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It's not a private fact that I'm rather infatuated with Lush Cosmetics. Some might go as far to say that I am majorly obsessed with their products and brand. They would be right, I absolutely love Lush. I personally think that all of their products smell wonderful (mostly) and the ethos of the company itself stands on a moral high ground which not many other companies can claim to have. But, in this blog specifically today I'm going to walk through my top five Lush products. I'm basing this list off of the products I use most frequently and that I couldn't go without.
(As you will see I found it hard to narrow down the list to specifically five but... well you'll see)

5. Lemony Flutter Cuticle Moisturizer
(http://www.lushusa.com/body/hand-care/lemony-flutter/02361.html)
This little wonder in a pot deserves to be in my top five based both on the fact that I use it almost every day and that it makes my nails grow super fast. As someone who unfortunately bits his nails (I've been trying to stop with varied results) I'm always on the look for something that I can replace that habit with. For example back home instead of biting my nails I used to paint them. Somewhat of an obvious way to stop biting them seeing as soon as you try to bite a nail with polish on it you'll stop very quickly (bleh). Anyway Lemony Flutter is a great product for those who keep their finger nail situation in order but also just if you have any other dry places that could do with a little extra moisture. I sometimes use it on my elbows or (I probably shouldn't) from time to time I use it on the heels of my feet. A warning though, it is super moisturizing so make sure you don't need to touch anything for a few minutes while you let it soak into your skin / hands / other bodily places. Plus one pot of this lasts you a long time. With this product especially less is more.

*Shampoo*
4. Daddy-O / Shampoo Bars
With this one particularly I had trouble nailing down just one specific product because I change up which shampoo I use based on what I'm doing with my hair. When I'm back home in Vancouver I have a tendency to dye it so Daddy-O is a perfect product (at least for blondes and lighter colours). It's Lush's purple shampoo and boy, is it ever purple. Way back when I gave this to a hair stylist friend of mine to try and see how it compares to salon brand purple shampoos. He's blonde and after using this once in the shower it dyed his hair pinkish-purple for two days. It rinsed out eventually but it is super pigmented and smells of violets. This is personally one of my favourite smells from Lush and Daddy-O specifically leaves the scent in your hair almost all day.
Now though, whilst I've been travelling Lush's shampoo bars have been amazing. Basically Lush found a way to compress roughly three bottles of traditional shampoo into a small bar. This means, especially if you're getting on a plane, that you don't have to worry about liquid restrictions or spillages in your bags. Unfortunately the two I'm using at the moment are limited edition products and aren't available in stores but for ones that not rare to come by I personally recommend Godiva Shampoo Bar. This one you can pick up at any Lush and it smells of Jasmine. They do also have solid conditioner to go pair up with the shampoo and right now I'm using Big Solid Conditioner. Gives me some extra volume due to the fine sea salt in it.

3. R&B Hair Moisturizer
This next one is on my list simply because it smells amazing. R&B was specifically formulated by Lush to leave your hair scented and is Lush's version of a leave in conditioner. I'm honestly not sure what the smell specifically is but it's somewhat floral with just a hint of citrus. I just take a pea sized amount and run it through my hair when I step out of the shower. Simple, easy and it leaves the scent in your hair all day.
As I don't have long hair this doesn't really affect me but I remember my old co-workers saying that if you are a person with longer hair it really guards against split ends. As I said it's super moisturizing, containing a variety of different oils, olive and jojoba to name a few. If you are a person like me who has shorter hair it actually works really well as a styling product. It gives a small bit of hold while leaving the hair smooth and without that crunchy hairspray feeling.

2. Dark Angels Rolled Clay Cleanser
This is one of the first products I tried at Lush and I since then I don't think I've used any other product on my face. It's a solid, charcoal based cleanser that, when water is added turns into a paste which you then massage over your face. I personally like a face wash that leaves my skin feeling very, well, clean. By that I mean I don't like feeling like I've put a lot of product on my skin or that there's a lot of oil. I like a super clean, almost dry feeling. So this is a really good product for that, it's a very asstringent, scrubby face wash that does leave that clean, blank feeling I'm after. Because it's made of activated charcoal it's a very good choice if you have problems with controlling oil on your face. It absorbs excess oil and the fine charcoal grains get into your pores to really clean everything out.
Definitely a staple in my cosmetic regiment.

1. Prince Shaving Cream
This IS the first Lush product I used and I never looked back. My friend Claire introduced me to Lush randomly when I was living in Montreal and I'd never really used any of their products or cared about them really. After a few questions from the sales person though he found out quickly that I didn't really have any cosmetic routine at all. I just used hand soap to wash my face and drugstore shaving cream to shave with. Upon his fervent guarentees that using Lush's shaving cream would change me forever I decided to try it and he was absolutely right. Most / all of the shaving creams I've used before (Gillette etc) were functional. That is to say they did the job of letting me shaving with few or no cuts but always left my face really dry. Which, in Montreal especially, where the weather is like -30 drying out your face even more doesn't do you any favours.
But yes, I used Prince and just kept using it. I travel with it and can't really do with using anything else. It honestly gives me the smoothest, closest shave I've ever had. It's a quite literally cream that you scoop out of the pot and smooth onto your face. Unlike the foamy, aerosol varieties which you wash off after use Prince leaves a thin layer of moisture to hydrate the skin after having agrivated it with the shaving. I tend not even to need to put on after shave or a moisturizer after I use it.

There We Go!

Those are my top used, all time favourite Lush products. I hope this was at least a little bit helpful and to those friends and family who roll there eyes at me when I bring up Lush there is a reason to why I love them so much. From the ethics to the actual products themselves I find Lush the best option out there when looking for cruelty free, legitimately effective products.

(Also the video this week is going to be posted on Monday and not Sunday seeing as I'm away from my computer. You'll see why soon enough)

Some photo's from Lush's Oxford Street Flagship Store

A Lush Review (Or Two, Or Three, Or...)