Recently

25 June 2014

Summer Pudding Soap


Sometimes I get the Lush 'itch', which I can neither predict or control; sometimes I don't even realise I'm doing it until it's too late. By 'itch', I of course mean spending money, something I seem to do exceedingly well, especially when it comes to Lush products. During one of these expensive moments, I nearly always end up with chunk-upon-chunk of soap, which get thrown into my soap drawer and don't see the light of day for months, if not years later. Such is the case with Summer Pudding Soap.

On paper, this soap sounds incredible; a cherry and almond-scented marvel that first made it's appearance during Lush's 2010 summer collection. Containing almonds, coconut, glacie cherries and lemon oil, the ingredients list reads like a recipe, which is exactly what creator, Noriko, was going for. The scent and the ingredients remind me of freshly-made bake well tart, which definitely feels like a treat first thing in the morning.   

Described as a soap with the fragrance of buchu and citrus, Summer Pudding has many qualities about it. Firstly, Lush have added a combination of ground almonds, softening almond oil, and cleansing lemon oil. The latter two help to give this product it's moisturising qualities, whilst the former creates an abrasive-textured surface, allowing the soap to be used as a body scrub as well as a cleanser.  
What you'll notice about each chunk of this soap, is that there are chunks of smooth pink soap, which creates the lather in the shower. Then these are surrounded with the more gritty part of the product, meaning when you lather this up underwater, you are both cleaning and exfoliating at the same time. When I purchased a fresh piece from the kitchen, I found that the soap isn't as gritty as my older slice and was a lot softer and gentle on the skin. 

Secondly, the aroma of the soap is wonderful, warm and fragrant. Even some four years after it was originally made, this product still smells as fresh as it did in the factory. It has a soft, almost mixed berry-dominated smell, which along with the nutty, savoury scent of the almonds, rounds this off nicely. Fresh out of the packet, the soap's aroma may seem a little overpowering and almost 'plasticky' to some. However, in the shower this synthetic element is rectified and you're left with a rich fragrance to bask in. 

In the shower, Summer Pudding is a little stubborn to lather, and I found that it wasn't as effective at releasing suds as with other Lush soaps. Furthermore, the skin texture of the soap becomes rather slippery in the shower and I found myself having to grapple with it under the water, just so I could clean myself. 

However, the cherry fragrance is wonderful and it lingers on your skin for hours. It's quite a heavy smell, and one that is quite 'stodgy', as you would expect from an actual pudding itself. However, it's a wonderfully luxurious smelling soap; one that's very feminine and surprisingly fresh. It would be perfect coupled with Sin Skin Lotion, a product that is unfortunately unavailable from Lush UK at the moment. Furthermore, once the soap has been rinsed off, it does leave your skin looking and feeling soft and smooth, so you might not have to moisturise after every shower. 

I would recommend this soap but more as a scrub than a cleaner. It does leave your skin smooth, but this is due to the crushed almonds that exfoliate your skin, not the various ingredients that go into making this soap. A nice idea though, and one I would buy again if I got the chance.

Quantitative Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Propylene Glycol, Rapeseed Oil; Coconut Oil (Brassica napus; Cocos nucifera), Ground Almonds (Prunus dulcis), Sodium Stearate, Sodium Lauryl Sulphate,Glace Cherries (Prunus cerasus), Perfume, Almond Oil (Prunus dulcis), Buchu Oil (Barosma betulina), Juniper Berry Oil (Juniperus communis), Lemon Oil (Citrus limonum), Glycerine, Sodium Chloride, EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Sodium Hydroxide, Titanium Dioxide, Gardenia Extract (Gardenia jasminoides), *Limonene, *Linalool, Colour 17200, Colour 14700.

Vegan?: Yes.

2015 Price: £4 for 100g.
2016 Price: £4.50 for 100g.
2017 Price: £4.50 for 100g.


10 comments

  1. I am hoping to pick some of this up . Hope some is still available on Friday. Would like to only place one order this week.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hmm, I'm surprised that it's so scrubby. I had envisioned it more like a creamy soap like Sultana.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Just tried this after buying it from Lush Kitchen and I love it! I'm not a huge soap fan because I don't like that 'tight' feeling on my skin afterwards but this was fab! Didn't feel the need to instantly slather myself in lotion. I didn't get any cherries in my bit but I'm ok with that as I think they would just break up the bar after a while. Any tips on soap aftercare to stop it going mushy?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad you enjoyed it - I've ordered myself a fresh slice, which should be arriving tomorrow and I'd be interested to see if the consistency is the same. In terms of soap aftercare, I just dab it down with a towel before leaving the bathroom and that seems to work perfectly for me :)

      Delete
    2. Let me know if it's still the same, I managed to get 3 pieces and I'd like to know if it stores well. Love coming and reading your blog posts btw, keep up the good work :)

      Delete
  4. This sounds amazing, I hope it returns to the UK kitchen soon! Its in the Japan kitchen this week but I can't justify the shipping for a bar of soap :/

    ReplyDelete
  5. I just made my first ever kitchen order, I got one of these and some Avowash. Omg I'm so looking forward to them!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I just made my first ever kitchen order, I got one of these and some Avowash. Omg I'm so looking forward to them!

    ReplyDelete
  7. It's back in the kitchen right now x

    ReplyDelete


UP