Lush Hippy Cold-Pressed Soap

Aside from the beautiful products they produce and the amazing fanbase that I am proud to be a part of, one of my favourite parts about being a Lushie is all of the knowledge that I pick up through the research that I do for this blog. When I first started writing, I knew next to nothing about the different ingredients, scents, health benefits etc. of the products. 

Driven by my attention to detail mixed in with a little curiosity, I have learnt so much more about many of the countries that Lush import from, discovered some truly amazing projects that I now avidly follow, and know the health benefits of nearly every single one of the ingredients that the company use in their cosmetics. 

One of three cold-pressed soaps from the Oxford Street store, Lush Hippy interested me not only because it was a completely new product to try out, but because of both the science that went into crafting it and the history that allowed it be what it is. After a little research, I discovered the following:

Cold-pressed means when there is no external heat used to melt the ingredients or bind them together. Instead, specific ingredients are used - some of which react with other chemicals, which in turn helps to create the soap. In Lush's cold-pressed soaps they use sodium hydroxide - a chemical that dissolves in water, allowing for the mixture to be combined without having to use heat or extreme force.

Furthermore, Lush's soaps include a base of coconut and rapeseed oil - both of which can be combined easily with other components but are able to withstand high temperatures without melting. This allows the soap to remain solid at room temperature but melt a little when in contact with the heat of the shower water. A perfect pairing to create a well-balanced and extremely useful block of soap.

As I stated in both of my other reviews, the lack of heat used throughout this process means that the oils retain all of their flavour, aroma and nutritional value - making them better for consumption as well as for the skin. It is no wonder then that these three soaps have proven to be a lot gentler and more nourishing on my skin.  

Sporting a sunflower-yellow design with a bronze decoration on top, Lush Hippy is probably the prettiest out of the three. Inspired by the scent of Market Street, this soap has a strange smell - an earthy, mossy, grassy aroma that reminds me very much of Tramp Shower Gel. 

A combination of sunflower and wheatgerm oil gives this soap a very delicate dried hay note, while the patchouli adds a sweet, exotic and slightly spicy element to the table. While the vetivert oil offers an underlying resinous and slightly smoky element, it's subtle enough that it doesn't thwart the other components and instead creates a perfect balance.

Although all of the ingredients give it a very distinctive smell, they also help to make this soap really effective in the shower. While the sunflower seeds act as a gentle exfoliator - scrubbing the skin and clearing the pores, the inclusion of cocoa butter moisturises the skin, leaving it feeling clean and soft.

This soap is probably the most generous in the shower - immediately creating an impressive amount of yellow foam that coats the skin and leaves it smelling wonderful. While this lather doesn't stain, it does tend to leave splodges of yellow everywhere so I'd carefully consider where you plan on storing it in between uses. 

While my skin felt taut after use, it felt really clean and not the sort of 'dry' sensation you find when a soap has removed too much moisture - more of the squeaky clean feeling you get after washing the dishes and exposing your hands to the soap suds for a prolonged amount of time. 

Although it hasn't completely won me over and convinced me that soaps can be as enjoyable as shower gels, it was a really lovely experience, and one that I would invest in again in the future. The fact that the soap doesn't shrink much with each use means that I enjoyed cutting my bar into slices and taking pieces with me when I went away - a compact shower companion that doesn't post the risk of a leakage and leaves you smelling rather lovely afterwards. Wonderful.

Quantitative Ingredients: Rapeseed Oil; Coconut Oil (Brassica napus; Cocos nucifera), Sunflower Infusion (Helianthus annuus), Water (Aqua), Sunflower Seed Oil (Helianthus annuus), Wheatgerm Oil (Triticum vulgare), Cornstarch (Zea mays), Sodium Hydroxide, Patchouli Oil (Pogostemon cablin), Glycerine, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter (Theobroma cacao), Gardenia Extract (Gardenia jasminoides), Sunflower Seeds (Helianthus annuus), Labdanum Resinoid (Cistus ladaniferus), Brazilian Orange Oil (Citrus sinensis), Vetivert Oil (Vetiveria zizanoides), Sodium Chloride, Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, *Limonene, Colour 47005.

Vegan?: Yes.

2015 Price: £4.95 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2015.