The Spell At The Lush Spa

This week I had an appointment booked at the brand new Lush Spa in Cardiff. The Lush Spa opened last month and offers a full range of Lush Spa treatments. I have seen the ones that they offer for a while now and I was really eager to try one. The Spa in Oxford Street in London had a waiting list not so long ago as the treatments were fully booked. Fortunately the Cardiff one wasn't so busy.

The best way to describe the treatments at Lush, is spa treatments with a twist. All are themed on different things and offer something unique too. The Comforter is themed on Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, while a Hard Days Night features reworked Beatles music. With such a fantastic list of treatments, the one I decided to go for was called The Spell, which is a really nice relaxing 60 minute reflexology inspired foot massage and treatment to help release tension and restore balance. Lush advise that you arrive 15 minutes before your appointment to get you settled in. 

I took a seat on one of these nice comfy chairs they have on the shop floor and was treated to a hand and arm massage using one of Lush's Massage Bars. This really relaxed me for my appointment and it wasn't long before I got taken upstairs to the spa.

A trip to the Lush Spa is quite a unique experience. As soon as you go into the spa you immediately hear the sound of birds singing and find yourself in what looks like a kitchen in a country cottage. The spa is designed to look like a kitchen in the country and the sound of birds just makes it seem like that. You wouldn't think you were in the middle of Queen Street.

Each treatment begins with your therapist sitting you down around the kitchen table and explaining all about the treatment. In front of me was all of the products that would be used in The Spell. The great thing about the spa is most of the products can be bought in the shop, so you can take them home with you. There was only one product that wasn't available to buy, more about that later.

Products used in The Spell

Before The Spell began, I was immediately drawn to a teapot that was on the table, along with a pen and ink. With The Spell, you write a worry or anything that is bothering you down on a piece of paper and drop it in the teapot. A short while later the therapist comes back in and sets fire to the teapot, burning your worry away. It really is unique. 

Before I knew it it was time for the treatment, which by now I was very excited for. The Cardiff Lush Spa is actually the biggest Lush Spa in the world and is on two floors. With The Spell I could either roll my jeans up or just take them off. All other clothing I was able to leave on as this was mainly a foot treatment. I found it easier to just take my jeans off, I did have a nice fluffy towel to wrap around my waste so I wasn't cold.

Every treatment has music unique to it and is produced by The Lush Handmade Collective. If you love the music you hear, you can actually buy it in the shop to take home with you.

The Spell began with a foot scrub using one of my favorite Lush products - Rub Rub Rub. After the scrub I put my feet into a nice tub of warm water where my therapist dropped this really awesome bath bomb into. This bath bomb is unique to The Spell and is the only product not available to buy.

After a short soak, it was time to put on the Volcano Foot Mask. As the mask was working on my feet I had this extremely relaxing head massage. As soon as those warm mitts came on I felt very relaxed and almost fell asleep.

Using the Peppermint Foot Lotion my feet were given a very relaxing massage. I do love a good foot massage as I am on my feet all the time and they do get tired a lot. The treatment finishes off with a dusting of T For Toes.

I found The Spell to be extremely relaxing and it was just what I needed. I felt instantly refreshed.

All treatments also have a drink which is unique to whatever one you go for. At the end of The Spell my therapist brought me in a lemon and mint tea to drink. The tea tasted really nice and fruity.

Tea

A great thing about the Lush Spa, is it doesn't feel at all rushed. You are free to chill out for a bit after in the kitchen area. Showers are available too if you want to freshen up and in all of the bathrooms you will find a good range of Lush products that you are free to use.

I enjoyed my experience at the Lush Spa and I highly recommend a visit. One of the next treatments I want to try is either The Comforter or A Hard Days Night.

The Spell was £70. All treatments vary in price, but I do recommend checking out the website to find a treatment that suits you.

I Heart Makeup Light And Glow

I Heart Makeup is the sister brand to Makeup Revolution and features some really fun looking products. They offer a full range of eyeshadow palettes that look like chocolate bars. Not so long ago they released some face palettes that look like bars of chocolate too. The design is just amazing and looks so good I could eat it.

The palette I got is called Light And Glow and is described as a highlighter. In the palette are two different colors - a cream color and a pink. Both can be used together or individually.

I liked to use the colors separately and used the pink as a blush color and then applied the cream color on areas of the face I wanted to highlight. 

Both colors gave a nice glow to my face and build up nicely. Once on they didn't need reapplying as the didn't fade. 

These aren't the most pigmented highlighters I have tried, but for £6.00 they aren't that bad.

Makeup Revolution Retro Luxe Matte Lip Kit, Improved Formula

This year Makeup Revolution have brought out their own version of the liquid lip kit. Called Retro Luxe, the brand offers matte, metallic and gloss kits. I've tried the matte kits and think the colors looked great. The only downside to them was that they have a sticky/tacky finish to them.

Not so long ago the creator of Makeup Revolution - Adam Minto, announced on Instagram that there is a new version of the matte lip kit out, with a brand new improved formula that is non sticky. I really like how the brand has listened to it's customers and changed the formula. 

So the other day in Superdrug I saw that there were a few of the new and improved lip kits for sale. I decided to get one in a color I haven't tried before - Reign, which is a nude pink color. The new and improved kits have a slightly different design on the packaging and even say new improved on them. I think the new design on the packaging looks a lot better.

The liner seemed identical to the one from the original lip kits, so it seems as though only the lipstick has been changed. Like the old formula these ones are still nice and creamy and have a good amount of pigment in them. They didn't need much building up as the pigment was very strong. I could definitely notice the difference to the formula as once on they didn't have that sticky and tacky feeling that the old ones did.

This is definitely an improvement from the original formula as the sticky finish didn't feel great. This one stayed on for most of the day too and only needed a bit of reapplying. It also felt non drying too. I like how Makeup Revolution changed the formula of this product. It was a good product before but it just needed that slight to change to make it fantastic.

Liquid Lipsticks With Makeup Revolution

Liquid lipsticks are all the rage right now and the Kylie Jenner lip kits have been very popular. Recently, Makeup Revolution brought out their own matte lip kits called Retro Luxe. I tried these last month and thought the color payoff was very good, so I decided to get more colors. The only downside to them was that they did feel a bit sticky. Now they weren't too sticky that it made them uncomfortable, it was just a bit annoying. The good news is that the brand have started to reformulate the colors as many people were saying about the stickiness. The newly improved lip kits are available now and are apparently sticky and tacky free.

Apart from matte lip kits, the brand has also released metallic lip kits, as well as gloss ones. I'm not a fan of gloss so I haven't bothered to look at those, but I did grab myself one of the metallic lip kits too.

Altogether I bought two matte lip kits in the colors Royal and Echelon. In the metallic lip kit I got the color We Rule.

Royal and Echelon

We Rule

In the matte lip kits the color payoff is amazing and both colors had a lot of pigment in them. They also felt nice and creamy to apply too and glided onto the lips. The lip liner is fantastic and has this awesome creamy texture to it, as well as plenty of pigment. These ones did feel a bit sticky and did need reapplying later on in the day. Makeup Revolution have recently changed the formula of these to a non sticky formula which I am really looking forward to trying.

Royal

Echelon

The metallic lip kits are just like the matte ones, the only difference is the finish is metallic and not matte. In the metallic lip kit I got, I didn't think much of the lip liner it came with as I had to push down and tug a lot to get the color to show up. The liner in the matte kits are amazing, the one in this metallic kit was rubbish.

The lipstick was a lot better and had a nice creamy feel to it, as well as lot of pigment. It did need reapplying later on in the day and still felt a bit sticky, but not as much as the matte ones.

We Rule

For £6.00 each these were great and I do recommend them. Both metallic and matte kits were fab and these are worth trying, especially now that the formula has been changed.

Makeup Revolution Strobe Highlighters

Right now I'm a big fan of highlighting and strobing. After all who doesn't love glowing skin. There are many products on the market now for highlighting and one brand that seems to offer a lot of products to give your skin an amazing glow is Makeup Revolution. I've tried a few of their highlighters before and think they are quite good for the price. I decided to try two of their Strobe Highlighters in Moon Glow Lights and Ever Glow Lights. Both were £3.00 each.

Ever Glow Lights, Moon Glow Lights

Instead of a shimmery highlighter, these ones seem to be matte. I don't have many matte highlighters, so it was great to try a matte for a change. In both colors there was a good amount of pigment and they didn't have a dry powdery texture either.

I applied the colors to different areas of my face that I wanted to glow and both of them gave me an amazing glow, plus they didn't need reapplying either.

For £3.00 these are very good and Makeup Revolution have more colors that I do want to try. 

Moon Glow Lights

Ever Glow Lights

A Primark PS Love Review

A while ago I tried some products from Primark's PS Love range of makeup. The majority of items from the range aren't that great, and I think the PS Pro range which Primark also do is even worse. There were a small number of items which I did like and I decided to get a few more items to try.

PS Love Super Matte Liquid Lipstick
Liquid lipsticks are all the rage right now and from the PS Love collection are the Super Matte Liquid Lipsticks. They come in more nude and neutral shades with very Kardashian sounding names like Kim. I got two of them in Kim and Kendall. The packaging isn't the best and feels quite cheap, although it does come with a very good doe foot applicator allowing the color to be applied easily. The pigment of these ones really isn't that bad and they do build up nicely. The downside to them is they are very drying. And when I say very, I mean very. I know mattes can be drying anyway, but these ones seem to be to an extreme. They were so dry they felt uncomfortable to wear and I ended up taking them off after 10 minutes.

Kim, Kendall

Kendall

Kim

PS Love Matte Long Last Lipstick and Bon Bon Lipliner
From these lipsticks there were two colors I really liked the look of - Tickle (pale pink) and Raspberry Parfait (bright pink). These are supposed to matte and long lasting. They were definately matte and can be a bit drying, so use a lip balm before applying. The pigment in them is alright and even though they are matte they don't feel dry to apply. They are no way near as drying as the Super Matte Liquid Lipsticks. I can wear these all day without them feeling uncomfortable, the liquid lipsticks I had to take them off. These ones aren't really that long lasting either as throughout the day the color did start to come off. The colors I do like, and even though these aren't the best mattes I have tried, they definately aren't the worst either. Would I buy more colors from the range, maybe, but it wouldn't be my first choice of lipstick. For £1.50 they aren't bad. 

The lip liners are one of the better items from the PS Love range. They come in a wide range of colors and they seem to match the lipsticks too. I got one in Bon Bon which is a bright pink color. It had a nice texture and felt nice on the lips too. The pigment was quite good and seemed to last on the lips a lot longer than the lipsticks did.

Tickle

Raspberry Parfait

PS Love Get Lippy Metallic Collection Liquid Lipstick And Liner
Lip kits are very popular at the moment with loads of people wanting a Kylie Jenner Lip Kit. Makeup Revolution have now brought out their version of the lip kit and it now seems Primark have too in their PS Love collection. There were a few colors to choose from and I really liked the look of the metallic one. It's a sort of copper gold color and comes with a matching lip liner. In this lip kit, the liner is complete rubbish, there isn't that much pigment in it and it took ages to line my lips trying to get the color to show. The lipstick on the other hand is much better, it builds up nicely and gives your lips a fab gold color. One coat is a bit sheer, but with two or three the color looks nice and strong. 

Once on it didn't have a sticky feel to it either and stayed on for a while. It did need reapplying later on in the day. The packaging isn't the best, although it does come with a nice doe foot applicator to get the color on easily.

Insta Girl Liquid Lipstick And Lip Liner
When it comes to liquid lipsticks from the Primark makeup range I think that the Insta Girl Liquid Lipsticks are one of the better items. Still not the best, but not that bad for the price and the colors look amazing, plus they come with matching lip liners. The color I got was a beige sort of brown and looks great on. The packaging looks fab and comes with a doe foot applicator allowing you to apply the color easily. 

These lipsticks have a satin finish compared to a matte one. They do feel a bit on the tacky side after applying them, although they weren't too sticky like lipgloss. You could definately notice it when putting your lips together but it wasn't uncomfortable. They did need reapplying later on in the day and they weren't drying on the lips either.

I also bought two brushes too, I'm not going to review them in this post as I want to do a separate post on brushes.

The PS Love range isn't the best, although there are a few good items that I liked using. Have you tried anything from the PS Love range.

Make Up Forever Artist Rouge Creme - Mauve Violet

The other week in London I went to the Make Up Forever counter in Debenhams and got one their Artist Rouge Creme lipsticks. I tried one of these before and thought it was a fab product so I went and got another one. The color I got is called C503 Mauve Violet.

These lipsticks do have a fab amount of pigment in them, along with a nice creamy texture. To get the color looking intense I didn't need to use a lot and it went onto my lips really easily too. These lipsticks are all day wear as they don't really come off and don't need reapplying unless you really want to. 

The color of this one looked amazing and is definately a color for Spring and Summer. If you haven't tried anything from Make Up Forever I do recommend the brand, as the quality of the items are superb, it is a professional brand after all.

MAC Color Rocker Lipsticks

Last month MAC brought out a limited edition collection of really bright lipsticks in some crazy colors. I'm a big fan of crazy colored lipsticks so when I saw the collection at MAC I was really excited. The collection has colors in every color imaginable and I really was spoilt for choice. The collection is called Color Rocker and features 28 different shades.

Here are the colors available

• In The Spirit (Black)
• In My Fashion (Darkened Chocolate Brown)
• Digging It (Warm Brown)
• Secret # (Dark Greyed Brown)
• Cold Hard Cash (Creamy Neutral Brown)
• Gritty Girl (Light Cool Brown)
• Breathing Fire (Bright Warm Fuchsia)
• Carmine Rouge (Red)
• Bunnybeams (Pink Lavender Purple)
• Evening Buzz (Greyed Lavender Purple)
• Flatter Me Fierce (Blue Lavender Purple)
• City Slick (Light Grey Beige)
• Feeling Fizzy (Hot Pink)
• Forbidden Sunrise (Orange)
• Uncontrollable (Baked Orange)
• Mud Wrestler (Neutral Beige)
• Yellow You Dare (Yellow)
• Darling Clementine (Electric Orange)
• Deep With Envy (Forest Green)
• Blue Bang (Bright Blue)
• Show And Teal (Bright Green Blue Teal)
• Instant Icon (Bright Baby Blue)
• Jean Genie (Sky Blue)
• Night Mint (Light Army Green)
• Into The Madness (Bright Lime Green)
• Indigo-Go (Cornflower Blue)
• Matte Royal (Deep Blue)
• Mean Green Machine (Green)

All colors are matte and all are limited edition apart from In The Spirit, In My Fashion and Matte Royal.

There were so many amazing colors to choose from and I chose 6 from the collection. This wasn't easy as there were a lot more I liked too. Colors I went for were Blue Bang, Jean Genie, Instant Icon, Flatter Me Fierce, Bunnybeams and Deep With Envy.

Blue Bang, Jean Genie, Instant Icon, Flatter Me Fierce, Bunnybeams, Deep With Envy

All of the colors looked amazing on and were very pigmented. They didn't have a dry texture or dry my lips out, even though they were a matte. Some mattes can be very dry, not these ones. They stayed on all day too and didn't really need reapplying, with the exception of Instant Icon. For some reason that color seemed to fade.

For someone who loves color, this collection was right up my street. Out of all the colors I didn't really have a favorite as they all looked fab.

Blue Bang

Bunnybeams

Deep With Envy

Flatter Me Fierce

Instant Icon

Jean Genie