LUSH - First Impressions

For those of you who aren't familiar with Lush (umm..where have you been!?), they're a company that makes fresh, organic "cosmetics"(hair, body, makeup, perfume products, etc.). And if you have a favorite YouTube "Beauty Guru", chances are they have a video on some of their products or have at least mentioned them.  That's how I heard about it and I've always wanted to try out some of their stuff.  I looked into a bunch of reviews, and just did some general research on what were the most recommended products, what worked best for a certain issue, etc. I finally narrowed it down to three products (out of like 15 that I want! lol)! I ordered them online (because I knew if I went to their store, I'd lose my willpower and by more than just my 3 picks!) and received them in the mail yesterday and IMMEDIATELY tried them all out. So here are my first impressions of these products.

What are my three products?!

• Mask of Magnaminty ($12.95 4.4 oz)
• Jumping Juniper ($10.95 1.09 oz)
• Grease Lightning ($13.95 1.5 oz)

I decided on these because a) I was looking for a good clarifying shampoo because I have an oily scalp and dry ends. b) I didn't actually have a face mask (for my oily/combination/acne prone skin) and c) I didn't really have anything for spot treatments to help my occasional acne. So I went to Lush's website (www.lush.com), checked out what products they had to help with my "issues" and to also look at products I had seen mentioned on YouTube.  I then went to my trusty sidekick - Google, and started looking at additional reviews and product comparisons. Alas, my final three. 

The UPS man dropped them off yesterday evening and I pretty much opened the box, snapped a quick picture for this blog, and ran into the shower to try everything out. So I'll give you my first impressions of these three products and hopefully it'll help in your decision making if you're in the market.

Jumping Juniper:

I was very curious and skeptical about this little guy. Prior to this I had never used a solid shampoo, but lucky for me, their website has a video about their solid shampoos.

Here's the description from the Lush website:

HERBAL HAIR MAGIC TO TRANSFORM OILY HAIR

Our purple shampoo bar jumps into action to sort out oil problems on top. It cleans away grease and balances sebum production for soft, shiny (in the good way) hair. Fruity juniper berry oil sorts out your oily, congested scalp, while lemon and lime make your hair clean and shiny and give it an extra fresh scent. The incredible herbal duo, lavender and rosemary are superpowers if you're having troubles in the oil department. Rosemary has been used for hundreds of years for its antibacterial capabilities, while lavender is known for its ability to balance and soothe the scalp. You'll be jumping for joy in no time!

FEATURES

• Puts the jump into it: Citrus oils of lemon and lime add shine and bounce to your style.

• Herbal wonders: Lavender and rosemary work to soothe scalps and balance oil production to improve the condition of your hair.

• Very berry: Juniper Berry oil is astringent and decongests oil buildup on hair.

From what I've read, "I Love Juicy" is comparable to this shampoo except it's a liquid, but it's also designed for oily hair. The reviews I read were 50/50, so I figured I couldn't go wrong with my decision but decided to go with this Jumping Juniper because it was cheaper and you're supposed to get like 80 uses out of it! :)

So, I wet my hair, wet the shampoo bar and just kinda glided it over my hair. (You can also lather up the product on your hand and then put it on your hair.) It lathers surprisingly well! And it smells pretty good too! I was really impressed, but it only got better! Lots better! So not only does it lather well and smell yummy - I could smell the lavender, rosemary and hint of lemon, but I could seriously feel a difference in my hair! Like it actually felt soft, which I wasn't expecting for something that is supposed to be clarifying. So I thoroughly lathered up my hair, rinsed off the shampoo bar and set it aside. As I was rinsing it out of my hair, it did not rinse out easily, unlike my other shampoos, but that's not a big deal to me.:) And since my hair felt so soft, even after rinsing, I didn't even put in my conditioner.

Combing my hair wasn't an issue either. Sometimes my hair is full of tangles after using a clarifying shampoo, but I didn't really have any issues. My hair is kinda frizzy, but I didn't really see much of a change in that department. I let my hair air dry and it was super shiny, soft and still smelled good!  The best part for me, is that, normally my hair would start getting oily by the next day but that's not the case now! My hair is still shiny, soft, and smells yummy (not as strong but the scent is still there).

After I showered, I applied the Mask of Magnaminty.

Here's the description from the Lush website:

MAKES DIRT A DISTANT MEMORY

Mask of Magnaminty isn't technically a daily ‘facial wash’; it’s actually a deep cleansing face and back mask. China clay and fresh peppermint reach deep down to pull the debris from your pores, giving you that delightful tingly-clean sensation. We add loads of aduki beans to exfoliate flaky or dry skin, vanilla absolute to calm redness and honey to soothe. Our inventors created Mask of Magnaminty to be the ‘ultimate face mask’, intense but not harsh or abrasive on the skin. We recommend using Mask of Magnaminty weekly to keep the skin in good condition.

FEATURES

• No need to refrigerate: Mask of Magnaminty contains an effective blend of deep cleansing oils instead of perishable ingredients.

• Suitable to most skin types: Except for those sensitive to peppermint.

• Deep cleansing minty mask: We blend bentonite gel into our recipe to clean the pores deeply and tighten at the same time.

Upon opening this, I could smell the peppermint, and to me it smelled just like Spearmint gum. I used my Clarisonic first and then applied this all over my face and left it on for about 10 min. It definitely has the tingly cooling sensation which I liked. The texture kinda reminds me of mashed avocados but with wood chips lol. The "wood chips" are the aduki beans, but to me they reminded me of mini wood chips that didn't hurt the skin but exfoliated it. After the 10 minute mark, the mask was dry to the touch, I rinsed it off with warm water and patted my face dry. I was left with a cool fresh feeling that just felt clean. I know that it's too soon to tell if my skin is really going to like this stuff, but so far, it felt really clean afterwards...so, so far so good!

I honestly can't remember if I applied moisturizer after that...I know applied eye cream, but I think I forgot the moisturizer...whoops. I can thank my insomnia for my spotty memory :( But anyways... I DO KNOW that I applied Grease Lightening after the mask.

Here's the description from the Lush website:

TEA TREE GEL FOR ACNE-PRONE SKIN
We’re often too upset over blemishes to stop and consider what they are; a clogged pore that has become inflamed because of built-up bacteria. Let’s take a deep breath together. There you go. Now apply Grease Lightning, our super effective, spot-zapping face gel. The antibacterial combination of thyme, tea tree and rosemary infusion dries invisibly as it goes to work shrinking your mini volcanoes. Our herbal infusion conditions the skin, while grape juice cleanses and keeps spots free of dirt. See? Not so scary after all.

FEATURES

• Get rid of ‘unwelcome visitors’: Everyone can use Grease Lightning on unsightly blemishes.

• For a matte finish: Grease Lightning also works well to control excess oil, especially your T-zone.

• 500 green grapes in every batch: Combat the dirt that builds around spots with fresh green grapes.

Yay for spot treatments! haha So I heard a ton of good stuff on this and honestly, every spot treatment I've used in the past hasn't really done anything for me. And one thing I constantly read was that this is NOT a "quick fix", so this is another item that I will have to keep using and report back later. But hey, I did say it was "first impressions" ;) hehe.

So I do have a couple "unwelcome visitors" and Grease Lightening comes in a pump bottle, and FYI, ONE pump is probably all you'll need. About a dime size amount of product came out, so I now know to carefully press on the pump lol. But I applied it on my "visitors" and patted it into my skin. I goes on clear and surprisingly does dry matte. Since I had a little bit of product left over, I applied it to my nose because it tends to get really oily. I did notice that a few hours later, my nose was oily again, so I don't know if that's because this was a first time use and my skin was rebelling, or if I needed to put more on, or what. So I think there will have to be some more trial and error situations before I get it down pack. I will say that since I put this on before I went to bed that my skin was really soft in the morning and just felt good...if that makes sense. lol 

So there you have it, my first impressions of my first Lush..."haul"? lol I still have a huge Lush wishlist that I want to get into but I'm really trying to finish using up a bunch of my products before buying any additional stuff. Which is why only these three little guys made the cut....I didn't have anything like them in my current routine. ;) But overall, I'm impressed and I look forward to trying out more or their stuff! I'm pretty sure the lip scrub is next...muahahaha! lol :)