Elemis Tri-Enzyme Resurfacing Gel Mask

After me sending them an email Elemis sent me some sample sachets through the post, including two sachets of their Tri-Enzyme Resurfacing Gel Mask. I tried it and absolutely loved it and was devastated when I used both sachets up. I always meant to get a bottle and completely forgot, but then in an odd turn of events when I was cleaning my wardrobe out this weekend I found a tube in the bottom I'd obviously acquired somewhere along the way and thrown at the bottom of a pile without trying. Yay for unexpected surprises!

Finding this has had me falling in love with it all over again. It comes out as a clear gel that smells sweet and almost citrus-ey. You need very little to cover your entire face (excluding mouth and eyes) then you leave it on for ten to fifteen minutes (consider this time an excuse to lie back in the bath and flick through our blog...). When on the skin this has a really weird feeling, it tingles as it dries and it feels for all the world like when you breathe in cold air after eating a mint, which isn't a bad thing given that it really reassure me that it's working. After this simply wash off (use a flannel, if you use your hands it seems to just re-moisten the mask), then do whatever you normally would do.

I'm usually pretty dubious about face masks, I've had ones that make me break out, ones that smell horrible and ones that literally just don't work, but this smells lovely and seems to leave me with clean, shiny, fresh skin. At £48 this isn't a cheap product, but given that it's a once a week ritual I'd say it's definitely worth the money, I'll be repurchasing when I've used up all the samples I can get my hands on!

Sammy xo

Lush Volcano Foot Mask

Lush is one of those shops I seem to go in not looking for anything in particular and yet I still come out with at least £10's worth of products the staff convinced me that I couldn't live without. To clarify, their Volcano Foot Mask was one of these products. I love face masks, and so the idea of a foot mask intrigued me and the staff member helping me pick which foot product was best for me couldn't give it high enough praise (really, it was like she was being paid for it or something...). In the end, my curiosity won out and I ended up walking out of the shop with a pot that I had convinced myself that I simply needed in my life. In my defence it was only £5.75 (for 125ml) and I have paid more for worse products in lush in the past.

 

Amongst an array of natural ingredients the foot mask boasts pumice, papaya, china clay, tomatoes and potatoes. It's gritty to the touch (presumably the pumice) and when applying I found there to be tiny pieces of red peel (presumably the tomato). It's quite thick in texture, easily thick enough to cover the tattoo on my foot to the point that you can't see it with just one layer. The packaging says to cover your entire foot and then wrap it in plastic, the girl in the shop told me sandwich bags are enough to keep it from drying out so that's what I used. Granted, I looked stupid for the ten minutes I left it on, but it gave me a hell of a lot of amusing snapchats to send to people.

The sensation of the foot mask is something I can only compare to eating a mint and then breathing in winter air, that tingly, cold type of feeling. I used a pumice stone on my feet first and the gritty texture of the mask really got rid of all of the dead skin, so when I washed it off my feet were smooth, and stayed tingly for a good half hour afterwards.

Overall, this probably is something I could have lived without, but it's really nice to use and I love the feeling of it, both during and after use. It's a nice luxury to have there after a hard day at work, especially if (like mine) your work involves you being on your feet and running up and down stairs all day, and knowing all Lush products are animal testing free is nice for your conscience. I'd definitely say buy this, even if it's just to amuse your friends with photos of you with grey feet tucked neatly into sandwich bags. 

Sammy xo.