Old Father Time Soap

Every year Lush tend to bring out at least one new soap in their Christmas collection, and if it isn't a brand design, it's at least an old product from the deepest, darkest vaults of the company. However, there hasn't been a soap in a number of years that has incited as much enthusiasm in me as this particular one has done.

Old Father Time is an alluring name for what is easily one of the most exciting, beautiful and gorgeously fragrant soaps to ever come from Lush. You only have to marvel at the product in its complete wheel to know that it is more than just a block of oils to use in the shower - it's a piece of artwork, and a clear statement of the quality of goods that come from my favourite company. 

To begin with, the design is incredible - a deep shade of maroon red, decorated with a golden face and a selection numbers to represent the hands of a clock. Even more impressive is the fact that once you cut the soap open, you'll find cog-shaped clumps of blues and golds threaded throughout the soap which makes it look like the inner workings of an actual clock.

Priced at only £3.50 for 100g, this is a bargain - a steal when you recognise how unique and luxurious the fragrance is, coupled with the quality of the ingredients that go into making it. Containing opopnax - a resin that comes from acacia trees native to warmer parts of America, this soap has a wonderful fragrance that has components of both incense and oriental spice.

While the opopnax offers a warm-balsamic and sweet, honey-like aroma, the myrrh adds a dry, sensual element that gives the soap a more rounded smell. Opopnax is far sweeter, warmer, more powdery and slightly smokier than myrrh, but they do share similar traits, and you can detect both components in the aroma of this beautiful soap. Alongside these ingredients is rosewood - a spicy citrusy and rather woody aroma that gives Old Father Time a slight undertone that reminds me of burnt resin, while the tuberose, which is a sweet, floral and honey-like scent, adds spicy and narcotic elements to make this a rich and highly sultry bar of soap. 

To me, this soap has so many different layers that it's difficult to express exactly how it smells. It reminds me of chai-spiced tea and incense, with a sweet fruity berry note, a dash of herbal tarragon and a sprinkle of powdered sugar that reminds me of the scent of old-fashioned Pink Shrimp sweets. As you can imagine, it's a powerful and very memorable fragrance - one that I know will become a firm favourite amongst Lush fans worldwide.

As if the scent wasn't enough to win me over, this soap works amazingly well in the shower as well. 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.

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.

While it is rare for me to stockpile any of Lush's soaps, even if it's one I really like, I will definitely be making sure that I purchase a big slab of this to see me through the winter months into 2016. If this was to be released as a perfume, it would easily be one of my all-time favourite scents from Lush - they've really outdone themselves this time.                                              

Quantitative Ingredients: Fresh Sage and Thyme Infusion (Salvia officinalis;Thymus vulgaris), Glycerine, Rapeseed Oil; Coconut Oil (Brassica napus;Cocos nucifera), Sorbitol, Water (Aqua), Perfume, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Redcurrants (Ribes rubrum), Myrrh Resinoid (Commiphora myrrha), Opoponax Oil, Rosewood Oil (Aniba rosaeodora), Tuberose Absolute (Polianthes Tuberosa), Sodium Chloride, EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Sodium Hydroxide, Benzyl Benzoate, Hydroxycitronellal, Linalool, Radiant Gold Lustre; Gold Glimmer Lustre; Glacier Blue Lustre; Yoshi Yellow Lustre    

Vegan?: Yes.

2015 Price: £3.50 for 100g.

Year Of Original Release: 2015.