Review: Lush Oatifix Fresh Face Mask

Oatmeal, bananas and almonds. Perfect for breakfast and apparently also fabulous for your face. I had my first ever visit to a Lush store in Cambridge during my birthday weekend and I have to agree with the majority of beauty bloggers in that it's gorgeous and smells lovely. The displays are beautiful and really draw you in for a tactile shopping experience. Sadly, as lovely as my boyfriend is he couldn't cope with more than 15 minutes of me mooning over lumps of soap so he offered to buy me anything I wanted so long as I promised to make it quick! Seemed like a fair deal to me. Enter Oatifix, the sweet, lumpy face mask that promises soft, moisturised skin for the even scaliest of ladies (or gentlemen for that matter.)

75g of product is packaged in a neat, black, (recycled) plastic tub with a screw top lid. It's not the most beautiful thing in the world but it's certainly very functional and secure and I love that it's eco-friendly. I also adore the scent of Oatifix, it's light and sweet and you can really smell the fresh ingredients - it's something akin to a fruity flapjack with a hint of vanilla. As an added plus, it's preservative free and suitable for vegans.

It's definitely a bit of a pain to put on but a little goes a long way. I only used a dab more than shown above for my entire face and it was really well covered. When you first scoop it out it's fairly solid and a bit intimidating but as I went on I found that the best way to do it is apply in small circles so that the oils within warm up and help to spread it more easily. This has the added benefit of lightly exfoliating the skin with the ground almonds for a brighter complexion. I still had to catch a few stray lumps though!

It was definitely a bit of trial and error for me as I've never applied a face mask like this one before but I don't think my coverage was too bad. I'd appreciate some advice in the comments in regards to application and the amount I should use if you have any!

After letting it do it's thing for 10 minutes I rinsed it off and was left with, I kid you not, baby soft skin. My skin has never felt this smooth I swear! It appeared brighter and more radiant than usual - simply lovely. I don't think it did much for my redness but perhaps with a few more uses? Who knows. I think with the amount in the pot I could get another 3 uses at least so I shall update if anything special happens! I didn't experience any sensitivity or breakouts but I've read some reviews saying that it can do for those with oily skin so do bear that in mind. For £5.95 I wholeheartedly recommend this for people with dry skin, I loved it.

Final Verdict: Fiddly but worth it. Leaves dry skin smooth and radiant.

Have you tried Oatifix? What do you rate most highly from Lush?

Lauren

Review: No7 Beautiful Skin Eye Make-Up Remover

I bought this on a bit of a whim a couple of weeks ago along with some other goodies that you can see here. It was during the 3 for 2 offer and I had a £5 off voucher so I definitely classed it as guilt free spending! I've been on the look out for an eye make up remover for a little while now. I previously had a Body Shop Cucumber Cleansing Milk and I just did not get on with it (I'll be showing off that and some other golden turkeys in an exciting up-coming post!) for a variety of reasons.

The bright blue product comes in a sleek, clear, plastic bottle which curves in at the middle. I literally love everything about the way this product looks. It's very comfortable to hold, it looks great on top of my drawers and is both stylish and functional. The clear plastic means I'm always able to see how much I have left and the shade of blue is so pretty (yet delightfully pointless) and it's what drew my eyes to it in the shop. The cap fits on very securely and it's never leaked. I often leave this on it's side on my fur throw (faux, of course) and am always surprised to find it bone dry. It's also not too tall or bulky so it would be a great little item for travelling with.

And here's where the magic happens! You can see above that the product is composed of two separate liquids, the top of which is a clear, oily, substance. You have to shake it before use to combine the liquids and you get:

Ooh, aah! Pretty, bubbly, turqoise-ness! There's something about bubbles which just makes me feel like it's gonna do some serious cleaning. It's very shallow of me to love a product so much based on colours and shapes but presentation is so important to me and this ticks all my boxes. 

But then you have to actually ask, does it work? And I can answer with a resounding yes. I honestly absolutely adore this product. It gets off everything. It removes the Maybelline Color Tattoos in one swipe. Plus I only need a small amount on a single cotton pad to get rid of all my eye makeup. I've read a lot of negative reviews about this and the negative that people are giving is one of my main positives. It's extremely oily. It's shiny and slippery and very oily. But, being of the dry, lizard-skin variety, this does amazing things for the moisturisation of my skin. It sinks in very quickly and leaves the skin around my eyes feeling velvety soft and smooth. As well as completely devoid of makeup. I've actually noticed the dry patches around the bridge of my nose have completely disappeared. It costs £8.50 for 100ml at Boots but there are always offers and vouchers floating around to soften the blow of the price!

Final Verdict: Personally, I love it. But if you have oily skin it might be too much for you. Perfect for fellow dinosaurs.

Have you tried this product? What are your favourite eye make up removers?

Lauren