Business Time Massage Bar

I first managed to buy one of these in an online auction a couple of years ago. However, I wasn't particularly excited to use the product as the bar looked a little old and weathered - I wasn't expecting it to perform as well as a fresh one would. As expected, the bar was fairly useless and I ended up throwing it away before I had even finished it. 

When Lush re-released this in the Kitchen recently, I was really keen to wipe the slate clean and try this product with a fresh perspective. I am so glad that I was given the opportunity to do this as my experience was completely different this time around. 

Inspired by Flight of The Conchords, this massage bar has been released in many shapes and sizes over the years, most notably this Inspector Gadget/Sherlock-esque looking rendition, which first came out a few years back. Business Time plays homage to the art of intimacy and has been created for lovers to soothe, relax and pamper their partners. While it's a little on the smaller side than most other Lush bars, this one still offers a good 3-4 full body massages or more if you're using it as an alternative to a body lotion. 

Packed full of essentials oils and butters, this massage bar does wonders for your skin. The combination of cocoa butter and shea butter offers a highly moisturising experience, while the inclusion of coconut and almond oil leaves your skin feeling super soft, smooth and supple. 

To add fragrance to this bar, lush have also included a combination of fennel and lavender oil. At first, you may assume that these two ingredients would clash but I was surprised to find that they worked really well together. The latter ingredient helps to calm and soothe sensitive and irritated skin, nourishing your body whilst de-cluttering and relaxing your mind at the same time. You cannot really smell the lavender that much with this bar, but there is a slight presence behind the other ingredients so if you have a very sensitive nose, you may detect it a little. 

The fennel oil helps to promote circulation round the body, giving your skin it's natural radiance back whilst cleansing and toning the skin. This bar works particularly well on the thighs as the fennel is known for smoothing out wrinkled and uneven skin and can even remove the appearance of cellulite. 

Unfortunately, despite the interesting combination of ingredients, this massage bar is a little disappointing to smell. While I was expecting an interesting and rather unique combination of lavender, fennel and rose, what I detected was a rather powdery scent instead. While the aroma featured all three scents, I found that there was very little definition between each one.

The lavender is at the forefront here - giving off a very strong but natural smell, while the fennel sits underneath this and adds a rather potent spicy, liquorice-eque fragrance. The rose rests beneath both of the above and rounds off the smell with it's sweet, floral scent. While it's not a bad smell, it is quite intoxicating and I found it slightly too strong to use when I was looking for something relaxing. 

In it's favour, the bar melts easily on the skin and leaves behind a thin layer of oils which can then be massaged across the body. Unlike other massage bars, this one isn't at all sticky and the oils that rest on your body don't stay there for long - instead sinking into the skin and leaving you feeling and smelling lovely. It also leaves behind a slight sheen which gives your skin a lovely, non-greasy looking shine. 

While Business Time is far from terrible, it's not my favourite and not one I would rush out to buy again. Having said that, fans of lavender will probably love how strong this comes across in the massage bar. I can see this being a smell that you either love or are indifferent too, and unfortunately I am in the latter category. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Butter, Fair Trade Shea Butter, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Perfume, Organic Almond Oil, Lavender Oil, Fennel Oil, Rose Absolute, Benzyl Salicylate, Isoeugenol, Hydroxycitronellal, Citral, Coumarin, Eugenol, Geraniol, Benzyl Benzoate, Citronellol, Farnesol, Limonene, Linalool.

Vegan?: Yes.

2016 Price: £5 each.