Bohemian Soap

Bohemian Soap was the first soap I ever tried from Lush, back in 2009 when I was brought a gift set from my parents for Christmas. At the time I associated using soap with something that older people did, and not something a young person would opt to do. This prejudice probably stemmed from the fact that up until that moment, the only soap I had been acquainted with was the disgusting, colourless bars that inhabited public toilets. So to me, this soap was a welcoming change from the mundane and I fell in love with it instantly.

Roll forward five years, after having tried near enough a hundred different soaps, and you'll realise that it takes a whole lot more convincing to impress me...

Lush describe this product as one of their 'simplest yet most beautiful creations', something that immediately grabbed my attention; simple, stripped, bare-naked is what I like my products to be, and if it's described as being that beautiful, by a company who elevate the very meaning of the word, then it must be something particularly special. 

To look at the ingredients list, Lush are right in saying that this soap is as natural as they come. With a mixture of oils, including lemon oil, and little else, this is definitely one of the more natural soaps available. Bohemian is a simple but powerful blend of lemon oil and glycerine, with a palm-free soap base. In theory, this should definitely not dry out your skin. 

With the addition of lemon oil, I was hoping for a soap like Sea Vegetable or Sandstone; a naturally zesty citrus scent that wakes you up in the morning and leaves your skin smelling of fruit. Unfortunately, this is not what I found. Instead, I discovered that this soap possesses a boring, commercialised-scented fragrance, reminiscent of the cheap lemon soap that you can expect to pick up for £1 a piece in your local supermarket. To me, this smell is not very exciting at all, and not something that I'd claim to be 'beautiful'.

Not only is it a very plain scent, but it's not exactly the most attractive soap either. With it's pale yellow demeanour, and etched with cloudy-looking white glycerine smears throughout, it looks rather strange, and definitely not a product that looks good in your soap dish. In all honesty, if I was visiting someone's house and found this in their bathroom, I'd be a little too grossed out to touch it; it just looks like it's harvesting germs. 

Furthermore, this soap didn't impress me any more in the shower. I found it very difficult to amass a decent amount of foam with, and I ended up rubbing it quite violently up and down my legs to get any sort of a lather to clean myself with. On the positive side, if you enjoy this soap, it is very robust, so a 100g block would probably last you a few weeks longer than other Lush soaps. However, it's probably slightly too unresponsive when under the water, which makes it difficult to use. 

Overall, it didn't dry my skin out enough to really notice it. However, after trying it on my face and arms, my skin felt very tight and it was extremely uncomfortable. I had to apply shower gel over these areas to add a bit of moisture to my skin and loosen them back up again, making the use of this soap rather redundant.

Lush claim that Bohemian 'clears and refreshes the mind to help you get going in the morning. It is cleansing and toning for the skin.' Having tried this out for the last couple of weeks, I've reached the conclusion that this just doesn't work for me. Whether or not I've gotten a piece from a 'dodgy' batch, as strangely my flatmate claims that this is her favourite ever soap, Bohemian Soap isn't a product I'd be happy using again.

Quantitative Ingredients: Rapeseed Oil and Coconut Oil, Water, Glycerine, Propylene Glycol, Lemon Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Stearate, Sodium Chloride, EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Citral, Limonene, Linalool, Perfume.

Vegan?: Yes.

2015 Price: £3.10 for 100g. 

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