Not So Wordless Wednesday - Lush Fresh 15!

Happy Wordless Wednesday Butterflies! Last night I had the opportunity to check out 15 new products launched by LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics (they are definitely not a stranger for regular readers as we've featured them before and even hosted a giveaway last year in our holidays buying guide).

LUSH has launched 15 amazing new products:

Fit for a Queen:

Ro's Argan Body Conditioner - This Rose Jam Scented Body Conditioner contains Cypress oil, capuacu butter, Brazil nut oil, cocoa butter, shea butter, almond oil and argan oil which is rich in Vitamin E. The 20% Glycerin formulation locks in mouisture. Use like a hair conditioner, shower, apply on your body and then rinse off and pat dry.

Rose Queen Bath Bomb: Light, floral rosy scent or rose absolute and geranium, amber notes of rock rose, imparts a rosy pink glow to your bathwater with a sprinkling of Tiger Lily, apple blossom and larkspur petals.

Bathe:

Skin-Softening Bubbles, moisturizing ingredients and gourmet scents

Green Bubbleroon - A fresh uplifting bath with orange, lime, juniper berries, grass and orange flower

Rose Jam Bubbleroon - Rose Absolute and Rose Oil, hint of lemon, Egyptian Geranium Oil and cocoa and shea butters to leave skin smooth and soft.

Yuzu & Cocoa Bubbleroon: Cocao Absolute, Tonka with a light grapefruit scent and bergamot oils.

Phoenix Rising Bath Bomb: Patented Double Layer Bath Bomb. Shea butter, cocoa butter and jojoba oil, exotic essential oils of fruits and spices will take your mind and tub on a flight of fancy!

Lips:

Latte Lip Tint:  Lip Balm with a hint of fair trade coffee flavoring, almond oil, organic jojoba oil and Japan Wax and Icing Sugar, Vanilla Powder and Vanilla Absolute all make your  lips soft, nourished and kissable. A light enough tint to wear alone or layer with your favorite lip color.

Shimmery Skin:

Lustre Dusting Powder - For those of you that are already fans of Gorilla Perfume's 'Lust', this powder is scented with Jasmine and has a fine gold shimmer to it. Smells great and feels silky smooth on the skin.

Fragrance:

Cocktail - Cocktails anyone? (couldn't resist!) Ylang Ylang, jasmine, rose, orange blossom, oakmoss and sandalwood (this scent is available online only)

1000 Kisses Deep - This fragrance was created by the founder of LUSH, Mark Constantine, in honor of the lasting love he shares with his wife. Delicate apricot note from osmanthus blossoms combined with a touch of mandarin and deep resins (the complexities of true love). (Available online only) - OMG I can barely find a man romantic enough to buy flowers, nevertheless create me a customized scent!

Love - This scent opens with a bright green apple note and develops into a spicy fragrance with Cinnamon and Cassia. Also Available Online Only!

Dear John - A mix of Citrus, Coffee, Woods and spices with a splash of pine, cedarwood, and vetivert. (available online only)

His and Hers:

Dirty Soap - Spearmint, Sandalwood, pine and oakmoss, can be layered with the rest of the dirty range. For Dirty Lovers, you finally have a companion bar soap!

Lust Soap - Unapolagetic Jasmine scent, now Lust perfume lovers have the matching soap.

Peace of Mind:

Aromatherapy infused essential oils will help adjust your mood and your spirits!

Moon and Sun Steamer Tab - Use these solid tablets to steam clean your face while you inhale the mood adjusting oils. Neroli Oil will lift your mood, and the Lavendar Oil balances and soothes the skin. Pop one in steaming water, and then put a towel over your head to help to steam cleanse your pores and lift your spirits! (It fizzes sort of like an Alka-Seltzer in water)

Dream Steam Steamer Tab - This has the same blend of oils as LUSH Dream Cream, tea tree oil is a great antibacterial for your skin, and the rose absolute will calm redness. This blend of chamomile and lavendar oils will balance the skin while calming the mind.

Peace Massage Bar - Formulated with Olive Oil (which is incredible for skin for a variety of reasons), this bar is a solid but literally melts into your skin as you massage it on.

Friends with Benefits Massage Bar - This one is going to leave you feeling edible, delectable and super soft and sexy! It has a yummo chocolate orange scent. A blend of tagetes (essential oil from American Marigolds), and FAIR TRADE cocoa butter. (Allowing you to feel good TWICE!)

Finishing Touches:

No Drought dry shampoo - Scented with lemon, grapefruit and lime, this dry shampoo will absorb grease/oil from your hair and import a lovely scent for those moments when you don't have time to shampoo (apres gym perhaps?). Apply directly into your hair or your hands and work through concentrating on your roots down to mid-shaft. I would suggest if your hair type is dry or damaged to be very sparing on your ends (that's the one part of your hair you don't want looking dry). And because this is a DRY shampoo, you can bring it with you on the plane, did someone say GENIUS? You can be a LUSH on the go!

Sweet Lips lip scrub - lip scrub for chocolate fanatics, or anyone who wants yummy totally kissable lips! Vanilla extract keeps your lips moist, castor sugar gently exfoliates and the deep fragrance of cocoa absolute leaves lip kissably soft. LUSH describes this as Creme Brulee for the lips (without the calories) It's also a VEGAN product. Don't you just love it?

Ready for some bath time product porn? It wouldn't be wordless wednesday without tons of cool photos right?

It's all in the bag!

Isn't this Enora Scarf beautiful? It's made from recycled LUSH bottles! But what's wrapped inside?

What's that? I spot a cute tin behind the bundle!

Check out all that unwrapped loot, it's the Lush 15 (minus the bath bombs and perfumes (we didn't receive the perfumes) but the bath bombs got a little wet in the rain and I didn't want to ruin the pretty scarf)

My Take:

I haven't tried them all out yet, but my early stand out faves are:

Ro's Argan Body Conditioner. This was applied directly to my hand and it was not rinsed off, (and while they warned me that not rinsing it off meant it could feel a little sticky if it got wet) I can tell you I went out in the rain, and felt my hand on the train, not only did it NOT feel sticky to the touch, it felt super soft. and it withstood a ton of handwashing. The hand with it felt smooth for hours with tons of hand washing. I LOVE this product! I will be stocking up on this one!

I applied Dear John and I love the scent (male colognes/scents for some reason work really well with my body chemistry.)

I loved the Massage Bars! I loved them all, and was super surprised just how smooth they glide on the skin, and unlike most lotions these absorb quickly and don't leave my hands slippery, yet they were super smooth. I loved both, but Friends with Benefits stands out just a bit more for me scent wise. Honestly these makes incredible stocking stuffers, they come in a tin, and you are going to want one for your handbag, one for your desk in the office, well you get the idea. Buy enough, because I can assure you that you won't be able to buy them as gifts and not want at least one for yourself.

I haven't tried them out yet, but enjoyed watching the Steamer Tabs demonstration. After this week is over (have I mentioned it's been a super stressful week?), I will use these and then follow with a great mask, I'll let you know how much I loved them after I've tried them, but I do know they smell insanely good!

And by the way, if you are in the NYC area, visit the Union Square LUSH store, tell them Ascending Butterfly sent you!

If you are curious about what's in that tin, stay tuned, full review on it to come!

Happy  HUMP day Butterflies!

˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•●•٠·˙˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•●•٠·˙˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•●•٠·˙

FTC Disclosure: This is NOT a sponsored post. I attended a press event of the un-veiling of 15 new Lush Products. No monetary compensation has been received, I was under no obligation to write about the event or the products. All opinions are 100% my own.

Win Perfume for Mom! - 3 winners will win their choice of gift from The Cream Perfume Company!

˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•●•٠·˙˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•●•٠·˙˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•●•٠·˙

This giveaway is now CLOSED. Thanks so much to our wonderful sponsor The Cream Perfume Company! We look forward to working with you again! The winners are: Amber, Marlena, & lmurley2000!

Congrats to our three winners! Remember: There are great giveaways active on the upper right hand side of the page! This was gift #2 in our first annual Mother’s Day Buying Guide!

˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•●•٠·˙˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•●•٠·˙˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•●•٠·˙

 

Ascending Butterfly's Mothers Day Buying Guide Pick Sponsored by:

Better Scents, Naturally!

We are now launching our second gift in our first annual Mothers Day Buying Guide! We started with the gift of CleanRest (giveaway ends on 04/28), and now we are moving on to what many consider a Mother's Day gift 'staple', fragrance.

Our mom's are unique and selecting a fragrance to match your mom's spirit is part of the fun! Is your mom youthful and playful? Is she untamed and energetic? Is she spicy and exotic?

Let's avoid fragrance for mother's day becoming what ties have become for father's day, generic and impersonal, because neither gift should be! Fragrance should be as fun to shop for as it is well received by the recipient. It's just a matter of matching the fragrance to the spirit of it's recipient.

My mom is outgoing, she is strong, brave, compassionate and fun! So we tested out these products together! First let me introduce the company!

About The Cream Perfume Company

They work with internationally renowned perfumers and the local artisans of Grasse to develop premium nature identical oil blends, ECOCERT certified organic essentials, absolutes and pure plant and fruit extracts.Their perfumes are all phthalate free and contain no sulfates, petro-chemicals, synthetic dyes, triclosan, GMO, PPG, MEA, DEA, TEA or formaldehyde donors. Products are cruelty free.

The perfumed body moisturizers are 100% vegan, wheat and gluten free, contain no glycol, parabens, sulfates, phthalates, silicones, synthetic additives or synthetic fragrances.

The world's best ingredients are used to luxuriously hydrate and repair your skin combined with unique fragrances to simply delight your senses. They focus on environmentally friendly packaging and overall eco-value.

The perfumes are made sans alcohol, which eliminates the need for glass packaging. And that's a good thing, the solid perfumes are housed in the most adorable environmentally friendly residual wood containers! The wood is from small mills that meet the criteria set out by the Forest Stewardship Council, whose mandate is to promote environmentally appropriate, socially responsible, and economically viable management of the world’s forests.

 

We started with CleanRest and now have 'Clean & Green' perfume! Ah, mom really will be proud of us!

 
We tested a variety of both perfumes and body lotions including:
 

ORGANIC Lavender écume

 
 

A premium organic, 100% natural perfume for true lavender lovers. Exceptionally clean notes of lavender from top to base with a touch of lavendin for the heart notes.

 
Notes from the Testers:
 

Ascending Butterfly: Goes on smooth, the perfume is a solid, so I placed it in the palm of my hand and warmed it up a little with my finger and then applied to pulse points on my neck, wrist and temples. It goes on strong and mellows quickly into a soft 'clean' scent.

 

Mom: I also found that the scent is strong and noticeable when I first put it on, and then does 'die down' after a short period of time, I applied directly to pulse points except my temples.

 

Both: Thumbs Up. Additionally we both prefer lavendar for the evenings and enjoyed the subtle lingering scent it left behind on pillowcases and sheets. (it only left the scent, it did NOT stain anything)

 

We also tested the Mimosa Bouquet (it's bubbly with soft floral notes) , Mango Poudré (it's fresh and powdery), and Ylang Ylang d'amore (it's exotic, it's warm and like wearing your favorite incense!) in addition to the lavendar écume (this one goes on a bit more noticeable than the others for some reason, but I am a lavendar lover so I was happy with that!). It's difficult to pick a favorite among the four I tried. They are very different, and match very different moods. We enjoyed them all and both agreed that the packaging really is hard to resist, it's just so esthetically pleasing! And the fact that's it's also 'green' makes it that much better!

 
We also had the chance to test a variety of the body lotions as well.
 

Lavender Body Moisturizer

 

6oz. Premium and naturally derived oils and extracts from nature combined with premium French certified organic essential oils to combat dehydrated, sore, inflamed and damaged skin.

Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Cetearyl Olivate, Sorbitan Olivate, Glycerin, Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) seed oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Fruit Extract, Fragrance, Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice, Xanthan Gum, Panthenol (Pro Vitamin B-5), Corn Starch, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin.

This was the perfect companion to the solid perfume, it goes on silky smooth, it is not greasy, nor is it overly thick! I found it very soothing. My hands were particularly dry when I tried this lotion out. My skin did drink it in, and I was pleasantly surprised that a little went a long way and also lasted a long time.

 

We also had the opportunity to try out the Rose de Rosée, and the Coconut Vanille scented body lotions. Again we both agreed that these go on silky smooth, not greasy or thin, nor overly thick. They also lasted well between hand washings. I appreciated the opportunity to be able to  layer the lavendar lotion with it's matching cream perfume!

 
The Cream Perfume Company is now butterfly tested and mom approved!
 

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - WIN IT! - Ascending Butterfly and our friends at The Cream Perfume Company would like to provide THREE lucky winners with the opportunity to win the product of YOUR choice!

Don't you just ♥ The Cream Perfume Company?

How to Win: (1) You must be a PUBLIC follower of Ascending Butterfly to be eligible for this and all giveaways. Indicate in your entry that you follow (if your 'comment name/user id' differs from your profile id, please let me know what name you follow under) and (2) Visit The Cream Perfume Company and post the URL of  the product that you will select if you win as your comment entry! Please post the LINK, not the name! You can select the item of your choice,  either a solid perfume or a body lotion. (3) You must also leave your email address somewhere in your comment. (You can format it this way for security, example: ascendingbutterfly AT mail host DOT com, If it is visible in your profile, just say so, that's OK!). Please follow the easy 1, 2, 3 steps to winning! This giveaway is open to BOTH  USA and Canada residents who are 18 years of age or older.

Please follow directions or you will be disqualified! All comments are moderated, they may not appear on the site right away (comments like "I want this" or "I want to win" will not be entered). You have from Sunday, April 18, 2010 until Saturday, May 01, 2010 at 11:59 PM (EST) to comment and be entered for a chance to win. You will have 48 hours to confirm if we do not hear from you we will be forced to move on to an alternate. (We only notify winners DIRECTLY via email, so if your profile or your comment does not have an email address your entry will not be processed.)

EXTRA CREDIT:

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Blog about this giveaway, linking to this giveaway post. Leave the URL in a comment

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Grab our Button and put it on your Blog. Leave the URL where we can see it in a comment (if you already have our button, just let us know, you will still get extra credit!)

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Follow me @Tracy_Iglesias on Twitter (this is ascendingbutterfly’s editor) and give me your Twitter ID in a comment

Tweet this: Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - #ascendingbutterfly + Cream Perfume Company Mothers  Day #giveaways - 3 Winners! - http://tinyurl.com/y43mbsq

(Leave a comment with the tweet’s url so you can get a valid entry (click on the time your tweet was sent to get the direct URL and then copy and paste it here).

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Digg about this giveaway and leave your digg username in your comment

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Fave this blog on Technorati and leave your Technorati user name in your comment

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Vote for Ascending Butterfly on: Fuel My Blog

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Follow Ascending Butterfly on Facebook HERE

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Follow Ascending Butterfly on Networked Blogs HERE

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Join Ascending Butterfly's Ning Group HERE

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Subscribe to receive Ascending Butterfly emails using our Feedburner widget on the upper right hand side of the page below the follower thumbnail pictures! (If you are already a subscriber you will still receive extra credit!)

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Please Vote, Ascending Butterfly is a nominee for the Bloggers Choice ’10 Awards in the ‘Best Blog About Stuff’ Category - http://bloggerschoiceawards.com/ Where it reads total votes, there is a yellow box that reads 'Vote' Press there to vote, you must be logged in to see the number increase/vote registered. You can also vote directly using the button located on our home page and below:

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Please vote for my outfit 'springtime nyc' @ Macy's Fashion director Giveaway. You can vote for me and also enter to win a $500 Macys Gift Certificate too by creating a styleboard of your own here

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Please vote for my mom in ICE.com's 'Beautiful Moms' Contest on Facebook HERE

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Enter another giveaway on Ascending Butterfly and earn extra credit, leave a comment letting me know which giveaway you entered.

˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•●•٠·˙˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•●•٠·˙˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•●•٠·˙

NOTE: Readers have asked us to make entering the contests and giveaways, faster and easier. Your wish is our command! We have moved our 'Today's Butterfly - Featured Site(s) of the day, which is where we host our giveaways, to the upper right hand side of the page. It will be located here from now on to make entering the giveaways faster and easier. Keep the suggestions coming, remember we also have a NING group with real time chat, you can give us your comments and suggestions in REAL time, how cool is that?

NOTE 2: Twitter followers: please remember you must also follow Ascending Butterfly using Google friends connect on the upper right hand side of the page for your entries to be processed. And remember if your profile does not have an email and you don't leave your email in your entry, we will not accept your entry. Make sure your entry or your profile have your email address!

Just a helpful Reminder: How to Follow Using Google Friends Connect:

Please look to the upper right hand side, where the follower pictures are. (Note the number of followers before you start this process)

1) press the follow button - the google pop up wizard will open, this is not an ad and your pop up blocker will not block it

2) tick the option that reads 'follow this blog publicly' once that button is selected, hit follow again - it should now read 'you are now following'

3) if the follower count went up you know you did it succesfully, if your profile has a picture, that picture will be the first one on the left side. If your profile doesn't have one, it should still be searchable on the members list. (Remember, following a blog, does NOT subscribe you to receive emails, you have to subscribe separately to do that, you will not receive emails for following)

Are you getting the dreaded 'Your Entry Can't Be Processed' message when leaving an entry or comment? Before hitting enter, highlight your comment and COPY it. If you get that message after hitting enter and your comment is still there, just ignore the message and hit enter again, then you will get a screen with a captcha code, enter the captcha code, then submit and VOILA. If after you hit the submit button the first time, you get the dreaded message and the comment 'disappeared' no worries, that's why I asked you to copy it in the first step. Paste it back in and submit again. This has worked for me when comment boxes have glitched on me, and I hope it helps you too!

˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•●•٠·˙˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•●•٠·˙˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•●•٠·˙

FTC Disclosure Info for this Giveaway: This is not a paid insertion. This is a non-compensated post and all opinions regarding the products are expressly my own experiences. I was provided product to review and the sponsor is also fulfilling product to prize winner(s), this in no way influenced my opinion of my experiences with this product. Once a winner is selected and their information has been forwarded to the sponsor, the responsibility of prize fulfillment rests with the sponsor.