Honey Bee bath bomb review: "you got a sweet tooth?"

Honey Bee (£3.35) is a lovely yellow coloured bath bomb with brown waves/circles through it's design.  One of Lush's sweeter bath bombs due to its yummy honey fragrance.  And since it contains honey, this makes it a vegetarian bath bomb - not vegan.

Honey Bee gives a pleasant bath experience fizzing away and turning your bath water yellow.  In between popping this into your bath and it disappearing, the bath bomb contains little chunks of honey and rhassoul mud which come away like seaweed from Big Blue.  Other than this, there isn't anything overly exciting with Honey Bee.  It has no rainbow magic (colour changes) and with a lack of Cream of Tartar the bath bomb fizzes quite quickly like Avobath.  It smells so sweet and very much like the rest of Lush's honey products.  It isn't as strong as the soap, shower gel or shampoo bar, but it is a part of that scent group.  Honeylicious.  This is for anyone who has a sweet tooth and cannot get enough of honey love.  So, you got a sweet tooth? 

The benefit of Honey Bee comes from the Aloe Vera Gel and Honey within.   Honey is both moisturising and antiseptic.  It also contains antibacterial, antioxidant and anti-fungal properties and has the ability to attract and retain moisture.  And if this didn't make Honey Bee good enough for skin, the addition of Aloe Vera Gel and Aloe Vera Extract make it a delight.  Aloe soothes itching and is good in calming sunburn or redness caused by the cold.  It softens the skin and helps to protect it.

I tend to buy this time to time rather than religiously like Avobath.  Personally, I don't find it as good as Avobath in how well it conditions the skin and I much prefer the smell of Avobath too.  I'm a massive fan of the Honey product line with Lush but the bath bomb isn't the greatest one on offer, in my opinion.  I use this on an odd Sunday afternoon every month or so.  I find it gives a relaxing bath and leaves you with soft skin rather than moisturised skin.  I do recommend Honey Bee to anyone who hasn't tried it to form your own opinion but anyone who doesn't like the Honey line (Honey I Washed my Hair, It's Raining Men...)  I think it would be best to venture other bath bombs.  And if you're a fan of the Honey line up then give this little honey a pop.  Everyone has their favourite bath bomb and this may be yours! 

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Ingredients:

Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Rhassoul Mud,  Perfume, Honey, Aloe Vera Extract, Fair Trade Organic Aloe Vera Gel, Sweet Wild Orange Oil, Bergamot Oil, Gardenia Extract, Lilial
Citronellol,*Limonene

Tea Tree Toner Tab review: "This is a skin treat"

Tea Tree toner tabs (£1.00) have always been overlooked by me.  I was given a facial cleanser machine (a steamer) in my early teens and absolutely hated it.  I couldn't handle the heat of the steamer and I actually felt it burnt my face.  Given how bad my cystic acne has acted up as of late, I decided to pick up two of the Tea Tree toner tabs to give them a go.  And I've tried them out.

Very much like a bath bomb, these little things fizz and cackle away when you pop them into a warm bowl of water.  The pictures demonstrate what they look like when fizzing.  Immediately the smell of these little guys is unleashed which I found rather surprising.  In it's solid form I barely smell any fragrance but as it fizzes away it comes all at once.  I'd say Tea Tree toner tabs smell really medicinal and that is all I can really say to round it up.  It has a really antibacterial medical smell... Love it or hate it, which I'm indifferent too.

Lush recommend you drop this into a bowl of steaming water and cover your head with a towel to get a really good cleanse.  I did this and as a first timer I found this really, really difficult.  To begin with I felt like I had no air and that someone was physically choking me and I actually thought I'd have to back out and waste it.  

Thankfully, I adjusted and could breath through the steam and could bare the heat too.  I did this for around ten minutes wishing for the time to go much faster than what it did.

When I finished up I felt relaxed and ready for bed.  My whole body just relaxed the way it does using bath bombs which I didn't expect.  And when I got up the next day I noticed my cysts had reduced in size.  I was really surprised by this, which shows me what faith I had in this toner tab.  I didn't expect it to do anything but it has.  Now I'm being cheeky and wishing it had got rid of the cysts entirely... Give a step and they take a mile as the saying goes.

The three big acting ingredients in this toner tab are Tea Tree oil, Organic Aloe Vera powder and Chlorophyllin.  Aloe Vera is known to soothe the skin and cool it down which is very beneficial for people with sunburn or redness from the cold.  And here's a cool fact: Chlorophyllin has a distinct quality of making Lush products green! I think the only two products that aren't green with this ingredient in it is their Handy Gurugu hand cream and The Greeench deodorant, and even then they are a dull white.  Chlorophyllin helps balance the skin by working with other ingredients to balance out skin's sebum.  It's also believed to soothe and protect the skin with healing properties.  And Tea Tree oil has many benefits.  It is antibacterial, antiseptic, antifungal and is very useful to help clear the skin and make it blemish-free.

All in all I was really shocked at how much I really liked using this product and also how effective it is.  I'm rather bummed I haven't tried it sooner.  This really relaxed me and soothed my mind and quite literally put me to bed with how relaxed I was.  My skin felt super soft after using it and the next day I felt a total change in the condition of my skin.  Not only did it minimize the size of my spots but I felt when I did my morning routine (ocean salt, tea toner water and vanishing cream) it felt much richer and my skin responded to it better than what it has the past three weeks.  Particularly my moisturiser - I haven't been enjoying Vanishing Cream as much I thought I would, but it actually felt like my skin soaked it up this morning.  I can't take this as a coincidence considering I've been using it for almost a month.  The toner tab definitely has done something to skin.  I think what amazes me is how powerful this little product is and believe me, it's powerful.  I recommend Tea Tree toner tab to anyone who has problem, oily and spotty skin.  This is a skin treat and I hope very much it's as effective for others as it was for me.  I've already ordered more with my latest Lush Kitchen order.  Just remember though - this made me very tired so I'd recommend doing it when you know you're home for the night!

Next time when I use this I'm going to pair it up Cupcake face mask.  I'll do the toner tab cleanse first and then do my face mask to give my face a full treatment - you can do this! Lush actually recommend it too.  I'll be adding this to my face care regime every two days or so, perhaps whenever I use my face mask.  I just need to get myself to my lush store to get a bucket full of them!

Toner Tab Steps:

• I gave my face a clean with a hot cloth so the toner tab would directly treat my pores - you'd obviously do this if you had make-up on too.
• I used boiling water from a kettle.  I boiled the water and poured it out about five minutes later.  I wanted to give the water time for the burning heat to calm down. Remember steam can be dangerous! 
• I popped the toner tab into my bowl of water and hoovered over the bowl with a towel covering both the bowl and my head - I did this for ten minutes.
• Then I was done and poured it away.  BUT you can keep the toner tab water for up to a week for a refreshing spritz/cleanses - you must keep it in your fridge.

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African Paradise body conditioner review: "Tropical Hydration"

African Paradise (19.95/225g) is the one of two body conditioners available by Lush all year round.  It was released in the summer of 2014 and what an addition it is to the product line up.  The pot label reads: "full of softening and scented ingredients from Africa" which is true.  The Moringa oil in this is sourced from Ghana.  

The smell of African Paradise is really unique and if I remember correctly, was the first product released by Lush that has this fragrance.  African Paradise has a really floral and spicy aroma which blend together to make a really rich shower product.  It's meant to duplicate the smell of Africa - Africa's calling! - and given that I've never been to Africa, I cant quite verify that.  But I can verify that it's like nothing you've ever smelt by Lush before.  

African Paradise has the same fragrance as the New Charity Pot and Lush's Valentine's Collection 2015 Heart Throb bubbleroon.  I don't think there is anything else... But comment below if you can think of anything! These three products together make a spicy floral overload! But without the bubbleroon and lotion, the smell of African Paradise body conditioner lingers on the skin for hours on end which personally, I adore.  I just wish Lush had a matching shower gel to go with this since whenever I use this, it covers up the fragrance of any shower gel I've used before it.  That is why, when I find the time and know I'm not going to create a global disaster, I'm going to convert Heart Throb bubbleroon into a shower gel.  Yep.   

The benefit of African Paradise is to condition your skin in the shower.  This can be really crucial, whether it's because you're pressed for time or because your skin needs deep hydration.  Containing Almond oil and both Cocoa and Shea butter to condition the skin makes this a very rich product indeed.  There's also Aloe Gel which will sooth and cool the skin which would be excellent for anyone with sunburn or redness from the cold - making it essential in both summer and winter!  Aloe Gel is known for it's healing properties so it will also soften the skin and protect it from (further) damage.   Hidden in African Paradise is the little gem of Mango juice which makes this even more brilliant.  Mangoes are packed with vitamins making it highly nutritious, and full of enzymes which will remove dirt whilst it clarifies and improves the condition of skin.  Can you get anything better?  There are uplifting citrus oils and the addition of sweet vanilla absolute packed in this conditioner but the love this product will give your skin is what makes it special.  What makes body conditioners special.  As I've wrote before, I love my body conditioners and treasure them greatly, using them near enough every time I shower.  African Paradise is a welcomed and fabulous addition to Lush's products.

African Paradise is a really moisturising product and is really good for your skin.  Just slap it all over your body and see the magic happen.  But here's how it goes if you're still unsure... This has a really creamy consistency but it becomes almost water thin in the shower because the butters melt in contact with your skin.  So a little goes a long way!  But it moisturises your skin the way moisturisers do and you can feel the oils all over your body.  This product doesn't lather like buttercreams or shower smoothies, it just spreads across the skin like moisturisers do - which it is meant to do!  Since I don't wash them off because I really want nourishment for my skin, when I get out of the shower I can still rub the oils across my body! My skin is always completely moisturised from head to toe using this, and is left soft and smooth when my skin soaks it all up.

I want to write about something I've experienced with African Paradise here.  It's not necessarily a bad thing but I want to mention it.  I've noticed African Paradise changes colour after a couple of months.  Below are before and after pictures of African Paradise.  The photo on the left is when I just bought the body conditioner and the photo on the right is now, this weekend.  This is about an eight month span.  I bought two pots of this back in August and finished the first pot about a month and a half ago, heading to two months. 

 I've just been so obsessed with Yummy Mummy! I pulled this into the shower this morning and saw the change.  I didn't find anything wrong with the product at all.  It was normal.  The smell is the same, the feel of it on the skin is the same - all that is different is it doesn't have such a runny consistency as it did before.

So, what's the lesson here? Buy as you need.  I didn't need two pots at once but I bought two since they were new products.  Albeit I've found nothing wrong with the product, I'd still rather it fresh and runny the way it once was.  So there's a little advice for you and also for myself!  But if you find yourself in this position - just get something to mix it up and it should be good as new.  I used the base of a fork.  

I really love Lush's body conditioners since they save people time.  The purpose of conditioners is to hydrate the skin in the shower like a hair conditioner.  And trust me when I say, this hydrates your skin! With Aloe Gel this body conditioner is perfect for summer and winter and is definitely going to be a necessity for my shower bag during summer.  I'm a shower bug during summer... The time where baths go on a hiatus and showers are religious, and African Paradise will be there with me.  I recommend this for anyone who loves spicy scents and skin that needs good TLC.  Because what I love about conditioners is when you suffer eczema like I do, this really helps calm inflamed skin in the shower.  Although when it is really flared up I like to use King of Skin in combination with Sympathy for the Skin.  However, African Paradise really helps combat against skin getting irritated by sweating during the hot months.   

So, African Paradise is indeed a tropical hydration with softening and scented ingredients that lets us all believe we are in Africa for two minutes of our day.

Let me know if you if you've decided to try out African Paradise or have your own thoughts on the product.  Or perhaps you like the idea of conditioners but fancy a citrus one like Brightside bubble bar (raises hand), comment below! 

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