bruises that I use. I have a few random e.l.f brushes and then a whole set of the pink ones that I was given as a gift. 

I hope you all enjoyed this post! If you have questions about any products that you see, or want to see a review on … as well as if you want to see my entire collection (probably one post per drawer) leave it in the comments! 

Ashton

                  x

Links!

HELMER Unit at IKEA       Desk/My Vanity at IKEA

e.l.f cosmetics

Bath and Body Works

Pink brush set

Maybelene

Mary Kay

Rimmel