Decisive Lipstick

With the opening of Lush Oxford street, comes with it was the re-formulated lipsticks. From liquid to solid, these new tube formats will eventually home themselves into all stores.
Now, if you've read my Bamboozled lip stain review. You'll know of my lipstick virginity. But now being acquainted and quite familiar with the Oxford Street makeup, I've happily taken the lipsticks under my wing as a new addiction. Which isn't a cheap one with each small 2g tube costing £13.50.

Decisive is a gorgeous straight up, classic 40's red. You can apply this straight on the lips for boldness, with a brush, or dab with fingers for a more plump natural look. When applying straight on you'll notice it leaves a soft, consistent, matte layer that smooths out the lips while providing no feeling of it even being there. I actually find this shade to be similar to that of a Lip Stain. Once on, Decisive barely moved or dulled. Fighting against food and drinks. Even after removing with 9 to 5, it left my lips with a subtle red tint, not even leaving any uneven patches either. My lips held their moisture, kept within the perfect balance of matte without dryness.

The ingredients in this amazing tube are ones that keep the essence of Lush. With Kalahari Melon Oil which is commonly used in their body lotions to keep skin supple. Organic Jojoba Oil to hydrate, and Organic Castor Oil to keep lips healthy whilst being a natural anti-bacterial. Candelilla wax to bind the ingredients and create an absorbent texture. Sunflower, Orange Peel, and Rose wax to usually give texture and effect. These ingredients were carefully formulated to give Decisive a stubborn hold on the lips and a beautiful soft matte texture. Even though the list of ingredients give off a impression, there is no overpowering scent or taste. Other than a sweet waxy scent, it still smells similar to lipsticks of other brands.


The small size of the tube means it won't take up much space in a hand bag for application on the go. And I can even fit two tubes in the lipstick part of my makeup organiser. Overall, I can count on this lipstick lasting me a whole night out, whilst being the perfect shade to wear casually too. It's a sharp, bold colour that carries the message "Ready to Rock" and lives up to it. I'm not sure how long a tube can last me, being my first lipstick but since it only takes one swipe to create a bold colour, I doubt it will run out anytime soon. Especially since I prefer to create a natural look by applying True and blending a little of Decisive with my finger to add a bit of colour.

I look forward to the full range being out in stores, but until then I'll have to grab a tube each time I return home to Manchester where luckily, the Arndale Lush contains the whole Oxford Street makeup range.

Rating: 8/10 

Price: £13.50

True Lipstick

I chose True because of it's almond brown colour. As a believer that to get my makeup confidence up, I first need to keep everything natural and nude, then work my way up to bold and bright. So along with Decisive, I picked this up at the Lush Creative Showcase in London where they kindly brought along Oxford Street to us.

You can apply the lipsticks straight on for boldness, with a brush, or dab with fingers for a more plump natural look. With True being such a light brown shade, it doesn't suit all skin tones. However, it depends on which application you use. While dabbing provides a more subtle tone, because it blends into my natural light pink lips quite well and creates a natural look. Where if I wanted my lips to stand out I could easily increase the intensity with more application. 

I find that True is a complete different texture to Decisive. It's thinner and clings to the dry parts of my lips. It also doesn't last as long, with average wear being about 2 hours, but will disappear instantly if eating food. But then again, with it being such a light colour, it may be because it wasn't as noticeable to begin with. True still gives me a consistent colour and application so I don't have to worry about uneven patches. 

What also makes it different to it's sibling Decisive is that instead of Melon oil, it features Watermelon seed oil, whilst most of the ingredients list staying the same. Watermelon seed oil provides light moisture while apparently being anti-aging too. With the addition of Organic Jojoba Oil to hydrate, and Organic Castor Oil to keep lips healthy whilst being a natural anti-bacterial. Candelilla wax to bind the ingredients and create an absorbent texture. Sunflower, Orange Peel, and Rose wax to usually give texture and effect. With no overpowering aroma, I do find True to have a sweeter wax scent than Decisive, but with no taste it doesn't leave an impression on the senses. 

The small size of Lush Lipsticks mean that is won't take up much room for on the go application and I can even fit two tubes in my lipstick part of my makeup organiser. While I wouldn't wear this on a night out, this is a great everyday nude lipstick. Even though I do prefer the shade of Decisive, I will probably use this shade up faster as it's more of a daily colour to help me get used to the application of lipstick. But I still expect this to last me over a year since I don't use much each time. It blends really well with other lipsticks such as the lip blocks and Decisive. But priced at £13.50 I'm hoping in the future I won't need to buy another tube of this shade as I plan on warming up to the brighter bolder options that Lush has to offer. 

The message on this shade is "Genuine and most real".

Rating: 7/10 

Price: £13.50

Lush Creative Showcase London 2016

When Lush announced the Creative Showcase I have to admit that it sparked my curiosity but the idea of traveling to London (in which I've only been once before) lessened my excitement. However, after being kindly invited, whilst knowing I would be allowed a plus one, I couldn't let my anxiety win over. I was in the midst of the busiest season at work with this planned perfectly at the end of it. Providing the perfect therapy and reason to treat ourselves.

My haul. 

So what happens at a Showcase? I'm not sure if it's just my memory or not, but I don't recall this event happening last year but that may be because I was so focused on starting University that I didn't notice. Lush mentioned in their email, the Showcase will be releasing the 2016 Christmas and Halloween collection. As well as talks, workshops, and masterclasses. Carefully not revealing there would be also Kitchen items, Oxford Street Exclusives, and a few new reveals (not for purchase).

'Nebula bath bomb £12' (aka giant Intergalactic)

As the date got nearer it was revealed there would be Kitchen items to buy but with complete surprise being items of Twilight, Honey I washed the kids, Tramp, Rose Jam, and The Comforter Shower Jellies that were newly released in the previous kitchen week. Along with classics and popular Shower Gels of Grass, Yummy Yummy Yummy, Avoshower, and Sonic Death Monkey (I apologise if I miss anything out). They also had various Swag such as T-shirts, Totes, Aprons, and Patches.

When we arrived at nearly 2, an hour and a half after opening it was already overwhelming. I didn't know what to expect, how Lush would plan everything, or more importantly, how many people were attending. With Twilight shower jellies already snatched up (luckily we found a few misplaced around the shop), ques lining up outside, and a wave of 30 degree heat, I wondered what I stepped in to. There were also other shops, with a hair lab, makeup, a giant Christmas room that even Santa would approve of, another room for the solid Mouthwash tabs, and even one for books. Again, I feel like I've missed one.

 Whilst I love that Lush gave me the chance to get so many items I've never tried before, I do think they went over the top. To even navigate and see everything was a challenge. And sadly the items took all my attention. With atleast 2-3 hours spent in various ques, then time for eating, sitting down and cooling off (I've never sweat so much in my life). I managed to run out of time and miss all the talks, workshops, and everything else. Although I don't think I've ever been so social in my life too. Running into staff from my usual (Leicester and Manchester), and talking about the Oxford street makeup with a few others, and the greatest moment of that day is hearing a familiar voice... ERICA VEGA. The Lush USA Queen of Quick Tips on Youtube or AKA the love of my life and getting to smell her fingers. (New scented nail polish)

The Tobacco Dock was the perfect venue for Lush's shenanigans. Even though I don't think anyone anticipated it would be so hot that the bath melts would literally melt. Staff were calm and collected, with some handing out bottles of water and fanning everyone in ques. Toner water was spritzed around and it gave us a great excuse to test out the new itchy scalp hair toner (Dr Itch) with stimulating peppermint to keep our heads cool.

GIANT TWILIGHT JELLY

They also provided free food with an abundance of vegan and vegetarian selection. Whilst I'm most definitely not one of those (sorry), it was amazing to try something new that I would happily eat again.

Overall, I did love every minute of it. However, for next year I hope Lush works on solving the long que problem whilst I understand there were limited tills. There was no line in the Mouthwash area because their till wouldn't accept any other items which if did, would have balanced it all out. I didn't get to attend any of the other events but I've now been given the chance to test out and review new items. And it makes me look forward to next year, in which they have to do it again.

A very big thank you to Lush for inviting me, it definitely made my summer and I can't wait for all the items to be out in stores soon.

(All photos were took by Liliya, Follow her instagram (lill_sophia) for more gorgeous pictures!)

P.S. New items = Scented Nail Polish, Perfume, Bath Bombs, Shampoo (Ditch the itch) and hair toner (Dr Itch), more shades of the makeup supplement and powders.

Bottom floor in the Tobacco Dock, featuring the new perfumes...