Though my bathroom isn't as fancy as the ones I see in "Pamper Evening Routine" videos on YouTube, I still like having a long bath in autumn and winter. I have loads of bath soaks, bath salts and bath oils sitting on the shelf, but I needed to buy some bath bombs from LUSH when the Halloween and Christmas products came out.
As my skin doesn't agree with the bubble bars, I picked up bath bombs only. The first one I put in my basket was Luxury Lush Pud. It smelt divine and reminded me of some other Lush bath bombs. Then a shop assistant told me that it was exactly the same scent as Twilight and I thought "Right, that's it!". It smells sweet and calming with Lavender and Ylang Ylang.
Another limited bath bomb I picked up is Northern Lights. It smells absolutely amazing, although I usually don't like Jasmine and Ylang Ylang at all, this bath bomb instantly takes me to heaven whenever I sniff it. I also love the shape of it as it's easier to break. My bathtub is not big and a half or quarter of a bath bomb is enough at one bath.
Avobath was the first ever Lush product I bought when I was in high school. I didn't like Lush at that time because the smell of the shop was overpowering. But when I saw this "best selling bath bomb" and smelt it, I fell in love. Since then I have been a big fan of the brand. Avobath has a subtle lemongrass and bergamot scent which is zingy and energizing yet relaxing at the same time. If I remember correctly, it's got glitter particles.
And then this is Think Pink which is smaller than other ones. The blend of Lavender, Vanilla and Neroli smells absolutely beautiful. It smells of Lavender when you sniff it, but when it's dissolved it smells more like sweets with a hint of the floral scent. Not overpowering at all and perfect for the colder season. It's got rice paper confetti hearts that look so pretty in the bath.
Last but not least, my winter skincare staple Let The Good Times Roll. It looks and smells like cookie dough. It's a super moisturising cleanser with fine scrubbing particles, which is definitely not suitable for my combination skin during summer. But in the colder season, it's a must-have. It leaves my hands and face smelling yummy which is the main reason why I love it, and also gently exfoliates my skin and makes it silky smooth.
Recently Lush Japan came out with the body lotions that have popular scents such as American Cream, Comforter, Tramp and Olive Branch. I am dying to try the Olive Branch Body Lotion as this is my favourite scent ever. But the annoying thing is that it's online exclusive. It's also limited and I have no idea until when it will be sold. I might as well just purchase it online (it's about 2,000yen) and give it a go. I hope it smells as good as the shower gel! I will write a review when it's arrived.
Pretty Honest by Sali Hughes
When I discovered that there was a new beauty book coming out back in September, I pre-ordered without hesitation. I am shameless enough to admit that I had no idea who Sali was, but by reading reviews on some bloggers who had a chance to get it before it came out, I assumed it was a great book.
It's such a thick book (it's got 336 pages!) and I'm still reading page 60 as it's too heavy to carry around that I don't have enough time to sit and read at home, but I can tell you this book is brilliant.
It covers various topics related to beauty, from skincare to makeup to occasional events such as wedding or pregnancy. It's definitely a book that you "read" using your brain, not a kind that you flip a page and look at pretty pictures and enjoy. It's got loads of information but because she doesn't ramble at all and always gets to the point, it doesn't feel overwhelming. You start seeing her as your girl friend who has an incredible knowledge about beauty.
She says "It's pointless" to a pointless thing, and "It's useless" to a useless thing. There are some things that I don't agree with her because clearly we have different habits and cultures, but I still enjoy her philosophy and appreciate the fact she is sharing her experiences and knowledge with us.
If you love beauty, I'm sure you will enjoy this book. It doesn't matter how much knowledge you already have, whether you just started loving beauty recently, or you have been a beauty addict for decades, there is something you enjoy in this book.
One downside is that she doesn't recommend any specific products although she mentions the names of brands. She writes like "I like concealers from ***, *** and ***" but do not mention which particular ones they are. If she didn't want to recommend any products, she shouldn't have mentioned the brands either in my opinion because it feels pointless. Well, it's just my opinion but I would have enjoyed much more if she could recommend some products too, because I personally want to know her favourites.
Overall this is such a fun book to read for a beauty junkie like me. It's like a must-have beauty bible. I would love to give this book as a Christmas gift if I had a friend who is into beauty. If you are not sure whether you should buy it or not, check out Amazon.co.uk where you can read a few pages. And now it's 11 pound on Amazon.co.uk instead of the normal retail price which is 22 pound for some reason. (Not fair that it's 4,000yen on Amazon.co.jp though!) so now is the time to purchase if you are interested! :)
I had been a black liquid eyeliner type of girl for more than 10 years. I had never liked pencil eyeliners as they would smudge -or that's what I thought. This year, none-black eyeliners are on trend in Japan. Paired with berry toned lips, a brown eyeliner crates a sophisticated look. I started collecting autumnal eyeliners a couple of months ago, and here I'm sharing my favourites.
From top: Sweet Salon W Eyeliner (eyeshadow end), Sweet Salon W Eyeliner (eyeliner end), Visee Color Impact Gel Liner, Dodo Liquid Eyeliner, Dolly Wink Eyeliner
Sweet Salon W Eyeliner has two ends, one with a brown liquid eyeliner which is a tad too weak in terms of pigmentation by itself, and another end with a shimmery gorgeous eyeshadow which looks so pretty on top of the eyeliner. You don't even need any eyeshadow as long as you have this eyeliner as it's easy to create a neutral look with it.
Dolly Wink Eyeliner in Dark Brown is my current favourite for sure, the brush is so thin which makes it super easy to draw both very thin lines (as shown in the photo above) and dramatic winged lines. The shade is perfect for those who don't like orangy brown as it's deeper and darker.
This eyeliner was the first product I had ever tried from the Korean brand, dodo. The eyeliner is in metallic copper that again, doesn't look orangy at all and suits my eye colour. The brush isn't thin enough to my liking but the colour is amazing. I like applying a nude eyeshadow as a base, and use this metallic eyeliner to add a little bit of a twist.
Last but not least, Visee Color Impact Gel Liner in PU100 is my first ever pencil eyeliner that I love. It glides on so smoothly and makes it easy to draw a straight line. You only have like 5 seconds to smudge before it sets, but the great thing is that it never moves once it's set. It never transfers to my eyelid, or the bottom part of my eye. The shade PU is a gorgeous burgundy shade that goes well with brown eyeshadow. The limited shades are coming out soon in the end of November, which I'm so looking forward to getting my hands on.
I am into brown mascaras too which go well with these eyeliners. I would like to explore more coloured eyeliners, as they are fun and different. To me black eyeliners are kind of boring right now and when I wear them, I feel like I'm put too much makeup on. Now I would love to try some coloured gel liners too!
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