Hot Toddy that will make your liver sing Hallelujah

Well, yes indeed. You don't have to drink this Hot Toddy. It's a Lush Christmas Retro Bubble Bar and your skin & mind will enjoy it in your bathtub. Clove, paprika, cinnamon, muscovado sugar with orange, lime and lemon peel. My Toddy wasn't looking pretty - it was crushed in the package. I don't have a picture of that mess, but here's the mess in the bottom of my tub:



By the way, I don't understand the idea of a real Hot Toddy. I searched some recipes and here's the indgredient list from About.com recipe: brandy/whiskey/rum, honey, lemon, hot water and tea bag. Why don't you just drink the brandy/whiskey/rum without any .. tea bags? I don't like warm or hot alcoholic drinks at all... so this bath version is really good for me :)

I used the whole mess at once and got loads of bubbles. The scent was ok, warm and nice, not too strong. The colour underneath the bubbles was quite light also. My skin felt moisturized afterwards. That's one thing I love - Lush bubble bars don't make your skin dry like ordinary bubble baths.

Freddie, Jason, Evil Gingerman

Check this out; Evil Gingerman and Good Gingerman:

The one on the left is the Evil one. He has disguised himself as Lush's retro soap..



He was a bit melted when I got him and I think that made the scent even stronger. It seems that he even robbed one star from Jingle Spells while traveling:

But there's always someone who falls for the bad guy. Evil Gingerman has got a new home and the new owner actually likes him. If you love to roll around in ginger, you might want to try this soap. I don't dislike ginger, but this was too much for me.

What about the Good Gingerman, I hear you say? Well he's actually Sexy Boy ;) massage bar. He's lovely, I'll tell you more about him later.

Welcome To The Jungle

I'm so lost with this jungle hair conditioner. Blah. I guess it's not meant for long-haired girls. Or girls with a babyfine hair.

It looks nice, it has an ok scent and it's a hard piece of something annoying.. I cannot get the conditioner out of it and into my hair! It's a solid hair conditioner and I have tried so hard to solve its riddle. I rubbed it between my hands and then placed my hands on my mane. It felt like there was nothing on my hands. It doesn't really lather or anything. Then I felt like I should rub my hair between my hands, but I don't want to do that - my hair is delicate!

I even tried to rub the piece into my hair. Ouch. I don't want to torture my hair. Then I rubbed it HARD between my hands and then quickly on my hair... it is not very enjoyable thing to do.. to stand in the bathroom vigorously rubbing a green block of strange stuff and grinning desperately!

Then I left it too close to my sauna door.. I did the same with Buffy earlier and it was ruined. But Jungle just melted a bit and now it's strange looking green blob. Maybe I could use it as a shaving moisturizer..

Perfect party soap full of Love

..Is this Love soap that I'm feeling
Is this the Love soap that I've been searching for
Is this Love soap or am I dreaming
This must be Love soap
Cos it's really got a hold on me
A hold on me..



Just rest your eyes on this beautiful, glittering red soap! It's just perfect for Christmas & New Year parties.

Or maybe for some quiet night at home with your loved one?

This soap is a result from Lush & B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful co-operation. I got it from Lush and the scent is B's Love Fragrance, which I happen to love :) I kept this in one of my bedroom drawers for some time. Every time I opened that door, the Love Perfume surrounded me and made me smile.

Eventually I had to take it out and start using it. Lush soaps don't last forever. It looks adorable in bathroom, in its red glory. It's so bright and gorgeous. The con is of course the glitter, which I don't want to appear on my skin during work time. But it's quite tolerable, if you just rinse well.

Advanced Listerine Mouthwash

I have this small bottle of Listerine Mouthwash. I cannot stand it. It's way too strong and horrible. There's also strange artificial sweetness in the taste, which makes it even worse.

I use this in the mornings and I have to try hard not to puke. Actually it feels like my mouth is on fire. I think brushing and flossing is enough for me - I'll say no thanks to this mouthwash. I might start using something milder occasionally. I used mouthwashes regularly earlier, but I stopped when I heard news about cancer risks. That was a long time ago and I guess it's not scientifically proved yet; I'm sure they would ban mouthwashes if that was the case.

I think some alternative mouthwashes are better, for example salt water or some herbal water. But if you have had some surgery done, then it's important to use mouthwash recommeded by your dentist. That's what I did when my wisdom teeth were removed. Sometimes it's beneficial to be a hygiene freak :)

Ceridal lipogel

Here's a product that I need to use sometimes because I have atopic eczema. This might not be suitable for all, but for me it's a medicine in a tube when I need it. I get this from Finnish pharmacies - and you don't need a prescription for this.



I use this when everything fails and my skin is very vulnerable and weak. It's like a second, protective skin on top of my own. You can see from the INCI list that this is not for every girl out there: petrolatum, cyclomethicone, cera microcristallina. Yes, cyclomethiCONE. That's silicone, but I don't care, since it works. It doesn't irritate - instead it protects and helps me.

It's very thick cream. After applying, it's actually impossible to wash it off. Which is good, when things go bad for us supersensitive girls. It will protect my skin for a long time and my skin can heal itself underneath the Good Cones.

Mango Butter

I got some mango butter (Mangifera indica) from Pieni Tuoksukauppa. It sounded so yummy and natural.



You could use this when making soap, lip balm, etc but I'm not that handy at all. I think you need to be very precise and sharp if you want to make those things by yourself and I'm more of a messy kind of girl who likes to throw things together and not measure...

.. so I just smeared this all over my body :) It's not bad but I didn't love it either. It's way too thick and heavy. I have gotten tired of shea butter too and instead all these heavy butters I just want to use coconut oil. It's so much easier and my skin prefers it too.

Miranda and I - we fell apart

Dear Miranda,
Oh how I loved you when I met you. Those early days. Those hard times at the airport security when they tried to take you away from me. "She's not liquid, she's soap" I told them. We survived that.

I took you home and unwrapped you. Piece of paradise, fruits, sunshine, that's what you were. You didn't look the same as other Mirandas - all the chunky bits were missing. Just pale green. Kiwi fruit, bergamot oil, ylang ylang, juniperberry oil in that delicious hot package. I enjoyed every time I washed my hands.

Then something happened. You hardened. You weren't as soapy as before. You wouldn't lather anymore. I tried to hold on to those memories of good old times and didn't want to see the truth. I just wanted to be with you until the very end.

My beau intervened with a blunt statement: "Why don't you get rid of that horrible soap, it doesn't work anymore". I was shocked. But it was true. Something had happened and we were not in love anymore. I had to let you go.

Oh sweet Miranda, I still remember those moments in my bathroom. How you brought the tropical rhythm with you. How I wanted to devour you. Maybe we'll meet again, in some other time and bathroom.

Still remembering you,

Honey

The Fakir Mat

I just love my little acupressure mat! Those spikes look bad but they actually feel good on your skin. I don't remember where did my beau got this, but these kind of mats are sold in several places. He loves this mat more than I do, he uses it daily.



I love to use this under my neck and back. The mat is said to help you relax, ease pains, give you acupressure massage and help blood circulation. I've heard some people saying that they don't suffer from insomnia if they sleep on fakir mat like this. Well, I just relax over it for some minutes, but it does feel good and it does make your blood run faster. Your skin will tingle afterwards. In a good way :)

I've been googleing these acupressure mats and now I'm tempted to buy a bigger one, with a pillow. Althoug the idea of resting my head (and my long hair) on spikes is a bit frightening!

You're no good, Kicks mask

I'll stop testing these Kicks masks, because I've now tested 4 of them and all of them give me nothing but an irritated skin. I had this warm mask:



..with cactus, ginseng and jasmine. Result: irritated, hurting skin. Then I took the last one and I thought that this could be ok.. Moisture mask with strawberries. It looks lovely and the scent is good, but I got irritation. Blotchy, red, irritated skin. Well, it looks a bit like strawberry when you think about it..

No more Kicks masks for me anymore. I rather use some Dermalogica, Herbina, Lush and Montage Jeunesse. I didn't even bother to check the inci lists, I was so irritated (skin & mind) that I just threw the packages away.

C Toner Tab

Toner tab for Honey who dislikes toners... well, this is not an ordinary toner.. Lush C Toner Tab is meant for aging skin. There's rose and vitamin C in it.

This is how it looks. Big tab:

I placed it on a deep saucer.. then poured hot water over it:



I made little bubbles.. then I threw a towel over my head and steamed my face with it. It has quite ok scent and steaming always feels good.



But I feel that I could steam my face with just pure water and some fresh herbs and few drops of some scent that I like.. and get the same results. You could also bottle the water afterwards, store it in your fridge and use it as an ordinary toner. But I was too lazy to do that, since I'm not a fan of toners. I feel that this is quite nice for an occasionally treat, but nothing grand or anything that I really need.

Nuxe Phytochoc Lifting Serum

I think this is my first Nuxe product, at least I cannot remember using the brand before. I have been tempted to test that lovely dry oil, because it looks so good in the bottle and I dream that maybe I would look like J-Lo if wearing it...



This is an anti-aging serum for all skin types. It has got cocoa protein and quite a lot of other botanical ingredients. That's why I was a bit worried when testing this - natural stuff can cause problems with sensitive skin. I'm happy to report that this doesn't irritate my skin at all. Instead it makes my skin feel smooth and soft. My skin feels a bit tighter too (I don't think it's visible, it's just a feeling).

I use this under my moisturizer in the mornings and I also apply it to my eye area. This feels especially good on those mornings when you feel a bit bloated. This is just like a modern slap of cold water on your face - you'll feel instantly better.

Amy's hair decoration

Amy Winehouse has invented a method of holding on to your your fav afro comb. Just stick it into your bun :)

I like Vitage

I got three Vitage sample tubes and I have to say that I loved them all. This was the first time I tested this brand and it was a lovely discovery indeed.

I tested Hand and Body Lotion SPF 15, Skin Protector SPF 30 and Face and Body Scrub. I especially love the Skin Protector. My face just loves it. It feels goooood. It doesn't give me too much moisture or that strange film of lotion feeling. This protects your skin from those evil sun rays, so it's perfect for sunny days and summer.

There's green tea, vitamins, aloe vera, zinc oxide. Vitage packages are very clean and simple. I checked out the price range and it's not that expensive line so I think I'll get me some Vitage stuff in the near future. You can purchase Vitage for example from Beautybay.com (that's where I bought my tubes) and Lookfantastic.com.

Lush Retro Christmas & B Never.. Christmas

Oh, I'm so happy! Lush's Retro Christmas is there on the British web shop waiting for my order AND I can see that B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful has got some new interesting stuff - new gifts and new autumn/winter colours... ´


..and I want something from Lush's Finnish shops too - or their webshop - because they're always so friendly and give samples every time I visit or order something.

I will be spending and shopping, because I love Christmas time. Although I know sales will start right after Christmas :)

But I just cannot wait.