LUSH - Favourite Products

Currently I have an obsession with LUSH products. They smell absolutely divine. I’m also a sucker for any bath product or facial. Lately I’ve been into a LUSH store once a month to hand over a huge chunk of cash for some delicious smelling goodies. In this post I’m going to go through my top three favourite products.

There is nothing I find more relaxing than a bubble bath and facial at the end of a long stressful day. I was overly excited to learn that LUSH does a bubble bath product. However this is no ordinary bubble bath. This amazing little product comes in the form of a bubble bar. All you have to do is break a piece off, crumble it up in your hand and then place the product under running water. You are then rewarded with a surprising amount of lush bubbles.

My favourite bubble bar has to be Karma. I think I’ve managed to buy about four of them in the span of two months I love the smell so much.
LUSH description for Karma Bubble Bar - Our signature fragrance for bath time: oranges and multi-layered spices. Karma is a fragrance that keeps on giving. Each time you catch a whiff of its many-layered fragrance, you notice yet another thread in its multi-stranded personality. Top notes, middle notes, base notes and all the notes inbetween disentangle themselves before you. Bathe in a fluffy Karma bath and you’ll generously perfume the whole house with its fragrance (and yourself, too). 

Karma Bubble Bar


To accompany my bubble bath of course I had to buy one of LUSH’s fresh face masks. I have to say the staff in LUSH are absolutely wonderful and extremely helpful when it comes to picking products that are best suited to you. Depending on the time of year my skin goes from dry to combination. At the moment it is combination which leaves me with an oily t-zone. On explaining this to one of the staff members I was recommended several of the fresh face masks best suited to my skin. I ended up picking The Sacred Truth and I’m very happy I did. I’m not overly fond of the smell of this product but it makes up for this with the way it makes my skin feel. I apply this mask and leave it on for roughly ten minutes. After this time it is slightly dry so I wet my hand and start rubbing in a circular motion all over my face. This fresh face mask has a slightly gritty texture to it so I use it to exfoliate as I remove it from my face. Once removed my face is left with a slight residue. I usually hate when products do this but The Sacred Truth leaves my face feeling smooth, soft and moisturized.
LUSH description for the Sacred Truth - The truth is, we all need protection from ageing. The vital antioxidant action of wheatgrass, ginseng and green tea combines with fresh papaya, cleansing clays and nutritious butters to defend the skin. This mask delivers live, fresh, active ingredients, which enhance and refresh the complexion. Apply to clean skin, avoid the eye area. Leave for five to ten minutes, and then rinse away with warm water. Keep chilled.

The Sacred Truth

I love anything that has a citrus scent. I just can’t go past that clean crisp smell. So when I saw a YouTube review for the product Lemony Flutter I simply had to have it. Working in a heavily air-conditioned supermarket for long periods of time really dries out my hands. That is not an attractive trait if you do makeup artistry on the side. No one wants dry, cracked hands going near their face. So I heavily moisture. All the time. I find that a lot of hand creams will immediately make your hands look better but once you wash them they’re back to being dry and flaky. One thing about hand creams that I can’t stand is the ones that don’t absorb well. When I first tried Lemony Flutter I was a bit disappointed to find that my hands looked and felt really oily after applying. However after about ten minutes the product had completely absorbed into my hands. I also noticed that I didn’t need to apply the cream as often as I had been others because when I washed my hands they were still moisturised. I really do love this product and would recommend it for anyone who adores the scent of lemons or anyone who has really dry hands.    
LUSH description for Lemony Flutter - Softens hard skin all over the body, especially the cuticles. We made Lemony Flutter to soften your cuticles; it’s our thickest cream out there. It’s so good at softening your cuticles and nourishing your nails that LUSH customers have been using it to soften and nourish lots of other body parts like their feet, elbows and knees. Fortunately, it’s a very reasonably priced cream so you can afford to use it as widely as you wish. Take more care of your extremities and invest a small sum in a Lemony pot. 

Lemony Flutter

This is what Delicious Looks Like

When I make a dessert I usually take it to work, much to my family’s disappointment. So far everything has been a hit. One of my absolute favourite desserts at the moment is Lime Meringue Tarts. Lately I have been making them all the time and force them on my work mates. They are probably the one dessert that I get the most comments on. They are packed full of flavour, both tangy and sweet and very, very moreish.

Lime Meringue Tarts

Growing up my dad used to make Lemon Meringue Pie on special occasions for my mum. As delicious as that was I have to say I prefer the lime over lemon. There is just something about the fresh, tangy smell of lime that I can’t pass up.

My obsession with baking started after watching Masterchef for a few years. Watching it night after night I started to appreciate the taste and flavours of food more. Having a sweet tooth is what encouraged me to start baking. I am definitely a baker and not a cook.

In 2011 Kate Bracks won Masterchef and released her book The Sweet Life. This is where I found the beloved Lime Meringue Tart recipe. Her book has some truly amazing recipes some of which I have made and some of which I can’t wait to try. For anyone that loves to bake I strongly recommend investing in her book.

Quick tip for those looking to make Lime Meringue Tarts:

The first couple of times I made these tarts I struggled to get them out of the tin. I grew frustrated trying to pry them out without marking my cupcake tin. One day while surfing blogs for recipes I came across a helpful hint that has made my life so easy. It takes some time but is so worth the extra effort.
Grease a cupcake tin with butter. Tear off some baking paper, fold in half, cut along the fold and then cut into strips. Place one strip of baking paper into each cupcake whole. Place a little bit of butter on the centre on the remaining pieces of baking paper. Place these pieces in the cupcake wholes to form a cross with the already existing piece of paper.
One your tarts have set this allows you to easily pull the tarts straight out of the tin without having to use a knife.

Just a Quick Post

Hey everyone,

Sorry I’ve been absent from the blogosphere for so long. Between my day job and photoshoots work has been full on. I’ve also travelled down to Sydney for a family wedding.

I’m aiming to do a post for Tuesday on my favourite LUSH products. Lately I’ve been obsessed with everything LUSH. Their products are amazing and smell divine. I also love that they are completely organic.

Another thing I’ve been contemplating blogging about it is a food tour of Brisbane and Fortitude Valley. I absolutely love food and eating out. I’m hoping to do more of it in the next couple of months resulting in two restaurant reviews/recommendations a month.

As I mentioned, I have also been doing a lot of photoshoots lately. Would anyone be interested in seeing a behind the scenes blog post or blog post with images from shoots I’ve worked on?

Comment below if there is anything particular you would like to see in blog posts to come.

OPI Giveaway - Closed

If you are following my Facebook page you will know that I am soon to have a huge giveaway when I hit 500 likes. I’m currently sitting at 250 and would like to thank everyone by having this mini giveaway. Why am I having it on my blog? I recently found out that apparently your Facebook page can be shut down without warning if you don’t follow the rules on giveaways. So rather than risk enraging the Facebook Gods by trying to be all sneaky on my page I’m doing the giveaway over here on my blog.

To enter you have to like my Facebook page Elise Kate Makeup because really, this giveaway is for everyone who has supported me so far. How do you enter? Simply leave a comment on this post telling me which OPI nail polish you would love to own. The winner will receive the OPI nail polish left in their comment.

Just remember the nail polish must be available for me to purchase, so you can check out what is currently available by looking on the either the Myer or David Jones website.

Good luck!  

 
Terms and conditions
The promotion will run from Tuesday 2^nd of April until Saturday 6^th of April
One entry per person
All entrants must live in Australia, no overseas shipping
Winner will be determined by random.org
The winner will be contacted via email
The winner will not be announced on Facebook due to Facebook regulations – Otherwise Elise Kate Makeup page may be shut down
Prize may take up to 14 working days to be received
Elise Kate Makeup will not be held liable if you are unsatisfied with the item you receive
Elise Kate Makeup will not replace any items should they not be received or if they are received damaged
All items are mailed via regular post – If you wish for the item to be sent via express/registered mail then this will be at your own cost

Egyptian Magic

118ml (4oz) tub of Egyption Magic

Recently I have been hearing only good things about a product called Egyptian Magic All Purpose Skin cream. This cream is made up of six ingredients from nature, making it 100% natural and derived only from living plants and organisms. It contains olive oil, beeswax, honey, bee pollen, royal jelly and bee propolis.

This cream can be used for a number of different things including but not limited to hand cream, night cream, scar reduction and bruising reduction.

On a recent visit to my favourite makeup store, Makeup and Glow, I decided to purchase this amazing little tub of magic. The cream has a Vaseline type consistence in the jar. To apply it you simple take a small amount out of the jar, rub it between your hands until it resembles oil and apply. A little bit really does go a long way, so I’ve used hardly any of my jar.

So far I have been using it for a week. I suffer from very dry skin all over my body and occasional eczema on my upper arms. Normally I have very dry and flaky skin on my shins, after using this product for a week I have noticed a definite improvement in my dry skin. My skin is still slightly dry but definitely improved and it no longer has that dry flaky look. I’ve also noticed that the eczema on my arms isn’t as bad. There are still dry spots on my upper arms but all redness is gone.

Overall I think it’s a good product. It’s a definite plus that it’s an all-natural product. In my opinion it is a little pricey but so far it’s been worth it.

 

 

March Bellabox

In a previous post I believe I mentioned the Bellabox. The Bellabox is a $15 a month subscription. Every month you are sent five to six beauty products to test out. Sometimes you will receive sample size products and other times you can get full sized products. It’s a great little subscription if you are always on the hunt for new beauty products to try out.

So to give you an idea of what to expect from the Bellabox I have decided to dedicate this post to the March Bellabox.

Firstly once you open the postage parcel you will find a cute little box that contains all your goodies.

 

When you open the box you will find a card that lists all the products in the box and what their retail value is.

 

 Under this you will find your products wrapped in tissue paper.

 

This month I received two full sized products which I’m pretty excited about but I’ll go through them in the order that’s on the description card.

First product out of the box was Ocean Essence Summer Breeze Shower Gel. The bottle itself is pretty small. I haven’t used it yet but I did open it to see what it smelt like. Honestly I wasn’t over excited with the smell, it was pleasant but nothing unique.

This products retail price is $4.95 for 20ml

The second product is a Designer Brands Lip Pencil in the shade 629 Nude. This is one of the full size products. At $4.99 a pencil its pretty good value. The texture of the pencil is average. It applies easily but isn’t as nice as some other lip pencils I’ve tried. The first thing I noticed and liked about this product though was that the pencil lid had an inbuilt sharpener which I find really nifty.

 

Third product is Suigo Ultimate Control Shampoo and Ultimate Control Conditioner. The bottles are a decent size so I will be able to get several washes out of them to determine whether or not I like this product. It is supposed to be for weak brittle hair. At the moment my hair is pretty health so I’m not sure if it will show any improvements.

These products come in 260ml bottles, both at $22.50

The fourth product was another full sized product. I received a Clinique High Impact Lipstick in the shade Extreme Pink. These lipsticks retail at $36 a piece so some months you definitely get your $15 subscription back in product. The lipstick isn’t a colour I’d pick out for myself but it feels nice and moisturising. I’ll definitely give it a go.

Lastly I received a Swisse Active Energy Bar. I found this a bit random as I’ve never received a food product before. However I do like the Swisse range so I may try it.
Product retails at $2.39 a bar

Well that is all for today. Comment below if you want to see more Bellabox posts.

OPI - Goldeneye

Sorry I haven’t posted this week, I’ve been pretty busy with work this week. So here is just a quick nail blog as I didn’t have much time to do anything else.

Recently I have been obsessed with OPI polishes. They have an amazing array of colours as well as textures and finishes. Of course at the moment my favourite nail varnish is of the OPI brand. For Christmas I received the mini nail lacquers set called the Bondettes, this of course was released around the same time Skyfall came out in cinemas. I absolutely love the Bond movies and was excited to try out the four mini polishes I got. I immediately fell in love with the colour Goldeneye. It is this amazing gold that is glittery and shimmery. Honestly it is absolutely divine. I’ve taken a couple of snaps of my manicure but honestly the photos don’t do this polish justice. If you love gold I seriously suggest investing in this colour and if you don’t like gold? Seriously, invest in this polish anyway. Just remember that any collection brought out is only stocked for a short time.

Goldeneye + Alpine Snow

Goldeneye + Alpine Snow

As you can see I haven’t painted all my nails with Goldeneye, the polish on my ring finger is another OPI varnish in the shade Alpine Snow. I found I had to apply three coats of the white to get a solid colour where as I only needed the two coats with Goldeneye.