For the past six months or so I have mostly been buying my toiletries from The Body Shop, they have had so many brilliant offers on lately that I have found myself unable to resist and have so many products from them at the moment. Infact, just before Christmas my partner remarked on the very same point and mentioned that he had thought Lush was my favorite to which I answered it was but I just hadn't bought anything from there in a while. Flash forward to Christmas day and my happy smiling face as I was opening a big parcel of Lush goodies my partner had bought me. Not only had he remembered Lush was my favorite but he had also bravely entering the potent Lush shop, which I know is difficult for most men! Anyways, clearly I was super happy with this present and took no time at all before trying them all out. My set contained "The Olive Branch" shower gel which I am reviewing today.

The Olive Branch Shower gel comes in a clear 100g plastic bottle with a black flip top lid on the top. The orange gel can clearly be seen inside. The usual Lush black and white label is stuck onto the front of the bottle which gives the brand and product name along with a suitable for Vegans sign. A list of ingredients are given on the back, which in my opinion is fairly long for a Lush product. As with all Lush products this shower gel has not been tested on animals. The bottle itself is made from 100% recycled plastic, the black lid can be taken back to a local Lush store to be recycled but there is no mention of recycling for the actual plastic bottle. A circular sticker shows a cartoon picture of the person who made this product, in this case it was a young looking girl called Kamla. The sticker also shows the date it was made along with the use by date. My bottle was made on the 04/10/12 and the use by date is 04/12/13, so there is plenty of time to use this product, although I finished this one off today, so it clearly didn't last me that long. 

No directions for use are given on the bottle, instead it states "Oh, come on we don't need to tell you how to use shower gel, do we!!?", which I find quite amusing. It does advise to give the bottle a quick shake before use.

The shower gel contains Fairtrade olive oil, fresh mandarins, bergamot oil and Vine leaves. The olive oil used in the shower gel is from a Jewish Israeli / Arab fair trade project, hence the name of the product, " a true olive branch of people reaching across the divided communities to work together in peace". More information on this can be found at www.sindyanna.com. 

When I first got into the shower with this gel I did notice that the olive oil seemed to have separated from the rest of the product and was resting ontop, but I gave it a good shake as advised on the label and it all mixed up nicely. I have had to do this each time I have gone to use the gel and whilst I have not found this to be a problem or time consuming I feel it is still worth noting. After a quick shake the product was ready to go and I squirted a small amount onto a shower puff. The first thing I noticed was that the gel was quite watery, so great care needs to be taken not to dispence too much of the product in one go. It has a lovely orange colour. After applying the desired amount onto my shower puff I washed my body. I was surprised by the amount of bubbles it created, as I tend to find that more "natural" products tend not to foam. I feel it cleaned my skin well and I felt nice and clean. I feel many Lush products can have a strong fragrance, which some many consider too strong for them, The Olive Branch shower gel however is very mild. It has a very earthy, woody smell to it, but with a touch of fruitiness.  I feel it is quite a unique fragrance. I really like the smell and find it is fairly unisex, so it would be a good one to have in the bathroom for everyone to use, thats if you can bear to share. After using the gel my skin was left feeling soft, well moisturised and smelling great. Whilst using this product I did not experience any adverse effects.

It is suggested that the gel can also be used as a shampoo, I cannot comment on its use as a shampoo as I only used it as a body wash. 

I loved using this product and was so sad when I finished it up. I would certainly buy it again, but as its January I have plenty of shower gels to keep me going for the time being. It lathered up nicely and left my skin feeling lovely and smelling yummy. Although I knock one star off for it being too runny. 

The Olive Branch Shower Gel can be bought in most Lush stores and on their website (delivery charges may apply)

100g - £4.45

250g - £8.95

500g - £15.45