Karma Wash Card

Back when the flagship store on Oxford Street first opened, the 'Shower Sheet' was a brand new product that excited Lush fans around the world. For those not content with shower gels and shower jellies and shower smoothies and buttercreams, here was a brand new, innovative design that challenged the concept of 'normal showering' once again. 

Yet, after recognising their many merits, there was still a part of me that felt as if I wasn't getting as much value from a £13.95 sheet as I was for a similarly priced bottle. Therefore, once I had tried all of the sheets to review on my blog, I settled back into the routine of using my favourite gels and jellies once more.

However, after the Kiss Me Quick Business Card made an appearance earlier this year as part of the Valentine's Day range, I began to recognise other purposes that this format was able to offer, and I found a newfound appreciation of the product. So when Karma Wash Card was one of many new cards to showcase themselves at the Lush Summit event on February 8th, 2017, I was far more optimistic about picking myself up a handful.  

Firstly, the size of this card means that this will slip easily into a purse or a side pocket of a bag/suitcase - making it a great travelling companion that wont weigh you down. Due to this format not being able to create any unwanted spillages whatsoever, this solid rendition of a shower gel also guarantees to be leakage-free, and suitable to take on board a plane as part of your hand luggage.

Secondly, the lack of any active moisture means that the sheets are preservative free - meaning that they should have a much longer shelf life than their liquid counterparts. In addition, the lack of moisture means that they are far more densely packed with ingredients. For this reason, when used in the shower, the theory is that they'll be able to create much more of a lather from far less of the product because of this. Furthermore, they don't contribute to package waste in the slightest, making it far more environmentally friendly than their other shower counterparts.

Seeing the cards placed next to their perfume partner made me also realise that these are a great way of trying out a fragrance before you invest in a jul-size bottle. While £2 initially seems rather expensive for what roughly equates to about 6-10 showers worth of product, I feel as if this is worth doing rather than spending £30+ on a bottle of perfume that you realise you are not so keen on a few weeks later. 

While Karma Shower Gel and Karma Shower Jelly are both available fairly often in the Lush Kitchen, these are not products that are accessible to every Lush fan at any given moment. Once these cards make a permanent feature in stores, it'll mean that fans of certain fragrances will be able to have full time access to shower products in their favourite scents.

Sharing its scent with the popular Karma range, Karma Wash Card is exactly what you'd expect. Probably being closest in smell to the shower jelly format, this patchouli, pine, lemongrass and orange-scented aroma is beautiful in every way.

Karma is an ambient fragrance reminiscent of the sixties. Spicy orange oil is definitely the heart and soul of this fragrance - with warm, earthy and slightly spicy hints of patchouli to compliment the main scent. An occasional burst of lavender gives it a herbal touch and pine oil seals the deal, making this a multi-layered festivity of smells. The scent is both sweet and citrusy, and reminds me of those old-fashioned cola bottle sweets you used to get when you were little; or summer days where the smell of burning incense can be found wafting out of shop windows.   

What is great about this wash card is that it can also be used as a shampoo, which helps to lighten your load even more when you're travelling. Having only tried this out once, I can honestly say that it left my hair feeling silky-smooth and incredibly clean - not to mention the fact that the scent radiated from my locks for hours afterwards. 

While it lathered up quickly, and was equally as generous as a regular shower gel in terms of the amount of 'foam' it produced, I was a little disappointed to discover that the sheet near-on disintegrated when coming into contact with the running water. This is definitely not a product you should use in one go. Instead, to get the most out of it, I would recommend that you break off a small piece (1cm), add a little water away from the direct flow of the shower, and then massage it across your skin in a circular motion. 

The wash card produces a light, fluffy and very fragrant lather, and you can easily clean your entire body with the recommended size piece. In that sense it is equally as effective, if not more so than the shower gel variation, and works as a great top up for those who love the scent but don't have the privilege of owning the shower gel or jelly.  

As a gift, or as a product to store for future travel plans, this is a lovely limited edition to invest in. Although I won't be replacing my shower gels anytime soon, this business card has definitely sparked my interest in the shower sheets a little more, and I would definitely consider carrying these with me on trips rather than storing the usual bottle of gel. While a part of me considers £2 to be a little expensive for the size of the item, I can also see how its price tag makes it easily accessible for those on a budget, and who perhaps don't wish to invest the amount it costs for a full-sized version.

Quantitative Ingredients: ?

Vegan?: Yes.

2017 Price: £2 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2017.