Goddess Soap

As Zen happens to be one of my favourite soaps ever, you can imagine how intrigued I was when I found out that Lush were releasing their Goddess range earlier this year, all of which supposedly having the same fragrance as my aforementioned favourite.

One of these 'brand new' inventions was the Goddess Soap - a shapely slab of deep purple with a tonne of golden lustre painted across the surface. While I believe that Zen's design is far prettier, and the name also happens to resonate with me more, this is definitely one of the more beautiful designs that Lush have released over the last few years.

As I have said in previous reviews, the name Goddess - and the fact that all of the products in this family have been inspired by Ariana Grande - suggested that the fragrance was going to be something rather light and floral and feminine. However, that is not the case in the slightest.

Strong, dark and woody notes radiate from the soap like an ferrous storm; while  the likes of the jasmine and rose bring a delicate natural sweetness to add depth and dimension to the overall scent. As I stated when describing the liquid perfume, the oudh oil is thick and resinous on the surface, combining with the sandalwood to create a strong, wholesome note of woodiness. In addition, there is almost a slight earthiness to the perfume as well, that saturates the smell and adds a thick, intoxicating note alongside this.

There is something so powerful about the smell of this range, not only because there is so much going on, and so many layers of smell to comprehend at any one time; but because each and every note both is both able to hold its own own, while also combining together perfectly to unleash the power of Goddess as a united statement.

What I will say about Goddess Soap is that it's far more wholesome than the bath bomb, which I think is due to the difference in format. The soap is also mildly sweeter than the bath bomb and the liquid perfume, and has a minutely stronger floral note, which offers something a little different for fans of this aroma. While it does share its scent with the original Zen Soap, there are definitely variations in the fragrance as well, and I still maintain that Zen is a little spicier and warmer, which is why I prefer it to this brand new addition.

While Goddess Soap is fairly easy to lather up, it does produce more of a creamy foam than a soapy one, unless you add a lot of water in your hands whilst massaging. For this reason, I found that needed to stimulate more of the product to get the desired amount to wash myself with. Because of this, the soap did shrink far quicker than I would have liked, especially given the price tag, which means that I cannot imagine this lasting more than around a month, if used on a daily basis.

During the first couple of uses, I did find that my skin ended up being completely covered in golden lustre, and it wasn't so easy to remove it all before exiting the shower. For this reason, I suggest that glitter-phobes use it once under a running tap before they apply it to their body, so they don't end up looking like a human disco ball.

After using this a number of times, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it didn't leave my skin feeling as parched as some of Lush's other soaps can do. In fact, Goddess Soap left my body feeling really clean and crisp, and there was something about it that made me feel really refreshed after using this as well. 

While I did need to moisturise afterwards, the inclusion of the cocoa butter definitely helped to keep my skin in good condition. In fact, I would even suggest that you use this as a hand soap, as there was something almost clinical about the way my skin felt after coming into contact with this product. 

Although I think that £7.95 is a little over my budget for a regular hand soap, I definitely enjoyed using this fragrance in the shower, and only hope that it's a matter of time before Lush bring out a shower gel or jelly to match this scent.  

Quantitative Ingredients: White Tea Infusion, Propylene Glycol, Water (Aqua), Glycerine, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Organic Castor Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Perfume, Jasmine Absolute, Osmanthus Absolute, Rose Oil, Sandalwood Oil, Oudh Oil, Titanium Dioxide, Calcium, Sodium Borosilicate, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Silica, Tin Oxide, *Eugenol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Colour 77492, Colour 77491, Colour 17200, Colour 42090.

Vegan?: Yes.

2019 Price: £7.95 for 95g.

Year Of Original Release: 2019.

Goddess Washcard

It's become normal now to see wash cards accompany nearly every one of Lush's regular perfume releases, and I'm hard-pressed to remember a time when that wasn't the norm within the community. Yet I also remember the time when the introduction of the wash card itself brought about a lot of confusion for consumers.

On the surface, the concept behind these little cards of apple pulp is a great one. For a mere £2, customers can opt to buy one of these cards and try out the smell in the shower, before they decide whether or not they wish to invest in a more expensive bottle of the actual fragrance itself. When you look at these cards in this light, they appear to be a great idea.

Another great fact about these wash cards is that they're perfect for travelling with, as they can slip in a side pocket, or somewhere equally as small, and there isn't a worry that there'll be any leakages during transit. I've even been known to take them on planes in my hand luggage and then used them to freshen myself up in the toilets during my long haul flight. Again, another great reason for the existence of these little cards.

All of that aside, for somebody who doesn't wish to buy any of the perfumes, or has any plan to travel abroad, these little wash cards are simply novelties that don't exactly give you much for the money you spend, no matter how little that may be to you.

As with all of Lush's new innovative wash sheets/cards, this one is made up of apple pulp and an array of essential oils. Simply tear off a small piece (about the size of the circumference of one of Lush's solid perfume tins) and add a little water to the mix. The sheet will foam up rather quickly and produce a creamy lather that can then be massaged across the body.

Being greedy, I opted for using the whole sheet in a single shower, and I can honestly say that it created enough foam to last across several showers - as it claims to do. However, the fragrance was very weak throughout my shower, and every time I used another product, I was no longer able to smell this on my skin or hands. As you can imagine, there wasn't any trace of this on my skin after I had towelled myself down, and neither was it moisturising enough to say that it made much of a difference as well.

Ultimately, I would only buy this again if I was going for a short weekend break and wanted to take minimum items with me. This certainly doesn't replace a shower gel, cream or indeed a soap, and is only really worth the money if you're unsure whether or not your want to buy the solid perfume.   

Quantitative Ingredients: Fresh Apple Pulp, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Hydroxy propyl methyl, cellulose, Perfume, Sodium polyacrylate, Jasmine Absolute, Osmanthus Absolute, Rose Oil, Sandalwood Oil, Oudh Oil, Titanium Dioxide, Cornstarch, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Tin Oxide, DRF Alcohol, *Eugenol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Colour 77491, Colour 17200, Colour 42090.

Vegan?: Yes.

2019 Price: £5.95 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2019.