Spice Curls Soap

A good percentage of those who grew up in the 90's will remember the Spice Girls with at least a small bout of fondness. Whether they joined one of the thousands of tribute groups that formed in playgrounds across the country, or simply bopped to their favourite songs in the comfort of their own bedroom, everyone was caught up with the Brit-pop sensation in some small way.

While the inclusion of ginger seems to be the only reference Spice Curls Soap has to the famous group, there is something very sassy and sultry about the aroma. It is this very factor that makes me believe it is the ingredients and powerful aroma that form a link between the product and one of the biggest girl groups of all time.

So where to start with this complex and very interesting soap? I'll begin by stating that Spice Curls is a wholesome cluster of herbs and spices - a thick crescendo of smells that lace together to form one of the strongest smelling soaps I have ever experienced from Lush. While its use is definitely limited to the colder months of the year, this is a soap that leaves a lasting impression on both your body and your mind; it's not one that you forget easily, for better or worse.  

With cardamom as the key ingredient, this soap is warm and slightly smoky, with very dry but subtle notes of what I can only describe as lemon. This is a byproduct of the cardamom though, not a stand alone ingredient, so don't expect this soap to be fruity. Alongside this, there is also an accumulation of cloves and cinnamon underneath, which add an equal measure of heat and spice. Both of these two components have their own natural sweetness, but I would not describe this soap as being sweet in the same way that you might describe the likes of Hot Toddy or Cinders.

Instead, the layers of ginger, paprika, ground chilli and cayenne pepper make this a strong, grounded spicy aroma, while the inclusion of peppermint adds a crisp but full-flavoured fragrance. This reminds me of both Pumpkin Soap and Jacko Ballistic, albeit much stronger, slightly creamier and more rounded.

What I will say is that Spice Curls is one of the most full-bodied soaps I have ever come across from Lush. It's potency will greet you before you've even opened the box, and it continues to dominate any room you leave it resting in. As you can imagine, the smell transpires well in the shower, and is definitely an effective alternative to minty or bright citrusy smells, if you're looking for something to wake you up.  

This is quite a soft soap, as in it gives way a little when you squeeze it, so I would suggest that you pat it dry in between uses so as not to allow the water to shrink your block quicker than you would like. Having said that, the consistency works in your favour as it is such a generous latherer, and takes very little stimulation to produce a thick, creamy and very fragrant foam to wash yourself with. I'd say that this is a soap you don't need to hold under  the running water too much in the shower: it would probably diminish fairly quickly this way, and you could easily create an amass of lather away from the stream and then massage this across your skin.

Featuring ground rice as one of the key ingredients, you'll notice that this soap also has a slight gritty texture to it. This allows the product to offer a gentle exfoliation while you're cleaning yourself, and I love how soft my skin felt without needing to put too much pressure on my body while I was using the soap. This would be great for those who dislike scratchy scrubs, or for those who have sensitive skin, as you barely notice the exfoliation because it is so gentle. However, the results are just as impressive as some of Lush's sugar-based scrubs.

As to be expected, the smell of this stayed on my skin for a long time afterwards, which is part of the reason why I believe it is more suited for the winter months. I don't quite know how I'd feel being able to smell a strong thread of cloves and cardamom on my skin when the sun was out and making me sweat!

Impressively, once I had towelled myself down and let my skin completely dry, I was surprised to find that my hands and arms felt really soft and shiny - my hands in particular sharing the same feeling I get when I've applied hand cream to them. The only negative aspect about this soap, aside from it being suited to certain seasons, is that I also feel as if I'd have to be in a certain mood to use this. As it is very heavy on the senses, this is not a soap I would want to use all the time; neither is it a soap that I think would sit well as a hand soap - its potency would be quite off-putting for those wanting to wash their hands.

Overall, I found that I liked this soap a lot more than I was expecting to. The combination of its strong smell, soft appearance and lasting smoothness means that this is a soap I reckon that you need to try at least once, if only to Spice Up Your Life. However, if you dislike potent fragrances, this is one you are gonna Wannabe missing.

Quantitative Ingredients: Water (Aqua),  Glycerine, Rapeseed Oil and Coconut Oil, Kaolin,Ground Rice, Sorbitol, Fresh Ginger Root, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Cardamom Oil, Clove Bud Oil, Spearmint Oil, Organic Hungarian Paprika, Fair Trade Organic Cinnamon Powder, Organic Ground Cayenne Pepper, Organic Ground Chilli, Sodium Chloride, EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Stearate, *Cinnamal, *Eugenol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Perfume, Colour 15510.

Vegan?: Yes.

2017 Price: £4.50 for 100g.

Year Of Original Release: 2008.

Boom! Toothy Tabs

By this stage into my toothy tabs exploration, I'm pretty sold on the range of flavours that are now available, and very happy to continue using these for the foreseeable future. While on paper some of them don't immediately jump out at me as potential favourites, I've learnt to enjoy and relish in the weird and wonderful concoctions that Lush have come up with as alternatives to toothpaste.

Boom! Toothy Tabs is one for the brave - a product that doesn't initially look or sound like it's going to do much in the way for your oral health. Presented as powdery charcoal-coloured tablets, this product actually looks more like it's going to do more damage to your teeth than clean and whiten them. In fact, images of Calypso's pearlies in the Pirates Of The Caribbean films sprang to mind when I originally began to use these. 

Containing a strange combination of chilli and gunpowder tea, these tabs are supposed to cleanse and freshen your whole mouth - leaving your teeth sparkling white and your breath equally refreshed. Aside from prolonging life, boasting your immune system and strengthening your heart, gunpowder tea (and green tea in general) is known for it's ability to reduce and remove unwanted bacteria in the body. 

Containing a component known as catechins, the tea uses this to inhibit the production of an enzyme called gyrase, which is needed by bacteria to flourish and multiply in the body. Gunpowder tea helps to eradicate this enzyme, reducing the chance of getting an infection as well as helping to alleviate existing bacterial infections that may be present in the mouth.

These particular tabs feature a number of ingredients that I was unsure about and had to research before trying them out for myself - not only to understand how and why any or all of Lush's toothy tab works, but also to educate others about the benefits they hold in this product; dicalcium phosphate anhydrous is the main ingredient in these toothy tabs and is a component used to help supplement the body's calcium intake, not to mention preventing the build up of tartar in the mouth; sorbitol is a natural alternative to sugar, which allows Lush to add flavour to this product without adding anything that'll rot your teeth; Lauroyl Sarcosine not only helps the product to foam up in the mouth, but is also used to remove unwanted bacteria that may cause problems in the future.

Featuring both lime oil and black pepper, these toothy tabs have a strange flavour that takes some getting used to. In the bottle, Boom! smells heavily of the lime with an almost powdery charcoal element alongside this. In the mouth, these tabs are very similar - tasting rather citrusy with a gentle homage to the black pepper and an even subtler chilli element that can barely be registered at all. 

To use them you simply pop a tab into your mouth, crunch down using your front teeth, wet your toothbrush and begin to brush your teeth as normal. The powdery mixture reacts with the water and the cream of tartar creates a foam that freshens your mouth and cleans away any stubborn pieces of food that may be lingering around. Unlike some of Lush's other tabs I have tried, this one melts almost immediately upon contact with moisture and you won't need to crunch these at all.

What I liked about these tabs was that they produced a rather generous foam when in use - something that some of the newer toothy tabs do not do. I found that I could continue brushing my teeth for a good 5 minutes without running out of product and they left my mouth feeling thoroughly clean. 

Unfortunately, these tabs do tend to stain your tooth brush a little and by the end of the first week I was left with a blackened brush in the bathroom. However, they definitely do not stain your teeth or indeed your skin so you don't have to worry about any discolouration happening while these are in use. 

While these tabs won't leave you with amazingly minty-fresh breath, and this may be something you'll have to get used to, it does leave a pleasant taste on the palette and provides you with clean-feeling teeth. Out of all of the new flavours that have made an appearance this year, these happen to be one of my favourites and I would definitely recommend that you try them out for yourself. 

Containing enough tabs for three months of daily brushing once or twice, this small bottle will last you a long time. And while they may work out a little more expensive than a tub of toothpaste, they're definitely worth the price tag - if only for the novelty of trying a flavour that is far more interesting than the hum drum of mint that you may be used to. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Dicalcium Phosphate Anhydrous, Sodium Bicarbonate, Charcoal, Cream Of Tartar (Potassium bitartrate), Lauroyl Sarcosine, Sorbitol,  Kaolin, Fine Sea Salt, Flavour, Persian Lime Oil (Citrus aurantifolia), Aniseed Oil (lilicium verum), Black Pepper Oil (Piper nigrum), Benzoin Resinoid (Styrax tonkinensis), Powdered Gunpowder Tea (Camellia sinensis), Organic Ground Chilli (Capsicum frutescens), Sodium saccharin, Citral, Limonene.

Vegan?: Yes. 

2015 Price: £5.95 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2015.