Review: LUSH Porridge Soap

Porridge soap is a strange animal. I purchased it about 3 months ago & we've had an interesting relationship ever since!

Since purchasing my first LUSH soap (Vanilla In The Mist - I haven't reviewed this yet) I've been trying out a few different LUSH soaps & realised that I hadn't even smelt this one. Let me tell you, it was love at first sniff!

I asked the SA to cut me a great big chunk. I couldn't stop smelling the new package during my shopping trip!

Here's what LUSH says about Porridge soap.

"Start the day the Goldilocks way with a helping or three of porridge oats. Ideal for sensitive skin; irresistible to everyone else. Oats are soothing for the skin and will gently exfoliate, while orange juice is refreshing and naturally toning. Rise and shine with some delicious porridge."

How does it look & smell?

Porridge looks quite nondescript, maybe a little boring. Basically it's a light beige soap with little brown spots all through it which are pieces of pinhead oatmeal. The smell of this soap is amazing - mostly - let me explain that shortly.

The first sniff is intoxicating. The best way for me to describe it is a vanilla caramel concoction, dripping with maple syrup & treacle. None of these scents are actually in Porridge, one of the main ingredients is Orange juice!

Using Porridge

Porridge has a very soft feel & lathers well. Yes, it does contain SLS, which is why. It is also very moisturising - it contains coconut oil. Each use of this soap leaves my skin feeling soft & luxurious.

The pinhead oatmeal pieces help exfoliate skin quite well. I've read reviews about the oatmeal pieces being so hard that they've scratched peoples skin. That hasn't happened to me.

Speaking of the Oatmeal.... one thing that I have found is that after each use is I end up between 10 to 20 pieces or more at the bottom of the bathtub. They look like little bugs. :) This may be an issue to those who have drains that clog easily, therefore you may want to use a plug that captures them.

How to make Porridge last a little bit longer.

Porridge is quite soft & I find that it starts to melt when you touch it. For the same reason, you go through it a lot quicker than other soaps. I was shocked at the amount of "shrinkage" this soap has upon each use. I did a little research & found that people suggest you "cure" the soap to make it last longer. I had (luckily) already my large piece into smaller pieces & keep them in a plastic container. I took out a new piece & put it on top of the container to sit in the air for a few weeks. The longer the piece was out, the harder it became. The piece that I "cured" lasted a bit longer than the uncured peices, melting & shrinking a tiny bit less.

I also make sure I don't wet Porridge, instead I use it on already wet skin. After use, put this soap on a draining rack if you can. Sitting it in water will allow it to continue to melt. You will also get an oozing trail of brown goo coming out of the soap.

The Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde of Soap

Now, the strange thing is that whilst using Porridge, I found that the scent changed after a few uses. I was enjoying the intoxicating sweet scent when it suddenly turned into wet burnt toast. The smell wasn't very nice at all & I instantly regretted buying it. I put it on a rack to dry. The next time I went into the bathroom I smelt the soap again expecting the wet burnt toast smell, but it was back to the sweet maple syrup smell. How odd! I've smelt the "change" in scent a few more times after using Porridge but it's inconsistent. It doesn't happen every time I use it, just every now and again - so it's not enough to turn me off. Isn't that strange?

What are the Ingredients

Water (Aqua), Rapeseed Oil; Coconut Oil (Brassica napus; Cocos nucifera), Propylene Glycol, Pinhead Oatmeal (Avena sativa), Fresh Organic Orange Juice (Citrus Aurantium dulcis), Titanium Dioxide, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Perfume, Labdanum Resinoid (Cistus labdaniferus), Sweet Wild Orange Oil (Citrus sinensis), Glycerine, Sodium Chloride, EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, *Limonene

Conclusion

I really enjoy using Porridge & will most probably repurchase it when my current piece(s) run out. This will be quite a while since I have a few soaps on rotation. I heard on the grapevine that LUSH may be discontinuing Porridge so it's possible by the time I get through it, it will be gone anyway..

I recommend Porridge if you have dry & especially flakey skin. If you like sweet smells you will love using it - but keep in mind a possible change of scent (described above).

My rating: 7 out of 10

Summary:

Pros: Beautiful scent (mostly), Lathers well, exfoliates well.
Cons: Messy (Oatmeal pieces, it also oozes goo), melts easily, is used up quickly, the scent can change.

GWP: MOR Cosmetics @ Myer

Saw this little GWP & thought that someone might enjoy it! :-)

Spend $39.95 on the MOR Range at Myer & receive the following bonus products (valued at $72.80) with your purchase;

• Marshmallow Tote Bag
• Perfume Oil 9ml
• Hand Cream 50ml &
• Soapette 60g

Offer ends Sunday 25 September 2011

Review: NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils

I've been using the NYX Jumbo Pencils for a few months now, after seeing a few raves on YouTube. I was intrigued on how they can be used as a base to help your eyeshadows look better.

I purchased Milk (White) & Black Bean (Black) as I felt that these colours would be the most usable.

How I use NYX Jumbo Pencils as a base

I saw some demos on YouTube where the Jumbo Pencils are "drawn" on to make a solid colour. I tried this, and noticed that eyeshadow colours look even better layered on top of the solid Jumbo pencil colour, however the thicker you put these on your lids, the more prone it is to crease as it's like a thick waxy layer. Not a good look in the middle of the day! It works much better as a thin layer.

After trial & error I've found that the best way to use these is over a primer, I use Too Faced Shadow Insurance (TFSI). I dot the pencil lightly all over the lid (like leopard spots) then use my ring finger to gently blend the dots together.

I usually use Milk as a base for brighter colours (greens, oranges, light browns, golds etc) which helps make them true to colour (as they are in the pan). I use Black Bean as a base for dark colours, for the same reason.

I also use Milk as is a base for my highlight just under my brow too, which works well.

I haven't used the Jumbo pencils as an eyeliner so I can't comment on that.

I have noticed depotting tutorials on YouTube as well, which I will look at doing as this will save product, rather than using a pencil sharpener & lose some of the colour in shavings.

Cost

I purchased the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils for $5.95AU each. Much cheaper than using a gel eyeliner as a base (which is what I was originally looking at).

Verdict

I'm finding myself using these pencils more often now that they've become a staple to my daily makeup routine. They DO make eyeshadows look more vibrant & are easy to use when you get the hang of them. I use Milk more often than Black Bean, but only because I usually only wear lighter colours to work.

These pencils are hard to find in retail stores in Australia (apparently they are around but I've never seen them for sale) however are easily obtained online. Depotting these pencils may be tricky. I watched a few videos showing how to do it in a microwave but I've been putting it off. I think it's inevitable though as I know they will last a lot longer this way. I will write another post when I eventually get around to it!

My rating: 7.5 out of 10

Summary:
Pros: Cheap, easy to use, easy to store.
Cons: Using too much can crease on eyelids, hard to find in stores in Australia (but easy to find online)