Review: Lush- Veganese

As I mentioned previously in my review for Lush's Soak and Float, I tend to use their Veganese as my conditioner. The citrus scent helps to cut the scent of smoke from Soak and Float and also helps to make my hair soft and shiny. As I've already mentioned it in a previous blog post, I thought it would be a good idea to give it a review.

Veganese. Image taken from Lush's website

This is Veganese. I do not have a picture of it at the moment of the product brand new, since I've been using it for a few months, so this image is taken from Lush's site but I'll edit this post in a few months once I get a new bottle. What I like about Lush's products is that a little goes a long way so you really get your money's worth out of their product.

Veganese, like its name suggests, is a vegan conditioner which replaces lanolin with "agar seaweed gel as a natural hair softener instead of lanolin, and blend in generous helpings of lemon oil to create the perfect vegan conditioner to leave you with tons of gloss and shine." The conditioner also contains rosemary and lavender. I was a little hesitant to try it at first since Lush states that the conditioner is for "fine, limp hair" and my hair is pretty thick. Nevertheless, I gave it a go and have been using it since.

Veganese is a very lemony smelling conditioner, as it contains both lemon oil and fresh lemon juice. Those who don't like the scent compare it to Lemon Pledge. I compare it to Lemonhead candies; a sweet lemony scent. There's a small hint of lavender but, really, the main thing you're going to smell here is a fresh, sweet, citrusy scent.

Again, like a lot of Lush's other products, a little goes a long way. It's a little on the runny side and not as thick as other conditioners so I tend to shake the bottle up before I use it.  I'll use a small amount, run it through my hair, leave it in for a few minutes and rinse. My thick hair tends to tangle easy and Veganese takes the tangles out without leaving that greasy, heavy, conditioner residue. It felt fresh and clean afterwards and made my hair pretty soft and shiny. I really love it a lot and use it often, about every other wash.

You can buy Veganese online here or at Lush's store.

Review: Lush - Soak and Float

As many know, I'm a huge fan of the products from Con*Tact Caffeine however, I am also a huge fan of Lush. As someone with sensitive skin as as someone who likes to know exactly what's in the products that I am using, Con*Tact and Lush are the only two companies whose products I use day to day. Up to this point, I've only been reviewing Con*Tact, but I wanted to expand out to include Lush as well which will include other products besides just their soaps

This is the first Lush review and the first non-soap review for this blog.

Soak and Float. Image taken from Lush's website

This is Soak and Float. I do not have a picture of it at the moment of the product brand new, since I've been using it for a few months, so this image is taken from Lush's site but I'll edit this post in a few months once I get a new bar of the product.

If you've gone to Lush and have gone to the shampoo section and have taken the time to smell each one, you've probably smelled it. Then you probably made a face. Then you probably put it back and grabbed some other product to inhale to get the original scent out of your nose.

I'm not going to lie, it's the most pungent product I've ever used. If you like flowers or fruit or sugary sweet baking goods to make your hair smell good, this is not the product for you.It smells like smoke. There's no way around that and the marigold and rose petals that they put in don't help the scent at all. The associate at Lush said it smelled smoky, I likened it to the smell of the peat smoke found in many an Islay malt. It's pretty intense and not for someone who dislikes the smell of smoke.

Now if you want control over your dandruff? This is your best friend. Do NOT let the smell turn you off. I thought it was a little pungent at the beginning but I got used to it very quickly and even began to like it. The positives really outnumber the negatives. It's not that strong in your hair, especially if you use another shampoo and/or conditioner after.

As embarrassing as it is, I had a problem with dandruff. It's a problem that I've had for years and no shampoo has been able to really help. Head and Shoulders? No. Neutrogena's T/Gel? Nada. Selsun Blue? Not at all. Even prescribed shampoos from my dermatologist didn't really work. It was just something that I sort of dealt with.

When I saw that Lush had a shampoo for dandruff I was, of course, skeptic. I decided to give it a go after a couple of recommendations. I'm glad I did. This stuff is great and I noticed a change very quickly. The itching was gone after the first wash and the flakes were gone 2-3 washes in. It's an amazing product and I still cannot believe that it works as well as it does!

Soak and Float is one of Lush's solid shampoos. To use it, I wet the bar and my hair and then rub the bar through my hair and all over my scalp, paying attention to problematic areas. A little goes a long way and it leaves a thick, rich lather behind. Let it stay in for a few minutes, rinse, repeat. When I want to use a conditioner, I turn to Lush's Veganese. I find that the lemon oil and lemon juice helps to cut the smoky scent of the Soak and Float.  I tend to use Soak and Float on its own during every other shower and during the ones in between, I'll use Soak and Float and follow it up with Lush's Rehab and Veganese. After a shower, I will dry the shampoo bar and store it in Lush's Shampoo Bar Tin. Drying it is key and makes it so that your shampoo doesn't get all gross and slimy. It's a great way to contain the scent to those that don't like it.

You can purchase Soak and Float from Lush online or in one of their stores.

Review: Con*Tact Caffeine - Curly Tail

I know it's been a very long time since I last did a soap review and I thank those who have stuck by me, encouraged me to bring this blog back. This last year has been hectic, to say the least, and a lot of my soaps got damaged in a couple of moves. My fault and I should have been more mindful with packing them. I like to photograph the soaps right out of the package for this blog, just to show them off all brand new and pretty! While I had the chance to use a few soaps, they were not something that I wanted to photograph for the blog. Luckily, two soaps survived, Curly Tail and Green Tea. I hope to get back in business come the new year! I have missed this blog greatly.

Curly Tail is a light brown bar of soap, topped with cappuccino  bodysafe mica. The art for the  soap was created by Sigil.

Photo taken with an iPhone 4. I'm not sure why it looks more blackish/gray here. 

This picture also shows a lot of frosting, which Con*Tact states is something that can happen to the soaps. Keep in mind, I got this soap in February 2012. Besides a bit of frosting, the soap is in perfect condition. Con*Tact's products hold up.

This is one of those soaps that you'll smell as soon as you open the box. There's chocolate. There's a lot of chocolate. Do you like chocolate? Do you like to smell like chocolate? This is the soap for you. Do you hate chocolate? Does chocolate make you rage? This is not the soap for you. It is a very chocolaty soap and the scent reminds me a lot of Palmer's Cocoa Butter or a Tootsie Roll. It's a very rich and decadent scent. Think a heavenly bar of dark chocolate instead of a piece of milk chocolate leftover from Halloween or a fake chocolate scent.

Now if you're looking for something that perfectly balances chocolate and coffee, the soap is lacking a little in the coffee department. It could have been just me, but I didn't really pick up on the espresso.  If you handed me the soap and asked me to describe the scent, I would just say that it was chocolate. There's maybe a slight hint of it somewhere, but the chocolate really takes over.  It's not overwhelming, however and it's a scent that will stay on your skin afterwards.

Curly Tail has actually become one of my favorite soaps from Con*Tact and I highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of chocolate!

Curly Tail can be ordered individually here: http://contactcaffeine.bigcartel.com/product/soap-curly-tail
Or as part of the Sweet Treats pack here: http://contactcaffeine.bigcartel.com/product/sweet-treats-black-friday-soap-6-pack-w-bonus-scent-marking