Lush of the week: Lush Rose Jam bubble bar

By now, you are probably used to my Lush posts, especially the ones about bath products. Since bubble bars are my favourite type of bath luxury products, I was very happy to try Rose Jam, which was a part of a Think pink set that I bought for 50% less.

When I saw this french macaron like bar in bright pink colour, it was love at first sight! Rose Jam has two parts which is great because by dividing them in half you immediately have two uses.

It is marketed as a product with a rich rose scent, and yes there is a hint of rose, but to me it smells more like tea with honey. It has a stronger scent in the beginning but it disappears too soon, if you are drawn to this bubble bath because of its scent.

It is a bit oily in texture, probably because it contains virgin coconut oil and shea butter, which makes it more nourishing than you expect a bubble bath to be.

Like all the other bubble bars, you must crush it under running water and leave your tub to fill in, and then you should just enjoy luxurious foam.

This is how Lush describes it:
Pep your spirits in a bath filled with Rose Jam: lemon, rose and geranium oil will help perk you up, while coconut oil and shea butter leave you feeling gorgeous. You’ll end up feeling as cheered as though you'd been been given a bunch of flowers. Rose oil and rose absolute give a double dose of rosiness, rose it's mind-clearing and used by aromatherapists as a mood booster.

Rose Jam bubble bar is available all year round and you can buy it directly from Lush shops or order it online. For a 100 g bar in Croatia you will pay 44 kunas which is about 8$, 5.78 Euros, 4.75 GBP. When I was researching for this post I looked at other countries sites to check the prices, and was surprised that Lush is cheaper in the UK, where you will pay 3.50 GBP for it. But, since I got mine in a set which was reduced for 50%, I got a good deal.

And now it is my turn to share my experience with this one. It was OK but it didn't have an amazing scent for my taste. Also, the foam wasn't luxurious enough. And just when I wanted to look the other way and say that the reason for that is my cheap nature and the fact that I cut them in half, I cut a piece of my beloved Christmas eve and it immediately made my bath experience magical.... Wonderful scent and luxurious foam gave me just what I needed after a long work day. The difference was huge!

from start

to finish

Ingredients:
Sodium Bicarbonate, Tartaric acid, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocos nucifera, Lauryl Betaine, Fair Trade shea butter- Butyrospermum parkii, Perfume, Rosa damascena, Pelargonium graveolens, Rosa damascena, Citrus limonum), Cocamide DEA, PEG-6 gliceridi kaprilne , Coumarin, Geraniol, Citronellol, *limonen (*Limonene), Titanium Dioxide, Colour 17200.

To conclude, my advice to you would be to start your Lush experience with a different bubble bar because this isn't their best one. Of course, if you are crazy about the scent, go for it but, for example, Comforter is much nicer. I wouldn't buy it individually again.

Which is your favourite Lush bubble bar?

Tell me...

Love, beautyandbrains007

STERIPOD toothbrush sanitizer

I'm not sure if you already heard for this product because I haven't been hearing or reading about it, but it is definitely worth of mentioning.

The story behind it is really simple. It is a toothbrush cover that is not only great for travelling, because it prevents dirt an hair getting on your toothbrush (YUCK, to say at least!), but also because it actively protects your toothbrush from germs present in the air.

It has a small part, like a little pillow inside that offers protection.

It lasts up to 3 months and I love it!!!

So, if your toilet is in the bathroom along with the sink and your tootbrush, you are good and protected.

It is very easy to manage. It opens up like a butterfly and just clicks on the tootbrush with a cut out part facing down. You can put it on your electrical toothbrush or a regular one.

When you are finished with washing your teeth, rinse off your toothbrush and clip your Steripod on it.

It comes in several shades (red, yellow, orange, blue, green and pink) and there are two Steripods in one packaging.

Unfortunately, they are not available in Croatia so I have to order them online. I buy them on ebay. Their price in the USA is around 5$ for a pack. On ebay you can also find them around that price but with shipping it becomes a lot more expensive.

I bought 4 packages with all the colours.

Since I travel a lot, Steripod is a must for me.

I already went through one and have a new one. I don't plan to be without a Steripod in the near future. My husband and other members of my family also got their Steripod and everybody loves them!

my mother's choice... a red one

When it arrives it is well protected. It is in a cardboard packaging, and each one is extra protected with a foil.

If you are into dental hygiene this is a product for you. I LOVE IT!!!

What do you think? Is this something that might be interesting for you?

Tell me...

Love, beautyandbrains007

Avon Ideal Flawless Invisible Coverage Cream to Powder foundation

I am a bit late, but I would like to wish you all a happy Easter! I hope it was a nice one and that you were surrounded with loved ones.

It has been a while since my last makeup related post so I decided to change that. As a result, you'll be reading about an Avon foundation today.

Avon Ideal Flawless Invisible Coverage Cream to Powder foundation was bought a long time ago, after my good experience with the liquid foundation from the same line. If you are interested in it, my review about it is here. I am not usually crazy about creamy foundations because they often don't get along great with my extremely oily T-zone but I was curious to see if this one will act differently since it promises to have powdery finish?

It comes in a black, plastic container that reminds me of an usual powder or blush packaging, but a little thicker than usual. That is because it has three compartments (mirror, powder and a place for rubbery sponge). It contains 9g of product.

The texture of this powder is creamy and a bit greasy, but when you aplly it to your face it gets drier and  powdery. It applies nicely and blends well on the face. Although it comes with a sponge, I didn't use it. I applied it with a foundation brush. It seemed that if I applied it with a sponge, the sponge would soak in too much product. I don't recommend applying it with fingers directly from the container for hygienic reasons, but I did use fingers in the end to even it out on my skin.

The shade that I chose is NUDE. A bit light but workable. It has a yellow undertone.

It is marketed as a full covearge but really natural foundation. In my opinion it offers medium coverage with a possibility to achieve almost full coverage, but if you apply too much, you can end up with a cake face. I don't have many imperfections, I need it mostly to even out my skin tone and it is good for that. My main concern are large pores. This one, if not applied right, likes to go into them but if you blend it enough, that will not be a problem.

What I like the least about it is that with oily skin, it kind of vanishes from the face. In the evening, it seems like I didn't apply any foundation in the morning. Also, it fails mobile phone test miserably, leaving marks all over it. You can prolonge the wear of it by setting it with a powder, which is what I do.

nude-swatch

As I said, I wouldn't recommend it for oily skin. In an hour of applying it, if you don't set it with a powder, you can see signs of shiny skin, and in two hours there will be no doubt about the type of skin you have. And for dry patches, well it is friendlier to them, but in my opinion it is best for normal skin type.
The other thing I have to mention is that it will not last you very long if you wear it on day to day bases. Mine is almost gone after a little bit more than a month of daily use.

You can buy it from your Avon lady and in Croatia it is currently on sale for 49 kunas (about 8.89 $, 6.43 Euros, 5.30 GBP) and its regular price is 80 kunas (about 14.52 $, 10.49 Euros, 8.65 GBP). It expires in 24 months from opening.

So, in my opinion this is not a bad foundation but it would be best for normal skin type. I found a way for it to be good for my oily skin as well but it wouldn't be my first choice. So, no, I wouldn't buy it again.

Active ingredients: OCTINOXATE 6.31% i TITANIUM DIOXIDE 3.16%.
Other ingredients: PROPYLENE GLYCOL DICAPRYLATE/DICAPRATE, DIISOPROPYL DIMER DILINOLEATE, MICROCRYSTALLINE WAX/CIRE MICROCRISTALLINE, CALCIUM SODIUM BOROSILICATE, CETYL RICINOLEATE, HYDROGENATED COCO-GLYCERIDES, SILICA, TRIBEHENIN, POLYMETHYL METHACRYLATE, ETHYLENE/METHACRYLATE COPOLYMER, ALUMINA, MAGNESIUM MYRISTATE, HYDRATED SILICA, DIMETHICONE, ISOPROPYL, TITANIUM TRIISOSTEARATE, BORON NITRIDE, CETEARYL DIMETHICONE, CROSSPOLYMER, CAPRYLYL METHICONE, PEG/PPG-20/23 DIMETHICONE, TRIETHOXYCAPRYLYLSILANE, KAOLIN, ETHYLPARABEN, METHYLPARABEN.
May contain: IRON OXIDES, TITANIUM DIOXIDE/CI 77891, MICA/CI 77019, BISMUTH OXYCHLORIDE/CI 77163.

Have you tried it? How did you like it? Would you buy it?

Tell me...

Love, beautyandbrains007 

I've been busy: March empties (2014.)

Can you belive that another month is over? And not only that. April is in full bloom. Can't belive how time goes by... Must be that I am getting older. ;)

I was moderately "busy" using up my products in March. Some of my empties had their own moments on my blog and some will get their place in todays post.

At the beginning of March I was in Poland, so I had a chance to use up some of my smaller sized products.

Clinique Three step set helped a bit. It is a set for dry to combination skin and contains liquid facial soap-mild, clarifying lotion and dramatically different moisturizing lotion.

I tried the dramatically different moisturizing lotion before (wasn't crazy about it) but the other products were completely new to me.

The gel was OK. It did its job, but the lotion was quite agressive and I wouldn't use it for a longer period of time. Although I have combination skin with extremely oily T-zone, it was just too drying for me, and it is ment for dry to combination skin. I wouldn't recommend it.

Ziaja orange butter creamy shower soap was great! I had a feeling that I was washing myself with freshly squeezed orange juice, without the pulpe (which is a good thing). It has a very strong orange scent so if you are not into that, stay away from it! It is both light and creamy and I really liked it.

I also tried Sisley gentle eye and lip make-up remover with botanical extracts. It was very nice but I guess that it is also very expensive so I will stick to my usual routine and more wallet friendly choices that do a great job, like my new find- Garnier Miccelar Water.
I used up a small sized Balea night elixir- cell energy and I must admit that I liked it. It won't be my all time favorite but it might find its place in my travel make-up bag again.

And my last trial version product is Avon Planet Spa face mask with Dead sea minerals. It was a part of a packaging with several samples of different planet spa masks. I like these masks a lot, and this one isn't an exception. I had it before and I will probably have it again in the future. I don't know how much I paid for this set because it was bought a long time ago.

And now onto the big boys items. So let start with a huge one. Avon Winter Cocoon shower cream with luxurious sandalwood and vanilla. When I saw this picture just before winter, expecting it to be cold and snowy, I was thinking on relaxing nights in the comfort of my home. That rough winter never came to Croatia, but I used it up nevertheless. Its scent is very soft and warm and I really liked it.

March was also full of Lush products!

After the serious damage that I did during  the 50% off Christmas sale- link, you'll be seeing lots of these products. This month I used up Melting Marshmallow Moment luxury bath oil...review.

Melting Marshmallow Moment

Rose Queen ballistic

Creamy Candy bubble bar

Rose Queen ballistic and Creamy Candy bubble bar- reviews, are not a must have products but they add a little something to the whole bath experience. Creamy Candy is a good buble bar, but my number one all year round bubble bar is still Comforter (and my all time favorite is Christmas Eve buble bar, available just around Christmas time- review).

To keep my skin nourished after all that washing up, I used up a Bottega Verde hand cream. It was a part of a Christmas set along with a body gel. It has a gingerbread smell and if you like it you will love this one! I loved how it performed. Very silky and nourishing but I must warn you that it contains parabens so if you are into organic products, skip it.
My second helper was Balea In Shower body milk. This is an amazing product that I raved about before- here. It is a strong competition to Nivea In shower body milks. In my opinion, it wins that race. If you hadn't try it, don't wait anymore. Get it! It is very affordable and performs beautifully. I still have days when I use a classic body cream/lotion to keep my dry spots moist (elbows for instance always need a little bit more of TLC).

My all time favorite that you've seen so many times here, also found its way to this post. Nivea Fresh Natural roll on is great for me and this, for sure, isn't the last bottle that you'll see on my blog.

One product that I am really sad to see go is Caudalie Beauty Elixir that I wrote about-here. It is great! No better way to freshen up in the morning! Loved it, used it up and will have it again.
In the back of this Elixir, there is an used up small package of the Clinique Moisture Surge eye mask. I bought a whole box and plan to write a separate post so I'll stop here.

I also used up a couple of make-up items. Mainly MAC.

 MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in the shade medium lasted a little bit more than two years for me, and you can see that everything is gone. It was nice and quite natural. The plus is that it looks very natural and will not leave you with a cake face, but if you have oily skin, it might be a little too light for you and you will need to reapply it during the day to keep the shine off.
The other MAC product that I used up is their famous Painterly Paint Pot. Love <3 it! This is an amazing product that a lot of people characterisze as a base but I wouldn't say that it has the same performance as eyeshadow primers. It is a base in a sense that it leaves a nice canvas to enhance the colour and beauty of your eyeshadow but it tends to crease so I personally put I primer before it. It also hides all the discolorations. It is more rosy toned, so if your complexion is more yellowy, go with Soft Ochre. It dries out quite quickly but you can prolonge it by storing it with the cap down. It helps, belive me!

And the last emptie is miss L'Oreal Volume Million Lashes Excess mascara. For me a gem. I already have a new tube. It gives my lashes a false lash effect so if you are more into natural look, keep searching.

That were all of my March empties. 
What did you use up?

Tell me...

Love, beautyandbrains007