Temple of Truth Bubble Bar

"Sometimes to hear the truth we need to relax in a meditative bath and listen to what's going on inside us. The Temple of Truth contains sandalwood, rosewood and guiacwood oils to quiet mental chatter and help you relax so you can contemplate nothingness. Next time you feel overwhelmed, need to relax or are looking for a solution to a problem you're unsure of, find the answer in Temple of Truth's deep frothy waters."

Surprisingly, I really liked Temple of Truth. You see, I'm not really a big fan of bars that do not color the bath water, and Temple of Truth is white, so obviously, it was not going to color my water. I read the reviews on the Lush website and some people said that it turned their water into a milky froth, so I was a bit excited because I am intrigued in bathing in creamy milky water. But no, it did not turn my water milky. There was a bit of froth like what you get from bath melts, and there were TONS of bubbles. Maybe it didn't turn out so milky because I only used half the bar. Still, the smell was super soothing and I felt really relaxed afterwards. The bath was calming and I just laid there, breathing deeply in the relaxing scent of Temple of Truth.

Lush to use up!

I've been organizing my Lush and there's some stuff that I want to use up! I also saw some people on Youtube that's been doing the same thing. So I bought a little basket from Walmart for $3 to put the products I want to use up in there. I'm setting my deadline to the end of December because I want to clear some stuff up before the Christmas sale at Lush! I highly doubt that I would be able to finish all these sample soaps though. For those of you who are doing the same, please post a comment on what items you guys are trying to get rid of! Including your deadlines!

The items to use up by the end of December:

Tval:
Pink Cotton Candy Shower Sundae sample
Strawberry Rhubarb Shower Sundae sample
Pumpkin Marshmallow Skin Smoothie sample
Banana Puddin' soap sample
Pumpkin Lavender soap sample
Coffee soap sample
Lavender Vanilla soap sample
Lavender Fig soap sample
Pink Cotton Candy Skin Smoothie sample
Gingerbread soap sample
Morning Dew soap sample
Neroli Cedarwood soap sample
Blueberry Verbena soap sample
Cranberry Biscotti Bath Treat

Lush:
1/6 Blue Skies and Fluffy Clouds Bubble Bar
1/2 Temple of Truth Bubble Bar
Slice of Quinquereme soap
Bathos Bubble Bar
1/2 First Swim Bubble Bar
Harvey Bath Bomb
Butterball Bath Bomb
1/6 Comforter Bubble Bar
Tiny sliver of Miranda soap
Slice of Snowcake soap
H'suan Wen Hua Hair Mask sample
American Cream Conditioner sample

And the ones I currently have in my shower that I want to use up are:
Pumpkin Soap, Tval Shine Solid Shampoo Bar, Whoosh Shower Jelly, Joy of Jelly Shower Jelly, Emperor of Ice Cream Buttercream, 1/3 Tub of Dreamwash, and a small piece of Therapy Massage Bar.

The Lush bath bombs and bubble bars should be fairly easy to finish up by December, but the soaps and jellies and stuff are a lot harder to use up since I use only a little bit at a time. I've been using my pumpkin soap under the water so that I can use it up quicker, but since I don't use it everyday it's hard to finish. I've been switching it up with the jellies and Butterball Shower Gel.

Wish me luck guys! And remember to post your lists!

Mermaid Water

These two items have been sitting in my drawer with the rest of my Lush items for the longest time. I finally took the courage to take them out and use them. In a hotel tub. Because I was afraid I would have to clean up a mess at home. Anyway, you must be asking: What is mermaid water? And which two items make mermaid water? For you long-time Lushies, I'm guessing you already know. Mermaid water is actually pretty famous and I even see the SA's in the Lush stores advertising with mermaid water. Now let me show you the enchanting mermaid water and what it is made of:


Here is the first item: Sunny Side Bubble Bar. Lush says: These glamorous bars turn your bath water into liquid gold. Sink into the glowing white bubbles and revel in the sparkling gold water while inhaling blissful sweet orange, lemon and tangerine essential oils. This glorious bar will help you see the sunny side of things even when you're feeling gloomy. Emerge refreshed and revitalized.


This picture does not show what it looks like in real life. Hopefully, you can see the gold swirls in the picture, but in person it looks like molten gold lava. I usually break my bubble bars in half, but I just used the whole thing for this bath because I didn't really feel like saving it, and for once I wanted to go all out!


I picked up some of the bar that didn't melt all the way and smushed it in my hands. Looks like gold paste.


And here's the second item to make mermaid water: Big Blue Bath Bomb. Lush says: "If only the whole ocean smelled as good as the Big Blue bath bomb, how fragrant and pleasant the world would be. We sprinkle each bomb with Atlantic sea salt crystals and infuse them with seaweed to soften and nourish the skin, giving you a beautiful beachy glow. The combination of its intoxicating lavender and lime smell, bright blue color, and soothing sea salt and seaweed make you feel as cool and collected as if you're on a beach vacation listening to the waves and watching the sunset."

Well, I don't know if it gave me a beachy glow, but because I only had half instead of a whole, it turned the already gold water greenish instead of blue. Here's what happened when I dropped the thing into the water:




When I showed my boyfriend these pictures, he said, "Eww, sewage water!"

And here is mermaid water without flash:


With flash:


Isn't that gorgeous? With a whole Big Blue bath bomb, the water should have been a more turquoise color, but even with half, it's still beautiful. It really is like bathing in an ocean with the sun shining down on you. The scent is pretty strong and it definitely stays on your skin after the bath. It smells kind of floral-ish with hints of citrus. The water was so, so silky. With all the glitter in the Sunny Side Bubble Bar and the seaweed from the Big Blue, I was afraid that I would have to clean up a mess at home, which is why I took it to a hotel.


This is what the tub looked like after the water was drained. Surprisingly, the glitter just rinsed right out with the shower. I definitely want to buy the Big Blue again just to try it by itself. The half that I used was a sample I received from a goodie bag at a Lush store party.

Another Tval Haul and Update on The Blonde

I mentioned in the previous post that I was waiting on my Tval solid shampoo bar because I was out of shampoo! Now it's here! Actually, my main purpose for purchasing is because Tval was having a special for Halloween. If you spent over $30, then you get a limited edition Licorice Marshmallow Tub o'licious, and also you get a chance to get a $30 gift certificate. They pack one in every 24 packages. Too bad, I wasn't the lucky one. The other reason for me ordering so quickly is because I am almost out of the Sweet Cheeks Face Mask which I use every day as a spot treatment.

Here I have Sweet Cheeks, Shine Solid Shampoo Bar, Pink Sugar Bath Treat, Strawberry Rhubarb Bath Treat, Apriot & Banana Tub o'licious, Licorice Marshmallow Tub o'licious, and samples of Raspberry Exfoliating Toner, Gingerbread Soap, and Strawberry Rhubarb Shower Sundae.

The shampoo bar is a lot smaller than what I expected, but it also smells better than I expected. This is my first time ordering a Tub o'licious and I can't wait to try it. The cool thing about them is that you can use the bag as a washcloth.

The Blonde update: I just finished using the sample of The Blonde I received from the UK, and I know I said it in the previous post in my review of this shampoo, but I'll say it again. It's great. It leaves my hair soft and conditioned, gives my hair some life, and it has not lightened my hair. I know you probably have to use it for a long time before it can lighten your hair, but this tiny sample lasted me about a week and a half. So for those of you who have dark hair, don't be afraid to use your sample of The Blonde! I might be purchasing it after I see how the Tval shampoo goes.

Lush Solid Shampoo Bars [4 reviews]

Before finding Lush, my favorite shampoo brand used to be Herbal Essences. It wasn't until I started using Lush's bath products that I discovered the solid shampoo bars. Before this discovery, I did not know that solid shampoo bars existed! See, when I examined these shampoo bars, I was wondering how would these tiny bars could last for months. They aren't cheap either! Meh, so I decided to pass since I still had bottles of unused shampoo at home, and let me tell you, bottled shampoo lasts a long long time.

Then came the discovery of the infamous shampoo that smelled like Butterball Bath Bomb. I love the smell of Butterball, and what's even better, a shampoo that would fragrance my hair this lovely sweet vanilla scent. Too bad this product is only available online as a Retro product. I don't know why they always discontinue the good stuff! So I ordered it online during one of the chat parties in May 2009. I couldn't wait for its arrival, and when it came, I sniffed it, and wow it smells almost exactly like Butterball! Oh, Gentle Lentil, where have you been all my life!

Lush says: "There's not a great deal to tell you about Gentle Lentil that isn't completely obvious from its name. It's gentle and we make it with lentils because that's what Indian women traditionally use to keep their long hair in good condition. Lentils are very rich in iron and protein. Great for fine hair, it's also very good for children because it's so mild. You can even use it to wash the dog because it's so much easier when you don't have to close a lid on a bottle."

My chunk of Gentle Lentil did not look like this picture. It was more round-shaped and a lighter color. It also had tiny pieces of brown stuff in it, which is probably the beans. I have really long, thin, fine hair and by Lush's description I thought this shampoo was perfect for me. The first time I used it, my hair got so much volume! I loved it! I kept the bar in a container, and after about two weeks use, with the heat and condensation of the bar inside the closed container, the solid bar turned into a mushy paste. This was even better because it was easier to use. I just took a dollop of it and spread it in my hair. I wash my hair every day because my hair usually gets oily by the next day already and I found that washing my hair every day with Gentle Lentil made my hair oiler. Probably because of all its moisturizing properties. Some people say that they don't have to use conditioner with Gentle Lentil because it's so moisturizing but I found that I still needed to. I would definitely buy this again, but I might need to alternate shampoos with this one because it made my hair too moisturized. However, for some people this may be a good thing. I was sad when I finished this bar.

After using Gentle Lentil I was intrigued into trying the shampoo bars from their regular line. With Lush's buy 2 shampoo bars, get 1 free shampoo bar tin offer, I had to buy 2, so I got Seanik and Godiva. I picked these two because 1) they smelled the best, and 2) I wanted volume in my hair and these two are notorious for giving volume.

Lush says that "Godiva's luscious blend of exotic oils and cocoa butter leaves tresses so beautifully conditioned, silk would be envious! Though the legendary beauty who rode naked through Coventry is the inspiration for this bar, please exercise restraint if you find yourself a bit carried away and tempted to give a similar performance. (Though, a naked horseback ride would be quite a novel and somewhat environmentally-friendly way to dry your hair...) Horse not included."

Godiva smells strongly of jasmine. It reminds me of these white flowers that used to be grown on the front yard of my old childhood house. The bar pretty much looks exactly as it does in the picture, with all the colorful chunks in there. There's also chunks of cocoa butter in there that surprisingly lathers too. I really wanted this to make my hair more volumized, but I found that Gentle Lentil volumized my hair more than Godiva did. Even though it smells lovely, the bar is used up pretty quickly. Luckily, the brown stuff inside this bar does not get stuck to my hair. Once I run out of shampoo again, I may try Godiva again.

As for Seanik, I got off to a rough start with it. Why? Because it got stuck in the shampoo bar tin! The darn shampoo tin was so hard to open too! Once I pryed open the tin, I found that the bottom of Seanik had melted and was stuck, so I had to use my finger and dig it out, while denting the bar in the process. Now Seanik became dark blue and gooey. Yuck. Besides that darn tin, I actually like Seanik. It didn't give me the big hair I wanted, but I still like it because it makes my hair look nice. Seanik smells a bit like coconut, with lime and sea salt. It also has pieces of seaweed in it, and be careful because they can end up in the corners of your tub, and when you find them you hope they're not some kind of bug, like I thought. Then I looked closely and saw that they were pieces of seaweed. After the shampoo tin nightmare, I stored this in an empty Dreamwash container, and it lasted pretty darn long. I just finished using up Seanik last week, and now that I am out of shampoo, I had to dig through my stash and look for that small sample of shampoo I received from the UK as I am waiting for a shampoo bar I just ordered from Tval.

Lush says: The excessive chamomile packed into The Blonde keeps natural blondes blonde naturally. It also makes bottle blondes feel like they grew it themselves. If you want everyone to say, "Wow, you've just gone blonde!" this is not for you. But if you want "I know I haven't seen you for a few months but wasn't your hair darker?" then buy a bar and wash daily. Chamomile flowers have many lovely properties and one is that it will slowly but surely lighten your hair.

Let me make one thing clear first: I am not blond. And guess what? I like The Blonde. I naturally have black hair, but it's dyed light brown. My hair has grown out a lot, so from my ear up, my hair is black and from my ear down, it's brown. I was a bit unsure whether I should use this shampoo bar or not. When I received it as a sample from my UK order, I protested by saying, "But I'm not blond!" Now that I'm out of shampoo and I finally took this sample out to use, I found that it makes my hair look and smell good. It actually smells like Big shampoo, but better. I've only used this for two days so far, and I'm not seeing my hair getting any lighter, but we'll see after I finish using this small piece, but I bet this small slice will last a long time. If I end up liking the results from this bar, I actually may buy it even though I'm not blond!

Tval Skincare Chocolate Mint Bath Treat

Tval says that "this is the perfect blend of mouthwatering rich chocolate and peppermint. A more decadent bath is hard to find!" This bath treat even looks like a chocolate brownie. The one that I got did not have a butterfly on top, but it came dressed with green glitter on top.

The smell is a rich chocolate scent with the mint being very apparent. It smells like the After eight chocolate. I only used half of this bar and it turns the water very silky and smooth. The water turns a little murky color, but that's to be expected. As long as it's not brown! But then again, if it was a nice brown color, it might be like bathing in hot chocolate! I didn't see any glitter in the bath water, but as I was slathering on lotion after the bath, I could see that the glitter actually stuck to my skin, which I thought was super nice since it's not a lot of glitter, but just a hint. A spot here and there. The scent does not linger on your skin though. The thing I really like about Tval's bath treats is that they're not as expensive as Lush and they have a lot more scents than Lush. I am actually disappointed that Lush has so little bath melts to choose from and they cost seven to eight bucks for one. Tval's bath treats are only like three bucks! But yeah, if you like chocolate mint scents, this one is for you.

The (Great) Pumpkin Soap

Our spicy Fall soap warms you up when you're chilled to the bone - limited edition

This limited edition soap is pumpkin-colored and shaped affair with a scent borrowed from our lovely and rejuvenating Spice Curls. So endearing that the headless horse man has tried to steal it for himself to wear around town! It's only around for Halloween so get yours before All Hallows Eve.

Ahh, what fun! This soap is so cute that I didn't even want to use it! I really wanted it to smell like pumpkin pie, but no, it smells like Wrigley's Big Red gum. It smells spicy and cinnamony with a hint of something else too. I ordered this soap during the Fanfare chat party and since it's almost Halloween, I've decided to use it. I could tell that it came really fresh because it's soft and yummy looking. I think this is made with the new palm base, and since I haven't tried the palm based soaps yet, I didn't know what to really expect. It has a yellow-orange creamy-ish sort of lather, not the foamy bubble kind. The scent doesn't linger though, but if you like foody scents or if you like the smell of Big Red gum, you will like this Pumpkin soap.