I'm in heaven.....pure heaven! (Lush Heavanilli Massage Bar)

Member Name: snow_white_forev

Product:	Lush Heavanilli Massage Bar
Date:	10/09/09 (44 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Its sweet yummy scent, and it works wonders for dry skin

Disadvantages: I fail to think of any

The Heavanilli massage bar (£4.95) is part of Lush's Vanilla range, by far the best scented range Lush has ever invented. I love Lush, and can easily spend hours in their addictive store smelling products, getting recommendations for my skin type and picking up tips and for just over a year now I have been slowly working my way through everything they ever dreamt up. As a result, I have now come to realise which products don't live up to the hype and which are truly indulgent. When Lush gets a product spot on perfect it is guarnteed to work wonders for your skin, smell good enough to eat and be fun and interesting to use and this massage bar is all of those things, making it my ultimate favourite Lush product!

This massage bar was realised for Valentines Day 2009, and it is certainly a romantic sweetie. The scent is sweet, young and feminine; not a sickly vanilla but a sweet fresh vanilla that oozes girly sex appeal. I also can pick up on undertones of creamy coconut, but vanilla is by far the most noticeable scent. Vanilla is a soothing and relaxing smell often used in aromatherapy and as such I always feel calm and soothed after using this heavenly little bar. The smell is intense and powerful without being overwhelming, and is surprisingly long lasting. Due to the scents longevity I often don't feel I need to wear perfume if I've smothered myself in this. The romantic scent is enhanced by its girly appearance; it is shaped into a large creamy heart with a pink sash across the middle, making it aesthetically very pleasing.

The massage bars are Lush's sensual answer to massage oils and they recommend snapping some of the bar off and melting it in your hands and slowly rubbing it all over your partner for luxurious rub. If you don't have someone willing to spend ages massaging you don't need to worry as this product is still for you; most people I know use the massage bars as moisturisers rather than for massages. Though this bar makes for the most soothing massage when compared to the others in the range. I usually apply mine after a bath or shower on dry skin and have found it very easy to apply. The bar melts very quickly and easily in your hands so be careful as it can easily slip out of your grasp, but it slides over the skin so easily making it very quick to apply. However, this massage bar, like the rest in the range, absorbs very slowly into the skin, so if you need to get dressed quickly after your shower, then I probably would not recommend using this but when the mood is right the slow absorption just adds to its luxurious feel. The massage bar gets slightly smaller each use and when it gets too small to apply and begins to snap my tip would be to pop the last little bits in a bath, as it makes the waters so so smooth and soft!

This sweet little bar leaves the skin feeling brilliantly nourished and I believe it leaves my skin feeling far softer than traditional moisturisers. It is also very soft on my slightly sensitive skin, and has never once aggravated my skin. It has, also, worked wonders on the patches of dry skin that I used to have before I used this; this is largely due to the presence of coconut oil which is known to be brilliant natural cure for eczema. The Heavanilli Bar is also said to be fantastic on tattoos as it conditions the skin and as a result helps keeps colours vibrant for longer.

The product easily invites comparison to the Vanilla Dee-Lite moisturiser as the scent of both products is very similar. In my opinion this massage bar wins on nearly all accounts; to start with the scent is much more intense in the massage bar and as a result much more longer lasting. Both products claim to moisturise the skin, and both do so brilliantly, but again the massage bar is far more indulgent and leaves my skin noticeably softer. The Vanilla Dee-Lite is quicker to apply as its a traditional liquid moisturiser and also absorbs faster into the skin, making it perfect when your in a rush, such as at the gym or early mornings, but if you have the time to indulge and pamper yourself then this Heavenilli massage bar is certainly the one to buy. Oh and its nearly half the price of Dee-Lite which retails at £10.50.

The product is best kept in a tin, which Lush sell at £2.91, but this isn't a necessity. It is important, however, to keep the massage bar somewhere cool and out of direct sunlight as they have a tendency to melt very quickly and then reform into odd shapes when it cools back down.

Its luxurious ingredients include: Cocoa Butter, Fair Trade Shea Butter, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Vanilla Absolute, Tonka Absolute, and Jasmine Absolute.

Summary: Indulgent heaven!