Coconut Scrubby Shower Smoothie Roulade

If there's one thing that the Oxford Street store reminds me, it's that there is nothing quite like a Lush experience. What I mean by that is that you're unlikely to find another shop on the high street where you can have soap freshly sliced to the size you want it; you'd be hard-pressed to discover a shop where the employees are happy to play with bubbles or offer you free samples the size of your fist; you certainly wouldn't find an establishment so proud of their wonky bubble bars and messy looking cleansers. 

In fact, it is the imperfections that make Lush so desirable and so unique. Their products work, and they work well - so why care if their face masks look a little like a concoction a child might make in the garden. It is for this very reason that I was extremely excited about the prospect of trying out Lush's impressive new array of solid 'roulade-shaped' shower smoothies. 

Coconut Scrubby was one of the first ones I was drawn to - partly because I was intrigued by the description and mostly because of the smell that greeted me when I first took a sniff in the shop. This smoothie may not be the most attractive or the most colourful of the ones currently available, but it's certainly one of my favourites. 

While Lush have released shower smoothies before, they haven't released anything that quite looks or feels like this one. Presented as a long 'swiss roll', this product is cut into smaller pieces in store - allowing customers to choose how much or how little they'd like. 

Having the smoothie in this format also means that it's far more natural and no doubt fresher than the potted ones. Unfortunately, as the product has little to no preservatives in the ingredients list, it also means that the shelf life is far less than the other format offers. I would treat all of Lush's new shower smoothies like I would with their fresh cleansers, and say that they'd probably last a good 2-3 months before needing replacing.

Made from an interesting combination of ground rice and almonds, this exfoliating smoothie has a strange consistency. It reminds me a little bit of freshly made pate - a sort of soft, sticky and slightly lumpy texture that keeps it shape but easily pulls apart when you need it to in the shower. Coconut Scrubby is also packed full of coconut milk, coconut oil, olibanum, almond and orange oil as well - all of which add to the unique aroma that it possesses. 

All of these ingredients combine to create a really unique smell. To me, it has all the creaminess of coconut but with a sweet, nutty and slightly exotic aroma as well. Imagine making rice pudding using brown sugar and coconut milk - throw in a little almond milk and a splash of orange juice and you may just begin to understand what this product smells like. 

The smoothie is incased in a rough, black layer that can also be found threaded throughout the whole bar. While I was expecting this to be seaweed, I was surprised to find that it felt and smelled more like ground almonds combined with oil. Unlike the seaweed you get with the cleansers, this alternative is really effective as it dissolves under the water so you can use the entire piece. Furthermore, this outer shell converts into small, gritty, black grains when it's being used and these act as a sort of gentle exfoliator for your skin. 

To use the smoothie, all you need to do is break off the desired amount and lather it across your wet skin when you're in the shower. I would suggest that you do this quite rigorously as while it does create a good amount of lather, it can be a little stubborn when there's not enough force to movies across the skin. Then simply wash it off afterwards and you're left with beautiful, clean and rather fragrant skin.

Despite the impressive array of oils presented in the ingredients list, I didn't find this as nourishing on my body as I was expecting it to. While my skin was lovely and smooth afterwards, if a little taut, I didn't experience the silkiness that I would have expected with most of Lush's shower gels or jellies. If you're planning on applying body lotion afterwards, this factor is probably of little concern but if like me you don't moisturise after every shower, you may wish to only use this smoothie when you do so.

Overall, I love the concept of these smoothies and I am very excited to try out the other variations that Lush are currently offering. This is a product I would buy again - if only to enjoy the rather decadent smell as I exfoliated away the day's accumulation of dirt.   

Quantitative Ingredients: Coconut Milk, Rapeseed oil, Coconut Oil (Brassica naps):cocos nucifera), Glycerine, Almond Oil (Prunus dulcis), Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (Cocos nucifera), Water (Aqua), Ground Rice (Oryza sativa), Perfume, Ground Almonds (Prunus dullness), Titanium Dioxide, Fennel Oil (Foeniculum vulgar), Orange Oil (Citrus sinensis), Olibanum Oil (Boswellia carterii), Sodium Chloride, EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Sodium Hydroxide, Citral, Farnesol, Geraniol, Limonene, Linalool. 

Vegan?: Yes.

2015 Price: £5 per 100g.

Year Of Original Release: 2015.