Cookie Dough Lip Scrub

I haven't met a single person who doesn't love the idea of eating cookie dough, and to be honest I couldn't imagine getting on with anybody who disliked it enough so say so. While my sweet tooth is usually satisfied with the daily protein shakes I fuel my body with, finding my willpower to not eat an entire raw batch is harder than squatting my body weight at the gym.

For this reason, I wasn't at all surprised when the Lush community went a little crazy over the Cookie Dough Lip Scrub, when it first made an appearance in the Liverpool Store. I can't deny that I wasn't at least a little intrigued myself to see how close the smell and taste replicated actual cookie dough. Strangely, I found that the fragrance didn't remind me of the sweet treat at all, but that's not to say that it wasn't delicious.

As with every one of Lush's lip scrubs, the key ingredient is caster sugar: a natural exfoliant that not only removes dead skin and debris from the lips, but helps to make the process a little more tasty and enjoyable. Along with a few essential oils, this little scrub will hydrate, soften and plump out your lips, with regular use, and leave them noticeably smoother and healthier.

Alongside the sugar, Cookie Dough contains shea butter, hazelnut oil, vanilla absolute and carob resinoid: a handful of ingredients that go into producing one of the most wonderfully mouth-watering products that the company currently offer. This lip scrub is definitely very dessert-like to my nose, but wouldn't remind me of cookie dough if it hadn't been given that name.

When sniffed up close, there are two prominent notes. Firstly, there's a strong, almost slightly nutty note of the almond oil, which I happen to think is the strongest component of this scrub. Alongside this, there is a sweet and very warming note of vanilla absolute, with just the slightest bitterness of the carob resinoid to finish. 

If I was to compare it to any sort of pudding I've experienced, I would say it is far more in-keeping with the likes of a vanilla and almond sponge; or a bowl of vanilla custard with a cacao and almond sauce over the top. Maybe I've been making my cookie dough a different way all of these years, but none of my batches have ever matched the smell of this lip scrub.

What I will say is that, on the lips, Cookie Dough tastes like a piece of vanilla fudge, and I can see why it would be very easy to eat more than the intended purpose of the product. However, when it comes to the fragrance of the whole scrub, there is something slightly bitter about it that doesn't sit well with me as well as I was expecting it to. Either the hazelnut or the almond oil is a little too strong in the mix, which prevents this scrub from being as yummy as it potentially could have been.

Having said that, Cookie Dough works exactly as you would expect a lip scrub to do, and heeds great results. You simply need to scoop out a tiny amount with your finger - rubbing the scrub all over your lips in a circular motion. The best part is that you then need to use your tongue to lick off the excess sugar, which leaves your lips looking less parched and weathered, and feeling a whole lot better than they did a few seconds beforehand. 


Although this process is completely safe, and the scrub is intended for consumption, I wouldn't suggest that you scoop out masses and eat it by itself (although we've all been tempted!). While a small amount on the lips does taste rather yummy, I can safely say that these scrubs don't work as a replacement for a regular dessert; there is still something 'soapy' about the taste of this, if too much is ingested.

Overall, Cookie Dough Lip Scrub is another great variation from Lush, but one that I wouldn't claim to be my favourite. At the risk of repeating myself, the taste of this is very dessert-like although not at all like the cookie dough I have sampled in my time. As one of these tubs tends to last almost a full year, I don't really have any need to buy another one. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Caster Sugar, Organic Jojoba Oil, Granulated Sugar, Fair Trade Shea Butter, Hazelnut Oil, Fine Sea Salt, Vanilla Absolute, Almond essential oil, Balsam Fir Resin, Carob Resinoid, Gardenia Extract, Pistachio Oil, Cocoa Powder, Titanium Dioxide, *Limonene, Flavour.

Vegan?: Yes.

2019 Price: £2.95 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2019.

Carrot Cake Lip Scrub

When I was little, carrot cake was my favourite dessert on the entire planet. Every birthday I would request that my parents buy me a pre-made cake to indulge in, and as nobody else in my family liked it, I would eat every single indulgent mouthful for myself - falling into a sugar coma and knowing that if I was to die at that very moment in time, I could live with the gluttony that brought me there.

As I haven't ever found myself in receipt of a vegan carrot cake yet, I haven't had the pleasure of enjoying my favourite cake in almost fourteen years. Therefore, the idea of Lush's Carrot Cake Lip Scrub sounded truly exquisite, and I couldn't wait to slather the product all over my parched lips.

As with all of Lush's lips scrubs, this one is made from a base of caster sugar, which is what gives this limited edition its exfoliating properties, and jojoba oil, which helps to moisturise the skin. As you can see from the ingredients list, there rest of the components reads very much like a cake, and the smell and taste of this seasonal special replicates this sentiment as well.


Containing orange oil, carob resinoid and cinnamon powder, the smell of this lip scrub is a rich, almost maple syrup-like aroma with a gentle note of the orange intertwined with a dry, spicy helping of cinnamon. The carob resinoid brings a delicate hint of chocolate, but it's more like the dry, bitter version as opposed to the creamy chocolate you may be imagining.

On the tongue, Carrot Cake tastes mostly of the orange oil with a delicate lace of cinnamon and carob. Having said that, the carob, or possible the fenugreek, leaves a bitter aftertaste which I didn't particularly appreciate. In fact, this bitterness spoiled my experience with this lip scrub, and I found myself not wanting to lick my lips after using it across my mouth.

Having said that, the product did do a good job at making my lips feel beautifully soft and moisturised, and it also removed the dead and dried skin that has accumulated at the corners of my mouth. My lips felt instantly better after a single use, and after using this for a couple of days in a row, the consistency of my lips improved dramatically.

To make the most of Carrot Cake Lip Scrub, I would recommend that you apply your favourite lip balm afterwards as this will continue to work that moisture into the skin and give you kissably-soft lips. In all honesty, I was rather surprised at how quickly the condition of my lips improved from a product so simple and natural, and I've vowed to continue using this for the foreseeable future.

While this small pot has the hefty price tag of £6.50, I believe that it is fantastic value for money because it can easily last for 6+ months, depending on how often your apply it. I recommend that you try it out for yourself, even if the aftertaste is not particularly desirable. It does it's job well and at least has a wonderful smell to enjoy when you're feeling peckish.

Quantitative Ingredients: Caster Sugar, Organic Jojoba Oil, Organic Ground Almonds, Organic Shea Butter, Walnut Oil, Brazilian Orange Oil, Ginger Oleoresin, Carob Resinoid, Fenugreek Absolute, Fine Sea Salt, Cold Pressed Carrot Seed Oil, Orange Peel Wax, Toasted Hazelnut Oil, Fair Trade Organic Cinnamon Powder, Paprika Oleoresin, *Benzyl Alcohol, *Benzyl Benzoate, Cinnamal, *Citral, *Limonene, *Linalool, Flavour.

Vegan?: Yes.

2019 Price: £6.50 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2019.

Midnight Massage Bar

When I first set my eyes on these massage bars back in 2012, I immediately fell in love with the design. What more can you ask for than a sensual, exotic-scented massage bar, shaped to look like one of Salvador Dali's 'Melted Clocks'. There's something extremely appealing about this product; it's almost a celebration of the romanticism of the 1920's/30's, and gives me that same nostalgia that I got when reading Brian Selznick's 'The Invention of Hugo Cabret'.

Depending on when you purchased your Midnight Massage Bar, you might have one of two different shades. Earlier releases boasted a beautiful, rich peachy coloured bar with gold lustre decorating the face of the clock. However, when the bars were re-released for the Christmas 2013 retro range, the bar seemed to have lost the glow it originally had, and is now much more paler in colour. 

As the name suggests, this product can be used to aide a full body massage for one or more lucky people. However, it can also be used as a luxury alternative to a body lotion, which is what I tend to Lush's massage bars for. To melt the bar, you rub it between your hands where your body temperature heats the oils up and causes the bar to melt slightly. Using your hands and fingers, you can glide the bar over your body before massaging the oils into your skin.

What I found with Midnight Massage, is that it was rather stubborn at giving away its oils. Whereas massage bars such as Close To You or From Dusk Til' Dawn tend to begin melting immediately when in your hands, this bar took a little while to stimulate. In its defence, when it did begin to melt, the oils it produced were of a lovely consistency - not too greasy and runny, but not too sticky either. I found that once I massaged the oils equally across my body, it didn't take very long for them to absorb into the skin, so I was able to put my clothes back on within 15-20 minutes.

Furthermore, I really appreciated the fact that the side I was holding didn't melt between my fingers, and only the side in contact with body did. This just helped to make things a little less messy while I was applying the product, and it also meant that the massage bar are able to retain its shape for a lot longer than other massage bars have done so in the past. 

Much like all of Lush's other massage bars, this one has a ton of wonderful ingredients to give your skin a royal feast; cocoa butter, shea butter and olive oil are all present to help moisturise and remove dry, scaly skin; the inclusion of exotic fruits such as figs, carob pods and quince fruit mean that this product is also rich in antioxidants, and a great way to replenish the skin. Lush have then chosen a refined, sexy jasmine scent that will not only linger on the body long after your massage, but will also ensuring the persistence of memory to help you through your day.

If you dislike jasmine, this is definitely a product you should avoid altogether. While it is not anywhere near as strong as the jasmine in the Lust range, it is definitely the strongest component in Midnight Massage. Coupled with the fig, which gives the bar a rich but gentle fruity note, this massage bar offers a wonderful, heady aroma - perfect to use before a night out on the town. What I loved about this product was that once it was on my skin, it gave off a subtle but very beautiful chocolately element as well. It's almost as if the heat of my body stimulated and enhanced the carob element, and this continued to radiate from my skin for quite some time afterwards.

While I have never claimed to be a big fan of jasmine, I found this massage bar incredibly beautiful - very exotic and alluring, and definitely something that fans of Lust or indeed any jasmine-orientated fragrance will probably really enjoy.   

As if the smell wasn't appealing enough, the fact that this bar is one of the longer-lasting massage bars no doubt helps its popularity. I found that I was able to get a good 8-10 full body uses out of it, whereas some bars I can only heed 3-4. The fact that it's rather stubborn at releasing oils to begin with means that it's far easy to manipulate how much/little you want to use. Furthermore, it holds its shape really well so you won't have it breaking apart or turning into a gloopy mess during application, and it also means that it's rather easy to store between uses.

Quantitative Ingredients: Cocoa Butter, Fair Trade Shea Butter, Fair Trade Olive Oil, Perfume, Fig, Carob pods and Quince Extract, Fair Trade Vanilla Absolute, Jasmine Absolute, Olive Leaf Absolute, Petitgrain Oil, *Benzyl Salicylate, *Cinnamyl Alcohol, *Geraniol, *Benzyl Benzoate, *Benzyl Cinnamate, *Farnesol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Benzyl Alcohol, Lustre Radiant Gold, Edible Lustre Radiant Gold.

Vegan?: Yes.

2016 Price: £6.95 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2012.

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