Review: LUSH Sweet Japanese Girl

Last night I used my Sweet Japenese Girl exfoliationg and facial massage bar. So really this is only my first impressions but I wanted to share with you.

First thing I want to mention is that this bar is designed for exfoliation, it is not a daily cleanser and I would not recommend you use as one. My usual routine would be to exfoliate once or twice a week.

So what does it contain? Well in this little cutey we have cocoa butter, shea butter, ground almonds and aduki beans for exfoliation and coconut, lemon, juniperberry and tea tree oils for moisturisation. It has a rough yet gentle texture and smells delicious.

How do I use it? I begin by cleansing my skin using babyface (which i am loving so far). I understand some people skip this part when exfoliating which is fine but I like to get my mascara off so i give my face a quick cleanse first of all. I then warm up the Sweet Japanese Girl with a little warm water and rub between the palms of my hands, then proceed to massage over my face. The bar is shaped like a face and has grooves that fit well over your nose to help clear any awkward blackheads lurking around there. The 'cheeks' and 'chin' can be used to concentrate exfoliation on any other troubled areas like the chin and forehead. Once, I have given my face a good massage and tackled some problem areas, I rinse and wipe off with a facial cloth.

What did i think of it? Normally after exfoliating my skin it feels squeaky clean but a little dry and I need to moisturise right away. Sweet Japanese Girl was the complete opposite. My skin felt clean, smooth and moisturised. I noticed the appearance of some blackheads (not all, but luckily there aren't too many) had reduced or disappeared. I actually waited half an hour or so before I even applied moisturiser and even then I only applied out of habit. I try and go for regular Dermalogica facials and I can tell you my skin felt and looked as cleansed, nourished and moisturised with SJG as it feels when i leave my 1.5 hour long facial!!

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who fancies a try or would like to incorporate exfoliation into their routine. I think I paid around the £4 mark for this from Lush and the bar is a good size. Used once or twice a week, it should last a while.

Does anyone else use this? What do you think?

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Just an ickle haul!

I was in desperate need of some new make up bits and bobs so tonight I headed into town after work for some late night shopping.

I started off at Lush. Ok, ok, I've been shopping in Lush for years, i'm not a super fan but I mostly use it when buying gifts for others and occasionally get myself some smellies for bath time. I have never tried any of their skincare and i have to say it was the power of YT that sucked me into this purchase! Dressjunkie's recommendation of Baby Face cleanser encouraged me to buy it this evening. Recently, I have been all over the place with cleansers so I'm hoping this works well with my skin. I also picked up Sweet Japanese Girl, which is an exfoliating facial massage bar which contains tea trea, apparantly great for blackheads.I then headed to Mac where the girls where just so rude and dismissive that I walked straight back out again! ..... and off to Boots I went where I picked up a 3 for 2 offer on make up range Pure. I haven't tried Pure yet, it all seems a bit overpriced in my opinion but I thought I would give the Kajals a go ... they are £11ish each so even on 3 for 2 it was hardly a bargain but I am looking forward to trying these out. I picked up Black, Sophisticated Brown and Midnight Blue.
I was really excited about the black and blue but after I swatched them I could see how pretty the brown is, more like a bronze. Finally I headed to Space NK to replenish my Nars Laguna which hit pan ages ago. I managed to get a hold of Laguna fine but the lipgloss and blush I wanted where sold out - typical Space NK! Instead I bought a new Balanced Foundation in shade Fiji ... which is a favourite of mine for Summer and I also picked up a Shu Uemura lipstick. My final stop was the newsagent where I picked up a copy of Marie Claire which was giving away a free James Brown Intensive Hair Mask ... favoured by Kate Moss no less! I would be a little more excited by my freebie if Kate Moss' hair ever looked nice but it never does!!

Anyway, this lot should keep me amused until the next shopping trip!

Has anyone else tried the lush products or kajals - any tips?

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