Dear John Coffee Shampoo Bar

With the amount of new hair care coming out from Lush, it can be very daunting for fans to know what to invest in, and which ones to avoid altogether. As quickly as they arrive, my hair becomes the testing ground for these new products, which often leaves my locks feeling rather confused and in despair.

After numerous new conditioners and protein shampoos, Dear John Coffee Shampoo Bar came along and completely blew each and every one of them out of the water. This is easily the best shampoo bar that Lush have EVER done. Yes, you heard that right! And if you're not convinced what makes this one shine, please continue reading to find out. 

Firstly, the smell of this bar is simply delicious. If you enjoy Cup O' Coffee Body Mask, you'll love the rich and smoky coffee scent that this limited edition brings to the table. As others have mentioned before me, there is also something slightly woody about the fragrance of this that reminds me a little of Dear John as well.

Having said that, if you're not a fan of coffee, you may be pleased to know that the scent of this doesn't really seem to make itself known when it's being used in the shower. Strangely, despite the robust smell when its dry; when it's wet, the smell almost evaporates a little. If you're worried that the coffee will permeate your locks and leave a smell that follows you around, you may be pleased to know that the aroma all but dissipates when the shampoo is washed out. 

What the inclusion of both the coffee beans and the caffeine powder does do however, is stimulate the scalp and promote healthy growth. If you're like me, that suffers from both rather thin hair, or hair that doesn't seem to want to grow as fast as others do, this shampoo bar will work wonders at helping this process to speed up a little. While it's probably more wishful thinking than actual progress, my hair genuinely feels a little longer since I began using this about 10 days ago.

What I will say is that Dear John Coffee Shampoo Bar lathers up really generously, so you barely need to stimulate it between your hands before you have enough to massage into your hair and scalp. Once you have done this, leaving it on for a couple of minutes before rinsing it away will work wonders at cleaning your whole head of hair.

After using this only once, I was amazed when I noticed how soft my hair felt before I applied my conditioner. I find that a lot of shampoos tends to rely on the conditioning aspect of your routine, to retain that moisture. However, I can safely say that this limited edition could easily be used by itself, and still heed impressive results.

While my hair was drying, I noticed how much softer my locks felt; how much more shine my hair had on offer; and even how much thicker it looked and felt after I had brushed out any tangles. While my ends were still a little frizzy, the rest of my hair sat beautifully down my back, and it's the first time in a long while that I was able to wear my hair down without needing to apply an oil.

Ultimately, I do think that it's a little strange that one of Lush's best ever shampoos has been released only as a limited edition. And it's a shame that it has received less coverage than these other products because of this fact. In my mind, Dear John Coffee Shampoo Bar is my favourite shampoo from Lush, and coupled with the recently released American Cream Pressed Conditioner, makes my hair look and feel like gorgeous.

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Coco Sulfate, Fair Trade Organic Clove Infusion, Perfume, Ground Coffee, Cocoa Powder, Whole Coffee Bean, Cedarwood Oil, Vetivert Oil, Coriander Seed Oil, Clove Bud Oil, Molasses, Aloe Vera Extract, Caffeine Powder, *Citral, *Coumarin, *Eugenol, *Limonene, *Linalool.

Vegan?: Yes.

2019 Price: £7.50 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2019.

Cafe Vegan Protein Shampoo

If there is anyone on the planet that needs a protein boost for her hair, it's yours truly. There hasn't been a day over the last few years where I can honestly say that I haven't battled to get my hair to retain at least some volume and at least some shine. My hair seems to be destined to remain a glorified bird's nest for the foreseeable future  and I'm not in the slightest bit comfortable about that fact.  

When Lush first announced their four brand new vegan protein shampoos, I was excited not only because of the fact that they were specially labelled as vegan, but because they also had the word protein in the title as well. Having lived a plant-based lifestyle for close to fifteen years, I cannot even begin to count the hundreds of times someone has tried to convince me that the two cannot coexist together.

Cafe Vegan Protein Shampoo was probably the one I was most excited about out of the four variations, if only for the fact that it came in a bright green colour. When I found that it was one of the best protein shampoos to foam up under the water as well, this limited edition solid bar won me over for good.   

Containing fresh mint water, menthol crystals and caffeine powder, I was expecting the smell to hit me like a tonne bricks, and knock me for six back into my twenties. However, I was intrigued to find that the fragrance of this is very mild to begin with, and only really makes its presence known when it's being used under warm/hot water.

Having said this, when the scent does make itself a little more prominent, it certainly isn't anywhere near as potent as I as assuming it would be; and it also doesn't smell anything like what the ingredients list might suggest. As many people to come before me have stated, the smell of Cafe Shampoo reminds me almost of those banana foam sweets that you used to get in your bag of pick 'n' mix. There is something rather creamy about the combination of the vanilla, lemon oil and geranium that makes it smell very foody and delicious.

One of four limited edition vegan protein shampoos that Lush released a couple of months ago in their Lush Labs, Cafe also boasts a large helping of aquafaba, which is the protein-rich liquid that chickpeas reside in. This shampoo not only promises to strengthen and rebuild your hair, but also features a large dosage of caffeine to help stimulate the scalp and encourage hair growth.

What I found after using this shampoo bar for a couple of weeks was that my hair did look and feel noticeably thicker, and the ends of my hair - which tend to appear thin and scraggly - seemed to settle against my shoulders a little more comfortably. It's usually a sign of greatness when I'm able to wear my hair down without doing much to my locks, and there were times when I was able to do that whilst using this every other day.

Impressively, I found that when I rinsed Cafe out of my hair, the lather appeared a little softer than it had done applying it in the first place, and I could feel the shampoo getting to work at softening my hair as well. While it's not strong enough to replace a conditioner by any means, I found that I could use this without using a conditioner, and my hair didn't seem to mind this at all.

Ultimately, this is yet another great success for Lush hair care, and is perhaps my favourite vegan protein shampoo so far. Lush would do well to invest in bringing out more of these than their original shampoo disc bars, as I find these appear as if they're going to last longer, and the results are much more successful than some of the original bars I've tried.

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Coco Sulfate, Propylene Glycol, Glyceryl Stearate, Aquafaba, Fresh Mint Water (Aqua), Ethyl Macadamiate, Perfume, Lycopodium Powder, Guar Gum, Clove Bud Oil, Geranium Oil, Brazilian Orange Oil, Sicilian Lemon Oil, Vanilla Absolute, Menthol Crystals, Caffeine Powder, Cetrimonium Bromide, *Anise Alcohol, *Citral, *Citronellol, *Eugenol, *Geraniol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Colour 45350, Colour 42053.

Vegan?: Yes.

2019 Price: £15 for.

Year Of Original Release: 2019.

Punkawalop Matte Hair Clay

Out of all of Lush's limited edition hair care products from the Showcase event, this was the one I was most nervous about using. After deciding to cut my hair super short, bleach it bright blonde and then style it with wax every day, I know the effects that products such as this can have on the health and condition of your hair over time. Let's just say that I didn't want to repeat the mistakes of my youth some twenty years later.

Punkawalop Matte Hair Clay has been described by Lush as being a product for the rebels, although I don't really see how using this was going to turn a vegan, primary school teacher into somebody that was at risk of receiving an asbo. Jokes aside, this Showcase exclusive was sounded like it meant business, and I was a little worried just how my hair would turn out after using this.

Firstly, I found the scent of this product to be rather strange, as there appeared to be very little to the smell at all. The rose, cardamom and ought oils definitely offer something in the way of the smell. However, it is a very gentle aroma overall: this clay is definitely more about how it works than what it can offer your nose.

The scent you do get is a dry, clay-like smelling rose aroma, with just the added warmth of a little note of cardamom. There smells as if there is a little squeeze of lemon in here as well, although there is nothing in the ingredients list to suggest so. Instead, the strongest smell that I can detect is by far the kaolin and the rose clay itself, which creates a dry and very nondescript fragrance.

The idea is that you take a small amount from the tub: I found that a raisin-sized piece was adequate, and massage this between your fingers to add some warmth. Then you apply this to the areas of your hair that you want to and style as you please. 

I tended to use this hair clay as a way of flattening the frizzy parts on top of my head, and I really appreciated how well Punkawalop worked at doing this. Not only that but the product also added a beautiful shine to my hair that brought out my natural highlights, and just made my hair look even healthier. I chose to wash this out in the evening of the day I first applied it, so I don't know how it would affect your hair the following day. However, my prediction is that it certainly wouldn't leave it the horrible, oily mess that other waxes and clays have left my hair in the past. 

What I will say is that the clay is great at leaving very little in the way of 'product' in your hair. Whereas a lot of waxes and clays can make your hair feel rigid and hard in places, and can also cause a grease build up over a couple of days, I found that this simply wasn't the case with Punkawalop.

However, if you're looking for a clay with serious hold, this wouldn't be one that I would recommend. When I attempted to spike up my hair, no matter how much clay I added, it simply wouldn't hold into place. This is definitely more for those who like to run a little wax through their locks and then just 'mess it up' a bit, as opposed to somebody who wants to really shape their hair.

Ultimately, this isn't a product that I would have any interest in using regularly - not because it isn't a good product, just because I don't feel the need to use this in my hair at all. However, I can recognise its merits in being able to control my hair a little better and keeping it in place after many windy and rainy days at work.

Quantitative Ingredients: Cardamom Seed Infusion (Elettaria cardamomum), Coffee Infusion (Coffea arabica), Japan Wax (Rhus succedanea), Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), Glyceryl Stearate & PEG-100 Stearate, Propylene Glycol, Carnauba Wax (Copernicia Cerifera), Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Olea europaea), Cetearyl Alcohol, Polyquaternium-88, Rapeseed Wax (Brassica Napus), Hydroxystearic/Linolenic/Oleic Polyglycerides, Polyquaternium-81, Cardamom Oil (Elettaria cardamomum), Olive Leaf Absolute (Olea europaea), Rose Oil (Rosa damascena), Colombian Cocoa Absolute (Theobroma cacao), Oudh Oil (Aquilaria agallocha), Kaolin, Rose Clay (Kaolinite), Behentrimonium Chloride, *Anise Alcohol, *Benzyl Alcohol, *Benzyl Benzoate, *Citral, *Citronellol, *Coumarin, *Farnesol, *Geraniol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Perfume.

Vegan?: Yes. 

2018 Price: unsure.
2019 Price: £9.95 for 45 g.

Year Of Original Release: 2018.

Santa's Christmas Naked Shower Cream

While I love whenever Lush bring out a new product, this year's seasonal range has given me a whole of work to do - given that nearly every liquid product has been released as a solid edition as well. Although the reason behind this move is one that I support wholeheartedly, I cannot imagine my flat mates will be best pleased that I currently take twice as long in the shower, just so I can demo both versions at the same time. 

Santa's Christmas is one of the first Solid Shower Creams that I ever experienced, so I had no idea what to expect from the bottle-shaped, soap-look-a-like that joined me in the shower one early September morning. While a part of me was excited at the prospect of a solid shower cream, I held slight reservations that it was going to be little more than a soap under a different guise. How wrong could I be?

Firstly, I need to make it clear that not one of Lush's solid shower gels/creams can be compared to a bar of soap. Whereas soaps dry my skin out and leave my hands with a distinctive parched feel about them afterwards, not one of these limited editions has that effect. These exclusives are a different ball game altogether, and it only took me a matter of seconds to realise this in the shower.

Despite my intrigue into how the product worked, I was slightly less enthused by the fragrance of Santa's Christmas. At the risk of repeating myself, I should state that the scent of this product is not in anyway bad at all. However, it's a smell that I would describe as being both nice or pleasant: two adjectives that doesn't exactly inspire the fireworks to ignite. 

A new addition to the company's growing collection of Shower creams, Santa's Christmas is a sweet and creamy fruity concoction of ingredients - as warming as the vibrant shade of red that both the solid and its liquid counterpart sport. While neither editions will stain you or your bathroom, I would recommend that you play it safe with any splashes that may occur during your shower.

With as many ingredients as the liquid version, you would expect the solid cream to offer a strong, complex aroma to contend with. However, I found that the fragrance was disappointingly mild overall, and many of the ingredients didn't make an appearance at all. Featuring cinnamon, black pepper, aniseed and lime oils, as well as fresh orange juice, a coffee infusion and benzin resinoid, Santa's Christmas sounds like a powerhouse of ingredients. Having said that, it is only really the lime, orange and benzin resinoid.

While each of these don't impact the scent of this very much, they each have an important role that helps to make this seasonal special both moisturising and slightly clarifying on the skin as well. From the bottle, you can first smell the lime, orange and benzin resinoid. As many have said before me, this shower gel smells like slightly flat vanilla cola: it's both creamy and fruity, and it's perhaps slightly surprising that there isn't any tonka or vanilla absolute present in the ingredients list, to suggest the sweetness.

There is a very subtle shout out to the cinnamon infusion, but I feel as if it's only really noticeable because you're aware that it features in the ingredients list to begin with. I couldn't detect either the aniseed oil or the coffee infusion at all. Having said that, my skin did feel crisp and refreshed after using this, and I believe it is the latter ingredient that helps to clarify the skin and bring out that radiance and that vibrancy. 

Unlike other shower creams, this one is quite possibly the most difficult to extract from the bottle. It is almost as thick as one of Lush's buttercreams, and so when trying to remove it from the bottle it took a lot of effort to do so. Frustrated by this, I ended up removing the black lid altogether and squeezing it out through the neck of the bottle itself. 

As I was expecting, it wasn't particularly generous when lathering up, and I found that I had to use more than a regular gel to clean my whole body. Furthermore, the cream did have a red tinge to it that worried me a little to begin with, as I was expecting to find splashes of colour on my skin after I had rinsed the lather away. Luckily, there was no staining afterwards, although I did find that my sponge was slightly tarnished by the colour.

Having said that, Santa's Christmas did prove to be just as moisturising as you'd expect a shower cream to be, and this makes it a great winter product to help keep the skin in tip-top condition in the harsher conditions. In

When in comparison with the solid edition, I found that this version had a better fragrance - in that the fruitiness and the vanilla-like notes were more pronounced and more noticeable. In the shower, this version offered a stronger smell overall and I could still detect this on my skin over an hour after I had towelled myself down. 

Both editions were equally moisturising and I was impressed by how soft and smooth my skin felt after using each of them. However, I found that the solid edition was easier to use as it produced more of a foam-like lather, so I was able to use less overall and make the product last longer than the bottled version.

Overall, I'll be honest and say that I would have probably rated this shower cream higher if the scent had impressed me more than it did. Don't get me wrong, it is a lovely smell, but not one with the complexity of originality that I would expect from a Lush fragrance. Having said this, I can envisage that this will be very popular product this Christmas, and it wouldn't surprise me if it made an appearance next year as well.

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Cinnamon Infusion, Coffee Infusion, Sodium Stearate, Lauryl Betaine, Perfume, Almond Oil, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Lime Oil, Aniseed Oil, Black Pepper Oil, Benzoin Resinoid, Fresh Lime Juice, Fresh Orange Juice, Titanium Dioxide, *Citral, *Limonene, Colour 16035, Colour 73360, Black Specerit Wax.

Vegan?: Yes.

2017 Price: £10.75 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2017.

Scent Family:
Santa Baby Lip Tint
Santa Baby Naked Lip Tint
Santa's Christmas Naked Shower Cream

Santa's Christmas Shower Cream

Santa's Christmas Shower Cream

Lush is about as unpredictable as you can possibly get when it comes to their releases. Products that seem incredibly popular suddenly find themselves being discontinued to the shock of the masses; scents that create an instant buzz seem to fade into the distance, never to be seen or heard from again; fragrances that are rarely spoken about within the community, are suddenly made the focal point of a seasonal release.

I cannot imagine that there would be many people who ever envisaged Santa Baby being made into a Shower Cream, let alone one that would be so prominent in this year's Christmas range. While not in anyway bad, the fragrance is not exactly one that inspires a strong reaction from most people, myself included, and Lush must have had some reason for including it in their collection this year. 

Santa's Christmas is a new addition to the company's ever-growing collection of Shower creams - a sweet and creamy fruity concoction of ingredients that is as impressive as the vibrant shade of red that it offers in the bottle. Featuring both a coffee and a cinnamon infusion; lime, black pepper and aniseed oils, you would expect the scent of this to be very different from the one that greets you from the bottle. 

With so many different components, you would expect a strong, complex aroma to contend with. However, I found that this shower cream was far milder in fragrance than I was expecting, which is perhaps why it hasn't made as much of an impact on my senses as some of the more 'in your face' products.

From the bottle, the initial smell, that both myself and the majority of people who I've spoke to about agree on, is one reminiscent of flat vanilla cola. There is a soft bed of creaminess that makes its presence known straight away - one laced with both lime and vanilla, with a delicate layer of cinnamon underneath to  add a little subtle seasonal spice.

Surprisingly, you will notice that there doesn't appear to be any vanilla in the ingredients list. However, the inclusion of the cocoa butter not only makes this shower cream rather moisturising on the skin, but it also offers a comforting blanket of sweetness that governs the aroma without a doubt. 

Strangely, I wasn't able to detect much of the coffee or the aniseed in the smell, although I would imagine that they do contribute to the overall 'roundedness' of the shower cream. Having said that, I did find that this product did well at cleaning my skin and leaving it feeling really smooth to the touch, and I wonder if both of these ingredients helped to give my skin some much needed clarity, that I did notice I could feel afterwards.

When compared to the naked version of this shower gel, I found that Santa's Christmas was quite hard to lather up, whereas the solid edition did produce some of a standard-looking lather. In regards to this version, I found myself using more than I would with a shower gel, just to ensure that I had enough to clean myself with.

Furthermore, I found it quite ironic, given the fact that Lush have brought out a solid version of this, as Santa's Christmas was perhaps the thickest shower cream I have used from the company to date. You really have to squeeze the bottle hard to get the product out, and it comes out as a thick paste, almost sharing its consistency with that of wasabi.

Despite this, I found that the scent of this version was much stronger and I was able to detect it longer on my skin. Furthermore, there is something rather enjoyable about using a shower cream that temporarily turns your skin the colour red because of how potent the colour is.

This is by far one of my least favourite seasonal shower creams to date, but only because the likes of Yummy Mummy and Prince Charming have set the bar so high in comparison. I will enjoy using my 250g bottle for the foreseeable future, but I don't see this as being one I would want to purchase again, or stock up on before the Christmas season is over.

Quantitative Ingredients: Glycerine, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Water (Aqua), Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Almond Oil, Stearic Acid, Coffee Infusion, Cinnamon Infusion, Cetearyl Alcohol, Lauryl Betaine, Perfume, Triethanolamine, Lime Oil, Aniseed Oil, Black Pepper Oil, Benzoin Resinoid, Fresh Lime Juice, Fresh Orange Juice, Titanium Dioxide, *Citral, *Limonene, Colour 16035, Colour 73360.

Vegan?: Yes.

2017 Price: £10.95 for 250g, £17.95 for 500g.

Year Of Original Release: 2017.

Scent Family:
Santa Baby Lip Tint
Santa Baby Naked Lip Tint
Santa's Christmas Naked Shower Cream


Santa's Christmas Shower Cream

Cafe Latte Bath Bomb

It's thanks to Lush that I now incorporate a daily dosage of coffee into my life. Before I became heavily involved in the company, I had no interest in drinking the famous brew; nor did I appreciate anything that tasted or smelt like the popular beverage. However, after discovering the wonders of Cup O' Coffee Body Mask, I found a new-found appreciation for the unique aroma, and I'm now far more susceptible to the fragrance than I originally was.

While it is still not a smell that I would immediately list as a personal favourite, my lips couldn't help but salivate when I received a couple of Cafe Latte Bath Bombs in the post the other morning. If you think you've tried anything like this product before, think again. This wonderful ballistic is unlike anything to come before it, and indeed anything that has made an appearance since. 

Containing a combination of actual ground coffee and dried soya milk, you'd expect this bath bomb to smell very much like your average cup of coffee. Wrong. Just as the name suggests, there is so much more to this beautiful bath bomb than you would expect, and whether or not you're a fan of coffee-scented items, there will be many who appreciate this for what it is. 

Imagine a freshly-made latte with a sprinkle of cocoa powder on top and a drizzle of burnt caramel sauce, and you may begin to envisage how this bath bomb smells. While the fragrance offered is distinctly coffee-orientated, it's not anywhere near as strong as the body mask mentioned above. There's a creamy, sweetness to it that stops the coffee element being so overpowering, and instead what you get is a creamy, sugary coffee smell to die for.

On the negative side, the smell of this bath bomb also reminded me a little of the mould smell you get when leaving food in a damp container for a number of days. Now, this may sound very off-putting for those considering buying some, and I don't mean to deter you away from investing in any of these Cafe Lattes. However, the combination of ingredients does give two very different aromas overall, and once you have a fresh one to sniff, I'm sure most people will be able to understand what I mean by this.

What is great about this bath bomb is that not only does it have a very beautiful, foody smell, but it also lives up to its name by the way that it performs in the tub. Upon contact with the water, the bath bomb begins to foam up very quickly and produce waves of thick, creamy froth - almost like the milk on top of the very drink this product is trying to mimic.

The bath bomb is a very slow fizzer, and also a very quiet one - not to mention the fact that it takes a good 20 - 30 minutes to fully dissolve in the water. For this reason, I suggest that you climb in the tub and enjoy the show as the bath bomb brews in the heat of the water. 

During the experience, Cafe Latte also throws out hundreds of little specks of coffee, that either float on the water or sink to the bottom. These don't really make the bath that much more interesting, but it's definitely something unique and does help to retain some of the scent. Some people have complained in the past that these specks of coffee cause a little chaffing, as you do tend to find yourself sitting on them. However, I didn't feel them at all and my only issue was that I forgot to rinse the tub out afterwards so these little pieces stuck to the tub and needed to be wiped down.

Once the product has fully dissolved, you're left with a very uninteresting bath (the water doesn't change colour). However, I found that there is enough of a smell to make this a very relaxing experience. The caramel-esque aroma did dampen a little, once the bath bomb had dissolved, and the coffee note came to the forefront just slightly. Having said this, there was still enough of a smell to make for a relaxing bath. 

As with most of Lush's bath bombs, this left my skin feeling very nourished and soft, although I wouldn't say that it was particularly moisturising to the point that I think it is more than others. However, it is definitely a very calming bath bomb and one that I recommend, if only because it is very different to any other bath bomb that has made an appearance over the last eight years.

Would I buy this again? Definitely. Unless you despite coffee, I would like to suggest that you give this one a go at least once. It's not strong or as smoky as you might expect, and you may be surprised by how much you enjoy this one. Like a much-needed hug, this is a bath bomb that leaves a good impression, and I only hope this a sign of other coffee-scented products to come. Yum!

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Perfume, Cocamide DEA, Ground Coffee, Dried Soya Milk.

Vegan?: Yes.

2017 Price: £4.25 each.

Year Of Original Release: 1999.

Washaccino Showder

Up until I fell head over heals in love with Cup O' Coffee Mask, I would have adamantly claimed that I was not a fan of coffee-scented products, or indeed anything that featured the ingredient too heavy in its mix. While most adults develop a taste for the much-loved beverage over time, I have never understood the obsession - I guess I might never do so. 

While the smell of the aforementioned mask grew on me fairly quickly, Washaccino didn't make a very good first impression - the smell ebbing out of the sealed box so much so that I couldn't even bare to open it for a good two months after I initially bought it. As far as first impressions go, it was not looking that promising. 

However, after a sleepless night, I needed something strong and powerful to summon the energy to last the day, and this seemed like the perfect product. Presented in a box reminiscent of the old-fashioned washing powders, this is one of four showders - each one armed with very different aromas and slightly different consistencies. 

This particular showder has been created as a homage to the popular cappuccino beverage - a potent, smoky shower companion ladened with ingredients to clean and exfoliate the skin, while offering consumers something a little different to try out in the shower. 

Firstly, Washaccino is packed full of soya milk to soften the body. Not only is this vegan ingredient great for soothing the skin and giving it that wonderful silky feeling, it also helps to create that fluffy, creamy consistency when in contact with water. In fact, if it wasn't for this key component, the showder would definitely not work as well as it does.

This product also features roasted cocoa extract as well as tonka and vanilla absolute - all of which add a subtle sweetness to the fragrance and help to lighten the overall smell just a little. Without these ingredients, this item would probably be very heavy and overpowering - with neither the complexity nor the depth that it showcases with these added ingredients. 

Lastly, and easily the most important component, is the combination of ground coffee and granulated sugar. Both ingredients give this product its gritty consistency - allowing it to act as a gentle exfoliator as well as a soap to clean. The inclusion of the coffee also adds some much needed caffeine to the mix - a characteristic that both perks up your skin and helps to rid the sleep from your eyes as you prepare for the day ahead. 

Aside from its physical properties, the one aspect of this showder that stood out above anything else was its fragrance. In the box, it offers a very strong smell - a smokey, woody coffee aroma with just the slightest element of sweetness to pad it out. However, once the product comes into contact with the heat of the shower, the smell elevates ten-fold. 

In all honesty, at first I hated the smell of Washaccino when it was in use. To me, it smelled of a burning ashtray or the scent of a bonfire once the ashes have begun to cool. I found that the showder lost the element of coffee a little and became more of an after thought - a background note that was thwarted by the pungent aroma of scorched wood and burning paper. 

However, once I had gotten used to the very potent smell of this product, I began to warm to it a little. It's definitely not something that would go well with most other products, but it's a great pick-me-up to use if you need a sudden burst of energy in the mornings. The fact that the scent stays very much present on your skin afterwards as well is great for fans of these sorts of fragrances. To me, the smell that lingered on my skin was very similar to the burning of tobacco. And while I dislike this normally, it worked quite well in this format. I can imagine a dab of something like The Voice of Reason after using this would compliment the smell rather well. 

Unfortunately, much like the shower sheets, I found this product to be a little disappointing in the shower. Firstly, it was very difficult to keep this box dry in-between and during uses, and I had to transfer the showder into an old plastic tub to prevent my box from disintegrating. 

Secondly, while the showder does react to the water and foam up a little in your hand, as soon as I tried to spread it across my body there was very little product to use because most of it had already been rinsed away with the water. Even when I attempted to use this outside of the flow of the shower, I found that the generous helping I had shaken out, didn't go very far in terms of washing my entire body. For this reason, I cannot imagine the box lasting for as long as a shower gel of the same weight would do. 

While all of Lush's showders are an interesting concept, this is not something I would be happy using regularly. Used as a scrub once every couple of weeks would give this box a lifespan of about 4-6 months, but as a regular product, this wouldn't last a month. And as there is no other shower products from Lush that are similar in scent, this couldn't be paired with anything to prolong its shelf life. 

It's definitely an interesting and very unique product - one that I will continue to use and enjoy. However, once this box has been used up, I cannot see myself investing in it too often - I have Cup O' Coffee to fill that newly acquired coffee craving!  

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Soya Milk Powder (Glycine soja), Granulated Sugar, Cornflour (Zea mays), Disodium Lauryl Sulphosuccinate, Perfume, Ground Coffee (Coffea arabica), Carrageenan Extract (Chondrus crispus), Roasted Cocoa Extract (Theobroma cacao), Fair Trade Vanilla Absolute (Vanilla planifolia), Benzoin Resinoid (Styrax tonkinensis pierre), *Coumarin, Eugenol.

Vegan?: Yes. 

2015 Price: £9.95 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2015. 

Atomic Tooth Powder

Since the Oxford Street store first opened, I feel I have become a bit of an expert when it comes to their dentistry range. While I have always marvelled the toothy tabs and used them fairly regularly in my daily routine, it is only since I have been presented with close to ten new variations to try, that I've really had the opportunity to compare and contrast what Lush offer and how they differ from one another. 

Atomic Tooth Powder was one of those products that wasn't on offer the first time I hit the flagship store, and one I probably wouldn't have noticed anyway having discovered the company's impressive new range of toothy tabs available. But having worked my way through the other tabs and powders, this was the last one that I had yet to review, so I was left with no other choice but to do so. 

As with the Ultrablast Tooth Powder, I wasn't initially that enthralled about trying out this product - partly because the description left me feeling a little disgusted at the thought of what it would taste like, and partly because I haven't had all that much luck with the powdered toothpaste so far. 

Made from a blend of ground spices (cardamon, clove, ginger and cinnamon), this powder sounds very much like a cup of chai tea - a description that has proven to be very fitting when it comes to how this item both tastes and smells out of the tub. 

Upon removing the lid, I was not surprised to discover that Atomic has a very potent smell - one that is dominated mostly by the inclusion of cloves but with the other spices sitting behind this and allowing themselves to come through in small bursts at a time. While coffee is also listed in the ingredients list, I didn't detect a very strong thread of this in the mix, and this is probably for the better. 

If I'm honest, it's not the greatest smelling product, and if I was somebody who was a little less adventurous and hesitant to try new things, I can imagine avoiding this altogether. In the simplest terms - this is not a product that sells itself all that well at the beginning.  

As you can imagine, the taste of this is also rather strong - not at potent as emptying a teaspoon of spices into your mouth, but strong enough that you can taste the cloves and cinnamon throughout your brushing - something I can imagine a lot of people being put off by. 

As I have found with both of the other tooth powders, this product comes with its faults - the first issue being when you try to keep the product as dry as possible during and after usage  You have to wet the toothbrush before you dip it into Atomic as I found trying to sprinkle some of the powder onto the brush was near-on impossible and I ended up spilling most of it on the floor or on myself. However, once the brush has made contact with the powder, it tends to leave droplets of liquid in the tub, which causes the powder to clump up over time. 

Furthermore, the very idea of constantly dipping a used toothbrush into the powder (even if it's been rinsed beforehand), means that it doesn't seem as clean and clinical practice as it would be if you were using either a toothpaste or a packet of toothy tabs. 

Having said this, I was really surprised to find that once I was using Atomic, it worked wonders at removing any pungent smells or tastes that were lurking in my mouth and left me with clean, fresh breath. Not only this, but my teeth felt squeaky-clean and there was a noticeable difference in how they felt when compared to other toothy tabs.

Finally, after coming down with a tooth ache, I found that the inclusion of the various natural oils in this product, worked wonders at curbing the soreness in my other and dimmed the pain to make it a little more bearable. 

While it is far from a smell that I would normally opt to use as my toothpaste, I was really impressed at how wonderful it left my mouth and teeth feeling. The toxicity of the spices definitely work to the advantage of this tooth powder and it will be one I buy again - if you only to stop myself from getting bored of Oral Pleasure. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Calcium Carbonate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Cream of Tartar (Potassium bitartrate), Sorbitol, Lauroyl Sarcosine, Kaolin, Fair Trade Organic Coffee (Coffea Arabica), Clove Bud Oil (Eugenia caryophyllus), Cardamom Oil (Elettaria cardamomum), Fair Trade Whole Organic Clove (Eugenia caryophyllus), Fair Trade Organic Cardamom Powder (Elettaria cardamomum), Fair Trade Organic Cinnamon Powder (Cinnamomum zeylanicum), Fine Sea Salt, Fair Trade Organic Ginger Powder (Zingiber officinale), Fair Trade Organic White Pepper Powder (Piper nigrum), Sodium Saccharin, Eugenol, Linalool, Flavour.

Vegan?: Yes.

2015 Price: £4.95 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2015.