Samphire Soap

To say I'm out of the loop when it comes to Lush products is an understatement.  Upon walking into a Lush store yesterday, it shocked me that there were almost 40 products that I hadn't tried: the first time this has happened to me since I first began purchasing Lush some six years ago. While there is a valid reason for my absence, it does feel strange that I am not as educated on the latest releases as I would normally be. 

Through the generosity of the friends around me, I not only have the entire Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Easter range on its way to me as I type this, but I have also managed to acquire nearly all of the Summit exclusives: something I am so incredibly grateful for. Having said that, I now have a mere five days to enjoy and review near on one hundred new Lush products, so I better get started.

Samphire Soap is an odd choice for me to start with. Not only because I've been starved of baths (and hot showers) for almost two months, and I have an abundance of bath bombs and bubble bars to indulge in, but also because my skin is currently rather dry and soaps nearly always make my skin feel parched, especially in the colder weather.

Despite this, some of my more recent experiences with Lush soaps have proven that the company are definitely improving their formulas to match consumer demand. With the inclusion of cocoa butter and carrageenan extract, this soap is far more moisturising than you would expect a soap to be. Since 2014 Lush have been using a process called saponification to create their soap bases, resulting in products that foam far easier and create a much softer, creamier lather to clean yourself with.    

Named after an aromatic European plant of the parsley family, Samphire is a beautifully-designed soap for fans of the more crisp, clean, herbal fragrances. Containing a generous helping of both peppermint and clary sage oil, this soap gives off a cool note of peppermint, with an underlying herbal layer that makes a stronger appearance when you're in the shower.

You can definitely note the presence of both the clary sage and the lavender here. However, neither are particularly dominant, and act as more of a supporting base for the peppermint. In a way, it reminds me slightly of Freeze Shower Gel: not because they share the same scent, but because there is more than just the thread of mint here. There is something subtlety herbal about this soap without there being anything overly dominant. 

What impressed me was that Samphire immediately felt silky-soft when it came into contact with the hot water, and this gave me more faith that it would both clean and soften my skin better than other soaps I have tried in the past. While I wouldn't say that it was particularly generous with its lather, it did produce a thick, oily foam fairly easily, and I could feel the carrageenan extract working with my skin to leave it feeling soft and radiant afterwards. 

After using this soap across my body, I found that the scent lingered on my skin for a good couple of hours afterwards. Furthermore, my body felt really smooth to the touch, and while my hands did feel a little taut after using the soap, I found that they didn't need moisturising once I had towelled myself down.

My only issue with this soap is that it seemed to shrink more than I was expecting it to after a single use. For this reason, I would recommend that you don't keep it exposed to the water too much when in the shower, and that you pat it dry afterwards to prevent it shrinking even further.

Although I really liked the smell of this, as it is incredibly refreshing first thing in the morning, I would probably use this as more of a hand soap. It leaves your skin feeling really crisp and incredibly clean and would look beautiful in your soap dish for sure.      

Quantitative Ingredients: Water, Propylene Glycol, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Organic Castor Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Glycerine, Perfume, Fresh Sarcocornia, Clary Sage Oil, Lavender Oil, Peppermint Oil, Oakmoss Absolute, Irish Moss, Fine Sea Salt, Carrageenan Extract, Citric Acid, Sodium Bicarbonate, Limonene, Linalool, Colour 42090, Colour 45350, Colour 42053.

Vegan?: Yes.

2018 Price: £5 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2018.