First Impressions - LUSH Let The Good Times Roll

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about another LUSH fresh cleanser - Let The Good Times Roll! This cleanser is similar to my all-time favourite cleanser from LUSH; Angels On Bare Skin, so I thought I would give it a go to see if it would equal the holy grail status of Angels!

 What Is It?

"A luxuriously soft and sweetly-scented cleanser, Let The Good Times Roll has quickly become a huge fan favorite. Maize flour, corn meal and a dash of cinnamon powder gently exfoliate and leave you with a vibrant glow, and lightly hydrating corn oil helps skin to retain its moisture and elasticity. With its rich butter-caramel fragrance and velvety texture, no wonder this one is so popular!

Features

• Rub me all over: It’s gentle enough for everyday cleansing, so pop some in the shower to use all over.
• Don’t take a bite! If you’re tempted, try our edible Popcorn Lip Scrub instead: it shares the same sweet aroma!
• Best used fresh Our cleanser rolls are preservative-free, so be sure to use it up by the best before date on your pot.

Contains: Maize flour (Zea mays), Glycerine, Talc, Water (Aqua), Corn oil (Zea mays), Polenta, Cinnamon Powder (Cinnamomum zeylanicum), Perfume, Gardenia Extract (Gardenia jasminoides), Popcorn (1)

This cleanser is much more exfoliating than Angles on Bare Skin, and not gentle or soothing enough for everyday use, which are the qualities that I enjoy in Angels! It smells like the most delicious, buttery popcorn (the exact same smell as the popcorn lip scrub), but also has little chunks of actual corn in it which are really abrasive and I really disliked that aspect too.

This cleanser feels very harsh on my skin, even if I use the gentlest pressure possible. I would only be able to use this cleanser once or twice a week, and by the time the product expires I wouldn't be halfway through the tub. I rarely use natural products after their expiry date because I don't want weird stuff happening to my face, it's weird enough as it is.

Would I Purchase This Product?

No. I wasn't particularly fond of this cleanser, I didn't think it did anything that I couldn't find in any other product that doesn't expire in a couple of months. That being said, if you're after a good, natural, cruelty free exfoliator that you would use often enough to use up a tub after a couple of months - this could be a very good option for you! ^.^

Review - Physicians Formula Nude Wear Powder in Light

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about the super cute Physicians Formula Nude Wear Powder that matches the Physicians Formula Nude Wear Blush I talked about last week! I purchased both of these little compacts from Iherb and was super duper excited to try them out because this powder looks like the perfect little contouring quad for pale skin! 

Just like the blusher, this powder has four different coloured powders housed in a cute beige bow clad compact. The Nude Wear letters are embossed with a silvery over-spray which makes the powder incredibly glittery for the first 5ish uses. The compact has a magnetic closure at the front to access the actual quad, and a small back compartment which houses a little brush and mirror.

This picture accurately shows the colours in the quad as I can see them, including the glittery letters. The first square is an almost white highlight colour, the second is a pale yellow colour (banana like, if you will), the third is peachy (great for brightening dark circles) and the fourth is a warm toned brown (strangely great for bronzing).

Just like the blusher, this powder quad is not at all pigmented, and very chalky. The brown shade seems much more pigmented than the other three only because it's substantially darker than my own skin tone, whereas the other three are around the same colour (more or less!).

The instructions on the powders packaging suggest that I should swirl all four shades together to create a flawless base. I say no to this because obviously it would look too dark for my skin all mixed together. I have no use for the banana and peach shades because they just don't show up on my skin whatsoever. 

I can use the bronze powder for Bronzing/Contouring, and the white powder for highlighting. Since the darkest powder is warm toned, I would usually use it to bronze rather than contour (personally I think contouring looks best with a cool toned brown to create a natural shadow) but the little square is so small I can't fit a bronzing brush into it, so it turned into more of a contour than a bronzer for me! You can barely see the bronzer, and you can't see the highlighter at all.

Since the bronzer is so light it does provide a good everyday contoured look for me and works really well for shaping my forehead (my forehead is really short and square) so the bronzer is a win for me. However, I have full sized bronzers that work just as well and the other three powders in the quad are just awful.

What I Love

- Bronze shade works really well

- Cute packaging

What I Don't Love

- I have no other use for the other three powders

- Lighter powders aren't very pigmented

- Layering the powders looks very chalky and tacky

Final Thoughts

This powder quad was a massive fail for me. I had imagined that it would be amazing for a cheap little contour travel kit but in reality only the darkest powder shows up on my skin for bronzing and mixing all four powders together just results in it being way too dark for my face, since the most pigmented powder is the bronzer shade! This quad was just as disappointing as the blusher quad, and for almost $15USD I was expecting it to be substantially better.

Have you been disappointed or had your expectations exceeded by Physicians Formula products?

Manicure Monday - I've Never Built A Snowman

Hello Princesses!

Today I have some super cute Snowman nails on! As most of you may know, in New Zealand Christmas time is during the Summer, so while these nails are not exactly appropriate for me to celebrate Christmas, they are incredibly cute and easy to create!

I used a white Etude House polish for the base, and dotted on the eyes using a large dotting tool (a round sewing pin would do the trick if you don't own one), dotted the mouth with a small dotting tool (bobby pins work well for this too) and a small brush with the Etude House Orange Ice Cream polish to create the carrot nose. It's super easy and super cute! ^.^

I've never built a Snowman before since it doesn't snow near where I live, have you built a Snowman before? 

Review - Physicians Formula Nude Wear Blush in Rose

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about the Physicians Formula Nude Wear Blush in Rose! I picked this up from Iherb a little while ago for $12.43USD along with the Nude Wear Powder in Light which I will be reviewing next week!

The Nude Wear Blush has four different coloured blushes housed in a cute beige bow clad compact. The Nude Wear letters are embossed with a silvery over-spray which makes the blush incredibly glittery for the first 5ish uses. The compact has a magnetic closure at the front to access the actual blush, and a small back compartment which houses a little brush and mirror.

The blush is incredibly chalky and not very pigmented. I had to swipe two or three times to get the swatches to be visible and they're still very faint.

I'm very fair, and this blush barely shows up on my skin with two layers. The more I layer on the chalky-er the blush looks. It's not particularly a good look.

What I Love

- Cute packaging

- You can use the colours separately

- Convenient brush and mirror housing

What I Don't Love

- Not very pigmented

- Very chalky when built up

- Shimmery over-spray

Final Thoughts

I love the idea of this blush, but it didn't work out for me at all. The blush just wasn't very pigmented and when I tried to build it up looked really chalky. I haven't heard very many bad reviews about this blush so I'm not sure why mine seems to be doing so badly!

Have you tried this blush before? What are your thoughts?

Manicure Monday - It's officially OK to start Christmas Manicures!

Hello Princesses!

I'm so sorry for the little hiatus from blogging, if you follow my social media you will know that I have been in Gisborne for a little while and didn't have any internet to upload any reviews! >< But I will be back to my usual schedule from now on! ^.^

Today is the day. It's officially OK to start Christmassy stuff. To be quite honest the mall I work in has been fully decorated for Christmas for the past two weeks and even starting their Christmas music CD's, but I just can't bring myself to get into Christmas before December - it just feels wrong!

Today's manicure is a super cute Reindeer created with the Etude House Milk Chocolate polish for the basic head shape, Revlon's Hot Chocolate polish for the antlers and Zoya's Chyna polish for the glittery red nose! I wish I popped a bit of white into the ears to help define them (since they fade into my nail too much) but otherwise I love this cute little Christmas nail design! ^.^

What are your favorite Christmas nails like?