Sunday, December 11, 2016

Lush 2016 Christmas Collection!




I can't believe it's December already! The last few months have flown by for me; one minute it was Halloween, then suddenly the festive season hits and there are Christmas Trees and sparkly decorations everywhere you look! I'm no Grinch though, I love Christmas for it means quality time with my family, great food and wine, and watching Mr 9 rip open his presents, which is probably my favourite part.

Lush have delivered again this year, with a bangin' collection of festive treats to get you in the party mood, if the eggnog alone isn't cutting it. I was kindly sent a bunch of fragrant goodies from the Lush 2016 Christmas Collection, so grab some Punch, unwrap a Candy Cane and get ready to add a few things to your shopping list!




Snow Angel Bath Melt*

'Blanket your bath in a flurry of white foam before revealing a shimmering golden glow. Treat your skin to a softening marzipan and floral scented soak.'

I used a white and gold Snow Angel during the last school holidays at our little Retreat, in the spa bath, and it was an amazingly relaxing experience. The fragrance is quite subtle though, so this is good if you don't like overpowering scents, but not so good if you like your Lush bath to pack a punch! This melt contains lots of fair trade cocoa butter to moisturise the skin, and Cassie Absolute, Rose Absolute and Benzoin Absolute as well as Gardenia extract to give a floral fragrance. The best part is getting out of the bath covered in shimmering gold glitter!




Peeping Santa Bubble Bar*

'Santa may use his dairy-free chocolate eyes to see who's been naughty or nice come Christmas, but, at this time of year, he also looks out for the perfect batch of hand-churned shea butter. Nipping over to Ghana, he visits the Ojoba women's cooperative, who crack and churn the shea pods into a rich, chocolatey butter. Blended with Fair Trade, organic cocoa butter, this indulgent combination is sandwiched between fragrant bergamot and geranium oils. Crumble under running water for sack loads of fruity bubbles.'

Yes that was a long quote, but I had to share the story behind the origins of Peeping Santa, as it highlights Lush's commitment to ethical practices. Not only are all Lush products cruelty-free, they also practice ethical buying, where they only buy from suppliers who provide a safe working environment, work to preserve endangered plants and animals and don't condone animal testing. So you can relax in the knowledge that if you pick up a Peeping Santa this Christmas, you're supporting a company that's actively working to preserve the planet!




Magic Wand Reusable Bubble Bar*

'Wave a magic wand over bath time. Snow fairies of all ages will love swishing this candy sweet magic wand around the bath to turn the water pink and create clouds of candy floss bubbles.'

If you don't 'get' the hype surrounding Lush products, then seriously, go get yourself a Magic Wand. This is a pink star, covered in silver glitter, perched on a stick (perfect for waving and casting love spells, lol) with a god-damn silver bow and bell on it. Then consider yourself converted. This is a reusable product too, you just have to leave it out to dry afterwards, so the fun quotient is multiplied. Lovers of cult favourite Snow Fairy will appreciate the sweet candy floss scent and pink fans will rejoice at the girly bubbles and pink water, although my nine year old son is also a superfan! This would make the perfect gift for Lush fans young and old, it's more fun than Lush FUN itself, I reckon!




Sugar Plum Fairy Lip Scrub*

'Caster sugar for en pointe pouts.'

This is the most delicious smelling lip scrub, in my opinion even better than the bright red Lush Santa Baby Lip Scrub, which I absolutely love. Lip Scrubs are not a necessity for me because I use a lot of lip balm, instead they are purely a product I use for fun. The sweet caster sugar exfoliates your lips, leaving them soft and smooth, but for me Sugar Plum Fairy is all about the taste! The minute I smelled this at the Lush Rundle Mall Store Re-Opening Event I fell in love. It's a gorgeous purple lustre colour, contains sweet wild orange oil and organic jojoba oil and the dominant flavour is juicy blackcurrants. I'd highly recommend getting in-store and giving this a whiff!




Bubbly Shower Gel*

'A bucks fizz breakfast boost packed full of sweet orange oil and fresh grape juice to help your morning go off with a bang, or should that be pop.'

I don't know how Lush continually nail amazing scent creations, but the orange-hued Bubbly is another surefire winner for me! I love fruity, particularly citrusy aromas, and Bubbly is a delicious cocktail of lime oil, sweet wild orange oil, vine leaf infusion and fresh grape juice. This is quite the celebratory shower gel, lathering well and leaving me with soft and gorgeously-fragranced skin. If Christmas isn't the time for Bubbly, I don't know what is!




Christingle Body Conditioner*

'Invigorating peppermint oil and menthol crystals take your skin straight to the top of the tingles chart.'

If you like fresh, minty scents, you will love the pretty turquoise-hued Christingle. Body Conditioners take a little getting used to, and if you're new to the concept, here's how it works: basically, as a last step in the shower, smooth some conditioner onto your wet skin and rub it around, then simply rinse it off and be left with a beautifully soft, nourished and moisturised body! You can totally skip the body moisturiser, because you won't need it. I love this product! The invigorating scent comprising spearmint, grapefruit, organic jojoba and peppermint oils and murumuru and Fair Trade Shea Butters is crisp, fresh and uplifting and the formula is so hydrating. Tingly goodness!


Linking up with Monday Makeup Madness at Fabulous And Fun Life, which goes live early Monday morning!

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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, links are for information purposes only. Please see the Disclosure page for further information.

Have you done your Christmas shopping? I haven't even started!


Monday, December 5, 2016

Review: So ... ? Fragrances




Have you tried So ... ? Fragrances? I feel like I'm the only person who hasn't! When I posted about these perfumed sprays on my social media, people commented that they had grown up using So ... ? and it was a hit of nostalgia for them! My ancient arse grew up with Impulse as my affordable aroma of choice and I have a faded memory of the hilarious TV ads for Impulse. So I was thrilled to be given the chance to try a couple of So ... ? scents recently, and here are my thoughts on them!




SO ... ? Body Fragrance*

This one comes in a red can and doesn't have a themed word after the So... ?, SO I'm guessing it's the original... ? (Tell me if the ... ? gets old and I'll knock it off immediately). We are told that SO ... ? is fragrance with attitude and to "spray all over the body and experience the unique scent of So ... ?".

I found this scent to be light, pleasant, and floral, although I'm not the best at describing scents, so hopefully I'm not totally off the mark. I've been spritzing this during the day as it's a perfect subtle aroma that won't be overpowering in the classroom at the ungodly hour of 8:43am (yes we get there two minutes before the bell, what of it? lol). I'm one of those people that gets headaches from strong scents, but I'm pleased to say this did no such thing. This would be great for a teenager as a first scent (please don't tell me they start wearing perfume before the age of thirteen - although I have just started insisting my nine year old wears deodorant, but that's because he's a smelly boy, lol).

On further investigation, the original So ... ? contains notes of tangerine, orange blossom and vanilla.




So ... ? Sinful*

Hold on to your pantaloons ladies and gentleman, because here's where things get sexy! This Sinful fragrance is housed in a purple can with what I think is a picture of a cocktail, two people kissing and either the Sydney Opera House or a shark as a backdrop. Given the fact that So ... ? is made in the UK, the Opera House makes no sense whatsoever, so it's most definitely a shark, you guys.

Now this is a stronger, sultry scent more suited to evening spritzing, but who am I to tell you when to spray it? Maybe you want to seduce the Accountant in your office, in which case you should throw it in your handbag and spray yourself liberally at every given opportunity throughout the day until he notices you, Goddammit.

And because I couldn't say it any better, here's an impressively descriptive quote from Beauty HQ:

"So...? Sinful hosts a hypnotic aroma with top notes of mint and pineapple followed by heart notes of violet and strawberry. A creamy and tempting base note of vanilla, praline and musk completes this spellbinding scent."


So..? Fragrances are available in 30ml eau de toilette, 50ml eau de toilette, and 100ml eau de toilette and 150ml body fragrance.



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Disclaimer: All 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. Now go and make that Accountant yours!

What's your favourite So ... ? fragrance?



Saturday, December 3, 2016

David Jones Beauty Tribe: Free Samples!




Hi guys! This post is all about the David Jones Beauty Tribe, which if you're a beauty lover, I hope you've joined! I'm pretty sure all I did was opt-in for the David Jones 'Beauty' emails, and now I receive ongoing offers in my inbox, and for a sample-loving beauty addict, um, I won't say no.

From Monday 14 November to Sunday 4 December, David Jones held their Beauty Tribe Event across Australia. Now if you're lucky enough to reside in the popular states (lol, *cries*), you would have been able to book in for complimentary makeup services, Masterclasses and treatments at the Elizabeth Street and Bourke Street Mall stores. There were also a whole heap of purchase offers, but let's not get crazy. This is all about getting stuff for free and getting colour-matched for expensive foundations so you can try them before buying.

At the Adelaide Central Plaza David Jones, I was able to redeem five of the offers I'd highlighted on my printout, so keep reading to see what I got! Sidenote - it's always a good idea to print out your Beauty Tribe offer email, and even click the links and bring up as much information about each offer as you can, print it out and bring that in-store, because as well-informed as some DJ's staff members are, others will have NFI what you're on about.





Chanel
Offer: Receive a complimentary Dimension de Chanel prestige sample

It's a mascara! (Yes, I obviously didn't know what the product would be, given the ambiguous title). It's in the shade 10 Noir and the Sales Assistant told me I'd love it; it's beautiful and has moisturising properties.

Elizabeth Arden
Offer: Receive a complimentary sample of Flawless Start Instant Perfecting Primer and a sample of your perfect shade of foundation.

The Elizabeth Arden lady was amazing! We tried numerous creams on my hand (including the aforementioned primer) and spoke in length about my love for Prevage. She colour-matched me for the two foundations and we discussed the benefits of each. One was a better colour match but the other one was more suited to my skin. In the end she gave me two Flawless Start Primer sachets, a packet of 7 Ceramide Daily Youth Restoring Serum Capsules, 3 sachets of Prevage Anti-Aging Intensive Repair Daily Serum, a sample pot of Prevage Anti-Aging Foundation in 01 and a sample pot of Flawless Finish Perfectly Nude Makeup in Alabaster. She was so lovely and I loved talking beauty with her!

La Prairie
Offer: Receive a complimentary colour match and personalised skincare consultation with samples to suit your needs

Unfortunately they didn't have any foundation samples available but the lady took my details to call me when they came in. La Prairie don't pump product into the sample pots like on the other counters, their samples come in the sachets. We did discuss my skin though and she gave me two sample tubes of Skin Caviar Eye Lift Cream, which I've used before and happens to be my Holy Grail eye cream. It used to be $380, then went up to $400, and now it's $415 for 20ml so it's a tad on the pricey side. LOL.

Laura Mercier
Offer: Be fitted with your correct foundation shade and you will receive a complimentary sample pot.

Had a lovely chat with the Laura Mercier lady about Typo and Mecca Maxima (and the LM makeup) and she gave me a sample pot of Silk Creme Foundation in Rose Ivory. She was totes chill and didn't really colour match me, more-so guessing what my shade would be. I also mentioned I'm usually the lightest shade!

Lancome
Offer: Receive a complimentary foundation colour match of Teint Idole Ultra Foundation and a 10 day trial.

The Lancome lady was so helpful with regard to skintones and skincare concerns and blended like a pro whilst colour matching along my jaw and chin. We tried out a few different shades and she ended up giving me a Genifique Youth Activating Concentrate sachet, a sample pot of Tient Idole Ultra Foundation in O10 Beige Porcelaine and a sample pot of the same foundation in 02 Lys Rose.

I ran out of time after this and had to run off to meet hubby for lunch! But I'm super-impressed with the service, knowledge and friendliness of the staff and am so grateful for all the samples I received. Can't wait to try everything!




You can register for Beauty Tribe emails down the bottom of this page.

You may be interested in Free Samples: You Beauty!



Linking up with Monday Makeup Madness at Fabulous And Fun Life!

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Like Max The Unicorn on Facebook
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Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with David Jones and don't gain anything by anyone joining. I just wanted to point out the Beauty Tribe to beauty lovers. There are no affiliate links in this post. Please see the Disclosure page for further information.

How do you feel about free samples?