Review- Lush Mouthwash

About a month ago Lush revealed that they were going to be releasing solid mouthwash.

This may seem weird to most but Lush is a company renowned for innovation in the beauty industry, having already released toothy tabs and powders as solid tooth paste we shouldn't really be surprised this was somewhere up their sleeves.

The mouthwashes come in 3 flavours, Pan galactic gargle blaster, creme de menthe and ugai. The flavours cover a range of different tastes lemon, mint and a green tea, sea salt number. 

The green lustre from the creme de menthe ones went on the other two but you can see that they all have a different colour. 

The first one is 'Pan galactic gargle blaster'

Invented to banish the age of boring mouthwash, packed with zesty lemon oil, quinine and aniseed to refresh the palette. Designed to give your mouth an 'out of this world' feeling. 

I really enjoyed this one, it was very pleasant and reminiscent of sherbet lemon and I would definitely buy these in a full size bottle.

They even made it go into outer space 😜

https://youtu.be/GrK-v7alu9Y

The middle mouthwash tab is the 'creme de menthe'. This one is the most like a a traditional mouthwash. Peppermint is the thing making it super cooling and fresh. 

 I found, much like the toothy tabs, the first taste you get is a slightly bitter bicarbonate taste but as soon as you start nibbling the mint rushes at you . I'll admit I wasn't fully prepared for it, but it was very pleasant after the initial slap round the chops. I really enjoyed not having the alcohol burn. If you're sensitive to that powerful, stripping feeling then these are a god send! 

The white tabs are called 'Ugai' these seem to have the most complicated flavour palette. Inspired by Shinto the Japanese concept of cleanliness.  They have a brilliant article that you can read here. 

So there we have it, solid mouthwash , we live in the future now. Imagine explaining that to your ancestors. What a world we live in etc etc. 

Seriously though, really good I recommend them. You can buy them on the website or at Oxford street. 

TTYL 

X

Pretty Pink and Gold things.

Story time.

A week or so ago, at work, I wasn't having a particually good day and I just needed to go off and spend half an hour to myself. Anyone who works in retail will tell you, as much as you love your job, there's always a day where someone may not have been nice to you or you keep messing up.

Just stepping away to breathe can do wonders.

On this occasion I decided to go to primark.

I recently lost my gold Casio watch, I'm sure it's in the flat but I cant find it and I'm running out of places it could be. I'm quite sad about it really. It was a christmas present after all.

I was becoming annoyed at looking at my wrist day after day so I went and bought a cheap watch until I find my proper one.

As I was walking around the jewellry section I came across a small selection of watches, most of them fairly ugly, bulky or over engineered. Then I saw this one near the back.





I honestly cannot think of a prettier combination of colours than pink and gold. It's slowly becomming an obbsesion of mine, to be honest, any metallic between gold and copper with a pale sort of pink and I'm yours. So this was perfect. It has a thin, faux leather strap that is pale pink. The watch face is very pale with washed out water colour flowers. I really love the simple design of it.


I still had a little time left on my break so I nipped into boots. Sometimes when I'm a bit down I like to buy myself a new nail varnish. Barry M is a favorite haunt and they've recently done a limited edition nail varnish with boots. To my absolute delight it was pink and gold.





The shade is called 'Golden Sands' it has a semi matte finish. with one coat you get a very sheer clean look with three you get a lovely opaic pale sparkly pink that would be great for making a tan pop.


So all in all I'm fairly happy with my purchases. It just shows that a little retail therapy can work wonders. Just a little of what makes you happy, in this case, pretty pink and gold accessories can boost your mood and remind you that sometimes you just have to do you!







TTYL

x

Revlon Ultra HD matte lip colour

Hello!

Recently I've been using a new lip colour and I just wanted to throw my two cents into the ring, have I just mashed together two metaphors? It feels that I have. I'm going to give you my two cents and throw my hat into the ring. 

Anyhoo, I had been looking at a lot of different reviews for the Revlon Ultra HD matte lipcolour and after reading them I really wanted to try it. I managed to find it in my local Boots. The price is £8.99 ($11.79) which seems quite a lot for a drugstore lip colour. At the moment though, it is on offer. Buy one get the second 1/2 price. 

Just when I was umming and ahhing I saw the shade Devotion, I am an absolute sucker for dusky mid pink shades. I just love wearing them, they're classic yet fresh and always clean looking.

 

 

I really like the packaging, it's quite slimline so it fits nicely in a pocket or bag. The chrome lid is nice and modern. It has an innovative applicator too, kind of like a doe foot but soft and extended to hug the shape of your lips.

 

 

The application is smooth and velvety. As you can see it has a really nice pigmentation to it. It's like a cross between a liquid lipstick and a nourishing lip butter. The colour stays for a long time on the lips, but although it says matte finish I would probably describe it as semi matte myself as it doesn't dry uncomfortably or crack on the lips like other liquid lipstick. I can forget I'm wearing it. 

 

This is for sure my new favourite lip product, I will definitely be buying more in the future! I'm currently eyeing up the shades 'Obsession' and 'Addiction'. 

 

 

Please enjoy this slightly serious looking picture of me wearing it. I was totally digging my eyeliner in this picture.

 

Thank you for reading this blog post. Do you own any of the shades? or what's your 'can't live without' liquid lipstick?  

You can find more of me on twitter, Instagram or Youtube all under the handle LulabelleMUA.

TTYL

x

Breakfast at The Notes

Today I thought I'd write a little review about a café I've been going to in Southampton. 

When I heard The Notes was opening up I was quite excited. Coffee, live music and good food!

It didn't take me long to pop along and check it out.

When you walk in you're greeted with a lovely, light open space. All the chairs and tables are a jumble of dining, high backed, or arm chairs, giving it a warm homely feeling, you don't need to stand on ceremony you can just grab a coffee and plonk yourself down to enjoy yourself, whether that's with your friends or on your todd to read, write or just to get away and chill. They offer free Wi-Fi too so you never need to worry about finding your connection.

The Notes offer lots of different things to do, every Wednesday night there's open mic night and live performances throughout the week and during summer they've even got workshops on for children! Another thing they offer for kids (and big kids) is a selection of toys and board games. The stage has bean bags on it when there isn't a performance so they can play and you can just steal 5 minutes.

So back to the reason I wanted to tell you about them- breakfast. The most important meal of the day. The notes offer fantastic coffee, can offer soy and they have a range of different types of coffee. I tend to go for a soy vanilla latte and it's always presented beautifully. I'm lucky enough that it's actually on my route to work so I can grab it on the go!

When I do have time to sit down I love to visit with Chris and choose something from their wonderful menu. Here's my top three things to order when in in The Notes

1. Eggs Royal

Very similar to eggs Benedict except with smoked salmon instead of ham, I love poached eggs and they have been perfect every time I've ordered them. The home made Hollandaise sauce is full of flavour and fresh. It comes with a side of asparagus, all in all a lovely breakfast. 

2. French Toast and Bacon

A twist on an American classic, no cinnamon sugar but lots of maple syrup. Having French toast rather than waffles or pancakes makes it feel more like a proper breakfast rather than dessert. The bacon is really good, not too crispy. Just right.

3. Coffee and Croissant

Simple and to the point, They'll even warm it up for you. On a Friday you can get a free piece of fruit. The croissants taste nice and fresh too.

All the take away containers, napkins and coffee cups are compostable, they serve healthy smoothies and a whole range of cold drinks. In the evenings they serve alcohol as well so after work you can relax and have a nice cold drink. It's a café that's got you covered for every occasion. 

If you want to know more about The Notes, including upcoming performances and menus, you can visit their website.

Thank you for reading this post, do you have a favourite coffee shop? Let me know in the comments. If you want to see more of me then you can visit me on Instagram, twitter and YouTube. Just search for LulabellaMUA.

TTYL 

x