Australian Igloo Sugar Scrub

A couple of years ago, I was lucky enough to grab a rare Christmas Gift Set on ebay - one that was clearly past its best but came in a gorgeous hat box that I just had to have in my collection. Amongst the dried soaps and crushed bath bombs was a decrepit Australian Igloo, which just happened to possess some of its aroma still. Despite it being far too old to use, I relished in scrubbing my skin and basking in the gentle fragrance that it left behind. If this scrub was amazing some six years out of date, imagine what a fresh one of these would be like, I thought to myself... 

When the Lush Kitchen announced that they would be bringing it back last December, I couldn't wait to secure myself a handful and find out just how much better a fresh one would be as opposed to the poor-excuse of a scrub that was now a pile of mush in my bathroom. As to be expected, the product was everything I could have hoped for and more.

What is great about Australian Igloo Sugar Scrub is that it offers such a warming, sensual aroma, yet it is one of the lightest smelling scrubs that Lush have ever produced. If you want something that is gentle on the nose while offering the best exfoliation of your life, this limited edition is absolute perfection, and should be a regular product for all to buy.

Taking some of Australia's finest fragrances, and fusing it with a name and design that references the Artic, this seasonal scrub will banish the cold from your fingers and toes, and replenish your life with some much-needed sunshine. During a trip to Finland, Simon Constantine ended up being partnered with a crazy Australian tour guide, who forced him to excel in adventures that he had no desire to do. During his exploits, he noticed that the guide would spend all of his free time trying to build igloos with the snow - hence where the original idea for the product came from.

Crammed full of fine sugar, Australian Igloo is one of the most compact sugar scrubs that Lush do. It is not one that will break easily, nor is it one that will dissolve too quickly under running water - making it the perfect solution for someone like me who likes stronger, more harsher exfoliators. 

Ensure that your skin is slightly damp before massaging this bar across your skin in a circular motion. You'll find that you don't have to press very hard at all to receive quite a harsh, scratchy experience. The first time I used this, I came out of the shower quite red from where I had pressed a little too hard. If you're somebody with sensitive skin, I would highly suggest that you crumble this into a tub first and then apply some to the areas you want to exfoliate. This should hopefully give you more control over how hard you wish to apply it, otherwise there's a good chance that you might irritate your skin in keeping it whole.

Containing pine and sandalwood oil, coupled with a large dosage of eucalyptus, this scrub smells like both a dessert and a finely fragranced wood cabin. While the sugar in most of Lush's scrubs are added for texture, this scrub utilises the sugar for its smell and offers a wonderful sweet base for the other components to work from.

Alongside this, you can detect a note of pine, which offers up a refreshing, crisp but equally resinous, woody smell. The sandalwood combines with a gentle note from the coconut oil to give this scrub a creamy, well-rounded warmth; while the eucalyptus makes Australian Igloo appear cooling with gentles references of green.

While all of these elements are normal fairly robust when allowed to, in this format they are all very placid. This works to the advantage of the scrub because what you end up with is something very comforting and beautifully sweet, yet something that is equally as refreshing and light.

Overall, I was really impressed by how quickly I fell in love with this product. Given that this is perhaps the harshest scrub from Lush to date, it not only left me feeling really clean and free of dirt, but the coconut oil ensured that any moisture lost during my exfoliation was replenished back into my skin at the same time. Furthermore, I was impressed to find that it didn't shrink or break apart in the shower, and was fairly easy to pat down after each use. This meant that a single scrub lasted me a good eight to ten full body uses. 

In addition, I loved the fact that the smell permeated my skin for a good couple of hours after I had towelled myself down. Each and every experience convinced me even more than Lush should bring this fragrance out in multiple formats, as I feel it is wasted while it is only appearing as a scrub. This is definitely one that I would buy again, and I can only hope that my three remaining igloos last me until such time arrives.   

Quantitative Ingredients: Sugar, Sodium Bicarbonate, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Cream of Tartar, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Dried Rosella ,Siberian Pine Oil ,Eucalyptus Blue ,Sandalwood Oil,Cocamide DEA, Lauryl Betaine, PEG-6 Caprylic / Capric Glycerides, *Citral,*Coumarin, *Limonene,Methyl Ionone, Perfume,Colour 42090.

Vegan?: Yes.

2016 Price: £4.75 for 100g

Year Of Original Release: 2006