Lush Madness!

I've been wanting to try Lush for a really long time. There's something really excited about all-natural products when it comes to skincare - I feel much better about the glop that's going on my face when I can look at the back of the container and see what's actually in it. And Lush has a really great vibe - they're all anti-animal testing and their new campaign for Valentine's Day was all about love and supporting the LGBT community, which is a cause close to my heart. 

I also had a really great in-store experience. My local mall is known for having crap customer service, so I did a lot of research about the products before going in to the store because I didn't expect the girls to really pay attention to me or know anything about the products. BOY WAS I SURPRISED to the point where I wrote Lush an email, which I will excerpt for you here: 

" I usually don't like shopping in stores because the stores are crowded, I don't get enough attention when I have a question, and most of the time the employees don't really know what they're doing. But the girls in the store were incredible. In particular, an employee there named Stephanie was a big help. She saw me staring confused at some products and offered some great advice, showed me how to use everything, and introduced me to new products I wouldn't normally try. All the girls took interest in my story and my blog and were ready and willing to help with expert product knowledge. I went home with a mountain of Lush products to try and review on my blog, and I've never been so excited. As a lifelong psoriasis sufferer, it's exciting to feel like I possibly have miracle products in my hands now. I just want to let you know that you have some great girls there. I've worked retail, I know how hard it can be, and it's rare to get customer service like that"

And an even bigger surprise, THEY WROTE BACK: 

"Thank you for taking the time to contact LUSH! You and I would make the best shopping buddies. I also go online first, get an idea of what I want and then hit the stores. I hate crowds! I'm so happy to hear that you had a fantastic experience at LUSH. I often sit at my desk and day dream about all the action that goes down at the stores. So, hearing about great experiences really makes my day! I think it's the people who used to work in retail that's hard to impress. I'm very happy that LUSH met your standards of good customer service! I will forward your feedback to our friends at the mall location so, Stephanie and the rest of the team will get all the kudos that they deserve. Your blog looks great! I tried to start one years ago but didn't keep up with it. I really admire your dedication. If there's anything else that I can help you with, please don't hesitate to ask."

No, guys, this is for real. An actual response from an actual person. I'm really amazed. 

I ended up with a little bit of everything.

I don't usually do face masks but Stephanie recommended Mask of Magnaminty to help with my blackheads. I've used it once and it really does work - I saw a significant change in the softness of my skin and it did get rid of some of the blackheads. Next time I think I'm going to try it just on my nose - way better than any of those pore strips! Volcano is a foot mask, which is kind of weird because you have to wrap your feet in plastic wrap for ten minutes while it works it's magic, but it's great for winter feet that are trapped in tights and closed toed shoes!

Curly Wurly is a shampoo for frizzy curly hair (read: poofball hair like mine) and smells AMAZING. It's made with coconut and I mean it - real bits of coconut in there. So cool. And my hair is super soft right now (de-poofing is gonna take years, so game on,  Curly Wurly), so I'm loving it.

I love me  a scrub so I actually picked up two - both Ocean Salt and the Sugar Scrub. I've only used the Ocean Salt so far but it's really great. I'm super smooth and it's a way less expensive alternative to my favourite Fresh sugar scrub, and works just as well. The great thing about Ocean Salt is that it's also a facial scrub, so it's like getting two exfoliants for the price of one. Plus my boyfriend says I taste salty. I don't know if that's a good thing or not, but it's better than tasting not good? Right? Right.

Ultrabland is a really thick, creamy cleanser for makeup and dirt removal. When I was in the store, Stephanie rubbed it on my hand and you can really feel the way it pulls everything out of your skin. It's a bit strange at first since I'm used to a really light cleanser, but there was nothing leftover on my face after I used it.

I am always looking for badass moisturizers for my dry skin and Skin Drink has been working really well so far. It smells a bit strange (it's made with sesame oil) and it's kind of a weird brown goop, but it hydrates for the whole day. I'm never left wanting and my skin feels super soft. I'm all about soft, hydrated skin, especially since it's been such a harsh winter.

Stephanie also recommended using both Dreamwash and Dream Cream for my dry, itchy skin. So far they've been working great - Dreamwash smells amazing and is nice and creamy, and Dream Cream is very soothing and I've been lathering it on like a maniac every time my skin gets itchy. I'd heard a lot about Dream Cream (it's their best seller) so I was eager to try it, and so far it's been going very well.

Overall I'm really really pleased with my Lush products and I'm really excited to go into the store and try more, especially after such a great experience. Plus it's nice that I can feel really good about what ingredients I'm putting on my body. Lush products are relatively inexpensive (this huge haul was just over $100) and I really am loving their brand as a whole. Can't wait to try more!

Evil Queen Beauty's Favourites of 2013 Part 3: ELF palettes, Serge Normant, Bumble&bumble, Not Your Mother's, and Fragrance picks

So I posted a little bit about the major E.L.F. hauls that I had this year, but I want to talk more about the palettes. ELF has a lot of great palette options that are so inexpensive it's insane not to stock up. There are a ton of their geometric palettes in all sizes and colours - mine is the 32 piece - which are coordinated for every kind of use - lots of great neutrals for everyday in varying shades, plus great bright colours for something special. They're just the right amount of shimmer, and the great thing about all of these palettes is that they can fit in your purse. The Prism Eyeshadow Palette are perfect jewel-tones which are great for going out looks and are completely my colours, and is my favourite palette out of the ones I have. The 22 piece Mini On-The-Go Pallette is smaller than your cellphone and is great for travelling. It comes with 12 eyeshadows, 4 lip colours, 3 blushers, and a mascara with a wide range of colours. If you're looking to get some colours into your makeup kit without buying individual eyeshadows, these are a great option.

I'm pretty weird when it comes to fragrances. I think of scents as colours and the colours have to match/coordinate with what I'm wearing. My standard is Pink Sugar which is obviously a pink scent, then I also use Wild by Ralph Lauren (red) and Fame by Lady Gaga (black). I got a sample of a Tokyomilk Dark scent in with a Sephora order and immediately fell in love - they're dark, mysterious, sexy scents and I've loved all the ones I've picked up so far. Right now I have both Destiny #79 which is a very musty, woody, midnight floral scent (Jasmine, Fresh-Cut Ginger, Honeysuckle, Rose, Davana notes - a black or purple scent) and Tainted Love #62 which is lighter, more fruity (a pink or lime green scent). I carry both in my purse. I love them, I want to have their babies, I want to smell like Tokyomilk Dark forever. 

BCBG's Bon Genre is definitely a pink scent, it's floral and spicy, and very light. It came in one of my Glossyboxes, which is great because I love having the little rollerballs or spritzers to travel with. I forget to put perfume on sometimes so I carry them in my bag and spritz on the train (probably much to the annoyance of my fellow travelers, but whatever).

This year has definitely been a huge development in the haircare department. I have huge, frizzy, poofball hair that has always been hard to manage. I was just flat ironing the hell out of it and hoping for the best or curling and ending up looking like Shirley Temple, without much thought to finding the right products.  I'm glad I made a real effort this year to help my poor poofball head.

The Serge Normant products are amazing, especially the Meta Silk Shampoo and Meta Velour Conditioner. I also really love the Meta Luxe Hair Spray and the Meta Sheer Dry Oil which is great for calming frizzies and flyaways without being too oily. I can't WAIT to try the Meta Revive Dry Conditioner, cuz I think it's going to be a haircare gamechanger. Definitely worth the investment.

At some point I'm going to do a full post about Not Your Mother's, but I cannot rave enough about Kinky Moves Curl Defining Hair Cream. It has been quite a search for a curl cream that appeals to my laziness - I want something that I can just put in, scrunch a little, and let air dry and it'll come out with great curls/waves. This is it. I've tried a few other curl creams and the Not Your Mother's is by far the best, plus it smells amazing.

The Lock Luster Oil Treatment also smells amazing and is great for pre-styling heat protection. It gives my hair a nice and sleek look without being too heavy or oily, and I only need a very little bit to get the effect I want.

I posted before about my temporary pink hair which I totally loved, and it was all thanks to Bumble&bumble's Spraychalk. So easy to use, great colour payoff even on my dark hair, and it completed an absolutely perfect look.  I want to try all the other colours. No. I want to dye my fucking hair pink. I will do it one of these days!


And that concludes my 3 part 2013 favourites! Back to your regularly scheduled EQB posts soon!

Back to Black

I do love dying my hair, and I do this colour a lot. I think it's my signature. Actually it's gotten to the point where I hate my natural colour, and feel so relieved when I'm back to black. I use L'Oreal Feria in "Bright Black"  which, I know, okay, box dye is bad for your hair. But I'm lazy and impulsive with colour and the last time a salon did my colour, it came out all on the top and none on the bottom and looked weird. So I did it myself, and y'all can just deal with it. I think Feria doesn't make the Blue Black that I used to do, but this works just as well, and the blueyness doesn't wash out.

What I don't like about the Feria is that the conditioner that comes with smells gross. Fortunately, a spontaneous mall trip resulted in my ending up with two samples of Color Protecting Caviar Shampoo and conditioner from celebrity colourist Kelly Van Gogh (I mean, totally randomly some salesgirl came up to me and asked if I coloured my hair, and I was about to do it that night. What luck!). Both the shampoo and conditioner were really gentle on my hair, left me feeling soft and silky without stripping any of the colour out. And they had a very light, clean smell which was nice, so my hair didn't smell like the dye or like a shit ton of flowers trying to cover up said dye.

Fortunately, my every day Serge Normant Meta Silk shampoo and Meta Velour Conditioner are also sulfate-free and colour safe, and have worked wonders for my hair. My hair naturally is very thick and frizzy, but the Serge products make it so soft and just UGH, like I'm touching my hair constantly and making other people touch it too to see how good it feels. It's such a huge difference and I'm so happy to have the chance to use these products. The conditioner is good and thick too so I've been working it through my hair, then running a comb through in the shower just to detangle. It's really really great stuff. And my Bright Black is still bright!

-Christina