Middle Earth Turns To Rock Soap

As I've said in previous reviews, there are some products I would never have dared tried had they been given to me a couple of years ago. A product that featured mud so heavily would have been at the top of my list of 'things to avoid', which means I would never had had the pleasure of enjoying this soap. 

Middle Earth Turns To Rock conjures up 'Lord-of-the-rings-style' images - of swords forged from the fires of the earth's core and erupting volcanos amidst the desolate landscapes of dried molten and ancient boulders. Well, it does for me at least...

Unfortunately for me, this soap has not made an appearance for quite a number of years now, so when I managed to acquire a fairly unattractive piece on eBay, it was far from the condition it would have been when fresh. For this reason, I was expecting it to offer me an awful experience and leave me wishing I had invested my money in something else. On the contrary. 

As a product that features mud as it's main ingredient, it's not the most attractive to look at. However, there is something quite alluring and exciting about sharing a shower with a block of mud (I need to get out more!).

Featuring Rhassoul mud, kaolin and pumice powder, this soap has a very gritty texture, which makes it a fantastic exfoliator for the skin. In the shower, these ingredients not only allow you to scour dead skin and file away lumps and bumps, but it's also very resilient to the water, so you don't have to worry about it crumbling away like Mud Flats Soap. 

These three ingredients also form the basis of the soap's scent - a deep and natural earthy aroma. Although it does smell very much like mud, Lush have also included patchouli oil to add a slight spicy sweetness to the soap. This complements the mud and makes it a little more uplifting and enjoyable in the shower.

Middle Earth is not a very generous soap with it's lather - in fact, I didn't find it lathered up much at all, although this could have been to do with how old the piece I acquired was. However, it's texture means that most people would no doubt buy this as a scrub rather than to clean - it's a little like Sandstone in this way. 

For this reason, it's a fantastic scrub and works much better than other solid bars that Lush offer. I found this works particularly well on the soles of my feet, where I often develop hard layers of skin caused by the amount of time I spend walking around. Middle Earth works wonders at softening and eventually removing these patches. 

I would love for Lush to bring this product back as I would use this alongside Sandstone and Aqua Mirabilis to have the softest, most amazing skin ever. This is easily one of my favourite soaps and you need to try it so that it becomes on of yours as well. Let's hope it makes an appearance in the Lush Kitchen really soon...

Quantitative Ingredients: Rhassoul Mud Slurry, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Propylene Glycol, Pumice Powder, Kaolin, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Stearate, Pefume, Patchouli Oil (Pogostemon cablin), Vetivert Oil (Vetiveria zizanoides), Glycerine, Sodium Chloride, EDTA, Tetrasodium Editronate.

Vegan?: Yes.