Lush: Sex in the Shower Emotibomb

£2.55, Lush

'Our new Sex in the Shower Emotibomb encourages people to share a shower to conserve water. As the warm water touches its surface, wafts of sensual scents entwine themselves around you. Get some soap and lather your partner all over. Just remember to turn the water off while you're in a lather. With great showers comes great responsibility.'

This was included in the P.S. I Love You Valentine's gift box from Lush, see my post here. I have never used a shower emotibomb before as I'm more of a bath kind of girl, so I didn't know what to expect. I used it alone in the shower even though it's designed for two people to use...to 'conserve water' (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) so I cannot comment on the aphrodisiac effect. 

The emotibomb itself was pretty weird looking. It had a flat, crumbly white base which reminded me of a sand dollar, with a creepy pink hand over the top. Even though the hand was slightly weird, I love a pink/white colour combination so this was a winner with me. 

The smell before use is gorgeous - I always like to keep Lush products in my cupboards and drawers as it fragrances them nicely. To me, this smelt perfumey and floral, the ingredients include juniper berry oil, ginger oil, ylang ylang oil, rose oil (one of my favourites), jasmine absolute, geranium oil and mimosa absolute...so it's jam packed full of lovely fragrances!

To use you pop it in the shower away from the direct stream of water. I couldn't believe how slowly this dissolved, especially as I was expecting it to dissolve within 5 minutes. I moved it from the side of the shower to the tray to see if it would make it do anything exciting....it didn't. I got a couple of whiffs of the scent throughout my shower, although this was overshadowed by the other lotions and potions I was using i.e. shampoo and conditioner. It turned the water slightly pink, but because it was a shower the colour was washed away more or less immediately.

In the end I got so bored waiting for this product to do something that I picked it up and with the crumbly product that was left on my hand I used it as an exfoliator. The scent was pretty much non existent afterwards, but it did make an effective, if slightly harsh, exfoliator and left my skin feeling very soft afterwards. 

I was in the shower for a around 15 minutes and by the time I got out there was still a good chunk of emotibomb left. I couldn't be bothered to wait for it to completely dissolve as it just didn't do anything. I hate to give Lush a bad review but this is one of the worst products I have tried from them. It made a lovely gift, and was good to try something different, but I wouldn't purchase another emotibomb as they are pretty pointless!

I just have to point out how cute the packaging of this box was..check out the picture below!

Pretty!

Topshop Cream Blush Neon Rose

Topshop Neon Rose £6

heavily swatched - top, lightly swatched - bottom

Neon Rose is the second cream blush I have purchased from the Topshop range, the first being Butterscotch. I normally gravitate towards pale pinks or nude tone blushers, but when I spied this colour it made me long for a healthy, flushed look and I promptly snapped one up.

Neon Rose is a pinky coloured blush with peachy, coral undertones, applied to the skin it gives a warm flush of colour. The consistency can feel quite greasy in the pan, but when applied it blends into the skin beautifully giving a cream to powder finish. I was initially worried that I would be left with greasy cheeks, luckily the formula is very blendable, giving a more or less weightless finish.

This product is well pigmented, and a little bit goes a long way. On pale skin like mine, only a minimal amount is needed for good colour pay off, the colour is buildable and more can be used to give a stronger look. Whilst it gives my skin a peachy flush, I imagine the coral tones in the blush would be perfect on olive/tanned skin and look stunning when worn in summer.

I find cream blushers are very easy to apply, I generally just use my fingers or sometimes a sponge. I predominantly use this colour on my cheeks, but it also looks lovely when worn on the lips. I find that the consistency, which works oh so well as a blusher, is actually very drying on the lips, so combining with a lip balm or alternative moisturising lip product is a must.

These are the first cream blushers I have tried and I am very impressed. Buy these blushers if you are looking for a well pigmented product that leaves a natural, dewy finish. These cream blushers have pretty good staying powder and are reasonably priced at £6. I'm pretty sure this won't be the last Topshop cream blush I purchase, I've already got my eye on Flush.

Max Factor Xperience Weightless Foundation

Max Factor Xperience Foundation £12.99

Swatched

My supplies of Revlon PhotoReady and Color Stay decided to run out at the same time (handy), so when I needed to buy more foundation I opted to branch out and try Max Factor Xperience Weightless Foundation. I chose the lightest shade, Light Ivory 40.

The blurb: Its formula contains natural jojoba extract, gives flawless coverage with a surprisingly air - light feel.

What I say: I decided to buy this after swatching it on my hand. I was really blown away by the way it melted into my skin, the coverage seemed good and it made my skin tone look even and radiant....I was sold.

I have been using the foundation for a week now. My initial thoughts on the packaging was that the tube is tiny, but it contains 30ml of product, which is the same as both Revlon PhotoReady and Color Stay, I guess the slimline tube also makes it more portable compared to the bulky Revlon bottles. It has a fresh scent and the colour is a pretty good match for my skin tone. Being a pale girl, my biggest fear is foundations that are too orange, luckily this isn't. I would say it gives medium coverage, it evens out my skin tone but a concealer is required for any red patches or spots. It does melt into the skin easily, for this reason I find I do end up using quite a bit of the product per application. 

I can't really comment on the weightless feeling of this foundation as I often have other products on my face before I apply my base, i.e. moisturiser and primer, and using a setting powder over the top does leave a heavier feeling on my skin. However, when I swatch the product on my hand it feels completely weightless. I do not feel caked in make up wearing this foundation, it allows my skin to breathe, it is lighter than Color Stay but not noticeably heavier or lighter than PhotoReady.

I find the foundation has great staying power and lasts for a whole working day, however I do notice that by the afternoon it often sticks to my dry skin making it look quite flaky. My biggest problem with this product was that it made my skin look very oily, mainly on my nose. On the first day of using the foundation I was horrified to find my nose looked incredibly greasy and shiny by lunchtime. This problem was easily solved the next day by using a setting powder over the top of the foundation, I would not walk out the door wearing this product without applying a finishing powder. 

Overall I like this product...as long as I'm wearing a setting powder with it. It doesn't feel as amazing on my face as it did on my hand (not to self - the skin on the face and hand is not the same!). I would not be opposed to purchasing again, but would probably return to PhotoReady which contains an SPF 20 compared to Xperience's SPF 10, and does not leave my skin looking as oily.

Apologies for the rubbish photographs....i leave for work in the dark and return home in the dark so taking good photos is tricky!