Lush Wishlist

Christmas and birthday come Lush heavy for me so I don't normally have reason to go and buy a few things in Lush. However, there are quite a lot of new things in Lush now that I haven't tried and these are the 4 things I am desperate to buy!

• You've Been Mangoed Bath Oil- I've never eaten mango but I love the scent so I have high hopes that this will smell like mangoes! I've also never tried the bath oils before so I would like to try one. On the Lush website it seems the water goes a beautiful green colour and I love a vibrant bath!

• Lava Lamp Bath Bomb- This bath bomb looks super cool! It makes the water orange and has purple orbs floating around on the surface of the water just like a lava lamp. Whoever came up with this is a genius.

• Don't Look At Me Fresh Face Mask- The colour of this is what originally had drawn me to it. I want to have a bright blue face! The Lush fresh face masks are always a winner. This mask has got both refreshing and moisturising properties in it so I think this would be a nice one to use before an event.

• Pink Flamingo Bubble Bar- Why wouldn't you want a flamingo bubble bar?! This just screams cocktails and holidays at me which I am totally all about. 

What do you want to try from Lush?

Sephora Avocado Face Mask

Hello all,


I feel like I haven't sat down and written anything in a while! But as you may have seen in my recent Sephora Haul, I bought a few things from Sephora in Paris for the first time and this Avocado Face Mask was one of them.


To explain what it is, this is a sheet face mask which is attached to a pink film. You peel it off the film and place it over your clean face where there are holes for your eyes, mouth and nostrils. You then wear it for 15 mins before peeling it off and massaging in any excess serum for it to sink into your skin. There is no rinsing involved which is a bonus for me!


The Avocado Face Mask is designed to nurture your skin by relieving sensitive areas and giving intense nutrition. The avocado soothes and nourishes with rice extract to moisturise. There is also broccoli and sprout extract which I think helps give some natural advantages to this mask! I personally chose this mask so I could use it when my skin was being particularly sensitive and/or when I had some dry patches that needed nourishing. Because I have sensitive skin sometimes I can have a reaction which leaves areas feeling dry and sore, as well as causing redness. In addition to that I can suffer from acne so I would want to use something soothing to help keep my skin calm.


My first thoughts when I unpeeled the mask was how much serum there was! The whole packet is drenched in serum so you've got to be careful not to spill any when peeling the mask off. I love how it is absolutely soaked because then you know you're going to have a very intense mask. When I placed the sheet over my face it was a little tricky to get in the right places as it is much larger than my face. When I had it in place however I found it easy to press flat against the contours of my face such as the sides of my nose, my under eyes and under my chin. It stayed firmly in place and didn't peel off or slide down. 


When I peeled the mask off there was still serum sat on my face so I massaged it in. I then used some off of the pink film and inside the packet to rub into my neck and thoroughly around my eyes. It didn't aggravate my sensitive skin nor did it sting my eyes. The serum then didn't take too long to soak in and when it did my skin felt so soft! I did this at night time and when I woke up the next day my skin still felt very nourished. At the time I also had a dry under eye and dryness on my chin. After I used this serum the dryness didn't completely go however it did feel softer and like it had some intense treatment! I believe that it did help the process of dealing with the dry patches on my face. 


I used this Friday night as I knew I was going out Saturday night to a masquerade ball and I wanted my skin to look nice. I noted that the mask also made my complexion look a lot brighter than normal and the skin tone was more even so I thought it was perfect to use before an event!


I loved using this mask and my only disappointment was that I didn't think to save the packaging. Even though I used as much as I could all over my face and neck there was still plenty of serum left in the packaging and now I regret not keeping the it so I could use the serum again. I think if I buy one of these masks again I'll save the packaging next time!



If you don't think the Avocado Face Mask is for you there are plenty of other masks in the line with different skincare benefits and different type of masks such as some for your lips! The Sephora masks are definitely worth checking out and I will certainly pick up some more the next time I find myself in the shop. They are $6 which I think is a fair price and that is the same in euros also. 


Have you tried the Sephora masks?

My First Sephora Haul

Hello all!


Recently I found myself in a Sephora store in Paris. This wasn't the first time I had been in a Sephora store (my first time was in Spain last year), but this is the first time I have bought anything from there. I never knew I could be so excited over a store!


As soon as I went in to the store I hunted down their own brand make up products. I have seen loads of bloggers and YouTubers talk about their liquid lipsticks so I knew I wanted one. I haven't used a liquid lipstick before! I picked up two matte colours, 'Always Red' (a true, bold red) and 'Strawberry Kissed' (a lighter, slightly pinkier toned red). Unfortunately there wasn't many colours left so I didn't get to try out many colours and had to get two reds. I really wished they had some nudes in stock because I probably would have got a red and a nude! However I love them both and I am glad I got them. Of course, reviews will follow!

The next item I picked up was a face mask. Again, I've seen plenty of bloggers and YouTubers talk about the Sephora masks so I felt really intrigued to buy one. I would have liked them all but in the end I chose the Avocado face mask which claims to give intense nutrition to skin and give relief to sensitive skin. I chose this one as I have never used avocado in a mask before and most of my masks are for targeting acne so I wanted something different. I think I will use this if my skin is quite dry and/or sore!

The last item is a primer. I hadn't planned to buy a primer but that day I realised that I had lost mine! I thought that I had left it in Berlin where I was previous, but when I got back to the UK and emptied out my bag I found it! Such a relief. But anyway, I decided to go for the Sephora Prep & Perfect Pore & Fine Line Filler Blurring Effect Primer (phew!). It is a tinted primer that doesn't feel particularly silicone-y and I will let you know what I think of it soon.

That's all for now. I hope this will be the first of many! My brother is currently in America for work so I am hoping he will pick me up some stuff from Sephora there which you can't get in Sephora Europe. 

Skincare | Starskin After Party Brightening Bio-Cellulose Second Skin Mask

In my Glossybox this month I received this very long named face mask called After Party Brightening Bio-Cellulose Second Skin Mask by Starskin. It is a sheet mask designed to brighten up the skin, smooth the skin complexion, correct dark spots and even skintone. That is quite a few claims! It is made out of femented coconut juice and is thoroughly soaked in serum.

The instructions tell you to first rub some of the serum into the skin. I wasn't sure exactly how to do this so when I opened the product I massaged any serum that was on the actual packet into my skin. Then, you have to peel the protective layer off of the mask and stick it evenly on to your face whilst trying to smooth out any bubbles. I had never used a sheet mask before so I was quite excited- I thought it would be much easier than using a mask that you apply straight to the skin! However, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. Because it was so slippery and slimey in serum it was really difficult to peel apart and then apply without it slipping in my fingers. Then, because the mask was bigger than my face I found it really hard to get the holes of the eyes, nose and mouth over the correct areas of my face. This meant that I had to fold parts of the mask to get it to fit which caused air bubbles that I couldn't control.

The instructions also say to keep the mask on for about 25 minutes. The mask feels cooling on the face so this wasn't hard for me to do. Some masks can feel so uncomfortable that you can't persevere that long! Despite this, the areas on my cheeks and around my T-Zone kept peeling back a bit so I had to keep pressing them down. The mask also slid down a little bit from my forehead so I think if I were to do this again I would lie down instead of sitting up to stop it from sliding down. Trial and error is key!

After the time was up I, with ease, peeled off the mask. I was left with a really and oily face which was really soaked in serum. I then proceeded to get some more serum out of the left over packet and massaged it into the areas of my skin where the mask didn't fit or peeled away from. Because it was so oily I kept my hair tied back for an hour so the serum had a chance to fully absorb into my skin without getting my hair in it. I then thought it would be a good time to use my eye gel and lip balm for a full moisturising experience.

I did this at night time and when I woke up the following morning I had extremely moisturised skin. It was also probably the softest my skin had ever felt after using a mask before. My face did seem brighter, however I am unsure if it evened out my skin tone or not. Because I have quite a lot of red scarring on my face I find it hard to tell whether something has contributed to evening out my skintone or not because either way I will have redness on my face.

So what do I think overall? Well, it is a mixed review. On one hand it was really tricky to apply, peeled off in areas and it is £8.50 for one mask whereas you could probably spend that much on a tub of face mask that would last for longer. On the other hand my face felt extremely moisturised and I can see this being fantastic for people with dry skin and great for the winter months. As the name suggests I can also see it being good for after a party where you have a hangover and just feel dull and lazy. Laying there with a face mask on would be nice and it would give your skin some brightening afterwards. Although it is messy it feels good to completely hydrate your skin in tonnes of serum!

I wouldn't mind trying other masks by Starskin out and I would like to recieve this as a present or give to others as a present, however I think I would prefer to spend my own money on a mask that can be used more than once. If this was cheaper maybe I would be more inclined to repetitively buy it. But if I was having a time where my skin was particularly dry then I know what product I would come to so I could remedy this. Also just to note, I have sensitive skin and this did not aggravate my skin at all so there is the heads up for all you sensitive skin owners!             

You can buy this mask from ASOS and Selfridges. 

What is your favourite face mask?

InstaNatural Dead Sea Mud Mask

What Is It?

The product is a 100% natural dead sea mud mask from InstaNatural. It is in a huge 19oz tub and also has ingredients of organic shea butter, organic aloe vera and organic jojoba oil.

What Are Its Claims?

This product makes plenty of claims! It states that it uses shea butter and aloe vera to moisturise dry and irritated skin, reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles after weekly use, achieves a more even skin tone and smoother complexion, clears skin, reduces pores and helps oily/blemished skin by drawing out impurities, dirt and oil with the use of minerals.

How To Use:

Apply on the skin in a thin layer and leave it for 10-15 minutes before rinsing off with water. It is only to be used once a week.

What Do I Think?

Where do I start?! Well to begin with, when I first opened the package I was shocked at how big the tub was. There is so much product which is great as it means it will last a very long time. Sometimes I buy face masks and they're gone within a month. When I saw the grey mud I thought it was going to smell really bad but it actually doesn't smell of anything which I think is a good.

A worry I had about this product is that it wouldn't be any good for my sensitive skin. I was worried that because it was a tightening face mask it would irritate and make me have a reaction. Thankfully, it did not make me have any sort of reaction!

Applying it is easy. Because it is grey and wet you can see exactly where you're putting it and it shows if you've put too much on so you can make sure it is all over in a thin layer. Immediately it starts to tingle which at first is kind of uncomfortable but it is certainly nothing you can't deal with. After a few weeks of using this I barely noticed the tingly sensation. You then start to feel it tightening your skin and that's how you know it is working. After a while the wet, grey mud dries into a greyish toned blue which I was not expecting but looked pretty cool! When it dries it also outlines all of your pores which is it slightly shocking to see when you don't realise how many enlarged pores you have.

Another worry I had was that it would be extremely difficult to wash off which I find with some face masks. On the contrary, it completely proved me wrong by being easy to wash off with hands and warm water. Your face is left slightly red and blotchy for a few minutes but this soon dies down. It didn't aggravate my skin at all.

After use of this product I noticed my skin was considerably smoother, supporting the claim that it makes a smoother complexion. The best thing I found about using this mask was that it definitely tightened up my enlarged pores, particularly the ones on my nose which are the ones I care about the most. Again, this supports the claim that it treats enlarged pores. I normally use this on an evening after I have removed my make up and when I wash it off there is no traces of make up on my skin. It also takes away any oil so because of these reasons I find that it does draw out dirt and oil. This has been apart of my skincare routine for 4 weeks and since then I have only had 1 spot on my acne prone skin!

The only claims I am not sure about are the ones that it is moisturising and reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. When I use this I find my skin can be kind of dry afterwards so I like to make sure I use my moisturiser. Furthermore, because I am young I don't really have any fine lines or wrinkles so I cannot tell you whether they reduce them or not. The only ones I have are around my eyes and you cannot use this product on the eye area!

Price & Where To Buy:

The price is £21.95 which is quite pricey for a mask but when you take into account that it is a big 19 oz tub then it makes more sense. Additionally, because you only use it once a week in a thin layer it means it will probably last you all year. Plus the price makes sense if you're looking for a mask that does all kinds of claims. You can buy it on Amazon here.

Who Do I Recommend It For?

I would personally recommend it for people who, like me, have sensitive skin and are looking for a tightening face mask that won't give them a skin reaction. I would also recommend it for those with enlarged pores, blemished skin and/or oily skin. Plus, I definitely think this is a very unisex product so would be equally as good for males and females.



Have you used a mud mask before? Let me know! Also, just to let you know this product was kindly given to me by InstaNatural. However, as always my opinions are 100% my own and I would never lie about a product.

Lush Cosmetics: Cosmetic Warrior Face Mask: Review

Cosmetic Warrior face mask from Lush Cosmetics

"This gentle face mask combats spots and soothes troubled skins. With antiseptic fresh garlic, tea tree essential oil, deep cleansing kaolin and antibacterial honey. Use it to banish breakouts"

Stars: 3.5/5

Cost: £5.95

This face mask is a mask designed to fight spoiling spots that put you down and just don't seem to go away. As someone as an unfortunate owner of acne, this was a mask I definitely wanted to try out.

Now, please note that this mask doesn't smell great. It isn't terrible, but it isn't designed to smell nice. It's designed to be the best force against spots that doesn't need other random things just to smell great. However, it is a bearable smell that you won't really notice and won't leave your face smelling, so don't worry!

From my own use of it, it doesn't prevent break outs. I've been using this mask pretty much every day and I am still getting my usual amount of annoying spots. HOWEVER, it does do a great job in shrinking them! I've found that if I use the mask in the evening, by the next morning my spots will have shrunk in size and that makes me damn happy.

Although you can only use the mask for a month and you have to keep it in the fridge, this only adds to how natural it is. It makes you feel better knowing they haven't put crappy stuff in it to preserve it! It is fresh ingredients which is so much better for your skin. PLUS, every mask I have used from Lush I NEVER finish it in a month so you're not going to run out!

I didn't give it full stars because of the consistency and how even though I see a reduce in size of spots, I don't see any change in the amount I get. As for the consistency, it is a runny, milky texture which I am not particularly fond of.

OVERALL, I would buy this face mask again, but only after I've tried many others! I think if you have a horrible spot and need to get rid of it ASAP you should definitely use this. But don't expect a drastic change in your face!