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Lush Dirty Body Spray
by AbsintheFairy
About a year ago, Lush introduced a new range into their stores: the Dirty range. Most of their ranges are unisex, a few are quite girly, but this was designed as more of a masculine range.
The philosophy behind the range was the idea that spearmint is an aphrodisiac, and it has been used in the range along with other fresh ... herbal notes. Different aspects of the scent come out in different products, and you can use one or all of them to layer the scent. The Body Spray in particular was designed for those in a hurry, for days when you haven't time to get a shower but still want to survive the day feeling fresh. Though the range was designed for men, I loved the smell and wanted to try the products so bought them anyway!
The Body Spray comes in a black bottle with a spray nozzle. The bottle isn't the most attractive in the world: it's rather chunky and plain, but it's sturdy and it does the job. The spray nozzle is powerful and hasn't broken, while a clever red attachment lets you 'lock' the nozzle in place to avoid spillage between uses. The spray is suitable for vegans and as well as perfume (presumably the secret Dirty perfume recipe) contains tarragon, sandalwood, lavender, neroli and thyme absolutes to add more complex herbal notes.
I go to the gym regularly, usually straight after work on weekdays, so thought this body spray would be ideal to keep me smelling fresh. I've kept it in my gym bag, so it's been bashed around a bit, but hasn't suffered from this rough treatment. Though I don't use the spray very often - only when I'm at the gym - it seems to be lasting for ages.
So what does it smell like? Well, it is very fresh and minty, a seemingly simple yet addictive scent. The overwhelming impression is of spearmint but there are also more complex herbal notes to be found. The smell is very strong and I find I can smell it all the way through my workout.
In fact, it is so strong that if I put my gym clothes in the washing bag, and take them out a few days later in order to wash them, I can still smell the body spray on them. My iPod Shuffle, which I take to the gym, still smells of spearmint every time I take it out of the box I keep it in. The smell gets into my hair and doesn't go away until I wash it the next morning. It's a fantastically powerful and long-lasting scent.
The 180g spray costs £12.50, which is overwhelmingly expensive for a body spray, but this product more accurately resembles an eau de toilette spray in its complexity, strength and longevity. No Impulse spray would last this long. When you put it like that, the product is actually pretty cheap.
I probably wouldn't buy this again, simply because I don't really need a strong fragrance like this at the gym, well as it performs. However, I would certainly recommend it for anyone who would intend to use it on a daily basis, as smells lovely, is high quality and works out far cheaper to use as a perfume.
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Lush T'eo
by Allyouneedtoknow
An oval-shaped block, Lush's T'eo has a white powdery consistency with blue confetti bits in. Lush recommends you apply by patting/rubbing/dusting on to dry skin.
First off I love that the product has no packaging and no aluminium which is bad for your skin.
I liked the look and size of the product and how there was a wax ... grip attached to the bottom. I liked the idea that it was a more portable and a dry product. This made it seem particularly great for travelling and unlike heavier deodorant containers, it was so light. I knew I would get more uses from it than my regular deodorant too.
I did not find the smell particularly attractive, but it certainly smelled fresh so I was pretty impressed. I was even looking forward to it keeping my clothes smelling fresh in my bag when i travelled!
However, this product is definitely a deodorant not an anti-perspirant. I knew this be the case as Lush do not make anti-perspirants; the blocking of pores is not good for the skin. Still, I spent the first two days of using it worrying. I am used to being so dry and was quite unnerved to find myself sweating; I am not a sweaty person generally. I certainly did not smell of body odour but niether did I remain smelling of that lemony-fresh scent which i so strongly emitted by the bar. I could not get use to the idea of pit stains everyday, smelly or not and thinking of my own experiences, I would imagine that people who sweat more would really feel let down by this product.
My biggest issue was that the product broke as soon as I got it home (which killed my plans to take the little bar travelling as it clearly is not tough enough). Crumbled up it was still hard to put on - it is not particularly finely milled and so hard to apply even when bashed up. I decided to turn it into more of a cream using some cocoa butter and tea tree oil thinking this would make application smoother, still the same issue persisted throughout - the product, because it is not finely milled even when i ground it down to a powder format, was VERY scratchy. It made my underarms red and sore even when I just patted the product on lightly which was disappointing as i had not been scrubbing at my armpits in the first instance, but lightly and carefully following Lush's application instructions.
Overall, I had high hopes for this product and there are some major benefits but it just did not do what I needed it to do. I had never tried a Lush deodorants before but generally I love Lush, particularly as their products are so environmentally and skin friendly. This product, however, left me feeling self-conscious. Even though I was not left smelly, i was left damp (not a good look whether travelling or lounging around at home) and with sore armpits (though this could easily be a personal skin reaction). Maybe I would have had more success with this product if it had not broken although I still have issues with applying something in a solid (not a creamy) consistency. For the price (at £4.40 it is at least twice what I would pay for my normal deodorant), I won't be trying the product again to find out.
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