As a Lushie, there are just some products that you never expect to see again - some you believe have been lost forever in the vaults of time, and even the suggestion of them appearing on eBay seems like a far-fetched notion. Jungle Shower Jelly was one such item.
Having read many reviews back in the day when I wanted to learn and absorb as much as I could about Lush, this was a product that stood out from the crowd - one that I knew would be a firm favourite if it was ever re-released commercially. So when it appeared in the Kitchen a few weeks back, I knew it would be a certified winner. And I wasn't wrong.
Sharing its scent with the original Jungle Solid Conditioner, Tropical Jungle Body Lotion and the recently released liquid perfume, this shower jelly is one that doesn't hold back when it comes to both colour and fragrance. This is a jelly that'll knock you for six and then steal your wallet afterwards.As I have no doubt reiterated multiple times across my many social media platforms, the Jungle fragrance is a hard one to describe. Boasting fresh kumquat, ylang ylang, vetivert, cypress and cedarwood oils in its ingredients list, this is a complex, multi-layered aroma unlike any other smell I have ever come across. It's a scent that captures the senses and captivates the mind, and in simple terms would be described by myself as pure perfection.
The best way I would describe the scent of this jelly is by saying that it's dominated by a strange and alluring, but equally soured and strange fruity smell. It's almost like a lemony-piney aroma but with a more rounded citrus edge to it. The inclusion of the cypress oil not only helps to declutter the mind with its relaxing properties, but gives the jelly a very gentle woody aroma; the cedarwood supports this calming conception and again adds a little aromatic, earthy, woody scent.
Understandably, given my description of the fragrance, I'd say that this is one of those acquired smells - one that you can't really be indifferent about because it begs a reaction from each and every person who comes into contact with it. I happen to love the aroma a lot and find it incredibly sophisticated, whereas I can imagine it might cause quite adverse reactions from others.To look at, Jungle is incredible and easily the most stunning shower jelly to come from Lush to date. Like the green version of Big Calm, this beauty is like a storm of colour in a pot - a forest of bright and vivid shades of greens and yellows that stay as vibrant and as beautiful from start to finish.
You can choose how you use this - cutting it into smaller, more manageable pieces or keeping it intact. Either way, the jelly is easy to lather up and creates a thick, slightly oily foam that glides over the skin and leaves it feeling like silk. I chose to cut mine into 1cm cubes and found that it needed very little stimulation to create a mound of soft, fragrant lather to work with.
This piece lived in my bathroom for a good two weeks before it was too small to hold in the shower, meaning that this gorgeous 250g jelly will easily last me six months of continuous use. The fragrance was strong enough that I could still smell it on my skin some three hours after I had exited the shower, and a spritz of the liquid perfume meant I could enjoy the smell throughout the whole day.
As well as using this as an alternative to your regular shower gel or soap, you could also hold a piece under the tap to create a mound of fluffy Jungle-scented bubbles as part of a bath cocktail. The various oils featured in the ingredients list means that the smell will remain prominent during this experience, not to mention making the water really soft for anyone lucky enough to bathe in its waters.As I have said with many of Lush's jellies before, the only thing stopping me giving Jungle a full six out of six is the fact that it's not a gel. While this might seem a little unfair, it's just the fact that the solid format is a little more fiddly than it would be if it was a liquid. Everything else about this limited edition is perfect, and when it comes back in the Kitchen, I cannot stress how important it is that you grab yourself a tub or two.
Quantitative Ingredients: Fresh Kumquat, Glycerine, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Propylene, Glycol, Carrageenan Extract, Perfume, Ylang Ylang Oil, Vetivert Oil, Cypress Oil, Cedarwood Oil, Gardenia Extract, Titanium Dioxide, Hydroxycitronellal, Limonene, Linalool, Methylparaben, Propylparaben.
Vegan?: Yes.
2016 Price: £8.25 for 250g.
2017 Price: £8.25 for 250g.
Year Of Original Release: ?
Scent Family:
Jungle FUN Bar (2014)Jungle Solid Conditioner
Jungle Liquid Perfume
Jungle Shower Jelly
Jungle Soap
Jungle Solid Perfume
Jungle/Tropical Jungle Body Lotion
Mr Dandy's Hair Candy Dressing
I was so excited to try this, it sounded like such an interesting smell. Only when I opened the pot I was hit with the overpowering smell of hay. Everyone I let take a sniff agreed with me, that it smells like a barn full of hay. I know some people would enjoy that but having grown up on a farm the smell had some unpleasant connotations. But I know that some products smell a bit different in use or on your body so I decided to give it a try about a week later. I'm not sure why but I was able to pick out the different layers of scent then, to get the woodsy citrusy aspect of it. It's growing on me a little, though I think I might try coctailing it with other products to see where it could go.
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