Perfume Vaults: The Olive Branch

Today, I thought I'd do a little bit of shameless gloating! LOOK WHAT I OWN!


The Olive Branch is a shower gel that I truly love, and so I feel pratically honoured to own it in perfume for. Originally made for the Lush forum, I found this on eBay (Although a member of the forum, this was before my Lush time) This is exactly the scent of the shower gel, bang on!

For those of you who haven't smelt The Olive Branch yet, it's an eclectic mix of calm, and citrus. It's main notes are mandarin and bergamot, meaning that although it is fruity with a citrus punch, it is subtle in nature due to the inclusion of Vine Leaf. The perfumes lasting strength is also fantastic, it's one of those that goes for hours and hours and hours! Almost as if it won't give up! Lol! I'd say you'd get about 8-10 hours of wear out of this perfume. It's almost mouthwatering, this truly is the perfect perfume!

I cannot recommend this enough. If you can ever get your hands on a bottle, no matter the price, I say LEAP FOR IT! The only reason for me not giving this an ALL STARS Lush product title is the fact that it can't be bought anymore in stores or online, otherwise it would be in there in a heartbeat. Seriously, guys, hunt this down! You won't be dissapointed.

February Lush Favourites 2016

So, March has been going for a little while, so I thought.. Why not do a February favourites post? This will be short and sweet, with not much of a review for each product, but if they're on here, know that recently, I've been loving them!!


1) 25:43 perfume (shamless double picture use) - This is so sweet, and citrusy that it has been perfect for summoning the spiritual spring that we are all well and truly ready for! I smell lime, and white chocolate, so it's lovely and sweet. I think I've worn this every day since I had it delivered.

2) Whoosh Shower Jelly - I used to HATE shower jellies, like really super hate them, but recently I've been totally digging them. I've found the best way to use them is like a bar of soap, as opposed to breaking pieces off. It works better with the smaller ones because they seem firmer and easier to grasp, but the bigger ones last SO much longer! Whoosh is my favourite because of the smell, it's zesty with a bit of seaweed, it's a quintessential Lush smell to me. It's also perfect to wake you up in a morning!

3) Sunny Day - I've really been loving this recently! It's perfect to absolutely soak your hair in after you've washed it, and then blow dry out! Fly aways be gone, and say hello to sleek, soft hair! It's super easy to use and you get loads of product for your money. PLUS, it's got Lemon Juice in there which makes hair shiny and glossy! 

So those are my 3 Feb favourites! These aren't quite ALL STARS products yet, but I've been using and adoring these throughout February, and probably will do into March!

Lush ALL STARS: Sympathy For The Skin

So, my blog is doing well and better than I'd expected which I love! Thank you to everyone whos' been reading thus far! I've made some big steps, one being the addition of a twitter account linked to the blog (@freshmadelush) where I tweet funny things, and remind people every time I post, and then there's also this new series I'm going to be starting. I'm going to be calling it, Lush ALL STARS (fans of the drag race can unite here!) This series will collate the best of the best Lush products into one smooth category for your viewing pleasure. I don't yet have a frequency at which I plan to post this series, but for now it will be as and when I find a product worthy. So, without further ado, let's begin!

As you can tell by this title, the first product making it's way into this list is, Sympathy For The Skin Hand and Body Lotion.

This cream packs a hella good punch of moisture! I use this all over my body in a morning, and I'm good to go for the whole day. It's predominant ingredient is Fair Trade Vanilla Pod Infusion. Besides this smelling absolutely fantastic, it has a beautifully softening effect on the skin. This, partnered with the Almond Oil, and Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, means this lotion can really deeply moisturise, without feeling at all greasy.

For me, the best part of this lotion is the inclusion of Bananas. Bananas, in the context of cosmetics, are an emollient (Meaning it helps to keep moisture in the skin) and are also highly moisturising and softening, meaning skin is flexible, and getting rid of that tight, dry feeling!

The scent of this is a mix of Lemon, Rose, Sandalwood, Labdanum, and Vanilla, but honestly, all I can smell is cookie dough. The perfume of this is so absurdly delicious. It's strong enough to wear on it's own, but partnered with Vanillary perfume, and you are literally a walking bakery.

Members of the Lush ALL STARS will not receive a rating out of 5. They are an ALL STARS product because they score a 6.

Tallow From The Other Side

I am a massive supporter of cruelty-free cosmetics, and will only allow myself to use brands that are cruelty free. Animal testing in particular is not a thing that I understand. In my head, if a consultation with a customer went like this;
Shop Assistant: So that's our best selling cream
Customer: Oh, okay, will I get a reaction from it?
Shop Assistant: Well, I rubbed a bit on a bunny, and it worked out fine, so you're good!

I would be incredibly worried. I don't find rubbing things on animals comforting. I believe in human tested cosmetics, it's more reliable, more ethical, and a darn sight more fair. For years, The Body Shop has been known to support animal rights and campaign against animal testing. It was a brilliant and highly ethical brand. That was, until it was bought by a parent company, L'Oreal, who do infact test on animals, and contribute to animal testing. Up to this point, The Body Shop still did not test, it was just owned by a company that did. Slightly forgivable to some, until recently...

Photo credit to: Alessandro Commisso.

In Brazil, The Body Shop have recently taken over a small cosmetics brand called, Empório Body Store. Meaning they are no selling this soap, containing Sodium Tallowate - Animal Fat.

Turns out this lucky four leaf clover soap is only lucky if you're a human. Sorry animals, you don't get luck from The Body Shop.

If you really want to be cruelty free, then do your research, there's lots of resources available to find out what brands do and don't test. This is not vegans or vegetarians 'shoving their lifestyle down your throat' before you start, because I'm neither. I simply believe in animal rights.

The following video is fantastic, as Emma talks about a list of non-cruelty free brands that you maybe thought where: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoCdwrPUu2I