1. 6. Grayburn: For the Home 7.
Showing posts with label For the Home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label For the Home. Show all posts

Thursday

Cozy Nights

The good thing about having rotten cold weather (even if Spring is already upon us) is that it feels incredibly cozy indoors. Rather than complaining about the weather like I have been doing, I thought I should just make the best of it and take advantage while we've still got it!

Trying to find a scent that both me and BFOG find likable is an incredibly difficult task. His taste for scents waver from day to day and even depend on the way it is presented to him. As for me, I can love either sweet, spicy, fruity or citrus but the one group of scents that make me absolutely nauseous are 'oceanic' or 'breezy' ones.

So we set off to Lush for something that can agree with both of our noses and that embraces the cozy spirit of the cold weather that we are still having in March.

We had a light lunch and were good to visit the loo beforehand. We were all set to embark on the "Massage Bars" section of the store. To give you an idea, massage bars are these little wonderful massage oil-in-a-bar solid slices that double as body moisturizers. Since all of them are rich in different nourishing butters, they are particularly good for chapped/dry skins. There are over 15 different massage bars to choose from on Lush's website but at the store where we were, there were about 10. We sniffed through the flowery, the chocolatey, and the fruity and used every inch of our arms to swatch. And we repeated the process. After about the third round and twenty buttered-up fingers later, we finally picked our winner! Behold, the Lush Mange Too Massage Bar!

Now this huge bar of white chocolate scented cocoa butter bar laced with honey, mango butter and peppermint isn't for the timid. I mean you can smell it from far away and believe me that once you have used it, you will smell like it the next day as well. A quick sniff and observation of it you'll immediately notice the lingering sweet scent of honey and the adorable honey comb design on top of the bar. Upon further inspection, you might pick up some chocolate or the mint that kind of suggest After Eight mints (I find the dash of mint works well to keep the chocolate and honey 'fresh'). Take that a slight bit further and a few more deep breaths in and you might realize that there is still that extra something you are picking up with your nose. That is indeed the mango butter, that tiny 'kick' in the melange.

Instructions on using a Lush Massage Bar:

Having played with the bar on a cold night I can say that this one is less ready to melt upon contact than the other bars I have tried. Because of what must be a higher content of butters and its thick consistency, it also creates less of a greasy mess than the other bars. Rather than having that yucky greased out feeling, you get instead a well nourished and protected feeling on your skin.

Tip: Keeping your bar safe - the Lush Mange Too will not fit into the Lush tins. If you have any empty The Body Shop body butter containers lying around, the Mange Too fits perfectly in there!

I am curious to find out how you create a cozy feeling on a cold wintry evening?


Credit: Grayburn (Terms of Use), lush.com

Tuesday

The Comforter, my comforter


Christmas is next week! Feeling a mix of nervousness and excitement, I am again unprepared this time around. I am not very good with handling the stress that comes with festivities even if I absolutely love them once they are here. The prepping, planning, counting number of heads, getting to the store in time, ordering the right turkey, getting cards out on time....oops, sorry for stressing you too!

My personal remedy:

You might have noticed that food related bath products have been playing a part in my beauty routine. The story behind this is this and because of this. I have somewhat rediscovered them again after a long time of avoiding them.

The thing is, we eat food everyday. We are very comfortable with the way they taste and smell to us and, we have lots of experience identifying the components that make up our favorite dish. So that is why I find the simplicity of edible scents comforting and unassuming. Given that there is a good concentration of real food ingredients in a bath product, there is usually not a lot of guess work involved when trying to decipher the different components in it.

What I love about The Comforter Bubble Bar from Lush (see picture above) is that the instant you put your nose to it, you know that it contains some sort of edible berry. Upon closer inspection and a few more breaths in, you might identify that the berry is cassis (also known as blackcurrant). Lush has chosen the right berry to use in this bubble bar. While I often find berries such as strawberries or raspberries too 'innocent', the deepness of the cassis is suitable for use when one wants to drift off in a bath. Its bright fuchsia color brings something feminine and fun to bath time as well, while a splash of bergamot oil lends just a hint of maturity and mystery to the formula. This is a great bubble bar to use alone or share with another as it is not overly sweet (BFOG-approved). Plus, I find sitting in a bath full of pink hued water and lots of luxurious bubbles comforting indeed (hence, the name of Lush's bubble bar).

This 7oz. bar will be good for 6 baths and guarantees long-lasting, fluffy bubbles. Lovely!


I am curious what you like in your bath. Which scents do you like when?


Credit: Grayburn (Terms of Use)

Friday

Retro Lush & Breakups

Lush and I had a fallout a while back but it was mainly my fault. I gave it too much attention and I was at the point of down right infat- uation and obsession. Not healthy at all!

If you have followed Lush's products over time, you know that they have stopped producing some of their gush-worthy items and others that were rumored to have existed but very few of us ever got to experience (you can see some of them here). The Retro Lush items were my drug but more specifically, the drug went by the name of Aqua Mirablis Underwater (the Retro version, pictured above).

My first dab into Lush was a refrigerated tub of their fresh Cupcake facial mask which instantly had my senses tingling with glee and skin bouncing with vitality. And then I met the aforementioned drug which we'll now just call AMU. AMU was a little bar of powdered solid body butter topped with marigold petals. It really was what soft smooth skin's made of. With sandalwood oil, rose absolute and gardenia extract, it was a scent made for dreary days.

I used to have a bathing ritual using AMU. First, I filled my bathtub with warm water. Then I rubbed AMU all over wet skin, as the ground almond shells exfoliated away all unflattering flakes. AMU had a spell over me and made the usually unglamorous job of exfoliation feel luxurious. Final step - I would sit in the warm water until the water started to cool. Heaven I tell you! The combination of exfoliation, heat, water and cocoa butter transformed my skin every time.

When I heard rumors that they were discontinuing production of AMU in that format, I became an addict that feared not having her substance. I began to hoard and bought all displayed bars of AMU at one time, and, even sent friends overseas to collect more for me. I was so frightened of what a disappointment the new Aqua Mirablis was going to be.

As you all know that Lush' products are natural based, they have only a certain amount of shelf-life. Well, my bars of AMU began to turn rancid (after about a year though). It got to the point that I actually had to unwillingly dispose of them. What a horror that was! After that point I never wanted to step into Lush again in fear of experiencing heart-break like that again.

It has been 3 years since then and I finally stepped into a Lush store the other day with BFOG by my side. As I stood inside the store, it all felt somehow familiar but different. I walked by the the hall of the soaps and when I reached the body butters where the new AMU now sits (it used to be in the bath melt section), I only 'eyed' the new AMU (pictured above).

BFOG and I walked out of the store with a bag of goodies and big grins on our faces. With my renewed happy and healthier attitude with Lush, I am happy to say that I will be sharing my thoughts on a few of their products with you shortly.

Any Lush fans out there? Want to share your thoughts on your Lush favs or boos? Please do!
Oh and Happy Halloween!

Credit: Grayburn (Terms of Use), lush.com

Thursday

Do You Do E-Shopping?

You might find this information from the ShopSmart Magazine (Consumer Reports) handy. It is the result and summary of the screening they had conducted to compare some of the e-tailers out there.

Do any of you shop at these sites? Would you recommend any of these to your friends or to me (do any of them have international shipping)?


Best Overall Selection
: Beauty.com

Shipping Free if you spend $49 or more.

Return policy 30 days on unopened products or, for certain items, if you don’t like the color. Returns cost $4.99 unless a product is damaged or incorrect or the color is wrong.

Great for Hard-to-Find Products: Beautyhabit.com

Shipping Free on orders of $100 or more; otherwise $5.95.

Return policy 14 days on most items. No returns on opened or used products.

Great for Trendy Brands: Beautyofasite.com

Shipping Free on orders over $75; otherwise $5.95 to $8.95.

Return policy 30 days. You pay for return shipping unless the product was damaged. All returns are for exchange or store credit only. There are no refunds or returns on color cosmetics.

Best Prices: Buymebeauty.com

Shipping Free on orders of $35 or more; $4.95 on orders of less than $35.

Return policy 30 days. Products must be unused and unopened, unless they are defective. You have to call or e-mail before returning products; you will also have to pay the costs of return shipping.

Great Return Policy: Cosmeticmall.com

Shipping $5.95 plus 93 cents per pound.

Return policy 30 days. You can return most products for any reason, even after they’re opened.

Great Drugstore Makeup Section: Drugstore.com

Shipping Free on your first nonprescription order of $25 or more; free on orders of $49 or more after that.

Return policy 30 days. Returns are free if a product is damaged, defective, or incorrect. Returns are free on certain products if you don’t like the color. Otherwise, products must be unopened and unused.

Great for Freebies: Sephora.com

Shipping Free on orders over $50; otherwise $5.95.

Return policy 60 days. Free return shipping. Store credit after 60 days.

Great for Organic Products: Skinbotanica.com

Shipping Free on orders over $49; otherwise $5.95.

Return policy 60 days.

Best Shipping Deal: Skin-One.com

Shipping Free.

Return policy 30 days. Product must be at least 75 percent full. You have to pay return shipping fees, and no returns are allowed of an opened product if you received a sample of it with your order.

Best Online Version of a Walk-In Store: Walgreens.com

Shipping Many items qualify for free shipping of purchases of $50 or more; otherwise $5.49 for 10 pounds or less.

Return policy 30 days.

Sad Site: BeautyDepot.com

This site didn’t have a wide selection of products. You have to buy $99 worth of stuff to get free shipping; otherwise you could end up paying $7.95 or more for UPS ground. Cosmetics (and many other products) were not returnable, and there’s no toll-free customer-service number.


Credit: Grayburn (Terms of Use), ShopSmart November 2008 issue
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Wednesday

Fashion, Cosmetics & Home Decor

















We have observed fashion power houses such as Chanel, Zara, Paul & Joe, Calvin Klein and, the more recently, Thierry Mugler, expand their markets by dabbing their fingers in cosmetics and home decor. Somehow these fashion designers feel that not only should we wear their designs on our bodies, we should also be wearing them on our lips, lashes, couch, etc. etc.

If you have ever seen pictures of Donatella Versace (of Versace) in her own home, you may have noticed that the pictures look overcrowded . In her pictures, she would most likely to be wearing her own design of shoes, dress, lipstick, sunglasses, and sitting on a chaise lounge adorned with Versace pillows. That room where the picture was taken probably smelled like Crystal Noir. It is simply an explosion of Medusa heads, gold leaves and extravagance.

Not only do I think we will see more fashion designers follow in her footsteps, I think we will see the trend going the other way as well. How eager are we to wear clothes branded with MAC or bathmats labeled H&M? Will we all rush to our local MAC store, to purchase sailor shorts from their Naughty Nauticals collection, or eat with silverware that are numbered?


Credits: Grayburn, Chanel, Thierry Mugler, Versace, Zara, H&M, Paul&Joe

Zara Home Collection - Orange Blossom



















Zara's Home Collection, much like its clothing lines has an impressive array of choices. I am particularly fond of their Orange Blossom Candle housed in a brown glass container. The candle itself burns slowly (10 hours of continuous burning produced only a slight dent) and the scent can be described as green, delicate and minimalistically feminine. There is also a slight muskiness as well. It conjures up images of a sunlit room filled with the white petals of the orange tree.

Friday

Friday Feature: Beautiful Candles to Get Now

We've all seen all the wonders they can do with wax and candle-sculpturing. They can be such pieces of art.

There is something however very wonderful and beautiful about a container candle. They instantly set the mood of the room as they can become center pieces in the living room or by you at tub-side. They also make such great house-warming or first-time-visiting someone gifts.

Take a look at these special ones below....

For something festive:
....when the family is there

KarenKlein Candles Holiday Collection, Ornament Design


For something elegant and romantic:
....when it's just the two of you

Etro Heliotrope Perfumed Candle


Comptoir Sud Pacifique Perfumed Candle, Vanille Abricot


For something trendy:
....drinks at home with co-workers

Jen Lew Designs Soy Candle, Bamboo


For something uncluttered but nice:
....lunch party with friends

Clean Ultimate Perfumed Candle


Fresh Scented Candle, Sake


For something feminine:
....when you want some time for yourself

LoLLIA Relax Luminary Candle


Malie Kauai Soy Candle, Gardenia


For something exotic:
....when you are feeling adventurous

Nyakio Candle, African Tea



Claus Porto Voga Acacia Tuberose Candle

Claus Porto Ilyria Honeysuckle Candle


Read last Friday's Feature