Lush The Brightside Bubble Bar Review

The Brightside is one of the limited edition products Lush has brought out for Easter, and I wish they'd make it permanent! It's the same design, size and price (£4.25) as The Comforter and Blue Skies and Fluffy White Clouds, but the colours and scent are different. The Brightside has a citrus fragrance and smells of natural, sharp oranges. Some products have multiple fragrance notes, so you can never pin point the true scent, but that is not the case with this bubble bar. It only smells of oranges, and I absolutely love it. Performance wise, it's also great. It produces lots of bubbles and leaves the water a deep orange shade. I don't have baths, but I do love a good foot soak, and use bubble bars in them. If you use bubble bars for baths, you can cut this into 6-8 pieces, making it worth the money (I know some people can even get about 10 uses out of it). It'll last even longer for me because foot soaks require much less water. Like the other varieties of this bubble bar, Lush say 'you can easily break it in two and save the second half for another day'. They really need to change that. You can get so many more uses out of it. I think using half at once is a waste.

Have you tried this bubble bar yet? Or any of the other Easter products?

On our walk the other day...

On our walk the other day, I took some photos of Jessie and Buddy posed on the steps near the woods, and I think they look adorable! This was after they went swimming in the river. We then went home and I bathed and blow dried them. This was also the day my dad and I went to B&Q to buy my book shelves, and put them up. My books now have a home! And there's room for more, which can only be a good thing. I can't see there being space for much longer though because I'm currently reading, and enjoying, The City of Bones, so want to buy the rest of The Mortal Instruments series. There's five books in it at the moment.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Forbidden Haul

Original prices given!

H&M loose fitting t-shirt in Grey Blue £7.99

H&M loose fitting t-shirt in White £7.99

 

New Look Navy Supersoft High Waisted Skinny Jeans £22.99

 

H&M pack of 3 socks £3.99, New Look socks 3 for £4

 

Superdrug Naturally Radiant Brightening Hot Cloth Cleanser £5.99, Barry M Gelly Nail Paint in Greenberry £3.99, Avon Naturals Room & Linen Sprays in Strawberry & Guava, Raspberry & Hibiscus and Cherry Blossom £4 each (always on offer though)

Avon Sonal Flower Umbrella £10. "You're not supposed to put umbrellas up inside! It's bad luck!" I really don't care haha

I was meant to be on a spending ban this month, but then I realised that I would just buy the stuff I wanted in March anyway, so cancelled it.

I bought the H&M items with £5 off and 25% off codes. I bought the t-shirts in a S, instead of an XS, because I wanted them to be very loose fitting. I'm going to tuck them into my high waisted jeans. How cute are the zebra socks?!

New Look's jeans are currently discounted, so I bought another pair of my favourite ones. I now have three pairs. The buttons are more brassy on this pair, but I don't mind. I also couldn't resist adding some socks to my basket. Animals on socks are my weakness, I tell you.

I also ordered from Superdrug this month. The hot cloth cleanser was half price at just £2.99, and I really wanted the nail polish. There was also free delivery, which sealed the deal for me.

From Avon, I ordered three room and linen sprays for £4, and the umbrella for £8 because I needed a new one. Excuse my messy bed in the background! But how cute is it? I love it.

I've also bought some homeware bits, some H&M sprays and a couple Primark throws, but I've already blogged about them.

I've been naughty, I know, but... but... I have no justifications *hangs head in shame*

New Favourites

Once a product becomes a favourite, it most likely stays a favourite, so I prefer to write New Favourites posts rather than Monthly Favourites. So, what have I been loving recently?

NYX Cream Blush in Natural (Review and swatch can be found here). This blush is so creamy and pigmented! I only need a light dab with the stipple brush. And the colour is beautiful. It looks so, wait for it, natural. You didn't see that coming, did you? ;)

Moving onto the brush I apply the cream blush with: ELF's Studio Stipple Brush. Before this, I used a normal blush brush, but it would pick up far too much product. This, however, picks up just enough. I've read that some people find it too flimsy, but I haven't had that problem.

I've also been loving Revlon's Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Honey. I'll be reviewing and lip swatching this, along with the other shades I have, soon. I have a few blemishes around my mouth at the moment, so am waiting for them to clear up! I held off buying this shade for months because I thought it would be too brown, but it's not at all. I usually dab my lip products on because I'm not comfortable wearing them fully applied, and prefer a natural looking stain. I've been applying this full on though because it's a natural lip shade and suits me well. I've never worn a lip product fully applied out of the house before, so that goes to show how much I love this.

The last two products I've been wearing every single day are the Rimmel Scandal Eyes Waterproof Eyeliners in Taupe and Nude (Review and swatches can be found here). They're creamy, pigmented and last well. The nude shade has changed how my eyes look for the better. My red waterline is no more, and my eyes appear brighter.

What products have you been loving recently?

Cream Blush Collection, Reviews and Swatches

 

Top row: NYX Natural, NYX Glow, Look Beauty Guava and Look Beauty Melon

Bottom row: MUA Blossom, Natural Collection Rosy Pink, ELF Headliner, Revlon Flushed and ELF Heart Breaker

 

NYX Natural, NYX Glow, Look Beauty Guava and Look Beauty Melon

MUA Blossom, Natural Collection Rosy Pink, ELF Headliner, Revlon Flushed and ELF Heart Breaker

I've really started to love cream blushes in the last year or so. I think they give a natural, radiant finish. My favourites are definitely the NYX ones. They're so creamy and pigmented! For my cheeks, I only need 1-2 light dabs with the stipple brush. The other cream blushes I own, especially the Look Beauty and MUA ones, require warming up with my finger to get to the pigmentation. Because of this, they're harder to use with a stipple brush, which is what I prefer to apply cream blushes with. The next two blushes have a liquid formulation, rather than a cream one, but thought I'd include them anyway. They're closer to cream than powder! The Natural Collection Rosy Pink blush is my least favourite out of the ones I own. It takes a lot of product to even show up on the skin. The ELF Headliner blush is a beautiful colour and extremely pigmented. I don't use it very often though because I'm too lazy to put the product on the back of my hand and then apply! Revlon's Flushed looks scary in the pan, but it's not that pigmented, making it very wearable. I do like it, but it's not as creamy or pigmented as my NYX ones, so don't tend to reach for it regularly. Lastly is ELF's Heart Breaker. It's a beautiful shade, but the formula lets it down. It's like molding clay, and all my finger and brush do is move it around instead of picking anything up. Therefore, it's incredibly hard to build up. The swatch above required a dense brush and heavy hand. I also have the Topshop cream blush in High Five, which I forgot to photograph. Again, I like it, but don't love it. And I hate the white packaging. It gets so dirty!

Do you like cream blushes? Are there any you would recommend me trying?

Homeware Purchases

At the weekend, my dad and I put up bookshelves in my room, and I wanted some things to use as bookends, so off I popped to QS/Store Twenty One (The logo outside the store is a QS one, but the labels and bags are all Store Twenty One). I picked up the glass jar for just £2.99, the wooden heart tealight holder for £1.99, and the cute, cheeky mug for 99p. I don't know what I'm going to fill the glass jar with yet, but I'm filling the tealight holder with glass pearl beads, which I've ordered from eBay. The mug is selling for £7.50 on eBay, so I'm pleased with the price I paid.

As I said, my dad and I put up bookshelves in my room, and we bought them from B&Q. Whilst there, I just had to go to the plant/flower section. I bought the beautiful plant arrangement for £7.98, and a pack of three mini cacti for £3.98.

Homeware and plants... I can never resist!

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Nail Polish in Oxide

I bought this polish from Fragrance Direct for £1.49, and I'm so glad I did. It's a beautiful gunmetal shade packed with silver shimmer. It makes a difference from the light and bright shades I normally wear. The closest shade I have to it is Illamasqua's Creator, but I wouldn't say it's a dupe. Creator is more of a true black with silver glitter.

What do you think of dark shades like this? and have you bought any bargains from Fragrance Direct recently?