I'm not so Whoosh! (Lush Whoosh Temple Balm)

Member Name: sweetpea01

Product:	Lush Whoosh Temple Balm
Date:	16/05/09 (30 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It smells nice

Disadvantages: Can dry out in th tin

I never have really got the hang of temple balms, what do they actually do I hear myself asking?! Or am I just being sceptical? They are supposed to relax your mind and calm any ill feeling. Can a little balm in a tin actually do this? I have been yet to find out all this time I have been using Lush (yes thats right!) I have never been tempted to use on, not in the slightest. I have always quickly walked past them in a store and haven't even given them a glance let alone actually try and find out more about them!

Oh how things change! My birthday last year was awash with Lush goodies from pretty much everyone I knew bought me Lush, I ended up with two of everything which of course I was not going to complain about! One of my gifts just so happened to be a few temple balms, this however did not bring a smile to my face! However, not to knock a gift I thought this would be my chance of trying a temple balm without actually buying one!

The one I first tried was Whoosh temple balm, I happen to actually quite like the scent of Whoosh shower jelly and I thought this would be quite a nice experience! Especially after a long hard day and I just need to re-wind (without heading for a bottle of wine and glass!). Whoosh temple balm comes in a little silver tin, the same tins as the lip balm and has a similar colour almost to an opaque butter!

Though both Whoosh temple balm and Shower Jelly tend to smell a bit like multi-purpose cleaner (and i'm talking the new kind of floral cleaner - this I strangely happen to like!), you really can't argue with this particular fragrance's ability to live up to its aromatherapeutic promises: though not classically appealing by most standards, its lime, grapefruit, lemon, and rosemary oils do indeed rejuvenate the mind after a long day or even kick jet lag to the curb. Things were looking up for me and my negative thoughts.

Problem is, while the Shower Jelly manages to give you a hefty kick in the you-know-what, in Temple Balm form, Whoosh really only does the job momentarily, given that its eye-opening aroma doesn't possess a whole lot of staying power. And yet, though the mood affective fragrance doesn't stick around for very long (no matter how many pulse points you douse in this citrus and herb concoction), the grapeseed, apricot kernel, and mango butter base does.

Hence, reapplying this balm to your temples can be a bit tricky, as you're merely layering coats of
unfading oil, a particularly big con for those who have oilier, blemish prone skin to begin with. On to the tin itself, as is the case universally with Lush's Temple and Lip Balms ever since they last changed their packaging from a convenient glass jar in 2004, you now get a rather inconvenient little tin that demands you work with it, rather than the other way around - which is just the same problem we all have the lip balms!

And god forbid that your tin should become dented (thin and fragile as these tins are); you'll not be able to remove the screw-on lid without a pair of pliers! Besides, even at the best of times, because the lid's lip comes down so low over the pot's base, you're left with very little anchorage to grab onto when it comes time to unscrew it.

You will also find that once you have started to use it, it does last for a long time, but it can then in turn start to dry up! Which is not a great thing. I have also noticed that when it's cold the temple balm is absolutely rock solid and you have to warm it in your palms for a while, whereas in the summer the balm gets very soft and it's easy to get loads on your finger and end up with a load of balm on your pulse points and have to scrape the residue off!

All in, I simply don't think that Whoosh Temple Balm is worth the greasy hassle or the money. Besides, I can't help but wonder why we need a fleetingly fragranced balm when we could just as easily take a far more potently effective aromatherapy shower with the jelly of the same scent. (Okay, maybe not quite as easily, given the hassle that comes with Lush's impractical jellies unless they're used with a bath pouf. But still, you've gotta admit that nothing says "wakey wakey" quite like a fist fight with a big chunk o' jelly as it "whooshes" past you down the drain. If that doesn't keep you on your toes, then nothing will.

I've used Whoosh until I finished my tin as I don't like to waste something. I generally applied to my temples and the pulse points on my wrists. The scent is definately calming but I can't say that it did anything to improve my mood. Lush do say that you can also wear temple balms as a perfume but as the Whoosh scent really doesn't stay around for long I wouldn't suggest using this as a perfume!

What Lush say:-

Keeps your mind bright and active.
Whoosh gets you through Monday afternoon to Friday morning, including soporific seminars, lullaby lectures and meetings which are so immensely tedious they have a narcotic effect. Surely dull meetings should be made illegal, especially if they include dimming the lights for a presentation. Anyway, if you have to stay awake and look like you're paying attention, apply a subtle trace of Whoosh to your pulse points: wrists, neck and temples. Some of us like to line our nostrils with it so it has the shortest distance to get to the brain. How does it work? It applies reviving essential oils of lime, lemon and grapefruit to your tired body and brain. Then it adds refreshing rosemary and stress reducing geranium so you stay nice and calm. Always have this with you, but don't rely on it to get you out of trouble; make sure you get enough sleep too. (It's also good for jetlag, but why don't you cut down your carbon footprint and have a video conference instead?)

A tin of Whoosh Temple Balm will cost £4.16. Which I don't think it's really worth the money and I still don't believe that these actually work!

Summary: You should save your pennies