Once A Year Massage Bar

When I first began this blog, I found it almost impossible to review every product I was using - mostly because I'm always in the habit of using a large array of cosmetics at any one time. For this reason, when large seasonal releases came along, I was never able to use and review every new item before the next set of products made an appearance. 

When the Christmas 2012 releases first graced the website, I was very quick to order multiple amounts of every vegan product on offer. However, some two years on, I'm still digging out items and realising (with regret) that I would have stocked up on particular titles had I known how much I would fall in love with them. Such is the case with this massage bar. 

Sporting one of the strangest, yet equally the most interesting designs I have seen, Once A Year is a beautiful skin-coloured oval shape with a pearly-white moustache protruding from the surface. On closer inspection, you will also notice that the bar is decorated with tiny specks of golden glitter, which gives the bar a slight shimmer in the right light. 

What is great about this bar is that it's packed with some incredible ingredients that promise to do your skin a world of good. There's the usual shea and cocoa butter - two key ingredients that work with the natural oils of your skin to nourish, smoothen and repair over-tired and weathered skin. However, the key ingredient here is definitely the hazelnut oil - a feature that you don't see very often within Lush products. This wonderful oil not only moisturises your skin, but it also forms a protective layer across your skin so it stays soft, supple and radiant for a lot longer than the average massage bar can offer. 

Lush claim that the inclusion of brandy, sweet orange oil, almond oil and cinnamon leaf oil, give this bar a 'distinctive Christmas scent'. However, although I can detect all of these ingredients individually, together they create an aroma that reminds me very much of Juicy Fruit Chewing Gum - an uplifting, fruity concoction with the very faintest note of cinnamon. 

It's definitely very different from anything else I've smelt from Lush, and it's really one you have to experience to understand why I have compared the scent to a chewing gum. What I would say is that for those of you who dislike products that contain alcoholic scents, this is still a product you might enjoy. I drink perhaps once a year, and I have always claimed that I hate the smell of most alcoholic drinks, spirits especially. However, this is a very pleasant smell doesn't have any of the pungency that alcohol gives to most products. 

To use the bar, simply rub it between your hands to warm it and let the oils melt. This particular bar melts very easily and massages into the skin with no problems. It does leave your skin a little greasy for a good 10-15 minutes after application, but I recognised that this was just the hazelnut oil getting to work, so I would prepare myself before using the massage bar, giving the oils time to absorb into the skin before putting any clothing on over the top. 

I really wasn't expecting to like Once A Year as much as I did, and I now consider it one of my favourite massage bars to date. I love the fact that it has a very strong smell - in fact, when I left this in my walk-in-wardrobe, it was all I could smell in there for weeks afterwards. This smell transfers onto your skin and lingers on your body for the most part of the day. I happen to think that fragrance would work really well as a body lotion and I would happily buy a few tubs if they became available. 

The ease at which it melts makes it a really good intensive moisturiser, something you could use once a week to add a bit of radiance to dry and lifeless skin. Unfortunately, despite the fact that it's name suggests a yearly appearance, this massage bar has only been released once since I began to buying regularly from Lush. I'm currently having to use my last bar very scrupulously until Lush choose to bring it back. Hopefully, I won't be waiting too long. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Cocoa Butter (Theobroma cacao), Shea Butter (Butyrospermum parkii), Perfume, Hazelnut Oil (Corylus avellana), Iridescent Glitter (Polyethylene terephthalate & Acrylates copolymer), Brandy, Sweet Orange Oil (Citrus sinensis), Almond Essential Oil (Prunus dulcis), Cinnamon Leaf Oil (Cinnamomum zeylanicum), Benzyl Salycilate, *Cinnamyl Alcohol, Cinnamal, Citral, *Coumarin, Eugenol, Geraniol, Benzyl Benzoate, Benzyl Cinnamate, Farnesol, Limonene, Linalool, Hydroxycitronellal, Colour 14700.

Vegan?: Yes.

Year Of Original Release: 2012.

Brandy Butter Bath Bomb

I think this week has shown how much of a consumer I am - if my many Lush hauls and endless purchases weren't enough to cement this fact already. When Lush announced that they would be bringing out something called Brandy Butter, my immediate thoughts were of the buttercream, Randy Butter - a product that conjures up nightmarish memories from the time I tried it a little over a year ago. 

Yet I still went ahead and purchased a small handful of them - perhaps hoping that my previous experience of the buttercream would be very different from my experience of the bath bomb. A small part of me was also thinking of my readers; I know that many of you would want to hear my opinions on this, so I felt a slight air of duty to suck it up and give it a try. 

When the ballistic arrived in the post, I was immediately taken back by how different the scent was compared to what I was expecting - it doesn't smell anything like the aforementioned buttercream, and it definitely doesn't smell anything like it's name suggests. 

Rather than a heavy, boozy rendition of the Christmas treat that it is named after, this product is a woody, spicy offering that isn't all that different to the bath bomb, Pooh Stix, that was released earlier on this year in the Lush Kitchen. While brandy features high up in the ingredients list, I couldn't detect it at all until the ballistic had been added to water - a fact that I was actually rather grateful for. 

As someone who dislikes the smell of most forms of alcohol, it takes a lot for me to appreciate any product that uses it to add fragrance. Brandy Butter is one of those items that has found that balance - incorporating the alcohol to thicken the overall scent without being too toxic or overpowering. 

As others who have purchased this bath bomb will know, you need to let it sit for a few days, as it is a very strong-smelling ballistic. Much like Mrs Whippy, a fresh batch can often be a little potent on first sniff, but allowing it to mellow out for a week or two will allow you to appreciate the product more. I initially hated the smell of this but grew to love it a few days after I had left it to settle in a drawer. I would suggest that you do the same and don't let it's immediate smell put you off. 

A combination of cinnamon leaf and tangerine oil is what dominates the fragrance of Brandy Butter. Unlike products such as Hot Toddy Shower Gel and Cinders Bath Bomb, this ballistic uses cinnamon in it's raw form. It's not a sugary smell like the above products, it's a very spicy, pungent aroma that immediately awakens the senses and lets you know that it's present. The tangerine oil softens the kick of the spice, albeit only slightly, and gives the bath bomb a subtle, almost sour, citrus burst. 


When placed in the water, the bath bomb immediately begins to fizz - spewing out waves of cream-coloured froth across the surface of the tub. It only takes a little over a minute for the ballistic to fully dissolve but the scent is very prominent throughout the entire experience. Unfortunately, the product doesn't alter the colour of the water, so if you're looking for something that's going to offer you an interesting show, this is not it. 

Despite this, the bath bomb leaves an impressive amount of oils on the surface - more so than any Lush ballistic that I have ever used. When I got into the bath, I could feel the drops of cocoa butter latching onto my skin and I couldn't believe how silky-soft my skin felt almost immediately. It's like bathing in baby oil - and while you might feel a little greasy while you're under the water, you leave the bath feeling incredible. 

I'm rather greedy when it comes to bath bombs and I always use a full one each time I want a gander in the tub. However, I will make an exception for this one as you definitely don't want to use more than half of this in any one bath. I would recommend that you use this as more of a bath melt as it's certainly got enough butter and oil to nourish and restore your skin. 

While the essential ingredients make sure your body is replenished and moisturised externally, the aroma of cinnamon is both warming on the skin and comforting to the mind. I felt really relaxed in the bath tub and the cinnamon leaf oil proved to be perfect at stimulating my skin and improving my circulation of my taut muscles after a hard-days work.

While I wouldn't say that the scent of Brandy Butter is anywhere near my favourite, it's performance in the bath tub is enough to encourage me to use this regularly, and purchase more when they next become available. This is a perfect winter warmer for those who want something to revive their aching bodies and tired minds - something that will also work wonders at repairing and replenishing the moisture you lose from your skin during the colder months.  

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Cinnamon Leaf Oil, Brandy, Tangerine Oil, Cinnamyl Alcohol, Cinnamal, Eugenol, Benzyl Benzoate, Limonene, Linalool, Perfume.

Vegan?: Yes.

2014 Price: £3.50.