Last year, the Lush Kitchen brought out a handful of limited edition body lotions, and Calacas was one of them. At the time, I thought it was one of the most exciting releases of the decade - for anyone who's a long time Lush fan will know just how popular the Calacas/Day Of The Dead range is to the community, and indeed myself. Some people had been waiting near on a century for the opportunity to lather themselves up with their favourite fragrance, and now it was finally happening.
Unfortunately, I found out very quickly that all of these body lotions had clearly been made with the same base ingredients, and a little perfume had been added to give the product its signature scent. This meant that the lotions weren't exactly of the greatest quality and the smell didn't stick around all that much to make it worth the hype that the company had been building up.
This time around, the body lotions have clearly had some time invested in them, because the colours they offer; the consistencies that differ; and the way my skin has responded to them all, is a clear testament that actually it was THIS release fans had actually been waiting for, and the previous must have been a warm up.Yet despite this, Calacas is still one of the weakest ones out of the whole collection. That's not to say that it isn't a great body lotion, nor that Lush have done anything wrong. Just that I've come to realise that I don't ever think Calacas will ever truly make an amazing body lotion, and here's why...
Firstly, I should stay that I was both disappointed and excited by the colour upon opening the lid for the first time. On the one hand, the wonderfuly sultry shade of yellow is definitely a lot more interesting than the plain white lotion we received with the first attempt. However, the zestiness of the fragrance tells me that this lotion should definitely be a bright spring green to match the beautiful smell.
The lotion itself is fairly thick - a little thicker than the original Lush Kitchen release but not by much - and spreads across the skin with ease. Those with hairs on their arms may notice that it takes a little extra massaging to help it absorb into the skin in these areas. However, I didn't have any problems moisturising myself with this at all, and found that I could re-apply my clothes a matter of minutes after application. You don't have to worry about Calacas rubbing off onto anything else as your skin doesn't stay sticky after you've moisturised.
From the tub, the scent is definitely a step in the right direction. Whereas I felt as if the first Calacas release had a strong note from the base ingredients, which seemed to thwart the fruitiness of the lime getting though as much as it could, this one doesn't seem to have this at all. A quick comparison of the two ingredients list shows me that Lush have altered the base of this one now, so there's probably more featured in this lotion to hold and project the fragrance even further.
Having said that, there is still something slightly reserved about the smell of this lotion, and this is what leads me to believe that perhaps this particular fragrance is never going to hold up well enough in certain formats. While I love the Calacas family as one of my favourites, I really don't think that the lotion is a good representative of what this scent can do.On the skin, the lotion leaves your skin wonderfully soft and smooth, and just like the other lotions in this release, I could notice a difference after only my first use. When using a little on my face, I could see a gentle shine that stayed with me for most of the day, and my face appeared slightly more radiant in the mirror.
Despite this, the scent didn't last particularly well on the skin. Within about forty minutes after application, I could no longer smell the gorgeous fruity lime aroma, while the perfume I had sprayed at the same time as applying the lotion was still going strong. As I had lathered up two arms with two lotions that day, it was disappointing to find that I could still smell the other lotion for almost two hours more, while Calacas had already crept away.
Ultimately, fans of Calacas will want to pick this up. While not as spritzy as the liquid perfume, the lotion does replicate the scent family well. The lotion is also great at improving the condition of your skin in short succession, and adds a little radiance to your body.
Yet, the scent doesn't last on the skin very long and isn't as vibrant or as zesty as it is in other formats. Having said that, I honestly don't think that Lush are to blame for this at all; I truly believe that this fragrance just isn't suited for some formats, and a body lotion just doesn't have the strength to hold and project that wonderful note of lime that we all love. While it's a step in the right direction, it's not quite enough to score a higher rating from me.
Quantitative Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Almond Oil, Glycerine, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Organic Cold Pressed Grapeseed Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Stearic Acid, Fresh Aloe Gel, Organic Illipe Butter, Triethanolamine, Lime Oil, Olibanum Oil, Neroli Oil, Cetearyl Alcohol, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Benzyl Salicylate, *Citral, *Geraniol, Hydroxycitronellal, *Limonene, *Linalool, Perfume, Colour 45350, Colour 42090, Colour 59040.
Vegan?: Yes.
2018 Price: £16.95 for 225g.
Year Of Original Release: 2018.
Scent Family:
Calacas Shower GelCalacas Shower Jelly
Calacas/Day of The Dead Perfume
Lady Catrina Soap
Man In The Moon Bubble Bar
Monsters' Ball Bath Bomb
Skullduggery Ballistic
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