Massage me! (Lush Therapy Massage Bar)

Member Name: historywitch

Product:	Lush Therapy Massage Bar
Date:	18/08/09 (58 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Luxury, Moisturising, Organic, Relaxing

Disadvantages: Messy, Expensive

There cannot be many people who are unaware of who Lush are and what they sell, even if they have never been inside a shop. Most Lush shops can be smelt before they are seen due to the oils and perfumes used to create their beauty products, which are often then displayed unwrapped in the store. Marketing themselves as sellers of fresh, handmade eco-friendly cosmetics they have created a unique presence on the high street and have a bright, easy to navigate website for those who are unable to get to a shop.

Whilst in principle I love the idea of Lush and would happily buy all of my family's cosmetic/bath products there (we all have sensitive skin and eco-friendly leanings) it took me four years to go back into a Lush shop after using one of their bath ballistics which was given as a wedding present. Even after only using just half in my bath I found myself scratching vigorously at my skin and got out of the bath to find myself covered in glitter which was very difficult to wash off (and even on honeymoon it isn't very amusing to find glitter in some places). The bath was also coated in glitter and a slippery film which was difficult to shift and made showering fun for the next few days. My little girl however loves the shop (I think she thought it was a sweet shop at first!) and nagged me for weeks until I went back in.

One thing I do like is the fact that all the ingredients are clearly listed on the labels/shelf tags so I am able to avoid anything I know that we as a family are oversensitive to. One of these things is Sodium Laureth Sulfate, a dodgy chemical and a known irritant with links to an identified carcinogen. I was very disappointed to find it in Lush Bubble Bars which would have been my first choice to buy for my little girl. I found her an alternative and was then cornered by a shop assistant who noticed my (frankly enormous) pregnant belly and suggested I try one of their massage bars. Apparently they sell a lot of these to pregnant women as the oils are safe during pregnancy and cocoa butter is very good for stretchmarks. It is not solely for pregnant women though, the blurb says :

""This bar is to clam you down, when you are feeling stressed out, or have your "knickers in twist" this describes the feeling when you have too much to do, and you feel you are running in many directions. We could maybe do with some real Therapy at this point. This bar is much easier than having to go through all that, and a lot cheaper, but it will do the same job. Neroli helps you feel happier, and the lavender will calm you down.
Therapy is a wunder-bar' which we make to help your hard life get softer. First, it moisturises with cocoa and shea butters to make your hard skin get softer. Then it softens your tensions with lavender and neroli oils; neroli is the one which is proven to give you a feeling of euphoria, especially when you have someone massaging it into your shoulders. It also eases the strain on your bank account as it's softer on the overdraft than the other kind of therapy.""

A massage bar is a solid lump of oils and butters and looks rather like a bar of soap. The Therapy bar has three small depressions and then a semi-circle to decorate it and has a light, fresh smell to it. The idea is to hold the bar in your hands to melt the top layer of oils and butters before then rubbing the oils on your/someone else's skin. Ideally you are left with softened skin, relaxed muscles and smelling delicious. The ingredients of this bar are:

Organic Fair Trade Cocoa Butter (Theobroma cacao butter)
Organic Shea Butter (Butyrospermum parkii butter)
Organic Sweet Orange Oil (Citrus Aurantium dulcis oil)
Organic Lavender Oil (Lavandula augustifolia oil)
Organic Neroli Oil (Citrus amara oil)
*Citral
*Geraniol
*Farnesol
*Limonene
*Linalool
*Occurs naturally in Essential Oils

Because this product melts easily it is a good idea to keep it in the fridge. Lush sell massage bar tins for £2.91 if you want to make it more portable.

So after all of that waffle what was it actually like? I bought it thinking it would be good to use in labour and then remembered that last time I actually threatened to bite anyone who dared to touch me. It has a short use by date as well, just two weeks, which I hadn't noticed before so I thought I would get on and use it. The overwhelming scent that hits you when you open the packet is oranges with a slight tang of lavender, quite pleasant but also quite a masculine smell. I duly held it between my palms and rubbed the resulting oils gently onto my stomach. A small amount just didn't go very far and I had to go back to the bar three more times before my hands moved smoothly over my skin. Having worked to get the stuff onto my hands I didn't want to stop there and tackled my legs and arms as well. After a great deal of rubbing there was still a slick of oils on the surface of my skin and it took several scrubbings to get it off my hands. I went to bed feeling a bit sticky, but smelling quite pleasant and a little bit more relaxed than when I started (although wrestling with soap and taps with slick hands was not so relaxing). The smell lingered on the bedsheets for several days which was quite pleasant but I didn't feel like using it again the next night as it felt like somewhat of a faff, especially as I can rub moisuriser on my body much faster and with less of a clean-up afterwards. My skin did feel softer but it didn't help as much with my post-shower itching arms and legs, only my trusty intense moisturiser helped there. It was pleasant to rub it on my swollen stomach and I have continued to use it like this to relax my belly and 'bond' with the baby. However it has done nothing for the dreaded stretchmarks!

So, in conclusion it is a nice thing to have around, but given the short use-by date it should be used more often that I have wanted to, given that application and clean-up is something of a nuisance. If I was able to waft around the house earth-mother style I would love to be able to fit this into my everyday routine, but in reality I am a frazzled mother of an energetic four year old in the summer heat and the last thing I want to do in my precious quiet time is to regularly rub my body with oils; too reminiscent of preparing a large chicken for the oven. The oils were nice but I didn't feel they helped particularly, it was more the rubbing that made me feel a bit more human and less stressed! More of a luxury than a necessity I think.

Price: I paid £5.50 for my bar

Summary: Baste me, baby!