When I found out that Lush were bringing some of their earliest perfumes back from the vaults of Cosmetics To Go, my excitement was off the chain. As a collector of the company's products, there is nothing more exciting than being given the opportunity to try something out that I always assumed I would never ever get the chance to.
Originally released in 1993, Pansy Liquid Perfume is a fragrance that seems to have strangely divided the Lush community, and I have seen some quite strong reactions from people who have purchased this for themselves. For such a beautifully peaceful-smelling scent, I find this a little hard to understand.
While it is not a direct replica, Pansy does indeed smell almost on par with that of The Olive Branch: so much so that I would class this as being from the same scent family for certain. Yet strangely, the ingredients list of this perfume reads very differently from any other product that features this same aroma.
Containing orange flower absolute as the key ingredient, this exclusive fragrance offers a sweet, delicate, floral aroma, with an almost nutty warmth that acts like huge comforting hug as the perfume dances across your skin. From the bottle, you can smell both the labdanum and galbanum oils, both of which add a rich, sultry and slightly resinous aroma. These work harmoniously with the floral aspect - as well as the very subtle touch of fruitiness that features here - to create a simply beautiful perfume to indulge in.
Whether it's because my nose is familiar with the many other products featuring The Olive Branch scent, or because Lush have included other components here as well, but there is a layer to Pansy that reminds me of expensive olive oil, with all of its wonderful nuttiness. Gentle floral notes infuse with these layers to offer a delicate balance of smells, while there is also something subtly herbal about the fragrance as well, which comes from the inclusion of the rosemary oil. This is a very rich but equally very beautiful fragrance, and one that stands by itself as being exquisitely unique.
What makes this Pansy Liquid Perfume so gorgeous is the fact that the smell deepens and becomes even more rounded when it's sprayed directly onto your skin. One spritz on each wrist in the morning lasted me all of the way into the early afternoon, and I was still able to detect remnants of the fragrance when I reapplied some more around 2pm. While by this point the scent was very subtle, my nose was still able to connect with the perfume for almost 6 hours.
What I loved about Pansy, which I didn't find happen with The Olive Branch Liquid Perfume, was that it acted a little more like the body spray and offered different layers while it was resting on my skin. An initial spray offers a fresh, uplifting collaboration of both the orange flower absolute and the galbanum oils. However, every new burst came with slightly different elements, and I was able to enjoy the sweetness; the nuttiness; and the delicate herbal notes at various times throughout the day.
While the name doesn't necessarily suit the smell of this perfume, and it may prevent some consumers who dislike floral aromas from buying it, if you're a fan of The Olive Branch scent, you'll want to get your hands on this right away. This is definitely my favourite so far of the Gold Label Liquid Perfumes. Simply yummy!
Quantitative Ingredients: DRF Alcohol, Perfume, Bergamot Oil, Orange Flower Absolute, Rosemary Oil, Galbanum Oil, Labdanum Resinoid, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, *Benzyl Benzoate, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, *Citral, Coumarin, Oakmoss Extract, *Farnesol, *Geraniol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Hydroxycitronellal, *Limonene,*Linalool.
Vegan?: Yes.
2019 Price: £35 for 30ml.
Year Of Original Release: 2019.
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.
If there's one aspect of trying new Lush perfumes that I love, it's the journeys that come from the natural evolution of the smells present in a given fragrance. While your reactions and opinions about a single smell will change and fluctuate like the weather, so too will the fragrance you are wearing at that moment in time. No two days are alike, and this can be said for the experiences you have whilst wearing a wonderful aroma.
Junk Liquid Perfume has witnessed so much change over the last few weeks that I feel that it's almost become a member of my family. Not only have I been to the poorest parts of India; and the driest areas of the Canary Islands, but I've also experienced such a huge mental shift - all of which has been paired with this latest perfume release from Lush.
Containing lemon, mandarin, rosemary and sage oils, this 'Gold Label' perfume has a rich, alluring and very intoxicating scent. When I first sprayed this on my skin, I could really see the comparison between this and Lush's recent Scrub Scrub Scrub Body Scrub. There are definitely similarities between the two that may help consumers to get a little insight into what this perfume smells like before they purchase it. However, it wouldn't be right of me to describe the scent of this as a being a direct replica, as there are huge differences as well.
From the bottle, the first wave you get is a fruity one. In fact, despite the simplicity of the ingredients list, I was surprised to find that the fragrance actually pertained a strong note of blackcurrant rather than the citrusy layers that you would expect. While I could smell that both the mandarin and lemon oils were there in the mix, the inclusion of the rosemary also twists these two to create something a little more like Blackcurrant Angel with a stronger, herbal twist.
The initial spritz offers quite a heavy combination of herbal and fruity elements, and there is something quite intense about this pairing for a short while. Once it's begun to settle on the skin, you can definitely detect the currants far more, and the herbal elements of the both the sage and rosemary linger behind the blackcurrant, to give Junk a wonderfully complex and beautifully unique aroma.
Other Lush fans, who have already been rather vocal about their descriptions, have even suggested that there is something medicinal and clinical about the smell, which I can sort of relate to. There is definitely something rather clean and almost mint-like about the scent, which does remind me a little of throat soothers and cough medicine.
What is great about Junk Liquid Perfume is that it does have an impressive silage on the skin. I was still able to detect it some four hours after initial application on my wrists and temple points, and even longer on the areas I sprayed it onto my clothes. As far as Lush perfumes go, this is super impressive, and definitely one of the selling points for me.
As for how it matures on the skin, I found that the herbal elements tended to disperse quite a lot over the first thirty minutes, and the dry and rather warming fruity components lingered by themselves for the duration of the time. Once it gets to this stage, the fragrance tends to remain intense for a few hours before it slowly disperses.
Overall, this is one of Lush's best perfumes in recent years. It's one that stands out above most of the Volume 4 range, and indeed nearly all of the limited editions that made an appearance. Junk is the epitome of what Lush is all about, and I am excited to see what other ideas may see the light of day in the coming years.
Quantitative Ingredients: DRF Alcohol, Perfume, *Limonene, Sicilian Lemon Oil, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Green Mandarin Oil, Rosemary Oil, Sage Oil, *Citral, *Linalool.
Vegan?: Yes.
2019 Price: £35 for 30ml.
Year Of Original Release: 2019.
Given how many new bath bombs Lush have released recently, it's safe to say that when I purchased what is perhaps my largest order in years, I certainly didn't check sizes or prices when I did so. For this reason, when my huge box of bath bits arrived, I was rather taken back by the minuscule size of some of the products inside.
Seeing Goldrush Bath Bomb for the first time will be a little shocking for anyone committed enough to give Lush a hefty £5.95 for the privilege of using one of these. Matching up to the size of the Butterball Bath Bomb, which measures roughly 5cm in diameter, it's safe to say that I expected there to be a genuine gold ring inside to justify the price for such a small amount of ingredients.
However, after finally trying this out for size, I found myself swallowing everything I had initially made judgement on, as this bath bomb is simply stunning in every way. Lush has proven once again that size really doesn't matter, and that actually great things can come from the smallest of gestures.
What it beautiful about Goldrush is firstly the gorgeous shade of blue that the bath bomb sports. After fully dissolving in the water, this vivid blue colour entices the whole tub and turns it into a stunning blue haven that you'll want to lay in for hours and hours. It's one of those bath bombs that produces a colour set apart from any other: you really should experience it for yourself to understand what I mean.
Secondly, the hallmark stamp that features on top of the bath bomb is made of rich, buttery shea butter, and lots of glitter. This not only infuses the water with a velvety level of moisture that leaves your skin feeling super replenished and nourished afterwards, but creates shimmery waves of lustre under the surface. These pulsate with any movement from yourself, and look simply beautiful when you're submerged beneath the water.
Scent wise, Goldrush contains a combination of grapefruit, rosemary and geranium oils; not to mention the shea and cocoa butters that add moisture alongside these. The fragrance on offer here is a warm but gentle fruity smell, with both a floral and herbal element underneath this. The grapefruit is rather spritely here, while the geranium adds a delicate powdery floral note; and the rosemary offers an alluring herbal note at the very bottom of the mix. While not the strongest fragrance I have experienced in a bath bomb format, it holds its own in the water, and I could smell it during the whole time I was in the tub.
Upon being placed in the water, Goldrush gets to work at sending out beautiful maybes of thick, blue foam: transforming the water into the beautiful haven that I mentioned above. As the bath bomb begins to dissolve and get smaller, both gold and blue lustre begin to ebb across the surface and create beautiful bath art that is a real pleasure to watch.
What is great about this miniature beauty is that you can see little drops of both the shea and cocoa butter on the surface while you bathe. Far from being an oily experience, your skin is transformed within a matter of minutes, and you're left with a softness that lasts for days. For such a small bath bomb, it's amazing what this little fella can achieve for both your bath and your body.
Ultimately, there is a small part of me that feels as if I should have gotten more 'stuff' for my money. However, the rational part of me is there to remind me that I got more than many large bath bombs have ever offered, and everything aside from the size was on par with being a perfect bath bomb. In fact, this is the only reason why I haven't afford it the full marks.
Would I buy this again? If my review hasn't convinced you that my answer is a solid yes, the confirmation that I will definitely be putting a few more of these in my basket will surely remove any doubt. This is definitely one that Lush fans need to invest in for themselves: you won't be disappointed.
Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Grapefruit Oil, Rosemary Oil, Geranium Oil, Cream of Tartar, Water (Aqua), Fair Trade Shea Butter, Almond Oil, Titanium Dioxide, Dipropylene Glycol, Laureth 4, Sodium Coco Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Silica, Tin Oxide, *Citral, *Citronellol, *Geraniol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Perfume, Colour 42090, Colour 77491.
Vegan?: Yes.
2019 Price: £5.95 each.
Year Of Original Release: 2019.
coming soon!
Good old Lush and their clever puns, their clever inventions and their very clever marketing techniques. I could barely make it in the front door and up the stairs before I was routing through my endless bags of Lush, trying to find Something About Rosemary Naked Hair Gel so that I could reenact the famous scene that this product is based on.
In all fairness, being the world's first solid hair gel is probably an achievement that should really be celebrated, so Lush have every right to make a big fuss over something so creative. And I think it was this very thinking that sucked me into the concept of this Showcase exclusive very quickly, and why I have been using it ever since.
Something About Rosemary Naked Hair Gel doesn't really need much of an explanation. Presented as a solid green disc, with absolutely zero packaging, it's safe to say that not many people will have experienced a product like this before - hence the world's first and all that...
Created by Lush product inventor Ale Commy, this brand new naked design is as much a novelty as it is an original concept. That's not to say that the naked hair gel doesn't have an abundance of merits to rave about. However, the name suggests something a little more playful and comical about this limited edition as well.
Containing a generous helping of fresh rosemary, alongside a wonderful spritz of lime oil, this naked gel offers a fresh, herbal and slightly fruity aroma to indulge in. Having said that, the fragrance of this product isn't particularly strong to begin with, and only slightly strengthens once it is on your hair. If you're looking for a gel that will double up as a hair perfume as well, you'll be sorely disappointed. What's important though is how well this naked product actually works as a hair gel.
Lush's directions simply states that you should add water to use, which is probably about as useful as trying to explain to a baby how to pilot a plane. As per usual, I used my initiative to figure out the best way to make the most out of this naked disc, and here is what I found.
To prolong the disc for as long as possible, I chose to add water to my fingers by holding them under the running tap, and then massaging Something About Rosemary Naked Hair Gel to transfer the product onto my fingers. When I did it this way, I found that I was able to control how much of the gel came off, which helped me to preserve the bar as a whole.
When massaging the bar, you'll find that the gel feels slightly slimy between your fingertips, which makes it super easy to apply it to your hair afterwards, without any stickiness or rigidity. I chose to smooth my hands across the outside of my hair, before stimulating a little more 'gel' and running my fingers through my locks for maximum results. As someone who has rather long hair, I found that I needed very little to hold my hair in place. For this reason, I can foresee this disc easily outlasting that of a 250g pot of regular gel, making it much better value for money.
As Lush have already stated, this naked hair gel gives your locks the 'wet look' so I wasn't at all surprised when I found that my hair did appear a little wet after applying this, as well as being instantly shinier as well. Having said that, my hair did not look at all greasy or oily, and the shine only served to make my hair look in much better condition than it currently is.
As if this wasn't enough, my hair felt instantly softer and velvety smooth for the first time in a good while. For the little amount of product I used, the benefits were massive. Furthermore, I couldn't honestly feel this gel on my hair after I had applied it, so you don't have to worry about your locks feeling heavy or coated in gel.
While this naked gel has quite a relaxed hold overall, and certainly wouldn't actually be able to recreated Cameron Diaz's quiff in the movie Something About Mary, my hair seemed so much calmer and less frizzier than it had done so before, and the shiny and silkiness was a much welcome bonus.
This definitely needs to be released to the general public as I feel it's a big step in the right direction for cosmetics. Although Lush are usually at the forefront of these groundbreaking creations, Something About Rosemary Naked Hair Gel is easily one of their best inventions in a good many years. I cannot wait to see what other naked gels make it onto the shelves in the future.
Quantitative Ingredients: Isomalt, Glycerine, PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Cetrimonium Chloride, Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), Xanthan Gum, Lime Oil (Citrus aurantifolia), Fresh Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), Titanium Dioxide, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Tin Oxide, *Citral, *Limonene, Colour 77491, Colour 42090:2, Colour 19140:1.
Vegan?: Yes.
2018 Price: £8 each.
Year Of Original Release: 2018.
It goes without saying that I am not a bald woman: I do have hair on top of my head, although I sometimes wonder why with all of the hassle that it gives me. Therefore, I was unsure just how I was going to test this one out, both on my very own locks, and then again on something that could replicate a bald head as well.
Slaphead Solid Shampoo Bar is one of six limited edition naked bars to show themselves during last month's Lush Labs release: each sporting a beautiful design that outshines any other to have come before them. This particular bar is a wonderful shade of turquoise, and features a piece of dried achillea burgundy stuck to the surface with a little touch of cocoa butter.
What stood out for me almost immediately was just how wonderful this solid shampoo bar is to smell. While I wouldn't describe the scent of this to be overpowering or particularly strong, the key elements are definitely all very much present.
To my nose, I can smell the rosemary oil at the forefront, which gives Slaphead a wonderful herbal scent. Both antiseptic and anti-inflammatory, this ingredient helps to get rid of any germs or bacteria on your head, and leave your skin feeling really calm. Alongside this, the cedarwood and myrrh oils add a rich and slightly resinous woody aroma, with the ylang ylang adding subtle notes of both floral and green.
To use, you simply wet it slightly and massage between the palm of your hands. As Slaphead is so generous, you only need to do this for a split second to produce a surplus amount of creamy foam to massage into your hair and scalp. While I would usually suggest that you could massage this directly across your head, the inclusion of the dried achillea on top would mean that you would end up with mess in your hair or on your skin. Although you could always remove this beforehand as it doesn't add any benefits to the shampoo bar aside from being a pretty decoration.
As with nearly all of Lush's solid shampoo bars, these are so easy to travel with; so compact without any risk of leaking or making a mess in your bags; and will easily last you a good three months of washing your hair 2-3 times a week. Furthermore, the lack of SLS will ensure that your hair or bald head remains as looked after as it could possibly be - without coating it with anything that could damage it in the long run.
In the hair, Slaphead works an absolute treat: leaving your locks feeling really soft and more manageable without needing to use a conditioner afterwards. While it didn't do anything to reduce the levels of frizz my hair goes through every day, it certainly didn't do anything to intensify this, and my hair was happy to go a few days without needing to be rewashed. In fact, I found this shampoo bar to be slightly conditioning, which was a well added bonus that I wasn't expecting at all.
As the same time, I tried Slaphead out across my body as well, to see what affect it would have on the skin. While the consistency of your skin isn't the same as it is on the top of your head, I still found that my skin was left feeling really smooth and silky-soft, and it even cleared up a few of the dry skin areas I was suffering from at the time. While I couldn't vouch that this product would do the same on someone's head, there's a lot of evidence here to suggest that it would be equally successful.
Overall, I was again really impressed with how effective this shampoo bar was, and this was after using it 2-3 times a week without any other products involved. It's gentle enough to be used every day, if you're someone that feels they need to wash their hair more often than me, and you never feel as if your hair has been stripped of life after using it.
My shampoo bar will easily see me through another 2-3 months, and I only hope that Lush choose to make it a permanent member of their hair care range. This would definitely be popular amongst those of you who have very little hair, or no hair at all, and I'm glad to see more hair care options available from my favourite cosmetics company.
Quantitiative Ingredients: Sodium Coco Sulfate, Fine Oatmeal, Fair Trade Colombian Cocoa Butter, Castor Oil, Ylang Ylang Oil, Cedarwood Oil, Rosemary Oil, Myrrh Oil, Water (Aqua), Soya Lecithin, Stearic Acid, Glyceryl Stearate & PEG-100, Stearate Cocamidopropyl Betaine, *Benzyl Benzoate, *Benzyl Salicylate, *Farnesol, *Geraniol, *Isoeugenol, *Linalool, Perfume, Colour 42090, Dried Achillea Burgundy.
Vegan?: Yes.
2018 Price: £3.95 for 65g.
Year Of Original Release: 2018.
At the risk of repeating myself, the few weeks I spent in Africa were tough on my skin. While I didn't go over there thinking about how the climate change would affect my face, it only took me a couple of days to realise that I had made the right choice bringing over an army of facial products to review. The dry heat, intense sun and dusty atmosphere meant that my pores were battling by the minute to retain their moisture, and I won't begin to describe just how much grime I removed from my face on an almost hourly basis.
Tea Totaller Naked Facial Cleanser was an absolute godsend during my time over there, not only because it was super compact and could be taken anywhere during the daytimes, but because the ingredients used to make it were just what my face needed, and continues to need even to this very day.
Firstly, this naked facial cleanser contains castor oil, which is the perfect ingredient if you're looking to add some much needed moisture to your face. Working with the skin's natural oil production, castor oil ensures that there's enough present to keep your skin supple, radiant and smooth, whilst removing an excess oils if the skin is too greasy or oily to begin with. This is not an ingredient that will try to mask the oils already there, so you don't have to worry about using this if you normally have a fairly oily complexion.
The inclusion of the tea tree, clary sage and rosemary oils not only gives this limited edition a clean and slightly herbal aroma, but also offers antibacterial properties that will help to cleanse your pores thoroughly and leave your complexion clear and smooth. There is something rather clinical yet natural about the scent of this naked cleanser, so when you wipe it away with warm water, it leaves your skin feeling much the same as a toner tab would.
What I will say about Tea Totaller is that this is perhaps one of the heavier naked facial cleansers from Lush. While it won't leave your skin feeling particularly sticky or clogged up afterwards, it does remain on the skin for a long while. If, like me, you wish to use this as an intense moisturiser instead, you'll find that there is still a thin film of oils on your skin two-three hours later. Having said that, if you have a very dry complexion like myself, you'll appreciate just how vibrant and pert your face will feel if you choose to keep this on longer than recommended.
The idea behind each of the naked facial cleansers is that you massage the disc across your skin; leave it on for a few minutes; and then wipe away the product with a slightly damp cloth or cotton wool pad. The oils and butters work at not only nourishing your complexion a little, but they’ve been specifically designed to give your face a gentle cleanse whenever you feel the need to refresh your face.
Tea Totaller definitely left my skin feeling moisturised, and my face felt really smooth to the touch. Usually in the winter months I find that my face develops a few dry patches that I need to moisturise daily. However, this cleanser has stopped this from happening so far. In regards to Africa, this facial cleanser helped me to remove so much grime from my pores after a long day out in the dust and heat. I could really feel how much better my complexion felt after using this each evening, and I really feel as if this product stopped me from having an outbreak of spots.
Overall, I would definitely use this as a regular product - perhaps alongside Sleepy Face as they are both very calming for the skin, without being too heavy or over-bearing on scent. This particular disc has lasted me almost three weeks in Africa, and then another three in England, and I would probably estimate that it's about half the size it was to start with. This makes it good value for money in my eyes, and one that I hope will remain a regular item in the near future.
Quantitative Ingredients: Organic Illipe Butter, Safflower Oil, Witch Hazel Extract, Sunflower Wax, Japan Wax, Lemongrass Oil, Rosemary Oil, Sage Oil, Tea Tree Oil, Thyme Oil, Benzoin Resinoid, Hand Harvested Sea Salt, *Citral, *Limonene.
Vegan?: Yes.
2018 Price: £4.95 each.
Year Of Original Release: 2018.
Melt between the fingers before massaging over the skin or simply glide the bar over the face, then wipe away with a damp face cloth. As a bonus, adding water activates a toning phase composed of witch hazel, spring water, and hand-harvested sea salt to clarify and lightly hydrate.
It has always been a dream of mine to create products for Lush Cosmetics. As someone who loves the arts; has a passion for building and making a variety of crafts; and is in love with every aspect of cooking, the idea of being able to combine different fragrances and manipulate a variety of compound ingredients to create a brand new idea just seems like the ultimate dream. The only downfall would be in not being able to eat it afterwards.
Looking at what has gone into making Scrub Scrub Scrub, it almost reads like a recipe for a high end dessert: blackberry and lime purees, blackcurrant powders and rosemary oil. Yet at the same time, I found it very difficult to decipher what this alluring looking black scrub would actually smell like when it arrived. While rumours circulated about a possible Comforter-scented release, I held out for something a little different, and I was not disappointed.
In the tub, this dark mess of charcoal and oils does have a strong blackcurrant note that continues to shine during usage in the shower. While I can see why people have made the Comforter link, I find this note of blackcurrant stronger and a little more bitter as well: almost like the blackcurrants you find on the top of a cheesecake. The inclusion of the blackberry puree combines with the blackcurrant here and you can recognise that berry-eque note present alongside. Together, they offer a strong fruity note, that by itself would be rather boring. However, there's so much more to this scrub - which is why it's so interesting.
Alongside the fruity notes, you get a strong layer of both pine and rosemary. The latter ingredient offers a strong, herbal note, both inside the pot and when the scrub is being used in the shower. In fact, it is the rosemary that lasts the longest on the skin - staying past when the blackcurrant aroma as long gone. The pine oil also adds a very exquisite green note in the tub, and I think it is this particular ingredient that creates the juxtaposition of smells - and the reason why so many people have found the fragrance a little distasteful once they've brought it home from the shop.
There is a slight part of me that feels that these three elements are almost contradicting each other, and to be begin with the scent sat a little uneasy with me as well. However, very quickly I realised the beauty in such a unique pairing of ingredients, and now I cannot get enough of the scrub.
To me, the scrub reminds me very much of Halls Blackcurrant Soothers: there is something slightly medicinal about the smell that may be a little off-putting to some. I also feel as if you can smell the charcoal a little in the mix, so you get a very eclectic array of notes.
Although the scrub itself appears rather thick in the tub, I found it to be quite light when scooping it out, and it definitely wasn't as coarse as I was expecting it to be. In fact, it wasn't far off being as gentle on the skin as Rub Rub Rub, although there was certainly more of a scrubbier side to the product that set it apart from the aforementioned classic.
In the shower, the scrub massages over your body with ease and you don't need an awful lot to coat every area of your skin. Once applied, exfoliating in a circular motion will gently remove dry skin and dirt, and leave you with super soft skin. Once out of the shower however, only the rosemary lingers on the skin, and this is short-lived as well because I couldn't detect anything without five minutes of drying myself down.
It would have been lovely to still be able to smell the amalgamation of different ingredients after I had exited the shower, but at least I was able to notice that my skin looked and felt really clear and clean. Scrub Scrub Scrub definitely works at clearing out pores without irritating the skin, and it's great for those with oilier complexions because the charcoal will absorb unwanted grease.
The only downfall about this product is that it can make a bit of a mess around your bathroom. So while it won't stain, it would definitely make your life easier if you were a little careful when using this in the shower, and I'd recommend that you rinse the sides/walls afterwards, to ensure no clumps of black are found later on.
While this doesn't reach the same level as Cup 'O Coffee, this is definitely a scrub I would buy again. Although it's not as coarse as the products I'd usually go for, there's enough character in the smell, and enough evidence after use, to tell me that this is one that does the job it's set out to do.
Quantitative Ingredients: Fine Sea Salt, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Blackberry Puree, Lime Puree, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Powdered Charcoal, Propylene, Glycol, Organic Blackcurrant Powder, Blackcurrant Absolute, Buchu Oil, Rosemary Oil, Pine Oil, Lactic Acid, Lauryl Betaine, *Citral, *Limonene, *Linalool, Perfume.
Vegan?: Yes.
2018 Price: £12.95 for 300g, £23.95 for 625g.
Year Of Original Release: 2018.
UP
While it is not a direct replica, Pansy does indeed smell almost on par with that of The Olive Branch: so much so that I would class this as being from the same scent family for certain. Yet strangely, the ingredients list of this perfume reads very differently from any other product that features this same aroma.
What I loved about Pansy, which I didn't find happen with The Olive Branch Liquid Perfume, was that it acted a little more like the body spray and offered different layers while it was resting on my skin. An initial spray offers a fresh, uplifting collaboration of both the orange flower absolute and the galbanum oils. However, every new burst came with slightly different elements, and I was able to enjoy the sweetness; the nuttiness; and the delicate herbal notes at various times throughout the day.
