Minnie's Beauty Minute - Have a deLUSHious Christmas - part 1

I kept the usual title but today it's me and not Minnie writing, she hasn't been there all week-end, and I have some goodies to show you from Lush's range of Christmas products.

To face the cold long evenings of Winter, Minnie and I decided to treat ourselves and dive into the gorgeous scented products that Lush releases every year. I don't know about you but anything evocative of cinammon, ginger, marzipan or vanilla makes me instantly happy, so I was literally jumping all over the day we received the package. I'll break down my reviews in several parts, first because it was a really big order and second because it takes time to try everything!!

The Melting Snowman

Bath melts are way less dramatic than ballistics in that they don't fizz and fuzz and explode in your tub, they just slowly and softly dissolve, revealing a wonderful smell and drenching your skin with goody products. The Melting Snowman has a gorgeous smell, mixing Stollen and Christmas pudding (in case you don't know what Stollen is, it's a German Christmas bread with candied fruits and marzipan). It contains cocoa and shea butter and leaves the skin very soft and moisturized. I have very dry skin and cannot usually bear waiting more than five minutes once I'm out of the bath to put my body butter, but this time I felt perfectly fine.

Candy Cane Soap

Though it's specifically said on the website, you cannot help being a tiny bit disappointed on receiving a chunk of soap that doesn't look like this ->

Once that disappointment is over, you can fully enjoy the delicious smell of cherry and feel the fresh and awakening effect of peppermint. I used to avoid soap because of my dry skin, but Lush soaps are just amazing and I might stash several pieces of this because it's simply fantastic to wake up in the morning!

Glögg

Do you like mulled wine? I do, a lot (though I get dizzy very quickly so I don't usually drink a lot of it). Do you know that tingling warm sensation that seems to go right down to your toes, and the explosion of spice and orange in your mouth? Well, that's exactly what Glögg does to you, wrapping you in warmth and spice from head to toe. If you want to enjoy mulled wine without the dizziness, Glögg is what you need!

Buche de Noël

I would probably not  have gone for that product if I had not just ran out of face scrub when I placed my order, so I decided I could give it a try. I know my flaws and I'm usually quite rough when it comes to face scrubbing, so I figured that using a milder product would limit the damage. I don't use it everyday, but once to twice a week, usually under the shower. Instructions say to mix a peanut size amount with water, I tried that and the resulting mess was quite appalling, so now I take it under the shower, when my face is just a bit wet and apply it directly before rubbing it until I feel the work's done! It also has a very Christmassy smell, a mix of orange and cocoa butter, yuuummmy!

Snow Fairy Lip Tint

If you're familiar with Lush Christmas range, or with the Godmother soap (my all-time favourite) you know what the Snow Fairy smell is, a delicious combo of bubble-gum and fairy dust. Christmas time is the moment to stack up on the Snow Fairy range and there are new products this year, among which the Lip Tint. It carries Snow Fairy's signature smell and gives a lovely light bubblegum pink tint to your lips. Though after some use, I find its moisturizing properties to be a bit light for winter, or maybe it's just another excuse to take out the fairy dust box several times a day!

Minnie's Beauty Minute - Perfume(s)

 Ok, so it's official, this post is cursed. Minnie found tons of pictures to illustrate it but I never could include them in Blogger. Then, I tried to find them again on internet to download them directly, but I couldn't include them in Picasa to post here. So, after seeing this message for three weeks in my draft folder, I decided to post it without pictures and see later if I have the time to try again!

There I am again!! This time I've decided to share my crazy and boundless love for perfume with you... Anyone who's been unlucky enough to enter a Sephora with me know that I can stay in there for hours (which is great, because it means time for me to be in the make-up/nail polish sections!!)! I still remember with emotion my school trip to Molinard in Grasse back in 1995 and my first "true perfumes" bought in Yves Rocher thanks to my grandma's fidelity vouchers! The It perfume back then was Magnolia with its sweet, soft and subtle notes, but I also loved Cap Nature Red Berries, Cap Nature Vanilla (a bit too sweet to be honest) and the legendary Perle Nature with its very girly pretty pink box. If Yves Rocher is quite an acceptable reference in terms of perfumes, I soon grew out of it and fell into the world of luxury brands: Calvin Klein and Contradiction (urban and pure), Emporio Armani and She (very sensual and feminine), Givenchy and Eau Torride (fire under ice!), Lolita Lempicka and Lolita (magic mix of violette and liquorice), Sisley and Eau de Campagne (fresh and bubbly), Van Cleef & Arpels and Féerie (rose, blackcurrant and violet), Dior and J'adore Summer Perfume (to wear in the sun without risk), Kenzo and Ca sent Beau (definitely flowery and lemony) and of course Thierry Mugler and Angel (come on, who hasn't tried this one at some point?)

It's not an exhaustive list but it shows quite clearly that I've developped a strong taste for violet (Lolita and Féerie) that culminated with Angel Violet, which is sadly no longer produced. This was probably the only perfume I could have been faithful to, and I have to admit that I was devastated when I couldn't find it any more. I then turned back to old loves (Grasse roses, not Yves Rocher!!) and chose Parisienne from Yves Saint Laurent (violet still with some Damas rose).

Minnie's Beauty Minute - YSL Touche Eclat

Hi! Lélie kidnapped me out of my books to have me write a review of one of my favourite products, this time a classic in the beauty world, Touche Eclat from Yves Saint Laurent. I'm not one to buy in luxury brands, but in the summer sales, Sephora was discounting a YSL pack with Touche Eclat and a mini-mascara (super handy to keep in my nightwatch bag), so I gave it a try.


I have quite a nice skin and I never had to put anything on in it in terms of foundation or powder. I would never have thought of applying blush if I hadn't had one on my Too Faced palette. I also think that I had gotten used to my tired eyes, they were part of the mandatory "doctor look". But I have to admit that now, I wouldn't be able to do without my magical pen to have a fresh face!!

Touche Eclat is like the fairy godmother of tired eyes and dull face in the morning... I cannot tell you what it's made of, but this little pen really works miracles in the mirror (mirror, mirror on the wall) of the bathroom! Circles, uneven tone, any imperfection is erased with a light touch of this non-greasy product that blends in easily and gives a fantastic glow to your face! It can also work as a very good base or be used alone with a touch of blush for a beautiful nude look that's perfect for a non-foundation girl like me! The pen format is super handy and you can slide it in your bag to keep your magic wand close by and always look like a princess!!

Minnie's Beauty Minute - LUSH Glorious Mud

 

According to the description on the French website, Glorious Mud was inspired by the Finnish ritual of sauna, that Finns enter 'covered in mud'. I've been to Finland a couple of times, I know many things about the sauna rituals, and I've never seen anyone enter a sauna covered in mud... but anyway. Anything including a reference to Finland is more than welcome by me, so I decided to try this product and expose my glory... in mud!

Lélie says "I would sure like to share a sauna with this eye-candy, mud or no mud!!"

This shower scrub looks anything but sexy, and the smell is no improvement. And while we're in the negative points, rhassoul is not exactly commonly used in Finland, be it in the sauna or outside. However, since you're supposed to let the mud dry on your wet skin ten minutes after application, using it in a sauna would be quite a good idea... or at least a very well heated bathroom!! Once rinsed (and heated up... maybe actually it's a Finn that you need for that, more than a sauna!!!), this scrub does leave your skin very soft and fully moisturized. With a strong scent too, but you're far away from the wooden smell of a sauna, it's a very sweet mix of vanilla and chocolate, and for once, I would prefer the former!! Not my favourite product to use, but I have to admit it's very efficient, and as usual with LUSH products, it's earthfriendly since one piece can easily last 3 or 4 times.

Minnie's Beauty Minute - Too Faced Enchanted GlamourLand Palette

Heeelllllooooo dear friends!! I'm back! Sorry for the long absence, but I'm currently finishing my M.D. with a specialization in pediatrics, so I have two research papers to write, all this while working full time with a lot of night shifts, I really don't have a lot of time.

So today I'm gonna tell you about a product that's not only one of my favourites to use but one of my favourites as an object: the Too Faced Enchanted Glamourland Palette. I'm not a beauty blogger, I'm more interested in telling you what I think of a product than of making a long and in-depth presentation, so if you want to have technical information, I encourage you to read this article. The pictures are numerous and very acurate.

So, what does Minnie think of this palette? Well, first thing first, I was like a little girl when I opened the package at Christmas, it's so pretty!! It takes you straight to Fairyland, a very girly, sparkly, sugar-coated Fairyland! And unlike some other palettes, the decorated part is not just for decoration, you find the blush & bronzer on one side and the little cards for make-up tutorial on the other. The main part is the detachable drawer with the eyeshadows, primer potion and the gloss. This palette is very complete, you can do your complete look with it and a mascara.

Now to individual impressions about products: 

Blush & Bronzer: I love the pink blush, it does give you a doll's face look, but I'm not very keen on the bronzer (weeeeell, to be honest, I naively thought you were supposed to use only one colour at a time and didn't know which one to choose!! But even with a wide brush, it's a bit too dark for me // But I do use it :p !! Lélie).

The Glamour Gloss supposedly makes your lips bigger, and it works for me even if the effect is not the most pleasant ever. The primer potion is quite different from the UD one, it's quite greasy and oily, but once you're used to it, the efficiency is equivalent.

Now to the eye-shadows: the pastel shades are my least favourite, firstly because they stay a lot in the nude/beige zone and are a bit redundant, and secondly because they are quite sheer. I would have liked colours like baby pink, lilac or baby blue.

But for the others, they're just fantastic. The exclusive shades are really original, and all the shades go well together so it's super easy to create looks even when you're a total make-up n00b like me!! My favourite ones are Toy-Boy and Exclusive 3.

This palette is for me the perfect Christmas gift: beautiful with a touch of magic, very useful and a perfect tool for a beginner. So if you want to look like this,

go and try to find this beauty!!

Minnie's Beauty Minute - How LUSH gave me my perfect shampoo

Hello everyone! This is the moment when I come out of my den (full of medical research stuff) to tell you about some beauty products. This week we're back with LUSH, testing some of their shampoos this time. I first tried three of their solid shampoo bars, Godiva, Squeaky Green and Seanik.

Some general remarks about the solid shampoo bars: 

It takes some time getting used to, you can either cut a bit of the bar or rub it directly on your skull. Honestly, it's not my favourite way of washing my hair, but well, one has to admit that it's very earth-friendly: you use very little product each time, so it lasts a long time, and there's no plastic bottle. All of my tests were done without conditioner and with two consecutive shampoos, because I found it was better with those bars: at the first round, it doesn't foam at all, I felt like adding a second dose. In the end, just as with the soaps, I did have a feeling of "really clean hair", more than with normal shampoos.

Godiva: 

Godiva is supposedly the sexiest shampoo ever, a shampoo+conditionner combo that will enable to cloak yourself with your healthy shiny hair. Maybe it was because of the big promises, but I have to admit I was a bit disappointed by it. It's fine, but nothing more, and I'm not really keen on jasmine so the scent quite bothered me.

Squeaky Green: 

 

Natural products sometimes have a reputation of not being very glamourous, and that's the case with Squeaky Green. Of course, appearance is not primordial, but honestly, this "doubtful green" bar is no decoration improvement to your bathroom. I was neither pleased or displeased with the smell, it didn't make a long-lasting impression on me, and the result was fine, not much to say about it.

Seanik: 

Of the three solid shampoo bars I tested, this one is definitely my favourite. Very nice smell (because you don't smell the jasmine, or at least I didn't!!), it's very fresh and leaves your hair soft and shiny, even without a conditioner. I was about to elect this one as the top, until I discovered...

Rehab: 

Before telling your more about this shampoo, I'm gonna explain shortly what kind of hair I have. It's curly and very dry, which means that I never leave it curly, because it looks ugly and frizzy, I always take the straightening irons out and try to discipline my mane. It usually makes it look ok, but I seldom find it pretty, my hair always feels like straw under my fingers, and mostly, it bothers not to be able to leave it curly from time to time...

So one evening, I take out the sample from Rehab to wash my hair, toweldry it after the shower and tie it up before starting to work on my research. Maybe an hour later, I take of my hair pin and discover the most beautiful curls my hair had ever experienced: big, round, shiny, it was simply amazing. And even the day after, my hair still felt amazing, I straightened it in no time before going to work, and it was so sleek and shiny!! I never had that with any shampoo and there's no doubt that a big bottle of Rehab will be in my next LUSH shopping cart. If you have damaged dry hair, you have to try it!!

See you next week, I might take a break from bath/body products and do some make-up!!

Minnie's Beauty Minute - Philosophy "Sweet on You" beauty set

It's Sunday again, so it's time for another Minnie's Beauty Minute, with a lovely set from Philosophy "Sweet on You" that was released for Valentine's Day. 

This comes from the sales because honestly, with the tons of shower/bath gels and moisturizers that are in the bathroom, getting this set at full price wasn't necessary. It is composed of two 4fl.oz/ 120ml bottles, one bath/shower gel and one body lotion, and one lipgloss, all with a candy heart flavour and comes in a cute box: 

I will first review the lipgloss since it's a bit apart from the other two items. As often with Philosophy products, the smell is lovely, reminiscent of watermelon. It's very glossy, so very sticky and while you definitely feel moisture when you put it on, it doesn't last, but that's just another excuse to apply it more often!!

The real crush in this set is the showergel/body lotion set. We do not have candy hearts in France, but the sweet smell with a touch of liquorice takes me back to one of my favourite places on Earth:

 The Boardwalk Candy Palace on Main Street in Disneyland Paris. I love this place, not so much because of the products, they are pretty much the same as you find everywhere on the park, but because of the "scenery", the atmosphere, the sense of detail... yeah, I could go on all day, and a visit at the park is never complete without a moment in that shop.

Needless to say I love this set, but while the smell isn't overwhelming once it's on your skin, I could understand it'd be a bit too much for some people. Personally, I'm eagerly waiting for the full size bottles to be available in France!

Moisture-wise, the body lotion is a bit thicker than the ones I usually use (either my perfume one or the body purees from the Body Shop), it's halfway between a lotion and a butter.

As I said before, I didn't need this set when it came out so I wouldn't have paid 23 euros, but at half-price, it made me discover what is now my favourite line of Philosophy products (and I've tested a couple, but I'll tell you about that another time).

Have a nice Sunday!