Sunday, August 28, 2016

Lush Father's Day Range!*




Father's Day is nearly upon us, which means one thing; it's time to madly shop for presents before the actual day, Sunday September 4! Oh and also that we should show our appreciation for our Dads, and everything they do for us. I know I'd be lost without mine! I'm so lucky my Dad has a wonderful relationship with my son; they play soccer together, watch the Crows play football and play games on the iPad giving hubby and I lots of Date Night opportunities.

If your Dad or husband doesn't mind pampering himself now and then, you may want to check out the Lush Father's Day range*, now available in store and online! I was fortunate enough to be sent a generous press box, so let's have a look at this years Lush goodies, made especially for the men in our lives!




Thanks Dad Soap*

'If this soap was a Dad, it would probably say something embarrassing like "You might not want to be seen with me. I'm pretty square"'.

I feel like Lush have captured a tropical sunset in a bar of soap with this little beauty. Either an actual sunset or a Tropical Sunset Cocktail, so pretty, waiting for me to take a sip, Aaaaah, cocktails. And now back to the soap! Thanks Dad smells strongly of oranges, so if you love citrus aromas, this will be up your alley. The yellow half feels soft so I thought this block may be ultra-creamy and lather away quite quickly, but it doesn't. The square shape is a tad awkward to use and I'd prefer it as the conventional rectangle, however that would detract from the alphabet D - A  - D (like ABC) block design. The orange juice and Brazillian orange oil ingredients make for an uplifting and beautifully refreshing experience.




The Modfather Bubble Bar*

'This bubble bar is for the snappiest dressers and most discerning of bathers. Crumble under running water for luxuriously fragrant citrus bubbles.'

If gorgeous aqua-blue water and lots of white bubbles are your thing, you'll love The Modfather bubble bar. Again, this contains Brazillian orange oil and gives off a lovely, subtle citrus scent, which I adore. I had such a lovely relaxing bath with The Modfather, and I'm kind of glad that neither my husband nor my Dad take baths, because I got this bar of bubbles all to myself!




Super Dad Bath Bomb*

'Seek out those true heroes who have lifted you up and deserve a thank you. This super fizzing bomb is made for them.'

I haven't had the pleasure of trying this one yet, but I can tell you that Super Dad bath bomb contains sandalwood oil to soothe and uplift and olibanum oil tone the skin, relax the body and calm the spirits. This combination of ingredients, along with guaiac wood, Lush say create a sweet, woody, smoky scent, which sounds divine to me. Bring on the weekend so I can indulge in this bath!



Smuggler's Soul Multipurpose Cream*

'Go under cover of evocative, soothing sandalwood.'

I appreciate a versatile product, and this Multipurpose Cream can be used on the face, body, hands or hair, as a moisturiser, shaving cream or hair styling product. Which leads me to believe this would be the perfect product for travelling. It contains fresh cucumber to cool and argan oil to soften the skin. Lush source their sandalwood from ethical and sustainable sources, but call this product 'Smuggler's Soul' to shine a light on the murky sandalwood smuggling underworld, which I had no idea about.




Smuggler's Soul Facial Scrub*

'Sandalwood takes the senses a long way from home as you buff and brighten the skin.'

This is a bit weird, but I'm actually getting addicted to this scrub! The consistency is like a super-thick moisturiser, but with tiny abrasive particles. Using Smuggler's Soul Facial Scrub feels really good, and afterwards my skin felt so soft, smooth and polished. I really love the formula and for some reason it reminds me a bit of Lush Ultra Bland. The scrub emits a smoky sandalwood fragrance, as bamboo granules exfoliate and brighten and the skin is cooled thanks to the fresh cucumber infusion.



Smuggler's Soul Shampoo Bar*

'With restorative rosewood, refreshing cucumber and cleansing lemongrass. Create a lather in the hands first or glide straight over hair to clean.'

This predominantly blue hydrating shampoo bar contains lemongrass oil and chunks of Fair Trade organic cocoa butter. I love the sexy, earthy smell of this bar; the sandalwood adds a masculine, smoky fragrance. I haven't tried this one out yet, but historically (in my experience with other Lush shampoo bars) they last a fair time, so at $14.95 a pop, it's pretty good value for money.

The Lush Father's Day range is available in store and online now.


Don't forget to enter my Chi Chi Giveaway on Instagram! There aren't many entries, so  your odds of winning are good!

I'm linking up with Deep Fried Fruit's Lovin' Life Linky and Fabulous And Fun Life's Monday MakeUp Madness Linky and Mummy Mondays Linky on All Mum Said!

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Disclaimer: Products marked * were provided for editorial consideration. Reviews are my honest opinion. There are no affiliate links in this post. Please see the Disclosure page for further information.

Have you done your Father's Day shopping yet?

Friday, August 26, 2016

GIVEAWAY: WIN Chi Chi on Instagram!




Hello lovely readers! I'm so happy to have reached 1000 followers on Instagram recently, so I've put together a Chi Chi Giveaway to celebrate! You probably know by now, but my Instagram name is @shinyglitterbug even though this is Max The Unicorn blog. Just in case you're confused. So it's still me, Di from Max The Unicorn, giving away the prizes, which were all purchased by me in case you were wondering. LOL.

Here's what's up for grabs! I've gone into more detail than on the Instagram post, so you can see what's in each kit.


THE PRIZE

~ Chi Chi Glamorous Makeup Collection Bronzes (contains Bronzes Eyeshadow Palette, Tropical Island Bronzer, Bronze Kabuki Brush)
~  Chi Chi Tropical Hand & Body Set (contains Peach & Mango Hand Cream, Frangipani Body Butter, Berry Passionfruit Body Butter)
~ Chi Chi Ciao Bella Lip Balmarama (contains Orange, Cherry, Strawberry, Grape, Blueberry & Lime Lip Balms)
~ Chi Chi Glamorous Eyeshadow Palette in Sultry

Head to the Instagram post to enter!

This is open to Australian residents only and ends at 5:00pm AEST on Friday 9th September, with the winner announced within 24 hours on Instagram.
The Giveaway is not affiliated with Chi Chi or Instagram and all products were bought by me.

GOOD LUCK!

I'm linking up with Bargain Baglady's #BargainHunterStyle Linky!

Linking up with All Mum Said Mummy Mondays and Fabulous And Fun Life Monday Makeup Madness!


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Which Chi Chi set are you most excited about?

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Manicure: Sally Hansen XTreme Wear Mauve Over!




I've been so slack with my manicures lately! Once upon a time, I'd dutifully change my polish weekly, usually on Pamper Sunday (haven't had time for one of those in a while!). But recently, I've actually been so lazy busy as to let the lacquer wear off entirely. Not a pretty look!

I picked up Mauve Over a couple of weeks ago to cheer myself up (it was only around $2.50 on special at Chemist Warehouse, extravagant, I know!) so I thought I'd show it to you today. For some reason, I'm leaning towards nudes and subtle shades instead of bold reds and bright hues lately. I also feel like I want to pick up some shimmery, metallic polishes, but I probably should check my stash before splashing out.

So this is just one coat of Mauve Over from the Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear range, a line I'm not overly familiar with. It applied really smoothly and I didn't even need a second coat. The brush picked up heaps of product, so I had to wipe off the excess multiple times with each application. I was going to apply a top coat but after five minutes of searching, I couldn't find one. So I guess it wasn't meant to be!






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What nail polish colours are you loving at the moment?

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Wordless Wednesday: Do Duck Inn!


Literally did not 'get' the Do Duck Inn pun until hubby explained it to me. D'uh!

Do Duck Inn
50 Exchange Place
Adelaide

I will keep the words to a minimum, suffice to say, I had a salad! No-one was more shocked than I, although hubby was speechless for a good two minutes. Also, it was yummy. Yeah, I don't know what's happening either. Enjoy the photos!



The standard shared 600ml Coke Zero lunch date drink :)
Not gonna lie. I had a few of these with my salad :)
Hubby's Hot Dog 'Do Duck Inn Style'
Hot Dog and Chips!
Warm Chicken Caesar Salad
Oh yeah



Linking up with Wordless Wednesday on Stephs Joy and My Little Drummer Boys and Worth Casing Wednesday on Agent Mystery Case.

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Disclaimer: We paid for our own meals. Non-sponsored post.

What's your favourite salad?

Friday, August 12, 2016

New Lush Haircare for Volume!*




I was so excited to receive a box of new Lush haircare goodies tailored to suit my fine hair recently! You've probably read about my hair issues, and my ongoing attempts to inject much-needed volume into my flat tresses. Well Lush have released a bunch of new products for a range of different hair concerns, and I was sent the following products to review; Jersey Bounce Shampoo, The Plumps Solid Conditioner, Sea Spray Hair Mist and Mr Dandy's Hair Candy Hair Dressing. Here's what I think of them!


Lush Jersey Bounce shampoo and The Plumps solid conditioner

Jersey Bounce Shampoo*

'Is it time for your hair to bounce back? This free range egg, linseed and sea salt shampoo is sure to get your locks into the swing of things.'

Like a lot of Lush products, this is interesting to use. When I first smelled it, I was a little taken aback, because honestly it didn't smell great to me in the pot, but this somehow didn't translate to my hair (thankfully!). After using Jersey Bounce my hair actually smelled nicer than normal, so good luck if you can work that out! This has a gloopy, gel-like consistency which is strangely addictive. The formula contains gritty bits of coarse sea salt, much like Lush Big Shampoo. I really like the thicker-than-supermarket-shampoo texture, and I must say, it foams up quite impressively. It helps to add some more water after you've massaged in Jersey Bounce; I found that this made the product spread all the way through to the ends a lot easier. I'm really impressed with how healthy my hair looks after using this! It's soft and shiny and appears more nourished than usual. I get the same amount of volume with Jersey Bounce as I do with my regular volume shampoos. My only quibble with this product is the packaging design. Because it's in a pot, it's a bit difficult to unscrew the lid (especially with wet hands), juggle the pot and the lid, scoop out the right amount, rub it in your hair and replace the lid all without dropping the pot or product down the drain. The chunky bits wouldn't really facilitate a squeeze bottle design though, so it's all good. I just have to improve my shampooing skills. Jersey Bounce is mineral-rich and contains honey, linseed, fresh organic lemon juice, sea salt and Fair Trade olive oil.


My hair after using Jersey Bounce shampoo and The Plumps solid conditioner

The Plumps Solid Conditioner*

'If you fancy high-flying hair with plenty of texture, it's high time you treated yourself to this well-rounded blend of sea salt, cedarwood and honey. The sandalwood fragrance may be grounding for the mind, but volumising sea salt speaks volumes about how your hair will feel afterwards.'

I really like this pretty pink solid bar of conditioner and I'm finding it well suits my hair type and particular issues. Case in point; conditioner is something I have to use very sparingly, and usually nowhere near the roots, otherwise my hair will be weighed down and appear lank and lifeless. I normally leave conditioner in for a split second, but that's tricky to do with liquid conditioner, as it tends to spread everywhere fast. This bar is ideal for quickly gliding over my head, and as such a small amount comes off with each stroke, I can easily control how much product gets into my hair. The instructions say to work the bar between your hands before applying a small amount, but I honestly prefer briefly rubbing the bar on my scone instead. The Plumps leaves my hair conditioned but not overcoated with product. Another problem I have is that my hair gets really tangly, even straight after washing it. Every day I have to use a Tangle Teezer to combat this problem. I found that The Plumps did such a good job of softening and conditioning that my tresses were actually easy to comb through, with minimal tangles! I'm definitely considering purchasing this once my current bar runs out.


Lush Sea Spray and Mr Dandy's Hair Candy

Sea Spray Hair Mist*

'There's a sea mist rolling in - but this one leaves you fresh, uplifted and perfumed. A salty spritz that gives body, volume and hold.'

Years ago I used to use salt sprays to add volume, but as my hair has gotten flatter over time, I upped the ante and switched to volume sprays, which seemed to work better. So I was cautious about reverting to salt spray, thinking it may not be hardcore enough for my needs. What I've been doing with Lush Sea Spray is spritzing it on the lengths and scrunching it in. I've found that because this product contains a light hair gel, I do initially get some volume and hold, but the body is falling out of my style pretty quickly. This is a common problem for me though, with most products I try. I will most probably go back to my Davroe Styling Voluminous Spray* as it gives me longer-lasting volume, but I do like the earthy fragrance of the Lush hair mist, provided by neroli and grapefruit essential oils. The product also contains sea water, sea salt, seaweed and glycerine.

It's rhyme time with Mr Dandy's Hair Candy

Mr Dandy's Hair Candy Hair Dressing*

'Who can take thin hair, structure it with cream, scrunch it to add volume and nourish like a dream? The candy man can.'

This is a product that you can use a number of different ways, which is good I guess, because we all differ in the way we like to style our hair. The directions state you can 'try it wet, dry or before a blowdry'. It's as if everything Lush says about this one has to rhyme. It is Mr Dandy's Hair Candy after all. For me, this was the most intimidating product, for being a cream texture, it was the most likely to weigh down my hair and make it super limp. No need to tell me that a little goes a long way, I'm already on that shizz. I chose to apply to my dry hair then scrunch like a mofo, a styling action I'm extremely familiar with. I could have put it in wet hair then blowdried but the directions make it clear to use the cold setting and I honestly don't even think I have one? So dry hair it was! Results? Well as mentioned, I used a tiny amount and rubbed it between my hands, then scrunched into the lengths of my hair. I did get bigger hair, there was noticably more volume and my hair remained soft and didn't go crunchy. However this stuff is sticky. It goes in sticky and leaves your hands sticky, so they'll need a good wash afterwards. I was worried that when I intermittantly re-scrunched my hair throughout the day (as I tend to do in the hopes of building more volume or re-gaining the body I've lost) that I'd get sticky hands, but it didn't happen! My hair was soft to touch and didn't feel sticky. I quite like this dressing, but I think the most important lesson is to use a very small amount. This contains fibre-rich bananas for hold, PVP (what now?), oakmoss absolute and rosewood for fragrance and numerous oils including Cypress, lime, almond, organic jojoba, brazil nut and organic extra virgin olive oil.

I'm linking up to the  Fabulous And Fun Life Monday Makeup Madness Party and the All Mum Said Mummy Monday Linky Party!

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Disclaimer: Products marked * were provided for editorial consideration. Reviews are my honest opinion. Please see the Disclosure page for further information.

Have you tried any new hair products from Lush? What did you think?


Friday, August 5, 2016

Priceline Haul + A Life Update!




Hi guys! I have been really good with my spending since my Melbourne trip, where I went a bit crazy with my MAC/Lush/jewellery Haul, Sephora Haul and the yet-to-be-blogged Mecca Maxima haul that led to my upgrade to Level 2 Beauty Loop status (check out my Level 2 Box here). I avoided the Priceline Skincare Bag GWP *pats self on back*, however I did jump at the recent Maybelline sale, because my beloved Masterliner was getting dangerously close to running out, and that's one of my staples, so it's totally fine. And in fact, it makes sense to shop for my staples when they are marked down, I'm actually saving myself money! So I'm happy to say the majority of these purchased items are staples AND were on special.

I also just wanted to touch base and explain what's been going on, because it's going to impact my blogging in August and September. Nothing too dramatic, unless you count everything going wrong with our house all at once! Firstly, our long-awaited bathroom renovation will be starting soon, so this means I have to clean up the entire house and declutter like a mad woman. SO MUCH WORK. We have boxes everywhere because the water damage in our bathroom rotted our linenpress which had to be ripped out, meaning we have minimal storage, and a crap-ton of boxes of stuff to sort through. I'm hoping we can throw a lot of stuff out and start living my dream of having a minimalist-style home. On top of that, our ducted air-conditioner decided to shit itself cease functioning, so we've been freezing for nearly two weeks. So things are going well. We had a few different companies come through (both with conflicting opinions of what was wrong, because of course) and during this time I basically couldn't do more than 15 minutes work on my computer at a time because I'd begin freezing my tits off, lol. We had a small heater set up in the lounge (this explains why I've been watching so much Netflix lately!), but it's too much hassle to keep moving it. So basically, it was really hard to get any blog posts done as this is where I blog from! Thankfully the heating is fixed now, but as a result, I am way behind on everything.

The upshot of all this is, there may be fewer posts until I get myself sorted out. As previously mentioned I'll also be busy cleaning like a mofo in preparation for the bathroom renovation. Then, while that's happening (five weeks from September to October) I plan on going out everyday, because I can't eat or wee when there are workmen in the house, lolol. In September, before the renovation starts, we are mega-busy as well, with Father's Day, my Wedding Anniversary, the Royal Adelaide Show (yay!), my son's Birthday and Party and my Birthday all happening! I still have blog posts planned for August and September though, for instance, right now I'm trialling:

~ new Lush lip balms, toothy tabs and tooth powders
~ new Rimmel Moisture Renew Sheer & Shine lipsticks
~ new Natura Siberica bath salts and face mask
~ new Rimmel highlighters

So I'll be blogging about those, plus the usual stuff, just not as frequently. I'll also be holding a Giveaway on Instagram soon, to celebrate 1000 followers, so stay tuned for that! OK, thanks if you made it through all that, I just wanted to explain my ridiculous life and make you super-jealous.  Haha. #not

Onto the Priceline Haul!




~ Batiste Dry Shampoo XXL Volume
~ Batiste Dry Shampoo Plus Heavenly Volume
~ Maybelline Masterliner in Black (x 2, but only 1 pictured)
~ Maybelline The Blushed Nudes eyeshadow palette
~ Nip + Fab Glycolic Fix Night Pads Extreme



I'm linking up with Fabulous And Fun Life Monday Makeup Madness and All Mum Said Mummy Mondays and Bargain Baglady's #BargainHunterStyle linky parties!



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Have you bought anything from Priceline lately? They are having so many sales!