April | 2014 | Joie de Jayme 2014 April

April, 2014

Time to Celebrate!

April 23, 2014 by Jayme Renee Rhoads

Congrats, guys! We successfully completed our first year at PSU! It’s hard to believe that one year is done already, but I’m thankful I made it through (relatively unharmed). I have enjoyed this class especially since it gave me a platform to profess my passion for LUSH. Luckily for all the tired and exhausted students, LUSH has one of the best ways to celebrate a victory: big rich hollywood style bubbles. My mind is set on taking a luxurious bubble bath as soon as I have finished my last final. The trouble is… which one should I choose?

Immediately my mind rushed to the beloved Comforter bubble bar. Its blackcurrant scented bubbles and light purple waters are the reasons why this bubble bar is a best-seller all year round. Not to mention, it’s huge and you can cut it into 4 big pieces for 4 glorious baths. I’m not kidding when I say that this bubble bar creates bubbles like in the movies. I always say that I will take a bath when I get everything accomplished ahead of time.. well it suffices to say that I have only taken 3-4 bubble baths this entire freshman year. I think I’m due for a nice soak… Perhaps Comforter will be there to comfort me?

My first Comforter– from Montreal

Smells like: Blackberry bath bomb

But what about my darling Rose Jam Bubbleroon? Oh, it would surely be the sweet treat to appease my cravings. It’s rosy, moisturizing, softening, loving, pink, perfumed and gorgeous! Plus I have the soap, shower gel and body conditioner to accompany my dear sweet friend. I have three of these dearies tucked away in a box just dying to be used. I surely would feel rewarded by using this dreamy bubble maker.

Smells like: Scentenary Soap (limited edition), Ro’s Argan Body Conditioner, Rose Jam Shower Gel (limited edition)

However, I still have several holiday bubble bars in my possession that are in need of being used. Such as the Candy Mountain which smells just like the vanilla and candy scented Rock Star soap and the year round Creamy Candy bubble bar. It’s a lovely twist with gentle sparkles and loads of charm. This would be a fun and girly way to celebrate the end of the spring semester.

Smells like: Rock Star Soap, and Creamy Candy Bubble Bar

And then there is absolutely unique and wonderful Yuzu and Cocoa Bubbleroon whose scent reminds me of one of my favorite miniature German cookies. Like the Rose Jam Bubbleroon, it is super cute and super softening to the skin. The inner “jam” part is filled with coconut oil and shea butter. I have two of these darlings which I have yet to try and I’m thinking that maybe this could be the one?

Smells like: nothing else!

These are my top contenders to celebrate this victory in my life. I’m hoping that all of you get a chance to just relax and enjoy the feeling of being accomplished. I hope that your finals go well and that you all have continuing success!

Bon travail et bonnes vacances, mes amis!

~Jayme Renee

P.S. I figure that now is probably the best time to show you my embarrassingly large LUSH collection… Enjoy!

Jayme Renee’s LUSH collection

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Wash the Stress Away

April 23, 2014 by Jayme Renee Rhoads

I’m feeling the stress. I’m pretty sure the rest of you are too. We are so close to finishing this freshman year but it seems like thousands of projects, speeches, exams and papers are holding us back from enjoying these last few weeks. During times of enduring stress, it is important to find time to eat well, drink lots of water, sleep enough, exercise and to even take some time to relax. One of the best ways I know how to relax involves a pinch of facial cleanser from LUSH and a good scrub. I’m here to talk about facial cleansers from LUSH and how they can relax you and your stress induced breakouts!

I have tried all of LUSH’s facial cleansers except for one: Ultrabland. It is a very gentle cleanser that is best used as a make-up remover but I chose to use 9 to 5 instead to fill that purpose. Their facial cleansers come in different forms: solid (like soap), scrubby cleanser, liquid and cleanser roll.

Solid Cleansers: To use– wet your face and hands, rub the soap in your hands to make a lather, smooth lather onto the skin. Wash away with warm water.

Fresh Farmacy is a wonderfully gentle and effective solid cleanser. I have an entire post devoted to this magical product. It is filled with calamine, chamomile, rose and lavender, so it is very soothing on the skin. With the solid cleansers, you first wet your face and hands, rub a little bit of the bar with you hands and then gently smooth the lather onto your face, then wash away. Fresh Farmacy is so nice for a gentle clean and will work well to get all of your makeup off, as well as calm those pesky breakouts.

Fresh Farmacy

Coal Face is the other solid bar cleanser, but it isn’t as gentle. It is very scrubby because of the powdered charcoal inside. It’s a perfect exfoliator and will leave your pores feeling refreshed and cleaned! The charcoal helps to absorb excess sebum so it’s great for oily skin. And the great thing is that this bar is not harsh on the skin, it has sandalwood and rosewood oils to reduce redness and to tackle blemishes. I like to use Coal Face when my skin feels like it needs a little extra cleaning. Plus it smells a little bit like licorice which I really like!

Coal Face

Liquid Cleansers:

The only liquid cleanser I have used from LUSH is 9 to 5. It was made to be a very gentle with dove orchid and almond oil. I love to use this to take off my makeup, it’s so gentle on the skin that I can even use it to take off my eye-makeup. It’s a great thing to have on hand, it’ll clean up dirt and makeup in no time and I even use it to clear up any eyeliner mistakes. It smells a little bit like baby lotion but the product is so worth it. I just wet my face and hands, rub a little of the lotion-like cleanser onto my hands and then smooth over my face. I then use a wash-cloth to remove it and my makeup is gone!

Scrubby Cleansers: To use– wet your face and gently rub the cleanser on your face, focusing on problem areas. Wash away with warm water.

Dark Angels is the more powdery form of Coal Face. It is a charcoal scrub that really cleans out dirt deep in pores. It’s perfect to clean oily skin, especially because it has not only deep cleansing ingredients but also calming and soothing ingredients. I really enjoy this scrub, it buffs out my skin to make it feel fresh and soft. I will warn you, it’s pretty messy so I think it’s easiest to use it in the shower. It smells really nice too!

Ocean Salt was one of the first cleansers I used from LUSH. It is filled with sea salt, coconut, lime and vodka– it is almost like a beach cocktail! It scrubs away dead skin really well and brightens up your skin tone. I recommend getting a sample of it first, because it can be harsh for certain skin types.

Cleanser Rolls: To use– place a little pinch of the cleanser in the palm of your hand, add water, make a paste and smooth over the skin. Wash away with warm water.

Angels on Bare Skin is a fan-favorite. It is calming for the skin but it also exfoliates. The lavender inside is meant to really balance the skin for a healthy complexion and it is really nice. It’s so herbal and fresh, it just feels like a natural spa treatment for your face.

Herbalism is the ultimate herbal cleanser! It almost smells like soy sauce to me in a weird way but I really like it. It’s something I like to use from time to time whenever I want to change things up. It makes my skin feel nourished and it helps to calm down breakouts. I only have a sample size and it’s lasted for a long time!

Aqua Marina is probably the gentlest cleanser you will ever use. It has so much calamine inside and it just feels so great on the skin. This would be the perfect cleanser to use on very sensitive skin, even on a sunburn– especially because it has aloe vera gel! The smell is interesting, it is wrapped in seaweed so it smells like the beach. I like it, but it’s not my favorite scent. But I would keep buying this product just because of its calming effects on the skin.

Let The Good Times Roll… This is my number one all time favorite cleanser on the planet. I love it. It exfoliates, moisturizes, cleanses and beautifully scents my face. It smells like yummy salted caramel popcorn. It has the perfect amount of scrub to make my skin feel fresh and renewed but at the same time Let The Good Times Roll somehow hydrates my skin. My skin never feels stripped with this cleanser. Oh just writing this post makes me want to go and use some LTGTR right now! Seriously, this is something you have to try. I would use this morning, day and night if I had enough time to.

Hopefully you all will have some time to relax within these last two weeks!

Love,

~Jayme Renee

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Masking the Imperfections

April 8, 2014 by Jayme Renee Rhoads

I know I’ve talked about face masks before but I feel like I should have a specific post for LUSH’s masks. There is one regular mask and nine fresh face masks to choose from. The thing that makes the fresh face masks different is that they are only able to be purchased in-store because they have to be refrigerated. Why? Because they are “handmade with the finest essential oils, fresh fruits and veggies, deep cleansing clays and nutrient rich herbs” all without any preservatives. They last for about 2 weeks in the fridge (and I learned that they actually do spoil– meaning that they really are preservative-free)! I have tried the regular face mask (Mask of Magnaminty) and three of the fresh face masks (Catastrophe Cosmetic, Love Lettuce and Cupcake)

Mask of Magnaminty is LUSH’s face mask that has a shelf life of about four months. It is filled with peppermint that freshens the skin and aduki beans to exfoliate away problems. I first bought this face mask during my reunion with LUSH in NYC at Herald Square. I used it that same night and I fell in love! It’s one of those products that I always have in stock in my bathroom. I use it once or twice a week as a nice refresher if my skin feels like it need a little pick-me-up. I put it on 5-10 minutes before I hop in the shower and it perfectly washes away without leaving any annoying residue. It smells and looks just like mint chocolate chip ice cream! I really love this product and I’m sure I’ll always keep coming back to it.

Catastrophe Cosmetic is my favorite face mask that I have ever tried. I love the Mask of Magnaminty because I can have it all the time, but I wish I could have Catastrophe Cosmetic on hand at all times. It is a perfect blend of blueberries, calamine and rose absolute. It smells like a blueberry yogurt parfait and it feels so nice on my skin. It doesn’t exfoliate but somehow it cleans out my pores so well. The first time I had this face mask was after my trip to King of Prussia last fall and my skin was in its best condition it had ever been in. I was reluctant to use it all up but I had to. I really really really love this face mask. I have bought it twice now and anytime I go to a LUSH store I will try get a pot of the Catastrophe Cosmetic.

Love Lettuce is another fresh face mask, but unfortunately I did not like it.. at all. The smell was really weird; it was almost nauseating! It has lavender and almond which sounded really nice but mostly it smelled like old lettuce. I don’t even remember if it worked well because I couldn’t get over the smell. I didn’t use it up, and after having it for about 3.5 weeks in my refrigerator it started to grow mold. I was happy about that because it proved that LUSH wasn’t lying about it being preservative free! They really do have fresh ingredients in their face masks.

Cupcake Fresh Face Mask

Cupcake is a chocolate and mint fresh face mask. It is practically like a chocolate milkshake that is beneficial for your skin. It was a really fun face mask and I enjoyed using it! The smell was delicious and it worked rather well– it is specifically made for young and oily skin. I felt like it left a little residue but it came off when I used a facial cleanser. It’s a perfect face mask to use for spa-sleepovers like I have with my girlfriends. I would buy this again because it’s just so fun!

Ciao!

~Jayme Renee

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Joie de Jayme

April, 2014

Time to Celebrate!

Wash the Stress Away

Masking the Imperfections