DeLUSHious Sunday Treats: Buffy Body Butter

I don't know about you, but when I hear the term "body butter" I picture a lotion tub with gooey-buttery, creamy goodness in it. I mean, if something claims to be butter, should it look like this?



Unpleasing to the eye as it may be, I have to say, I love Buffy!

 

Buffy comes in a solid form as you can see in my very professional cell-phone photograph and the picture from the LUSH website, which is why I was confused as to how in the world I would slather its buttery properties on my body, of course as always LUSH came to the rescue with some pretty handy instructions.

 

 

“Massage our Buffy body butter all over your wet skin in the bath or shower to make you softer and smooth to the touch, paying special attention to your backside. We add ground rice, almonds and beans to Buffy to act as exfoliants; the rough textures eliminate lumps and bumps and sloughs away dry skin cells to reveal brighter, fresher looking skin. Rinse off the exfoliating bits and pat yourself dry. There's no need for body lotion after a Buffy slaying session, because the cocoa and shea butters keep your skin beautifully smooth, moisturized and soft to the touch.”

 

Oh! I need to be wet… (insert “that’s what she said” here)

Some pretty hefty claims if I do say so myself, especially for something that looks quite plain. However once again, judging a book by its cover did not work for me. For several days Buffy sat inside a LUSH bag in my bathroom, unused, not even touched or sniffed, it was borderline neglect. It wasn’t until I needed to exfoliate so I could use a skirt that I brought this baby out, and boy am I glad I did.

 

and that's what it looks like after being abused for about a month, this used to be the big size.

While in the shower I literally buffed my body with Buffy, and I immediately felt its moisturizing properties, it was amazing. For someone with dry skin like me, this bar of essential oils and shea butter is a life-saver. Add to that the fact that it smells quite pleasing, and the fact that it exfoliates brilliantly and you’ve got yourself a must-have product for those of us who suffer with dry or dull looking skin. I should also point out that my self-tanner went on so much more evenly and easily after I used Buffy, no more awkward dry patches!

I hate to say anything negative about “Buffy, the dead skin slayer” but this stuff melts so easy if you leave it in the shower, not only that, but I have to shut off the water while I use it, and if I use too much, after I rinse, my bathtub gets all slippery, which could be quite serious to a klutz like yours truly. So if you are considering purchasing this body butter, do keep in mind that it is a bit high maintenance, not only that, but it’s not cheap. This retails for $11.95 for 3.3 ounces and $22.95 for 7.0 ounces, not a whole lot of product, but if you can spare the change, it’s worth it.

Another thing, when I pair this with my Ro’s Argan body conditioner, oh my goodness, my skin feels heavenly, it brings out the narcissist in me, and I like it J

Hope you enjoyed this week’s LUSH review, see you next Sunday!

-Angie

Wishlist for Fall and Winter!

Wish list for fall and winter 2012!

What I would really love this fall, is actually to take a vacation, but wishing for that while knowing it’s not going to happen, well it’s a tad bit painful. So here are some products I wish to purchase for fall, I probably will only end up buying two or three of these items as the economy is pretty bad, but hey wishing is free!

1.       A Michael Kors handbag.

Yes, you just read about me complaining about how poor I am, yet I have the audacity to say I want a name brand purse. However I have wanted one of these babies for a long time now. While I don’t think I will purchase this for myself this season, maybe I’ll buy it for myself as a Christmas present, because I know Santa won’t buy it for me, I’m probably at the top of his naughty” list.

Someone likes them big... ;)

2.       An Inglot Palette.

Yes, I still want one of those beautifully arranged palettes. I dream of their buttery texture and impeccable pigmentation, unfortunately I haven’t saved up to buy myself one of these palettes yet, I might even wait for IMATS LA in January, I guess we will see.

oh Inglot, someday you will be mine

3.       Shine So Bright! From LUSH

I’m pretty sure I’m going to own this by the end of this month, heck, maybe even this week. I adore LUSH and their innovative products, and having split ends, I really want to give this LUSH product a try. Here is what it promises:

Mend those ends

“We've concocted a beautiful balm to repair split ends and help hair shine so bright. Extra virgin coconut and olive oils, shea butter and fresh free range eggs nourish and improve the strength of hair to help mend split ends. Add to that an orange flower, grapefruit, neroli and rosewood perfume and you won't want to leave home without this! “

What can I say? I have a love affair with LUSH

4.       Cute boots!

More specifically high heeled booties, I love boots and heels and there is something about boots that just screams fall for me. There is nothing more satisfying for me than to step on a crunchy leaf during the fall while wearing a hot pair of booties, bonus points if I have a pumpkin-spice latte in hand, oh fall, how I love thee!

 I could totally rock these booties from Forever 21

5.       A cute warm scarf.

I really like scarfs but I rarely wear them due to the fact that San Diego, for the majority of the year, is pretty warm so I save my scarf-wearing abilities for the fall/winter time. However, when I was moving into my new apartment I noticed that all the scarfs are have are cute, yet a bit old, and not really warm, they are accessories more than anything, so they couldn’t help at all if I actually wanted extra warmth, which is why I would love a cashmere scarf.

This scarf from H&M would look good paired with that Michael Kors bag...hmmmm

   

       6.     Tights!

I wear a really ugly blue shirt for my desk job, and I’m often trying to make it less apparent. I’m all for wearing my uniform, but my work-shirt is just so awkward fitting and not at all flattering. I take every chance I get from taking people’s eyes of that shirt, which is why I love wearing tights under my skirts in the colder months. I feel like they give my whole appearance more of an elegant look or at least they make the whole attire appear less boring.

Totally wish I could have these now, oh H&M why  must you not have an online shop for the US??

That's all folks! hope you have a lovely weekend, see you tomorrow for my weekly Lush review!

Nars Dolce Vita: Review and Swatches

I completely adore Nars blushes; I love the consistency, the bendability, the pigmentation and the array of different shades that they carry. However I have to admit that after purchasing my Tarina Tarantino Dollskin blush palette I have not been using my adored Nars blushes as much as I used to. I recently re-discovered Dolce Vita which is a lovely dusty rose shade. Dolce Vita appears to have some sparkle on the pan, but I find that on the skin the sparkle doesn’t translate, and the blush appears completely matte.

I love Dolce Vita for the transition from summer to fall, and for all of fall as well. It’s not incredibly bright (unless it gets layered) and it’s definitely neutral, which makes it perfect for this season.

I love pairing this shade with gold eye shadow (half-baked from Urban Decay) and pinky-neutral lips, it creates a great look for the office, and it’s super-fast too.

 

I find that this shade wears incredibly well, I don’t think I have ever had to do a retouch, but then again I’m sitting in an indoor environment most of the time so I wouldn’t be able to tell how long it lasted under different circumstances.

Heavy swatch/ blended

I think this is one of those shades that when applied correctly, it can suit most skin tones, I’m very fair and I don’t have to apply this extremely light handed, but I also can’t be heavy handed with it. I would definitely recommend this blush if you are looking for a beautiful neutral-toned –blush.

-Angie

DeLUSHious Sunday Treats: Ro's Argan Body Conditioner

Hello Lovelies :) Happy Sunday to all! Today I'm going to talk about a product that almost turned me into a snobby girl, definitely not a classy one. When I discovered the amazing benefits of this body conditioner and the effect it had on me and my skin, I most definitely wanted to keep the secret all to myself, yeah rude of me I know, but hey, I changed my way of thoughts, and today I want to introduce you to my new best friend in the shower ;) Meet Ro's Argan Body conditioner. Wait what? BODY conditioner? Yep. Exactly how this sounds, while in the shower you slather this beauty all over your body, wait a few minutes (depending on how much conditioning you want) then rinse it off. The result? Well, it's nothing short of a miracle for me.

The smell of this is quite pleasing to my nose, to me, this smells definitely of roses, but also something a little more sweet, maybe it's honey, I'm not quite sure, all I know is that just smelling this little black pot, definitely lifts my mood, and it does it well. I think something worth mentioning is that my friend Estella thinks this smells like apple pie, which I think is completely insane, but it gives you some perspective on what people associate with certain scents. Smell aside, this also left my skin very very very soft. When I rinsed it I almost didn't like the fact that I could feel the product, it almost felt greasy, even..lardy? Not sure how to describe it girls, but I could definitely feel some kind of oily residue. However, fast forward to when I was patting myself dry with my towel, and that't when I entered heaven. My skin was moisturized, but no longer felt oily, it smelled amazing, was soft to the touch and it had the most subtle glow.

I have to say, I'm hooked. However, I think for me this will be more of a luxury product, because it's pretty pricey for an everyday thing, The smell lingers, which is great if you love it as much as I do, but no so much if you aren't a fan of sweet rosey smells. All in all, I think it's worth a look the next time you go to LUSH, maybe ask for a demo or a sample, most people love this product, maybe you will too!

I do suffer a lot when I rinse it off, because I feel like I'm literally letting my money go down the drain, oh LUSH, give me this as a birthday present every year yeah? :) One can dream!

Hope you guys have an awesome rest of your Sunday! I can't believe it's back-to-work day tomorrow, weekends sure do fly by :(

DeLUSHious Sunday Treats: Sultana of Soap

The Fancy Sultana of Soap..

One of my favorite things to look at when I stumble by complete accident inside of a LUSH store is their immense display of soaps. To say they have variety would be an understatement. There is so many different scents, colors and shapes of beautifully arranged soaps all around the store, so when I went to LUSH looking for a solid soap for my body, I was more than overwhelmed. However, I did what I do best; I followed directions from my nose. She guided me to this huge chunk of milky looking soap that had chunks of what looked like little rocks on the bottom. I touched the huge chunk with my bare hands and to my dismay, it almost started melting with my body heat, and I mean, I know I’m hot, but I never thought I would have said effect on a bar of soap ;) I dismissed the interesting, beautifully smelling soap thinking that if it melted in my hands, well, it wasn’t going to survive in my shower. I rinsed my hands and continued to walk around LUSH looking for another stunner product to take my heart, but as I walked around I couldn’t stop rubbing my hands together, they were so soft! Not only were my hands baby soft, but the scent from Sultana of soap was soooooooo mesmerizing, that I ended up taking a small chunk of it home. Sultana of Soap smells milky, sweet and fruity, it’s a pretty feminine smell and when it comes in contact with my skin, I feel like it becomes even sweeter and I love that it does. This soap is also very good at moisturizing your skin while also leaving it entirely clean; it lathers nicely with a loofa, but not on its own. As for its melting abilities, yes, if you leave it in the shower it will melt very quickly, however what I do to prevent wasting this soap is cut it into smaller pieces to use daily, instead of cutting a huge bar and keeping it in the shower. Now let’s talk about the rocky-looking surface of this soap, those little “rocks” are actually little bits of pieces of dry fruit, apricot to be precise, and I’m assuming it’s one of the reasons why this soap smells amazing. This is a great soap if you are looking for something moisturizing with a sweet delicate scent.

Just one more thing to keep in mind, this soap has fallout, those little bits and pieces of dried apricot could clog your drain, so make sure you have a catcher!

Would I repurchase this? Oh yes, you bet.