Lush MVPs

Hey again, readers!

So recently a lot of people have been asking me about what skincare products I use, and I was originally going to make a blog post detailing my shower squad. However, when I went in the shower I realized almost everything I use is from Lush, and a lot of non-shower products I use are Lush products as well, so it just seemed more sensible to make a post about my Lush MVPs. 

So I love Lush. Like I am o-b-s-e-s-s-e-d. I love that their products are cruelty free, I love that they're natural, and I love that they actually work. When I was pregnant a couple months ago I remembered someone telling me I had to be careful with what I used on my skin, and had to make sure whatever I used didn't have a ton of impossible-to-pronounce chemicals. At that point I already had a couple of products from Lush in my routine, but I took that advice as a perfect excuse to go shopping for more.

Anyone who has set foot in Lush before knows that it can be a madhouse, especially in the cherry hill mall, due to the small square footage, the plethora of products, and the barrage of people, both workers and consumers. Initially, I was a little overwhelmed. Hell, I still get overwhelmed sometimes going in there. But the difference is before I was buying products at random, and buying different products every time I went in, and now I have figured out which ones are the holy grail products. Now I can walk in there, confident as hell, and stunt on everyone in there with how well I know what I want. I know the store like the back of my hand now (and most of the workers as well), and I go in and get whichever products I've ran out of, and usually a couple samples.

side note: ASK FOR SAMPLES. If you want to try a product, ask for a sample. Get as many samples as they'll let you. They are EXTREMELY generous with samples, both in the amount of samples you can get, and the actual amount of product they give you. Do it. The way some of these MVPs were found was from sampling. Don't feel embarrassed. Hold your head high and sample your heart out.

Anyway, point of this blogpost is to not only let people in on the products I routinely use, but also which products from Lush I hold in the highest regard, that way next time you go shopping in there you have a little more product background, and you're not so confused or overwhelmed. I'm going to include my product faves from multiple different categories of self care, ranging from face, to body, to make up related products. 

My personal background: My skin has always been very oily, and now it is combination (but mostly oily). I used to have really bad body acne as well, and it was on my arms, back, legs, and butt. When you're pregnant, your hormones rage, and your skin flares. With the help of some of these products, I had the most beautiful, glowing, clear skin once I found the correct ones for me. Now, post-baby, my hormones are still raging, and my skin is still calm for the most part, with the occasional cystic hormone pimple (but there's not much that can be done about those, really). Summary: these products work for me. 

On with the post!

1. Mint Juleps (lip scrub)

If you wear lipstick, and your natural lips get chapped a lot, or they get that weird gross tacky stuff on them sometimes, this product will be your saving grace. Like this is once of those products that works for everyone, because it is just that wonderful. The taste of the Mint Juleps in particular is really lovely, and the way this works is you scoop some out with your finger, rub it on your lips, rub your lips together (like you do with lipstick), and then lick it off and wipe the remnants. And you don't need to use a ton of it at once to get good results. You just get one decent sized scoop with your finger, and spread it evenly over your lips, including the outer corners of your lips as well. End result is super soft lips, free of dead skin and chapped pieces. Before I had this, I would put on lipstick, and then look up close at it, and I would see a bunch of dead skin. It would make my lipstick look super weird, and they I would be trying to pick it off, then re-apply the lipstick, then wait for the swelling and redness from picking to go away, and so on and so forth.  Using this before applying my lipstick saves me from the drama. It's seriously so useful, and definitely a staple in my routine.

2. 9 to 5 (make-up remover)

This product is like cold cream, if any of you have ever used that before as a makeup remover. The consistency of this product is not too thick, not too watery, but just right. And you literally only need the tiniest bit. I mean at least I do, because I don't do a ton of eye makeup and stuff. Like I'll take a shower and try to rinse my eye makeup off with a soap, but there's always leftover raccoon eyes, especially if I did a wing, or a lot of mascara layers, or something like that. Enter this product; You take enough to just cover the pad of your index finger, and wipe in on your eyes. Then you let it sit for a second, and wipe it off. It's totally safe, so if it gets in your eyes a little they won't be on fire. I don't know how much you would need to use if you were taking off straight up eye makeup, but you only need a little bit if you do it my way, which is taking off most in the shower, and just getting the remainder off. I got this product for Christmas last year, and its still like half full, so you really get the bang for your buck with this one.

3. Aqua Marina (face wash)

This is currently my favorite Lush product. My routine wouldn't thrive like it does if this product wasn't a part of it. The pink part contains calamine, which helps soothe irritated skin, and the seaweed helps to nourish. I remember my skin used to be so bad, in terms of breakouts and oil, and I would use super hardcore products to try and dry it out, hoping that I would dry the pimples out and get rid of the oil. I was making it worse. I remember at one point I was using rubbing alcohol on my face like it was a toner. What I learned is I was drying my skin out with all the chemicals, and so my skin would product oil to replenish the dryness, on top of the oil that it already produced. I was greasy as hell. But this product is made for sensitive and irritated skin, and it works like magic. My skin is way less oily, and my acne is so reduced that people ask me to write blog posts about the products I use. If you looked at my skin a year ago, you wouldn't believe how bad it was. Someone at work literally told me they didn't believe that I used to have bad skin, because it looks so good now. I cried. But anyway, to use this product you scoop out a marble-sized amount, wet your skin, slightly wet the wash (the consistency is like a putty), and rub all over. Leave on for a minute or two for best results. I'll usually put this on, wash another area of my body, and then rinse it off. Another great thing about Aqua Marina is it comes in two sizes, but the price is determined by the weight, so you can really get whatever size fits into your budget, which is awesome for a broke bitch like me. 

4. Dirty Springwash (liquid body soap)

I'm currently into Lush's bar soaps right now, but I used this liquid body wash for a long time, and I'll get a small bottle of it every other shopping trip. My two favorite things about this product: it lathers really nice, and the scent. The SCENT. Oh my god, it's so good. At least to me it is. It smells like spearmint, so it's really nice and menthol-y. One whiff of this and it clears your sinuses right up. It also does a really nice deep clean, and I always feel super refreshed after using this. As you can see in the photo, it comes in a couple different sizes, so you could either go full dirty, or you could get a small bottle and a soap bar, which is what I like to do.

5. Parsley Porridge (bar soap for body)

I know this is a really shitty picture, but it's the green soap. I am totally obsessed with this. It has parsley, aloe vera, tea tree oil, and tons of other wonderful things in it that help keep my skin nice and clear. Since I've been using this I have no breakouts on my body. None. Aside from the occasional sweat pimple where my bra hooks, but as long as I don't mess with it, it'll dry right up. I'll usually rub it onto my loofa, and i'll get a nice lather, or i'll use this thing I have that is like a scrubby loofa rag thing, and I'll wrap this in it, get a lather, and rub all over with the soap inside of the scrubber rag for a nice exfoliation. I'm serious though when I say I used to have the worst body acne, and now I don't have anything ANYWHERE. Not on my arms, not my butt, not my back, not anywhere. It is a little strong though, so I don't recommend using it on your face. But it does wonders for your body. Also, Lush does their bar soaps by weight as well, so you could either get a nice big piece to have for awhile, or a smaller piece just to try. You can get a pretty nice sized chunk of soap for like $5 from them. Usually what I do is I'll splurge and get a $20 piece, because I know that I'm going to use it all the time, and I'll have them cut it into a couple smaller, more manageable pieces. 

6. Porridge (face/body soap)

This oatmeal soap is super nice for sensitive skin, and it has actual oats in it that are perfect for natural exfoliation. I usually use this soap bar on my face, before I use anything else, because it gently cleans, and the oats naturally exfoliate. For my skin, different products that use microbeads or other man-made scrubbers are too harsh, and they actually scratch my skin. On top of that, I read that they're also not the best for the environment, because they don't break down. But this has natural oats in it, so no harm done. And they really are nice and scrubby, but they don't scratch your skin at all. They're the perfect texture. And when this lathers it's smooth and milky. I'll put this directly on my face to get the benefits of the oats' exfoliation, and then i'll lather it between my hands, and use the lather on my face. Also, I don't feel bad stacking products with this soap, because it's so gentle and soothing that I don't have worry about drying my skin out.

7. Sultana of Soap (sensitive areas)

I'm just gonna come out and say it: this soap is awesome for lady parts. It's really sensitive, really moisturizing, and has a nice milky lather. I mean you don't use a ton of it down there, but at least with my body I have to be careful with what soaps I use down there, or else I can throw my Ph balance off, or dry myself out. Don't care if it's tmi- this is my blog, and I can write whatever I want. This helps me get nice and clean, while also staying nice and balanced. This is also Jeff's favorite soap, because it's really moisturizing on his dry, cracked, worked-all-day-long hands, and it makes his skin super soft when he uses it all over. This is my go-to emergency soap as well, like if I run out of my regular facial products I'll substitute this in the meantime. It's really sensitive and moisturizing, and definitely a great soap to always have in your bathroom. I don't think we've gone more than 2 days without having this soap in our shower since we starting buying it 5 or 6 months ago. This is another product that I'll stock up on and splurge on a big chunk, because both Jeff and I love it so much.

8. Cup O'Coffee (face mask)

I do a face mask at least once a week. It's like a must for me now. Doing a face mask during the week gives me a nice deep clean, and if I go a week without doing one I definitely notice. If I'm having a week where my skin is starting to be problematic, then I'll do a mask twice a week, and that'll help clear it up. I love this mask because something about the coffee and the caffeine really helps wipe away impurities, and I've even heard that it's really good for cellulite and stretch marks, so I put some on my areas that suffer from that, too. There's also pieces of coffee grounds in this mask, so its really scrubby and exfoliating, which makes is a perfect mask; you can get a little bit of it, rub it on your face with some pressure for a nice scrub, and then put a bit more on, and let it sit. I usually line up my mask days with my shaving days, and I'll throw this mask on, and I'll leave it on while I shave. Doing this not only gives me the perfect amount of time to leave it on, but also gives me something to do while I let it sit, because if I just stand in the shower for 10-15 minutes to let the mask sink in I get bored, and I get annoyed, and I end up rinsing it off much earlier than I like to. This mask also smells amazing, so it's a really nice relaxing scent (to me at least) while I sit and shave. Definitely helps me unwind, and I look forward to my mask days because of this product. I definitely recommend this mask, it really is an all around knockout.

8. Buffy (body butter)

This product kicks ass. Literally. I rub it all over my ass, and it kicks in moisture. Seriously though, this is a really interesting, really moisturizing product. I mentioned before that I've always had oily skin, but when I got pregnant I started to get little stretch marks, and I was devastated. I didn't know what to do, because I didn't want to use something greasy, considering how prone to breakouts and clogged pores my body is. However, this product is not greasy at all. It delivers moisture, without the residue. The way it works is you wait until you're done your shower, and you wet your body, rub it GENTLY on the stretch mark affected areas, let it sit for a minute, and rinse. It makes my skin feel so silky smooth, but not greasy at all. It's crazy. I wish I knew a product like this existed much earlier, that way I could've maybe prevented some of the stretch marks on my boobs and my butt. I used it on my boobs and butt every other day, because I noticed everyday was clogging my pores a little bit in those areas, but I used it on my stomach everyday, and I have not one single stretch mark. I swear to god. But this product does have some very specific notes that I have to point out. First note is if you take really long, hot showers, it can melt the bar, so you'll want to get a tin for it (they sell tins at Lush). Also, you want to only rub, like, one layer. I made the mistake of rubbing it very hard all over my entire body, and in multiple layers, the first day I had it, and I wasted half of it. You only need to gently do one layer, and then rub it in with your hands. But if you have dry skin, this product is a life saver. Super duper moisturizing. 

9. Rub Rub Rub (body scrub)

I don't currently use this product, but when I did I loved it. Only downside is it can get pricey. But I would get a tiny scoop of it, lather it with a loofa, and then rub all over. It has little sea salt scrubbies in it, which are super nice for exfoliation, and it works up into a really nice lather with a super relaxing smell. I would use it that way, just a little bit on a loofa, for most of the week, and then one day out of the week I would splurge on an all over scrub directly on my skin, and oh my god was my skin soft. Whatever oils are in here, combined with the sea salt, they make your skin baby smooth. Like slink-out-of-the-shower-and-make-everyone-feel-how-soft-you-are kind of smooth. This stuff is like gold. If you buy it, and if you happen to share your shower with others, literally don't leave this in the shower. Everyone will want to use it, it's that good. Speaking from experience. But even though it can get a little expensive for an everyday forever kind of product, it's definitely a great product to splurge on to treat yourself every so often.

10. Sex Bomb (bath bomb)

I don't know what the hell they put in these bath bombs, but they make not only the water soft, which is crazy in itself, but they make your skin soft too after soaking in a bomb bath. And this bomb in particular is great for a nice, intimate bath. I'm not gonna get into detail, but trust me, between the scent and softness of your skin, you will be irresistible. These are also just plain fun to use: drop one in a bath, and watch the fizz push it around the tub and spit out colors. This one in particular makes the tub a really pretty purpley-pink color, and it has little soap rose petals inside it that fill the bath, too. And they're not expensive either. I mean you can spend $50+ on a dinner, plus whatever amount in gas and other things, or you could spend like $7 and have a really sweet and intimate night in. Jeff and I love using these in a bath as a date idea, it's like our thing. And once the bath is done, you leave feeling super refreshed and silky. You have to try one, at least once. They have all different kinds, with varying shapes and scents, and even holiday specials too, but this one is a classic, and it is my absolute favorite. Seriously, nothing beats taking a bath with your man in soft, colorful, scented water, with all the time in the world to get to know each other. We always have at least one in the bathroom for a pop up date at any time, all for $7. 

So now that I've sat and written about all of my favorite Lush products, I'm gonna go use all of them, because I made them sound really good. Hopefully my long ramblings didn't bore ya to death! Lots of luck for your next Lush adventure :)

Love always,

Liza Jane