I love it when Lush releases new products! There’s always SOMETHING I just have to have, and this new batch of products is no exception. Check it out!

First we have the Brimstone scrub, a new square-shaped solid scrub bar for use in the shower. Brimstone contains sulpher (to exfoliate and soften skin), as well as hemp oil and kaolin. It’s scented with jasmine and lemongrass, which sounds utterly fascinating. I’m intrigued…

The Glorious Mud scrub I suspect is going to be a MUST-HAVE because it has the same scent as my beloved Creme Anglaise. It also has aloe and sesame oil and rhassoul mud. Me want!

Lush’s newest shower gel is Grass, and I want some! Grass contains fresh wheatgrass juice to nourish the skin, and is scented with bergamot and sandalwood. I can’t wait to give it a sniff, since I’m sure I’ll love it.

Which new Lush product is on YOUR list?

Who doesn’t love a good deal? If you shop for Dermalogica or Jane Iredale, check out Skincarelogic.com. Every week they have a Happy Hour Special, a special deal like free shipping, a store-wide discount code, a totally cool free gift with purchase, etc.

In addition, Claire’s Beauty readers can get 15% off, in addition to whatever happy hour special is running by entering CLAIRE15 during checkout.

Skincarelogic.com also has some great educational skincare articles, and if you happen to be in Texas, you can check out their spa in person! Have fun!!

Tarte Cosmetics is having a sale on their Double Ended Lip Gloss, currently $10 each instead of $19!! Such a steal!!

I have three of these puppies already, in Lloyd & Diane, Jake & Samantha, and Westley & Buttercup. I love the smooth formula, the coordinating shades, and the sweet cake-like scent. I have a feeling these are on sale because they are being discontinued (although that’s not a sure thing), so it might be a good idea to grab a few while you can.

If I buy another one, it’ll be Ronald & Cindy – I like the light purple shades.

Valentine’s Day is coming and perfume is always a sweet gift for ladies and gentlemen. If you’re looking for crowd pleasers, look no further than Mariah Carey’s new fragrance Forever and to Rocawear X for men.

Mariah Carey’s newest perfume Forever is a white floral scent, with tuberose, gardenia, lotus blossom, neroli, white musk and woods. It’s a fresh scent, not too heavy or cloying on the flowers, and very feminine. It’s perfect for a romantic evening, but not too overwhelming for daytime wear either.

I love the bottle. The faceted glass is elegant and fun, and would look lovely on a ladies’ vanity or dresser.

For the gentleman, do check out Rocawear X for men. This fragrance was created to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Rocawear brand, established in 1999 by Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter. It’s definitely one of the more interesting and pleasing men’s scents I’ve come across in a few months. The notes include goji berries, pomelo, lime, lapsang souchong tea, eucalyptus, amber, cedarwood, guaiac wood, and musk. I get the tea (but not the smokiness of a true lapsang souchong *sigh*) and the woods and the zesty citrus notes, when I sniff it. This is just a great scent! Zesty is just the right word for it. I think it smells great on a guy (and I wouldn’t mind stealing it for myself!).

I wish the bottle were better, though. It looks like a hunk of brushed aluminum, but not in a good way. Oh well, make your man store it in the medicine cabinet or something *wink*

What would you like to get for Valentine’s Day?

I’ve been waiting rather impatiently for new stuff to start coming out for spring, and it looks like I’m finally in luck! Sephora.com has several new items that look particularly interesting to me…

First on the list is this Kat Von D palette called Memento Mori. I haven’t really checked out the other products in the Kat Von D lineup as the colors are a little too deep to be my thing. But these lighter, more pastel colors are right up my alley, so I’ll definitely be checking this one out in person.

Urban Decay’s new Primer Potion in Eden is really floating my boat. I love Primer Potion and this looks like it would probably be a good color corrector for my dark eyelids. Want!

Also from Urban Decay, these Stardust Eye Shadows look like fun. I wonder what the texture is like? UD’s other sparkly eyeshadows are guilty of major fallout (leaving sparkles all over my face) but these claim to be fallout-free. Must investigate further!

I am kinda sorta wanting a small bottle of Vera Wang Glam Princess. I’m such a sucker for cute and the stars on the bottle are really getting to me. Hmmm… must get a sample and see if it’s actually wearable!

What new stuff are you wanting?

Get it while you can! I snagged a jar of this stuff this past holiday season, and I’m really in love. It’s on sale right now and is a limited edition item, so don’t wait if you’re interested!

The Shea Vanilla Body Cream has 15% shea butter, which means it’s nice and thick, but not quite as thick as the Ultra Rich Body Cream at 25%. I prefer the lighter formula, as the Ultra Rich occasionally leaves my skin feeling a bit filmy. It has more of a floral vanilla scent than a bakery vanilla scent, which I actually seem to prefer these days. The texture is amazing!

The Shea Vanilla Hand Cream is pretty great too. It has a texture like the regular Shea Hand Cream but has the amazing scent of the natural vanilla. I really wish it wasn’t limited edition!

I wish L’Occitane had made a candle with this fragrance, but I’ll have to settle for the body and hand creams instead. I guess that’s okay! LOL.

The subject of this post isn’t itself a cosmetic, but I liked these little bags so much I wanted to share them with you. The XSProject is a charity project that makes various kinds of bags, including some that work great as makeup bags, out of reclaimed flexible plastic collected by trash pickers in Indonesia.

It sounds a little complicated, but it’s actually pretty simple. 80,000 tons of flexible plastic packaging are manufactured each year in Indonesia. Because there are no safe disposal methods for flexible plastic, it may accumulate and then sit in a landfill forever. This type of plastic has little resale market value because there are no traditional recycling techniques for it. The XSProject Foundation acquires the plastic from trash pickers before it piles up in toxic landfills.

Who are these trash pickers? The Indonesian capital of Jakarta is home to an estimated 400,000 trash pickers, most of whom are undocumented workers surviving on a monthly income of about $35 per family. Because of the dearth of proper recycling programs in much of Southeast Asia, trash pickers look for items that can be sold for recycling to supplement their meager incomes. XSProject seeks out consumer waste materials that can be bought from these communities that will bring them new sources of income.

The collected material is then made into the bags and other articles by craftspeople employed in Indonesia. Pretty cool, huh?

Anyway, the XSProject very kindly sent me a sample product, so I can tell you that they are very well-made and sturdy. The Beauty and The Beast Small bag is perfect for holding cosmetics, and is lined inside. The Facelift is also lined inside, and is a larger option for holding cosmetics and toiletries.

All of these bags are great for giving as gifts to your eco-conscious friends and family, or even if they aren’t so eco-conscious. Each bag comes with a tag explaining in a nutshell how the garbage to finished product process works, so your recipient can appreciate how neat the bags are.

Clarisea is a company making a line of skincare products to treat acne, using sea salts. I haven’t tried it, but have some samples on the way. In the meantime, I’m intrigued by the concept and wanted to share the site with you. Also, they are having a Friends & Family Sale, today through Saturday.

The product line is based around sea salts. Sodium chloride fights bacteria on the surface of skin while deeply exfoliating pores so existing blemishes heal more quickly and emerging breakouts are brought to the surface and flushed out. Clarisea’s salt blend is supposed to be less harsh and irritating than other products, so that the skin isn’t left irritated or red. The product line includes a face soak, scrub, cleanser, and a line of body care products also. If you know someone with acne, it’s worth checking out!