Releasing My Inner Dragon To The World | Lush Lunar New Year 2024 Range First Impressions

 Hey everyone! 

Welcome to a brand new blog post! I thought that I’d start 2024 off with a bang and talk about the Lush Lunar New Year range. 

Inner Dragon Bath Bomb 

As 2024 is the Year of The Dragon, Lush have created an exciting bath bomb to help those who celebrate Lunar New Year create an exciting, unique and celebratory bathing experience.  The design of this bath bomb gives a nod to Chinese folklore as ‘dragons are typically seen holding a pearl in their claw or mouth, representing divinity and prosperity, and this New Year Dragon holds Lush’s Bath Bomb as a “pearl”! (Lush UK). 

List Of Ingredients: 

Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Alcohol Denat., Cornstarch, Neroli Oil, Sicilian Red Mandarin Oil, Vanilla Absolute, Orange Flower Absolute, Ginger Powder, Mandarin Powder, Titanium Dioxide, Water (Aqua), Dipropylene Glycol, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Sodium Coco Sulfate, Propylene Glycol, Silica, Tin Oxide, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, *Hydroxycitronellal, *Limonene, *Linalool, Perfume, Colour 14700, Colour 47005, Colour 15510, Colour 77491, Colour 15985:1, Colour 19140:1, Colour 45410:1

If you have shopped at Lush before then you may know the scent of this bath bomb via the Big Shampoo or the  Big Body Spray as they all share the same  scent. To me, the Neroli, Red Mandarin & Orange Flower blend together to create a floral salty scent. The Vanilla blends them together and creates an almost violet scent which layers beautifully on top of the almost saline scent that the other ingredients bring to the product. Sadly for me, the ginger comes across more as a colourant than a scent ingredient which is a shame as I thought the Ginger would compliment the almost sea breeze scent that Big already has. 

The bath art that this bomb creates does have an air of dragon to it as it creates a sort of peachy salmon colour which does remind me a bit of the fire that a dragon breathes. I’ll definitely be using this to celebrate the Lunar New Year! Priced at £7. 

Blooming Dragon Gift Set 

Within Lush’s Lunar New Year 2024 range, Lush has released the Blooming Dragon Gift Set to get you in the mood to celebrate! This gift set contains an Inner Dragon Bath Bomb and a gift exclusive 100g bottle of Celebrate Shower Gel which contains zesty Sweet Orange & Lime Oils to help you get into the mood to have a good time! Priced at £18 

Wild Spirit Knot Wrap 

There is also the new Wild Spirit Knot Wrap which features  majestic dragons, blossoms and all things Lunar New Year which has been designed by Bao Ho. Priced at £6. 

 Will you be picking up any of the products from the Lush Lunar New Year 2024 Range? Let me know! 

Thanks for reading! 

Jamie x 

Lush Fathers Day 2022 First Impressions

 Hey everyone! 

Welcome to a brand new blog post. I thought that today I would tell you all about the new Lush Fathers Day Range. 

Glitch Shower Gel

Ooh, there’s a glitch in the system! A good shower gel does the body and mind good for when you need to recharge!  Glitch is definitely the one to use when you need  to shut down the worries that the world brings and just focus on yourself for a bit. This shower gel contains Lemon Balm Infusion,  Lemongrass and Bergamot Oils, Fresh Lemon and Lime Juices, Carrageenan Extract and many other goodies. There’s so much goodness to unpack with Glitch and this is just coming from my one use of it yesterday. Let’s start off with the scent. Any of you that are Lushies may have heard that this is Avobath scented but this is not the case to me. To me, in Lush terms, it smells of a mixture of Avobath and Dads Garden Lemon Tree without that sort of creamy undertone that the Avocado brings to Avobath. To anyone who doesn’t know what I am on about, this shower gel predominantly smells of Fresh Lemongrass more than anything which I adore. The Lemon Balm and citrus juices amp up this sort of fresh and uplifting scent and just make it pop all round. To me, this gives me a sort of natural citrus drink you drink in the sun lots on holiday in the middle of Summer vibe. Let’s talk about the texture for an minute. With Glitch, Lush decided to up the glycerine level in the formula of the gel (I believe this is true, if I am wrong let me know) which helps to create a really sort of nourishing gel without it being too thick which I absolutely adore. Anyone else remember the old Lush Shower Creams that would take forever to come out of the lid due to being so thick? As my kin is on the dry side, m6 skin absolutely adores this sort of formula! Honestly, I recommend you all to sniff and buy some if you need a bit of that Summer goodness which I’ve definitely been needing lately! Priced from £7. 

Dirty Bath Bomb 

Let’s get down and dirty. This bath bomb is amazing for a Spring afternoon or a Summers evening. This bath bomb contains Spearmint, Tarragon, Sandalwood and Neroli Oils and Lavender Thyme Absolute. I know what everyone is thinking, that the Mint or Lavender would overwhelm the nose and dominate the other ingredients of this product, but,  that is definitely not the case. The ingredients marry beautifully together to create a scent that reminds me of running through a field that is speckled with a selection of herbs in warm weather. Absolute perfection. This scent is definitely one to check and is more complex than what you may think on first glance. The bath bomb has been out in previous years for the Fathers Day range but it has come back with a slight glow up when it comes to aesthetics as the colours of the bomb are more vivid and the base of this bomb is now hexagonal. Even though this bomb may be screaming masc for masc vibes through the inclusion of Mint which is used a lot in male specific beauty ranges and blue colouring that is used to as a way to gender products in society, trust me when I say that his scent is for everyone. Definitely worth a try for the scent and bath art. Priced at £5. 

No 1 Dad Bubble Bar 

I’m here to be your number one non-binary Dad? Sometimes you’re just in the mood for a Bubble Bar and why should Fathers Day 2022 be any different?  This bubble bar shares it scent with Dirty which includes Spearmint, Tarragon, Neroli and Sandalwood Oils and Lavender and Thyme Absolutes. To me, the Tarragon and Thyme come out more than the rest of the ingredients including the Mint which threw me off when I smelt it and moments ago when I smelt it again just to double check but the colour and lustre alone is making me excited for when I use it. I also think that a little bit of this crumbled in the bath before using the Dirty Bath Bomb would be amazing. I may do a full post on No 1 Dad letting you know my full thoughts but it will depend on spoons and the amount of posts that I have scheduled to create at the time. Priced at £6.

Big Moustache Soap 

This is a brand new soap for Lush. For an)one who has a moustache, this will definitely be for you. This soap contains Old Man’s Beard Infusion, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Glycerine, Ho Wood, Dark Sumatran Patchouli, Ylang Ylang und Petitgrain Oils and Powdered Charcoal. If you have bought the Squid Games Shower Jelly from Lush then this shares the same scent as that. To me, even though I love the Squid Games Shower Jelly I don’t love the scent of this. I think for me, the Old Mens Beard Infusion just overpowers all of the other ingredients in this soap scent wise and just reminds me of a sort of herby leather scent which I’m not that sold on. Also side note, Old Man’s Beard Infusion sounds like well infusing a product with Beard Hair which instantly makes me wonder so many different things…. If you love a sort of clean yet slightly deep woody scent then I think that this is for you but for me it’s just not amazing. Priced at £6. 

Superdad Eye Pad

We all need something to help us when it comes to our eyes. This product contains Yerba Mate and Butterfly Pea Flower Infusion,  Saffron, Fresh Aloe Gel and some other great goodies. I love the concept of these but the execution not so much. The one big eye pad seems to rip and tear a lot easier than the two singular eye pad design that Lush has created in the past. I also think that these are pretty much the same as the Cucumber ones that are available all year round and I think for me I’d prefer to  just stick to the Cucumber ones. Definitely worth a  try if you can though. Priced at £6.

All in all a good mixture of products for a range. There are definitely some hits and misses for myself in this range but let me know what you think if you try and of the products down below or on social media which is thejamiesowden on all platforms. 

Thanks to the staff at Lush White Rose for creating an amazing shopping experience for myself and Luke when it came to purchasing the products from the Fathers Day 2022 range and for being so engaging and informative. I always leave the store with a big smile on my face. The staff honestly improved the day I was having. 

Check out Lush. 

Thanksa for reading! 

Jamie x

The Body Shop Hemp Overnight Moisturising Rescue Mask Review

Hey everyone! 

Welcome to a brand new blog post! Skincare is always important so I thought that I would talk to you all about a Face Mask that I have tried.

List Of Ingredients: 
Aqua/Water/Eau, Glycerin, Coco-Caprylate/Caprate, Myristyl Myristate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Cannabis Sativa Seed Oil, Panthenol, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Parfum/Fragrance, Ethylhexylglycerin, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Hyaluronate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice Powder, Limonene, Linalool, Citric Acid, Tocopherol, Geraniol, Undaria Pinnatifida Extract, Citral, CI 77288/Chromium Oxide Greens, CI 19140/Yellow 5.

The Body Shop released this as a part of their Spring Range. If you have ever been to The Body Shop, then you will probably know about their very well known Hemp Hand Cream. Well, for 2020, The Body Shop have decided to branch out the Hemp range into other parts of the store rather than the range just consisting of the well known Hand Cream. I really don't know much about the benefits of Hemp and thought that it would be good to try it out to see if it helps my skin in any way, shape or form.

I wasn't sure on what to expect when it came to the scent of this product as I wasn't really that sure of what Hemp smelt of. The scent of this product is kind of a mix of sort of grass mixed with a sort of cooling beach inspired cologne. At first, I wasn't sure whether or not I enjoyed the scent, but the longer I left it on my face, the more I enjoyed the scent.

The directions called for me to either use the face mask for 10 minutes or to leave it on overnight, so, I decided to leave it on overnight. The texture of the product when I was applying it to my face was light and creamy. It reminded me of a Day Cream that I had used before. I left it on just before I went to bed and left it to do it's magic whilst I slept, which is rare at the minute due to everything that is going on. I woke up and my skin felt great. My skin felt plump but as my skin is pretty much super dry at the minute, I felt like I still needed a tad more moisturising but I think that's a skin thing more than the mask.

Would I buy it again? If they did it in the sort of sample size that I have been using then sure as I think that its a great mask to boost moisture every now and again? Would I buy it in it's full size? Probably not, mainly because I don't think I would use it enough to rationalise the price of this product.

Do try it out for yourself when you can and tell me what you think of the product! 

Thanks for reading!
Jamie x

Lush Valkyrie Conditioner Review

Hey everyone!

Welcome to a brand new blog post! I thought that today, I would talk to you all about a cool conditioner from Lush that I have been using for a while now.

List Of Ingredients: 

Water (Aqua) Chickpea Cream Cetearyl Alcohol Ethyl Macadamiate Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil Perfume Propylene Glycol Behentrimonium chloride Fresh Grapefruit Juice Titanium Dioxide Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane Rose Absolute Rose Oil Geranium Oil Sicilian Lemon Oil Aquafaba Hydrolyzed Wheat Gluten Arginine HCL Lysine HCL Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) Cetrimonium Chloride Phenoxyethanol Benzyl Alcohol Citronellol Coumarin Geraniol *Limonene Colour 17200 Colour 45410:2]

Let's start with the scent of the product. If you're a big fan of Lush, then you will know that most products that contain Rose Absolute, Rose Oil and Sicilian Lemon Oil, make up the very well known Rose Jam scent, and this product is no different. If you're not a big fan of Lush, then imagine a bright yet quite sweet Rose scent, Not too florally with almost slight berry notes to it compared to the light sort of Rose that you might know that normal has powdery notes to it. This conditioner has that scent to it. However, when I smell it through the lid, I almost get a slight sort of plastic smell to it before any of the Rose scent comes through. This may be due to the Chickpea Cream mixing with everything else, or the Wheat Gluten, I'm not sure but it goes away as soon as you apply it to your hair. The scent does also last a long time post using the product, as I could smell it in my hair for the next two days!]

The texture of the Valkyrie when squeezing it out of the bottle, is quite thick. Thick to the point that it takes a good amount of squeezing to get any product out. However, when you apply water to this conditioner, Valkyrie becomes a luxurious sort of serum in my opinion. I guess, kind of like the new Shower Gel formula in kind of a way. Even though, it may not feel like there is much in your hair due to the lightness of the formula, you definitely know that its doing something to your hair, as soon as the scent hits your nose!

As I bleach and dye my hair a mixture of three different shades of Pink, I knew that I needed something that could sort my hair out. As soon as I saw this product on Lush UK's website, I knew that I had to try it to see if it would save my hair from total destruction. I normally do my hair on a night and then leave it to air dry. When I woke up after using Valkyrie the night before, my hair felt amazing. It felt a mixture of thick, shiny and healthy, which was a miracle for someone who has been slowly killing their hair to feel and look fabulous. I do try to not use this all the time, as I think that if I did then personally it might make me hate any and every product that contains Rose for the near future, so I use this once a week which is more than enough for me, as I use American Cream and sometimes Candy Rain as more as everyday conditioners. (I may do reviews on them within the future.)

Overall, I would give this a 9.5/10. My only problem is that it is an exclusive to Liverpool Spa, therefore, you have to either make a online order or make a trip to Lush Liverpool Spa to try it. If it was in all stores then I would buy it for the rest of my lifetime!

Have you tried Valkyrie? What hair care products are your favourite at the minute? 

Check out my last Lush post here. 

Thanks for reading! 
Jamie x

If You Wanna Be My Lover, You Gotta Get With My Shower Gel Addiction | Lush Ginger Shower Gel Review

Hey everyone!

Welcome to a brand new blog post! I thought that today I would talk to you all about the Ginger Shower Gel from the Lush Mothers Day 2020 Range.

This year, Lush's Mothers Day range was inspired by the Spice Girls. This included a delicate Baby's Bum Cleanser, a roaring yet spicy Bath Bomb inspired by Scary Spice, a luxurious Posh Shampoo Bar, a sporty little number in the form of Knock Out Bubble Bar and Ginger Shower Gel.

List Od ingredients:
Sodium Cocoamphoacetate Sodium Laureth Sulfate Glycerine Fresh Ginger Root Decoction Lauryl Betaine Mimosa Absolute Bergamot Oil Ginger Oil Sicilian Red Mandarin Oil Geranium Oil Sandalwood Oil  Xanthan Gum Carrageenan Extract Titanium Dioxide Propylene Glycol Synthetic Fluorphlogopite Tin Oxide Silica Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone *Benzyl Benzoate Citronellol *Eugenol *Limonene *Linalool Perfume Colour 16035 Colour 45410:2 Colour 14700 Colour 77491

The first thing, that I thought that I would talk about is the texture of the gel. The gel is slightly different compared to most shower gels that you have tried before. It's thicker than most gels. When you use it on yourself, it has a tendency to be more like an oil rather than a thick lathering Shower Gel. I think that this is due to the Xantham Gum that is in the base of this shower gel. At first, I kind of hated it as I'm used to lather based gels, but I have adapted to loving Due to the texture, it does mean that I have a tendency on using more than I think that I need when I am using the Gel. it. If you have tried any of the Lush Shower Gels within 2020, then you will know exactly what I mean.

Did you know that the Ginger fragrance from Lush, was one of their first fragrances that Lush released? The scent of this Gel can be sparated into two parts. Wood, Ginger and Mimosa. This Shower Gel is also a Fine Fragranced Shower Gel, which I think means that the fragrance that is sold within solid, 30ml and 100ml has been directly turned into a Shower Gel and not diluted. I could be wrong though...

When you smell this directly from the bottle. you get a sort of an almagation of Ginger, Wood and Florals. When you apply this to your body, I got a hit of deep sort of smoky wood first from the Sandalwood and Bergamot. Then the Ginger Root and Ginger Oil then comes through which envelop you in a spicy and warming aroma. After the Ginger hits you, its balanced out straight after with Mimosa, Red Mandarin and Geranium which ends your shower journey with a slightly spicy, but mainly floral note. If you like the Ginger perfume or anything with a spicy yet slightly floral based then you will love this!

Would I buy it again? Yes. I absolutely love this scent. It's one of those that can be used for a mixture of seasons and moods. Versality is always good when it comes to scents. The scent can be used definitely for Spring, Autumn and pretty much Winter, especially from the spice and floral notes in this product.

What's your favourite Shower Gel? What's your favourite Lush product? 

Read my last Lush post. 

Thanks for reading! 
Jamie x

Lush Harajuku Bath Bombs 2020 First impressions

Hey everyone!

Welcome to a brand new blog post! I thought that today, I would talk to you all about the seven bath bombs from the Harajuku range that dropped at all Lush stores, earlier in the year.

Notice: I smelled all of the products within this post before the lockdown and I didn't go out during these difficult times just for the intention of creating content. 

Temple Of The Sky 

First of all, I love the design of this product. For some particular reason, this bomb reminds me of Zelda. I'm not really sure why but it just does. The Blue and Yellow of the product, make me also think about the Spring. The bright blue skies mixed with the yellow of the blooming flowers that you sometimes see whilst on walks. The scent is amazing. Bright and citrusy. If you love anything that is bright and just invigorating when it comes to smells then you will love this one. I kinda think of this, as, a mixture of Orange, Lemon and Grapefruit, all crammed into a bath bomb!

Tengri 

I loved the look of this one. I can imagine that this product, will create a great colour when it is in the tub. This product does contain Lavender, but from the first sniff of this product, I didn't get Lavender. I'm not the biggest fan of Lavender, so that's a plus for me, but it might be different when it is dropped into water. This product reminds me of, Big Blue, from Lush. It also reminds me of that sort of clean Eucalyptus based Shower Gels that you find at most luxury brands such as Molton Brown.

Black Ninja 

Black Ninja is such a cute bath bomb. I love any product that is black, as it matches the colour of my soul. The main scent that I got from this one, was a mixture of Patchouli and Floral. I realise that sounds like such a weird mixture, but I kind of liked it. I do like most things that contain Patchouli though. This product also contains Popping Candy, so I would love to see how the little ninja pops off within the water.

Rose Clay Salt Cube 

Rose Clay is one that I was confused at when I saw that it had dropped at Lush. I was kind of expecting it to be Rose Jam scented, due to Rose Jam being such a beloved scent at Lush. Nevertheless, the scent of Rose Clay Salt Cube is something that I haven't smelt before. It's slightly florally, like freshly picked flowers with a hint of freshness. If you like scents that aren't full on, then I would definitely recommend this one.

Flight 

Sadly, I don't think I was fully sold on this one. I always have a few that take me a few times sniffing before I love them when it comes to Lush products. I think that Flight is one of them. The smell was kind of a mix of fresh and woody. I think I would need to try this one in the bath before fully making my mind up on if I like it or not.

Roar!

If you love Bath products, and you love any type of dinosaur based film, then I think that you're going to love this one. This is one of the cutest Bath Bombs that Lush has created in a long while. The scent is slightly earthy, but at the same time, it is slightly fresh. If you love sort of Grass based scents then you will love this one. I think that this is a great product to use when you want perking up a bit. I think that it would also be a great product to give as a gift too.

Blue Gardenia Salt Cube 

Again, like the Rose Salt Cube, I was expecting it to be heavily floral scented. (If you're familiar with Lush, then I was expecting tt to smell slightly like Goddess). Instead, it smelt slightly crisp with a whisper of floral to em. Slightly like fresh cotton with some fresh flower petals mixed in for good measure.

Have you tried any of these bath bombs? Let me know down below! What's your favourite Lush bath bomb?

Read my last Lush blog post here.

Thanks for reading! 
Jamie x