Aching muscles from digging and weeding on the allotment, followed by a very bad head cold and the shivers, and left me with aches and pains in more muscles than I knew I had. A hot bath usually works wonders to ease my aches and pains but I needed something a little more. I am allergic to both Deep Heat and Ralgex Spray as much as I love the smell, they leave me with an itchy rash which isn't very attractive to see nor watch as I scratch like I've got fleas, so its either Badger Balm which I've run out of or my new Lush product which I ordered some weeks ago called 'Hottie'.

You might have realised by now that I am a huge fan of Lush massage bars because not only do they always smell amazing but they are a great way of getting some personal one on one loving and because they come in an array of shapes and sizes they are quite a fun product. So once a massage bar has been purchased all that I now require are two things - one is my loving husband...tick, I've found him.... and one pair of warm hands...check and the massage bar which has been bought and paid for.

Hottie, which is quite an odd title for a Lush product because it neither represents the shape, smell or colour of the massage bar unlike Strawberry Feels Forever, which is bright pink and in the shape of a strawberry or after eight which smells all mint like. Instead Hottie is rectangular shaped and has sticky out bits on the top which are raised bumps and it is rather dull in colour and by dull I meant a creamy white, the sticky out bumps are specifically designed according to Lush, to enhance any massage with extra pressure to get the circulation going. Its smell however is quite divine taking in Shea Butter and Vanilla both of which are dominant smells. This product from Lush is around 90g making it the latest massage bar that Lush currently sell and for that size you can expect to pay around £4.95 making it cheaper than most of the massage bars. When purchased it comes wrapped within a paper bag which clearly displays the Lush logo and the paper bag is closed with a sticker detailing when it was bought, who made the product and how much I paid for it.

For anyone who has yet to try a Lush Massage Bar and to be honest, I really hope it isn't many of you, it is one of the easiest things in the world to do, much easier than using massage oils and much more economical because you don't use one bar in one massage, there should be no spillage, little mess and a lot of love, in my opinion. So how do you use it? You simply mimic the actions of using a soap, the principal of a massage bar is that it will contain essential oils which are released onto the hands of the masseur as soon as it becomes warm and to do this you rub it (as in massage bar) between the palms of your hands this then softens the Shea butter and releases some of the calming essential oils used as ingredients to enable you to massage who or whatever much easier. As the massage bar becomes warm your fingers will become covered in the essential oils thus making them easily glide over the skin making the massage much more delightful. However, when it comes to these products they can become quite messy and I would suggest that you have a towel at the ready and something covering whichever surface the person is laying on, depending on what you are massaging of course, to ensure no oils leak onto that or those surfaces. Also, these massage bars can be used all over the body and one other piece of advice would be to make sure the person massaging you has warm hands when they begin to massage you, there is nothing worse than a cold handed masseuse.

After using the massage bar you may need to towel off any excess oils because as good as it is at disappearing totally into your skin I have always found there to be parts that have been missed and unless you want to leave stains around your home, always double check that it has all been massaged into your skin or that you do towel yourself off afterwards for double checking.

Hottie as a massage bar to me might be dull in looks and colour, but the smell and the after effects make it for it. Yes I am bias because I am a big fan of Lush (although there are some products that I hate) and I also love massage bars but the look and smells are important to me. The use of ingredients within this massage bar have been chosen to work with relaxing the muscles and the tag line "No Nonsense Massage Bar for Tense Muscles" gives you an idea as to what you can expect from it.

So to the ingredients, with most massage bars we have Shea Butter which is known to soften and moisturise the skin. Shea butter is referred to as an Emollient and that means it is a substance that softens and soothes the skin. Black Pepper Oil comes next and I was surprised to see it listed as an ingredient because I had never come across it before in any of the Lush products I had used and it is a warming oil which warms the instant it touches the skin and a little research that I did told me that this ingredient is recommended by Aromatherapists for headaches, to treat poor circulation, to ease aching muscles, and because it acts as a natural pain reliever and helps to combat mental fatigue. So in a massage bar such as this one it becomes the perfect ingredient. Ginger Oil is used because it helps to relax tense muscles and to soothe aching joints and like Black pepper Oil it hosts warming properties which helps stimulate circulation. Jojoba Oil is next which works well as a moisturiser on the skin and it keep it feeling soft and smooth and finally Vanilla Absolute which adds to the Shea Butter to fragrance the product but it also hosts antioxidant properties which help protect the skin. There are also many other ingredients contained within this massage bar and they can be found on the Lush website.

How long you use the massage bar to be massaged it completely up to you and the person who is massaging you, but in my opinion I would suggest massaging your body (or should I say, get a loved one to massage it for you) for at least 30 minutes so that you can ensure your entire body has been thoroughly covered and also that you have been given a good massage and allowed the ingredients to work as they should work and for the reasons they have been chosen. With this particular bar more attention was paid to my shoulders and my lower back where I had the most aches and pain and I did find it to be really soothing, as soon as the oils touch your skin there is definitely an immediate warm sensation which is truly relaxing and soothing and this is why the product is called Hottie, though I must stress the oils do not turn hot, they are warm and soothing! After using this product my skin was totally moisturised and soft and more importantly the aches and pains soothed away.

So do I recommend this product? Well you won't be surprised to learn that I would recommend this bar and any other massage bar to anyone who loves a good Lush product and one that is quite unusual. It does what it claims to do which is relax, relieve stress and anxiety and make you feel loved, well assuming you get a good massage and is relatively cheap in price for the length of time it seems to last, in my case a good few months and it is being used quite a few times a week in my house.

For anyone wanting further information the Lush website has it all from animal testing to organic ingredients and other snippets that you might find relevant to your purchase.