LUSH... not worth the hype.

I think I had some sort of epiphany last night...

LUSH sucks.

There, I said it.

I was getting ready to take a bath, and I really didn't feel like having to dig out a bubble bar, break part off and crumble it. I wanted bubbles, but LUSH is too much work and I was tired.

I looked around, and on the ledge of my tub were a couple unused bottles of Bath and Body Works bubble bath that I'd gotten in gift sets. Sensual Amber was the prettiest looking one, so I thought, sure, why not.

This is when my eyes were opened and I came to the realization that I had been living a lie.

All this time I thought that LUSH had the best bath products. I was very wrong.

I have a huge bathtub, the jacuzzi kind, and when I use LUSH (bubble bar, bath bomb, bath melt, whatever) you can't smell the scent of the product you use after you put it in the water. In fact, you can't even smell it in the small bathtub either.

But, with this magical Bath and Body Works bubble bath, all it took was one little squirt from a convenient bottle (no crumbling!) and my entire bathroom, no- top floor of my house! - was filled with scent, and I had big, white, fluffy bubbles that didn't leave a gross ring on my bathtub.

As you probably know by now, I have a love/hate relationship with LUSH. Right now it's mostly hate. I hate how overpriced their products are, I hate that they have no packaging, I hate how there is no variety, I hate how you can't layer scents, I hate how much work is involved in using them, I hate their nasty skincare, I hate their advertising and their ego, I hate how drying their products are, I hate that there is no lotion, I hate that they discontinue everything I liked, I hate their crappy customer service and I hate getting broken products in the mail. Oh, I could go on.

It makes me wonder what inspired me to buy so much of this crap. Sure, I love the scent of Jungle, but I never use it. I love the scent of Christmas Kisses bubble bar, but it's too much work with the crumbling and the cleanup afterwards. I loved the scent of Sugar Rush and Ne Worry Pas, but, of course, they are discontinued.

I think I'll be using the more economical, better-looking, better-smelling, more effective, layerable, less-work Bath and Body Works bubble bath from now on.

Sensual Amber, mmm. I've never smelled it before but now I love it.

Also, a sidenote, I should have my OPI Retro Fun in the Sun collection polishes later on today, so if the sun decides to come out for a few minutes, I'll snap some quick pictures.

I really prefer the cloudy, rainy, beautiful day we're having, but it's balls for taking pictures.

OPI Summer Splash, Surf Party, Beach Party and Nocti NanoBrites

In honor of the approaching Summer and related OPI summer collections and my disdain for 3-free polishes, I bring you....

A few wonderful chemical-filled OPI summer collections from the past:

Summer Splash

Amazing Lazing Lilac, Tangerini Bikini, Cabana Banana, Pooltime Lime, Cool in the Pool, bottle is To Dive For Pink.

Surf Party:


Sun Streaked, Beachen Peachen, Ocean love Potion, Berry Tubular, Vio-Let's Surf, bottle is My Fave Wave.

Beach Party:


Strawberried in the Sand, Maliblue, Bikini Envy, Abalone Shell, Seagullible, bottle is Just Beachy.

And, to contrast, some polish that is 3-free but is pretty much hell in a bottle, I'll explain why after the pic.

Nocti NanoBrites. Kiss and Tell, Bikini, Swag, Nip Tuck, Flying Naked, bottle is TMI.

Despite the great colors, these are honestly the worst nail polish I've ever used. Even though they are brand new, they are thick, goopy, stringy and impossible to apply. They bubble wildly even if you haven't shaken them. The picture was taken about a minute after application. A few minutes after that they bubbled so much that they were completely unwearable.

Not only that, but they take ages to dry. Seche Vite caused a weird cloud to form when I used it on top of these. I used half a bottle of Flying Naked one day just trying to get it to look good. Between the bubbling, bad texture and weird Seche cloud, I gave up.

So, sadly, I can't recommend these. I'm not saying I'd never wear them again- I'm just saying I have to be in a particularly brave mood.

One last picture:
Some of my China Glaze collection. I could probably name the colors, but I am far, far too lazy for that.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm in the middle of trying to build Aerith a better flower wagon.

The color of money.

Wow, I apologize for the lack of interesting posts. To be completely honest, I've been busy playing FFVII: Crisis Core. And, after this post, I intend to play it some more. But don't worry, I'll return to blog again! (Not that anyone was worried. )

I'm getting ready to do a massive amount of pictures (any requests?), but in the meantime, I thought I'd give my opinion.

Personally, I am not jumping on the "Green" wagon. I'm not "going green" with my beauty products, nail polish especially.

I mean, sometimes (most of the time) it seems like one big scare tactic or advertisement- Buy THIS nail polish or you'll get CANCER!!! Your other nail polish is TOXIC and you'll DIE and the earth will IMPLODE and millions of people will DIE!!!! Our nail polish will keep you from dying and save the universe (see the green font and the bunny picture? We mean business!)

I really miss my nail polish with "deadly toxic chemicals." It was so much better with them - smoother, thinner, easier to apply, lasted longer, dried faster, et cetera. I hoard my old OPI polishes and I'm always looking for more.

Sure, I'll still use the new "big 3 free" polishes, but that doesn't mean I'm happy about it- it means I don't have a choice! You may even catch me adding toulene-rich thinner to them. But, big 3 or not, I'll always love nail polish. I just hope this whole guilt-trip/scare-tactic advertising trend dies down.

If you need me, I'll be cutting down trees and burning a pile of tires in my backyard while applying aerosol hairspray and breathing deadly, earth-destroying carbon dioxide fumes into the ozone.


Just kidding - except the carbon dioxide part. A girl's gotta breathe. :)

(I'll really be playing FFVII Crisis Core.)

I feel better

Today I feel much better than yesterday. I hope this feelings stays until next week. It's like summer here, I need to get that summer feeling and relax. Yay!

I promise not to awaken Mustakrakish.

Welcome, Finnish friends! You have the best metal, and also The Dudesons!

Love,

Scrangie

Naughty Nauticals!

My MAC Naughty Nauticals pigments and polish just arrived! Let's get to the good stuff.

Naughty Nautical polish:

Naughty Nautical comparison:


Index and ring finger are MAC Naughty Nautical. Middle finger is OPI Yoga-ta Get This Blue, pinkie is Essie Aruba Blue.


Here's the pigments:

Lark About, Mutiny, Bell-Bottom Blue


My thoughts? I love the Naughty Nautical polish. It's completely opaque in one coat and the color really has depth. I'll try to take better pictures, but the lack of sunlight doesn't help.

As for the pigments, they all seem to be that weird flaky texture that's hard to work with. I like the colors, but Lark About is much sheerer than I anticipated. Bell-Bottom Blue has glitter, bonus! Mutiny is gorgeous, but I don't see myself wearing it too often.

I'll have pics of some of the OPI Retro Fun In The Sun polishes next week, so stay tuned.

Retro Beauty in 2008?

It seems to me like the beauty world is going "retro"...

The most obvious being the OPI Retro Fun In The Sun collection, but even makeup seems to reflect it. Take a look at Naughty Nauticals, and if that doesn't feel retro than I don't know what does. Even the Neo Sci-Fi stuff feels more Star-Trek than modern!

I'm not complaining at all! I'm digging all the bright neon shades that remind me of the early 90's or maybe even the 80's (if I could remember them!). I loved how everything in the early 90's was neon pink and green and blue...

I'm so glad to see the bright colors getting some attention. All too often it's bland, boring neutrals. Neutrals do have a time and a place, but a world without color is just plain depressing!

Totally unrelated, but apparently Hard Candy is discontinuing their Super Shine lipglosses! That's sad! They are, in my opinion, the best smelling lipgloss there is. It smells exactly like cake. I love the shade Piglet, which is nothing at all like the lipstick they used to make by that name.

Okay, and speaking of smelly lipgloss, I tried that LaVanilla Healthy Lip Shine in Vanilla Coconut. It's not the same scent, I'm disappointed. It's shiny all right, but it doesn't smell or taste very good. It tastes kind of like melting plastic. I'm not usually one for returning makeup, but I might just have to return this. It's gross.