LUSH Bloggers Breakfast

Okay, so admittedly, I've been a slow burn with my love of LUSH products... but as the brand grows, so does my love! I really love their passion for cruelty free, less packaging and also their innovation for new scents & products. Last month I got to invited to their Bloggers Breakfast Event which involved seeing their new products before the store opened. What more could a beauty lover ask for? Oh, pizza? There was also pizza! (And who doesn't love pizza for breakfast??)

The pizzas were courtesy of Pizzastorm, also based in Eldon Square. Vegan and packed with flavour.

The colours and smells are a joy for the senses on entering the shop, but I was dying to get down to the nitty gritty of the products. There's so many beauty brands these days that its easy to get lost in the sea of insta faves but Lush continue to bring in new exciting products season after season. 

We were split into groups and rotated round different stations. Our first stop was a bubble bar making masterclass which i totally loved and wish was a regular thing in store! We followed a recipe and mixed all of the ingredients...

Adding the glitter, was the best part (especially for a total self proclaimed magpie, like myself.) It was floating around the shop like some sort of magical dust. We had to make sure the ingredients were well mixed and this required some kneading. I loved getting stuck in, and my baking skills came in handy too.

The mixture had to be left to prove, a little bit like making bread... so whilst that was left to do its thing, we moved onto our next station to hear about new products. The naked lip scrubs and tints are a new products which really got my attention.... more nourishing on the lips and less packaging! What could be better?! I really do suffer with dry lips when the cold weather rolls in so I'm always on the hunt for moisturising lip products. These babes come in a range of different colours and are packed with cocoa butter for goodness. The lip tints are a great alternative to lipstick or gloss if you fancy more of a lip stained or blush effect. 

I then got my eye on this little gem of a soap. I've never bought any soaps from LUSH but the Golden Pear is full of pear puree and oh my days, it smells delicious. And how adorable is this? Pears have been used for years throughout the Christmas celebration so this addition to their Christmas range is a perfect festive fancy to the range. 

For anyone who loves the infamous Magic Wand Bubble Bar will probably see some resemblance in this festive retake. Stuffed with star anise, almond oil & cinnamon, The Magic of Christmas literally oozes the traditional warm, Christmas scents. Wave your wand, and in minutes your bathroom will have you feeling nostalgic about Christmas times passed. The good thing about bubble bars is that you can reuse them.... you hold these under running water until you have the right amount you'd like, then wrap away for next time. 

We were then showed more new products in the form of naked shower gels. We all know and love the Snow Fairy but the naked shower gels are a slight variation on the original gels.

The naked shower gels are basically a soap bar in appearance, however in contact with water these react more like a shower gel in texture. I am in love with this concept and not only are they cute and shaped like a bottle but they have no plastic which means less plastic in our seas and buried in the earth. 

I spotted these little fellas whilst at the naked shower gels sections and was intrigued. They are like rice paper teddy bears for your bath! Whatttt! The Butterbear Wash Card is the same scent of the Butterbear bath bomb but in the form of a wash 'card' and again these are reusable and amazing if you're travelling light and need to keep your packing easy! 

I'm a sucker for a cute novelty item from LUSH and The Snowman indulges me in that. They have so many little characters for different times of the year, and the LUSH team are always making me fall in love with new little faces! 

The next station was the bath bombs & the jelly bomb range. I am known to splurge on a bag full of bath bombs from Lush, from time to time. Hence, why I was excited for this part! I love watching them fizz around the bath with different smells and colours exploding from them. My new favourite bomb has to be Thundersnow. Full of peppermint oil, this is a refreshing but comforting scent. This one is a real active bomb, so if you love a bomb that whizzes around the bath, spewing out a rainbow of colours, this one is for you! 

Sherbet Dip (unreal) and  Ectoplasm (inspired by Ghost Busters) are 2 others which I think I'm going to have to get my hands on! 

The Man In The Moon is another cute character I fell in love with. I asked where the inspiration comes from in the LUSH head quarters and apparently inspiration comes in many forms. One bath bomb was created by a customer who created it for her daughter. Other products are inspired by other things like movies. The Man in the Moon was one of those cases, inspired by a black and white 1920's movie. How magical and fascinating!

We returned to the bubble bar making and pressed our mixture into moulds which we got to take away with us. I loved this interactive part of the event and being able to make my own bubble bar. The mixture had got more firm whilst we were off sniffing and seeing everything else!

LUSH continue to win my heart in their war against plastic and excess packaging, and of course in gorgeous beauty products. If you're young or old... I think there'll be something for you in the new range! 

Until next time...

The Original Redhead 

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Kiehl's Bloggers Event

Situated on Blackett Street in Newcastle, I had been meaning to try Kiehl's Skincare for ages... and then as if by magic I was invited to their bloggers event. Perfect opportunity to be introduced to the brand. 

On entering the store, the staff are dressed in white coats which instantly gives you a chemist/science type vibe which makes sense as the brand was founded back in 1871 by a pharmacist in Brunswick, NYC. The company has seen a change of different owners introducing new ranges for men, oils and even introducing generous samples in the 1970's. The brand has had quite a prolific existence in the skincare world and even launched a product in collaboration with Andy Warhol in the sixties. The staff were full of information for all of the products, the brand history and all were passionate about skincare. But first things first, we got tucked in to a slice of cake. Because.... cake. 

I had a mooch around the store to see what type of products they have on offer and a reoccurring theme were very fresh ingredients like orange, cilantro, jasmine. The Cilantro and Orange extract smells divine btw. I had heard amazing things about the Midnight Recovery Concentrate so that was on my list to check out up close and ask questions.

So after speaking to the staff about the Midnight Recovery Concerntrate, and doing some reading online this comes highly recommended. A lot of the staff tagged this as their 'fave' product in the whole range. This is a midnight recovery cream that works its magic while you sleep, it has an oily consistency and comes in an iconic blue glass dropper bottle. It's key ingredients are some of the reasons this helps skin appear fresher, brighter and repaired. Primrose oi, lavender oil & squalane (from olives) are some of the natural ingredients helped to boost skin recovery whilst you get your all important sleep. 

I've noticed from browsing their website that a lot of the glass packaging is recyclable and the cardboard packaging comes from recycled sources. In the world we live in where mass production and the throw away concept seems so evident, I think this is a great concept to hear from big brands and I wish more would follow! 

As an addition to the cake and skincare, we were treat to cocktails by the lovely staff from The Alchemist, Newcastle. They served up the Bubblebath cocktail which, let me tell you... it's so delicious and a dream to watch being made! 

I thought the collaboration of The Alchemist and Keihl's was genius, these 2 brands are built on alchemy so it was a perfect match! If you're around Newcastle craving a cocktail, I totally recommend this as a sweet cocktail and instagram worthy too!

Sipping cocktails and eating cake (AND learning about skincare) I was asked if I would like a skin assessment. I was totally up for this because I'm a little bit obsessed with skincare and always wanting to understand my skin more and how to look after it. So I had a skin test with a little swatch - you can request these at your store (no need to remove make up).... and from the swatch they recommend the best products and treatments for you. 

So my skin was slightly dehydrated (I do moisturise every night and have a skincare routine) but I was advised to drink more water and to try using a combination of oils and serums to help moisture reach deeper into my skin. This is a free service they offer and would recommend it to any skin lovers out there! 

Until next time... 

The Original Redhead 

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Mother's Day Skincare Discovery

So, hand's up who loves a pamper session?! All of you, right?! So when I received this Kathleen Caviar Enriched Eye Cream retailing at £78.00 I was excited to open the parcel. I think that price tag warrants the "luxury" genre on any beauty shelf... for someone looking to spend a little extra on luxe skincare Kathleen have it nailed.
 

 

 

With it being Mother's Day I wanted to share a little skincare discovery for my wise and beautiful Mam. Very recently she was diagnosed with a skin condition know as Rosaea. I had heard of the condition but symptoms look slightly different depending on the person so I didn't recognise the first signs. We thought it was originally an allergic reaction to hair dye. However, once diagnosed it made perfect sense! We can no longer share the same skincare products... cleanser, face masks, moisturisers etc. Meaning we've had to find products which doesn't aggravate the condition causing dry skin, itchiness, redness & blotched blemishes mainly to the skin area.

 

 

 

Buried in the box, I opened up the package to seen what it held. I uncovered a silver holographic box and opened it to find the magic pot of eye cream. Small but mighty.

 

 

 

 

 

When I received the Eye Cream from Kathleen Skincare, I was pleased to read that their products are natural & organic, free from alcohol (one of the main ingredients in many skincare products which irritate Rosacea), parabens, sulphates & synthetic colours among others. The luxurious Eye Cream is infused with an amazing 23 natural and marine ingredients including caviars. Caviar is bursting with amino acids and vitamins which help to promote luminous skin. Admittedly, I hadn't had a chance to try this latest trend in skin care yet so this was exciting to see up close.

 

 

 

 

The cream looks like any standard eye cream and is to be applied gently using your ring finger gently patting into the skin. This cream targets wrinkles and dark circles with its extensive list of ingredients from sandalwood to ginseng root to give a natural glow. Each ingredient seems to have its own purpose and on the mission for firmer and more glowing skin it's good to know that Kathleen are really addressing our skin needs with so many natural ingredients which are so easily replaced with chemicals in mainstream beauty. Another good thing about this Kathleen cream is that it can be used as a day and a night cream... meaning you don't have to buy separate creams for day time and night time.
 

 

 

 

We're so pleased to have found a skincare product she can use on a daily basis which will not affect her skin condition and also target fine lines and give a glow too. If anyone else has recommendations for rosacea compatible skincare products we'd love to hear about them. Please leave any suggestions in the comments section!

 

 

Until next time...

 

The Original Redhead

 

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