Many thanks to Megan over at Freckled Italian for inspiring this post!

Here’s Megan’s original post:

• My 5-Minute Makeup Routine

Ready?

Here we go!

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Skin

Some of you know that I got into LUSH Handmade Cosmetics products well over a year ago, thanks to a few friends who talked it up. I wasn’t disappointed!

It helps that there’s a store in Norfolk’s MacArthur Mall. It’s an expensive investment, but the benefits have absolutely paid off in spades.

Before I found LUSH, I was using a combination of Clean & Clear products and a few things that my mom and others had recommended. I couldn’t seem to control the oil, and I had absolutely hellacious breakouts during that lovely time of the month. I was massively frustrated. I didn’t want to wear makeup. My skin is relatively sensitive, but I never, ever realized what I was using to wash and moisturize my face could be harming it.

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In December 2015, I walked into LUSH for the first time. The staff were wonderful! I was immediately entranced by everything that they offered. They update their product lines regularly, and they always seem to have something new when I visit.

The idea is to use just a little bit of the product every day. Some of my LUSH stuff lasts for MONTHS, and it’s awesome. In all of 2016, I only visited the store four times to make purchases.

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This is what I have used and/or sampled since Day 1:

• Angels on Bare Skin (face and body cleanser)
• Aqua Marina (face and body cleanser)
• Buche de Noel (body scrub) – Seasonal
• Christingle (body conditioner) – Seasonal
• Coalface (facial cleanser) – Sampled
• Dark Angels (face and body cleanser) – Sampled
• Enzymion (moisturizer)
• Movis (facial soap)
• Multiple Bath Bombs
• Ocean Salt (face and body scrub)
• Tea Tree Water (toner)

I liked Angels on Bare Skin and Movis, but I probably won’t buy those again. Some of the smells were super strong!

I may buy Aqua Marina again, because it has calamine lotion in it. Considering I usually get eaten alive by mosquitoes in the warmer months, I’ll probably keep a small “pot” of it at home. I will probably do the same with either Dark Angels or Coalface, since both are good to use for makeup remover.

I definitely want to buy Ocean Salt again, closer to the summer months. It smells like the beach, and I felt like I was in a spa every time I used it!

I love the variety of bath bombs that LUSH offers. The baths I have taken with them – Three since we bought our house – have been calming and soothing.

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I currently have the following in my bathroom:

Buche de Noel is one of my favorite products. It smells like Christmas, and it does a great job on my face and skin. I use it every day in the shower on my face (unless I just got my eyebrows waxed), and I usually scrub it all over my arms and heels. It’s really helped when the skin on my heels has been very dry and rough. It’s a seasonal item, so I try to make this last as long as possible.

Christingle is a new product that I discovered on my last store visit. It smells amazing, and the cool, refreshing tingle I feel after I use it in the shower feels awesome. Like Buche de Noel, I’m trying to make it last, since I won’t be able to buy it again until later in 2017.

Enzymion and Tea Tree Water have been with me since Day 1 – I will always buy these. Enzymion is the perfect moisturizer for my skin. This has helped dramatically reduce breakouts, and my skin feels lighter and far less oily now. The Tea Tree Water is so refreshing. I spritz it on right after I apply Enzymion. In the hotter months, I like to put it in the fridge. It makes the hot and humid days bearable!

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This is just a short list of what I want to try in the future:

• American Cream (conditioner)
• Big Blue (bath bomb)
• Butterball (bath bomb)
• Cynthia Sylvia Stout (shampoo)
• Dirty Springwash (shower gel)
• Dream Steam (toner tab)
• Enchanted Eye Cream (moisturizer)
• The Olive Branch (shower gel)
• Twilight (bath bomb)

The other bonus – When you bring back five clean labeled “pots” after using the products, LUSH will give you a free face mask. They reuse the pots, and then recycle them later on.

I’m excited to do this for the first time soon – I had enough pots to redeem in December, but they didn’t have any face masks to give me! I’m collecting them in a box. During my next trip, I can’t wait to see what I get.

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Makeup

Since Megan’s post focused on makeup, this is was my comment:

“For me, I completely skip foundation and powder – The different stuff I’ve tried over the years seems to just clog my pores and makes me itchy! I do four things on a regular basis. First, I sweep on some blush – I love Mary Kay. I switch between “Sparkling Cider” and “Cherry Rose.” Second, I do eyeshadow – Also Mary Kay. Since I have green/hazel eyes, I prefer brown/suede/beige tones (“Truffle,” “Chocolate Kiss,” and “Spun Silk.” Third, I’m loving liquid eyeliner right now – The stuff I use currently came from the Dollar Tree. Lastly, I put on mascara. I loved the Maybelline Telescoping Lashes mascara that I bought for my wedding so much, that I saved the information and bought a second tube! It probably takes 10 minutes total, but the compliments are totally worth it.”

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However, since the Skin section took up such a huge chunk of this post, I’m dividing this post into two parts.

Come back this time next week to learn more about my makeup routine!

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Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂