A Lushious Treat!

Last week I was delighted to attend my first ever bloggers event courtesy of Lush in Southampton.  Now, rather like Marmite, people always have an opinion on Lush.  They either adore the smell that envelops you as you wander down the high street or they would rather cross the road finding the Lush-ious smells too heady and over powering.

I adore Lush, in fact I could spend the whole day just meditating in those gorgeous smells which remind me of my favourite incenses.  I sadly rarely get to indulge myself in a quiet 30 minute amble around the store getting my fix since adopting the children.  Katie would love the shop but would spend the entire time either harassing me to buy her lots of bath-bombs or would shove things under my nose to smell and Pip would either just scream to get out of his buggy or quite simply take great delight in rearranging the carefully stacked piles of goodies.  The experience with both children would rather negate the relaxation impact that the shop has on me.  Needless to say I was excited to be invited to attend this event and meet other local bloggers and to also be going solo....sans enfants! It's been an incredibly difficult holiday period which I will write about separately.  I will just say that a treat was very much anticipated and appreciated by me.

Upon arrival were greeted warmly by the staff running the event and offered a choice sparkly wine or a selection of sparkly fruit juices.  There was also an array of fruit and delicious cupcakes....I was in Seventh Heaven to see that there were gluten-free carrot cupcakes for me.  Glass of fizzy in hand I had some time to wander around the store, greeting some of the other guests who were mostly beauty and lifestyle bloggers and just taking in the ambiance of the event and wondering what we were going to be doing.

I chatted with Christine, one of the members of staff, and learned a lot about the ethics of Lush and the fact that their products are mostly all vegan.  I also learned about the Lush factory/kitchen based down in Poole and the interesting fact that there is a spa linked to it.  As you can imagine my mind is busy plotting how I can get me to that spa post haste!  I discovered that the team members in charge of concocting the amazing products which include skincare and makeup actually have to take exams.  Once they have passed those exams they can have their sticker on the products that they have been overseeing the production of. 

First off we all did an ice-breaker which involved us pairing up with another blogger and giving each other an arm massage with one of the solid massage bars.  I paired up with the lovely Catherine over at Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder who is a massive Lush fan and who confidently chose the gorgeous smelling Each Peach (and Two's a Pear) massage bar for us to share.  She chose well and we bonded easily sharing our massages and information to nervously feed back to the group afterwards.

Next up we were put into groups to learn all about the Emotional Intelligence make-up range and also how to make face-masks.

The Emotional Intelligence experience is really good fun and based on colour therapy which is a subject very close to my Healer heart.  Colour therapy is based on the concept that colours have a big impact on how you feel and you can also enable and uplift your emotions by the colours you choose to wear.  Lush have created a range of make up colours that link with this concept using makeup.  Sitting comfortably on a chair next to the wheel, dry ice is poured onto the wheel to create a mystical ambiance.  Closing your eyes as the wheel is spun you take several deep breaths and relax.  Once the wheel stops you open your eyes and choose the first three colours that stand out the most to you.  The colours you choose highlight how you are feeling also also colours that would enhance your emotional well being.  I selected Feeling Secure; Strong; and Believe.  Interestingly, very interestingly considering everything that is going on at home at the moment, they all words that I deeply resonated with so there is definitely something in this.  At that moment in time I felt very strong and confident and I believe very much in myself and the journey that I am on.  I rather liked the lip colour that I chose for "Believe" and will be popping back to Lush soon to check that and the gorgeous eye liners out. What is really interesting about the products in this range is that you can wear them as eye or lip liners, the only difference is the brush used in the packaging.

After we had finished our Emotional Intelligence session we excitedly gathered around these inticing ingredients.....

We were going to learn how to make two Lush face-masks:

Catastrophe Cosmetic 

  and Cupcake

It was fascinating and I was riveted.  We sniffed, well we inhaled, and poked at every ingredient as it went into the bowl and discovered that the Cocoa Butter used in Cupcake comes from a peace community in Columbia whose residents choose not to be involved in the conflict and, as a result, are targeted by rebels.  Lush protect the residents and in return they are able to produce this lovely cocoa butter.  Where possible though Lush use local products and environmentally friendly packaging.  Catastrophe Cosmetic contains fresh blueberries as an antioxidant and rose for it's anti-inflammatory properties.  The result is, quite simply, cosmetic alchemy at it's finest.  Heaven Scent you might say!

For me, the event provided some much needed respite and I left with a spring in my step, carrying a bag full of gorgeous goodies including the two face masks we made and a Bubblegum lip scrub that Katie and I are fighting over, feeling the love of the local blogging community, many of whom I will be meeting up with in October.  Before we left though we had a group photograph outside which I share courtesy of Jessica over at Chique Unique Critique (that's me in the back row on the far right).

If you're not already following me on Facebook I have a lovely giveaway courtesy of Lush to give away to one lucky reader.  All you have to do is follow Life with Katie on Facebook and like and share this post.  I'll randomly draw one name out of a hat on 1st September at 5pm.

All that remains is for me to say a big THANK YOU to Lush in Southampton and to Rosie and all the staff for taking such lovely care of us all.  I had a Lushious Time!