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 Originally made for the Lush forum, I found this on eBay (Although a member of the forum, this was before my Lush time) This is exactly the scent of the shower gel, bang on!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.

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.

My Current Hair Routine For Thick Unruly Hair

Today I'm going to take you through a really simple routine for hair like mine. Thick and unruly, my hair has a mind of it's own. I have a lot of fly-aways and flicks in my hair where it does not go the way I want it to, and sometimes struggle with grease and oil. This routine would also work really well on thin hair with the same troubles, but don't go as heavy with the conditioner would be my advice!

Step 1 is Big Shampoo. Big is an ultra clarifying and volumising shampoo due to it's high content of Sea Salt. Massaging this into the scalp will add bounce to hair that often falls flat, I love to really work this one in!
Big also contains Lemon and Lime, which will help to add shine to the hair, making it look vibrant and luscious (Pun!)
It also contains Coconut Oil, which will soften the hair, making it more sleek, and taming fly-aways.

Big has almost a jelly-like consistency, with the chunks of Sea Salt floating throughout. It's super easy to use, all you do is scoop out a small amount in your hand, and rub it in to your hair/scalp! It has a really beautiful, yet neutral sea-side fragrance to it, which lingers in the hair too. This is one of the best-sellers, and I have no reason to ask why! If you have thick or even fine hair, that often falls flat and flumps, you need this!

Step 2 is Happy Happy Joy Joy Conditioner (HHJJ) This one is perfect if, like me, you find Veganese too light, and American Cream too strong! This has a luxurious base of Almond Milk, Rose Oil, and Orange Blossom Water, all helping to smooth, add shine, and to protect the hair.
Perhaps the best thing about HHJJ is the scent! It's a mélange of Orange Blossom, Neroli, and Grapefruit. Fans of Orange Blossom Perfume, Sakura Bath Bomb, or Rub Rub Rub Shower Scrub will love this! This conditioner is perfumed, and so the scent really does last in the hair. Sometimes after using this, I find I don't feel I need to wear perfume that day, which for me, is a big deal.
The high content of oil in this conditioner, means it lightly coats the hair. Adding gloss and shine, without weighing the hair down, and making it look over-conditioned, or greasy.

Step 3 is really simple. After you've washed everything out, spray Sunny Day generously throughout the hair before blow-drying. This is going to tame those damn fly-aways and stop hair from getting so tangled. Out, damned knot!
It contains Honey to soften the hair, and moisturise it. The number one cause of fly-aways is dry hair, so this really helps as an active ingredient, there's also Lemon Juice to add shine, and Rosewood Oil to tame hair down and make it behave! Sunny Day can also be used on dry hair, though I find it does work best on wet hair.

I'm quite into breaking the cost down for you readers recently, so the subtotal for this routine is:
Big Shampoo: 330g/£12.75
Happy Happy Joy Joy: £9.75/100g (This one IS worth it, I promise!)
Sunny Day (Not Vegan) £9.95/100g

Gorilla Perfume: The President's Hat

Okay, so if by now, you do not know my love of Lush Perfume, then please imagine how excitable a dog gets when it sees food, now replace the dog with me, and the food with Lush Perfume.
President's Hat is an online exclusive perfume (available in Islington Gorilla Perfume branch, and the Oxford Street store) released as part of Volume 3.

This perfume contains Patchouli, however couldn't be more different from Karma, the signature scent of Lush, a mix of Orange flower and Patchouli herb. The President's Hat is a cocktail of Vanilla, Myrrh, and Patchouli.

Myrrh gives off a homely incense-like smell, giving it a powdery yet full note, whilst Patchouli offers depth to the fragrance making it almost seem 3D in scent, giving it depth and maturity.

The Vanilla note provides a sherbert feel to the perfume, delicate yet mild is a good way to describe the perfume. It's sweet and foody with an earthy kick. The perfume lasts about 3-4 hours on the skin, and 4-5 hours on clothing or hair. I always find perfume lasts longer when sprayed onto clothes or the back or hair, so this may be why.

The product that I find has the closest scent would be Ladyboy perfume, a now discontinued fragrance which I truly loved. The banana note in that has been replaced with patchouli in The President's Hat in my opinion.

For all the above reasons, I would rate this product a 4 out of 5, again due to the lasting time. I wish it lasted longer, however I love the scent, no matter how short its duration.

Lush Kitchen: The Comforter Body Lotion

IT'S HAPPENING, IT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENING! THE COMFORTER BODY LOTION HAS BEEN MADE!

The Lush Kitchen is a magical place, where discontinued, or totally newly imagined products are made for a limited time. Click here to read some more and find out the details, but don't click there if you value your wages and want to save your money. You have to be quick to swipe them, or they've gone! I was lucky enough to grab this bad boy before it went, and it smells exactly like The Comforter, which is my one true love within Lush scents. (For those of you who don't know, The Comforter smells like vimto, it's blackcurrant mixed with cassis which makes for a very warm and fruity scent)

So, on to the lotion itself. It's a little bit of a let down. Although containing Fair-trade organic cocoa butter and almond oil, two common ingredients for adding moisture to skin or hair, I don't find the lotion to be particularly moisturising. Whilst it does leave the body scented, it's purpose of a lotion is not totally realised. It's first ingredient is infact water, which makes me think it was created and watered down for the purpose of more profit, but hey, demand was there, who can blame Lush for thinking economically?

It's for this reason that I'd rate the product a 2.5 out of 5. Incredibly happy and emotional though I am about being able to smell like The Comforter, it doesn't actually moisturise to what I'd expect from a lotion at all.

Gorilla Perfume: 25:43

Once again, I have a perfume review for you. This is simply because I love Lush perfume, and collect it avidly and actively. Perfume is something I will continue to buy from Lush because of the totally unique and amazing scents available. 25:43 is a very special perfume, named that because it took exactly 25 minutes, 43 seconds to come up with the scent. Originally created for Jack Constantine's wedding, it was released as a spring/valentines special some years back. It is now available at the Islington Gorilla Perfume branch in London.

Immediately, I smell lemongrass, a powdery sherbet kind of smell. It's sweet, with a sour kick. Then as it settles onto my skin, it begins to mature into a sweet lime, which I get most strongly from the perfume, what I can smell before it wears off is white chocolate, rounding off an all round sweet, and magical perfume. The perfume lasts about 4-5 hours of wear, which I would say is pretty average.

What I love about 25:43 is that it's not conventional, it's odd but when I wear it I feel like a hipster hobo. When I wear it, I feel as if I've been up all night drinking cocktails and woken up at a friends house, realised I had to be in work in ten minutes, and so have gone dressed in the clothes from the night before. It's utterly unique, and artistic, and I simply love it.

I would give this perfume a 4 out of 5, due to the fact I wish it lasted longer on the skin. That did not stop me from buying two bottles of it though to stock up!

Gorilla Perfume: Vanillary

Today I thought I'd talk about one of the perfumes by Lush. Lush hold a perfume line named, Gorilla Perfume. In essence, it features (as of yet) 3 volumes of perfume made from essential oils, all highly unique in fragrance. It's the unique nature of these perfumes, that makes me fall in love with the line. I have a pretty hefty collection, which I may one day do a blog post about. Vanillary was my first ever Lush perfume, I was given this as a Random Act of Kindness by a lovely member of staff, at the Regents Street Lush store. It was several years ago, and I was given one of the old style solids in the tube. I was fixated.

The base note is of course, vanilla. It's light and sweet, reminiscent of cake, coming from the mixture of the vanilla, and tonka (actually pictured on the label). It also holds a jasmine note, giving it a sensual, almost earthy undertone, providing depth to the fragrance, as opposed to just 'smelling like cake' meaning the perfume is easily worn day or night. (I am a huge believer in day and night time perfumes, however I believe this one transfers between both easily)

This perfume used to share its scent with a partnered body lotion, Vanilla Dee-Lite, however it has very sadly been discontinued. These two used to layer perfectly together, so if you ever spot one on eBay, nab it! It may also feature on the Lush Kitchen sometime soon, however I plan to talk more about that in a future blog post.

Simply, Vanillary is light and fluffy. A great start for anyone looking to try Lush perfumes.
This fragrance is also available in the solid tins, which I hold in my pencil case at school for a top up throughout the day. The solid perfume tins hold a 20% fragrance strength, the same as your average Eau De Toilette. A solid of Vanillary is £8, an Eau De Toilette is £20+ (You do the maths) Their perfume, though seemingly an investment, is great value for money, with the 100ml bottle (pictured above) retailing for only £58. A steal when compared with other high end brands.

I see no reason to not rate this perfume a 5 out of a possible 5 stars, I rave about this to all my friends, and always receive compliments when wearing this perfume.