Lush Oatifix Fresh Face Mask review

As promised in my Catastrophe Cosmetic review, here is the Oatifix one! I decided to give this one a try after my best friend raved about it and when Lush was out of Catastrophe Cosmetic. I decided to just buy it instead of sampling and I'm really happy I did.

Lush Fresh Face masks are natural and fresh. They must be kept refrigerated, they also have a short shelf life. I keep mine in the freezer, which really extends their life. You can only purchase these in store, since they are so fresh.

                              (This isn't a picture of a fresh pot, it has been used a few times, fyi.)

Oatifix is great for dry skin. It contains ingredients like oatmeal, bananas, vanilla and ground almonds. It is also great for sensitive skin. This is a thicker mask with all of the oatmeal, so you may need to apply a thicker layer than you normally would with a mask. It smells really, really good. Just like a cookie! One of my favorite Lush employees told me when I bought it that she has to fight off the urge to eat it every time she uses it!

Every time I use it, my skin is calmed and it feels extremely soft and also moisturized. This is a great mask and is definitely one of my favorites. 

August Glambag review

It's the end of August, know what that means? Time for my review of the Ipsy August Glam Bag! For those of you that still may not know, Ipsy is this great beauty subscription service that sends 4-5 products (a mixture of full and deluxe sample sized) for just $10 a month. This is my fourth bag and by now I can for sure say these bags are worth it! They are great if you want to try new products. If you decide to sign up, please use my refferal link ( http://www.ipsy.com/?refer=u-h051r3lzwoa89xn ). If you do, I'll be sure to thank you in a post on the blog.

Here are the products that I got in my bag this month: 

Smashbox Photofinish foundation primer

 

Size: Deluxe sample

This is one of my favorite primers, I was very happy to get this in my bag. I have already reviewed it in my Smashbox Try it kit review. If you would like to check it out, you can read it here.

                                   Pixie Beauty Lash Booster mascara in Blackest Black

Size: Deluxe sample

This mascara didn't do much for me. I naturally have very long lashes that usually need a bit of volume. This mascara lengthens, defines and even curls a bit. The extra bit of curling I got from it was nice. I wear glasses and often have a problem with my eyelashes hitting the lenses if not curled enough. If you have shorter lashes, this would probably great for you. It is indeed waterproof as promised. It survived through rain and some emotional moments. I personally wouldn't buy this mascara, as it doesn't have the one crucial benefit I need.

                                                  Micabeauty Eyeshadow in Bronze

                                                                                                                                                                                                         
 

Size: Full

This is a great eyeshadow. It is a beautiful bronze shade which looks great paired with my blue eyes. Although I have a few similar colored ones, I still really liked this.  It is a loose eyeshadow. Many people don't like loose shadows simply because they don't know how to work with them or think they're too messy. I personally love working with them. The packaging is simple and good for a loose shadow. It has a two holed sifter rather than a four holed one which I have seen a lot in loose powder products. I like it, as it doesn't allow too much product out. The eyeshadow its self is really pigmented. It blends very easily and has a great texture. I never apply eyeshadow without primer, it lasted well with it. I didn't notice any fallout.

                                                   Urban Decay Revolution lipstick in 69

 To clarify, I am pale, but not that pale! I had to take this picture on my phone and it just happened to make me paler.

Size: Deluxe sample

I was really excited that I got this. Urban Decay is one of my favorite brands. When I saw this new lipstick line, I was over the moon! I was a bit disappointed at the size, but I am just happy I had the chance to try it at all. The shade I received is 69. In the tube it looks like a classic bright red. When applied it has a pink undertone. It is a pretty unique shade of red. On me, the pink undertone is more obvious. In the swatch picture above, the pink undertone was captured a little too much. The actual product is a bit redder, but this is a great representation of what shade of undertone there is. This is a very pigmented lipstick! One layer contains full opacity, which is nice. It goes on smooth and creamily. You may want to wear a lip primer with this lipstick though and you may need touch it up a few times as it transferred easily. It did feel a tad dry after a while but for me that isn't a problem. I absolutely loved this lipstick. I am a queen of red lipstick, I have a lot. I always say I have too many and won't get more...but then I find another shade that I have to have. This is one of those. I will for sure eventually be purchasing the full size and it will be a great addition to my lipstick collection.

                                    Michael Todd Pumpkin Nutrient Rich Facial Mask

 Size: Deluxe sample

This is another product I was excited for. I love face masks. I have been looking for one to have around to use when I run out of my beloved Lush ones and can't get to Lush to buy more. This is deluxe sample/travel sized which turned out to be a pretty decent size. This mask claims to be nutrient rich and provide anti wrinkle as well as softness benefits. It also says it is suitable to all but sensitive skin types. Although I'm not old enough to have wrinkles, it made my skin feel amazing. My face definitely felt full of nutrients. Very soft and notably smoother. The texture is good, it isn't heavy and you only need a thin layer. To me, it looks like pumpkin baby food. The pumpkin scent is nice but strong. Perfect for pumpkin lovers. The only issue I had was that this mask burned for about the first 5 minutes of wear. It is definitely not for super sensitive skin. I didn't particularly enjoy the burning but I didn't mind it. This face mask won't replace my Lush ones, but I did like it. If you don't have sensitive skin and love pumpkin, try it!

In all, I really liked this bag. My favorite item being the UD lipstick. The bag its self this month was super cute! It is purple with a gold crest print all over it. The crest has little makeup pictures in it. It is a sturdy material. I really want to use it as my purse makeup bag. The theme was Glamour Academy which I think fits well with the products in it. Great for beauty beginners with some basics and some new products to try. I would have loved to try the cheek stain that some people got, but I am very satisfied with what I did get.

I can't wait to see what  I will be getting next month!

Lush Catastrophe Cosmetic Fresh Face Mask review

I had been hooked on the Cupcake Fresh Face mask for a while. Lush has so many other face masks that I decided to try some of their other masks (also because Cupcake would be super drying to me at times). Among my favorites are Oatifix (which I will be reviewing soon) and Catastrophe Cosmetic. I had gotten a sample while in the store one day and fell in love at first use. I absolutely had to buy it! Sadly, it took me about four trips to my local Lush to finally buy it. Why? Every time I went it was completely sold out! People either loved it as much as I do or I came on the day before a new shipment came.

Anyway, onto this product and why I love it.

Lush's Fresh Face masks are made with fresh and natural ingredients. They have a short shelf life and they have to be kept in the fridge. Because of that, they can only be bought in store. I keep mine in the freezer and they actually last much longer.

 (It looks weird in the pot, this is because of how the product settled in my bag before I was able to get home and pop it in the fridge)

Some of the ingredients in Catastrophe Cosmetic are fresh blueberries, calamine powder, Irish moss and almond oil. It smells amazing, like a mixture of the blueberries and calamine. To me, it is a calming scent. This mask has antioxidants which are great for your skin. This mask cleanses your pores very well. The calamine in it leaves a calming effect, which is great for those with redness in their face like myself. It is a blue-grey color with little flakes of blueberry throughout. The consistency isn't too thick, so you use a little less product than you would if you were to use Oatifix.

After using, my face always feels very soft and clean. My face smells really good and my redness is calmed down. If you would like a redness calming product or a product that will help clean our your pores after wearing a lot of makeup, you should try this. And if you love face masks, definitely give this one a try!

Weekly Beauty Tip #58: Use a face mask

Use a face mask at least once weekly to relax and get some extra skincare benefits that your cleanser or moisturizer may not give you.

Lush reviews

This post is going to be short reviews of some of the Lush products from my Lush haul (http://lipstickxzombie.blogspot.com/2013/02/lush-haul.html). I have already reviewed Lush Shower Jelly (http://lipstickxzombie.blogspot.com/2013/01/review-lush-shower-jelly.htmll). I will not be reviewing every item from my haul yet, I haven't tried everything yet but once I do I will post reviews.

My first review will be of the Toner Tabs.

I don't remember what the name of these Toner Tabs were, but I got them as part of Lush's after Christmas sale and they were buy 1 get 1 free. To use these you boil some water, pour it into a bowl and plop in one of these tabs. Then you stick your face over the bowl and cover your head with a towel. This will steam out your pores, cleaning out all of the dirt in them. Afterwards you wipe your face with the toner in the bowl. What I thing is even cooler about this product is that you can take that toner (cool it first) , put it in some sort of bottle and use it as a toner for about a week (make sure to keep it in the fridge). Even though $2-$3 may seem a bit much for one of these little tabs, they are effective and  you can get a pretty good bang for your buck. After using these my skin felt very clean and it felt soft.

Next up is the Cupcake Fresh Face Mask.

First off, I love this product so, so much! Lush Fresh Face Masks are only sold in stores, they are made with fresh ingredients and they will spoil within a few weeks. These also must be stored in the refrigerator. I keep mine in the freezer, which also helps it last longer. I have combination skin and I have been getting a lot of breakouts lately so I thought that this mask would help. It did! The very first time I used it I noticed a difference, it also minimized some of the redness in my face and made my skin very soft. Any time I wax my eyebrows I always get breakouts around my eyebrows. Twice I have used this mask right after waxing and I didn't get a single breakout. This mask is a life saver! It smells great and even though it doesn't look like a lot of product, I got many uses out of this pot. I am devastated that I'm out of it, I can't wait until I can buy more of this.

                                                           Popcorn Lip Scrub

 As mentioned in my previous post, this was part of Lush's after Christmas sale. My friend bought one and gave me the free one. I've been a little hesitant to buy one of their lip scrubs myself. When I first saw one in the store I thought, $10 for this little thing? I now kick myself for even thinking that! A little bit goes a very, very long way with Lush's lip scrubs. So $10 is actually a pretty good price. I've been using mine since early January 1-2 times a week and I haven't even put a dent into it. This is a really, really good lip scrub. It gets all of the dried skin off of my lips. It leaves them soft and flake free. It makes it so much better and easier for me to wear OCC Lip Tars and some of my more matte lipsticks. This lip scrub smells and tastes amazing, just like kettle corn. When this pot is dwindling I am most definitely going to buy the Bubble Gum scrub. I smelled it in the store and it smells heavenly.

                                                             Ocean Salt Facial Cleanser

The very first product from Lush's website that drew me in was the Ocean Salt cleanser. I really wanted to buy it to try it, but it is SO expensive! When I went to my local Lush, one of the sales girls gave me a sample of this. When I first used it I wasn't very impressed. I didn't think it cleansed my face well and it tasted (I accidentally got some in my mouth) and smelled like margarita salt. But, I tried it two more times using more product and now I absolutely love this cleanser. It is very refreshing and leaves my skin feeling great. It exfoliates and moisturizes well. I recommend only using this once or twice a week, if you use it ever day the exfoliation will be too much. That being said, I love this product and even though the price tag is very steep, I am planning on eventually buying this product.

The very last product I will be reviewing today is the Daddy - O shampoo.

I was looking at the shampoos at Lush and the sales girl asked me if I would like to try anything. I was overwhelmed by all of the different shampoos so I let her pick something for me. She picked Daddy - O because I have a lot of blonde in my hair since all of the different colors (the pink, blue and purple) have now faded away. The purple is meant to make blonde hair more blonde. After a few uses, it does work. I have one spot in my hair that is orangey from my faded pink hair (oh, how I can't wait to dye it again), this shampoo took away some of the orangeyness. My favorite thing about this shampoo is the smell. It smells so good! It has a lavender scent to it and the scent stays with my hair after shampooing.

Lush haul

Here it is, finally, my Lush haul post! This is all the result of 2 visits to a local Lush store with a friend. These were from my first few Lush visits ever, so I'm pretty new to all of these products and to Lush its self. Some of the samples I haven't gotten to try yet, but once I do I'll do a review on all of them. The picture backgrounds and quality are a bit different. I had taken pictures of everything at two different times with different cameras and different backgrounds.

One of the coolest things I got was the Toner Tabs.

I originally bought 2 of them, but I had used one by the time I had taken pictures for this post. I will be posting a review of this along with a few other products from this haul on Monday.

Next I bought 2 Whoosh Shower Jellies. I had used my first pot a few times and loved it so much that I had to buy another when I had the chance. I have already reviewed this, you can find the review at: http://lipstickxzombie.blogspot.com/2013/01/review-lush-shower-jelly.html .

Cupcake Fresh Face Mask. I had been dying to try one of these masks, my review will be in Monday's post.

 Popcorn lip scrub. I had wanted to try one of Lush's lip scrubs very badly, luckily they had the buy 1 get 1 free sale after Christmas. My friend bought one and didn't want 2 of them so she gave me one.

 And lastly, I got a bunch of samples to try out. The ladies at my local Lush were very nice and let me get a sample of everything that I had wanted to try out.

Here are all of the samples that I got, a few of these will be on Monday's post:

                                                    Love Lettuce Fresh Face Mask

                                                                Retread Conditioner

                                                              Imperialis Face Moisturizer

                                                              Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter

                                                             Ocean Salt Facial Cleanser

                                                                     Rehab Shampoo

For some reason I do not have a picture of the top of my last sample, Daddy - O Shampoo.

That's it for this haul post! As I mentioned a few times, there will be a post on Monday of some mini reviews of some of these products. For anyone who is sick of my haul posts, I only have one left so please hang in there!