Winter Berry Soap

As I have been so absent from the community these last few months, I quite literally have no clue what products have been released, and every new item I pull out of my box is a complete surprise. Therefore, when I first pulled out a slab of Winter Berry Soap, my immediate reaction was that it was just a brand new rendition of the Raspberry Milkshake Soap.

However, upon inspection of the ingredients list and the scent that greeted my nose, I realised that it was not as I originally assumed. In fact, upon further investigation, I discovered that this brand new member of the Christmas range supposedly shared it scent with the Angels' Delight Soap that was a regular feature of the season range a good many years ago. 

For those who have not perhaps been travelling with me on my Lush journey, I can honestly say that the aforementioned smell, which also happens to feature in the Tennis Ball Bath Bomb and the Magic Wand Soap as well, is easily one of my favourite fruity smells that Lush have ever produced. However, I feel as if some of its magic has been lost very slightly in this latest soap offering.

To my nose, the smell of Winter Berry is a bright, fruity tangerine smell, with an extra playful burst of magic that can almost be associated with any other citrus smell you wish to imagine. Think you can smell a fruity strawberry smell here? You're probably right. Something a little more bright and citrusy overtaking your nose? Why not. There is something about this warming aroma that smells almost synthetic but equally as fresh and playful, and blimin' beautiful.

However, what spoilt this experience for me was the soap itself. On the surface, I loved the fact that Lush included an abundance of strawberry seeds to add a little exfoliation action when I lathered the soap across my skin. You can honestly feel the presence of the seeds under the surface of the soap, and it does make a difference to how smooth your skin feels afterwards, without being at all 'scratchy' in the process.

The design of the soap as well, with its bumpy surface, means that you almost feel as if you're giving yourself a massage whilst you're cleaning yourself. This only serves to calm and relax your body and mind a little more, which is perfect if your plan is to head to bed soon after you've had your shower.

However, a design flaw that I noticed was that the soap appeared rather thin from the very first use. Although easy to hold and manoeuvre across the body, within a couple of days it almost felt as if the soap was going to break in half when under the water: it felt flimsy and like there was very little product in the block to begin with. 

While Winter Berry is sold in 100g blocks, I almost feel as if you're getting a lot less product that other soaps of the same weight. This is probably more to do with the shape of the design itself, but needless to say that I feel as I won't be able to utilise this soap as long as some of the other seasonal soaps, because of the fact that the way it shrinks leaves it harder to use across the skin.

Having said that, Winter Berry does produce quite a nice oily lather, which coats the skin with ease and leaves a wonderful fruity fragrance that lingers for a good hour after you've left the shower. However, by itself it hasn't proven to be particularly nourishing on my skin, and I did need to use a body lotion afterwards to put back some of that moisture into my skin again.

Overall, I really appreciated the scent of this soap and I did enjoy the strawberry seeds to add a little exfoliation. However, the design and shape of this doesn't allow for any sort of longevity once the soap begins to shrink, and therefore wouldn't be one that I would invest in a second time around. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Glycerine, Propylene Glycol, Organic Sesame Oil, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Perfume, Organic Castor Oil, Cranberry Juice, Tangerine Oil, Bergamot Oil, Strawberry Seeds, Citric Acid, Titanium Dioxide, Sodium Bicarbonate, *Citral, *Limonene, *Linalool, Colour 45410:1, Colour 17200.

Vegan?: Yes.

2019 Price: £5.50 for 100g.

Year Of Original Release: 2019.

Good Day Sunshine Soap

Whether it was because I'd only recently watched the film with my class, or because the movie has been such a huge hit over the last couple of years, but when I first saw the design of this soap, it immediately reminded me of the Disney classic, Moana. And yes, that song popped straight into my head from that moment onwards and remained there for the rest of the day.

Good Day Sunshine Soap is one of two brand new soaps to have been added to the regular line recently: initially exclusives for Liverpool but obviously popular enough to have made it into the mainstream. Both Good Day Sunshine and Michelle Ma Belle also happen to be half of a four-piece soap collection influenced by the Beatles, and I only hope that I can get my hands on the other variations in the near future.

What attracted me to this soap was not only its gorgeous bright orange colour, and the fact that the yellow sun design on the front looks like something out of a Mayan engraving, but the fact that it shares its scent with one of my all time favourite bath bombs: Cheer Up Buttercup. If there is one scent that will float your boat this summer, this fragrance is definitely it.

Containing a strong dosage of both lemon, lime and neroli, this gorgeous soap offers a bright, fruity and very refreshing citrusy smell. Yet strangely, the smell that comes out the most here is one of fresh orange juice, with the other elements sitting directly underneath and adding spritzy, uplifting fruity base-notes.

What I loved the most about the smell of this soap however, was the heavy dosage of neroli that came forth as soon as I began using this in the shower. Although far more subtle in the bath bomb format, the green notes of the neroli really bring out a sharp tang to the citrusy notes, and together these ingredients create something that isn't far off the smell of a freshly peeled orange, with the outer skin still attached. Good Day Sunshine is super fresh and fruity and perhaps the perfect scent for the warmer weather that we are experiencing right now.

What is unique about this piece of soap is that the yellow design on the surface has actually been dusted with sodium bicarbonate. This means that the first time you use this soap, the surface fizzes up like a bath bomb and the foam adds a slight tingle to your skin whilst you're washing your body. After the first time, there isn't much left to experience it again. However, it's a nice little touch that gives this soap something a little different to enjoy.  

Lush's statement about this soap is: the dazzling orange, vegan aquafaba base offers notes of sparkling lemon myrtle, zesty lime and uplifting neroli to flip your mood sunny side up, while exfoliating chia seeds offer a delicate polish that leaves skin feeling soft and bright enough to rival the sun. While I wasn't able to see the chia seeds in action, my skin did feel really soft afterwards, so I assume that this was the work of the hidden ingredient. 

What I will say about Good Day Sunshine is that the soap tends to lather up really well the first time but then tends to only produce a sort of thin, orange liquid consecutive uses afterwards. This is not a soap that foams up all that easily. Having said that, I found that the orange 'lather' was very easy to spread across my body and I didn't need to massage the soap for more than a few seconds to produce enough 'soap' to apply to my entire body.

This meant that I was able to place Good Day Sunshine away from the water fairly quickly and preserve as much of the soap as I possibly could. As the soap dried in a fairly moderate amount of time, my piece barely shrunk after using it for a week straight and I can safely say that this should last as long as a regular piece of soap would. Despite this, if you're someone who is less conscious of how much you're using, you may find that this soap shrinks a lot quicker than regular soaps, and this is when the £7 price tag may seem a little excessive.

Once I had rinsed the suds from my skin and relished in the delicious fruity smell that had engulfed my entire bathroom, I was really impressed to discover that the fragrance of this soap also lingered on my skin quite heavily. After towelling myself down, I was able to detect both the fruity element and the green-like undertone quite strongly on my body and my hair, and this stayed with me for a good couple of hours afterwards. 

As if this wasn't enough, my skin also felt really soft and smooth and refreshed, and there was a radiance across my hands and legs that I associate with all of the wonderful citrus oils that are present in the ingredients. If anything, using Good Day Sunshine just reaffirmed why Cheer Up Buttercup is one of my all-time favourite bath bombs, and why I love this scent an awful lot.

While I am grateful that Lush have brought this out as a regular item, it does make me wish that the company would bring out a shower gel, body lotion or body spray in the same fragrance, as that would be simply sublime. Inspired by an iconic band, this soap had a lot to live up to and I honestly think that they have matched that expectation perfectly. This is a wonderful addition to any bathroom and I shall be using this all summer to match the sunshine outside.

Quantitative Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Propylene Glycol, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Glycerine, Organic Castor Oil, Sodium Bicarbonate, Sodium Hydroxide, Aquafaba, Citric Acid, Lemon Myrtle Oil, Lime Oil, Neroli Oil, Silken Tofu, Chia Seeds, Cream of Tartar, Xanthan Gum, Agar Agar, Titanium Dioxide, Dipropylene Glycol, *Citral, *Limonene, *Linalool, Perfume, Colour 47005, Colour 19140, Colour 15510, Colour 45410:1.

Vegan?: Yes.

2019 Price: £7.00 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2019.

Frangipani Glove Hand Serum

If there is one part of my body that suffers the most, it is my hands. Having to endure seven days of hard grafting at work, as well as then having to lift increasingly heavy weights seven days a week at the gym, my poor little mitts are just about done by the end of the day. Endless pots and tubes of hand creams later and the skin on my palms is still as cracked and as weathered as an old house. It would have to take something miraculously to bleed some life back into these tired hands.

Bring forth Frangipani Glove Hand Serum: a product that certainly didn't inspire me to get that excited when Lush first announced that it was coming out. Even when the oval shaped disc of oils and butters appeared on my doorstep, I still wasn't interested enough to start using it right away. Silly really, given that the results it did heed now leave me wishing I'd bought a hundred more before they disappeared from the website. 

Described as a hand serum, Frangipani is ultimately a little like a massage bar for the hands, and works in a slightly different way to that of a cream. With quite a number of hand creams, you often need to massage the product quite rigorously into your skin and then wait for it to fully absorb before you can carry on about your day. This hand serum works a little differently, and is ultimately more successful.

You only need to massage for a split second between your palms for the product to begin melting and heed enough oils for you to use on your skin. Frangipani melts extremely easily so I would recommend that you store it somewhere cool in between uses, and try not to hold it too long either, as the bar will shrink far quicker than you would want it to.

Once the product is on the skin, you simply need to spread the oils out across every area of your skin and the work has been done. Instead of the oily, greasy feel that you may experience with creams and lotions, this hand serum dries into a powdered finish so you can get back into whatever it was you were doing mere seconds before you applied the serum. 

What is amazing about Frangipani is that I was not expecting the product to make that much of an impression on my skin, and I instead found that my hands felt instantly hydrated, smooth and far more moisturised after only a matter of seconds. Before and after my gym sessions, I have been applying this hand serum religiously, and have found that I rarely develop any areas of dry skin, whereas beforehand I would have areas that felt constantly dry and hard, no matter how hard I tried to rectify this.

After using this daily for a couple of weeks, I also found that the areas around my nails, as well as the cuticles themselves, were far softer and smoother, and I had less 'flaking' of skin as I had done previously. Featuring almond milk and castor oil to help form a protective barrier across my skin, and witch hazel extract to soothe and tone, this limited edition is definitely a miracle in my eyes. 

Fragrance wise, Lush describe this as being rather fruity, with both sandalwood and tuberose underneath to add both woody and floral tones. To my nose, I'd describe the scent of this to be more on the warming but gentle floral side, although I do agree that there is something delicately woody about the aroma as well.

Although I didn't find that the fragrance of Frangipani lasted all too long on my hands, the intensity of which it improved the condition on my skin, and in such a short space of time, means that this is a product I have integrated into my regular routine. Carrying it around in one of Lush's silver tins has been a godsend for me whilst at work, and I've also taken it with me on board a couple of plane rides, where I've used it as a facial serum as well, with positive results.  

Having used my bar consistently, multiple times a day for almost a month, I can safely say that a bar of this hand serum will easily last another couple of months, making this great value for money. In my opinion, this is easily the greatest hand product that Lush have ever made and I only hope it becomes a permanent in the near future. This is one that I will definitely buy again.  

Quantitative Ingredients: Illipe butter, Murumuru Butter, Cupuaçu Butter, Almond Milk, Organic Shea Butter, Arrowroot Powder, Silica Almond Oil, Sunflower Wax, Witch Hazel, Extract Organic Castor Oil, Perfume, Japan Wax, Frangipani Absolute, Tuberose Absolute, Sandalwood Oil, Rose Wax, Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Benzoate, *Benzyl Salicylate, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Cinnamyl Alcohol, *Citral, Coumarin, *Eugenol, *Farnesol, Geraniol, *Limonene, *Linalool.

Vegan?: Yes.

2019 Price: £8 for 100g.

Year Of Original Release: 2019.

J's Mom's Okra Hair Conditioner

When I first read the description: ‘fresh okra and coconut cream’, I just wanted to transport myself back to the wonders of Thailand and enjoy the many curries that I indulged in over there - all of which featured both of these two wonderful ingredients. While the pleas of my stomach had to be ignored, these key components certainly went the full mile when it came to my hair.

I should start by saying that this conditioner is primarily designed for those with Afro-like hair, or those who have naturally curly hair. While I unfortunately don’t have either to boast, my hair would definitely win any ‘most frizzy’ competition, which this conditioner also promises to tame with a host of incredible ingredients.

The first thing that really annoyed me about J's Mom Okra Hair Conditioner was the fact that the fragrance was instantly familiar to my nose and I wasn't able to pinpoint for a long time where I recognised the scent from. While they are far from being a direct match, I realised that the smell reminded me a little bit of the recent Jade Roller Naked Facial Cleanser, albeit very slightly.

In truth, this is a difficult fragrance to describe. It's definitely very green-like to my nose, but yet there are also many herbal elements going on as well which makes it quite a potent aroma overall. While I hesitate to use the word 'foody', there is something about the scent of this that does remind me of something I might find in a cafe in Thailand or something. 

You can definitely smell the stewed okras, which are what I think makes up the basis of the smell. This element gives it the green and naturally sweet vegetable type of smell. Then there is also a very mild note of the coconut cream underneath, although this acts as more of a base to intensify the other elements. Alongside this, both the lavender and the rosemary add their own herbal layers, and what you get is a very interesting but not particularly satisfying fragrance. While I wouldn't say this smell is at all disgusting, it's definitely not one that would work in near enough any other format. What is impressive about J's Mom's Okra however, is just how well it performs on the hair.

As someone who has quite fine and frizzy hair, I was expecting this hair conditioner to completely destroy my locks, or at the very least turn my head of hair into a full-fledged birds' nest. However, what I found was that this limited edition not only left my hair feeling super moisturised and thick, but also brought out an abundance of noticeable curls that I didn't even realise my hair was capable of doing. 

What I first noticed about this conditioner was just how thick it was coming out of the bottle, and also how little I actually needed to massage across my whole head. Not only this but the conditioner appeared a little lumpy in parts, and there were noticeable strings of okra present throughout the bottle. While my experience wasn't at all hindered by these little pieces of vegetable - and I wasn't left with any in my hair after I had rinsed the product out - I have heard of other consumers complaining of these chunks causing them to have, what appears to be, dandruff afterwards.

After only a single use, I was amazed to find that not only does the fragrance linger in your hair for hours upon hours, acting as a better 'hair perfume' than Happy Happy Joy Joy, but that once my hair had completely dried, I appeared to have a whole head of pronounced curls unlike anything I'd seen. It honestly looked as if I'd had my hair set with curlers in the salon, which is something I have never experienced in my life before. 

While these curls weren't so apparent once I had brushed my hair a few times, there was definitely evidence that J's Mom's Okra had indeed shaped my hair as it claimed to do on the website, and my locks continued to showcase that extra 'weight' for the most part of two days.

Packed with both olive and castor oils, this conditioner did indeed leave my hair feeling much softer and far less coarse than it had before. For this I was incredibly grateful, as my hair tends to lack moisture most of the time, and it's rare for me to find a product that will encourage my locks to retain this natural shine.

Despite its odd smell and apparent lumpy texture, J's Mom's Okra Hair Conditioner worked wonders for my locks, and because of this I can only imagine how well it would perform on those consumers who possess the afro-type hair that it's primarily designed for. I recommend that you find a bottle of this where you can, as it's definitely one that I would repurchase again if it became a regular product.

Quantitative Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Okra Gel, Coconut Cream, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ethyl Macadamiate, Propylene Glycol, Perfume, Behentrimonium chloride, Organic Castor Oil, Fair Trade Olive Oil, Lavender Oil, Rosemary Oil, Gardenia Extract, Cetrimonium Chloride, Phenoxyethanol, Benzyl Alcohol, *Benzyl Benzoate, *Citronellol, *Eugenol, *Geraniol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Chlorophyllin.

Vegan?: Yes.

2019 Price: £7.95 for 100g, £15.95 for 250g, £26.95 for 500g, £43.95 for 1kg.

Year Of Original Release: 2019.

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.

Strawberry Whip Soap

Sometimes our senses can be riled up over something other than the fragrance of a cosmetic alone. Our sensory perceptions can be swayed many different different ways, depending on the colour, shape and general feel of a product, just as much as the smell itself. This is definitely what happened to me when I came into contact with this brand new seasonal special the other week.

Released for the first time in 2019, Strawberry Whip is the only soap to feature in the Valentine's Range this year, which is perhaps in Lush's favour as they've thrown out far too many soaps into the world, over the last twelve months. While a new release for every Lush fan across the globe, this limited edition happens to hold its roots in an old-school classic.

Shaped like a strawberry, and sporting a bright shade of red and green, this beautiful specimen shares its scent with the now discontinued Strawberry Twin Tub Shower Jelly, Strawberry Santa Shower Jelly and the Two Timing Tart Bubble Bar, and it perhaps one of the company's more simplistic aromas.

Although there are many elements going on here, the main note you get given from the get-go is one of sweet, fresh strawberries. While this fruity delight is definitely not synthetic smelling, it's not a direct replica of an actual strawberry either: more like somewhere in the middle with the freshness of the fruit present alongside the other elements that make it a little creamier and sweeter.

In this format, the geranium and jasmine sit a little further under the main component: elevating the strawberry whilst adding their own rich floral cloud to add a little depth to the aroma. Although both ingredients are very much present in the soap, the fruity notes are by far the strongest and most interesting.

Lathering wise, this isn't the most generous of soaps, but it does produce a rather thick and silky foam for you to wash yourself with. The inclusion of the silken tofu definitely dictates how this soap performs, and I love the way it feels on my skin after I have rinsed the suds away. 

As far as soaps go, this will never be as moisturising as a shower gel would be, but it does leave your skin feeling radiant and clean. In addition, I didn't find that my hands felt at all parched after using this, which tends to happen quite a lot when I use a soap in the shower. This limited edition can be stored easily in your bathroom and you wont find that it leaves much of a mess in between uses. It would be worth you patting it down after every shower, as although it hasn't shown much in the way of shrinking over the last two weeks, the moisture will definitely reduce its shelf life if left too wet.

As I stated above, the shape and design of this soap makes me appreciate the fragrance of this a lot more than I have done with the other products of the same scent. There is just something so aesthetically pleasing about Strawberry Whip that tingles my tastebuds and makes my mouth salivate a little more than usual.

While not a soap or smell that's going to win any awards for originality or innovation, Strawberry Whip is a welcome product to this year's Valentine's Day range, and one that I'll be saving to enjoy once again in the summer months. The idea of using this in my shower, after a long day in the sticky heat, sends tingles of delight down my spine.

Quantitative Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Propylene Glycol, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Glycerine, Organic Castor Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Fresh Strawberry, Perfume, Aquafaba, Benzoin Resinoid, Geranium Oil, Jasmine Absolute, Silken Tofu, Cream of Tartar, Titanium Dioxide, Xanthan Gum, Agar Agar Gel, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, *Benzyl Benzoate, *Cinnamal, *Citronellol, *Linalool, Colour 45410, Colour 14700, Colour 19140, Colour 42090.

Vegan?: Yes.

2019 Price: £6.50 each (100g.) 

Year Of Original Release: 2019.

Scent Family:
The Big Strawberry Bath Melt
Strawberry Santa Jelly
Strawberry Twin Tub Jelly
Strawberry Whip Soap

Two Timing Tart Bubble Bar

Honey I Washed The Kids Bath Bomb

I think most long-term Lush fans will agree that Honey I Washed The Kids is perhaps one of the most overused scents that Lush produce. That’s not to say that it isn’t gorgeous in any way, just that there seems to be something almost yearly that comes out in that aroma. Therefore, I wasn’t originally that excited for this particular bath bomb.

As what happens sometimes, I will be honest and say that this bath bomb quickly became a firm-favourite in my house. While my head was going to write it off as yet ‘another product in that scent’, my heart was won over very quickly, because Honey I Washed The Kids is simply a fantastic bath bomb. There seems to be recurring theme going on here with the Lush Community release...

Sporting a yellow design with red hexagonal ‘spots’ on the surface, this bath bomb is definitely not the most appealing. Yet, when I discovered this one is one of the strongest-smelling bath bombs that have released in a while, and that the red dots are in fact little pieces of hardened oils that melt in the water, I quickly became far more invested in trying this one out for size.

Much like The Olive Branch, this bath bomb was super strong throughout the whole process. Before, it stunk out my living room; during, it filled my entire bathroom and drifted out across the rest of the house; and afterwards, it stuck to my skin like a stubborn plaster. If you don’t like the scent, or indeed strong bath bombs, please avoid this one like the plague: it will try and drown you with the level of fragrance it offers. 

Talking of fragrance: for those who are not familiar with other products in this scent range, Honey I Washed The Kids is a sweet, sultry combination of orange and bergamot oils, and secret ingredients that give it an almost food-like scent. To my nose, it smells like sweetened honey, with gentle drippings of caramel and a strong, bright thread of orange oil branching out across the whole scent. Although it’s not sickly sweet, it is very rich and sultry, and is a perfect replica of the products to come before it.

In the water, my bath bomb unfortunately seemed to bob under the surface of the water, so it won’t offer you that much in the way of a performance. It also happens to be a very fast fizzer so it’ll disappear in under a minute or so. Having said that, HIWTK makes an immediate impression by turning your bath water bright golden yellow (perhaps not the best colour to bathe in) and the little bath melts swirl around the surface and add their own generous helping of essential oils to soften the skin.

While translucent to look at, what I loved about this bath bomb was the fact that it was so incredibly moisturising. I was only in the bath for a couple of minutes before I could feel and see the difference it was making on my skin. The water itself was velvety soft to touch, and this left an amazing impression on my skin: I could quite literally feel the affects of this bath bomb the very next day, and I didn’t feel the need to moisturise at all. As I mentioned above, the smell stays with you longer after you leave the bath. So if, like me, you’re not fortunate enough to own the body spray or body lotion anymore, you can still enough the smell for hours after you’re dry.

As you can imagine, I would rate Honey I Washed The Kids Bath Bomb very highly, and is yet another one that I hope becomes a permanent in shops, in the near future. While I won’t be visiting Japan any more, I would be tempted to take a plane trip just to grab a few more of these in the future. Well done Lush for yet another impressive release!

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Brazilian Orange Oil, Bergamot Oil, Gardenia Extract, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Organic Castor Oil, Aloe Vera Extract, Glycol, Laureth 4, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Citronellol, *Limonene, Perfume, Colour 47005, Colour 15510, Colour 45410, Colour 19140.

Vegan?: Yes. 

2018 Price: £3.95.

Year Of Original Release: 2018.

Scent Family:
Golden Egg Bath Bomb
Gold FUN
Honey I Washed The Kids Bath Bomb
Honey I Washed The Kids Body Spray
Honey I Washed The Kids Liquid Perfume
Honey I Washed The Kids Solid Perfume
Honey I Washed The Kids Soap
Humpy Dumpty Bath Bomb
Ma Bar Bubble Bar
Noni I Washed The Kids Body Lotion
Santasaurus Reusable Bubble Bar
Shoot For The Stars Bath Bomb (2013)
Shoot For The Stars Bath Bomb (2016)
Sugar Mama Sugar Scrub

The Mum Reusable Bubble Bar

coming soon!

Merry Berry Soap

I think it's become a very British thing to invest in The Great British Bakeoff every year: the name itself suggests as much. While I can honestly claim that I watch television perhaps an average of twice a month, most of this is due to me binge-watching the series over a small expanse of time. There is quite literally nothing else on TV that interests me enough to even turn the box on itself.

When I heard that Merry Berry was one of the soaps in this year's Christmas range, I gave a little smile imagining what fragrance the company would go for to represent one of, who I believe is, the sweetest and most talented women on TV. When the soap arrived, I just knew that Lush had gotten this one right.

Containing a whole host of tantalising ingredients for your skin and nose, this limited edition comes as a round slab, with a circumference of roughly seven centimetres and a depth of just over two. This is a big piece of soap, and also rather pretty-looking with its deep red coloured design and creamy white pattern across the top.

From the start, it was both the rose absolute and the lemon oil that made the biggest impression for me. In fact, there is something rather reminiscent of Rose Jam here that I just couldn't shake, even after a few weeks of using this in the shower. While not an exact replica, it does remind me of the popular scent family, albeit far richer and more sophisticated.

My nose could detect a rich, rather indulgent dry rose smell at first, laced with warming dose of lemon oil that entangles itself around the floral components and uplifts the whole smell. Alongside this, a delicate layer of clove oil creates a rich, comforting blanket to ground the whole aroma somewhat. 

Next up, we have a generous helping of dried cranberries and blueberries: both of which add their own sweet and slightly sharp fruitiness, which as Lush suggest in their description, gives this soap an aroma that reminds me very slightly of dried fruit cake. When in use, these berries come forth quite a bit, whereas before coming into contact with water, they're a little more reserved.

What I found with Merry Berry was that it created a different lather depending on how and where you used it. In the bath, this soap will produce a light but rather heavy foam that coats your skin with ease and leaves a wonderfully lingering delicate smell. If you choose to use this in the shower, the lather takes a little more work to stimulate, and what you get instead is a thicker, more oiler lather to wash yourself with. 

Either way, I was impressed that this product actually appeared to moisturise my skin quite well for a soap, which I think is in part to the inclusion of the castor oil in the ingredients list. Furthermore, Merry Berry did leave a warming blend of rose and fruit on my skin after I had towelled myself down. 

My only qualm with this product was the fact that the size and shape made it slightly difficult to lather at first, and some of the berries can be a little scratchy if they poke through the surface whilst you're washing. Having said that, the soap is definitely a lovely addition to this year's Christmas range and I can imagine more products will appear in this scent as time goes on.     

Quantitative Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Propylene Glycol, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Organic Castor Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Perfume, Sodium Stearate, Dried Cranberries, Dried Blueberries, Geranium Oil, Rose Absolute, Sicilian Lemon Oil, Clove Bud Oil, Citric Acid, Glycerine, Titanium Dioxide, Sodium Bicarbonate, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, *Citral, *Citronellol, Coumarin, *Eugenol, *Geraniol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Colour 17200.

Vegan?: Yes. 

2018 Price: £6.95 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2018.