LUSH- Christmas Cheer- Gift box

 

I know this review is late, but to be fair I only got this box after Xmas and on sale to boot.  Every year I have waited with bated breathe and anticipation to see if LUSH would introduce a boxing day sale as they do overseas but alas it never happened, until this year, I was scrolling through my instafeed and wham 50% off LUSH Xmas stock, I just about died from happiness.

Now I have reviewed LUSH products on this blog before but for those who don't know, LUSH is a store that sells all natural, mostly vegan skin care, beauty and bathing products, their stuff is literally good enough to eat and on the rare occasion that I do brave Canal walk I can smell the store from a mile off.

My favorite product and scent in their range just happens to be a Halloween/ Xmas scent called the Lord of Misrule, patchouli and black pepper heaven in a scent I tell you when my hubby was able to visit the Oxford Street branch when he went to England on a work trip he brought me back the body wash which I savored until the very last drop.

So of course I was so excited, however there is a catch, South African stores are not lucky enough to stock the Lord of Misrule body wash only the bath bomb (If anyone at LUSH reads this PLEASE bring the body wash into SA), and when I looked at the fact that we are in a drought and that you just cannot enjoy a LUSH bath bomb in a few cm of water I decided to find a gift box instead and one that contained products that I could still use without a full bath and a guilt trip.

I adore fruit scents, Lush usually leans towards candy, spicy smells for Xmas which just arent in my usual line of taste so I was very happy to see that this year they opted for more fruit scents, after much scrolling and decision making I chose the Christmas Cheer gift box, I paid 50% of the price, so under R150 and I got 3 products in the box namely:

Bubbly Body wash

I absolutely love the smell of this body-wash, the wash contains vine leaf, lemon, lime and fresh grape juice, to me it smells like a fruit ice lolly, the scent is incredibly strong and wakes you up as you are using it.  I did find that the scent didn't seem to linger after I had finished in the shower though, however after my kids had used it I noticed the smell would waver through the air whenever they walked by me or hugged me, and one day after getting out the shower hubby asked me what smelled so great so I am not sure if it is a case of simply not being able to smell my own scent or maybe my sense of smell was just having an issue, a bought of flu did go through our household at that time so it is possible.

The wash also leaves my skin feeling incredibly moisturized and smooth which considering the awful hot and sickly summer weather we have had of late is perfect.

Santa's Belly bath Jelly

The bath Jelly's have always intrigued me although not something that I think I would have bought on my own I'm glad I received one in the box, the scent is bergamot, fresh grape and apple, does that not sound frikken amazing?  I will admit the jelly was a bit daunting and in the end I just went with the recommendation of using a small bit at a time instead of the whole thing and it worked.

Would I buy it again, I am not sure but only because of the Jelly appeal, I think I just prefer a soap or a wash.

Christmas Citrus Soap

The last thing in my box was the Christmas Citrus Soap and this was by far my favorite product in the box lime oil, bergamot oil and fresh lemon, again the smell was fresh and wonderful and left my skin feeling great, my only complaint but it is a fault of my own is that the soap melts super quickly so keeping mine in the shower reduced the size of the product incredibly quickly which just made me sad.

All in all a lovely box full of 3 wonderful products that I was all to happy to receive.

If you haven't tried LUSH I would highly recommend it, they are cruelty free, as as I have said chemical free all natural and mostly vegan, the LUSH employees are awesome and they know plenty about each and every product so if you are not sure or you are looking for something specific they will help you find what you need.

My favorite set of products is most definitely their shampoo bars which offer incredible value for money and in the drought and for travel they are perfect, The honey I washed the kids bar smells like sweet toffee and I could eat it, it just smells that good.

Happy Blocks- Happy Monkey =)

I have 3 boys so the most obvious kind of toy you are going to find in  our household is of course Lego, unfortunately Lego also comes with a rather hefty price tag so over the years I have taken to buying certain brands that are knock offs.

However there aren't many good quality knock offs around that are also compatible with the original Lego and I seem to have bought out all the sets of the ones that are so I was extremely elated when I discovered a lady (Happy Blocks) in our area that makes up sets and all kinds of packs from small to large at a very affordable price, the ranges come in the standard primary colours as well as neon, army, pinks/purples, black/white/grey and army colours and they are compatible with original Lego. SCORE

Loghan's birthday is coming up and this year he again opted to choose his gifts, I know there are many parents who would disagree but I like allowing him to choose, I also give him an allocation of what he is allowed to spend so this allows him to work somewhat within a budget I'm not a stickler for exact numbers but I obviously have to budget and have a certain amount I can work with, it isn't about the money but I do think its great for kids to be aware of what things cost and it gives them a sense of control over what they are getting and means I do not end up getting something he is going to play with for a hot minute and then abandon etc.

Anyhoo so one of the things Loghan begged and pleaded for was a large travel pack from Happy Blocks in the army colours, I sent an email through and received an almost instant response and we had our blocks I am not lying not even half an hour later and Loghan was pleased as punch especially with the spider man mini fig that accompanied the set.

If your child is into Lego I highly recommend this site, the bricks are really good quality and the service is fantastic I was really impressed and plan on purchasing some more when Jesse's birthday comes around in the near future.

1kg of blocks, 2 trees, 2 base boards and a mini fig for R330

Gazoome Play Center

I have a bit of a love hate opinion on play centers I have always felt that for the money you pay you could go to a restaurant with a nice play area and get the same thing but cheaper because you are not paying for the use of the play area.

However nice play areas at restaurants have become few and far between and I never feel like hubby and I can relax as one of us is always up and running after the kids to make sure they are safe so when I heard about Gazoome I thought it would be great to try it out and give the boys some play time in this cold weather.

We arrive at 11 and were signed in it was small but had a nice range of play equipment ranging through the ages the boys took off like a flash and I ordered hubby and I a coffee.

We left just in 12 and the total cost of our outing was 190 which included an hour play,3 steri stumpies and 2 coffees for hubby and I.

Was it worth it?

I know the boys enjoyed it and that is what matters financially I wish discount would be offered for siblings but I know this probably isn't feasible, the play area was clean and safe there was no way for the kids to wander off, my one qualm was that the area is open to all ages and my eldest is rough so we worried about the smaller kids but it went well.

There is also a loyalty card as well as during the week you can pay for an hour and stay the whole day which is really worth it, they do parties as well.

Would we go again? Yes if we can I would like to go again as I said the boys were happy.

Kiss, Care, Love Lipbalm- Essence

I am not a lip product fan as much as I love the look of a vivid red lip or the idea of a lip product that can moisturize and care for your lips I cannot for the life of me stand the feeling of a lip product on my lips and have always found them incredibly drying so I usually just skip that beauty section all together.

So I am not exactly sure what it is that drew me to purchase this product but I did and I decided to give you a quick review.

Catrice Brow Set and Anti Red Base Primer

I have had these two products tucked away for a while now but as I have run out of my usual staples I decided to bring them out and give them a try.

Cotton Candi Online Review

“Cotton Candi aims to inspire creativity by sourcing and selling beautiful and useful products”

I mentioned in the BoysComic Book Room Overhaul that I had ordered my chalk paint from Cotton Candi Online and that I was very impressed with them so I wanted to write up a review to encourage all you arty crafty and even not so arty crafty mommies (it's that easy) to get creative and maybe even pop onto their store and show them some love.

First Vlogging Experience

So I promised a Vlog and it is now up on my channel (after several hours of uploading and frustration... I have an awesome husband), I have to say again this was a big thing for me and I know its not perfect, I don't even know if its any good but we live and we learn and I hope it's ok.

I am not sure how often I am going to be able to put out videos I am going to attempt to start off with one video a week and then hopefully move onto two but life happens and I do get crazy busy so I am not going to commit to something I'm unsure I can achieve...

This honestly took hours and hours I know it probably doesn't seem like it but I had to learn how to set up a tripod and camera, do the video and then learn to edit etc which was a lesson all on its own and I am really happy that I decided to do this, the actual camera work was easier than I expected despite wanting to run and hide several times before I started...

Anyhoo hope its ok...

Sprout Prize and Food Review.

So last week I received an email to let me know that we had won a giveaway from Sprout Food SA!

Sprout is a local company that was started by a fellow mama Liesel and is a company that provides freshly made free range, preservative and hormone free toddler/ finger foods available online to order strait to your door.

In short after having her son she realized how many nasties go into the finger/ toddler foods that retail stores provide for children and through this she decided to work with a local nutritionist to create healthy, nutritious and well balanced meals that provide all the nutrients, colours and textures that growing toddlers thrive off of and need.

Essence Soft Touch Mousse and Cream to Powder Highlighter- Product Review

This past Friday I went past the Red Square store in Canal Walk to pick up a new foundation and I ended up walking out with the Essence Soft Touch Mousse in the shade Matte Sand or no 1 as well as their Cream to Powder Highlighter in the cream/ white shade (they also have a light pink shade).

First off I have no idea why I considered a highlighter quite frankly I think I am just too pale for contouring as every highlighter I find just blends into my skin and doesn’t make a difference and every countering shade I find is just too dark but I went against my better judgement and purchased this product anyway, hope still lingers on I guess.

Enchantrix- I clean it all- Product Review

Previously I have posted about the transition that has taken place in my household coverting from chemical/ non cruelty free houshold and body products to organic/ natural cruelty free products, and I am very happy to say that we have pretty much switched over everything in the household I think my hubby is the only one left who uses normal shampoo and body wash but we are getting there.

In any case I am always on the search for new organic/ cruelty free products to try and it was 2 months ago when I found the Enchantrix I clean everything concentrated liqued.... oh my stars where has this product been all my adult life, I am completely head over heels sold for this product.

A weekend away at The Baysands Lodge

Okay so bare with me this is round two of me writing this post, last night I spent over 2 hours putting this post together only to have the upload fail well actually it is stuck in limbo on my i phone, I was and still am not very impressed but enough of my venting let me tell you about our weekend away.

Basically I have been MIA this weekend, my hubby and I were afforded the wonderful opportunity of a weekend away at a local bed and breakfast located just 10 minutes out of Table View, called The Baysands lodge.

LUSH Review- Montalbano and Honey I Washed my Hair Shampoo Bar

When I first started buying Lush products, the Shampoo bars were quite honestly one of the last things to catch my eye and even when they did I was highly skeptical.

I have very finicky hair what ever I use either creates a massive build up or makes my hair too oily or too dry so I usually switch up shampoos every 2 months and usually look for something that does not have silicone or any such ingredient on its ingredients list.

A few months ago however I decided to throw caution to the wind and try out the Honey I washed My Hair shampoo bar- I went for this bar specifically because I have become so attached to the Honey I Washed the Kids soap smell I just died at the thought of toffee scented locks.

The bars are in the range of R90 which was something that didn't make my heart sing with happiness but after watching many a review I found that most people said the bars lasted them for a good 3/4 months which works out to around R20 a month and in my mind that is well worth it.

Beanies Flavoured Coffee

Since the end of last month I believe it was I have been simply dying to try a new coffee range I had seen in passing at Checkers, I absolutely adore a good quality flavored coffee but it is not something we get very often because my hubby and I go through way to much coffee (sacrilege)... we go through a lot of coffee, but that is our treat our thing that goes into the trolley every month.

Brazened Honey- Fresh Face Mask- Review

For anyone new to LUSH or for anyone who maybe didn’t know this LUSH has a brilliant recycle program and offer with their shoppers- ie if you return 5 of their black product pots you get to choose one of their fresh face mask worth around R130 for free.

I love this initiative besides the recycling who doesn’t love getting a product for free.

So a month or so back I had accumulated my 5 black pots and decided a fresh face mask would be nice to try, I have to admit I was a bit nervous though as I had been given some of their oatifix facemask as a sample and I didn’t like it at all, it did absolutely nothing for my skin and looked and felt to me like bird excrement…. Yes picture that doesn’t it sound just wonderful but I was not going to let that deter me from my mission and off I went.

Blue Skies and Fluffy Clouds- LUSH Review

Since the first time that I stepped into a LUSH store I fell completely head over heels for their products, besides everything they stand for – they are cruelty free, natural and many of their products are even vegan, I completely adore their products.

My boys especially love their bubble bars and bath bombs so every month I ensure that I at least have 1 thing my cupboard for them to enjoy (I find this to be a better treat than sweets) - usually this is a bubble bar as I find these go much further than the bath bombs and are better value for your money- also what child doesn’t LOVE bubbles.

Essence Multi Action Mascara- Review

When looking for mascara my criteria is as follows-

Cheap

Non clumping

Waterproof

Non dramatic

I know most woman prefer or want a mascara that gives them dramatic falsified lashes but I don’t, I personally think it looks tacky and well terrible on me so basically I look for something that will darken and slightly thicken so that one can see my lashes but that they don’t look fake or that the mascara is not going to irritate my eyes because the product is so thick and clumpy.

Our Final Jippee Box- Subscription Box Review

So on Friday we received Jesse's final Jippee box, for anyone who didn't read my 1st review, Jippee is a fairly new subscription box that I found mid last year.

At the time I had been watching a mommy YOUtube channel where the said mom had just subscribed to a box that included educational toys and products custom linked to her child's sex and age, I found this very interesting and so I went looking for something similar here in South Africa and I found it in the Jippee box.

Organic Soul- Solar Jars

I have been meaning to do a review on these for a while but just haven’t had a chance to yet, so here it goes.

Load shedding has become an almost everyday occurrence in South Africa as every South African well knows this has become extremely frustrating especially in the evenings when you need to cook and get the kids into bed.

My oldest two in particular do not like to fall asleep in a dark room they need a lamp, hall light something and anyone who is a parent will well understand a candle is not exactly something you want to leave burning unattended especially in your child’s room.

A very Late Easter review....

I know its way past Easter but I wanted the boys to use the products first and I haven’t been in the right frame of mind so here it goes… a teeny tiny LUSH Easter haul.

As you who read my blog well know I LOVE LUSH products, I love everything the brand stands for- cruelty free natural products, I love the products themselves... I wish the prices were cheaper so I could afford them more often but get enormously giddy when I am given a product or products as a gift or on the odd occasion I get to spoil the boys with something....

The Treat Boutique- Local Business Review

I just wanted to do a small post on a local company which is top of my list in recommendations this month.

As I have mentioned before it is always a struggle to find nice quick and and reasonably priced healthy lunch box altrernatives and ideas, quite frankly as much as I love my kids I just dont have the time to make mermaid sanwhiches and tofu wraps etc so I was very impressed when I ordered from the Treat Boutique a small family run business in the Parklands/ Table View area.