Out of asses milk? Try a urine bath (Lush bath & shower products in general)

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Product:	Lush bath & shower products in general
Date:	06/04/02 (291 review reads)
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Advantages: Mostly smell lovely, Positive effects on the skin, Suitable for vegetarians and not tested on animals

Disadvantages: A bit expensive, Bath ballistics a bit overrated

***UPDATED WITH NEW PRODUCTS***



******A Lush Romance******

One of the first things I noticed when I joined Dooyoo just two months ago was that so many members seem to have a love affair with Lush bath and shower products. Having read lots of great opinions on this company and its products, I decided to take the plunge and shell out some of my hard-earned cash on a cache of Lush, and see if I would fall in love too.

Now, most women know that shopping is a sensual experience...especially if you are shopping for pampering paraphernalia. So, rather than jumping right in and getting some on the first date, I took my time. For several days, I flirted shamelessly with the web site, typing in www.lush.co.uk, caressing the categories, lingering lovingly over the product descriptions, taking time to find out what turned me on the most. I got to know the site really well and found out everything that Lush has to offer. Finally, after days of "retail foreplay", I decided it was time to go All The Way.

Excitement building, I chose my items, clicked the Add To Basket icon and went to the virtual checkout (the retail equivalent of “going to his place for coffee”!). I chose:

A Sicillian bath ballistic
Two Ickle Baby Baff ballistics (for my daughter)
A Feel Good in the Southern Hemisphere ballistic
A Trichomania solid shampoo bar
Bohemian soap
I Should Coco soap.

The site gave me a list of everything I had chosen, with prices and post and packing (£2.95). In total I spent about £13.00. I wouldn’t normally splash out like this, but it was my first pay packet from my new job, so I treated myself! If I had spent more than £30.00 on products, postage would have been free (maybe next time!).

With a great sense of satisfaction and anticipation, I paid for my purchases via Netbank (a secure payment service) using my Solo card (they also take Switch, Delta and al
l major credit cards). Using the web site was incredibly simple (too simple if you are easily tempted!). If you make a mistake, or change your mind about a product, Lush won't force you to carry on (they understand that no means no!). There is ample opportunity to go back before finally confirming your choices. I received immediate e-mail confirmations of my order from Lush and confirmation of the payment from Netbank.

Lush says to allow 14 days for delivery of your order, so I sat back and let the anticipation and excitement build. They always say they’ll call the day after you do it, but they never do, so I was expecting a long wait! Amazingly, however, the order actually arrived in under a week (three working days if you discount the Easter bank holidays). As I slowly opened the plain brown box and pushed aside the shredded paper, the most glorious mixture of aromas tickled my nose. It was time to see what Lush was made of!


*****Ickle Baby Baff - Prozac for kids!******

(Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Lavender Oil (Lavendula hybrida), Sandalwood Oil (Santalum album), Chamomile Oil (Anthemis nobilis), Perfume, Colour 61585, Colour 18050.)

The first product I used was the Ickle Baby Baff ballistic, which I put in my five-year-old daughter’s bath that night. I wanted to have time to have a long, hedonistic soak with some of my own goodies, and Lush promised that Ickle Baby Baff would soothe even the most energetic little lovely off to sleep.

Lush is famous for its bath ballistics. These are like round versions of those powdery bath cubes you used to buy your mum in the local chemist - but certainly not as cheap. Bath "ballistics" are so called because they contain bicarbonate of soda, which fizzes when it comes into contact with water. I don't really understand the point of the fizzing, as you are not supposed to get into the bath until that part is finished,
but what the hey.

My daughter was very excited as we dropped the small pale blue ballistic into the water. It is embossed with a cheeky little face, which she said was “adorable” and I thought was charming. It fizzed away like an alka seltzer and smelled lovely. It costs just 95p (the cheapest of the bath ballistics) and contains Lavender Oil, Sandalwood Oil and Camomile Oil. Because of the lavender, the smell reminded me a bit of those little lace bags you buy at craft fayres for keeping your clothes drawers smelling fresh!

This is the smallest bath ballistic in the Lush range, at only 30g, so I was unsure whether it would be powerful enough to cope with the enormous amounts of water my titchy little five year old seems to insist on in her bath. I needn’t have worried. This little item packs a powerful olfactory punch!

My daughter has sensitive skin and has suffered from eczema, but the bath ballistic did not cause irritation and her skin felt soft and silky after the bath. She played for quite a long time in the warm, fragrant water, before saying she felt tired and wanted to get out. I dried her off, popped her into her PJs and put her straight to bed. Sure enough, within a few minutes she was off in the land of nod – excellent!

Lush also make an adult version of the Ickle Baby Baff, the 90g Waving Not Drowning bath ballistic. It contains the same essential oils as the child’s version, but in stronger concentration and is supposed to be excellent for helping you to sleep.


******The Sicillian - Never drink yellow water!******

Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Orange Slice (Citrus sinensis), Orange Oil (Citrus dulcis), Tangerine Oil (Citrus reticulata), Mandarin Oil (Citrus nobilis), Perfume, Marigold Petals (Calendula officinalis), Gardenia Extract (Gardenia jasminoides).

So now it was my turn. I decided to use the enormous 200g Sicillian bath b
allistic. At £1.95 I thought it was quite an expensive treat, but as I was suffering the effects of my fall (broken ribs and finger, as many of you will know!) I thought I deserved it. The Sicillian is orangey yellow in colour, slightly resembling a tennis ball in size and appearance, and contains Orange Oil, Tangerine Oil, Mandarin Oil, Marigold Petals and Gardenia Extract, which I thought sounded gorgeous.

I was very excited as I filled the bath with steamy water and watched the big ball fizz away. Unfortunately, the glorious citrus smell I had been expecting never materialised and the ballistic turned the water an unappealing yellowy urine colour.

Feeling slightly less sexy than I had imagined, I lowered myself into the “wee water”, submerged myself to the neck and closed my eyes, trying to envision myself “tootling around Italy on a Vespa with the warm wind messing up my hairdo”, to quote the Lush website. My bath didn’t have the “refreshing citrus scent reminding us of the fruit trees in Sicily's fertile valleys” that Lush promised, either. In fact, it didn’t really smell of much at all, and it left no scent whatsoever on my skin. Perhaps mine was defective. There’s certainly nothing wrong with my sense of smell, because I gave up smoking a month ago and most things smell great to me now.

Though I was terribly disappointed with the smell (and the few flower petals and brown, dried-up orange slice that came out of the middle), I have to admit that my skin did feel very soft and moisturised after my bath. Next time, I might save myself £1.95 and just pee and break wind in the bath - it should provide the same effect as the Sicillian!


******Feel Good in the Southern Hemisphere - Not so great in Bristol!******

Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Gardenia Extract (Gardenia jasminoides), Orange Oil (Citrus dulcis), Petitgrain Oil (Citrus amara
), Orange Blossom Absolute (Citrus dulcis), Neroli Oil (Citrus amara), Perfume, Colour 18050.

After the "urine bath", I really needed a positive bath ballistic experience, so I thought I would give the Feel Good in the Southern Hemisphere a try. Again, I set the scene. Kids and hubby out of the way, candles round the bath, a glass of wine, some chocolate (nothing more decadent than chocolate in the bath!) and a good book close at hand.

The "Southern Hemisphere" is smaller than the "Sicillian", only weighing in at 90g, but at £1.75, it's a heavyweight moneywise!

"It works by filling your bath water with everything that is good and lovely from the orange grove: reviving orange oil from the peel, refreshing petitgrain oil from the twigs, leaves and pips and truly wondrous neroli oil from the flowers of the bitter orange tree. It's the neroli that really does the business; this one is used to put a smile on even the dourest of faces in the most challenging of circumstances. Don't use it if you want to stay serious; do use if you feel like a right good chilling out with a big dose of happy." So says the Lush web site.

I had high hopes as I tossed it in the bath. I love the smell of orange - the fruit, the oil and the blossom. Unfortunately, though, yet more urine, folks! Yes, another yellow bath with a disappointing lack of citrus smell (only this time with no floaty bits). It was marginally better than the last wee bath, but not a whole lot! I really need to try a blue bath ballistic and get away from all things bladder related!


******Trichomania - No, it's not another word for "fear of magicians"!******

Ingredients: Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Stearic Acid, Creamed Coconut (Cocos nucifera), Glyceryl Stearate (&) PEG-100 Stearate, Cocoamide DEA, Lecithin, Perfume, Vetivert Oil (Vetivera zizanoides).


I was determined not to let a
couple of bad experiences with one type of product spoil things, so I delved back into my box of tricks and came up with the Trichomania solid shampoo bar (£2.65 for 100g). Trichomania, pronounced try-co-may-near, means, “love of hair” apparently.

I have never used anything but a liquid shampoo in a bottle, so this bar was an interesting twist. If you visit one of the Lush shops, the shampoo is displayed in huge chunks, from which pieces are cut for you according to weight, just like a deli counter. If you order on the web site, however, the shampoo is only available in 100g pieces. The pale beige lump arrived in a plain white paper bag and looked uninspiringly like a piece of Norwegian cheese, but I followed the instructions, wet my hair and rubbed the bar over it.

Almost immediately, my head was covered in delicious, creamy, coconut smelling suds, which when massaged in, felt really refreshing and made my hair and scalp feel really clean.

The suds washed out very easily and left my hair feeling squeaky-clean. I would normally use a shampoo and a conditioner, but apparently, as Trichomania is a “conditioning shampoo”, a separate conditioner is not necessary. I wasn’t convinced.

Surprisingly, when dry, my hair was clean, shiny and easy to brush. My hair is very thick and often quite knotty and dry. Combing it can often be like carding raw lambswool! No such problem after using the Trichomania bar! The lovely coconut smell also lingered on my hair, which I really liked.

After using the bar, I set it aside to dry and was pleased to find that it hardened back up and did not disintegrate into a mushy mess! It also does not seem to have shrunk much, so it looks like my lump of Norwegian cheese will be good value for money and should keep my hair clean and sweet-smelling for weeks to come!

A lovely bonus is that the when I leave the shampoo bar out on the windowsill to dry, it m
akes the bathroom smell delicious. It's almost as good as an air freshener - two products for the price of one!


******Bohemian - Discover a zest for life!******

Ingredients: Sodium Palm Kernelate, Water (Aqua), Glycerine, Propylene Glycol, Lemon Oil (Citrus limonum), Sodium Stearate, Sodium Chloride, Tetrasodium EDTA, Perfume.


The following morning, I awoke after a poor night’s sleep (due to pain from my various broken bones) and decided a shower with Lush Bohemian soap was just what I needed to wake me up. And wake me up it did!

At £1.50 for a 100g slice, I thought this soap was quite expensive too, but having used it for one long shower, it doesn’t seem to have shrunk much, so it should go a long way. The soap is quite a thin, oblong slice and is bright yellow in colour, mostly almost see-through, but with opaque white patches.

The soap smelled gloriously of lemon, which I found really appealing in the morning and helped to make me wake up. It lathered really easily and, surprisingly for a soap, did not dry my skin at all. The lovely lemon scent clung to my skin for some time through the day and I have made a mental note to try the lemon scented deodorant bar next time I make an order.

Once again, provided you store the soap in a dry place, it does not go mushy and hardens back up, so that you can pop it back into its bag.

******I Should Coco - You'd be nuts to miss it!******

Ingredients: Creamed Coconut Infusion (Cocos nucifera), Sodium Palm Kernelate, Propylene Glycol, Dessicated Coconut (Cocos nucifera), Perfume, Sodium Stearate, Titanium Dioxide, Orange Oil (Citrus dulcis), Coriander Oil (Coriandrum sativum), Vetivert Oil (Vetivera zizanoides), Glycerine, Sodium Chloride, Tetrasodium EDTA, Colour 18050.


The I Should Coco soap looks very much like a slice of coconut ice! It is pink and white, and the top of the soap is encrusted with dessicat
ed coconut strands. It costs £1.50 per 100g. The smell of this soap is divine and used in conjunction with the Trichomania coconut shampoo bar it turns a steamy shower cubicle into olfactory heaven.

The soap includes real creamed coconut, which is apparently very good for conditioning the skin. The dessicated coconut in the bar exfoliates the skin really well and gives you a really nice satisfying scratch if you get an itch!

Apart from the lovely coconut smell, the soap has delicate undertones of scent, which come from the orange, vetivert and coriander oils also used in it. Again, surprisingly for a soap, I found that it did not dry my skin at all, but made it feel soft and smooth after my shower.


******The Lush Experience - Definitely the start of a beautiful friendship!******

All in all, I was very impressed with my lush experience. Apart from the “urine bath”, I have enjoyed all the products I have used so far. My daughter is already looking forward to her next “fizzy sleepy bath”.

The solid bar-type products seem expensive at first, but appear to be very economical in the long run. The solid shampoo was an excellent idea and one I found worked very well. I intend to try some more of the “bar” products in future – particularly the bubble bath bars, more soaps and the solid deodorant bars.

Ordering from the site was incredibly easy and the delivery was excellent. The packaging couldn’t be faulted and it was nice to see recycled shredded paper used, rather than polystyrene beads for protection.

My delivery also came with a copy of "Lush Times", the Lush catalogue, which is laid out to look like a newspaper. It is an interesting read, and contains lots of little snippets of information and drawings by customers. They welcome submissions from customers to add to it. It also includes details of all the products, if you would rather n
ot browse online.

The fact that all of Lush’s products are suitable for vegetarians (and some even for vegans) is great, and that, combined with the new gift-wrapping service, means that some of my friends (you know who you are) can look forward to Lush gifts in the future!

All in all, I think you can say that Lush beats the local Superdrug if you are in a pampering mood. In my opinion, the bath ballistics are a bit overrated, but the other products are really excellent and innovative. They might seem expensive at first sight, but all contain quite large quantities of essential oils, which are expensive in themselves. You get what you pay for, after all.

My Trichomania bar has only shrunk by about half in two months of solid use and my two soaps, both of which I used every day, lasted two months each. I think that represents excellent value for money. I'm off to the Lush web site to order some more....wonder if I've got £30 in the bank..........

Thanks for the read.

Allie

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