This little piggy went ooooooh... (Lush Fair Trade Foot Lotion)

Member Name: bondgirlk8

Product:	Lush Fair Trade Foot Lotion
Date:	17/01/09 (171 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It completely works!!!! Its amazing!

Disadvantages: I'm really not sure there are any....

It was my birthday last week, and my lovely fiancé surprised me with a collection of wonderful Lush products. I really love Lush but, though I often go in for a smell and a dream, I can rarely afford the high prices. One of the said presents was this tub of foot lotion.

My feet are not the nicest feet in the world. I try my best to take care of them, but then I subject them to somewhere in the region of 8 hours of dance a week (dancers have horrible feet) and then I take them out long distance running with me. This combination means my feet are always harder and mankier than ideally I would like. They are in semi-decent state at the moment given that they currently possess all ten toe-nails - an achievement that should not be underestimated - and I'm doing everything I can to keep them that way. I have a really good scrub that I use on them in the shower or bath that removes most of the funk, but I'm always on the look out for a nice cream to apply afterwards to finish them off nice.

Here's what I made of this one.


WHAT IS IT?

Lush Fair Trade Foot Lotion is designed to be rubbed into the feet to relieve aching feet and soften hard skin. It claims to keep your feet soft, supple and minty. Mmmm, yummy!

Lush are a cosmetics company which specialises in making 'fresh' and 'handmade' cosmetics. They are an environmental and ethically aware company, and promote these ideals through their products, packaging, and manufacturing processes. They use minimum packaging, source their ingredients ethically, use natural ingredients and essential oils, encourage recycling, are against animal testing, do not use animal fat in their products (indeed many of their products, including this foot lotion, are vegan)...the list of goodness goes on. They are indeed a 'good' company, and their prices reflect these ideals which, as we know, always cost more.

In addition to being such a lovely company, their products are also rather lovely. The aroma of the shop is so strong that you can tell when one is near before you even catch sight of it. As I mentioned above I often find myself in a Lush shop purely to enjoy the smells and a look at all the pretty slices of soap and solid bubble bath. Like many of the girlies out there, I'd shop in here for all my cosmetics if I could.


PRICE

I don't know how expensive this product is, given that I received it as a present. I don't wish to know for that exact same reason so I'm not going to look it up so I can tell you. It will be on the Lush website (www.lush.co.uk) if you care to find out. I DO know that it is a Lush product, and so the answer is basically going to be "not cheap". I will say that it DOES work, even on my grim hooves, so it probably justifies the cost.


PACKAGING

The Lush packaging is very simple. As mentioned above, the company intentionally use as little packaging as possible as it is part of their environmental ethic.

Lush Fair Trade Foot Lotion is supplied in a simple black tub which contains 225g of the lotion - it looks a little like a small tub of ice-cream. It has a black label which features the Lush logo and white writing showing the name of the product and what it is.

There is a green sticker with a drawing of a man's face telling me that this product was make by MACIEK81 on 17/12/2008 and that I should use it all up by 17/02/10. As Lush make 'fresh' cosmetics, it is reassuring to me to see from the date that this actually is the case.

There is also a white sticker with black writing and the recycle logo informing me that if I return 5 empty black pots back to Lush they will give me a fresh face mask for free. This is great as it encourages recycling (if you've read my reviews before you probably know by now this is something I feel strongly about) but is also clever of Lush as it encourages loyalty to the company, and means that people probably will buy more black pots. Whether or not they make it to five and actually return them is another thing. To be honest, I imagine a lot of people don't. It's like the loyalty stamps in coffee shops, which mostly work on the principle that you'll forget or lose your card before making it to the free one (how many half stamped cards for the same coffee house do YOU have?) - but not before buying a few more and collecting a few more stamps. Still, I like the recycling element to this one.

It is nice packaging which appeals mostly due to its simple nature and its homemade appearance - it does look like it has been brewed up and put into a random container that happened to be knocking around at the time.


SCENT

This foot lotion has a really refreshing scent, which is mostly mint. It also has a slightly chocolate-like undertone which I presume is caused by the cocoa butter. This makes it smell ever so slightly like an After Eight.

The minty smell is very nice and it smells like it will be a lovely fragrance to put on your feet. Of all the things that feet could smell of, mint is probably the best I can imagine. It works well in keeping feet nice and fragrant.


TEXTURE AND APPLICATION

The lotion feels incredibly smooth. It is incredibly gentle and feels kind of luxurious. It is a relatively thick lotion and is a lovely pink colour, which in my opinion, just adds to the appeal.

It feels soft and soothing as it is applied and it makes both your hands and feet feel adorable as it is rubbed in. This is coupled with the scent wafting up and into your brain which (at least for me) sends a wave of calm soaring through you to give you a lovely Zen feeling. It has a lovely cooling effect on your feet which makes them feel like they are being brought back to life.

It is absorbed very well into the skin, and a little seems to go quite a long way. I imagine my little pot will last longer than I would have expected. As my feet are so dry, and therefore drink in lotion like there is no tomorrow, this is even more impressive. If your feet are less in need of care than mine it will probably last you even longer.


IMMEDIATE RESULTS

In the instant I used this lotion, my feet felt different. They felt soft, and smooth and generally pretty lovely. I used the cream in the morning, and they felt nice all day. By that evening my feet still felt and looked as if the product had only just been applied.


LONGER TERM EFFECTS

I've been using this lotion for a few days now, and it's the weirdest thing...I have feeling in my feet! How novel! My sensation is usually seriously dulled by the fact I'm walking around on dead matter rather than actual living skin. My feet feel softer than they have in years and are really smooth to the touch. They look better, happier and healthier. I love it! My feet do too.

I will definitely keep using this lotion - looks like I'll make it to the free face mask after all!


Thanks for reading

© BondgirlK8 - January 2009

Summary: If it sorted my dancing feet, it can do anything!