Plum pudding is my favourite thing on the planet

My faux grandma makes a mean plum pudding, I've been eating it since I was a young in' and I am so hooked. I get so excited around Christmas time for plum puddings (I am far to lazy to make it myself), and it's finally that time of year!

Christmas seems to continuously come sooner and sooner each year, this year Myer is already selling the puddings that I seek (I bought four today) and they have all of the christmas trees and decorations for sale already. Last year they had a train, I hope they have a train again this year.

Sometimes I read over all of my previous posts and laugh at how god damned hilarious I am

God, I sounds like an egomaniac or some sort of crazy masochist, but I seriously do this, not like I think, "I'm gonna go read my blog like a weirdo!", more so I will be searching for something on le googles and get so friggin exited if I see that no one else has written about something, so my blog is on the front page, eg. if you search Arthur Lawrence Night Serum, you will see my blog and I will talk about Lush for a while.
So I find my blog on google, get excited, read the post that's on google and then I laugh and just sort of continue reading...Eventually I realise that I am reading and laughing at my own writing, which makes me sort of happy, and then I feel like a creep.

So anyhow, I am sick (friggin' again, I know) except I don't know what's wrong with me...I'm just really freaking tired...like a lot more so than usual. So I'm not going to be doing much today other than watching Merlin (ohmygod Merlin ohmygod) and possibly doing assignments, even though I really don't want to.

Also news (it's not interesting though, so be prepared), I filled up my laptop's hard drive, so I bought an external one, except I think I screwed something up because it keeps on ejecting itself at random points and then I only notice when I want to save something and I have to pull out the usb thingy and put it back in and I don't think that's good for the hard drive. Pat, if you're reading this, I need your help with it.

Look at all my lip tints!

So I got my Lush UK order yesterday, feels like I've been waiting forever, but really it's been like 8/9 ish days with the cheaper postage option, so heads up to people in Australia wanting to order from Lush UK, the cheaper postage doesn't take that much longer than the way more expensive one, I usually get my products within a week with the expensive one, so it's really only a couple of days with like $20 difference.

I ordered several(5) lip tints: Double Choc, Celebrate, Latte, Chilli Tingle and Snow Fairy.

Now check out my collection! I much prefer lip tints over lip sticks or lip glosses, I think they look for natural, last longer without moving and are funner to use because they're generally multi use. Other than Lush tints/balms, I also really like the benefit liquid ones, eg. Benetint, Posietint and the new Chachatint, which I am excited to try.

These are the new ones from the Christmas line closer up.

Chilli Tingle
A very orange coral colour, applies quite vibrantly, similar to It Started With A Kiss in pigmentation, if you've tried it. Like most of Lush's lip tints, it's not quite as opaque as a lipstick, though they are always very surprisingly bright and can be layered to a fairly full lipstick effect, but if you're applying it in the car, which I often do, then it's a very easy application and not too full on, which I like.

Pretty sure that sentence made no sense and was very run-on-y, but hopefully you get the picture
- They're very pigmented
- Have a different affect to lipstick
- Can be as opaque as lipstick, but also very sheer, if you want

Latte
Copper, bronze, maybe a little milky coffee coloured lip tint, it goes on quite pearly, it's kind of like an orange oxidey colour. Looks good with dark eyeshadows as it's also a bit nude and less bright than the more red/pink toned ones. Also, it smells like a mochachino. Yum.

Celebrate
Light pink with goldish pearly shimmery-ness. It smells like champagne! Goes on quite opaque, but because it's a balm, rather than a stain, it can slip around, and also because it's a light colour it can quite easily move from the sides and just be in the middle of the lips, which isn't a good look. Ao this just needs to be touched up sometimes, or you can smack your lips to keep it even and have a mirror handy.
Also when you first open it, it has popping candy on top, because of the champagne smell, which can be a little annoying to get it all off because some stay embedded and then you get popping candy on your lips, but then you can lick them off, so it's all good.

Here are swatches of all of mine (not Honey Trap because it's clear). One swipe of each, not layered.

Left to right of the first line: It Started With a Kiss, Double Choc
Left to right of the second line: Snow Fairy (Snow Fairy is a lot less pigmented this year...weird), Latte, Celebrate, Chilli Tingle

And this is my dog, he's sad because I don't have any more toast for him to eat.

Why does orange with red splotches equal banana?

Jelly Belly jellybean company, I will never understand your strange flavours.

Here are the flavours on the back of the "tropical mix" variety box

What.

Mango?
Top Banana?
Berry Blue?
Why are there like three flavours that are all very similar shades of yellow?

And Tangerine/Pink Grapefruit (not sure which) tastes like watermelon, STOP CONFUSING ME, JELLY BEANS!

I have been searching for a while, but have yet to find a single Strawberry Daiquiri, I don't think they actually exist and this makes me sad.

Same goes for Island Punch.

Also, I want this bag. So greatly do I want this bag that I am considering spend $225 on a big red travel bag. Damn you, marketing, you crafty bastard.


And I think I figured out why orange with red splotches is banana, I think it's yellowish with brown splotches...like bruises on a banana. I guess they had too many flavours that ARE ALL FREAKING YELLOW. WHAT?

The Many Uses of Carrier Oils

Yo guys, I am going to talk about carrier oils today because they are damn awesome and I don't feel like people know enough about them or use them. So here are some ways that carrier oil can be used and types of carriers oils that suit each skin type.

Super dry skin
Rosehip - Has a lot of healing properties and is good for various skin conditions including eczema and psoriasis, also very moisturising
Avocado - Also good for eczema, the most moisturising of the bunch
Argan - Really good for redness, has a nice smooth consistency, once again it is moisturising
Sweet Almond - Good for redness also, probably second on the moisturising scale after avocado

People with skin that needs more moisture (eg. mature skin, but also younger folk as well), or skin that is flaky and dehydrated should use these oils as they are quite thick and very moisturising.

Normal/dry skin
Jojoba - the thinnest, but still very moisturising (I use jojoba and I have fairly dry skin). Jojoba is the closest to the skin's natural sebum of all the carrier oils, making it really easily absorbed and regulates sebum production, also good for eczema and skin conditions similar to this
Sweet almond - the more moisturising of the bunch
Apricot kernel - best for sensitive skin, though I jojoba is good too, this one is just known for being gentle and non-irritating, easily absorbed

These ones would suit most skin types as they are fairly thin and you can use more or less as you need it.

Oily/combo skin
Jojoba - (read above)
Grapeseed - slightly anstingent, so it would be good for acne prone skin

Uses:

1. As a moisturiser
I use jojoba every second night (in combination with a cream moisturiser), there is a specific way that you have to use carrier oils as moisturiser, you have to first wet your face and palms, put a few drops of the oil in your hand and rub your palms together, then massage into the face. Make sure your hands are wet, it helps the oils to absorb and when I don't do this and just apply the oil straight onto my face I get break outs. Start with only a small amount and then add more if your skin is still a bit dry, you don't need much, I use 2 or 3 drops for my face.

2. Body and hand moisturiser
What's great about carrier oils is that you can buy one that suits your skin type and use that in many ways, not having to buy more than that one (though you can if you want to). So I also use jojoba as a body and hand moisturiser, it's really good as a hand moisturiser because it sinks in quickly and leaves my hands soft and smooth.

3. Makeup remover
This is my favourite makeup remover of all time, mostly because it's the only one that doesn't irritate my skin, but also because if you get it in your eyes it doesn't sting! I think that's pretty fantastic.
So how I use it is as follows: wet a cotton pad, put a few drops of the oil along the centre, wipe it across your eye several times and then take a clean, damp cotton pad and wipe off the oil.

4. Cleanser
A lot of people use oils straight as a cleanser, they use it similarly to how I moisturiser, but take it off with a toner and massage it more thoroughly, but I'm not really sure how that works as it is how I use it as a moisturiser...So I like Lush Ultrabland, it's mainly oils, but it's in more of a cream form

5. Healer
Carrier oils possess some qualities similar to essential oils (both from plants, etc.), so a lot of carrier oils have healing and mild antiseptic properties. Also they are very moisturising, so they would be good for burns.

6. Intensive moisturising mask
I use oils in my masks as well, it's not the main ingredient, but it adds to the moisturising-ness of the mask.
So my current favourite is:
1-2 tsp green clay
1 tsp manuka honey
5-ish drops of jojoba oil

7. Leave in treatment in hair
Probably my most used idea for carrier oils, just under moisturiser. Here are the results I find with jojoba oil (I like jojoba in my hair because it isn't as heavy as some of the others and is similar to the natural sebum).
- Shinier hair, but healthy looking ie. not being dried out on the inside by silicone, but looking nice on the outside
- Really, really soft hair
- If used as a deep treatment before washing, my scalp is nicely moisturised and not irritated
- Smooth hair, the oil smooths flyaways really well
- Healthy hair
- Smooth, moisturised ends - less likelihood of getting split ends

8. Carrier for essential oils
Carrier oils can also be used if you use an oil burner for aromatherapy, rather than putting the oils in water, which evaporates quickly, you can put it in a carrier oil and it will burn slower (you do need a small amount of water though, or else it might burn)

Another way that oils can be used to carry is when applying essential oils to the skin, for example, if you have bad acne and oily skin, you can use tea tree oil (I wouldn't use it often though) on the spots as tea tree oil is a very good antiseptic, antibacterial, all of that good stuff, but it can be too harsh straight on the skin and give you a rash or burns, so then you would mix it with a carrier oil before applying it to the skin. For tea tree oil, I would say about one drop of tea tree to 3 or 4 drops of carrier. Though some essential oils do not need to be diluted, like lavender, in most people, can be applied neat.

9. Lip moisturiser
If you run out of lip balm (it's not very realistic to use it on the go) then slap a few drops of a carrier oil on your lips, it works really well, but it is a liquid and thus hard to use any where other than home.

People's strange aversion to things

I do not understand people at all.

I thoroughly enjoy Vanilla Coke, I drank it as a youngin' and then it wasn't (appeared is if it wasn't, who knows) around for a while and now suddenly lots of places have it and I'm all excited, I love that stuff, reminds me of my childhood and such (even though I'm not that far from my childhood times anyway. Whatevs. WHATEVS), but apparently people don't like Vanilla Coke and they think it is weird for me to drink it and it's not even that they don't like it, it is like an aversion, like they think I am seriously strange for even considering ordering it.

People are so confusing. Not sure what their deals are, Vanilla Coke is da bomb. It is legit good. Maybe I have weird taste buds...actually I think that I do. Probably to do with my upbringing, vegetarian, gluten intolerant mother, you tend to try some weird foods. Also I'm really interested in Japanese culture and language, so that could indicate something too.

So anyway, I think I have weird tastebuds because my number one favourite foods are inari and tofu sushi (but only from a specific shop). I friggin' love tofu and a lot of people think that tofu is weird/gross and they have such an aversion to it that even when they try the deliciousness that is inari, they will still not like it because they so can't even imagine liking it, which is kind of impossible because it's so damn delicious.

I kind of get it though, for people not raised by a vegetarian, it has a weird texture, taste, smell, kind of everything actually, but it's so good!

People that have never eaten inari before or think that they won't/don't like it, you must try it again, but don't think of it as tofu, because it is so different to what people associate the word "tofu" with. It's sweet, fried, has rice in the middle, just damn delicious in general.

Lush 30 Day Challenge in 30 mins (because I don't want to do my Art assignment)

Be warned that this post is long and not very interesting

First product you EVER used from Lush, and how long ago was that?

The Olive Branch shower gel, about two years ago

Top 3 favorite bath bombs?

Twilight, Mrs. Whippy and Fizzbanger

If you could use only ONE Lush soap or shower gel for the rest of your life, which one would you pick?

KARMA! or possibly Dirty...

Favorite massage bar?

Soft Coeur. Smells so damn good

Have you attended a Lush Chat Party? Did you purchase any limited edition products?

I have not. I so want to, but I never know when they're on and they're never Australia inclusive

How often do you visit your local Lush/order online?

Once a week to once a fortnight. Thought if it was visiting the website, it'd be more like 5+ times a week

Favorite Gorilla perfume scent?

Imogen Rose or Vanillary, both smells so awesome

Have you ever used a knot wrap before? If so, what is your favorite pattern?

YES! It got me into furoshiki scarf wrapping, they change all the time, so I like most of them

Favorite face cleanser?

Ultrabland. Favourite thing ever. (I have blogged about it several times)

If you were to give your best friend a product from Lush, which one would you give him/her?

Well, she's already well into Lush, but probably something that she hasn't tried before, like The Big Tease hair gel, love that stuff

Favorite limited edition product (holidays, etc.)?

Snow Fairy, snow fairy everything. I love Godmother in between Christmases.

How did you first hear about Lush? What enticed you to buy a product?

I'm pretty sure it was a youtuber that introduced me to this wondrous land...not sure which one, but she did a crazy huge hall of all her Lush things and when she said they were natural I knew I had to try it.

Favorite bubble bar or bath melt?

A tie between Creamy Candy and the Comforter, both so good.

What are your favorite Lush blogs online to read?

LushiesUnite, Coggels and Living The Lush Life, even though they haven't written in a while

Favorite Lush face skincare products besides cleanser (toner, moisturizer, serum, etc.)?
Eau Roma toner and Ocean Salt

If someone was to buy you a wrapped gift from Lush tomorrow, which one would you want?

All I Want For Christmas, of course. Or one of the tins, they're adorable.

Favorite retro product OR product that has been discontinued?

Trichomania is going to be discontinued in Australia! Ah, love that and Enchanting Eye cream too

How do you feel about the Lush Dirty line? Have you tried it or do you have plans to? Which products?

I love that stuff, man. Love mint scents, makes me feel so clean. Favourites are the Dirty Hair Styling Cream and Dirty Springwash shower gel, the Toothy Tabs are interesting too

If you’ve had a terrible day, what Lush product do you use for a pick-me-up?

I would probably have a Comforter bath and use Ocean Salt

What is your favorite shampoo or conditioner from Lush?

Jungle conditioner, my God, love it, in combination with Godiva shampoo bar and then R&B afterwards

I have blogged about this also

Lush is a very ethical company in terms of their sourcing and campaigning, as well as all the green initiatives they take for packaging. Are Lush’s ethics a reason why you use Lush products?

One of the many reasons. Not just the packaging, though that is a big plus, I also like that they don't have chemicals, including silicone.

What is your must-have-on-hand product from Lush?

It Started With A Kiss lip tint or Honey Trap lip balm. I don't carry much in the way of cosmetics with me

Do you keep your shampoo bars/massage bars/body butter bars in the Lush designated tins?

Yes! I love them, they're so cute and useful

Favorite emotibomb?

I don't really see the point of emotibombs, they never really do much for me. My favourite, if it worked, would be Up You Gets

Where/how do you keep your Lush stash?

I keep the bath bombs, bubble bars and soaps in multiple paper Lush bags hanging from hooks in my bathroom and everything else is on shelves and any space I can find in my bathroom

More blogging about related things

Do you have a favourite compounder?

...nope

What issue of the Lush Times has been your favorite? Do you keep all of the old issues?

I do keep old ones, but not purposefully, more so incase the internet goes out and I have nothing to peruse. I liked the one I got in the UK in June/July, t'was a nice one.

What is one product you really want to try but haven’t?

Some of the solid gorilla perfumes on the UK website and a lot of the new Christmas stuff. Just made a huge order of all the new lip tints and balms, so excited

Favorite hair treatment product?

Either H'suan Wen Hua or Marilyn (not so much for blondifying properties, just makes my hair super soft), unless we're counting R&B, which in that case would be R&B

What is your ULTIMATE, ALL TIME favorite Lush product and why?
Ooh, tough one...
I probably have several

Ultrabland: Because it's awesome

Jungle conditioner: also awesome

And R&B: still awesome

Lush Ultrabland review deux

You might remember my recent post on Lush's Ultrabland cleanser that I had been trying for a few weeks. Well it's been a few more weeks and I think I can pass my verdict now.

This stuff is insane.

Seriously, everyone should try it. It's so amazing, and when I say everyone, I really mean everyone. I truly believe that this is a cleanser for everyone. People that aren't up for not using a conventional cleanser may be excluded, but all skin types should definitely give this a try.

It has continued to clear any spots I had and reduce redness. Even with continued use I still relish the feel of my moisturiser as I apply it, it's so lovely. It hasn't made my face oily (though I do have dry skin), and you clean it all off and tone, so it shouldn't be a problem for anyone.

And over production of sebum in the skin can be caused by cleanser stripping the face of all the oils and the skin not getting enough moisture, so the skin produces more sebum to compensate, it's just not very good at gauging how much is too much. So adding more sebum-like oils (ie. jojoba and peanut oils) will cause the sebum production to even out. I have actually found that my skin is a lot less dry, it feels smoother and more moisturised, but I don't have to worry about having a shiny face.

Sorry, it annoys me when people feel the need to strip all of the oils from their faces and then add little in return on top, and this cleanser is really awesome!

So I think I've been using this cleanser for a few months now (not sure, but I can hardly remember using my old cleanser anymore) and I don't think I could ever use something different. It really is the best I've tried.

So for people a bit dubious of a cleanser that is oil based and a large majority of the product being oil as well, try it. Seriously. Though you do kind of have to use a toner (defs use Lush ones, alcohol free) and make sure you get it all off, but it is so worth it.

Do be prepared for some possible break outs the first week or two that you start using it, as it is a very deeply, but gently, cleansing cleanser, it brings all of the gross stuff in your face to the surface and takes a little bit to completely get it all out. So keep using it (though if you get really bad breakouts, you might want to stop and make sure you're using it correctly) and enjoy the results.

Also, I do a few face masks/scrubs each week, which also gets rid of any build up if there was any. I am currently enjoying Lush Ocean Salt, Perfect Potion Bare Faced exfoliator and Arthur Lawrence Cleanser III


In other news, I've been completely obsessed with Anya Marina's cover of Whatever You Like by T.I.
I can't stop listening to it, I love it so much. So I would definitely recommend anyone and everyone listening to it, it's very different to T.I.'s version, incase you don't like that one. And while I'm on the topic of covers that sounds awesome, but very different to the original, for Lordy take, you must listen to Kate Miller-Heidke's cover of The Real Slim Shady by Eminem, my Lord, it's amazing. Go hence and listen! (Can be found here on youtube)

I KNEW IT!!!

Doctor Who Season 6 finale spoilers, guys, fo' reals.

Oh I knew it would be the teselecta! AND the question being "Doctor who?", knew that too. You cannot trick me, Moffat!

It was a good episode though, and no more until christmas! Ahh! What will I do?!

I'm really hoping that next season there's more on River falling for the Doctor and how it all happened.