LUSH Oatifix Fresh Face Mask

I am a huge lover of LUSH products, but rarely purchase anything for myself, always has gifts. I recently won a little giveaway  which included a Fresh Face Mask. I have always been curious about these, so its been a lovely treat to find out!

LUSH Fresh Face Masks last for around 4 weeks, give or take. They are also required to be stored in the fridge, which is a weird concept, but to keep your face mask as fresh and long lasting as possible, its second nature now to root around in your fridge for a face product. Depending on the type of face mask you also have, this will create a nice chilled, cooling addition to the application, perfect for mornings or if you are wanting to perk your skin up a little!

I have the Oatifix Fresh Face Mask. Bearing in mind I have oily to combination skin type, this mask isn't best suited to my skin. Oatifix is for dry skin. The mask is made up from Bananas, which are an oily rich fruit, perfect for injecting much needed moisture for drier skin. Illipe Butter is also added in, to add further moisture. The scent is delicious, almost good enough to eat. This face mask and ingredients are aimed at the complete opposite end of the skin type scale for me, although I can relate to the fact that this is packed full of moisture, my skin feels balanced after use.

I apply my face masks in the bath. I like to take this time to relax and just lay back, as the mask does the work. As this mask is mainly made up of oats, it has a putty texture, with no room to spread or smear. I found as it is very thick, you do have to apply and push the product onto your skin, opposed to a typical clay mask, where you can easily spread it over your face, even without the need of a mirror. I found by applying this in the bath was the better option, as some sly oats that got away, could just drop in the water.

I applied this onto damp skin, blotted with a towel. Once its actually on your face, and the steam from the bath has travelled its way back to your skin, the product begins to soften and create a slimey texture. I must admit, this isn't the most attractive or appealing face mask. After 5-10 minutes of it holding on to your face, I massage the rest into my face, for a really gentle final exfoliation. As the mask has turned to mush, with some oats still intact, its perfect for a final scrub, to get rid of dry, flaky skin.

I would like to try another LUSH Fresh Face Mask, best suited to my skin type, although this has been an enjoyable and useful first try. As they do only last a couple of weeks, its good to make sure you are someone who will remember to make use of it and not waste it. The top photograph shows one application. This does go along way, and I would say I would get around 5 generous applications, or even 7 quick one's at a push, so this does show that it will last a worthy month, with 1-2 applications a week. This is perfect for me, and anyone else who loves a Sunday pamper night!

You can find LUSH products in store or online here (link).

Fresh Face Masks retail at £5.95 for 75g of product.

Also a little reminder, is if you collect and return to the store, 5 clean full-size pots or tubes, you will get one Fresh Face Mask free!

Have you tried any LUSH Fresh Face Masks?

What is your favourite?

LuceeLovesBeautyBox.

xxx

Pink and White Striped Nails

Another little nails of the day post for you! Well isn't this weather just awful. It seems to be holding on for as long as possible, unfortunately. I am usually one to hate the sun and heat, but I can't actually wait for a touch of warmth and to break out my lighter clothing. Some how, I cannot see that happening anytime soon. Ugh.

Nevertheless, I wanted to perk up my nails. As I am waiting for the sun to appear before wearing my spring polishes, I wanted something girly and fun to brighten things up. I am obsessed with Rimmel's 60 Seconds Polish in 405 Rose Libertine. It's a very pretty dusky pink, which I have worn throughout winter and the summer months. A good all rounder! To add a lighter touch, I opted for some white pinstripes, which turned out alright for a spontaneous decision! I think both colours pair together so nicely, especially for when the sun is shining!

I have currently just ran out of my trusty No7 Stay Perfect Top Coat, so I am looking after an alternative. I don't own any Revlon polishes, although I have heard some good things about their Revlon Top Coat. Is it worth it? I always find my No7 one never lasts long before it gets gloopy.

I hope you liked this post!
What nail looks are you looking forward to wearing throughout spring?

LuceeLovesBeautyBox.

xxx

Social Media Buttons and HTML Coding!

I have always been fighting a losing battle against the design of my blog. Since its started, I had a floral background, with a lot of unnecessary applications, icons, etc in the way, distracting my readers from the post content itself. Since, I have decided to clear that away and have a basic white background, to create a professional finish to my blog, with a simple header and the appropriate info at my side bars.

Today, I decided to get rid of all of the buttons that can be accessed from Facebook, Twitter, etc and create some simple coordinated blog buttons, that will take you directly to the corresponding site. I know I must be the last blogger to have this, bit for some reason, I have had such difficulties trying to do this, from searching the buttons I really like, to the HTML coding. Thankfully, I Gemma had written a post on how to get and install free social media icons (read here!), which made the whole process so much easier!

I decided to opt for a light pink button, which would give a neutral finish, not to distract from the post content. I got my buttons from a recommendation Gemma included in her post, so make sure to check it out! The only bother I really had, was resizing my images, to squeeze into a line. I wish I only chose four, as they would have then been bigger, but hey-ho! The most important social media that a blogger should have and interact with, is most definitely Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and at the moment Bloglovin. I also added my email, for a quicker approach for me to be contacted.

As I said, I'm not entirely happy with the small layout, but I finally have a neat, organised method of contact, in one space.

• To install my social media icons, I firslty searched for the appropriate buttons. There is SO many, with the simple search on Google, so for me, this was one of the hardest parts; choosing

• Once I had chosen mine, I downloaded/saved them to my computer, and then uploaded them to my PhotoBucket account. Very simple to sign up, if you are new!

• You can then head over to your Blogger account, select Layout, Add Gadget then select the HTML/Javascript.

• Add this code: <a href="Your Twitter/facebook/bloglovin profile URL" target="_blank"><img src="direct link to the image in photobucket" alt="Twitter"/></a>.

• You can now change the red text, to your appropriate links, such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. You can repeat this code process for each social media icon - you will end up with a paragraph of repeated coding, with the red text changed. This will allow the icons to appear in a row.

• If you would like them centred, you can also add the HTML code <center> at the beginning of the coding, and </center> at the end.

If you find you have the same difficulty as me, with the icons being too big, you can also add some HTML coding to adjust this. This is an example of my Twitter HTML coding:

<center><a href="https://twitter.com/LuceeLoves" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r559/Luceeloves/twitter-1.png" width="40" height="40" alt="Twitter"/></a>

• Normally, you would not include this red text. But if you would like to alter the sizing of your icon, add the red coding, changing the numbers, depending on the size you want to go. I altered this several times, by saving and previewing, to see whether I like the outcome.

All in all, it is an easy process, but as there is so many different tutorials and ways of doing HTML out there, it can get daunting. Just follow the simple steps, a little Google search here and there, and you will begin to recognise the steps.

I hope this helps anyone that is new to blog designing or comes across it through a Google search.

I would also like to thank Gemma for her helpful post and would recommend you to check out her blog!

If you need any help, don't hesitate to contact me, and I will do my best to help!

What do you think of the finished look?

LuceeLovesBeautyBox.

xxx

Essie in Navigate Her

I know I just posted about my nails last night, but after a spring cleaning housework day, my nails took the worst of it. So for some inspiration for spring time, I thought I would pop something on Spring and pastel appropriate!

I think I have reviewed this at some point before, but it's nice to see an updated review. I think this colour is so unusual. In artifical light, it does look like a pale pastel green. In daylight, it looks like something else! This polish is from a collection from awhile ago, as I picked mine up for a purse friendly £1.99, however I must rave about the brush. I'm not sure if their current season has the same one, but I love tje rounded brush for applying the polish right up to the cuticles neatly. I have been trying to steer the polish just below my cuticles and the edges of my nails, to give a neater finish and to allow my cuticles to breathe.

I only applied one coat, which is definitely enough, with very quick drying time - this is a perfect polish to speedily update your nails, for spring!

Have you tried this nail polish or any other of Essie's?

LuceeLovesBeautyBox

xxx

GOSH Holographic Polish

Just a quick little post I am attempting to type and publish on the Blogger app. Let's see how well this goes! I recently won a giveaway, including sone LUSH goodies and this lovely little polish. I've never seen or heard of something like this before, so I'm really happy I won!

I applied two coats to get an opaque finish, alhough as it is a runny polish, three coats wouldn't have took any longer to dry. As I first applied this, it didn't really resemble holographic effect at all, it wasn't until it settled and became tacky, that it's true colours came to light.

I would also like to add the formulation of the polish. You almost had to maneuver the polish around, like a glitter on, opposed to painting down th nail, to get a seamless finish. The brush was also new to me, as it was short, thin and stubby, making ot slightly awkward to use.

This has been a joy to use, though. I would really like to try some of their other polishes or even make up products!

Have you tried any GOSH products?
What are your thoughts?

I would like to end this rambly post with an apology, as I have no idea how it will turn out after posting!

LuceeLovesBeautyBox.

xxx

Percy & Reed No Oil Oil free with Glamour magazine!

I am sure everyone has now seen this months Glamour magazine, and it's freebies. I love paying a mere £2 for good, high quality products to try. Samples always last me a good while, too, so I can get a few worthy uses out of them. After taking a break from freebies, this month they have including some products from the Percy & Reed line. Now, I hadn't heard too much about this company, although if Glamour were willing to have them, they must be good! There is a selection of four products to choose from, a Colour and Shine Shampoo, Colour and Shine Conditioner, Finishing Polish and Smoothed, Sealed & Sensational Volumising No Oil Oil - what a mouthful!

I immediately decided on the oil, as I am a fan of oiling the ends of my hair before a blow dry, as well as this being advertised for fine hair. I am always having this battle with my lifeless, fine hair, so I am always willing to try something new. I have tried this a few times now, whilst letting my hair dry naturally, as well as with a blow dry. Now, after craving thick, luxurious hair, I have never thought of how I would actually feel with it. I am very used to having hair that doesn't really do much, so after using this whilst my hair naturally dries on a night, I have found the next day, my hair is most definitely volumised - which isn't to say I am impressed. Let me explain. I firstly found it difficult to brush through, which usually is never a problem. Almost as if it has lost its manageability  I also found as I have curly hair (well, wavy), my hair became a gigantic poof on my head. Fortunately for me, as the day progresses, this tames down.

The consistency of the product is like a runny oil. I really like the dispenser, which comes in the form of a pump. I tend to use two, warm the product in between my hands, then distribute through my hair. As I am weening myself off blow drying, I feel as though I should be treating my locks to nourishment it has been craving. I wouldn't say for my hair type, that this smooths my hair out at all, but again, I think this product is definitely something that depends upon who uses it.

If you fancy giving this a try, pop to your local shop and part with your shiny £2, or if you are already in love, you can pick this up online (link) for £14, which you will receive a hefty 60ml.

LuceeLovesBeautyBox.

xxx