LUSH Emotional Brilliance Makeup

Oh my word! LUSH makeup! Really?

I never thought my first makeup post would be about LUSH but I was quite surprised to learn that they now offer a few makeup items. I just had to know more the main reason being that they're cruelty free.

LUSH Natural Brilliance Color Wheel

Personally I'm not a fan of this brand for skin care. To many highly irritating ingredients along with lots of essential oils but, my daughter just loves their bath products. It's one of her guilty pleasures that she gets to indulge in when she does something great, as a reward. On those occasions we go in the LUSH store at our local Mall and I let her chose a few things.

Cruelty free! Yay! We don't have many options in my area. I'm not a super green person but animal testing really annoys me especially for cosmetic purposes. Try to find one these days, it's harder and harder. Every company wants to expand and to do so, several have chosen to export their products to China. The downside to this is that China does tests on animals! Seems like what's good for the rest of the world isn't good enough for them. This situation is so sad, it's like going back 40 years in time and rare are the companies who don't wish to enter the Chinese market. There's just too much money to be made to pass.

So, kudos to LUSH for holding it's grounds, for now at least.





So, I just returned from my local boutique and I must say that I'm a little disappointed. No mention of the new cosmetics anywhere. The front windows had posters and a few products displayed to attract customers but these where bath items. Inside, I had to ask where they where. No special displays, nothing promoting the New Emotional Brilliance Colors.

In fact the smallish wood display was way back in the store with only the color wheel visible on top. The eyes and lips colors were tucked in drawers below. You cannot try the colors on the same way you would in a department store. You have to ask a sales assistant who gives you little brushes for that purpose. Good to prevent contamination but not so convenient for customers, especially when there's only one SA and the store is full of people. Anyways, when was the last time you saw anyone try a lipstick directly from a counter display? Even with the LUSH way I would not have tried a liquid lipstick color on any other place than my hand.

In need of a new mascara, which was the main reason for this quick trip, again, I had to ask where they where since I couldn't see them. No, they where not next to the color wheel! They where on the counter next to the cash register! Huh? Why not put all the makeup in the same spot? Maybe an English thing, I have no idea.

The Eyes Right Fresh Wheatgrass Mascara presentation is pretty cute and different. A little glass bottle with a screw top that looks like medicine dropper but is in fact a nice full size brush. The formula, according to LUSH, is made for the most sensitive eyes. It includes fresh wheatgrass to help nourish and strengthens lashes, Japan and Carnauba waxes to help the color set, thicken and hold.

A nice deep black, it goes on nicely with no clumps, it's in fact rather thin, meaning that if you want a natural look, one coat will do. If you want a more dramatic look you'll have to apply several coats, waiting between each one. This may dissuade you to try it since it's pretty "wet" and takes more than a few minutes to dry completely. If you want a false lash look without the hassle of actually putting them on, this will not do, especially if like me you apply your makeup in 5 minutes in the morning. So for a daytime, natural look, this is quite nice.

Staying power and resistance to sweat and rain? I will get back to you on that since these days, the weather is just gloriously beautiful. It may take a while for me to really put it to the test. I will also have to see if it can hold up the curl. My lashes "pittifylly" point down! A lash curler alone is not enough, I have to put some heat to it with my blow dryer. In a way, becomes an eye  lash "curling iron". No heat, no curl for me. I will update once I've really put it to the test.

Eyes Right Fresh Wheatgrass Mascara

$18.95 

Other new items, liquid eye liner, liquid lipstick, cream eye shadows and loose powder. I would have liked to swatch the powder but I forgot. This is what happens when you can't see stuff. It wasn't with the color wheel nor was it next to the mascaras. Had I seen it, tried and liked it, I just might have purchased it on a whim. If you wish to try it, make sure first that you have no issues with jojoba oil since this is what is used in this powder.

Mattifying powder for all skin tones
$18.95

The creamy eye shadows look very nice but the colors are not really for me and I'm not a fan of creams. The lipsticks on the other hand are very tempting. They have nice bold colors that are quite pigmented. Now I'm not saying this because I tried any of  them on but because I saw swatches on other websites. Here again the frustration of how the colors are displayed.

Perspective lipstick

$22.95

Even if I find they put too much fuss into keeping their testers free of contaminants, on my next stop I will probably get the Perspective lipstick, a nice nude shade. Hopefully there will be more than one SA and not too many customers in the store because I'm still planning on finding and trying the loose powder!

LUSH official website