Despite being available all year round, it has taken me almost two years to finally utilise my block of this soap. Having left it so long, I expected it to be rock hard, scentless and looking rather sorry for itself. However, I was very surprised to find it was still as soft, moist and as aromatic as you would expect a fresh piece to be.
Figs And Leaves is one of those products that I would not naturally gravitate towards if I was to visit a shop. With it's murky, beige-coloured demeanour - striped with glycerine pieces and speckled with fig seeds, this isn't the most attractive soap. However, it is rather effective at doing it's job.
Named after it's key ingredients, this soap features both fresh pieces of fig and is decorated with actual leaves on the top. Unfortunately, my chunk wasn't lavished with the latter feature but it did possess enough inclusion of fig to more than make up for this point.
Firstly, the tiny dark brown fig seeds act as light exfoliators; gently scrubbing the surface of your skin to stimulate blood circulation around your body and remove uneven and dried patches. Lush have successfully calculated the amount of seeds they include in each piece - there's enough here to give your body a great massage, while not going overboard, like in Porridge, where you find there's more 'bits' than actual soap.
Out of the packet, this soap didn't initially win me over with it's scent. Don't get me wrong, it was pleasant enough - a gentle aroma made from the natural sweetness of the figs intertwined with elements of both the aloe vera and the coconut oil. It's a strange creamy, citrusy smell that's rather sophisticated and more on the feminine side if any. However, when it comes in contact with the heat of your shower, this fragrance intensifies and it reminded me of burnt caramel - a vanillary feast with over ripened dates giving it a wonderful sweetness that makes it good enough to eat. The aloe vera is still present in the smell but it's overshadowed by the figs and coconut. It's absolutely gorgeous.
My love for Figs And Leaves only increased when I discovered that it is really easy to lather up and it produces a surplus amount of soft, creamy foam to clean yourself with. I found that I only had to massage this gently across my body to exfoliate and cleanse effectively. It made a change from all of the stubborn soaps I have been using recently.
Afterwards, my skin felt really soft and moisturised, without the tautness that I get with quite a number of Lush's soaps. The wonderful scent also lingered on my skin, and I was able to detect it on my arms and hair when I got into bed. I didn't experience a cooling effect from the aloe vera but it was gentle enough to use on my face, which was an added bonus.
Figs And Leaves is a wonderful soap and one I will use regularly, especially in the winter months when my skin is dry and flaky. It conditions and strengthens the look and feel of skin and works wonders at revitalising tired and weathered-looking bodies.
The only issues I found with it is that it's soft consistency means it's prone to shrinking quite quickly, even if you make an effort to keep the block dry between uses. However, coupling this with other favourites such as Angel's Delight and Karma, will allow me to stretch this to lasting me a good month.
Quantitative Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Rapeseed Oil and Coconut Oil, Fig Decoction, Glycerine, Aloe Vera Extract, Sodium Hydroxide, Perfume, Ylang Ylang Oil, Orange Flower Absolute, Fair Trade Organic Aloe Vera Gel, Titanium Dioxide, Sodium Chloride, EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Lilial, Benzyl Benzoate, Linalool.
Vegan?: Yes.
Scent Family:
Dorothy Bubble Bar
Figs & Leaves Soap
2015 Price: £3.40 for 100g, £8.50 for 250g, £17 for 500g.
Figs And Leaves is one of those products that I would not naturally gravitate towards if I was to visit a shop. With it's murky, beige-coloured demeanour - striped with glycerine pieces and speckled with fig seeds, this isn't the most attractive soap. However, it is rather effective at doing it's job.
Named after it's key ingredients, this soap features both fresh pieces of fig and is decorated with actual leaves on the top. Unfortunately, my chunk wasn't lavished with the latter feature but it did possess enough inclusion of fig to more than make up for this point.
Firstly, the tiny dark brown fig seeds act as light exfoliators; gently scrubbing the surface of your skin to stimulate blood circulation around your body and remove uneven and dried patches. Lush have successfully calculated the amount of seeds they include in each piece - there's enough here to give your body a great massage, while not going overboard, like in Porridge, where you find there's more 'bits' than actual soap.
Out of the packet, this soap didn't initially win me over with it's scent. Don't get me wrong, it was pleasant enough - a gentle aroma made from the natural sweetness of the figs intertwined with elements of both the aloe vera and the coconut oil. It's a strange creamy, citrusy smell that's rather sophisticated and more on the feminine side if any. However, when it comes in contact with the heat of your shower, this fragrance intensifies and it reminded me of burnt caramel - a vanillary feast with over ripened dates giving it a wonderful sweetness that makes it good enough to eat. The aloe vera is still present in the smell but it's overshadowed by the figs and coconut. It's absolutely gorgeous. My love for Figs And Leaves only increased when I discovered that it is really easy to lather up and it produces a surplus amount of soft, creamy foam to clean yourself with. I found that I only had to massage this gently across my body to exfoliate and cleanse effectively. It made a change from all of the stubborn soaps I have been using recently.
Afterwards, my skin felt really soft and moisturised, without the tautness that I get with quite a number of Lush's soaps. The wonderful scent also lingered on my skin, and I was able to detect it on my arms and hair when I got into bed. I didn't experience a cooling effect from the aloe vera but it was gentle enough to use on my face, which was an added bonus.
Figs And Leaves is a wonderful soap and one I will use regularly, especially in the winter months when my skin is dry and flaky. It conditions and strengthens the look and feel of skin and works wonders at revitalising tired and weathered-looking bodies.
The only issues I found with it is that it's soft consistency means it's prone to shrinking quite quickly, even if you make an effort to keep the block dry between uses. However, coupling this with other favourites such as Angel's Delight and Karma, will allow me to stretch this to lasting me a good month.
Quantitative Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Rapeseed Oil and Coconut Oil, Fig Decoction, Glycerine, Aloe Vera Extract, Sodium Hydroxide, Perfume, Ylang Ylang Oil, Orange Flower Absolute, Fair Trade Organic Aloe Vera Gel, Titanium Dioxide, Sodium Chloride, EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Lilial, Benzyl Benzoate, Linalool.
Vegan?: Yes.
Scent Family:
Dorothy Bubble Bar
Figs & Leaves Soap
2015 Price: £3.40 for 100g, £8.50 for 250g, £17 for 500g.
My husband swears by this for getting his gardening hands clean.
ReplyDeleteTo change the subject a little, I just noticed on my pot of skinny dip body butter that it is suitable for Vegans. I thought I would pass this on as skinny dip in some form is in the kitchen this week.
It's a really love soap and I always forget about it, only to fall in love with it all over again when I have a sniff in a Lush shop!
DeleteAs for Skinny Dip, I am going to buy a couple of pots. However, I remember trying this three years ago and absolutely hating it. I don't know whether I bought an out of date pot on eBay or whether I was having a bad day. I'm a little nervous about this one...
I think it is a love it or hate it thing. I prefer the shower gel. It smells like Bathos to me.
ReplyDeleteThis is my favourite lush soap in the regular line. I absolutely love the smell. I don't know that I agree about it shrinking - mine seems to go on and on forever (past the point where I've done with it and want to move on to something else for a while!). Visually it's not thrilling, I once took a piece on an overnight stay at my parents and my Mum asked if I'd left a dogs marrow bone on the sink!!! But smell and softness wise - it's unsurpassed for me.
ReplyDeleteThis is my favourite lush soap, has been for about 6 years now. I always have a piece in the kitchen, the downstairs bathroom and the bath...usually with another one alongside it in the bath but always that one on the go. I love the actual soap. I love the scent. I'm only sorry they scrapped Dorothy in the same scent.
ReplyDelete