LUSH in Seoul

I'm a LUSHie...  I can't help myself.  I love good smelling things, and those stores are full of them!  If I had majored in Chemistry, I might try for a job at their probably lovely smelling creation factory.  There is a LUSH store here in Seoul, which I spent a pretty won at during the holiday weekend.  It all started with a huge Christmas package in the mail from my family who gifted a large box full of LUSHy goodness inside.  After getting a whiff of those tempting scents, I followed my nose to the nearest store for a look around.  The store is quite small but they have the walls and tables covered with soaps and creams and bars and sprays.  The staff have been trained VERY well and know their LUSH!  My favorite staff member is "Chick"  That's his English name at least, haha.  I visited the store more times than I want to admit during my 6 day holiday and spent more than I should have.

I made a new friend on the metro here who told me there are at least 2 other LUSH stores she knows of at various metro stops around Seoul.  What luck that I could make such a knowledgeable friend!  I hope to meet up with her again soon and discover these delightfully scented hidden treasure stores.  Maybe they have different products on their shelves than the one in Hongdae?

During my various trips to LUSH, I picked up a few things.  I'll review those here, as well as the gifts my family sent!

This, my dear readers, is the sandstone.  It is citrusy fresh and has serious sand scrubbing powers!  I have very sensitive skin and this doesn't irritate it one bit (like other exfoliating soaps).  I use it when I'm feeling rough around the edges and it leaves me feeling slick and smooth.

This is Karma <3  Karma is a signature scent of LUSH and for a very good reason too!  It brings out the tree hugging sun shiny hippy in me.  I feel like going outside and running bare foot through the grass (if Korea had grass, that is!).  It has a wonderful lather too!

Glogg is a holiday limited edition liquid soap.  I picked it up and gave it a try.  It smells like sugar and spice and everything nice.  Seriously!  I don't know how else to describe it.  It's like a drink you'd have on a warm winters night to warm your very soul.

The Olive Branch is a very inviting and soothing liquid soap that is warm and wraps you in its silky scents.

A massage bar tin full of...

Something.  What this is, I do not know.  It looks like a shampoo bar, but it busted up in the mail like this. I rubbed a bit on my arm in the shower.  It was super rough at first but left my skin feeling like an oiled wrestler ready to shine in the spotlight, but without looking or feeling greasy.  Anybody have any ideas as to what this is?

Ultra Bland is a make up remover that ROCKS!  On nights when I wear extra thick and heavy eye make up, this does the trick and whisks it right off my face.  It makes your skin feel really really surprisingly soft after using it.

This Two's a Pair  bar smells divine!  It's super citrusy!

Sea Vegetable soap!

Up You Gets smells like sunshine and lemons!

Karma Komba shampoo bar smells just like Karma soap.  And it's specially formulated for fine tangly hair like mine!  Whoopee! 

Breath of God was given to me by Chick as a free gift because I had spent so much time and money there.  When I sniffed it at the store, I thought it was REPULSIVE.  Then I got home and thought, well, I'll just try a little spritz and see how it smells on me.  Dear baby Jesus-- (pun totally intended) it smells GOOD.  It smells like wood and camping and ... home.  I don't want to smell like a tree, and honestly I've never been camping, but it just makes me feel warm and comfortable.  Don't sniff it-- try it!  And it definitely stays with you allllll day.

I purchased the Karma perfume because I love the scent so much!

Pow Wow is another limited edition product I picked up.  It's a lip scrub that has...wait for it....POP ROCKS as the scrubby part!  Seriously!  Pop rocks!  It tastes sweet like candy and the pop rocks pop in your mouth!  It is a little messy-- but totally worth it.

I will be making another trip back to LUSH this month to buy things they didn't have in stock or I didn't have the money for at that time, so look out for more reviews!

Furry Friday

A responsible couple took in a blind kitty and raised it well.  They found out he likes to play with hair dryers in the process!

It makes me so giggly! <3  Lovin this Oskar!

Meat is Neat!

I'd like to jump on the bandwagon of big girls being beautiful.  I am a (very) big girl, and though I'm not comfortable with the weight I'm sporting right now, I know I'm beautiful and attractive to many people.  I don't desire to be very thin.  I want to be healthy!  I don't mind having cheechos or rolls (just not as protruding as mine are at the moment.)  Big girls are so luscious and voluptuous-- you just can't go wrong!

I love to dance.  I like watching youtube videos of people dancing-- ball room dancing, acrobatic dancing, booty dancing, belly dancing, etc...  Yesterday I came across a big girl belly dancing and was amazed!  She is so beautiful and knows how to get it!  Have a look...

Are you not impressed? My goal is to move like that and show off what a curvy girl is capable of! 

All Grown Up?

When you move out of your parents house?  When you have children?  When you pay your own bills? When should you feel "grown up"?  When do you actually grow up?  What makes you feel grown up?  I consider myself pretty self efficient.  I moved out of my parents house at 18 and haven't looked back, figuratively of course.  I now live in South Korea and still feel like a child.  There are still times when I wish my mom or dad was here, or I could eat mom's cooking and hear my dad's laugh in person--even one of his stupid jokes!  (Love you daddy <3 )  Sometimes I wish I could close my eyes and wake up in the back of the truck, my dad driving us home and everyone quiet and content. Just listening to everyone breathing.  Does that mean I'm still a child?  Or does that mean I'm just feeling nostalgic?  My mom still sends me care packages and gifts.  She scolds me like she did when I was younger when I do stupid stuff (like when I was younger), but laughs when I drunk dial her and tells me all the funny things I said that I don't remember the next time we chat.  Does that mean I'm still a child?  I'm planning on moving back to the states soon and moving in with my parents seems like such a repulsive idea.  Not that I don't love them and care for them and want to spend time with them, but I just couldn't experience that again--I'm even willing and able to pay my own bills, haha.  Does that mean I'm grown up?

I have friends.  (I know, GASP!)  We hang out or chat on occasion and some of the things that come out of their mouths, or the things they do really baffle me.  At this age, seriously?  Come on!  When I was in high school, I thought all that drama and petty childness would go away.  Then I went to college and thought, "Oh, I suppose it's just a school thing."  Moving to the other side of the world, I've learned that, indeed it doesn't end with school.  Nor is this "condition" unique to Americans.  Responsibility, coherence, integrity, maturity, and all things "adult-y" do not just happen when you get older.  I'm sad to report age actually bears no weight on whether a person is grown up or not.  Age comes with more opportunities and even advantages, but some people just can't handle it.  What does this all mean?  Certainly the way a person is raised should be a factor.  Some who are raised badly, turn out to be just like their parents... but some of those beaten and neglected children find inspiration in their lives and become amazing adults.  And others just the opposite.  Good parents, good kids...or really horrible citizens of this Earth.  Some seem to be falling apart at the seams-- can never get anything right or catch a break.  Others seem like they have their lives together and can handle any problem like it ain't no thang-- or at least have a witty come back.  A parenting and "release" of said child can't be that serious of a factor of a child growing into a productive adult given these trends.  What makes a person suited for living life on their own without the desire to have that comfort of a childhood "home," whatever that may be?  How to face fears on their own?  Why is there the need to have a familiar crutch when failing?  How does one go about feeling and or being grown up?

I feel like this should be a few different posts, since I've mashed a few things together here, but it seems coherent enough at the moment, haha!

Thoughts?  Comments?  Please?