Narcotick Shower Gel

Narcotic, which has also been labelled Narcotick, is a lemon and tea tree scented shower gel that was first released back in 2005. The product claims to work wonders on the scalp and skin, containing cleansing and healing properties that both renew the pores and speed up the healing process. Not only this, but it's supposed to help those with spot-prone skin and even prevent dandruff for those with dry, flaky scalps. Admittedly, I bought this shower gel not because of any of these claims - I hadn't even heard about them until after I started using it - but because it was another rare shower gel that appeared one day on eBay and begged me to spend my money on it. As they do!

On first sniff, I could definitely smell a multi-layered fragrance that intrigued me and I found myself wanting to find out more about the ingredients used to make this 'wonder' gel. The most prominent smell in Narcotic is lemon, which was added in it's most natural juice form, to help brighten the skin. This is coupled with the strongly-scented tea tree oil, an ingredient famous for it's spot-eradicating properties. 

It is after a few uses that you begin to pick up other, more subtle scents; rose, with it's ability to calm the skin, lavender, to balance the body's natural oil production, rosemary, which helps to restore balance and can help skin to heal, and sage oil, which supports a natural healthy complexion. This is definitely a shower gel with an amazing rostrum of healing ingredients!

Narcotic is a lovely dark blue colour, almost reminiscent of the Dirty Springwash shower gel I reviewed recently, and has a thick, velvety consistency, meaning the small 100g bottle I found lasted me a long time. You only have to squeeze a minute amount out during use and it tends to go a long way. The shower gel lathers up immediately, creating a rich, pale blue foam that spreads wonderfully over your whole body.

An issue I found with this product is it's potency - it's somewhat strong in the bottle, but during usage, the hot water elevated this smell until it was almost unbearable. Whereas I could recognise the different layers of fragrance beforehand, once in the shower, I found I could only smell the acidity of the tea tree oil. 

Aside from its scent, Lush claim that this shower gel is supposed to work wonders for those who suffer with bad skin conditions such as spots and oily pores. These healing qualities are due to the tea tree oil which is known to combat spots due to its disinfectant qualities. 

What I found was that the gel did make my skin feel cleansed and renewed in the shower. However, once I had used it a few times, I began to notice dry spots on my face and legs that hadn't been there before. Within a couple of days of using another shower gel, the dry spots seemed to vanish, which begs me to believe that Narcotic was actually the cause of this.  

This leads me to believe that if you don't have problematic skin, Narcotic is not a product you should use as it seems the medicinal properties are quiet strong and will dry out most skin types. However, that's not to say that this won't work wonders for your skin!

Overall, Narcotic is not a product I would use again. Whereas some Lush products are versatile, and will be aimed at a particular type of skin but will work for all, this shower gel is really just for oiler, more problematic skin. The scent is also an acquired taste - if you love the scent of tea tree, you'll no doubt love this as it dominates. Normally I don't mind tea tree-scented cosmetics, but only if the oil is subtle, something it is definitely not in Narcotic. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Fair Trade Organic Sesame Oil, Fresh Rose Petal Infusion, Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Lavender Water, Fresh Organic Lemon Juice, Propylene Glycol, Fine Sea Salt, Rosemary Oil, Tea Tree Oil, Sage Oil, *Citral, *Geraniol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Perfume, Colour 42090, Colour 17200, Methylparaben.

Vegan?: Yes

2015 Price: £9.95 for 250g.

2016 Price: £11.25 for 250g.