Review: Lush Spa Treatment- The Spell (Lush Spa Liverpool).

A few weeks ago the lovely Melissa from Lush Spa Liverpool got in touch with me and invited me along to try out one of their spa treatments; The Spell*. I have always been a sceptic to the concept of reflexology on the feet, but I'm not one to turn down an hour or so of relaxation, plus I adore the Lush Spa in Liverpool (it is huge and the staff are always so friendly!), so I graciously accepted the offer and was booked in for the following week.

Upon arrival I was greeted at the front of the store by a welcoming staff member who offered me a cup of tea, a hand massage and a seat whilst she went and let my therapist know I was there. I spent fifteen minutes or so browsing around the store with my cuppa before the lovely therapist Louise came and met me and took me up to the spa area for my treatment.

I have already written a first impressions review of the spa from when I got to opportunity to preview it before it opened, so feel free to read it here and see more pictures- It is decorated to resemble a quaint English countryside and it really does feel like you have stepped in to a Wonderland. The sounds of nature and birds tweeting can be heard and your relaxing experience starts right here. Louise sat me down to tell me a little more about the treatment she was going to be giving me. The Spell was put together with the idea of clearing your mind and getting rid of any troubles and worries you may have, which was right up my street as I am a born worrier and I always struggle with bouts of anxiety. She talked me through all the products that she was going to use and let me have a smell of them all; one of the main products in this treatment is Volcano, which is a cleansing, exfoliating and cooling clay mask for your feet.

After filling out a consultation form, Louise handed me a piece of paper and asked me to write one of my worries down on it. I folded it up and placed it in a little brass teapot where it was then set on fire with the idea of abolishing my worry and sending it up in smoke! I was then taken in to the dimly candle-lit treatment room and left alone for five minutes to make myself comfortable. There was a little bell placed on the bed for me to ring when I was ready for Louise to come back in and begin the treatment, which started off with a foot bath containing the Waving Not Drowning Bath Bomb. After this I was allowed to lay down, close my eyes and let my mind wander off to another place for a good 30-40 minutes, with the enchanting sounds of The Spell soundtrack by Simon Emmerson filling the room whilst Louise used hot stones, a foot and scalp massage and reflexology with a variety of different products to relax me and sooth my mind.

Needless to say, I felt very drowsy when the treatment finished, but definitely very relaxed (with very soft, smooth and pretty-smelling feet). There was no rush for me to get up and leave, either- Louise brought me a hot cup of water containing lemon, lemon grass and ginger to sip on whilst I pulled myself back to reality. She also gave me a cute little tag that read the words "With my feet I stand in truth. I move forward with joy, understanding and courage", to keep in my purse for times when I need a little pick-me-up.

Despite not knowing what to expect from a foot treatment beforehand, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and would love to go back and try a full body treatment in the future; The Good Hour and Tailor Made sound amazing! If you would like to find out more about The Spell or book in for your own hour of relaxation, you can check it out at the Lush website :)

Have you ever tried out a Lush Spa treatment?

*DISCLOSURE: This was a PR opportunity. My opinions are still 100% honest and my own.

Event: Sheffield Bloggers Meetup

We have DEFINITELY seen an increase in Northern blogger events over the past month and it has definitely kept me busy! I have been jumping on trains all over the place to attend some fabulous blogger meetups and parties and as a result this (plus trying to sort out some of the more boring post-uni life stuff), I'm a little behind on blogging! Things are calming down a little now however, so bare with me over the next couple of weeks as I try to blast out the posts from these lovely events as well as my usual outfit posts and reviews!

So- Just under two weeks ago made the journey out to Meadowhall for the Sheffield Blogger's Meetup which was organised by the lovely Rachel (Life of a Sweetaholic), Charlotte (Confessions of a Small Town Girl) and Caroline (Caroline's Catwalk). I had really been looking forward to this meetup as Rachel, Charlotte and Claire (Claire Louise) are bloggers who I have been following and talking to from the very beginning and it was great to finally have the opportunity to meet them as well as lots of new faces! The meetup was held at The Handmade Burger Co., who were ever so patient and accommodating for our party of 30 bloggers, and even offered us all a free lunch, which included a burger, a side and unlimited drinks refills! Despite being a healthy-eater, I wasn't going to ruin the opportunity to take advantage of a free meal and just order a salad, but I did try to be as good as possible by just ordering a classic grilled chicken burger with a side of chargrilled vegetables which still tasted amazing. I was a little jealous of everybody else's chips though- they looked so yummy and the portions were huge!

After our meal, we were free for an hour or so to mingle with the other bloggers- The girls who were sat on my table I had never met before, so it was lovely to have a chat with them :) Make sure you check out their blogs which are listed at the end of this post! The girls who organised the meetup also put together a brilliant goodiebag for all of us containing lots of exciting products including a full-sized Benefit Porefessional, A Lush bubble bar and some Paul Mitchell goodies. We were definitely spoilt- Thank you to all the brands who contributed!

There was also a second part to the meetup that was made possible by the lovely staff at Lush Meadowhall- We were split in to small groups to take part in a little workshop where we were able to make our own miniature models out of their playdough-like FUN. I made a little rosebud out of mine, and our models were put on a little display at the front of the store. We were then given a tour of the shop and introduced to the Emotional Brilliance makeup range, of which I have completely fallen in love with the collection of vibrant colours. We were lucky enough to be given another Lush goodie bag which contained a few makeup products that I am currently loving- I got the Dark Yellow Colour Supplement and the Charisma Skin Tint, which is a gorgeous golden-bronze colour, perfect for giving my face a summer glow.

That pretty much sums up a lovely day, and I send out a huge thank you to Rachel, Charlotte and Caroline for all the hard work they put in to organising the event! Don't forget to check out their blogs and also the lovely ladies below :)

Rachel from Lost in Lipstick

Jen from Bows, Bangles and Bakes

Abby from un-observed

Have you attended any meet-ups/events recently? There seems to be loads now that Summer (ahem-"Summer") is kicking in!

LUSH SPA Liverpool.

On Friday, I met up with Laura and Alex and we ventured down to the V.I.P. preview of the brand new Lush store and spa in Liverpool, which is the sixth Lush SPA to open in the UK and it also the biggest in the world!

We were greeted by the lovely staff with a glass of champagne and some mince pies and were left to freely roam around the new store, which like most other Lush stores has a lively atmosphere and is filled with stacks of colourful soaps and bath bombs that look and smell amazing! If you ever visited the old Lush store in Liverpool, you will remember that it was tiny and cramped- This one is huge in comparison which makes it much easier to get around.

The main attraction to the new Lush, however, is not the shop floor. We were taken upstairs where they house their brand new spa area and entered what looked like a quaint little cottage in the English countryside. In contrast to the busy shop floor below, the atmosphere is quiet and serene, and we were joined by the calming sounds of English folk music and birdsong, composed by Simon Emmerson. Lush have teamed up with Simon and behavioral therapist Lady Helen Kennedy to create an atmosphere and treatments that will stimulate all your senses and leave you feeling great physically and mentally after your experience.

We were first gathered around a table where there sat a glass jar that was filled with fresh fruit and herbs. This marks the beginning of your treatment. The Lush assistant poured some hot water in to the jar which created an explosion of mist due to the added dry ice and let off a mild fruity aroma. The "potion" is then left to brew throughout your treatment to create a refreshing tea for you to drink afterwards. We were shown around the five treatment rooms where they were demonstrating a few of the treatments that they have to offer, such as:

Synaesthesia (80 minutes, £125): Lush Spa's signature treatment. Choose a word to describe how you want to feel (e.g. brave, energized) and Lush will do their best to take you there by manipulating all your senses. The treatment will be tailored entirely around the word you chose, including the massage, the sounds you can hear, the scents used and the taste of the tea that they give you afterwards.

The Lush Sound Bath (60 minutes, £65): Tuning forks and singing bowls will be used in this treatment to accompany the relaxing music by Simon Emmerson and free your mind of all the worries and chatter whilst you enjoy a hot/cold stone facial and a scalp massage.

The Comforter (60 minutes, £65): This is the newest addition to Lush Spa treatments and consists of a hot chocolate body scrub followed by a rose-scented massage that will leave you feeling relaxed and your skin gently nourished.

These are just a handful of the treatments that Lush has to offer- There is something to suit everybody, whether you want to free your mind from all the stress, a relaxing facial or a full body massage. I know I would definitely like to go back and try out The Good Hour treatment or the Validation Facial. Visit the Lush website or head down to the store to find out more about the treatments and get yourself booked in! A Lush Spa voucher could make the perfect gift for somebody this Christmas :)

Have you been to a Lush Spa? Which treatment tickles your fancy the most?

Review: LUSH Pheonix Rising Bath Bomb.

 I won't lie, when I was browsing the stacks of bath products in Lush the other day, this one caught my eye and I found myself popping it in to a little paper bag and carrying it over to the till solely because of it's beautiful purple and gold colouring. I am like a magpie when it comes to pretty colours, glitter and gold and was intrigued to see what this would do to my bath water.

Lush Pheonix Rising Bath Ballistic: LUSH £3.20

 The Pheonix Rising Bath Bomb is a deep purple solid block, sprinkled with golden powder and with a cinnamon stick set on top. Cinnamon is the featured product in this bath bomb, and although I am not the biggest fan of the strong scent of cinnamon, I actually really enjoyed the scent of this- the cinnamon is toned down by the scent of the shea and cocoa butter, making it less spicy.

 

 This bath bomb is quite large so I think it is possible to get two baths out of it if you break it in to pieces, however this would ruin the "surprise" inside. I threw mine in whole and it started whizzing around the bath intantly, taking a while to fully dissolve. It turned the water a fuschia pinky purple shade with a tiny bit of shimmer; I was expecting there to be a lot of shimmery, gold powder in the bath but it didn't really transfer. The core of Pheonix Rising is green, leaving a few green swirls in your bath towards the end, although mine broke up a little so I only got a splodge of green.

As with the majority of Lush bath products that I have tried, this bath bomb left the water feeling very soft and moisturising. One thing I noticed, however, is that this is a little more oily than other products. I noticed that as the bath bomb fizzed away, the colour and the bath water separated and needed a bit of swirling about. My skin also felt a little greasy when I got out of the bath, but this is my only niggle with this bath bomb (has anybody else noticed this?).
 
 
Cue pretty, swirly pictures of Pheonix Rising fizzing away.

Despite the bath bomb being quite greasy, I think Pheonix Rising is my favourite bath product that I have tried so far. It can be purchased from Lush for £3.20, which I think it worth it if you feel like treating yourself, plus as I mentioned earlier you could probably get two baths out of this.

Have you tried Pheonix Rising? What is your favourite Lush product?

Review: LUSH Dreamtime Bath Melt.

It had come to that time again where I felt like I needed my Lush fix, so I popped in to my local store and picked up the Dreamtime Bath Melt, as I had never tried a bath melt from Lush before and I loved the lavender scent of this one. I often have a bit of trouble sleeping at night too, so I was hoping this would help me out since as the name suggests, this was made to help you doze off.

 Lush Dreamtime Bath Melt

 

The Dreamtime Bath Melt comes as a solid block of oils, including Lavender oil, Almond Oil, Ginger Oil, Sandalwood Oil and Chamomile Blue Oil. It definitely smells prominently of lavender, with a little hint of some of the other ingredients. Because the main ingredients are oils, the block starts to melt as soon as you pick it up.

This is quite a small bath melt so I threw the whole thing in my bath, however I do think you could break it in half and get two baths out of it. It melted quite quickly and whilst it didn't change the colour of the water, it made it cloudy with bits of dried Jasmine flower floating around, which personally didn't bother me but it may not be everybody's cup of tea.

Disappointedly, it didn't make my bath water feel as "soft" as the past Lush bath products I have tried did, which I thought it would as it is full of oils. I also thought the fragrance would still be quite strong but it became a lot milder. However, the bath melt did make me feel very relaxed, as I would expect from a product containing lavender, and I was definitely ready for bed after using this!

Although I can't knock this bath melt for living up to its name and doing what it was made to do, I don't think I would repurchase it again as I wasn't that impressed with it; it wasn't as moisturising or smelly as I was expecting. That being said, I think I need to try out some more bath melts to compare them so I think I will be heading off to Lush to pick up some more soon!

If you would like to try the Dreamtime Bath Melt, you can pick it up from Lush for £2.95.

Have you tried this bath melt? Which is your favourite Lush Bath Melt?

Review: LUSH Bubblegum Lip Scrub

This probably isn't a very exciting review that I have for you today- You probably all have seen or tried this product before, but it has seriously been a holy grail product for me recently, so I thought I would do my own little write-up on it for those of you who may not have tried it.

 Lush Bubblegum Lip Scrub.

The lip scrub comes in a little glass jar that holds 25 grams of product, which will last you a long time. As you can see, mine still has a lot left inside and I have had it since Christmas. There is only a handful of ingredients in the scrub, it is essentially just a pot of castor sugar with colouring and flavouring, which is the reason why a lot of people (including myself at first) would say that this is overpriced for what it is.

It is quite expensive for little jar of sugar, but now that I have it I would say that it is worth it; the pot is handy for carrying it around in your bag, it will last you ages, and it smells and tastes delish!

The smell and the taste of the product is exactly like bubblegum, very sickly sweet and hard to resist just eating! To use the scrub, you just take a little bit of product on a (clean) finger and rub it gently in to your lips to exfoliate off all the dead skin cells. You can then either lick off the product as it is completely edible, or use a tissue to wipe it off. It is quite abrasive and can leave your lips feeling sore if used too often, so I choose just to use it every morning and occasionally in the evening before I go to bed aswell.

I have been loving using this product lately. I don't know why, but my lips have been really chapped and dry recently, and this is great at keeping them in good condition, paired with my Carmex lip balm.

The Bubblegum Lip Scrub retails at £4.95, which yes, is dear for a small pot of sugar, but in my opinion completely worth it. As well as Bubblegum, it comes in two other flavours; chocolate (Sweet Lips) and mint chocolate (Mint Julips).

Have you tried this or any other lip scrubs?