Once Upon A Time Body Lotion

Once Upon A Time there was a Lush fan who didn't like the So White Bath Bomb at all. She had no idea why the boring ball of bicarbonate of soda continued to make an appearance every Christmas; why Santa's Belly Shower Jelly was such a big seller during the seasonal period; and why So White Shower Gel caused such excitement when it was released in the Kitchen. But in 2016, the company revamped the bath bomb slightly: a small change that ignited a new-found love of the ballistic for her, and opened up an interest in the scent family a little more than she had previously felt.

For 2017, Lush have released two brand new limited editions that are guaranteed to leave your skin feeling truly magical: Once Upon A Time Body Lotion and Once Upon A Time Naked Body Lotion. Both sharing the same fragrance, these seasonal releases are a big step away from the usual warm, spicy scents that dictate the Christmas range. And while they're similar in many ways, there are also differences that will divide So White fans when it comes to which they prefer.

Once Upon A Time Body Lotion is made using an infusion of apple, grapefruit, lemon and lime oils. While on paper it sounds like a zesty and rather citrusy affair, the aroma you get from this product is very different than some people would expect. It is the apple infusion, along with its ability to brighten and detoxify the skin, that dominates the overall smell, and Lush have done well to capture the very essence of the fruit, in its natural form. 

Much like the shower gel and jelly variations, this body lotion offers a crisp, fruity apple aroma. As I said in my other reviews, the smell reminds me of freshly-picked and washed Granny Smith apples - a bright, crisp and very naturally sweet aroma that offers an almost cooling effect on the skin because of how light and fresh it smells.

As with all of the products in this family, this is one of Lush's most natural fruit scents, although there does appear to be a very subtle 'perfumed' element to the body lotion that gives the overall smell a little more depth and a touch of what I would describe as a floral component. However, it is the apple fragrance that dominates overall and offers something far superior to any apple-scented products that I have ever experienced in my life. 

Pastel-green in colour, Once Upon A Time is a Lotion of medium thickness, meaning that while it doesn't absorb into the skin immediately, it doesn't take more than about 5-10 minutes to permeate the surface and leave you feeling dry enough to apply clothing over the top. What is great about this Lotion is that you don't need a lot to cover your whole body, so my 100g tub is still almost completely full, despite using it multiple times this month. 

As with all body lotions, you only need a small amount on your fingers before massaging it in a circular motion across your skin. From the tub and on the body, Once Upon A Time offers a very strong aroma - much like Santa's Belly, if I'm going to compare it to anything. It's almost slightly sharp in scent when you initially apply it, and I find it almost smells acidic and rather plastic- like in the tub, although this settles down very quickly once it begins to get to work. 

In fact, for who strong it was to begin with, I was rather disappointed to find that the scent didn't stay on the skin for more than about 30 minutes in my case. Whether the subtlety of the lotion meant that my nose wasn't able to detect it, whereas other people around me could, I'm unsure. However, it would have been much more enjoyable if the sweet apple fragrance had worked better with the heat of my skin and lingered around for longer. 

What I did find with this lotion was that it left my skin feeling a little more moisturised than the solid edition, although not overly so. While I wouldn't use the word 'sticky' to describe the feeling, I felt as if my skin was a little more plump and slightly damper after using the liquid edition. Furthermore, the fragrance stayed around for longer, albeit briefly, than that of the naked edition.

On the other hand, I found that this version wasn't as easy to glide across the skin as the solid version demonstrated, and I needed to use more of this to ensure that I had moisturised myself as efficiently as I had done with its naked sibling. Having said this, the affects of both editions were fairly short term, and I found that I needed to reapply the lotion a few times a day to help keep my skin looking radiant and feeling nourished. I noticed my hands in particular felt rather dry only a couple of hours after using Once Upon A Time, so I don't know how well this would work for my skin type in the colder months. 

Overall, this is a lovely edition to the So White range, and definitely one that will win over the hearts of those who are missing the bath bomb this year. While I love the smell in this format - in fact, I think the fragrance suits this product more that any other in the range, I just wish that the fragrance of this lasted a lot longer than it does. While I won't be stocking up on this before the Christmas season ends, I will continue to enjoy my tub of Once Upon A Time while it lasts me.

Quantitative Ingredients: Apple infusion, Almond Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Glycerine, Murumuru Butter, Stearic Acid, Perfume, *Limonene, Organic Illipe Butter, Triethanolamine, Grapefruit Oil, Sicilian Lemon Oil, Lime Oil, Titanium Dioxide, Cetearyl Alcohol, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, *Citronellol, *Eugenol, Geraniol, Hydroxycitronellal, *Linalool, *Citral, Coumarin, Colour 42090:2, Colour 19140:1.

Vegan?: Yes.

2017 Price: £7.95 for 100g, £13.95 for 225g.

Year Of Original Release: 2017.

Scent Family:
Once Upon A Time Body Lotion
Once Upon A Time Naked Body Lotion
Santa's Belly Jelly
So White Bath Bomb
So White Body Spray
So White New 2016 Edition Bath Bomb
So White Liquid Perfume
So White Shower Gel