Rash on my neck cured by "Soul Cream"

I have had an awful rash on my neck, which resembles eczema, for some weeks now and since I don't actually have eczema, I was wondering where the rash came from. The only explanations I came up with were that it may have been caused by my necklace which I have worn for over 10 years now, jewellery needs to be cleaned from time to time, so I took it off and gave it a good clean by washing it with soap and water and then wiping it all round with some spirit.

I thought maybe the rash was due to an allergy to something I ate (I eat junk food at times) or stress related. Stress can do strange things to a person, it can make your hair fall out and it can cause unexplained skin problems such as acne, eczema-like rashes etc.

I have been contemplating whether or not to visit my Doctor and ask about this rash, but I find that I have a Doctor phobia. I only go to see my Doctor when I feel like I am dying or something. This suits me personally, however, please don't copy me, my mother is a Nurse and I usually ask her for advice if I feel ill. So, if you feel ill, go and see your GP.

Anyway, my dad gave me this cream ages ago, which he tends to find really good. I think it smells quite bad, it is made up primarily of Sulphur and is conveniently named "Soul Cream". However, I think the effectiveness of this cream outweighs the smell of it. On the tub it states that it is natural skincare, which is good. The tub is quite tiny, it is 15g in size and very small and cute. On further inspection of the tub, the cream is made/supplied by Ujamaa CM.

The main ingredients in the Soul cream are Parafinnum Liquidum, Sulphur, Aloe Barbadensis, Petrolatum, Apple and Banana.

You can actually smell the mixture of apple and banana inside it, but the smell of the Sulphur supercedes all its other ingredients and is very strong. I recommend that this cream is used either at night or on days when you are staying inside the house.

Now, the cream itself is excellent at stopping itching on your rash or skin ailments. It is also wonderful because it miraculously heals up your skin and is very moisturising. The persistent and itchy rash that I had on my neck has nearly disappeared completely after using the cream for about a week. I usually apply it to my neck after a bath at night or after first cleansing the area.

I would recommend the Soul cream, it is excellent.

Fresh Fruit Smoothie: Strawberries, Nectarine and Green or White Grapes

Yes, I know I have been missing in action for a little while now, but I have some urgent things to do in my offline life...

Anyway, here is another one of my delicious fresh fruit smoothie recipes with pictures. This one consists of strawberries, green or white grapes, and nectarine. This smoothie is ideal to have with a light lunch or as a refreshing appetiser on a hot sunny day. You can leave it in the fridge to chill until you are ready to drink it.

I was reading in an old newspaper just today that smoothies count towards two of your 5 a day fruit consumption. I really don't pay major attention to these things but I do try to eat as healthy as I can and I guess these little tidbits of information help in a way.

Here are the ingredients you will need:

Approximately 12 strawberries
2 handfuls of green grapes / white grapes
1 nectarine

Other things you will need:

Blender
Utensil to cut fruits
Drinking glass
1 small glass of water (chilled)
Sieve (optional)

Preparation and instructions

Wash all the fruits and cut them up as pictured. Take the stone out of the nectarine and if you have seeds in the grapes take them out.

Put all the fruits into the blender and add a small glass of water (as pictured).

Blend for a few minutes until smooth and pour into a large drinking glass. If you cannot have fruits with the seeds such as strawberries, then you can use a sieve to help to get rid of the seeds as some people may not like the bits but I find it does not bother me too much.

I hope you enjoy it.

This is a slight deviation from my usual health and beauty topics, but I need a gap filler. I am currently trying to do a hundred and one things at a time and I haven't had much time to blog, although I have a lot of things to say and write about.

This video is from Gerald Levert. I was watching it online a few weeks ago and thought I would post it here. This is one of the classics and reminds me of a time when people just sang good clean love songs, not all the stuff you hear these days, which they call music.

I have watched this video a number of times....I like it that much!

Gerald Levert - I'd Give Anything (Video Version)

Gerald Levert - I'd Give Anything (Video Version)

Memories of September 11 World Trade Centre 2001

I have been deliberating whether or not to post this....

I was reading another blog and the topic of the post was where were you on 9/11? I thought I would write something here.

I was working at a hospital in London in the Primary Care section, my colleague switched on the radio as she normally did every morning and we heard that a plane had flown directly into one of the twin towers. I thought this was some silly joke as the DJs sometimes mess about. All of a sudden another plane....I think we went to a few news websites and we couldn't believe the awful news and the drama as it unfolded....Nobody could really work that whole day as we just listened and watched online for news and people throughout the hospital kept calling to tell us what had happened and emails were flying in left and right.

Next came the conspiracies and there have been many ever since....Only God knows the true events that took place on that day.

Porridge oats - A Nutritious and Filling Breakfast

Some mornings I wake up feeling extremely hungry and feeling as though I have not eaten for days. On days like this, I like to have some porridge oats for breakfast. I usually buy the big box of Quakers Oats mainly because this is what we have always bought, but to be quite honest you can buy any own brand porridge oats as they are very similar.

Porridge oats are high in fibre and roughage. It is a very filling and satisfying breakfast. Once you start eating it, you can feel the holes in your stomach filling up, well I always do. Porridge is also a very good breakfast when it is cold, as it is nice and hot. My mother used to make porridge for us and it was great especially when the weather was cold. It is ideal with a cup of tea or orange juice to prepare you for your day.

Additionally, porridge is good for the heart and helps to reduce cholesterol and it helps to make you more regular as well. Actually, there are a number of health benefits to eating porridge.

Once you have cooked it, and it is easy to cook, you can add honey, sugar, some people like to put jam on it or fruit like bananas on top, but I usually just eat it the way you can see it in my picture with about a spoon of sugar or more if needed. Surprisingly, when made with semi-skimmed milk the porridge is still very creamy and appetising. I started drinking semi-skimmed milk when I was about 15 or 16 and managed to convince the whole family to drop the whole fat milk. In fact, I can no longer drink whole fat milk, but at first I thought that I would not be able to cope without whole milk.

As far as cereals go, I used to enjoy the cereals packed full of sugar, when I was a teenager, but I found that these cereals not only lost their appeal but after eating them I would not be satisfied and would continue to feel hungry.

I have some quick instructions on how you can make yourself a wholesome bowl of porridge for breakfast below.

You will need the following:

A cup or mug to use to measure the porridge
A pot
Wooden spoon
Milk and/or water
Sugar or honey


How do you cook it?

1. If you are making the porridge for one, use about half a cup or a standard sized mug to measure the porridge. It tends to expand when you start cooking it so cook only what you need.
2. Add enough water and semi-skimmed (green top) milk to completely soak up the porridge in the pot. If the porridge soaks up the water quickly, you can always add more water or milk later on while you are cooking it. It is a good idea not to add too much water initially as it is hard to get rid of it once you start boiling the porridge and then it will come out too runny. You can add the sugar or honey to taste before or after you cook it.
3. Put the pot on the cooker and heat up the porridge on a medium heat and immediately start to stir continuously until ithe porridge starts to bubble up. If the porridge looks too thick, add some more milk or water and continue to stir. The reason why you have to continuously stir it is that it can get lumpy if you just leave it unattended. If you stir it continuously, you will have a very smooth lump-free porridge.
4. Once the porridge looks as though it has absorbed the water well, pour it into a bowl (see my picture) and proceed to enjoy it.

If you are not going to eat the porridge straight away and decide to leave it to cool down, you can use a spoon to add a little milk to the top layer of the porridge to stop it forming a hard skin, of course some people like the skin, but others may not.

Well, hopefully this post will be useful for someone.


Related External Links

The Health Benefits of Oats

Boots Exfoliating Gloves

This post is going to be short and sweet...

I have been using some exfoliating gloves for my skin now since June of this year as my African fishnet sponge has been slowly falling apart (I have an attachment to that sponge).

The exfoliating gloves are easy to use. You just slip them over both of your hands, use your normal shower gel or bar soap to form a lather and then smooth the gloves over your skin. The exfoliating gloves are excellent for sloughing off dead skin cells and keeping the skin smooth and soft. I bought mine from Boots, but you can buy these anywhere.

I forgot to say that these gloves can be wrung out and left to dry afterwards (I put mine on the radiator everyday) to keep  them from smelling.

This is how an African fishnet sponge looks....

African Fishnet Sponges

Fresh Fruit Smoothie - Green Golden Delicious Apple, Green Grapes, Apricots and Plum

Here is yet another of my natural fruit smoothies made from 100% fruit, water and no artificial ingredients.

This smoothie consists of green grapes, apricots, plum and green golden delicious apple. I wanted to see how a smoothie would turn out with apple. Normally, apples are juiced, but I thought I would try leaving the skin on this time and retaining the fibre, which is so good for the bowels, great for the skin and general good health.

Fruits are rich in vitamins and essential nutrients the body needs to function smoothly and efficiently.

This smoothie has a sweet and very refreshing crisp taste, the apple gives it an interesting flavour.

So, this is my latest smoothie, which I hope you will enjoy... 

This is a 100% Green apple, apricot, plum and green grapes fruit smoothie. It contains no sugar or artificial ingredients.

You will need the following fruits:

• 1 Golden delicious green apple
• A large handful of green grapes
• 1 plum
• 6 apricots

Fruit platter of green grapes, apricots, plum and green golden delicious apple

A glass of cold water

Other stuff you will need:

• A utensil to cut up the fruits
• A blender (my Cookworks blender cost me under £15)
• A drinking glass
• A small glass of cold water or freshly squeezed orange juice
• A straw (optional)

Wash all the fruits and cut them up, taking care to remove all seeds and pips from inside the fruit.  Put all the fruit into the blender, add a small glass of water and blend on the highest setting for a few minutes. If the blender takes a little while to get going, just add some more water to loosen up the fruits. Check the consistency of the smoothie and make sure all the fruits have been blended.

Pour into a glass and enjoy your smoothie.


Related Blog Topics

How to make a healthy fruit smoothie - A very quick recipe ideal for breakfast

Carrot, plum, grapes and banana fruit and vegetable smoothie

Kiwi, apricot, grape and tomato fruit smoothie

Make your own banana smoothie/milkshake

Quick lunch ideas - Croissants with cheese and mushroom

Homemade ice lollies to help you cool down this summer

10 Ways you can be more healthy

5 fruits and vegetables a day - Tips on adding more fruit to your diet

Related External Links

Fruits even better for you than previously thought

Lush Dark Angels Facial Cleanser/Exfoliator Review

Well, here is another of the Lush products that I have been using for a few weeks now. Lush Dark Angels is a cleansing and exfoliating facial scrub that you can use twice a week to cleanse and exfoliate the skin. It is great for 'young and oily skin' according to the information on the container.

Lush Dark Angels - Fresh Handmade Cosmetics - 100g

It contains among other things, charcoal (I bet you are surprised about that), Rhassoul mud, which I have heard of many times, but don't really know much about. It also contains sandalwood and black sugar, well this explains why it has a sweetish taste when I am using it to exfoliate my lips.

Now the Lush Dark Angels facial cleanser looks kind of dry from the picture I have taken, but is actually quite moist to the touch and very soft.

To use it, you need to scoop out a clump of it, put it in your palm and add a few drops of water, just enough to mix it all into a paste that you can smooth over your face. You then give your face a nice exfoliating scrub by using your fingers in an upwards and circular fashion to wash your face. I have very oily skin, so I use it twice a week. It makes your skin feel very smooth and clean, despite the fact that it does not actually foam up, it cleans the skin very well, amazingly. It does not leave the skin feeling dry, but your skin just feels very fresh and clean all over.

It has a pleasant and likeable scent, well it does contain sandalwood, which is an essential oil, so I think this is what it mainly smells like. I have offered it to some friends and family to use, but they appear to be put off by the appearance, oh well, more for me, I suppose....LOL

I store it at the bottom of the fridge with all my other Lush products to keep it cool and fresh. It does have a use by date and a longer shelf life than a lot of the Lush products in the jars.

Related Blog Posts

Lush Love Lettuce Face Mask

Lush Brazened Honey Face Mask

Lush pampering facial treatment for mums

Lush Tea Tree Water Popular Toner Review

Boots The Spa Detoxifying and Nourishing Organic Body Mud

Beauty and Skincare: Characteristics of combination skin

Beauty and Skincare - Tips for oily skincare

Beauty and Skincare: Characteristics of Dry and Dry/Combination Skin

Beauty and Skincare - Tips for Dry Skin Care

Dry winter skin - Top tips to keep your body skin moisturised and itch-free

Winter Skin Care

Some Tips for Combination Skincare

Refined Cocoa Butter - Great for healing the skin

5 Steps to Flawless Skin

Ice Guard Natural Crystal Deodorant Review

Keep yourself looking young without the surgery and botox

Everyday Personal Hygiene Some Top Tips for Top to Toe Grooming

Footcare - 6 Tips for avoiding smelly feet

Carrot, plum, grapes, and banana fruit and vegetable smoothie

So, I have decided to come out of hibernation to bring you my latest smoothie recipe, which is packed full of vitamins, fibre and nutritious goodness.

I normally enjoy juicing my carrots along with apples at times, but the problem with juicing is that you lose out on a lot of the fibre in the fruits and vegetables, so blending the whole fruit and vegetables helps to retain the fibre goodness contained within the fruit.

I find that carrots are great for the skin helping it to look shiny and glossy, they say carrots are also good for your eyes, it is also good for the hair. Bananas are rich in potassium and quite filling, so I thought I would combine these fruits and vegetables to see how they would turn out. I like experimenting.

Straight away you can taste the banana and a hint of carrot in the smoothie, it is a good combination of fruits in my opinion with a very sweet taste and no artificial ingredients.

I hope you enjoy it....

Here are the fruits you will need as pictured:

2 large sweet Carrots peeled
A large handful of Green Grapes
2 sweet Plums
1 ripe Banana
1 small glass of freshly squeezed orange juice (chilled)


Other stuff you will need:

Blender
A utensil to cut up the fruits
Potato peeler
A drinking glass
Straw (optional)

Cookworks blender - Cost me about £10-£12

Wash the fruit thoroughly, then use a potato peeler to take off the top layer from the carrots and then slice them up into little discs, cut the plums in half and remove the seed inside.

Put all the fruits into the blender and then add a glass of pressed or freshly squeezed orange juice or water to the blender as pictured.

Blend the fruits for a few minutes until completely smooth. If the smoothie looks too thick, add a small amount of water to loosen it up a little and make it smoother.

If you want your smoothie to be ice cold, you can chill it in the fridge for a few hours. I kept mine overnight and it was still fine the day after, but generally I like to make these fresh about twice a week.

Enjoy your smoothie.

Related Blog Links

Kiwi, apricot, grape and tomato fruit smoothie

How to make a healthy fruit smoothie - A very quick recipe ideal for breakfast!

Make your own banana smoothie/milkshake

5 Fruits and vegetables a day - Tips on adding more fruit to your diet

Homemade ice lollies to help you cool down this summer

Food ideas for summer barbecues, picnics and parties - homemade potato salad, chicken and kebabs

Good skincare starts from within - You are what you eat!

Quick lunch ideas - Croissants with cheese and mushrooms

Most health problems can be relieved by drinking water

10 Ways you can be more healthy


Related External Links

Lactose Intolerance, Milk Allergies, IBS, Food Colours

Apitherapy blog about the the benefits of honey and bee products

Bullying and Harassment at Work? - New Research Study aims to Tackle Workplace Bullying

If you have ever experienced bullying or harassment at work, you can now document your experiences in a new research study aimed at finding the causes and effects of bullying.

The Centre for Research on Workplace Behaviours based at the University of Glamorgan's Business School are carrying out this research study and would like to hear from people who have experienced or are experiencing bullying and or harassment in the workplace.

This study aims to document actual experiences of staff who have been bullied at work and is a great opportunity to document your feelings in a no holds barred fashion as opposed to the usual questionnaire style research where quite often you do not have a chance to say exactly how you feel.

If you are experiencing bullying at work please document your experiences and take part in this research. There are also a number of links that I have added at the foot of the post.


"We have seen an increase in reported stories of bullying, harassment, pressured workplaces, violence at work and deviant behaviours in the last decade. We have also seen increased employee anxiety; a change to concepts such as loyalty, commitment and service."

University of Glamorgan

Hopefully, this study will prove to be useful and help to highlight this common workplace occurence and will add some value as opposed to the usual "policies and procedures", such as equality and diversity, grievance procedures etc, which are usually not worth the paper they are written on and a waste of time, in my opinion. Hopefully this study will actually help to influence policy that actually works for real people in real situations.

The study is based on actual day to day experiences on bullying in the workplace in the form of keeping a diary.

This is an important piece of research that will document actual experiences of workplace bullying on a day to day basis through a diary style study.

In order to participate, you can email the University of Glamorgan and they will send you a template of a diary for you to record your thoughts and feelings over an eight week period. Once you have completed the diary, a researcher will contact you. You can keep a daily diary of your thoughts, feelings and actions about your experience of being bullied in the workplace for eight weeks. Your details will be kept confidential and you will be asked to sign a consent form before you take part.

There are no financial costs involved in taking part in the study, which is voluntary. You can choose to cease participating in the study at any time.

If you are interested in taking part in the research project, or simply wish to find out more about it you can contact them in the following ways...

Email: workplacebehaviours@glam.ac.uk and/or cdavies3@glam.ac.uk

Telephone: 01443 483575

Visit their websites: New bullying at work study or Centre for Research on Workplace Behaviours

Related External Links

The Centre for Research on Workplace Behaviours - University of Glamorgan

Poor management leaves bullying at work unchecked

Bully OnLine: Bullying in the workplace, school, family and community, action you can take, stress, psychiatric injury, PTSD, resources, case histories, news and contact the media

Workplace Bullying and Harassment in Britain with Special Reference to Race and Ethnicity

Bullying among Teachers and Lecturers

What is bullying?

Overcomebullying.org - Bullying Blog

Andrea Adams Trust - Committed to preventing workplace bullying

ACAS - Advice leaflet Bullying and Harassment at work: Guidance for employees

ACAS - Advice leaflet Bullying and Harassment at work: A guide for managers and employers

Your rights: Harassment and Bullying at work - WorkSMART

Dr Petra Boynton - Unpacking my research on bullying in higher education

How to be Bully-proof

Bullying of Academics in Higher Education

Times Higher Education - Bullies target popular colleagues

Protective parents increase the risk of bullying

Acas - UK workplace tension continues to rise amid unstable employment landscape

The fake world of Facebook and Bebo - How suicide and cyberbullying lurk behind the facade of 'harmless fun'

Bullying UK

Big-brother style bullying

Woman wins clothes store tribunal

Just Fight On! Against Workplace Bullying and Abuse

Workplace Bully

Power corrupts says workplace survey

Prevent bullying, violence, harassment, mobbing and abuse in the workplace

Employment Tribunals: An Introduction

Employment Tribunal - Forms and Guidance

Sickle Cell Awareness Month

July is Sickle Cell Awareness month. Unfortunately, I just found out. Anyway, it is never to late to spread awareness about Sickle Cell or any other illness if it helps people, so I have added some useful information and links to PDF documents at the foot of this post.

Starting on the 1st of July through to 31st July 2009 there have been a number of events raising awareness about Sickle Cell & Thalassaemia across the United Kingdom. You can make a donation, volunteer or buy a book or literature from the Sickle Cell Society's shop in order to raise funds. You can also become a member.

Sickle Cell is a disorder, which currently has no cure, and affects people of African, Carribbean, East Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Asian descent. It is common in areas where malaria affects the population. I have been reading about this and apparently the sickle cell and other related disorders helps to prevent the effects of malaria (providing a type of genetic advantage), which is confined to mainly tropical areas of the world.

Due to low haemoglobin in the red blood cells, much needed oxygen required by the body in order to function efficiently is not transported as the red blood cells become sickle shaped (like a half moon). This can lead to tiredness, pain, anaemia, general crises and a host of other complications.

The Sickle Cell Society is a charitable organisation based in Barnet North London which is committed to providing help, support, research and information sharing on all aspects of Sickle Cell. It was set up in 1979 to provide awareness about Sickle cell and a number of related disorders such as Thalassaemia and Haemoglobin C.

Among the number of leaflets available are a guide for parents, guardians and families, pregnancy screening: antenatal and newborn screening programmes for sickle cell and Thalassaemia, nursing a child with sickle cell, advice to employers, a guide for teachers, information, counselling, care and much more...

Visit the Sickle Cell Society website for more details.

Related External Links

Sickle Cell Society website

Planet Sickle - Informational website for the kids on SC

Sickle Cell Society's Awareness Month July 2009 - With NHS Facts and Statistics

Antenatal and Newborn Screening Programmes
for Sickle cell and Thalassaemia

Sickle Cell - A General Guide to Sickle Cell Disorders - PDF document produced by Sickle Cell Society

Pregnancy screening and Genetic testing information - PDF document produced by Sickle Cell Society

The School Child with Sickle Cell Disorder - PDF document produced by Sickle Cell Society

Sickle Cell Trait and Sickle Cell Screening Tests - Patient UK

Sickle Cell Disease and SC Anaemia - Patient UK article with non technical language

Sickle Cell Disease and Sickle Cell Anaemia - Patient UK article with technical medical terms

Understanding Sickle Cell Disease by Miriam Bloom

Lush Pampering Facial Treatment for Mums

This week-end, I decided to give my mother a facial treatment in order to pamper her. I have devised a mini-facial with the Lush products I bought for this pampering facial for my mum. Last week-end I washed and blow-dried her hair and gave her a facial treatment, which she enjoyed very much. A few weeks before we went to the MAC shop in the West-end (Central London) for a makeover.

We decided we would do the pampering facial twice a week from now on, as mum's need pampering too....

So, here are step by step instructions of the products we used and how the facial was done.

Here are the products and items we used and what you will need:

Lush Fresh Farmacy Facial Cleansing Bar
Lush Sacred Truth Face Mask
Lush Love Lettuce Face Mask
Lush Vitamin C Toner Tabs
Lush Endymion Face Moisturiser
1 x Face Flannel
1 x Large Towel
1 x Big Bowl
1 x Smaller Bowl or plastic container
Cotton Wool Pads
Hot Water from the kettle or hot tap

Cleanse

Start out by washing the face with Lush Fresh Farmacy Facial Cleansing bar to cleanse and prepare the skin. This bar is good for skin that is prone to spots. It is not your typical soap bar and does not dry out the skin, but leaves the skin feeling silky smooth and clean. It has a pinkish colour, which reminds me of marshmallows, for some strange reason.

Facial Steam

Lush Vitamin C Toner Tabs

• Boil the kettle and pour some of the water into the big bowl for the facial steam.

• Put one Lush vitamin C toner tab into the water, it will fizz up and dissolve into the water.

• Sit over the steaming water and cover your head with a towel for extra steam effect (If you find that the steam is too hot, take the towel off for a few seconds while you get some fresh air). After about 5-10 minutes of steaming your face, you are now ready to apply the face mask.

Face Mask

Lush Love Lettuce Face Mask

Lush Sacred Truth Face Mask

• Scoop out a little of the Sacred Truth and Love Lettuce Face masks and mix together. (You can use just one mask at a time, but I decided to use both) .

• Apply the mask to the face just over the eyebrows leaving out the eye area and lips, and all the way down to the neck. Leave on for about 10-15 minutes or until the mask becomes dry and hard.

• Pour the water containing the vitamin c in the big bowl into a smaller bowl or container as you will need some for use as a skin toner after the mask has been washed off.

• Pour some hot water from the kettle or from the hot tap into the big bowl and wet the face flannel. Squeeze out any excess water and place the flannel over the face and pat gently. This will help to soften up the facial mask. Repeat once again.
  

• Now, wet your fingers and gently massage the face in circular upwards strokes as though you are washing the face and use the mask to exfoliate the skin. You can also use the face flannel for this step if you wish, but don't rub to hard. Now, use the face flannel to wash the mask off the face taking care to be gentle around the eye area.

• Rinse the face flannel.

• Once you have washed the mask completely from the skin, you will tone the skin with the water infused with the Vitamin C Toner Tabs, which was used for steaming the face earlier.
  

Tone

• Take some cotton wool pads or balls and dip into the Vitamin C enriched water and wipe the face and neck with it. Repeat once more. This will leave the skin looking fresh and smooth and will remove any remains of the mask on the skin preparing it for the moisturiser.

Moisturise and Protect (with mini massage)

Lush Endymion Face Moisturiser

• Follow with a moisturiser. We used Lush Endymion Facial moisturiser, which is meant for oily skin but contains cocoa butter and a number of skin beautifying and moisturising ingredients without an oily feeling. Scoop up a small amount of the moisturiser and rub between your palms to warm it up and then apply to face and neck in an upward and outward fashion. You can give a mini massage on the face and neck while you apply the moisturiser.

That's a wrap....you are all done now, until the next time....


Related Blog Posts

Lush Tea Tree Water Popular Toner Review

Lush Love Lettuce Face Mask

Lush Brazened Honey Face Mask

Lush Dark Angels Facial Cleanser/Exfoliator Review

Boots The Spa Detoxifying and Nourishing Organic Body Mud

Beauty and Skincare: Characteristics of combination skin

Beauty and Skincare - Tips for oily skincare

Beauty and Skincare: Characteristics of Dry and Dry/Combination Skin

Beauty and Skincare - Tips for Dry Skin Care

Dry winter skin - Top tips to keep your body skin moisturised and itch-free

Winter Skin Care

Some Tips for Combination Skincare

Refined Cocoa Butter - Great for healing the skin

5 Steps to Flawless Skin

Ice Guard Natural Crystal Deodorant Review

Keep yourself looking young without the surgery and botox

Everyday Personal Hygiene Some Top Tips for Top to Toe Grooming

Footcare - 6 Tips for avoiding smelly feet

Lush Tea Tree Water Popular Toner Review

The Lush tea tree water popular toner is another of the batch of Lush products I bought at the Lush shop in Westfield shopping centre about a week ago. I bought a number of Lush items including their face wash bars, facial moisturiser, masks, exfoliating body bars etc.

I have been trying to lead a more natural lifestyle with less chemical based products, of course this is easier said than done.

I have more reviews to write once I have tried the other products, of course. So, this is a quick review of what I have tried out so far....

This facial toner comes in a 100g spray bottle, I think there is a bigger sized bottle, and you can just spray it on a cotton wool pad and wipe your face with it once you have washed/cleansed your skin. I have a number of Lush facial washing products now, which I am finding quite interesting and exciting to use, seeing as they are quite unusual compared to what I am used to.

The Lush tea tree toner can also be spritzed onto the skin for a cooling effect and then wiped off with a cotton pad, I like doing this as you can feel the cooling, refreshing feeling as you spray it on as well as the invigorating subtle scent of tea tree oil, which is well known for its anti-bacterial, antiseptic and anti-fungal properties to keep germs and bacteria at bay. This is especially good for people with oily, acne and blemish-prone skin. Alongside the tea tree water, the toner also contains grapefruit water and juniperberry water. I don't really know much about the properties of juniperberry, but I do know that citrus fruits are good for the skin as they contain vitamin c, which has complexion enhancing properties helping to even and brighten out any discoloured skin, naturally. The tea tree toner can be used on oily and I would say combination skin, my skin is very oily so it works well for me.

I keep all the fresh Lush products at the bottom of the fridge in order for them to stay fresh and so that my skin can benefit from the cooling, refreshing and toning effects of the spray. One thing about Lush products is that you can see the person who made the product you are using on the packaging, which gives a nice personalised touch. It's almost as though a lot of love and care went into the making of the product, well, this is how it seems to me anyway.

Once you finish using the products, you can keep your containers for recycling and take five back to the Lush shop for a free face mask or something like that, I think this is good to know as I look forward to trying out yet another of their products, which are vegan. It was a little strange seeing that on the bottle of skincare products but I guess this is good to know if you happen to be vegan.


Related External Links

Lush Brazened Honey Face Mask - Ideal for oily and combination skin types

Lush Love Lettuce Face Mask Review

Lush Pampering Facial Treatment for Mums

5 Steps to flawless skin

Lush Love Lettuce Face Mask Review

I met up with a friend of mine at Westfield shopping centre, in Shepherds Bush last week and we looked around, I had vowed not to spend any money until I spotted a woman with a Lush bag in House of Fraser while we were getting some Krispy Kreme doughnuts then I remembered that my Lush Brazened honey mask was nearly finished and I needed a new tub, so I asked her where the Lush shop was, big mistake!

We spent about 30 minutes in the Lush shop, well maybe about 20, trying all kinds of body scrubs, masks, soap, moisturisers, hand cream....the whole gamut. I must say we had a really fun time. Thanks to the lady who helped me choose my products.

Amazingly, I tried a number of new products but forgot to get the brazened honey mask, which I like a lot as it has really helped with my complexion. Regular readers to this blog will know that I have extremely oily skin on my face.

So, I have all the Lush products at the bottom of the fridge and today I have used the Love Lettuce mask.

Lush Love Lettuce - Inside the pot

"An effective, exfoliating face mask which gives normal to oily skin a softened, smoothed and radiant glow". This is how the mask is described on the tub.

For oily skin, I prefer the Lush brazened honey mask, but this mask is good also. I would say it is quite moisturising, so if you have dry, normal, combination or oily skin you can still use it. I am just saying this because of the the way it feels on my face. I usually like my mask to make my skin feel dry as it is so oily. My skin is so oily that I have large pores, my friend has the same problem and she really likes the Brazened honey mask (and she is a Lush veteran), so I am not alone in my opinion.

The Love lettuce mask has a really nice lavender scent, I love lavender with its calming and soothing properties. Anyway, for some reason while I was putting the mask on I kept having the urge to drink tea. The smell reminds me of a cup of freshly brewed tea, maybe it's just my nose.

The love lettuce mask contains ground almond shells and almond oil, seaweed gel and fuller's earth, which is supposed to absorb oil as well as kaolin, a popular clay used in face masks for absorption of oil also.

In terms of radiance though, the love lettuce mask left my skin feeling very bright and clear, I noticed this because I have the tendency to get discolouration, dullness and scars on my skin and I am extremely blemish prone, particularly when I eat badly. So, if you are looking for something to clear your complexion, this mask would work very well for that. It also leaves your skin feeling very soft, which is always a good thing.

Tip: When you put your mask on, use the remaining mask on your fingers and back of your hand to exfoliate the skin on your hands and work it into your skin before you wash your hands. Your hands will feel soft and smooth.


Related Blog Links


Lush Dark Angels Facial Cleanser/Exfoliator Review

Lush Brazened Honey Face Mask - Ideal for oily and combination skin types

Lush pampering facial treatment for mums

Lush Tea Tree Water Popular Toner Review

Beauty and skincare: Tips for oily skin care

5 Steps to flawless skin

Some tips for combination skin care

Beauty and skincare: Tips for dry skin care

Winter skin care

Boots the spa detoxifying and nourishing organic body mud

Good skincare starts from within - You are what you eat!

Beauty and skincare: characteristics of dry and dry/combination skin

Keep yourself looking young without the surgery and botox

Strength of Nature Profectiv Break Free Daily Leave-in Strengthener

The Strength of Nature Profectiv BreakFree Daily Leave in Strengthener is a daily moisturiser to use on your hair to stop chemical damage and breakage.

Profectiv BreakFree Leave-in Strengthener
(Picture on new tub is different from this one)

This moisturiser has a silky feeling and a creamy, pudding, custard or gelly-like consistency. (These are the best words I can use to describe it. I have taken a picture of the inside of the tub).

It absorbs into the hair quite well and softens it. This particular product has a sweet smell. The smell of a product is important to me.

The tub is 120g or 4.25oz in size.

Profectiv BreakFree Leave-in Strengthener
(Inside the tub)

I have used a number of Profectiv products over the years, the others similar to Breakfree come in handy little tubs and have different colours, green, yellow, pink and blue.

A few years ago, maybe 5 years ago, I went to have some braids done and I had shampooed and conditioned my hair and put the Profectiv products onto my hair before I blow dried. I then applied the Profectiv all over my hair before I had the braids put into my hair and when I took the braids out a few weeks later, I think I had them in for about 4 weeks in total, the braids just slid out of my hair and there was no breakage at all, which was surprising because I don't usually wear braids as I normally have breakage the few times I have put them in my hair in the past.

So, I think the Profectiv products are good to use before putting braids in the hair as they give the hair a silky feeling. The tubs are all colour coded. I think the one to use if you are going to wear braids is the green tub, which is most likely Root Health.

Another Profectiv product that I found to be quite good was the 60 Second Strengthener Anti-Breakage Strength Conditioner. I used it for a while but when it finished I did not buy another bottle for one reason or another. It was good for detangling anyway, which is my major problem with my natural hair, the tangles.

The Profectiv Breakfree appears to have a multitude of uses and I have listed them below...

On the packaging it reads as follows:

After Shampooing to Stop Breakage
Apply from root to ends For deeper penetration of the moisturiser, cover hair with plastic cap for 15 minutes. Do not rinse. Gently towel dry. Re-apply to unlock tangles.
For best results, combine Breakfree with Megagrowth or Healthyends.

All-Natural Daily Hair Care Directions
Apply daily before brushing, combing or styling. Excellent before blow-drying and roller setting.
Re-apply generously to damaged hair. For deeper penetration, apply overnight.

Pre and Post Strengthening: Stop Chemical Damage
Apply daily for 3 days before and 3 days after relaxing & colouring the hair. Always wait 24 hours before applying hair colour.
Apply to hair immediately before relaxing. Avoid applying on new growth

Related Blog Topics

Strength of Nature Profectiv Anti-Breakage Mega Moisturizer

Steaming the hair, a great way to add moisture to dry hair

Hair Oils

Dry Hair - Possible Causes?

Infusium 23 perfect for blow drying the hair

Some pictures of my hair

Clairol Lock n Roll Heated Hair Rollers for Bouncy Curls and Waves in minutes

Aphogee Treatment for Damaged Hair

Afro Hair - Soft and Beautiful Extend a Perm - A great product for managing new growth

Curly/Dry Hair Conditioner Wash and Scalp Scrub Recipe

The secrets to growing longer hair faster

Growing your hair longer? - Some Top Tips...

Weave-on human hair extensions - A great way to grow your hair without breakage