Birch Sap Soap

Let's be honest: this is one of the most stunning designs for a soap that I have ever seen. Despite my reservations about the format, there is no denying that the craftsmanship and creativity paid off for this Summit exclusive, and I found myself super excited to try it out, despite my slight aversion towards soaps.

Birch Sap Soap is aptly named because the inclusion of both birch water and charcoal powder in its ingredients list. Collected locally from the Dorset Woodlands, charcoal is known for its ability to cleanse and refresh the skin. Not only does it clear out the pores and rejuvenate the appearance of your skin immediately, but it does so with such a gentle manner that you don't have to worry about damaging or irritating your skin. The likes of Dark Angels Facial Cleanser speaks volumes for the benefits of charcoal for those with more delicate skin types.

Scentwise, this is a very potent smell - one that I would describe as being very woody, earthy and herbal, all at the same time. On the surface you can detect a strong note of the galbanum oil, which offers a pungent, earthy green aroma. Alongside this the orris oil produces a prominent woody smell that reminds of wet tree roots, after a day of rain.

Both the lavender and the rose absolute add a natural thread of sweetness throughout, that elevates the earthiness of the soap, while the former ingredient also offers a herbal note to tie all of the ingredients together. Strangely, the smell of this is very similar to me and I do believe that Lush have brought out at least one other product with a fragrance similar to this at some point. If  I had to compare this to other, for those interested, I would say that Birch Soap reminds me a little of Spank Me With Saplings Shower Jelly quite a lot, albeit not as citrusy.

In the shower, this soap lathered up really easily and I found that I didn't really need to stimulate it much between my palms to heed the amount of foam that I needed. The lather itself appeared slightly oily and rather light on my skin, and I also found that little bits of charcoal appeared, that acted as a very light exfoliator. 

Much like my experience with most soaps, I found that my skin did appear rather taut after using this, and I would definitely recommend that you follow up with either a shower oil, body butter or lotion afterwards, to replenish the skin of moisture. However, my skin didn't appear to feel particularly dry and there was a radiance about it that comes from the inclusion of the charcoal. 

While Birch dries super quickly and you don't have to worry about it ebbing black all over your bathroom surfaces, I did witness how quickly the soap seemed to shrink after the initial few uses. For this reason, I would recommend that you try to lather it across your body whilst not exposing it directly to the stream of water. Afterwards, I would then suggest that you pat it down and leave it somewhere cool so that it doesn't shrink between uses. 

What impressed me was that the fragrance of the soap stayed with me for a good few hours after usage, and even when I applied a body lotion the scent still seemed to overpower this as well. For this reason, if you're looking for a unique and very powerful aroma to wear on your skin, this might be a product you wish to invest. 

Ultimately, I appreciated the design of this soap very much and the smell was equally as lovely, as I do enjoy Lush's more natural scents at times. I can't envisage this working in many other formats and I'd say it's too potent to be made into a perfume. For this reason, it's suited very much as a soap, and I will continue to indulge in my piece until there is nothing left of it.

Quantitative Ingredients: Birch Water, Propylene Glycol, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Water, Organic Castor Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Galbanum Oil, Lavender Oil, Orris Oil, Rose Absolute, Sandalwood Oil, Citric Acid, Birch Charcoal Powder, Glycerine, Titanium Dioxide, Sodium Bicarbonate, DRF Alcohol, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Tin Oxide, Citral, Citronellol, Coumarin, Eugenol, Farnesol, Geraniol, Hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde, Limonene, Linalool, Perfume, Colour 77491.

Vegan?: Yes.

2018 Price: £5 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2018.