My name is Marietta, and I am a 35 year old female who lives between New York City and England, currently working as both a writer
and business owner. I have occasionally helped with the writing of the Lush Times -- though in an unofficial capacity -- to help out my
mate Sarah (known to most as Auntie Pamela) when she's been banging out a book, and I am currently working on a book of my own
about Chanel for a London publishing house (an opportunity I landed thanks to Sarah, to positively no credit of my own!) I am also a
New York State licensed massage therapist with advanced training in aromatherapy. In my spare time, I study history, spirituality,
philosophy and French (yes, I'm a geek), traveling to Paris as often as humanly (and financially) possible. Lately, I'm also tinkering
with fashion design (mostly accessories), and the idea of opening an upscale spa in Manhattan. So, that's who I am and what I do.
As for my Lush forum nickname of "Euro Diva," I got the nick "Diva" when I first moved to New York because of my sense of style
(classic but dramatic, and never leaving the house without something from Chanel leeching onto my body), combined with my
constant travels abroad for everything from business to suddenly deciding to fly to Europe for the day to attend art exhibitions that I'd
read about in my glossy French style mags. (Hey, I happen to think one day trips abroad are the pinnacle of fiscal responsibility! You
literally save thousands on hotel bills!)
The "Euro" got tacked on when my friends began ridiculing me for importing pretty much everything I own from Paris (right down to
bottles of flippin' vitamins which can otherwise be found in every freakin' corner drugstore in the world), leading them to claim on my
behalf "if it don't come off a boat, she don't want it." (But look, while I accept that much of my spending on imports could be seen as
indefensible, the vitamins make sense: European vitamins simply contain more reasonable and therefore healthier dosages in my
opinion!) And so, I joined the Lush forum as "Euro Diva," a name which has only ever been used by friends to (lovingly, I hope) take the
piss out of me and my bizarre travel and spending habits (none of which -- no matter how I might try to justify them -- are practical or
even remotely sensible, and therefore I strongly recommend that you don't try them at home.)
And to answer an oft asked question (especially considering that even Auntie P once spent a full year wrongly assuming I was a
millionairess): no, I'm not rich. I'm just budgetarily challenged.
on Lush in their monthly "Londres" section. Of course, at the time, my French was quite shameful, so I simply spotted the picture of
Lush's Kryzstal deodorants on what appeared to be dessert plates, and assumed this was a cake shop in London that I'd somehow
managed to overlook. I ran a search on the internet for Lush, but could find nothing. So, I put the article aside, and figured I'd stop into
London's new patisserie next time I was over.
You can probably imagine my shock to discover that Lush was a cosmetics shop, and that those pretty little cakes in the photo were
actually meant to be applied to your sweaty armpits!
My first Lush experiences were Miranda soap and Uluru bath ballistic, both of which I still love to this day.
As I became more and more devoted to Lush's reliably high quality products & creative ingenuity, I stumbled across their North
American website back in September 2003, where we could "review" products on the store pages. But as items were discontinued,
reviews would be lost (not to mention, people would say mean things on those pages!) That's when I discovered the forum, where we
could ask product questions and "rant and rave" about products.
Finding myself wanting to shout about every single product as I tried them, my stupidity when it comes to online forums in general led
me to the idea of creating what I called a "review thread" where, being new to the boards (and not realizing they had a search engine), I
could post all of my product experiences & opinions in one place on the Rants & Raves board without getting yelled at for opening
duplicate threads for each individual product. Instead of getting boo-ed right off the forum, the idea increasingly caught on. My thread
started out quite small of course, but Lush NA forum member grrrlennyl had a brilliant thread that got quoted in the Lush Times, and
an absolute rainstorm of review threads were born!
Over time, I got more and more creative as to how to present my reviews, and eventually, this here site was the eventual result!
However, I'm actually quite picky about beauty products in general. Because this is a highly competitive market, and because our
options for handing over our hard-earned money are limitless, I tend to be a bit of a cosmetics snob simply because I can be. That's
not to say I don't find myself being particularly loyal to any one company. (For example, I'm a Chanel junkie right across the boards.)
But I'm excruciatingly hard on every company equally, scanning for even the smallest flaw when I write my cosmetics reviews. If, after
I've thoroughly examined each product like a hawk, you still hear me say that a company is one of my favourites, you can be assured
that they're pretty damn good.
And obviously, Lush is one of my favourites. Otherwise, I wouldn't have opened a website in their honour, would I?
despite being able to place the Ballistic in a nylon stocking to avoid dispersion of those bits I will still take points away from the
product.
For each perceived flaw, I generally take 1 point away out of a total of five possible points (represented on this site as cocktails or
"raised glasses" as I like to call them). For each perceived flaw that can be corrected sans additional expense on the consumer's part,
or if it only occurs occasionally depending on the batch, skin type, etcetera, I take away only half of a point. I also only remove half a
point if there are several downsides to one specific aspect of a product. For example, if decayed flower petals not only alter the colour
of the water, but also stick to you and leave a mess, I won't continue to deduct a full point for each negative observation resutling from
that one ingredient.
So, you can imagine that when a product manages to get five "raised glasses" from me, this is because I could find not a single thing
wrong with it, no matter how hard I tried to do so.
As for my personal opinions, none of them are formed on a single use of a product. Nor do I waste time reviewing products by scent
alone when I haven't even tried it. I use each product many times, buying it from many different batches, to make certain my reviews
are based on the general state of a product's quality, especially considering the vast variations that naturally occur with handmade
product. Of course, you'll likely find you come across a batch that seems to have entirely different qualities than what I've observed.
Bound to happen, that, and it can certainly be confronted by you: now that you know how I formulate my ratings for a product, you can
simply add and take away points from those ratings to get a better idea of where that product might stand in your eyes.
In addition to consideration for natural product variation, personal opinion also plays a role in my reviews (if it didn't, then they wouldn't
be opinions anymore, would they?) So, I will clarify my own tendencies when it comes to traits I like/dislike.
well. There are only two oils that I do not like for their fragrance: coriander and patchouli. (I can't even put coriander on my salads, or
my hyper-sensitive gag reflex kicks in once it lands in my rather large gob.) However, depending on how these oils are combined, I
have been known to come around to them. For example, Lush's Karma fragrance contains copious amounts of patchouli, and yet
when mixed with orange and pine, I find it perfectly inoffensive, if not altogether delicious! Usually, these oils have to either be on their
own, or stand out above all other oils for them to have a negative impact on me. Otherwise, I'm quite the fragrant chameleon.
When it comes to combined fragrances, there is one thing I generally don't like right across the boards when it comes to Lush's
products: dense, artificial perfumes that overpower all the natural, aromatherapeutic oils in a particular fragrance. When Lush starts
concocting choking perfumes that betray all that is natural, I can indeed get my back up.
As for "bits" in the bath, I don't mind them at all, and in fact have been known to love them as long as they're not decayed brown flower
petals that don't look like flowers at all, but rather resemble soggy cornflakes. Otherwise, I adore the idea of bathing in petal-filled
baths like Cleopatra or holding a private party in a sea of confetti, as long as it doesn't feel like shrapnel, scratching the hell out of my
skin and turning my party into a big bash in Baghdad.
Glitter is also something I don't mind; I just think there's a time and place for glitter, and therefore tend to use these products a bit more
sparingly. A subtle sheen, I'll take almost any time; drama resembling a disco ball, I reserve for nights out on the town. However, I do
have a rather Vegas-like philosophy when it comes to glitter: "what happens in the bathroom stays in the bathroom." In other words, I
don't believe that glitter should still be turning up on my walls, floors, major appliances, etcetera -- items that never even came into
direct contact with the product or my sparkle-rific body -- for as long as 2 years after I use a glittery product.
Abruzzese) both in colouring and type, prone to blemishes and the entrapment of excess oils. My long, thick, dark brown hair is
chemically untreated and naturally very healthy, yet while my scalp tends to be slightly oily, my locks are actually quite coarse with a
tendency towards dryness. As for my body, my shoulders and back tend to be oily, but the rest of my body is fairly normal, though my
heels are the driest, most horrid li'l buggers on earth. When it comes to my skin's age, I have excellent genes. I probably won't have
full-on wrinkles until I'm collecting social security, so anti-aging products aren't one of my necessities (though I do tend to pursue them
in my more panicky moments.)
When Lush sells a product for a specific hair or skin type that I do not possess, I first try the product myself to observe the reaction, and
then I give it to those who have the skin and hair types that Lush made it for. They use the product for awhile and then relay their
opinions to me, so that I can accurately review it. (Do note, though, that when Lush declares a product as being good for "all skin
types" or "all hair types," I will indeed take away from the product's rating if they're clearly wrong about that!)
Primarily, my mom is my "dry hair and dry skin" guinea pig. She is 56 years old, has aged well (though the silly woman wouldn't agree
with that assessment even if you paid her a million dollars), but does have minor skin slackening on both face and body. Her skin is
naturally extremely dry, and unlike me, she requires rich, heavy oils to keep it moist and nourished. That said, she's quite picky when it
comes to oily finishes; she likes a product to feel smooth and "great" on the skin. As for her hair and scalp, both are not only naturally
super-dry, but she also chemically treats her hair to cover grey. This makes her the perfect candidate for opposing my body and hair's
natural tendencies, and since she tends to be one of those moms who feel guilty spending money to "pamper" herself, it's also quite
fun to constantly supply her with Lush products under the guise of "I need your help reviewing these products." This ensures that she'll
actually use them immediately (as opposed to saving them for "special occasions", which she's famous for when it comes to anything
that she deems "luxury.") And I also get her opinions on the fragrance, to make certain my nose hasn't been unreasonable.
I also have many friends -- including blokes! -- who help out with my reviews, giving me a wider spectrum of opinions to work with, as I
give them products to try based on the type of skin, hair, or nose a product appears to require. Yet what they think is my solely seeking
assistance with product reviews is actually my being an evil shopping enabler, recruiting them to the Lush cult (and usually
succeeding!)
So, as you can see, with my team of about 15-20 guinea pigs, though my own opinions indeed play a role in my reviews, they're rarely
opinions that stand on its own, having been factored in with a bunch of other peeps' perspectives on each product. I then just put all of
our findings into words, and where they can't describe precisely what's occurring aromatically, I study each scent until I find their
perspective for myself...just before examining each ingredient at length to find that particular quality's source. Hence, I can be quite
detailed as to the influences of each individual ingredient, both when it comes to fragrance and physical effect.
review for ya' before you go droppin' your dosh on it, simply email me at admin@lushie.com, and I'll get "write" (oh how punny I
am) on it!
Now go forth, dear reader, and always, ALWAYS......
