I'm a Christmas Elf!

Or at least I feel like one. Everything revolves around Christmas in my life at the moment, the Christmas spirit took possession of me and now all I can think of are presents, cookies, snow and fairy lights. I baked the first cookies about 3 weeks ago and as I want to make all to make all presents myself this year I spent a lot of time crafting, cooking and melting.Yes, melting. I made candles. Scented candles to be specific.

Patchouli and Orange

Cherry and Lily of the valley

I also made some chai syrup for some of my friends. you add a bit in a cup of black tea or (soy) milk and voilá: Chai! It contains a bunch of spices that make it smell like Christmas in a bottle aka heaven. As its main ingredience is sugar it does not need to be stored in the fridge and you can keep it for a while. If you want I could post the recipe here.

Chai syrup

The last thing that has a christmas-y smell to it is the sugar-coffee-cinnamon-oil peeling I mixed as a present for a friend. I didn't take a close-up of this because it doesn't look exactly...pleasant. Honestly? It kind of looks like mud but it smells delicious and makes your skin super soft. The sugar and coffee have a peeling effect, cinnamon encourages blood flow and the oil leaves your skin nice and soft.

The peeling is in the bottle in the middle. Like I said: Mud.

The small jars contain lip gloss and a lip peeling. Again, I have the recipes here if you want them.

Making the lip scrub

The lip gloss, still in its hot, liquid condition

The final results

All that is missing now is a bath oil and then everything is ready for the first Christmas party of the year this weekend.
What are your favourite Christmas presents to give to your friends?

Have a great day,
The Countess

It's a Lush life

Today I went shopping because I needed some sandals. I didn't find any nice ones so naturally I bought something else. That's just how it works. I went to one of my favourite stores ever: Lush. I love everything about that brand: Their products are amazing, they smell gorgeous, 80% of them are vegan, the rest is vegetarian, none of them are tested on animals, the packaging is all recycled plastic and paper and many of the products come on solid form in order to avoid unnecessary packaging. 

This time I bought the Stepping Stone foot peeling. I first was not really sure if I really wanted to get it because 5,50€ is not exactly cheap for me. In the end I still got it and I am really happy I did! It smells like lemon grass, perfect for summer and not only does it remove unnecessary skin cells but it also pampers the feet with oils. All in all, it is great!

I have realized that I own quite  few things from Lush which is mainly because I just looooove what Lush does to your skin and hair and I just feel good knowing that my money goes to a brand that shares my ethnical values and helps spreading them. So I have decided to show you my little 'collection'.

So far I have:

Hair:

- Ultimate Shine Shampoo Bar

- Karma Komba Shampoo Bar

- Seanik Shampoo Bar

- Jungle Solid Conditioner

-Veganese Conditioner (2nd bottle)

- two samples of R&B Hair Cream

Body: 

- Stepping Stone Foot Peeling

- Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter

- Fresh Farmacy Cleanser

- a sample of Karma Kream

- two bath wands that were limited edition. The are mot on the picture because I forgot to get them out of the bath room. I got both of them for my birthday.

It sounds like alot, at least to me but many of those products were given to me as a present and I also got a gift card for Christmas. I am not one of those people who just go and spend 30e in a Lush store, I can't and and do not want to spend that amount of money on cosmetics. I basically go to Lush when I want to get a special treat for myself, it is always special to get in the store and choose a product. 

What about you, do you Lush? What do you think about the products, the brand, the ethnics?

Have a great day,

The Countess