Percup Massage Bar

I don't say this very often as it normally goes without saying, but I feel I need to reiterate for this particular review. This blog is about informing consumers about each and every Lush product I can get my hands on - articles that include both facts and opinions about each and every item. For this reason, there will often be posts that people disagree with, and I'm fine with this - I recognise that my opinion is not the 'be all and end all'. I only say this because I can imagine getting some opposing comments about this particular review. 

Don't get me wrong, Percup is a fully functional massage bar for all intents and purposes. I cannot fault it's consistency or the way it delivers the oils onto my skin. Much like Yes Yes Yes, Dirty and Shades of Earl Grey, these new additions to Lush offer a perfect solid composition, which means they work fantastically well - melting without being too runny, nourishing the skin without leaving it too greasy. I cannot fault them in this sense. 

However, the main issue I have with this massage bar is it's fragrance. Made using both roasted cocoa extract and caffeine powder, this bar offers an immediate and rather pungent coffee-scented experience. To add to this aroma, the use of whole coffee beans in the bar gives off a richly decadent but rather raw, bitter-smelling coffee aroma. While coffee lovers will no doubt love this scent, I for one find it a little too overwhelming.

Although I don't enjoy drinking the popular beverage, I do normally enjoy coffee-scented cosmetics and occasionally divulge in coffee-flavoured desserts. However, I found the smell of this coffee to be a little too dry and smokey. While you can just about detect a hint of the roasted cocoa extract in the background, it's not enough to smoothen out and sweeten the overall aroma; the coconut oil and vanilla absolute do little to soften the smell. 

This means that when you apply it to the skin, that bitter smell comes through and it's a little unpleasant to walk around with - especially if coffee isn't your favourite smell. In it's favour, this massage bar has a long-lasting aroma that permeates your skin for many hours after it's been applied, and I can see it being very comforting for those who love the smell. However, for me it just reminded me that I like the gentler, sugary-sweet smell of white coffee - not the intense, sharp smell of black coffee. 

Percup is literally designed to 'perk up' the skin and your senses - giving you a much needed dose of caffeine to see you through the day. The inclusion of whole coffee beans means that you get that natural source of caffeine which alongside the powder, revitalises your skin, stimulates circulation and leaves you feeling refreshed and invigorated. 

This massage bar glides easily across the body and leaves a light trail of oil which absorbs into the skin fairly quickly and leaves you with a beautiful, natural sheen. I found that the bar melts with ease on your skin but didn't melt too much between the palms of my hands, so it didn't become too oily or sticky when being used. 

Although I'm fairly new to this bar, I can imagine the coffee beans working in the same way that the beans in Wiccy Magic Muscles work - giving you a light, delicate exfoliator alongside the moisturising properties of the oils and butters. However, unlike the aforementioned massage bar, I can imagine this one working a little better as the coffee beans are bigger and there are less of them so you shouldn't have them all falling out while you're using the bar. 

As far as massage bars go, I cannot fault how well this works and I would urge everyone to at least try it yourself. While I recognise that it seems unfair to rate it so low simply on the fact that I disliked the fragrance - despite knowing what it would smell like before I purchased it, I never know what to expect with Lush products and there was no reason why I couldn't have fallen in love with it, even if I'm not a huge coffee fan. It is just my opinion after all and should not be taken as any more than this. While it's not one I would invest in again, it makes an original and rather unique addition to the family and I can see it being a very popular seller for Lush. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Fair Trade Shea Butter, Whole Coffee Bean, Organic Jojoba Oil, Perfume, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Vetivert Oil, Fair Trade Vanilla Absolute, Roasted Cocoa Extract, Coriander Oil, Caffeine Powder, Coumarin, Geraniol, Limonene, Linalool.

Vegan?: Yes.