Bam! Shower Slime

After a few weeks of playing around with Brr! Shower Slime every morning and evening, I have become quite the expert at knowing how much to use and how to get the most out of every shower. In fact, one of the most interesting things about both of Lush's brand new slimes is that they actually last just as long as a 250g bottle of shower gel, despite the format suggesting that you'll get through a tub in record speed.

Although not as visually stunning, Bam! Shower Slime still possesses a wonderfully rich shade of blue to enjoy. In fact, I think there is something rather cooling about the colour itself that almost adds to its refreshing qualities and enriches your experience when in the shower.

Containing lime and orange oils, this limited edition is a gorgeously rich and fruity aroma - one that happens to share its scent with the Never Mind The Ballistics Bath Bomb, which is one of my favourite 'new' scents to come from the company in years. Both of these essential oils come together to create a bright and very juicy aroma, while the inclusion of the olibanum oil adds a rich, sultry wave underneath to ground the citrus oils a little.

Just like with Brr!, the consistency of this shower slime can vary depending on how you use it and how long it's been sitting somewhere. There is usually a thick handful of gloop that fills up most of the pot. However, some of the oils tend to seperate themselves and create a thin, runny substance to use as well. Both consistencies both work really well at cleaning and lathering up and there's not much point trying to combine the two together as they tend to seperate rather quickly.

What I will say about the substance is that you only need very little to lather Bam! into a thick foam, similar to that of a shaving cream. In fact, as I stated in my previous review, I found that using too much of this as once actually hindered the slime from producing a generous amount of lather. For this reason, less is definitely more.

Once on your body, you can feel how soft your skin becomes in a very short space of time. In a matter of seconds, I could feel how much more moisturised my hands and legs were and the radiance that I found once I towelled myself down was equally impressive. I would even go as far as staying that these shower slimes appear to work slightly better than the regular shower gels, which is not something that I could have ever envisage happening.

What was great about Bam! was that the oils not only produced a wonderful scent, but also helped to refresh and rejuvenate my skin at the same time. The inclusion of the orange oil helped to tone my skin, which was most evident on my face and legs; the lime oil welcomed a natural glow to my skin all over; and the olibanum oil calmed and soothed my skin - again, especially my face, where I was suffering from a few overzealous spots at the time.

Overall, this is perhaps a product that won't get as much recognition as it deserves, given its format. This is a shame as it actually works really well and leaves your skin clean, refreshed and looking noticeably vibrant. Bam! actually gets me a little excited for future slime releases from Lush, and I will be using mine scrupulously until that chance arises.

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Water (Aqua), Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Glycerine, Cornflour, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Bicarbonate, Xanthan Gum, Fresh Lime Juice, Lime Oil, Sweet Wild Orange Oil, Olibanum Resinoid, *Citral, *Limonene, Perfume, Colour 42090.

Vegan?: Yes.

2019 Price: £12 for 240g.

Year Of Original Release: 2019.

Brr! Shower Slime

Just when you think that Lush cannot possibly come up with anything new, the shower slime concept appears in its playful, childlike manner, and again makes you wonder just what are Lush capable of doing next. Lke a wonderful homage to my two favourite childhood movies, The Ghostbusters, these limited edition delights will make your showers just that little bit more interesting.

Brr! is one of two brand new 'shower slimes' to appear in the Lush Labs release a few months ago and was definitely the one I gravitated to first. With its bright - almost fluorescent - yellow demeanour, this little beauty will appeal to both children and adults alike. There is nothing more satisfying than rubbing something that looks like its birthed an alien onto your skin...erm...

Yet despite its wonderful colour, I was surprised to find that the aroma of this is not a citrusy one, as first expected. Instead, the inclusion of spearmint oil gives this slime a wonderfully warm and wholesome minty aroma. There is something about the smell of this that reminds me a lot of spearmint bubblegum, which is lovely.  

Alongside the mint, there is also something sweet and playful laced around this note that creates an almost candy-esque note as well. I've read a few people's reviews who claim that the smell reminds them of the banana foam sweets that you find in the pic 'n' mix section, and I would agree that this is what I associate the sweetness with as well. It's not really what I would described as being a vanillary note, but there is definitely something rather powdery about the smell that comes from more than just the mint. 

What I will say about Brr! Shower Slime is that it does tend to separate in the tub, if you leave it sitting for a while. You tend to find that some of the slime is runny and thin whereas the majority of the product is rather thick and stretchy. My suggestion when using any of Lush's slimes is to tip the excess liquid into the palm of your hands before you've finished your shower and use this to wash with. 

As water tends to drip into the pot whilst you're grabbing some of the product to use, this can build up and create these little pockets of running liquid, which could then become a surface for bacteria to multiply even quicker. Draining this 'water' after each use will just increase the longevity of the product overall.

What is great about Brr! is that you can immediately see and feel the product getting to work on your skin. You only need a small amount to lather between your hands and the slime will create a thick foam, similar to that of a shaving cream. When lathered across the skin, you can instantly feel has velvety-soft the product is and how it leaves your skin. 

Interestingly, when using a large dosage, I actually found that the product worked less effectively and created less of a foam to work with, so it pays to use less when it comes to this slime. Despite its vivid colour, I also found that Brr was really delicate to use across my whole body, and I didn't once develop any irritation or rashes when using this whilst shaving.

Afterwards, my skin felt super smooth and there was even a gentle gleam across my legs. Unfortunately, I wasn't really able to smell this much past the first five minutes of towelling myself down. However, the effect of the slime was prevalent for a good many hours and this is always the most important factor of any product for me.

Overall, Brr! Shower Slime, despite the fact that it initially felt like a novelty, turned out to be a really enjoyable addition to my shower routine. I didn't need much with each use; I was able to notice how nourished my skin felt almost immediately; and there was something very playful about it that added a little more fun to my morning and evening rituals. I am very much looking forward to trying the other shower slimes out for size, and can imagine that they will heed similar positive results. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Water (Aqua), Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Glycerine, Cornflour, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Bicarbonate, Xanthan Gum, Perfume, Spearmint Oil, *Limonene, Colour 45350.

Vegan?: Yes.

2019 Price: £12 for 240g.

Year Of Original Release: 2019.

Comfort Zone Shower Bomb

When Lush first introduced the term 'shower bomb', I was rather skeptical about whether or not this concept held any worth in the cosmetics industry. Was there any merits to using such a short-life product or would this be another temporary craze that disappeared into obscurity within a few months? As time have passed by and my experience with these little beauties has multiplied, it is safe to say that I am now completely on board with what Lush next have to offer.

Comfort Zone Shower Bomb is a cute little cylinder (that I believe is supposed to represent a blanket) with multiple meanings behind its name. Not only does the title reference how comforting the smell of the product is when in use, but both the ingredients and the name itself also hint at the more political issue of climate change. As Lush have stated on their website: Does the currant climate leave you feeling berry insecure? 

Sharing its scent with The Comforter range, this pretty little shower bomb first started out as a Liverpool exclusive, before being released quite recently as a regular product in stores and online. Featuring blackcurrant absolute and fresh raspberries in the ingredients list, there's no wonder that consumers are finding this berrylicious creation so gorgeous: I certainly have.

A classic scent that has been around for years, The Comforter is a warm, sweet and very fruity aroma. While I would describe the fragrance of this shower bomb to be very berry-like overall, it is the blackcurrant that makes the biggest impression here: creating a deliciously sultry and yet very playful aroma, while the cypress oil adds a layer of soothing sweetness to calm you down and round the fragrance off perfectly.

To my nose, Comfort Zone is perhaps a little lighter and fruitier than the original bubble bar and definitely appears to have a stronger scent as well. When using this in the shower, my senses were completely flooded with the aroma; the smell remained on my skin for hours; and the fragrance lingered quite heavily in the bathroom for a very long time.

To use, you simply need to hold the shower bomb under the running water during your shower, where it will immediately begin to expand and create a fragrant foam in your hand within a matter of seconds. The heat of the water will then help to release the different essential oils that have gone into making the bomb, which is supposed to help alter your mood depending on the purpose of the shower bomb itself. 

In this case, Comfort Zone is designed to help calm your mind and bring you some peace during times when you perhaps feel a little overwhelmed with everything. This shower bomb will offer you the biggest cuddle in the shower and its fragrance will hold you tight for hours afterwards as well, which is the perfect remedy at the end of a long day.

Once the shower bomb has began creating its foam, the idea is that you can lather and massage this across the skin much like you would a shower gel. The inclusion of both the potato starch and the sodium alginate allow the bomb to soften and moisture the skin, while the different oils clean out the pores and leave your skin looking and smelling rather delicious. Furthermore, the inclusion of the chia seeds in Comfort Zone, which you can spot when the shower bomb begins to dissolve under the water, gives this product a soft, gel-like consistency that only serves to make your skin feel even softer when in use.   

If you're someone like me who was worried at first that the inclusion of the sodium bicarbonate and citric acid will irritate your skin, I can assure you that this is not the case at all. In fact, my only piece of advice when using this is to ensure that you haven't shaved after applying this to the skin, as some of Lush's shower bombs can sting a little because of the open pores. Having said that, I didn't experience this at all when using this shower bomb in particular, so it was another added bonus on top of everything else.

While the consistency of the foam is slightly scratchy and not at all like the silkiness of a regular Lush shower gel or jelly, my skin did feel really clean and soft after using the shower bomb. Furthermore, I was able to clean my entire body, from head to foot, and still have product left over afterwards. Because of this, it would be completely reasonable to cut one of these shower bombs in half and use them across two, perhaps even three showers.

As with all of Lush's recent shower bomb releases, Comfort Zone not only left my skin feeling really smooth and clean but the scent lingered for an impressive amount of time afterwards. Despite there not being much of a difference between the smell of this and other Comforter-scented products, I found myself appreciating the scent of this far more than I expected to. This is definitely a shower bomb I would purchase again and I am so glad it has made it into the regular line.

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Cream of Tartar, Citric Acid, Potato Starch, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Calcium Lactate, Gluconate, Sodium Alginate, Perfume, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Bergamot Oil, Blackcurrant Absolute, Cypress Oil, Chia Seeds, Fresh Raspberries, Water (Aqua), Propylene Glycol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Colour 17200, Colour 45410:1.

Vegan?: Yes.

2019 Price: £2.75 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2019.

Super Milk Conditioning Spray

I cannot remember a time when my hair has ever felt truly nourished, at least not for more than a day or two, and never without the aid of a product to make it so. No matter how much was I drink or how well I look after my hair, the ends always feel like a bird's nest and the rest of my locks could cut through skin it's so rough. With the recent collection of new Lush hair products however, I finally feel as if I'm getting somewhere...

Super Milk Conditioning Spray is one of Lush's most recent inventions: a combination of ingredients that promise to not only add some much-needed moisture into your locks, but also help to protect the hair against breakage; add strength and shine; and even offer a barrier against heat of both a hairdryer and straighteners.

Priced up at £15, there are three main ingredients at work here: almond milk, coconut milk and oat milk. These three essential components all work on improving the condition of your hair in their own unique way. Coconut milk is a wonderfully rich and rather fatty ingredient that helps to nourish and replenish dry hair, while the inclusion of both the almond and oat milks help to hydrate the hair and bring the life back into weak and damaged locks.

Alongside these three main components, the inclusion of both the lemon and olive oil adds a natural shine to the hair, while the litsea, tonka and vanilla absolutes give Super Milk its wonderful fragrance. At first, I was quick to assume that this Liverpool exclusive shared its scent with Avocado Cowash. However, it didn't take me long to decide that the fragrance here is far more complex and wholesome than I initially thought. While it is incredibly similar in many ways, I would be selling it short if I just claimed that the spray offered an identical smell.

To my nose, the litsea, tonka and vanilla absolutes dance together perfectly to produce a super sweet, thick and creamy fruity smell. The inclusion of the three nut milks only intensifies the scent and gives it a fluffy, nutty twist. As if this wasn't enough, there is something here that also gives off a sweet, resinous aroma that almost has a burnt caramel note. Ultimately, it is a truly gorgeous scent and one that I'm glad I get to use on my hair regularly.

What makes Super Milk so successful is all down to two ingredients: the inclusion of ethyl macadamiate, which works like a silicone (without actually being a silicone!) and protects the hair from heat and damage by coating each individual strand. Alongside this, both behentrimonium and Cetrimonium Chlorides work on conditioning the hair and leaving it feeling beautiful afterwards.

To use Super Milk, the idea is that you spray directly onto your hair after washing it in the shower and it works its magic as a leave-in conditioner. Interestingly, Lush don't specify that you should towel dry your hair beforehand so I tend to apply it straight after I've wrung out any excess water. My experience has shown that the product works really well in this manner, perhaps even more so than when my hair has been towel dried a little more.

In the bottle, the conditioning spray is rather thick and acts like a bowl of custard that's been left to cool down. Yet, it comes out of the bottle as quite a thin, milky spray, which tells me that the product is super condensed and that not very much is needed with each use. In fact, my hair is currently about 5cm past shoulder length and I find that five sprays is suffice to do the job.

Once my hair has dried, I can noticeably see and feel how soft and shiny my locks look. Without needing to brush my hair, I notice that I can run my fingers through my locks without coming across many tangles at all, and it gives my hair a great shape that I can wear down without using any other products alongside it.

As if the spray hasn't done enough already, I was also really impressed that the fragrance remained on my locks for many hours after initial application. This felt particularly amazing when it was super sunny one day and I could hear members of the public commenting on a 'stunning smell' that was lingering around the bus. I was really tempted to turn around and gush about the wonderful product that is Super Milk.

As you can imagine from my glowing review, this is definitely a hair product that I will be using regularly, and despite its size I can really imagine that my tiny little 100g bottle will last a long time. Super Milk Conditioning Spray smells absolutely delicious and works wonders at softening and hydrating your hair, with minimal effort. I would definitely recommend that you try this out for yourself.

Quantitative Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Almond Milk, Coconut milk, Oat Milk, DRF Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate & PEG-100 Stearate, Ethyl Macadamiate, Perfume, Cetearyl Alcohol, Fresh Lemon Juice, Propylene Glycol, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Behentrimonium chloride, Litsea Cubeba Oil, Tonka Absolute, Vanilla Absolute, Cetrimonium Chloride, Phenoxyethanol, Benzyl Alcohol, *Anise Alcohol, *Benzyl Benzoate, *Benzyl Cinnamate, *Cinnamal, *Citral, Coumarin, *Geraniol, *Limonene, *Linalool.

Vegan?: Yes.

2019 Price: £15 for 100g.

Year Of Original Release: 2019.

'Cream Bath Oil

 

Seeing 'Cream Bath Oil for the first time brought up a lot of memories of my early teenage years. Not only did I remember that Scream was one of the first horror movies I ever watched and it scared the living day lights out of me at the time, but I also remember that it was during the movie that I developed my very first 'on-screen obsession: Billy Loomis, a.k.a. Ghostface.

While I've come a long way since the nineties and I certainly don't pine over the 'bad guy' anymore, there was a small ache of nostalgia that had me excited to share my bath with this horrifying-looking bath oil. Luckily, no body was sliced into pieces or suffocated in a cat flap after this limited edition came into my house...at least not to my knowledge.

Sharing its scent with the Happy Blooming range, this little ugly offers a rich, sweet and very sultry cherry aroma: very much like a fresh pot of cherry jam with a dollop of almond butter mixed in for good measure. It's very rich and decadent to my nose, almost like a Cherry Bakewell, and compliments the design of this bath oil really well. 

In the water, 'Cream is a slow dissolver: floating on the surface for a long time and infusing the water with little streams of deep purple oils and butters. After a little swishing from myself, these oils dissolved into the water and tinged the water a purple colour as well, which only served to make this bath oil look even menacing. 

Almost ten minutes into my bath and the last eye socket finally absorbed into the water, leaving me with a wonderful fragrant and very soft water to indulge my skin in. While not the most nourishing of bath oils, this definitely left an impression on my body afterwards, and I didn't need to moisturise until the following morning.

What was impressive was that the fragrance lingered around the whole time I was in the tub and I was able to detect remnants of it for a short time afterI had left the bath. A tub of Happy Blooming Body Lotion would have made for a lovely treat after bathing with this little guy and I hope both make a reappearance again in the next Lush Labs or Community Favourites release.

Ultimately, this is a wonderful little bath oil with enough character, fragrance and moisture to be a best seller. I will certainly buy myself a few more of these if they ever come back online, or if I'm lucky enough to make it up to the Liverpool store at some point in the future. 'Cream is such a well-rounded little bath oil and I feel privileged that I've been given the chance to try it out for myself. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Sodium Bicarbonate, Cream of Tartar, Laureth 4, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Perfume, Hexyl Cinnamal, Lauryl Betaine, Ylang Ylang Oil, Benzoin Resinoid, Almond essential oil, Activated Charcoal, Titanium Dioxide, Tin Oxide, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, *Benzyl Benzoate, Colour 77491, Colour 77266, Colour 17200, Colour 42090.

Vegan?: Yes.

2019 Price: £3.95 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2019.

Imp-atient Bath Oil

Each and every night before I go to bed, I try my best to either mediate for half an hour, or write any persistent feelings down that have been going through my head. This is so that I can start the next day afresh; encouraging my mind not to take any negative thoughts into a new day. Some days it works, others it's a struggle.

After a rather difficult day, I decided it was time to use my IMP-atient Bath Oil in the hope that this would help to clear my head before I settled down to sleep. Containing rose absolute to restore and renew my senses of balance; white pink pepper to apparently give my bad attitude a kick up the backside; and cocoa absolute to soften the blow when I come back down to earth, I couldn't imagine sharing a bath with a better product right there and then.

What I will say is that IMP-atient is super cute to look at: a little devilish and cheeky but I revel in a little madness so he was right up my alley. His wonky black eyes and grimacing grin only served to spicy up what is ultimately just a bath oil, and add a little something different in the bath water.

In the bath water, this Liverpool exclusive floats quietly across the surface of the water, slowly ebbing oily puddles of pink underneath the water. These then rise to the surface and slowly absorb into the water, leaving a shade of pastel pink in the process. 

Unfortunately, one of the biggest things I noticed about this bath oil was that the fragrance was very subtle to begin with. However, it did intensify somewhat as it dissolved and dispersed throughout the tub. With a delicate note of cistus, rose and pink pepper oil, the scent I got was one that reminded me very slightly of liquorice allsorts. There was something rather sweet and alluring about IMP-atient and it pertained a musky note that the famous Bassetts' sweets offer when you first open the bag. However, once the bath oil is dissolving in the water, there is a little note of pepper that comes through a little more here and it is very pleasant indeed.

While I did find this bath oil to be a little grainy whilst it was dissolving, the water was very soft and moisturising, and the delicate notes really helped me to settle down for an hour and cast away those unsettled thoughts. Having said that, I don't think that this little creature was any where near as moisturising as some of the other bath oils I have tried recently from Lush, and the scent didn't linger at all on my skin afterwards. 

Furthermore, the intensity of the oils weren't such that my skin was left as nourished as an oil like Demons managed to achieve, so I definitely think there is room for improvement with this one. While cute, IMP-atient is definitely not a bath oil that blew me out of the water, and not one that I noticed made an awful lot of difference to my skin afterwards. 

If I was to buy this again, I would probably pair it up with something else to give myself a more well-rounded experience. However, it's more likely that I would invest in bath oil/melt that has made a much bigger impression on my skin, and offered a much stronger fragrance to appreciate.

Quantitative Ingredients: Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Sodium Bicarbonate, Cream of Tartar, Laureth 4, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Perfume, Lauryl Betaine, Cistus Oil, Rose Oil, Pink Pepper Oil, Activated Charcoal, Titanium Dioxide, Tin Oxide, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, *Citral, *Citronellol, *Geraniol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Colour 42090, Colour 17200, Colour 77491, Colour 77266, Colour 45410:1.

Vegan?: Yes.

2019 Price: £2.95 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2019.

Hercules Hot Oil Hair Treatment

Despite the pitfalls that I'm constantly struggling with regarding my hair, I never remember to fit in time to really work on improving the condition of my locks. Many of Lush's hair products work wonders on my hair, most noticeably Jasmine And Henna Fluff Ease Hair Treatment, which makes a huge difference to my hair each and every time I use this. After using this hot oil hair treatment, I've convinced myself that this should become a staple part of my weekly routine, as my hair has never felt so amazing.

Ironically, Lush introduce Hercules Hot Oil Hair Treatment by saying that 'if there's a prize for doing damage, I guess you've already won that!' and it is so true. My hair is constantly crying out for attention and yet on a daily basis I tend to ignore its plight in favour of doing something else, which I consider to be more productive. I think I'd probably be charged for full blown neglect regarding my hair, as opposed to simply winning a prize!

After using this only a single time, this Liverpool exclusive had wonders for my hair, and it's all thanks to the incredible ingredients that have gone into creating it. Featuring hydrolysed wheat gluten, this beautiful treatment features a very high dosage of protein, which helps to both repair and strengthen your locks and add a little extra volume for those of us with thinner, finer hair. 

As my hair began to dry, it was noticeable how much thicker it looked and felt, and also how much softer and more manageable it was as well. I couldn't believe that I was able to run my hands through my hair without needing to brush it first, and given how frizzy and brittle it had looked and felt a mere thirty minutes beforehand showcased to me exactly how powerful this treatment is.

A large dosage of argan oil here not only helps to create the popular Rose Jam scent that consumers love very much, but the oil also helps to soften your hair even more and leave it looking more moisturised and healthy. Finally, the inclusion of the olive oil helps to increase the tensile strength of the hair, while the lemon oil adds a healthy shine to finish it off.

To use, you simply have to fill a mug with boiling water, leaving a small space at the top. Add in your block of treatment and continue stirring until all of the product has fully melted. By this stage you'll have a thick, foamy gel that needs to be left to cool for about 10-15 minutes before it can be applied to your hair. 

Once it's ready, massage across your whole scalp and down the lengths of all of your hair and then leave in for a good 20-30 minutes. My hair is down past my shoulders and I found that I only needed to use half of the product with each treatment. As I was planning to use both halves within the space of a week, I chose to melt the whole block down in one go. However, if you want to prolong using all of this at once, I suggest you cut off half of the block and only melt half at a time.

Either way, the left over treatment can be stored in the fridge to limit the number of bacteria that could grow in between uses. And while you're waiting for Hercules to work its magic on your locks, you may even want to wrap a plastic bag around your head to retain the heat and possibly make it a little more effective. Once the time is up, simply rinse the treatment away under the shower head and then shampoo your hair as normal before towel drying your rejuvenated locks and seeing how amazing they look and feel.

Not only was my hair completely transformed after using this, but the wonderful sweet, rose scent lingered on my hair for a good many hours afterwards as well. My hair looked and felt more manageable; felt super soft and with a beautiful shine; and I was able to wear it down with little intervention for the few days following the treatment. 

Hercules Hot Oil Hair Treatment is a product that I would happily travel all the way up to Liverpool just to stock up on, and I can only hope that Lush choose to bring it back again online very soon. This is now going to become part of my weekly routine in the hope that my hair will begin to show signs of life once again.    

Quantitative Ingredients: Cetearyl Alcohol & Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Guar Gum, Sodium Bicarbonate, Hydrolyzed Wheat Gluten, Argan Oil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Citric Acid, Perfume, Rose Absolute, Rose Oil, Geranium Oil, Sicilian Lemon Oil, Water (Aqua), *Citral, Citronellol, Coumarin, *Eugenol, Geraniol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Colour 45410, Colour 17200.

Vegan?: Yes.

2019 Price: £7.50 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2019.