Hottie Massage Bar

Up until the Lush Kitchen made it's presence known back towards the beginning of the year, I had been working my way rather quickly through the array of massage bars that I've managed to amass over the last couple of years. I had just begun to see glimpses of the base of the box I had been storing them in and I thought I'd perhaps have all of them used up by the end of this year.

Unfortunately, as soon as Lush began releasing limited edition body lotions that I have been wanting to get my hands on for many years, I knew my stash was doomed and my goal of finishing them all before 2015 was dashed. However, now that I've gotten over how amazing Tropical Jungle, American Cream and The Olive Branch lotions are, I'm back to trying out my massage bars, and it's a refreshing experience.

Hottie is one that I've had stored for a long time, so initially I was worried that it would be dried out and unusable. Fortunately, the bar was perfect underneath the wrapper - it's scent still strong and interesting - it's body still very easy to melt and use. 

Much like Wiccy Magic Muscles Massage Bar, this one has been created for sore muscles, with both it's design and ingredients offering key characteristics to aide and suppress aches and pains. Firstly, this bar has been specifically designed to enhance the pressure put on the body when in use. The pattern of bumps that you'll find on the surface stimulates the body when it's being massaged into the skin, which in turn encourages the circulation of blood around the body. 

Secondly, the inclusion of black pepper and ginger work with the radiation of your body's natural heat, helping to soothe aching muscles. These ingredients also give Hottie its rather strange and unique fragrance -a hot and spicy but equally sweet aroma that you wouldn't expect to work, but which does. 

A combination of cocoa butter, shea butter and vanilla absolute, means that this massage bar possesses a wonderful sweet, comforting scent, while the pepper and ginger add a kick to it that you would assume would clash with the other ingredients, but which actually work effectively. 

A word of warning to those thinking of trying this product: this is one of the most potent smelling massage bars I have ever experienced so it's best you give it a sniff in store if you are unsure. I left mine in my walk-in cupboard for only a day and when I went to collect something later on, the entire space stunk of Hottie. If you're looking for subtle - this is not it.

In the case of Hottie, this massage bar has been designed very effectively. The bar melts very easily when you massage it between your hands and I didn't have to put any extra effort into getting the product to release the oils. Once on the body, it's very easy to manipulate over the skin and it's absorbed rather quickly, leaving no sticky residue or greasy streaks. 

To test out whether or not this works on aches and pains, I did massage this for a while on my leg, as it was aching after a challenging workout. I did notice that the tension in my muscles was greatly reduced after using it, however, I'm wondering whether or not my 'recovery' was aided more by the fact that I was resting, as opposed to the massage bar. Who knows!

It's definitely not one of my favourite massage bars, but I did enjoy the smell and the design makes it a really effective massaging tool. I was able to get roughly 14 uses out of it, which I consider to be good value for money. I only hope that Lush release a few more massage bars in this style, as they definitely work better than other shaped designs. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Cocoa Butter (Theobroma cacao), Shea Butter (Butyrospermum parkii), Organic Jojoba Oil (Simmondsia chinensis), Perfume, Ginger Oil (Zingiber officinale), Vanilla Absolute (Vanilla planifolia), Black Pepper Oil (Piper nigrum), Benzyl Salicylate, Citral, Coumarin, Geraniol, Benzyl Benzoate, Benzyl Cinnamate, Farnesol, Limonene, Linalool.

Vegan?: Yes. 

2014 Price: £5.95 for 60g.