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i shall be enjoying a butterbal bath later this evening. Maybe i should run into a Lush shop while being in London iiintresting.

I just popped out at lunchtime to book a haircut and somehow ended up walking down to Lush Victoria to pick up some goodies for myself.

And who should I run into there, but Pandora! :D Yup - she got the part-time job. And - I think as reward for my daring to go out into the street literally covered in glitter - she said I was allowed to share the news.



Amongst various bits I picked up the new lime lipbalm. It smells like refreshers and looks a lot more pleasant than whipstick, if you get it out in public.

fabulous for Pan!!!! sooo damn jealous

and yeah got disgusted looks from Whipstick but when they taste they're convinved.

i read about the new lip balms. which one did you get. i was quite intuiged in the lime one.

And my wonderful lush stock's diminishing seriously, i bneed a credit card for online shopping! used the butterbal last time and my bathroom still smiles of vanilla. what a heavenly smell!

So now would be a really bad time to mention that they take switch/maestro over the phone. Plus, if international calls are too expensive, I have heard tell of mail order phoning people back, upon receipt of an email. :whistle:

I did get the lime lipbalm, Jae. I sniffed the honey one as well, but it was rather like HoneyIWashedTheKids soap; far too sweet to spread under my nose like that.

Pan did try to convince me to buy the Dreamtime temple balm - really really tempted by that. However, last night my wonderful boyfriend unwrapped the SleepyHead massage bar I bought a few weeks back, and gave me a fabulous neck, shoulder and back massage. And, well, if I got the temple balm, I might be expected to make myself relax at bedtime and that would never do. :D

Ummmmmm, Lime

I am sure I will have to check that one out, and well done Pan, will have to come down and plague you when I can

Although I am not sure my work can handle glitter

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh Leoba don't tell me that! it's waaaaaaaaaay too tempting! gah! need a job so bad. i had an interview today but turned out they had misinformed me, it was another city they were looking for employees. so that sucked.

they do not sell the temple balm and lip balm (new ones) on the Holland site. i checked and it looks we have far less stuff here. unfair

and yeah the dreamtime temple balm looked perfect for exam times althouygh i'm torn between one that'll keep me awake and one that will send me asleep. Must try your let-the-guy-massage-me-trick with my massage bars

and Din yeah i misread i missed the lime bit.

Must

not

spend

all

my

money

online....

It's too bad there isn't a Lush shop available in my country at the moment. All the delish descriptions of products and experiences has definitely piqued my curiosity!

I hope no one drops a boulder on my head for asking this, but how in general is Lush different from The Body Shop? I know there are specific product differences but conceptually are they similar? I only ask because we do have lots of Body Shops here and it's been ages since I've been in one.

Hi Di! I have combination skin that tends to be dry in winter, and I have been using Skin Drink with very good results this winter. It's the best stuff for rubbing under your nose when you have a cold and your nose gets raw from blowing it too often. However, I must warn you - most Lush moisturisers "sit" on the skin for longer than regular ones, and it takes a bit to get used to them, especially for people who like to feel how their skin "absorbs" the cream. However, in the long run they are better because they are made with all-natural products (the only synthetic ingredients are preservatives and some other additives in small quantities); also, while Lush moisturisers aren't instantly absorbed, they don't give skin that "plastic-coated" feeling that some rich synthetic moisturisers have, in the long run. Even the Body Shop moisturisers have quite a few synthetic ingredients (although I used their Vitamin E day cream for years with good results). Besides, what often feels like skin absorbing a moisturiser is actually the feeling of it evaporating (often taking some of the skin's own moisture with it ), when the atmosphere is drier than your skin.

I would recommend you a combination of Imperialis as a day cream (it's for combination skins and therefore quite light) and Skin Drink or Skin's Shangri-La as a night cream; Skin Drink is ochre and smells of roses and sesame, and I find it bizarrely addictive. Skin's Shangri-La is more expensive, more luxurious, and rich but not overwhelmingly so. It worked well on me but not as astonishingly as I expected from the price. I also tried Afterlife, which smells of honey and is very good for dehydrated and stressed skin, and it didn't do much for me. As Leoba says, if you can stand the olfactory assault, get in a shop and ask an assistant for help - they are really nice and willing to help, and are happy to provide samples (especially of skincare, which often isn't a straightforward purchase).

(btw, I hate geraniums (geranii?) too. Hate hate hate. But the plants only; the essential oil - especially rose geranium - I quite like, in small doses)

Enchie, I'm glad that you liked Soft Coeur. Like Eru said, a very good treatment for dry blond hair is Marilyn. It's a thick gunk that you plaster on dry hair, leave on for 20-30 minutes, and then wash out. Those hair moisturisers are very good, if a bit tedious to use. I normally use mine (The Strokes, for my thick, wavy, dry hair) on a Sunday, while I potter about the house organising paperwork or doing the hoovering. If you have really dry hair, after you wash out the hair moisturiser with the appropriate shampoo, I would use a palmful of Retread conditioner, which is very thick and smells lightly of flowers and melon yogurt.

Myst, where do you live, if I can ask? Lush does share quite a bit of its philosophy with the early Body Shop, although they are more "purist"; more committed to natural products (the Body Shop use far more synthetic ingredients), and to elimination of unnecessary packaging. Therefore, Lush do a lot of solid products, in order to dispose of bottles and pots. For instance, deodorant, shampoo, bubble bath, massage oils, bath oils, hair conditioner, body moisturisers and even face cleansers can be bought in solid form (as bars or chunks cut off a large block). They also have very quirky names and some are very odd but luxurious, such as dusting powders that smell of honey and vanilla, bath bombs the size of oranges that fill your bath water with flower petals or glitter, or a product called Buffy the Backside Slayer which is a bar of cocoa and other natural butters mixed with exfoliating bits that you rub over wet skin in the shower before rinsing off; it moisturises and exfoliates in one go, and who can resist a cellulite massage product with that name? They also make an exfoliating soap with rhassoul mud called Middle Earth...

Oooohh congrats Pan! Working in Lush... my dream... Let us know if the novelty wears off after some time! (I hope not)

Thank you very much for the recs, Leoba and Ber.

I've been using rich synthetic moisturisers for years and now feel thoroughly depressed about them ... I would much rather use natural products ...

I can't wait to get to a Lush shop in the Easter holidays or just afterwards and start buying some goodies.

I'm also intrigued by all your descriptions of Lush products, which I'd never heard of before. I looked at their website, and I probably will order something eventually.

Will do you good Duffster

Which reminds me, I need more shaving cream and the Lush stuff is the best that there is. Really good on the skin, but do remember to warm it with hot water before you slap it on or the coldness closes the pores.

(Ber, tell Dan thanks for that tip )

and I have the need for glitterfication so I may have to mke a trip there later. Ho hum

Erm. ok. Clueless here.

What would you recommend I get for Mrs Alatar? Just had a baby so she's needing a little relaxation time.

Alatar

Alatar, if she likes baths I recommed bath ballistics or "bombs"; Butterball has cocoa butter chips and smells comfortingly of vanilla. Waving Not Drowning is a relaxing lavender and chamomile bath, it soothes and makes you ready to sleep. By the way they also have relaxing bath bombs for children, called Ickle Baby Baff.

Massage bars are a godsend, if you two like massages. I would recommend Therapy, Absolution or Sleepy Head for relaxation; they're solid bars that you rub on the body, making the cocoa butter and essential oils they're made of melt. Once you have the body part conveniently slick, you proceed to massage it. They're less messy than bottled massage oils. They also have a minty bar called Running to the Embassy that is designed to massage tired and achy feet, but I think it has pumice in it too so it would require rinsing after use.

You could get her a King of Skin which is a solid bar for use after the shower, rubbing over wet skin; it locks the moisture in. Rub and then rinse under running water, then pat dry. It's very luxurious and pampering, and it smells like cookies.

You can't go wrong with a regular body lotion, if Mrs Alatar is not keen on quirky or unusual products. Sympathy for the Skin smells of banana and vanilla custard; Dream Cream has lavender, oatmilk and chamomile and is very good for sensitive skin (it can be used on children too).

If you live near a Lush store, pop in and have a sniff at any of those products. Or ask the shop assistants; they will be happy to help you.

I went to the Norwich Lush last Saturday. I could smell it 100 paces down the street. I had previously bought some Karma dusting powder, a pleasant though rather sweetish smell but it is so intense that if I use a proper amount the end result is very overpowering. I have compromised by using a small amount to top up neutral smelling talc.
On Saturday I bought a cake of shampoo that smells of garden creosote, so far I quite like it.

Alatar wrote:

What would you recommend I get for Mrs Alatar? Just had a baby so she's needing a little relaxation time.

It would seem like such a simple question wouldn't it? Ber's detailed answer shows it's not.

I can recommend my favorites (so far that is, because I haven't gotten to try tons of Lush stuff). I really like Alkmaar soap and Flying Fox shower gel. They both make me feel refreshed. I think getting Mrs. Alatar a bath melt or bath bomb would be nice so she can spend some time just relaxing in the tub.


Congrats to Pandora! I hope you have a lot of fun working there and enjoy the discounts!

What is LUSH ??? preccccioussssssssss


because if it feels good us TIGGers will 'like it best'!!!

Tiggy, check this link:

http://www.lush.com.au/catalog/home.php

Are the Gift Packs good value or would I be better to order a selection according to Ber's recommendations?

Thanks,
Alatar

The gifts are good if you like everything in them and don't want to think too much. They come wrapped up prettily, so you save time too. I personally don't mind getting a plain paper bag with the goodies, no gift wrap, but that's because I'm an addict.

You could get her a Sweet Dreams gift box, which costs £24.95 and contains Dream Cream Body Lotion, Ooh La La Soap (60g), Dreamtime Luxury Bath Melt, Bathos Bubble Bar, Rainbow Worrier Bath Ballistic, Waving Not Drowning Bath Ballistic and Therapy Massage Bar. It's a "themed" box so all the products are relaxing, calming and sleep-inducing.

There's also a Mum (or "Happy Mother's Day") box which sounds quite appropriate too. It costs £19.95 and contains Smitten Hand Cream (smells like marzipan), Flying Fox Shower Gel (100g - honey and jasmin), Honey I Washed the Kids Soap (100g - smells of honey and caramel), Ma Bar Bubble Bar Slice (100g - smells of chocolate and toffee), Youki-Hi (jasmin and honey) and Butterball (vanilla) Bath Ballistics (both 100g), and Dream Cream (lavender and chamomile).

There's also gorgeous gift packs which consist of a large heart-shaped ballistic (which you can break up in pieces for using in the bath), a piece of soap, solid bubble bar, massage bar or bath melt. There's a pink one (flowery perfume), a yellow one (honey perfume) and a purple one (blackberry and lavender perfumes). They cost £17.50 each. They look stunning, but if you want particular contents (such as a relaxing massage bar), you'd be better off getting the products themselves and asking the shop assistant to make a gift box for you.