First Trip to Lush Cosmetics & Ulta Beauty

I’ve been wanting to purchase products from Lush for quite some time now. Many times I have visited their website and added items to my cart and end up not buying them. I am funny about wanting to see certain things in person first. Especially when it comes to spending $6 on a bath bomb. I want to know how big is it, how does it smell, etc. After browsing around videos on YouTube one day I thought I would check out where the closest Lush store was located. Ann Arbor at the Briarwood Mall was the closest, which isn’t all that far from me, so I decided to make a trip to check it out. I was excited to finally be able to see these fun products in person.

The store did not disappoint. They had so much to pick from it was hard to not go crazy. I stuck to purchasing some bath bombs, a bubble bar, a couple of fresh face masks and their firming cream.

If you’ve never heard of Lush or tried their products you should know that everything in their store is handmade with all natural products. The face masks are actually made that day (can’t be purchased online) and must be kept in the refrigerator. The only downfall of the face masks is that they are only good for 2 – 3 weeks. I’ve used the face masks several times already and I really like them a lot. I purchased the Ayesha and The Sacred Truth face masks. Ayesha is a tightening face mask and is it primarily made up of kiwi and asparagus. The Sacred Truth is a moisturizing mask that is made up of shea butter, eggs, and papaya. The firming cream “Lovely Jubblies“, which is packaged and sold as a breast cream, is great for under your eyes or anywhere on your face really. The sales gal said you can use anywhere on your body, but at $26 a pop, I plan on reserving it for just my face and neck. I can notice a difference when I use the cream, totally worth the money.

The bath bombs I bought are Twilight, Sex Bomb, Big Blue, Avobath, and Enchanter. I purchased just one bubble bar, French Kiss. The bath bombs smell so good and they leave your skin so soft. The fragrance isn’t overwhelming at all and the smell lingers on your skin. The bubble bars are a bit more expensive than the bath bombs. I just used it Friday night and I wasn’t that impressed. For me it had the same results in regards to fragrance and skin softening affect as the bath bomb so I would rather buy one of those since they are a few dollars cheaper. The amount of bubbles it produced wasn’t impressive either. Also all of the bath bombs I have used so far change the color of your bath water where as the bubble bar did not. I do remember the sales gal telling me to mix a bubble bar with a bath bomb, but whoa! Talk about an expensive bath.

Believe it or not I had never been to an Ulta store either until this day. I usually buy my makeup products from Sephora, Walgreens, or Target or I make online purchases. It was fun browsing around Ulta and I picked up some things that I have wanted to try for awhile now. I have to admit I love watching YouTube videos where people give their opinion on products. There are so many different brands and products that I would love to try but hearing someone else’s feedback sure helps narrow down the list. I always have a running list on my phone of things that I want to try out.

On this trip I purchased a mixture of brands.
I LOVE:
Rimmel Lash Accelorator, Extreme Black – no clumps, goes on smooth, and long lasting.
Maybelline Eye Studio Master Shape Brow Pencil, soft brown – perfect color for filling brows and love the little brush.
Physicians Formula Super Beauty Balm Powder, Medium – love the coverage, but I would love it even more if they had a shade a tad darker.
Urban Decay, Triple Threat Travel Pencil Set – goes on super easily and doesn’t smudge, lasts all day.

JUST OKAY:
Benefit Bella Bamba Blush I feel like the blush isn’t dark enough for my skin, but okay for a natural look.
Urban Decay De-slick Makeup Setting Spray – not convinced that it works just yet.
EOS Lip Balm, Honeysuckle Honeydew – smells good, adorable packaging, but doesn’t last long on my lips.
Benefit Erase Paste, Medium – I’ve yet to find the perfect concealer. This one works well on blemishes, but not so well under my eyes. Others claim its a great brightening product for under the eyes, I don’t agree.

WASN’T IMPRESSED:
Benefit Besties – a sample portion of Some Kind-A Gorgeous foundation faker and That Gal brightening primer. I just don’t see results with either of these two.