Lush and Scaley

Went out for a coffee and shopping this morning with a friend (and her beautiful, cheerful and stylishly dressed baby!) at Chadstone, and managed to run a whooole lot of 'to do' errands from my list as well.  Productive day.

Managed to run out of most of my skincare all at once, which meant a stop in to LUSH.  I have used bits and pieces from Lush in the past, and generally liked their stuff, however when I was pregnant, my skin went kinda crazy (dry, sensitive and breakouts), and Lush was really my savior!  I tried loads of products, and am now pretty loyal to my Lush picks.

Below, clockwise from top left, is Angels on Bare Skin cleanser, Ambrosia shaving cream, Eau Roma Water, a couple of free samples (Lovely Jubblies breast cream and Miranda soap), Ultrabland cleanser, Oatifix mask and Paradise Regained moisturiser.

NOTE - sorry, below links are to the US and UK sites, since the AU site is down.

• Angels on Bare Skin is a gentle, moisturising and nourishing exfoliating cleanser.  It's Lush's biggest selling cleanser worldwide, and is so simple - just ground almonds, clay, lavender oil, rose, chamomile and Tagetes oils, fresh lavender flowers, and some glycerin.
• Ambrosia is TD's shaving cream - really gentle and soothing.
• I buy the Eau Roma spray, which is just lavender water and rose waters, because it is nice and cheap.  I used to use Jurlique rosewater spray, but it was more than double the price
• Ultrabland is a really hardcore cleanser!  It's a thick, waxy mixture of almond oil, rosewater, beeswax, honey and a few plant extracts.  It's sort of a hassle to use (you have to massage it in for a minute or so, then steam it off with a hot wet cloth) but it is totally worth it, especially if your skin is freaking out.  I use it about every second day (I use Angels every morning, and either Ultrabland or plain Cetaphil in the evenings).  Ultrabland is excellent at removing even heavy makeup.
• I used to adore the Brazened Honey mask, but it's way too intense for my now-sensitive skin.  I love the Oatifix mask now - it softens, moisturises, calms and deep-cleanses, and just contains oatmeal, fresh organic bananas, glycerin, ground almonds, illipe butter, clay, vanilla and some other oils and natural ingredients.  You have to keep it in the fridge, and a pot only lasts a few weeks, but it is a brilliant mask and smells delicious to apply!
• I've mentioned Paradise Regained, my moisturiser, before.  It's firming and full of natural fruit enzymes, which keep skin smooth and bright - it's supposed to be an anti-ageing moisturiser, but it works perfectly on my skin, keeping things soft and clear.  As well as pineapple enzymes, it contains fresh green grapes, green tea, organic cocoa butter, almond oil, and quite a few natural oils and infusions.

I find you get great 'bang for your buck' at Lush, because the products are exceptionally good, packed full of organic and natural high quality active ingredients, with no 'fillers' and gums, mineral oils etc.  Pretty much NO money goes into their packaging or advertising, so you are really paying for the high quality products.  Much more eco-friendly packaging, too, than most brands, and every time you return 5 little black tubs, you get a free face mask!

I was folding and hanging Tabitha's washing this afternoon when I noticed it is all very coordinated.  I never thought much about how her clothes go together, but now I realise that 90 per cent of what I buy all matches with each other.  I stick to navy, blue, and pale and dark pinks.  This is partially because these are the colours that suit her (reds, greens and brighter colours wash her out), but it is also very handy to stick to one colour palette, as it means that everything can go with each other, in a very 'This goes with that' Sussan sort of way!

I thoroughly recommend this approach to baby clothes - it means that dressing her is a breeze, since you can generally grab any few items from her wardrobe (pants, top and coat, for example) and they will go together well.  It helps to buy most of her clothes from just a couple of shops, too, since each store tends to stick to one or two main colour palettes.  I buy almost all of Tabitha's 'everyday' clothes at Country Road and Seed.  The quality is excellent, too - I have never had a button come off, or anything pill, fade or stretch.

Now that Tabby is crawling, dresses aren't so practical (since her knees get caught on the dress), and she goes through lots more pants, since the knees get quite filthy!  So her current wardrobe (which should do her through Autumn and Winter) consists of:

• 3 pairs of patterned baggy/harem type pants
• 5 pairs of leggings (navy, pale pink, pale pink stripes, silver/grey marle and navy stripes)
• 5 long-sleeve tops (a couple of Henley-style, and some pretty long-sleeve t-shirts with detailing)
• 3 cardigans (white with a simple bow on the pocket, pink with a white stripe around the middle, with sleeves that can button up, and another pale pink plain one)
• 2 hand knitted jackets
• 1 lovely cashmere pale pink cable knit poncho (gift)
• 1 pale pink, soft and padded reversible woolen button-up jacket with a hood (very warm and snuggly)
• A pale pink wool beanie with ear-flaps
• A pink and cream stripe wool beanie
• A couple of dresses with tights for any special occasions
• About 6 pairs of socks
• About 6 singlets
  
• Finally, I am going to go and buy a couple of pairs of soft-soled shoes, now that she is 'walking' around the furniture, holding on, and likes to do this outside.  Bare feet are fine in summer, but she needs some shoes for winter.  I will get them from Bobux, who do excellent children's shoes.

I would say that's a fairly thorough wardrobe, without being over-the-top.  As the weather gets colder, I might add a woolen jumper or two, and I will simply layer her long-sleeve tops with singlets underneath.

In other news - our beautiful Diamond Python, Marilyn, is growing - she is still quite tiny, but is a voracious eater and is lovely to handle.