Any of you who read my reviews regularly will know that I'm a massive fan of the shop Lush and I've been trying to sample almost every product they make. As I needed a new body lotion, I added a tub of Sympathy for the Skin to my last order, as I was going through a bit of a banana phase.


***What is Lush?***

Lush is a store that makes toiletries and cosmetics, using natural and organic ingredients where possible and minimising packaging where they can. It started out as a mail order company called Cosmetics to Go, but this failed and the new store, Lush, opened in Poole, Dorset. Later branches of the shop opened in London and beyond, and there are now Lush stores all over the world. As well as in store, you can also buy products from the website, www.lush.co.uk. There are similar websites for many different countries including the USA, Japan and Germany.

Lush buy ingredients only from companies that do not test on animals. All of their products are suitable for vegetarians and many are suitable for vegans.

Lush say: "We believe in happy people making happy soap, putting our faces on our products and making our mums proud.
"We believe in long candlelit baths, sharing showers, massage, filling the world with perfume and in the right to make mistakes, lose everything and start again."


***Sympathy for the Skin***

Some of Lush's products have only been around for a short time, but Sympathy for the Skin has been going for over ten years. This is a good thing - I once read an interview with someone who worked for Lush in a high-up capacity, and she said that Lush experiment a lot - they invent something, stick it on the shelves and see if people buy it; if they do, it stays, if not, it gets discontinued. For this product to have been around for so long, it must have been bought and loved by many people!

The body lotion comes in a black tub, the larger size, and you get 240g of product. If you collect five tubs, you can take them back to Lush and get a free Fresh Face Mask, which is very handy. The body lotion is made with a base of vanilla pod infusion almond oil and cocoa butter to moisturise. It also contains fresh bananas, sandalwood oil and lemon oil. I hoped that it would go well with other products I've bought recently which also contain bananas - the Banana Moon soap and Gumback Express Shower Smoothie. The body lotion is suitable for vegans and a tub will set you back £9.99. This sounds expensive, but in my experience most Lush products are worth the money.


***My Experience***

On first unscrewing the lid of the tub, I was greeted by a very thick white cream which reminds me of yoghurt. There are a few little black specks which could be vanilla pod. The lotion smells absolutely delicious - it smells of fresh bananas but there is also a chocolatey aroma which I put down to the cocoa butter. I couldn't wait to get started using this product!

The body lotion is quite thick in texture, rather like thick yoghurt. Only a small amount is needed to apply and I find that it sinks in really well. Another reviewer commented on the black specks in the body lotion: I noticed these in the tub itself but I never notice them on my skin.

The lotion smells noticeably but not overpoweringly of banana, and the smell lasts on my skin for several hours. What I love about this moisturiser is just how well it moisturises my skin. My legs, the driest part of my body, still feel soft even into the evening. This is no mean feat. Using the lotion feels so luxurious and it's easy to tell it's a high quality product.

This body lotion is an excellent moisturiser with a delicious scent and it lasts ages. I can't think of any reason not to give it the full five stars.