Cereology Soap

As someone who places soap far down my list of favourite things from Lush, it's amazing just how many pieces I currently own in my collection. It's also impressive how excitable I get when an old release makes an appearance for the first time, despite knowing that it'll probably only get a handful of uses before being discarded as my focus moves onto something else.

Cereology Soap arrived as a surprise announcement one morning, when I was browsing the website for a bit of pre-work retail therapy. Without reading the description or doing any research on the product prior to my purchase, I secured two pieces with little hesitation and didn't think anything more about it until the soap arrived through my front door.

While I paid little attention to the ingredients list, a quick scan of the soap when it was on the website painted a picture in my head of what this soap was going to smell like. Imagine my surprise when it arrived and I found that it was nothing like I had envisaged it would be. This might have dampened my excitement just a little, if it wasn't for the fact that the soap smelt far better than I had bargained for. 

'Nothing is as it seems' is a phrase that Lush use to describe Cereology Soap, and I couldn't agree more. While the ingredients list suggests something very dry-smelling and green, the reality is very far removed from this. Much like the study of crop circles that this soap is named after, the reference to the unworldly phenomenon stretches far beyond the physical design of this soap.

Featuring a whole array of different ingredients, it is the wheatgrass, wheatgerm and vanilla absolute that make initial contact with your nose. From the start, the former ingredients create a dry, musty and slightly nutty aroma - one that reminds me of the hazy scent you get when dry, weathered haystacks are dishevelled a little from a passing breeze.

Alongside this, the vanilla adds a sugary, almost syrup-like layer that rounds these elements together. The neroli adds a very subtle note of sweet, green honey that gives the vanilla a little more depth, and the lavender emerges itself into the background, rounding the soap off with gentle herbal notes that you might almost miss if you're not looking for them.

There is something about the fragrance of this soap that I find so rich and beautiful, and I love how warming it smells on the skin, while still remaining gentle and non evasive. This is not in any way a sickly scent - this is for those who want something natural with a little added sweetness thrown in for good measure. I have read that people refer to the fragrance of this soap as being like green beans combined with sugar. However, Cereology has far more to offer than that description, and I feel I would be doing it a disservice if I left it at that. 

Alongside the smell, this soap is incredible for your skin, and you can see and feel the results after just one use. Wheat germ is known for being really rich in Vitamin E, which helps to repair and heal damaged skin and scarring; soften out creases and reduce the appearance of stretch marks; support the skin and allow it to look and feel far more youthful and radiant.

I found that this was the perfect soap for me to use in the evening, as my skin felt instantly rejuvenated and I felt as if the product rehydrated my weathered skin following a long day at work. While I haven't tested out my theory yet, I would hazard a guess that Cereology would make a great spring/summer soap as it is so light on the skin and would really compliment the warmer weather.   

Under the water, this soap was incredibly easy to lather up - producing a thick, fluffy foam to massage across the skin. It was most easiest to stimulate between my hands and then transfer this onto my body to wash myself with. While I didn't give it much of an opportunity to do so, I feel as if this soap would shrink quite quickly if kept under the water for a long period of time. For this reason, I made sure that I patted the soap down after each use, and found that a 100g bar could easily last 3-4 months with daly usage. 

Ultimately, this is a soap that I had very little expectations for - yet one that won me over fairly quickly and established itself as a permanent feature of my bathroom. The soap was easy to use, generous with its scent and its lather, and stayed on my skin long enough for a work colleague to make a comment about my 'perfume' some two hours later. While perhaps the best format for Cereology, I would definitely be interested in trying it out in other formats, and I would buy this again if it made another appearance in the Lush Kitchen.   

Quantitative Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Rapeseed Oil and Coconut Oil, Glycerine, Wheatgerm, Sodium Stearate, Perfume, Fresh Wheatgrass, Organic Wheatgerm Oil, Lavender Oil, Tonka Absolute, Vanilla Absolute, Neroli Oil, Sodium Chloride, EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Sodium Hydroxide, *Limonene, *Coumarin, Chlorophyllin.

2017 Price: £4.95 for 100g.

Year Of Original Release: 2005.

Enzynamite Facial Cleanser

When I found out that this product was being made in the Lush Kitchen, I was so excited to get my hands on a tub or two - not because it was a cleanser I was  particularly fussed about trying, but because it was something completely new that hadn't seen the light of day in a good few many years. While I love all of the 'classic' products that have been made multiple times over the expanse of the Kitchen's two year existence, the weekly menus were beginning to get a little stale. 

From the deepest, darkest crevices of the company's vaults, very little is known about Enzynamite Facial Cleanser, unless you were lucky enough to experience it all those years ago when it was a regular product featured in the shops and online. Described as a powerful cleanser, this is supposedly suitable for normal to oily skin, with the ingredients designed to both absorb excess oils and leave you with a toned and radiant looking complexion. 

What sets this apart from all of Lush's current facial cleansers is the emphasis that this needs to be stored in the fridge - something you're normally only expected to do with the company's fresh face masks. Furthermore, the consistency of this product also matches that of a mask as opposed to a cleanser - a factor that confused me a little at first. It seems that Lush have come a long way with their product design over the years... 

Packed full of fresh fruit, you'd imagine that this cleanser would smell incredible, in theory. However, when I removed the lid of the tub for the first time, I was rather taken back by the fragrance that greeted me. While reviews online suggested quite a vast expanse of theories for what this product smelled like, none of them quite prepared me for the aroma of Enzynamite.

To me, this facial cleanser smells very similar to Volcano Foot Mask, with the only difference being that this has a stronger note of pineapple to make it slightly more citrusy, but not by much. While I wouldn't say it is an ideal smell for smothering on your face, it's definitely far from some of the terrifying descriptions that some consumers have reported it as being.

Featuring kaolin to absorb any excess grease, this miracle ingredient also works at leaving your skin soft and smooth to the touch. The various fruits - pineapple, papaya, lime and orange, then work on cleansing the pores and leaving you with a clear and radiant complexion; the wheatgerm oil adding a slightly nutty note to the aroma while supplying the mask with a generous helping of vitamin E to protect and repair the skin. 

Boasting the consistency of lumpy porridge, this cleanser is easy to apply - simply scooping up a small grape-sized amount and massaging it across your face. While there are small flecks throughout the product  this is not a rough cleanser at all so don't expect to get any sort of exfoliation when using this. Once applied, leave it get to work on your skin for a few minutes before rinsing it off under the running water and patting your skin dry with a towel. 

After a few minutes I noticed that my face felt a little taut: not the dry feeling I've often experienced when using many of Lush's soaps, instead similar to how my skin felt after using Dark Angels - a cleanser also designed for oilier skin. As to be expected from the product, it removes excess oils from the complexion, so if like me you don't have a lot of moisture to lose, your face can end up feeling a little 'stiff'.

Having said that, this cleanser did leave my complexion looking smoother and there was definitely a slight glow about my face that I appreciated greatly. Using this may mean I'd have to moisturise most days after drying myself down, but Enzynamite would ensure that my pores were clear at all times, which in turn would keep my skin clean as well as smooth.

While it may not be good enough to replace my favourites; Angels On Bare Face and Buche De Noel, it's definitely more effective on my face than some of the other cleansers from the regular range and I will enjoy using my two tubs over the coming months. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Glycerine, Kaolin, Wheatgerm Oil, Fresh Pineapple, Fresh Papaya, Fresh Lime, Sweet Orange Oil.

Vegan?: Yes.

2015 Price: £7.95 for 75g.
2016 Price: £6.95 for 75g.

Year Of Original Release: ?

Lush Hippy Cold-Pressed Soap

Aside from the beautiful products they produce and the amazing fanbase that I am proud to be a part of, one of my favourite parts about being a Lushie is all of the knowledge that I pick up through the research that I do for this blog. When I first started writing, I knew next to nothing about the different ingredients, scents, health benefits etc. of the products. 

Driven by my attention to detail mixed in with a little curiosity, I have learnt so much more about many of the countries that Lush import from, discovered some truly amazing projects that I now avidly follow, and know the health benefits of nearly every single one of the ingredients that the company use in their cosmetics. 

One of three cold-pressed soaps from the Oxford Street store, Lush Hippy interested me not only because it was a completely new product to try out, but because of both the science that went into crafting it and the history that allowed it be what it is. After a little research, I discovered the following:

Cold-pressed means when there is no external heat used to melt the ingredients or bind them together. Instead, specific ingredients are used - some of which react with other chemicals, which in turn helps to create the soap. In Lush's cold-pressed soaps they use sodium hydroxide - a chemical that dissolves in water, allowing for the mixture to be combined without having to use heat or extreme force.

Furthermore, Lush's soaps include a base of coconut and rapeseed oil - both of which can be combined easily with other components but are able to withstand high temperatures without melting. This allows the soap to remain solid at room temperature but melt a little when in contact with the heat of the shower water. A perfect pairing to create a well-balanced and extremely useful block of soap.

As I stated in both of my other reviews, the lack of heat used throughout this process means that the oils retain all of their flavour, aroma and nutritional value - making them better for consumption as well as for the skin. It is no wonder then that these three soaps have proven to be a lot gentler and more nourishing on my skin.  

Sporting a sunflower-yellow design with a bronze decoration on top, Lush Hippy is probably the prettiest out of the three. Inspired by the scent of Market Street, this soap has a strange smell - an earthy, mossy, grassy aroma that reminds me very much of Tramp Shower Gel. 

A combination of sunflower and wheatgerm oil gives this soap a very delicate dried hay note, while the patchouli adds a sweet, exotic and slightly spicy element to the table. While the vetivert oil offers an underlying resinous and slightly smoky element, it's subtle enough that it doesn't thwart the other components and instead creates a perfect balance.

Although all of the ingredients give it a very distinctive smell, they also help to make this soap really effective in the shower. While the sunflower seeds act as a gentle exfoliator - scrubbing the skin and clearing the pores, the inclusion of cocoa butter moisturises the skin, leaving it feeling clean and soft.

This soap is probably the most generous in the shower - immediately creating an impressive amount of yellow foam that coats the skin and leaves it smelling wonderful. While this lather doesn't stain, it does tend to leave splodges of yellow everywhere so I'd carefully consider where you plan on storing it in between uses. 

While my skin felt taut after use, it felt really clean and not the sort of 'dry' sensation you find when a soap has removed too much moisture - more of the squeaky clean feeling you get after washing the dishes and exposing your hands to the soap suds for a prolonged amount of time. 

Although it hasn't completely won me over and convinced me that soaps can be as enjoyable as shower gels, it was a really lovely experience, and one that I would invest in again in the future. The fact that the soap doesn't shrink much with each use means that I enjoyed cutting my bar into slices and taking pieces with me when I went away - a compact shower companion that doesn't post the risk of a leakage and leaves you smelling rather lovely afterwards. Wonderful.

Quantitative Ingredients: Rapeseed Oil; Coconut Oil (Brassica napus; Cocos nucifera), Sunflower Infusion (Helianthus annuus), Water (Aqua), Sunflower Seed Oil (Helianthus annuus), Wheatgerm Oil (Triticum vulgare), Cornstarch (Zea mays), Sodium Hydroxide, Patchouli Oil (Pogostemon cablin), Glycerine, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter (Theobroma cacao), Gardenia Extract (Gardenia jasminoides), Sunflower Seeds (Helianthus annuus), Labdanum Resinoid (Cistus ladaniferus), Brazilian Orange Oil (Citrus sinensis), Vetivert Oil (Vetiveria zizanoides), Sodium Chloride, Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, *Limonene, Colour 47005.

Vegan?: Yes.

2015 Price: £4.95 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2015. 

Lord Of Misrule Shower Cream

If there is one product I would have been willing to sell my soul for, it would have been this. While I love and appreciate most of the fragrance families that Lush bring out, it's not very often that a scent knocks me off my feet the way that Lord Of Misrule did when it first made an appearance during the 2013 Halloween range. 

When pictures of the new Lush Oxford Street store first began surfacing on the internet, it was presence of Lord Of Misrule Shower Cream that not only had everyone around the globe hyperventilating at the sheer thought of this product, but instantly cemented my trip to the store and my commitment to spending a lot of money. 

Released in four different sized bottles, this brand new product is everything any fan could ever wish for, and then some. Its alluring spring green design not only means it sits above all other of Lush's shower gels in terms of colour, but the snowflake lustre that's been added to give the gel it's sheen look, giving it a magical sparkle that looks stunning when it's being used on your skin. 

Made from a combination of patchouli and black pepper, it is these two ingredients that make the biggest impression on the user. As well as an infusion of the two ingredients, this shower cream also contains both patchouli and black pepper oil - giving this gel its strong and very distinctive fragrance that lasts for hours on your skin. 

To round it all off, Lush have also included a generous helping of Fair Trade vanilla absolute, which weaves a sweet, creamy layer of scent to round all of the components together. This latter addition removes the spicy kick of the pepper and brings it all together to produce a well-rounded, comforting aroma that can be enjoyed at any time of the year. This is one of those smells that lends itself to being many peoples signature scent as it is rather unique and very interesting  to wear - it's definitely one of mine. 

Described as a 'shower cream', Lord Of Misrule is different from all of Lush's other liquid shower companions in that it contains wheatgerm oil. This natural vegetable oil is known for its nutrient-rich properties - boasting a high level of vitamin A,B and D which help to improve and condition the skin. The inclusion of this ingredient not moisturises and heals dry and cracked skin, but is rich enough in vitamin E to help reduce skin damage and maintain even skin tone. 

Lord Of Misrule Shower Cream definitely seems slightly thicker than your average gel and its opaqueness means that it doesn't look like most of Lush's other shower gels. However, it works in the same way - lathering up under the running water and gliding over your skin with ease. Having said this, I found that it wasn't as generous with it's lather as I would have expected - it was a little like Twilight in the way that it was more of an oily gel than a foamy one.

Despite this, I could feel the effects of the multiple oils almost immediately after rinsing it from my body. My skin felt noticeably smooth and the remained this way for the rest of the night and into the morning. As I mentioned above, the smell also lingered on my skin so I was able to forego using my precious perfume to top up the smell. 

I'm going to be honest - there would have had to have been a serious flaw in this product for me to have rated it any less than 6 out of 6. It surpasses my expectations and has cemented itself as my all time favourite shower product from Lush. While I have two 1kg bottles from my recent haul, I will definitely be stocking up regularly to ensure that I have enough of this to last me a lifetime.

Quantitative Ingredients: Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Patchouli and Peppercorn Infusion (pogostermon cablin; Piper nigrum), Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Glycerine, Stearic Acid, Lauryl Betaine, Perfume, Lactic Acid, Organic Wheatgerm Oil (Triticum vulgare), Black Pepper Oil (Piper nigrum), Patchouli Oil (Pogostemon cablin), Fair Trade Vanilla Absolute (Vanilla planifolia), Titanium Dioxide, Limonene, Linalool, Snowflake Lustre (Potassium Aluminium Silicate, Titanium Dioxide), Colour 42090, Colour 47005, Mathylparaben, Propylparaben.

Vegan?: Yes.

2015 Price: £4.75 for 100g, £9.50 for 250g, £15.95 for 500g, £27.50 for 1kg.

Year Of Original Release: 2015.

Scent Family:

Lord Of Misrule Bath Bomb
Lord Of Misrule Body Conditioner
Lord Of Misrule Body Lotion
Lord Of Misrule Body Spray
Lord Of Misrule FUN Bar
Lord Of Misrule Liquid Perfume
Lord Of Misrule Liquid Perfume
Lord Of Misrule Naked Shower Cream
Lord Of Misrule Perfume Oil
Lord Of Misrule Shower Cream
Lord Of Misrule Solid Perfume
Monsters and Aliens
Rough With The Smooth Body Scrub

Witches' Cauldron FUN Bar