Im still wanting a heavenly body (Lush Heavenly Bodies Butter Cream)

Member Name: sweetpea01

Product:	Lush Heavenly Bodies Butter Cream
Date:	07/05/09 (30 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lovely sweet scent

Disadvantages: Doesn really work

Heavenly bodies is one my latest additions to my huge collection and with major failure with its shelf relative (Almond) I thought that maybe trying another buttercream would so me some good and to put my faith back in them! With a creamier consistency far softer than soap yet denser than a Smoothie, Heavenly Bodies can initially strike you as a delicious chocolate and orange mousse, good enough to eat, especially when witnessed on display as a full, unsliced cake in the shop, which fortunately I was able to see in the Bath store. Again it looks like something you would find in a Parisian patisserie, so delicately made and yet so moreish!

Some people of the Lush forum believe that Heavenly Bodies possesses the same fragrance as Lush's Sonic Death Monkey Shower Gel; however, while the inclusion of Rhassoul Mud does add a slightly smokier scent to an otherwise bittersweet cocoa and citrus mix, this earthier aroma is not nearly as pronounced as it is in Sonic Death Monkey's chocolate, orange and hemp recipe. I am a firm believer in Sonic Death Monkey anything product with a similar fragrance will do it for me!

Made of 70% natural oils and 30% soap, Buttercreams are supposed to be Lush's gentlest, most intensively moisturising and luxurious shower products. However, while I've generally found the results from this ratio of ingredients to be fairly over-hyped (look at Almond for example) and unnoticeable, if not downright ineffective, on the skin, along these lines, Heavenly Bodies does manage to be one of the better options of the lot, lending a lightly scented softness to all skin types, which for me is great as I do suffer with dry skin, and yes whilst it's not as moisturising and body lotions it certainly does a good job.

One of the problems with Heavenly Bodies is the mess it makes in the shower. The easiest way of using this is to put it on a shower pouf which really defeats the purpose of a buttercream but it's the only way to get it onto your skin! Occasionally leaving a bit of a yellowy brown residue on the skin, without fail it always imparts a dark brown lather which is not always pleasing to the eye! And because its consistency is quite soft, you are practically guaranteed to wind up with unsightly splashes of moist brownness over your bathroom tiles! So just make sure you remember to wash these off as it can look slightly unattractive and may worry some people who see your bathroom! Even with these stains and problems it does go on quite easily and when on your skin what is absorbs, is absorbed quickly. Unfortunately it's scent also is a problem, it doesn't last as long as you want it to and will only last a few hours if that, which is a shame as one of the good things about Heavenly is that it's scent is lovely and sweet not over the top.

Even when frozen solid, once Heavenly Bodies hits the water, it will quickly soften, taking you back to square one all over again. In the end, considering that Lush makes so many excellent, hassle free shower products that successfully have far smaller price tags with larger lists of benefits, Heavenly Bodies might serve you well as a unique novelty of a shower treat, but it still doesn't rank as a Lush essential worthy of regular purchase and use. Probably given as a gift this is perfect to use but even though I like it (despite its flaws) I can't say that I would regularly buy it as it can be bit of a hassle.

On my last bit of Heavenly Bodies I did actually cocktail a few of my Lush products to see what kind of experience I get by using a few together (and partly because I couldn't face having another rubbish bathing experience with Heavenly on its own!). I always have odd bits of Lush and I therefore decided to take the last remaining bit of Heavenly Bodies, then a bit of my Lush Cupcake Face Mask and a Lush Haagenbath Bath Bomb. The chocolate, mint & spice goodness I get by combining the three is absolutely wonderful. This proved a wonderful concoction and was a good way of getting rid of some Lush products I'd had for a while!

What Lush say:-

Rescues badly treated bodies and restores them to beauty.
Detoxifying and purifying don't seem to fit naturally into the same sentence as chocolate and vanilla Buttercream, but here's the one place that they all go together beautifully. Our pleasingly squashy, antibacterial Rhassoul mud and fresh orange juice cleansing base is given a delightful cocoa and vanilla absolute, sweet orange and tangerine essential oil fragrance to make your skin detox feel like a wash with a chocolate orange cheesecake. Absolutely gorgeous.

For £3.87 this is quite an expensive experience! Yes it's probably one of the better buttercreams but it's still not a complete necessity! Lush produce far better products for a similar price. However if you feel like a change then go for it but just don't get your hopes up!

Summary: It looks pretty but don' expect it to be easy!