Zen Soap happens to be the first soap that I gravitated towards after picking up my much-needed chunk of Sea Salted Caramel. Although the description didn't sell it to me in the shop, it was its gorgeous design that swayed my decision into buying a chunk to take home with me. And was I grateful that I did!
Presented as a large ring, this stunning soap looks like it's black in colour. However, on closer inspection you'll realise that it's actually a deep and very shimmery dark spring green. This rich and very gorgeous design has lustre threaded throughout the whole soap which when you cut it, looks a little like a galaxy of stars. To finish off, this beauty is painted with a thin layer of gold that makes this one of the most beautiful soaps that Lush have ever released.
As if the design wasn't perfect enough, this soap offers more than just a fragrance - I would describe it as being more of an experience. With a white tea infusion as the main ingredient, Zen smells like a mug of chai tea with an extra dollop of cinnamon and a generous spoonful of patchouli. If you love Karma as I do, you'll recognise that sweet, exotic and slightly earthy aroma that you would normally expect from products in this scent family. However, in the case of this soap, the patchouli sits back a little in the mix and allows the other notes to come through more strongly.
Lush describe the soap as being 'deeply medatitive' and I would wholeheartedly agree. With a blend of oudh, sandalwood and patchouli, this is a very relaxing, earthy scent - one that combines the fresh, woody aroma of sandalwood with the fruity, spicy patchouli perfectly.
As if the scent wasn't enough to win me over, this soap works amazingly well in the shower. When in contact with water, it produces a thick, creamy and slightly oily lather that glides over the skin and infuses your body with its beautiful aroma. Once the soap suds have been rinsed away, you're left with crisp, clean, smooth feeling skin. While a lot of lustre has gone into making this soap, I can assure you that none will get on your skin and or leave a mess in your tub for you to clean up afterwards.
To reiterate what I said earlier, this is more than just a soap. I say this because not only was my body left feeling and smelling pretty amazing, but the fragrance itself left me feeling really calm and relaxed, and I definitely noticed a change in my mood after using this in the shower.
What is great about Zen is that while it's not as moisturising as a shower gel, my skin was left feeling really radiant and soft - something that not a lot of other soaps can claim to do. While I was disappointed to find that the scent of this wasn't very strong on my skin afterwards, I was grateful to know that I could still sniff my piece whenever I wanted.
Although £6.50 might sound like a lot for a small 100g piece, this is a soap that doesn't alter much in size between each use so it'll outlast a lot of other cheaper Lush soaps available. I will definitely be buying a large chunk of this when I'm next in the store and I hope Lush make this a regular so I can stock up whenever I need to.
Quantitative Ingredients: White Tea Infusion (Camelila sinensus), Glycerine, Rapeseed oil: Coconut Oil (Brassica napus: Cocoa nucifera), Sorbitol, Water (Aqua), Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Perfume, Sodium Stearate, Sodium Chloride, Labdanum Resinoid (Cistus labdaniferus), Sandalwood Oil (Santalum austro-caledonicum viell), Patchouli Oil (Pogostemon cablin), Eugenol, EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Sodium Hydroxide, Citral, Eugenol, Geraniol, Limonene, Linalool, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Gold Glimmer Lustre (Synthetic Fluorphogopite, Iron Oxide Silica), Colour 77492, Colour 77891, Colour 42000.
Vegan?: Yes.
2015 Price: £6.50 for 100g.
Year Of Original Release: 2015.
Goddess Bath Bomb
I absolutely adore the look of this! Your description of the smell is great as well though I'm a bit worried about the karma-ish aspect.
ReplyDeleteKarma Kream was too heavy for my liking, though the karma soap was alright. I hope the patchouli does step back behind the other fragrances and I'm eager to test it out. I had wondered abotu what soap is soo pretty since you posted it on instagram.
I would say that I compared it to Karma because it does have that Patchouli element and you can smell it but it's definitely not the defining ingredient so you should be fine! :)
DeleteHey Jen! Just briefly, what's Oxford Street's Bertie soap like? My mum absolutely loves liquorice and so it seems like a good idea for a birthday present for her.
ReplyDeleteHey there - I wouldn't say it's a very strong liquorice smell - more of a gentle sweet herby smell. You can detect the fennel somewhat as well as the tarragon. It's definitely a very pleasant smell but I'd say it's more sweet with elements of liquorice. I've been using it the last few days and I plan on writing a detailed review later today so I'll be able to describe it in a little more detail then :)
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