LUSH Gossip: The 'Coming Soon' Glitch

On Saturday afternoon, my favourite LUSH Facebook group (Make LUSH, Not War) went wild. An image was posted, showing the product results when you search 'coming soon' on the LUSH website, and it was absolutely incredible.

2 LUSH Products I Actually Returned

Who knew it was possible for me to dislike not just one, but two LUSH products so much that I actually returned them. I didn't know I had it in me! The title is a tad bit misleading as I haven't actually returned one of the products yet (I lost my receipt) but I have every intention of getting rid of it.

If you've read more than two posts on this blog, you'll know that I'm a pretty big LUSH fan. Borderline obsessive to tell the truth, and so it's incredibly rare that a product ever gets a bad review from me. So where did these two go so horribly wrong?

Happy Happy Joy Joy Conditioning 'Hair Perfume'

Contrary to public belief, this product did not make me happy happy, nor did it fill me with joy joy, especially when I realised how much I'd spent on a conditioner that just did not work for me at all. I know LUSH products aren't cheap, but £19.95 for a small bottle of conditioner is daylight robbery and I can't believe I even bought it.

Price aside, there was two problems with this 'hair perfume' that led to me returning it. The first was the smell - OMG, it's vile. I expected something floral from the orange and rose notes in the description, but all it smelled of to me was parsley?! Which is super weird as I don't think HHJJ even contains any herb ingredients. It reminded me of the smell of fish in parsley sauce that my mum used to do me for tea when I was younger. Definitely not my favourite LUSH scent ever.

The second problem was how greasy this conditioner made my hair, which really surprised me. When applying it in the shower it felt incredibly light, like it wasn't conditioning my hair at all, but after only a day my hair felt lank and ready for another wash. Considering my hair only normally needs washing once every four days (and I hadn't changed my shampoo) I was pretty put-out about it. I returned the conditioner in store the next weekend, and I don't regret it one bit.

Cynthia Sylvia Stout Beer Shampoo

This is the product I am still yet to return or sell, so I may give it one last chance before it goes in the bin. I bought Cynthia Sylvia Stout at the Oxford Street store during my trip there, and prior to buying it I hadn't read any reviews or even really heard of it before. It was 100% an impulse buy that I 99.9% regret.

The first time I used this shampoo, my hair felt super sleek and looked really shiny and healthy, so I thought I was onto a definite winner. The smell of the shampoo itself wasn't too bad either as it reminded me more of Pint Pots gummy sweets from when I worked in a sweet shop than of actual beer. The problems started after my hair was dry, when the scent of vinegar in the shampoo came out a lot stronger than it does in the bottle and gave me a headache every time I caught a whiff of it.

Like HHJJ, this shampoo also seemed to make my hair really greasy only the next day due to the amount of oil it contains. My hair looking shiny was one thing, but feeling greasy definitely wasn't right. As previously mentioned, I will be giving this shampoo one last chance to step it's game up, then it's bye bye.

Have you ever returned a product that didn't work for you?

LUSH Gossip: Three New Perfume Exclusives

After asking my Twitter followers if they would be interested in a LUSH gossip column here on my blog, the answer was a resounding hell yes, so I decided to kick it off with some new products the LUSH Kitchen Instagram account has been teasing us with - three new perfumes that will be available in the 'exclusives' section of the UK website.

Review: The Body Shop Himalayan Charcoal Purifying Glow Mask

Phew, what a mouthful of a title! This is a long-overdue review of a product I have been loving for a few months now - the Himalayan Charcoal Purifying Glow Mask* from The Body Shop's bestselling range of exfoliators and face masks.

My Magical LUSH Oxford Street Experience

A couple of weeks ago I had the most amazing experience in my whole time as a LUSH fanatic - I visited the LUSH Oxford Street store properly for the first time and had an incredible two hour guided tour. I had such an amazing time that I can barely put into words just how much I enjoyed myself, so this post is going to struggle to get across all the magic of the Oxford Street store.

So, What Happened To The LUSH Kitchen?

Bye bye Miss American Pie - Who's knows when you'll be returning now the Kitchen has closed?

When it comes to Kitchen products, I tend to suffer from a serious case of FOMO if I don't get my hands on the most hyped exclusive that week. Why? Because something comes over me when I see the words 'limited edition' - I must have it all. So imagine my absolute horror when I heard the news that the LUSH Kitchen is closing it's doors as we know it. How will I manage to try everything on my forgotten products wishlist without The Kitchen?!

Guest Post: A Spooktacular LUSH Halloween Haul

For those who know me, they know that I have a major LUSH obsession… perhaps not as much as Alice… but still pretty high up there. I decided that I would do a Halloween LUSH haul and share with you the amazing products and what I thought about them.  My haul included both Halloween and ordinary products, I’ve reviewed the ordinary products on my blog and also given both the Halloween and ordinary products a rating out of 5 stars on that post, which can be found here.

A First Look At The 2017 LUSH Christmas Collection

With only nine weeks left to go, Christmas products are appearing in LUSH stores and online by the dozen. Overall there is an astounding sixty four products in the Christmas collection, a mix of both brand-new goodies and returning favourites including bath bombs, shower gels, body conditioners and soap. I couldn't resist picking up a handful of Christmas treats the last time I was in store, so here's a little look at and my first impressions of products from the LUSH Christmas release!

Review: LUSH Buck's Fizz Body Conditioner

This time of year, nobody looks forward to standing in a freezing bathroom after a shower for any longer than absolutely necessary. It's one of life's cruellest choices - either risk frostbite from trying to apply body lotion as fast as possible, or skip the entire ordeal and end up with dry, chapped skin as a result of the cold weather anyway. I'd always scorned LUSH's body conditioners until faced with this very dilemma, which is when I realised how absolutely genius they really are.

3 LUSH Products For Bleach-Damaged Blonde Hair

Despite being more-or-less a natural blonde, I still choose to bleach my hair to an almost white shade every couple of months. As I do it myself with box dyes, my hair can become very dry and brittle due to the bleach, although it hasn't actually snapped off just yet (fingers crossed.) I believe this is due to me taking good hair of my locks with various lotions and potions, and my absolute favourite brand for blonde hair care just has to be LUSH.

My LUSH 20th Birthday Mini-Haul

Last Saturday was my 20th birthday, so naturally I received some gorgeous LUSH goodies from my parents. I have never been more excited to rip open a LUSH delivery box and reveal the contents within, especially as I had already forgotten which products I'd chosen! I was really lucky with the timing of my birthday and the Halloween and Christmas goodies had just been released, so I had plenty of new products to pick from.

Review: LUSH Marilyn Hot Oil Hair Treatment

LUSH hair treatments are a range of products that I keep being constantly recommended. Whether it's Damaged for dry hair, New to stimulate growth or Yuge for volume, there seems to be treatment for everyone. I picked up Marilyn hot oil treatment for myself after noticing how brassy and yellow my blonde locks had become, and my lovely friend Becca chose Jasmine & Henna Fluff-Ease to try out on her dry, colour-damaged hair.

My LUSH Evening Skincare Routine

One of my favourite things about LUSH is that their skincare range is so versatile, it's really easy to build yourself a routine that works perfectly. I always try my hardest to properly remove my makeup and look after my skin in the evenings, so through a little trial-and-error of different products I came up with a routine that both suits my skin type and isn't a massive hassle to stick to.

Review: LUSH Celestial Facial Moisturiser

My skin is combination-oily, yet really dries out in Winter due to a mixture of the cold weather and the air conditioning at work. This time of year I need to start looking for a really creamy, rich moisturiser to repair my skin overnight, so I decided on a whim to pick up a pot of Celestial during my last visit to LUSH.

5 LUSH Products I Will Forever Repurchase

I love trying different LUSH products and discovering new ranges, but we all have those fail-safe products that we end up going back to time and time again. These are the products that I know work my for me, my skin and my hair, and I will always go running to in the event of an emergency. It's good to try new things, but when it comes to my favourite LUSH products it's forever a case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Review: LUSH Sleepy Body Lotion

We're all used to reading the "omg it works sooo well" reviews when it comes to beauty and skincare products, but very rarely are we presented with HARD FACTS by beauty bloggers. When I first saw the hype surrounding the magical powers of LUSH's Sleepy body lotion, I knew I needed to properly test it to see if it really was a 'miracle cure' for insomnia. In this instance, slathering it on my skin and commenting on the scent just wouldn't be enough, so I instead pulled out my old GCSE textbooks and Bunsen burner (er, not really) to go about it in a much more scientific way.

Introducing #LUSHTOBER

As if I forgot that September has only 30 days. I thought I had a whole day to write the introduction to the most important series on my blog ever, but instead I'm typing this as fast as possible, whilst necking as much gin as I can physically get into my system (at least I'm keeping it classy.)

3 Beauty Products For When Sleep Doesn't Come Naturally

I hate Sundays. I find myself wasting the day by not getting dressed until dinner time and watching countless episodes of Shameless instead of writing blog posts. After having such a lazy day combined with the sheer dread of going back to work the next morning, I find myself not being able to get to sleep most Sunday nights.

Review: LUSH H'Suan Wen Hua Hair Treatment

I’ve been bleaching my own hair with box dyes for the past 8 years, and so the health of my hair has always been something that I have a serious love/hate relationship with. It’ll finally get to the point where it’s almost healthy, then I’ll bleach the life out of it once again. It’s a constant vicious cycle that I just can’t seem to break, hence my fixation with hair treatments, conditioners and shampoos.

6 Lazy Beauty Tips To Feel Gorgeous Every Day

In my opinion, Fridays suck. It's almost the weekend, but still not quite there yet. You have to somehow struggle through the whole day when all you want to do is skip to the good bit. On a Friday I can barely be bothered to brush my hair, and often sit at my desk looking bedraggled as I devour my 'Fat Friday' pizza, wishing that 5pm would come ASAP. On days like this, these lazy beauty tips are my absolute saviours.

Staying Organised With Ban.do And Rooi

I am quite possibly the most unorganised blogger ever, which reflected on me badly the other night when I lost all my photos for the upcoming month due to my memory card corrupting. Luckily my dad managed to recover the images for me, but it would never have happened if I had been less lazy and saved my photos properly. Therefore, I am vowing to become more organised, and the lovely lot over at Rooi sent me loads of fabulous Ban.do goodies to help me do just that.

Review: Primark Unicorn Bae Adhesive Nails

I'm quickly turning into one of those girls who always has to have her nails done. My acrylics had barely been popped off five days before I spotted this gorgeous set of adhesives in Primark. As soon as I laid eyes on the tiny, holographic unicorn I knew they were going straight in my basket. 

A Love Letter To The Comforter

I've had love affairs with LUSH soaps, jellies, gels and scrubs, but none have been as passionate or tragically short-lived as my romance with The Comforter. Upon hearing of it's discontinuation, I decided to pick up my first-ever bottle last week. In the most twisted turn of events, The Comforter has turned out to be my mysterious Mr. Right I have been waiting my whole life to meet... and I'll never be able to own a bottle of it again. It's now out of stock everywhere, forever, never to be seen again.

Alone again... Naturally.

The Ultimate Guide To Beautiful Blog Photography

Crafting gorgeous photos is my absolute favourite thing about being a blogger. I recently stumbled across some photos from 2015 when I first started blogging, and was so shocked at how awful they were that I made a twitter thread showcasing the difference two years had made. From that thread, I received loads of requests to share my 'secrets' and how I had improved my photos to the quality that they are now, so I decided to put together this ultimate guide to beautiful blog photography.

Review: LUSH Bunny Moon Jelly Face Mask

If you were one of the people mouthing "what the fu..." under your breath when you saw LUSH had released jelly (???) face masks, then this review is for you. I for one was pretty excited when I saw the selection of jelly products pop up on the LUSH website as my face masks usually go out of date before I've used them all up, so to have something a little different and longer-lasting intrigued me.

Review: LUSH Honey Gift Box

Living by the "treat yo'self" mentality, I always make sure to order myself lots of goodies each time payday comes around. This month's spoils were in the form of a lovely LUSH haul, which included the newly-released Honey gift box.

Strangely enough, I actually hate honey. I can vaguely remember my grandpa giving me a spoonful of honey when I was younger to cure a cold, and immediately being sick. I haven't had it since, but after playing with the Scrubee body butter at the Mother's Day launch event and adoring the sweet scent of it, I added the Honey gift box to my basket when I spotted it online this payday.

What's In My Holiday Beauty Bag?

I'm writing this snuggled up in bed very excited, as in less than seven hours time we are setting off for holiday! This year we are headed to Tintagel in Cornwall, and my boyfriend is joining us halfway through the week. I have been looking forward to this holiday for months, as after recently changing job roles I have really needed a decent break away from work! This year I have upgraded to a larger toiletry bag and just couldn't resist this adorable Rugrats one from Primark. It's super cute, so let's take a look inside...

Why I Will No Longer Buy From Too Faced

Isn't it awful when your go-to beauty brand lets you down, to the point where you no longer want to buy from them? I recently had an experience with Too Faced which has left me reeling and questioning where I spend my hard-earned cash. Before you all die of shock, don't panic. I'm not boycotting Too Faced, I'm just no longer buying directly from their website. Here's why...

200k Beauty Giveaway!

I can hardly express how truly proud I am that Dainty Alice has hit 200,000 all-time page views! It's barely been nine months since I celebrated 100,000 with a Too Faced palette giveaway, so I could hardly resist hosting another one to mark the occasion. This time it's bigger and better as a way of giving back to all my lovely followers and readers, and saying 'thank you' for the constant support and love my blog has been given over the past year and a half.

Making Time For Blogging

For a lucky few, blogging is more than just a hobby. Some of the top influencers manage to make a living out of their blog quite nicely, however for the majority of us blogging is a side hustle. So how do we manage to make time for blogging alongside full-time jobs, college, parenting and more? I asked a few blogging babes who work full-time to share their secrets in this post today.

6 Beauty Bloggers You Should Be Following

Image source: A Girl, Obsessed / Mandy Ferrugia

With what appears to be hundreds of fresh-faced new beauty bloggers joining the blogosphere every day, it seems to be getting harder to keep up with the ones to watch. I went scrolling down my social media feeds to pick out my favourite beauty bloggers who don't (yet) have Zoella levels of fame, but are my absolute go-to girls when it comes to all things beauty.

Why I'm Selling My Urban Decay Naked Heat Palette

That's right girls, I got my hands on the currently most-hyped palette in the beauty world - the Urban Decay Naked Heat palette. When it was pre-released in limited quantities a few weeks ago, the beauty blogging world was frantic. You either managed to order the palette, or you didn't. It was mega-stressful, but I was so proud when I managed to get it. So... Why in the hell am I selling it?

How To Create A Routine To Grow Your Social Media

Like many bloggers, social media is the main source of traffic for my blog, so it's important that I focus on continually growing a decent following across all of my platforms. As I work full time and enjoy having lazy weekends, I created a simple routine which makes my social media management a lot easier, without needing to be online 24/7 to see results.

Too Faced Peaches & Cream Collection Sneak Peek

If you saw my excited tweets earlier, you'll know how absolutely buzzing I am for the release of Too Faced's new Peaches & Cream makeup collection. The "comfortably matte" collection itself has been teased on Jerrod Blandino's Instagram since March, however the full details and prices of all the products has only been announced this past week, so I couldn't resist jumping on the hype train to write about them myself.

That New Boyfriend Smell

There is something incredibly exciting about getting into a new relationship, and I like to call it the "new boyfriend smell," similar to the smell of a new car, or a designer handbag. Everything is fun and fresh whilst you are getting to know each other, then after a while that new boyfriend smell starts to fade into something more comfortable, like morning coffee and warm woollen jumpers.

DIY American Cream Pink Conditioner

If you're brave enough to follow me on Twitter, you'll know that this past weekend I dyed all of my hair candyfloss pink, something I've wanted to do since my 2012 'Scene' days. I've had bits of pink in my hair before, but it's always rinsed out after one wash, so this time I'm taking extra measures to keep the pretty pink as long as possible, starting with my own DIY pink conditioner.

Review: Dirty Peach Kylie Lip Kit

In my last post about Kylie Cosmetics, I mentioned how I was desperate to order both Dirty Peach and Lovebite, so imagine my excitement last month when I saw on Twitter that she had a 2-for-1 sale going on. Unfortunately, when then arrived I found that Lovebite did not suit me at all, so instead of a double review, this post will focus solely on the Dirty Peach lip kit.

My LUSH Hair Product Collection

In my eyes, LUSH can do no wrong. Whatever beauty product they turn their hand to, whether it be body lotions, bath bombs or shaving cream, the result is always something spectacular. I do however hold a special place in my heart for LUSH hair products and have built up a decent stash of goodies that due to their extended shelf life, I can alternate depending on what my hair needs that day, leaving me with a LUSH solution for every hair-care problem!

My Interview At Benefit Cosmetics

Last week I was lucky enough to score an interview at beauty super-brand Benefit Cosmetics. As one of my favourite makeup brands ever, I was incredibly excited at the chance to prove myself and score my 'dream career'. A little spoiler alert - I'm pretty certain I didn't get the job for reasons I will expand on later, but I did end up learning a lot about both myself and Benefit as a company throughout the whole process.

Why I'm Happy To Be An Introvert

Picture the scene; It's 7pm on a Friday night and I'm snuggled down in bed with my boyfriend. We're on our eighth episode of Scrubs and I'm scheduling tweets whilst Adrian asks if I'd prefer Chinese or pizza for tea. It's a little different to the Friday night antics that Katy Perry sang about, but to me, it's perfect.

Confessions Of An Instagram 'Cheat'

Instagram bots, playing 'follow for follow' and false accusations - There's a lot kicking off in the blogging world right now regarding Instagram. It seems that alorgrithm changes and shadow bans were just the beginning of all the drama surrounding the app, as now bloggers and brands are being called out for using 'bots' to inorganically grow their following and buy likes. It's a shocking revelation that has thrown the blogosphere into chaos, but how would you react if you found out that your blogging bestie had been faking the likes on her #OOTD pics?

Review: Charlotte Tilbury 'Scent Of A Dream' Perfume

From the moment I first stepped into the Charlotte Tilbury boutique in Covent Garden, I knew I needed Scent Of A Dream. The whole shop smelled so enticing, but as much as I lusted after it I just couldn't justify the high-end price tag at the time. Fast forward a month and I finally have the glamorous bottle in my hands after a spontaneous trip to Meadowhall. It's already my favourite perfume, so what drew me to this vintage-inspired "fluerotic" scent?

Review: LUSH Don't Look At Me Fresh Face Mask

Just look at that dreamy blue! LUSH fresh face masks are something I've always been interested in trying, but have never actually done so until I had a trial of Don't Look At Me in the Lincoln store. The little pamper session left me desperate to try Don't Look At Me properly, so I picked up a £7.25 tub for myself the same day.

Trialling Four High-End Foundations

I've been wearing foundation daily since I was thirteen, yet have never felt like I've truly found 'the one.' I have chopped and changed between different drugstore foundations, however they have never given me exactly the finish I've been looking for. Over the last month, I have been trialling different high-end foundations kindly sent by Fragrance Direct in order to rate how they compare against each other and whether they're really worth shelling out on.

Blogging Expectations VS Reality

When we all first started out fresh-faced blogging newbies, we had big, shiny ideas of what to expect from blogging. Would we become famous overnight and be hailed as the next Zoella? Would brands be clambering at our feet to send us buckets of samples? As lovely as it would be, we quickly found out that this isn’t the case. Here's four classic blogging expectations vs the reality.

If Looks Could KILL: The Dangers Of Fake Makeup

One of these lipsticks is a shady fake bitch. Can you tell which one?

If you saw my Twitter thread on Sunday morning, you'll know that exposing fake makeup is something that I am incredibly passionate and vocal about. Being a beauty blogger, I for one know how difficult it is being constantly bombarded with adverts for new high-end products that I can't afford, and how tempting it must be when you spot the exact same product on eBay for only a third of the price.

Review: MOA Aphrodite Facial Oil

Magic Organic Apothecary (MOA) is a herbal skincare brand which I had been dying to try since I first spotted the Aphrodite facial oil in reviews of the March Blogger Beauty Box last year. I was instantly drawn to the beautiful packaging and the delicate product names, so I was absolutely thrilled when MOA sent me a box full of goodies to try for myself last month.

A Whole New Look (For Myself & My Blog)

When things are the same for too long, I get restless and feel like doing something crazy. I'll get a new piercing, cut my hair or totally change up my style. The same goes for my blog. If I feel like Dainty Alice isn't progressing or improving as I think it should, I'll turn things around and head in a totally different direction with it.

Review: L’Oreal Miss Baby Roll Mascara

I've said it a hundred times and I will say it again - I am a makeup snob. If it's not high-end, I'm not interested. I also never buy anything that I haven't thoroughly researched reviews of first. So what was different about this Miss Baby Roll mascara that made me change my mind and buy it on impulse?

50 Photo Prop Ideas For Beauty & Lifestyle Bloggers

I absolutely adore Instagram and would consider it my favourite form of social media, even more than Twitter. I get a lot of compliments from fellow bloggers on my photography and my use of props, so I thought I'd put together this post on 100 photo prop ideas to suit any beauty/lifestyle blog or Instagram feed.