LUSCIOUS LUSH (Lush in general)

Name: junkboxjules

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Product:	Lush in general
Date:	26/02/03 (397 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Wide variety of products, All products are suitable for use by vegetarians and most can be used by vegans

Disadvantages: There are not enough Lush Shops in the UK yet

If you'd have asked me to tell you something about Lush and their products a year ago I wouldn't have had much of an idea. In fact I would have probably told you that it was similar to the Body Shop and advised you to avoid it unless you enjoy gagging - the overpowering aroma that hits you from several hundred yards away from the shop was the only thing I'd ever really taken any notice of - I could not understand why this smelly little shop was always busy, I had no intention or desire to enter the shop simply because of the smell. However, I read so many rave reviews about Lush and their products that curiosity eventually got the better of me and about 9 months ago I made my first Lush purchase - I loved the product so much that I became a regular visitor to the Lush stores and now purchase all my bath and hair care products from there, ( I sound like the Remmington Man - I loved the products so much I bought the Company, lol - I wish).

**SO WHAT MAKES LUSH PRODUCTS BETTER THAN HIGH STREET PRODUCTS?**

In my experience Lush products are far superior to the run of the mill products available from supermarkets, Boots and even the Body Shop - don't get me wrong I like lots of well known Brand products and Body Shop products and if I'm looking for something for day to day use - or just looking for a cheapie shower gel/shampoo then these products are fine.

However, since I've discovered Lush it has given me a completely different outlook on looking after my skin. A year ago I wouldn't have dreamed of paying £2 for a bath product that I could only use once - not unless I was buying it for a special occasion - now I buy one or two Lush Bath Ballistics, (bath bombs) every time I visit Lush - just for day to day use.

There are many reasons why I like Lush products - one of the main reasons being the fact that all Lush products are handmade by Lush at their headquarters in Poole, Dorset, Lush do not make produc
ts for anybody else and this as well, as their different approach to the way they make their products ensures that their products remain completely unique and highly sought after.

All Lush soaps and bath ballistics are individually hand moulded and then hand cut, all bottled products are hand filled and hand labelled and all hand labelled products even contain the maker's name.

Ok - so you are probably thinking - oh yeah so why pay £2 for one bath just because the products are hand made and hand labelled - I'm quite happy to have my products made in a factory and pay a quarter of the price.

Well Lush not only hand make and hand label their products they also ensure that all the ingredients contained within their products are fresh - products that contain fruit juice actually contain freshly juiced fruit juices and products that contain dairy products are delivered fresh to the stores and have a short shelf life, all these products have a sell by date - the reason for this is that Lush do not believe in using lots of preservatives - unlike many other Companies, (even those who claim to use natural ingredients usually use an excessive amount of preservatives), Lush only use preservatives where absolutely essential and even then they use methyl paraben and propyl paraben in their liquid products as they are the most benign.

So why is the lack of preservatives so important? Well preservatives are useful in order to prevent waste but they contain antibiotics which as well as killing harmful bacteria they can also wipe out the natural colonies of friendly bacteria which live on the skins surface and help to protect it from invasion.

Lush products are made using only fresh organic fruit and vegetables and fine essential oils, Lush do not use any products that contain animal ingredients and therefore their products are suitable for vegetarian use, most of the products are also suitable for use by vegans.

Lush
products are not tested on animals and all product testing is carried out on humans.

So you see - Lush products may cost more than the Supermarket Brand products but the products are made using far superior ingredients and are to a much higher quality and standard that bulk standard soaps, shampoos, etc.

Lush products are available in over 31 Countries including Australia, Sri Lanka and Taiwan. In England there are over 30 Stores but don't despair if you don't live near a Store as all Lush products are available to purchase online too.

**SO WHAT DO LUSH SELL?**

Lush mainly sell bath and toiletry products - however they are continually introducing new items to their vast product range, including some Limited Edition items which they release for a short period of time - for example over Christmas or for Valentines Day or Mothers Day.

As well as serving the purpose they are intended for many Lush products also have other qualities which makes them more special that your run of the mill products. For example, the Lush Bath Ballistics, (bath bombs), and bubble bars contain essential oils and other products which are designed to not only fragrance your bath water, but to moisturise your skin and help you to relax.
I am not going to list every product that Lush stock but I have detailed some of my favourite products below to give you an idea of the type of products available.

**SHOWER GELS**

As well as selling the usual shower gel products that are packaged in bottles, Lush being Lush, also sell frozen shower gels. These are packaged in ice cube style bags and the idea is that you pop them into the freezer and take one out whenever you feel like an invigorating shower - personally I'm not sure if I like the idea of that - but I have heard that they are very effective and very popular.

There is a wide range of scents available in the shower gel range and many of the frozen shower gels
are available in the same fragrances as the bottled shower gels.

Two of the more popular fragrances are:-

**Slammer**

Slammer shower gel is fragranced with lime juice and lemon oil and is perfect to help wake you up in the morning as it provides a wonderful invigorating aroma.

**Chai**

Chai shower gel has a spicy aroma as it contains ginger and cinnamon it also contains anti-oxidants and is good for toning the skin.

**BATH BALLISTICS**

Bath Ballistics are Lush's version of a bath bomb - I love them and am slowly making my way through the entire collection. Bath Ballistics are approximately tennis ball sized and are designed to be dropped into a pre-run bath. Immediately they hit the water they fizz about madly and colour and fragrance the water as they disperse. On average most bath ballistics cost around £1.80 - £2.00 and each ballistic lasts only for one bath, this may seem a bit excessive but they do leave your skin feeling soft, moisturised and smelling great whilst the aroma really helps to unwind you and leaves you feeling totally calm and relaxed. Two of my favourite bath ballistics are:-

**Fairy Jasmine**

This is a really pretty pale pink colour, it is a really girlie product as it contains loads of glitter - if you hate glitter you won't like this - however, if like me you love anything sparkly you are sure to fall in love with Fairy Jasmine - be warned though you will emerge from the bath glistening and will find glitter in every possible orifice!!!

The Fairy Jasmine fragrance is created using jasmine and this emits a very pleasant calming aroma.
**Sugar Plum**

This bath ballistic is also pale pink and again contains glitter as well as white plastic snowflakes and silver and gold paper stars. It will turn your bath water pink and cover the surface with little stars and snowflakes. Sugar Plum has quite a sweet fruity aroma as it contains tangeri
ne oil and sandalwood oil.

Unfortunately Sugar Plum was a limited edition only brought out for Christmas so it isn't available all year round - however, there are so many other excellent fragrances to choose from that you will still be spoilt for choice.

**BUBBLE BAR SLICES**

Bubble Bar Slices are the Lush version of bubble bath. Again, just to be unusual, Lush have created a series of brightly coloured crumbly bubble bar slices. Instead of pouring liquid into the bath from a bottle the bubble bar bath is crumbled into a running bath to create a wonderful bath full of bubbles. Each bubble bar can be used up to about 4 times, you can if you wish crumble the whole lot into one bath and have a truly bubbly and over the top extra indulgent bath - however, you will find that even a quarter of a bar will give you a bath full of bubbles.

Similarly to the Bath Ballistics the Bubble Bars come in several different fragrances, all of which contain special ingredients which will help to either relax you, wake you up, lift your spirits etc.

Bubble Bar Slices cost approximately £1.60 - £2.00 for a 100g slice.

My favourites are Bathos & Creamy Candy Bath.

**Bathos**

This is a beautiful shade of deep lilac, the lilac colouring helps to turn the water a pretty bluey/lilac shade. The Bubble Bar is pillow shaped and has a glittery green 'B' embossed into the middle of the bar.

Bathos smells of violets - however don't let that put you off - it is a really gorgeous aroma. The violet leaf is famed for its ability to calm the nerves and encourage amorous thoughts so the Bathos Bubble Bar would be ideal to slip into the bath water if you wish to share your bath with your partner.

Immediately you step into the bath you will become aware of the water softness - Bathos leaves our skin feeling refreshed, moisturised and smelling lovely.

**Creamy Candy Bath**

This was th
e first Lush product I tried and because I loved it so much it was the main reason that I made a special trip back to Lush to stock up and try out some of their other products.

The Creamy Candy Bath is again a pillow shaped bar, it is a Barbie pink colour and has a small flower embedded into the centre of the bar.

It contains cocoa butter and almond oil which both help to leave your skin feeling smooth and soft and is scented with vanilla oil. The aroma reminds me of a bag of mixed pick and mix sweets - it is sweet but not at all sickly.

**SOAPS**

All Lush soaps are piled up high on the counter at my local Lush shop. It is a wonderful sight of lots of large blocks of colourful soaps.

The soaps are all made in a large mould and are then hand cut to enable you to choose a piece as large or as small as you like.

I have tried three soaps and my favourites are Carmen Miranda, I Should Coco and the new Limited Edition Rock Star.

**Carmen Miranda**

Carmen Miranda is a pale green soap which is packed with lots of colourful pieces so that it is made to look like it is packed with fruit.

The soap contains fresh kiwi fruit, juniperberry oil and bergamot oil - the fragrance reminds me of blackcurrant and liquorice flavour sweets.

This soap costs £1.95 per 100g but it did last ages and was well worth every penny.

**I Should Coco**

Designed to look like coconut ice the I Should Coco soap is white on the bottom with a bright pink topping which is covered in real slithers of coconut - it looks good enough to eat.

I Should Coco is quite a creamy soap and I found that it left my skin smelling lovely for several hours after use and feeling very soft and smooth.

I Should Coco costs £1.75 per 100g and again it lasted for a long time.

**HAIR CARE**

I have only used a couple of the Lush hair care products so far - those being the Ultimate Shine
Shampoo Bar, Trichomania Shampoo Bar and the Coolaulin Conditioner.

As well as the standard liquid shampoos Lush have created quite a large range of shampoo bars. I have to confess that when I first heard of a shampoo bar I didn't expect it to be up to much and couldn't believe that it would create much lather - however, being curious I had to try one out so I selected the Ultimate Shine Shampoo Bar and this is what I thought of it.

**Ultimate Shine Shampoo Bar**

Sold as a 55g circular bar which looks like a small bar of soap the Ultimate Shine Shampoo Bar is designed to make dull hair shiny.

My hair always tends to look a bit dull so I thought I'd give this a go to see if I could put some life back into my hair.

I was instructed by the assistant in Lush to wet my hair and then wet the bar and put it around my head about three times - I was told that three times should be sufficient but to check it and see before thinking it would need more - I have to confess I was sceptical that three times around my long hair would be enough - but low and behold the assistant was correct - after three circular movements I had a head full of bubbles.

The Ultimate Shine Shampoo contains glitter, however I didn't notice any residue of glitter left in my hair after use.

I quite liked this but have to confess that I didn't really feel that my hair looked much shinier after using this than it did before so it was a bit of a let down.

The Ultimate Shine Shampoo Bar costs £3.15 for 55g - this may sound a lot but because you only need such a small amount it does last for ages.

When storing the shampoo bar you need to store in on a surface which has a drainage area otherwise the bar will solidify if it is left sitting in a wet pool of water.

**Trichomania**

This is one of Lush's most popular shampoo bars - it is designed to make dry hair softer and contains creamed
coconut which gives it its' wonderful fragrance.

Trichomania is used in exactly the same way as the Ultimate Shine Bar, by wetting the hair and then the bar, however I found that it didn't really lather very well.

I have read a lot of rave reviews about this product but again I was disappointed with it - despite washing it out thoroughly I found that my hair still felt dirty after use.

However, my friend bought some at the same time and her hair looks great since she has been using it - it also works really well on my sons hair - so perhaps it is just me!

Trichomania costs £2.80 for 190g.

**Coolaulin**

Due to my disappointment with the Trichomania Shampoo I was reluctant to spend out any more money trying out products until I found one which I liked. I asked the assistant for advice and said that I quite liked the description for the Coolaulin but was concerned that I may not like it and was concerned about purchasing a 100g bottle only to find that after one wash I never used it again. I asked if it would be possible to try a sample and if I liked it I would come back and purchase the full sized bottle. Lush are very good and are always happy to offer samples or to demonstrate products to their customers, the assistant was more than happy to give me a sample of Coolaulin which I took home to try.

Coolaulin contains fresh coconut milk and is designed for curly, dry or processed hair - mine is all three!

The first thing I noticed when I used this is that my hair immediately felt softer even just whilst I was massaging it in.

The product rinsed off easily and left my hair with a feint aroma of coconuts and feeling soft and tangle free.

I was extremely impressed with this product and wished I'd bought the full size. Luckily the sample lasted me three times and I managed to get back to the shop to purchase the full size before it had ran out - in fact I made a 40 mile
round trip to Lush just to get some more because I loved it so much.

Coolaulin is available in three sizes - a 480g bottle which retails for £6.95, a 240g bottle which retails for £4.95 and a 100g bottle which retails for £2.45.

**OTHER PRODUCTS**

I hadn't intended to write so much about the other products so rather than go on and on about the other products Lush sell I have just listed a selection of the type of products available.

Massage Bars - costing around £3.50 - £6.00 - great for sharing with a loved one.

Glitter Bars - similar to massage bars but they will leave your skin with a subtle glittery shimmer - priced around £2.75.

Face Masks, Body Scrubs, Moisturisers, Toners, Foot Masks and Facial Cleansers - a good range of fresh products - usually found in the chiller cabinet as they are made using fresh short life ingredients. Prices are around £5.00 - £7.00.

Solid Deodorants - These look like a bar of soap but are in fact solid deodorant bars - they contain bicarbonate which helps to absorb odours and are fragranced - priced at around £2.75 for a 100g bar.

Krysztal Deodorants - Oval shaped bars which contain powders and essential oils in order to reduce odours naturally. Priced at around £3.00 - £7.00.

Karma Collection - A range of products including a bath bomb, atomiser, bath melt, soap dusting powder - all fragranced with Lush's very own Karma fragrance - Lush describe the fragrance as being a combination of all their products mixed together. Prices range from £1.95 for the bath bomb to £15.95 for the atomiser.

Luxury Bath Melts - similar to Bubble Bar Slices - these products will help you create a wonderful bubble bath, they are fragranced and will help create a wonderful relaxing bath which will leave your skin feeling glorious and incredibly soft. Luxury Bath Melts only last for one bath and cost around £2.30 each - that is why they are called Luxury - how
ever, they are well worth it if you are looking for a treat.

All Lush products are available in any of their High Street stores or from the Lush website which can be found at www.lush.co.uk.

The Lush website is very comprehensive and offers plenty of information on all the products, as well as pictures of most of the products so that you can get an idea of what you are purchasing.

If you do manage to visit a Lush shop do ask for a sample or a demonstration, or even just for advice as the staff are very helpful and nothing is too much trouble for them - this is a welcome change from most High Street stores. In fact almost every time I have made a purchase I have been offered a free sample to try - I have discovered some great products this way so it works for Lush because if I like them I will return to buy the full size and it works for me as I get to try the products without spending a fortune and then deciding I don't like the product.

A visit to Lush is highly recommended.

Thank you for reading what started out as a short review!

Julie

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