Sultana Body Lotion

With a total of ten body lotions being released from the Lush Kitchen this month, there was bound to be one that didn't live up to the expectations I had set. In fact, I don't think there hasn't been a Lush order where at least one of the products has stuck out like a sore thumb, and dampened my excitement a little in the process.

Sultana Body Lotion was actually one of the ones I was most excited about trying. With the recent release of the shower gel, and last year's Halloween Bewitched Bubble Bar, I have come to appreciate the scent an awful lot more than I used to. There is something so rich and comforting about the fragrance, and I couldn't think of a better way of indulging myself in the smell than by smothering myself with a body lotion to match my craving. Unfortunately, it didn't take more than me removing the lid and giving the lotion a quick sniff to realise just how underwhelmed I was about this release.

As to be expected from this fragrance, the collaboration of apricot, cranberries and currants help to make Sultana a very fruity concoction. Paired with a generous dosage of olibanum oil and what you get is a smell that is both richly fruity but also very sultry as well.  

While it is called Sultana, it is the latter ingredient that normally makes the biggest presence when it comes to all of the products in this scent family. However, I found very quickly that the amount of olibanum present in the lotion was considerably lower than expected, and I didn't experience that rounded, almost sticky-sweet fragrance that I was expecting. Although the fragrance of the body lotion is still very similar to all of the other products with the same scent, I just felt as if it wasn't as rich or as decadent. 

There is something about this lotion that suggests that this aforementioned ingredient has somewhat less of an impact on the senses, and the fruity elements present are definitely what's holding this smell together. On the skin, it was the apricots and currants that kept the aroma alive, and the olibanum tended to fade into the background rather quickly.

While you could smell the familiar combination of olibanum, apricots and currants, there was definitely something rather weak about the smell of this when compared to every other format I have tried. After applying this across my body, I was no longer able to smell it at all within the first thirty minutes - making it the weakest of the ten new body lotions. Furthermore, the lack extra oils and butters, as other lotions contain, Sultana was not as moisturising to boot.

The consistency of this body lotion was on par with the likes of Karma Cream and Ginger Body Lotion, and was really easy to apply onto the skin. In fact, you needed very little to moisturise your whole body with, and I found that the cream itself absorbed into the skin very quickly as well. 

While it didn't offer any glean on the surface of the skin, it did leave my body feeling very moisturised and hydrated. Due to the lack of extra oils in the ingredients list, Sultana would definitely be an all-rounder: working with every skin type without irritating the skin or making it too greasy. If you're looking for something light, this would be a great lotion to go for, as it doesn't leave you feeling at all heavy of oily. 

My main issue with this body lotion however, is the fact that the scent dissipated so quickly that I could barely enjoy the fragrance on my skin before it had completely disappeared. And while it worked well as a lotion, there wasn't anything extra special about how my skin felt afterwards - any better than what I could achieve with a regular body lotion. 

This is certainly not a body lotion I would buy again, which is a shame because the shower gel was one of the highlights of the last Lush Kitchen release. Having said that, there was bound to be at least one body lotion that didn't live up to my expectations, and I not like I don't have another seven tubs of lotions to keep me going for a while. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Almond Oil, Apricot Infusion, Cranberry Infusion, Currant infusion, Water (Aqua), Glycerine, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Organic Jojoba Oil, Stearic Acid, Organic Illipe Butter, Triethanolamine, Olibanum Oil, Bergamot Oil, Cetearyl Alcohol, Butylphenyl, Methylpropional Hexyl, Cinnamal, *Limonene, *Linalool, Perfume. 

Vegan?: Yes.

2018 Price: £14.95 for 225g.

Year Of Original Release: 2018.

Scent Family:
Bewitched Bubble Bar

Blackberry Bath Bomb
Sultana Body Lotion
Sultana Shower Gel

Sultana Of Skin Body Conditioner

Sultana Of Soap Soap

Old Father Time Soap

Every year Lush tend to bring out at least one new soap in their Christmas collection, and if it isn't a brand design, it's at least an old product from the deepest, darkest vaults of the company. However, there hasn't been a soap in a number of years that has incited as much enthusiasm in me as this particular one has done.

Old Father Time is an alluring name for what is easily one of the most exciting, beautiful and gorgeously fragrant soaps to ever come from Lush. You only have to marvel at the product in its complete wheel to know that it is more than just a block of oils to use in the shower - it's a piece of artwork, and a clear statement of the quality of goods that come from my favourite company. 

To begin with, the design is incredible - a deep shade of maroon red, decorated with a golden face and a selection numbers to represent the hands of a clock. Even more impressive is the fact that once you cut the soap open, you'll find cog-shaped clumps of blues and golds threaded throughout the soap which makes it look like the inner workings of an actual clock.

Priced at only £3.50 for 100g, this is a bargain - a steal when you recognise how unique and luxurious the fragrance is, coupled with the quality of the ingredients that go into making it. Containing opopnax - a resin that comes from acacia trees native to warmer parts of America, this soap has a wonderful fragrance that has components of both incense and oriental spice.

While the opopnax offers a warm-balsamic and sweet, honey-like aroma, the myrrh adds a dry, sensual element that gives the soap a more rounded smell. Opopnax is far sweeter, warmer, more powdery and slightly smokier than myrrh, but they do share similar traits, and you can detect both components in the aroma of this beautiful soap. Alongside these ingredients is rosewood - a spicy citrusy and rather woody aroma that gives Old Father Time a slight undertone that reminds me of burnt resin, while the tuberose, which is a sweet, floral and honey-like scent, adds spicy and narcotic elements to make this a rich and highly sultry bar of soap. 

To me, this soap has so many different layers that it's difficult to express exactly how it smells. It reminds me of chai-spiced tea and incense, with a sweet fruity berry note, a dash of herbal tarragon and a sprinkle of powdered sugar that reminds me of the scent of old-fashioned Pink Shrimp sweets. As you can imagine, it's a powerful and very memorable fragrance - one that I know will become a firm favourite amongst Lush fans worldwide.

As if the scent wasn't enough to win me over, this soap works amazingly well in the shower as well. When in contact with water, it produces a thick, creamy and slightly oily lather that glides over the skin and infuses your body with its beautiful aroma. Once the soap suds have been rinsed away, you're left with crisp, clean, smooth feeling skin.

To reiterate what I said earlier, this is more than just a soap. I say this because not only was my body left feeling and smelling pretty amazing, but the fragrance itself left me feeling really calm and relaxed, and I definitely noticed a change in my mood after using this in the shower.

While it is rare for me to stockpile any of Lush's soaps, even if it's one I really like, I will definitely be making sure that I purchase a big slab of this to see me through the winter months into 2016. If this was to be released as a perfume, it would easily be one of my all-time favourite scents from Lush - they've really outdone themselves this time.                                              

Quantitative Ingredients: Fresh Sage and Thyme Infusion (Salvia officinalis;Thymus vulgaris), Glycerine, Rapeseed Oil; Coconut Oil (Brassica napus;Cocos nucifera), Sorbitol, Water (Aqua), Perfume, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Redcurrants (Ribes rubrum), Myrrh Resinoid (Commiphora myrrha), Opoponax Oil, Rosewood Oil (Aniba rosaeodora), Tuberose Absolute (Polianthes Tuberosa), Sodium Chloride, EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Sodium Hydroxide, Benzyl Benzoate, Hydroxycitronellal, Linalool, Radiant Gold Lustre; Gold Glimmer Lustre; Glacier Blue Lustre; Yoshi Yellow Lustre    

Vegan?: Yes.

2015 Price: £3.50 for 100g.

Year Of Original Release: 2015.

Sultana Of Soap Soap

Ever since I received a freshly-made slab of this a few months ago, I've been really keen to try it out. Just everything about this product makes me salivate; I've never wanted to love a product more than I have Sultana Of Soap. 

First of all, this soap needs to be used fresh. As a Lush collector, I have near enough a 100 different slabs of soap from as far back as 2006, and most of them retain some of their scent and their nourishing qualities for years. However, this soap is different - It needs to be used within a couple of months of purchasing, and here's why.

Sultana of Soap is unlike any other soap that Lush currently offer. Inspired by Italian nougat, this soap looks, feels and smells like it's been made to be eaten - it reminds me a lot of stollen cake. Packed full of the freshest and most natural of ingredients; dried apricots, currants and cranberries, bergamot, coconut and rapeseed oil, this soap is a soft and rather oily feeling product. The addition of olibanum oil only serves to make it that little bit 'wetter' in consistency, which helps to make it one of the most moisturising soaps around.

Sharing it's fragrance with Lush's Blackberry Bath Bomb, this soap possesses a creamy and rather fruity aroma, with elements of the coconut and bergamot oils seeping through as the dominant scents. The more you sniff this, the more you begin to pick up other elements of it's aroma; there's the gentle sweetness of the apricots, the savoury element of the rapeseed oil. This is a very gentle scent, and one that smells as luxurious as the job it does.

As to be expected, in the shower the soap lathers up very easily and decorates your skin with a thin layer of creamy, white foam. You only have to run it over your body to get this effect, so it might be worth making sure you don't expose it to the water all that often. After you rinse the cream away, you are left with wonderful smelling skin that feels really gentle and moisturised; you can see and feel the shine that Sultana Of Soap evokes; a glimmer that gives your skin a healthy glow without making it look greasy or oily. 

Despite it's soft consistency, I was surprised to find that this is one of the longer lasting soaps. I'm guessing because you don't have to work at it to build the lather, a small 100g block will last a longer than expected.The only issue I found with Sultana, is that the dried fruit that rests on top and encased inside, tends to drop off whilst your using it, which can sometimes clog the drain. This is a small problem though, and doesn't take away from the it's overall performance.

Overall, the soap is a surprise favourite of mine, and it's one I'll rely on in the winter months to regenerate and pamper my weathered skin. It has a wonderfully light but playful scent; one that stays with you long after you exit the shower, and I find that it really helps to boost your spirits and improve your mood during and after use. It's a seriously sultry and rather sexy fragrance that I often use before a night out. It leaves you feeling and smelling wonderful, and is definitely a soap I'll be buying again.

Quantitative Ingredients: Water, Propylene Glycol, Rapeseed Oil and Coconut Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Perfume, Dried Apricots, Dried Currants, Titanium Dioxide, Glycerine, Dried Cranberries, Olibanum Oil, Bergamot Oil, Sodium Chloride, EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Lilial.

Vegan?: Yes.

Scent Family:
Bewitched Bubble Bar

Blackberry Bath Bomb
Sultana Body Lotion
Sultana Shower Gel

Sultana Of Skin Body Conditioner
Sultana Of Soap Soap

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The Witches' Ball Bubble Bar

The Witches' Ball Bubble Bar was first made for Lush's Christmas 2008 range, and although it's made a reappearance over the years, it is only recently that I've managed to pick myself up a couple to try. It's definitely one of Lush's more quirkier products; it's not something you're likely to find in the typical high street shop, which is probably why I was so intrigued to give it a whirl.

Most often, when I invest in any of Lush's older products, I like to carry out a little research to find out the history of the product alongside the general reaction to said item. With Witches' Ball, I found there was a clear division - it's a product that normally inspires quite strong reactions (both positive and negative), so I was a little unsure what to expect when the strange-looking clump turned up at my door. 

Firstly, it's definitely a unique and strangely beautiful bubble bar. With it's dark violet shell speckled with sprigs of fresh parsley and decorated with a star anise on top, it's an acquired taste. What I love about it, is that it really does conjure up thoughts of medieval witchery and the supernatural. Much like Ceridwan's Cauldron, there's something weirdly alluring about the romanticism of old-fashioned witchcraft and the occult. 

Secondly, I was very intrigued to see what this bubble bar smelt like before and during my bath. Witches' Ball boasts a whole array of different opposing and complementary ingredients; cloves, black currants and cranberries, rosemary, sage, peppermint, frankincense, myrrh, benzoin and of course, fresh parsley. On paper, it's very hard to imagine what this smells like. 

To me, the dominating smell here is the herbs. On first sniff, I can pick out the sage, rosemary and peppermint; the currants and cranberries add a slight sweetness to the mix, which makes the bubble bar smell very odd indeed. In fact, it's one of those products that I feel you need to try for yourself to really appreciate it's fragrance. I didn't mind the smell at all, although it's not a scent I particularly loved either.    

In the bath, this bubble bar is probably one of the weakest at creating bubbles. This is no doubt due to the amount of other objects that have been packed into this average-sized product. Once the bubble bar is dissolving, an array of cloves, star anise and currants are dispersed from the product, where they float down and sit at the bottom of the tub. While you're watching this happen, it all seems quite intriguing. However, once you get into the bath, you realise that these inanimate objects are actually rather annoying. There are so many of them that you can't help but sit on at least one, and it's nearly always the pointed, star-shaped anise, which can be a rather painful experience. 

Annoyingly, when you attempt to remove these from the bath, you end up fighting a losing battle as these irritating clumps of food spin off in all directions and are nearly impossible to grapple with. My suggestion would be to either direct them into one area of the bath and just make sure you don't move for the duration of the experience. Or you could attempt to contain the currants and cloves by popping the bubble bar in a thin sock and tying it under the running tap. The only issue here is that you tend to lose a lot of the scent as this comes from all of the fresh herbs and spices, all of which will be trapped in the sock and not in your bath tub.

Finally, when fully dissolved, Witches' Ball turns the bath water a clear purple colour with a thin layer of bubbles on top. Unfortunately, these bubbles disappear rather quickly which almost makes it pointless calling it a bubble bar to begin with. 

Overall, I wasn't that impressed with this bubble bar. On paper, Witches' Ball is an intriguing and unique product. I'd even say that the inclusion of fresh currants is a marvellous idea. However, Lush need to work on how they can incorporate these sweet, juicy fruits into a product without cluttering the entire bath tub with them. This product is definitely an example of 'style over substance'.

Although the smell was quite pleasant, and it was by no means the worst bath in the world, my skin didn't feel any softer than it did before I had jumped in the tub. Furthermore, the scent was almost completely lost by the time I had dried myself off. This is definitely not a bubble bar I will be buying again. Although, if Lush ever choose to release other products using this fragrance, I would definitely jump at the chance of trying them out.

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Cream of Tartar, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Lauryl Betaine, Dried Cranberries, Dried Currants, Dried Star Anise, Perfume, Peppermint Oil, Rosemary Oil, Sage Oil, Myrrh Gum, Olibanum Gum, Benzoin Gum, Cloves, Dried Parsley, *Limonene, Colour 42090, Colour 45410.

Vegan?: Yes.

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