Prince Charming Shower Cream

When I first heard that Lush were bringing back Prince Charming, I was thrilled. While I wouldn't say it was one of my top ten favourite shower gels from the company, it is still a really great product, and one that has such a wonderful and unique smell. However, when I realised that it would be a Prince Charming Shower Cream on sale, and not a gel, I was a little bit apprehensive. 

Although I have a lot of faith in Lush and the way they conduct themselves, up until this point I still firmly believed that shower gels were superior to creams - if only because of the fact that they've proven to be far better lathers when I compare the likes of Lord Of Misrule and The Comforter versions against most of the other gels that the company have ever released. 

Initial thoughts were very positive - the cream looked far more beautiful than the original gel - sporting a shade of bright flamingo pink, with a gorgeous shimmer that gave the product a sort of pearl effect when being used in the shower. I thought the colour was far more 'fitting' than the gel, and this sparked an interest to explore the shower cream further.

Looking at the ingredients list, there is not much that differs from the gel. Containing a marshmallow root and Fair Trade vanilla pod infusion, pomegranate juice, grapefruit, sandalwood and geranium oil, the 'base' ingredients are on par with the original release. So it is therefore unsurprising to discover that both versions smell near enough identical.

As I have previous made known, this is one of those odd products that I find fairly difficult to describe - not that the fragrance of the cream is complex at all, just that the few notes that are present offer their services all at once, which makes it quite tricky to really work out which is the stronger smell - a fact that means there are quite a lot of different descriptions for this scent. Everyone's nose is different, but I'll try to describe what I get upon opening the bottle.

My initial reaction is that I smell a sweet, slightly vanillary fruity smell. It's a little like if Rose Jam was to procreate with a marshmallow and then have lots of Happy Hippy children. You get the sweetness from the grapefruit oil, a smooth creamy edge of vanilla and then just the slightest kick of marshmallow that gives it a chocolatey edge. While the geranium oil is fairly low down on the ingredient list, it has enough kick here to make its presence known almost immediately, and I can definitely detect that very subtle floral tone that rounds it off beautifully. 

Out of the bottle, the cream is quite a thick, gloopy consistency - very similar to Yummy Mummy Shower Gel that was released last year. Surprisingly, it has quite a sticky consistency and you can really feel it coating your skin when you massage it across your body.

What I loved about the cream is that as soon as it came into contact with the hot water from my shower, the smell of cocoa butter came through and made itself more pronounced. While it didn't overpower the other elements, or change the original dynamics of the cream, it did add a lovely bonus to enjoy.

Unfortunately, I found that this wasn't the best latherer I have used from Lush, but that's not to say it was terrible. I found that it was better to stimulate the foam in your hands first and then smother it all over your body, as when it was rubbed across the skin, it wasn't so generous with the lather it created. At times, I even found that I could feel the product in my hand but I wasn't able to see it on my skin when cleaning myself.

Having said this, my skin still felt as soft and smooth as it would with any good Lush shower gel, and the scent it left on my skin afterwards was stunning. It definitely did its job of moisturising and cleaning at the same time, and I found myself sniffing my arms and hands afterwards to get a glimpse of the smell that was left

Overall, this shower cream is unique and wonderful - a product that I hope makes a reappearance year after year. Although it didn't foam up as easily as the gel version did, everything else about it was far superior to the gel. Lush have definitely improved this product and I am very happy that it is now produced in this format.

   

Quantitative Ingredients: Water,  Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Marshmallow Root and Fair Trade Vanilla Pod Infusion, Stearic Acid, Lauryl Betaine, Propylene, Glycol, Fresh Organic Pomegranate Juice, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Grapefruit Oil, Sandalwood Oil, Geranium Oil, Citronellol, Farnesol, Geraniol, Limonene, Linalool, Perfume, Snowflake Lustre, Colour 17200, Colour 45410, Methylparaben.

Vegan?: Yes.

2016 Price: £4.95 for 100g, £9.75 for 250g, £16.50 for 500g, £27.95 for 1kg.

Year Of Original Release: 2016.

Scent Family:

Prince Charming Shower Cream

Prince Charming Shower Gel

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