African Paradise Body Conditioner

I've never been to Africa so I couldn't possible imagine how you could bottle the entire continent under a handful of smells. Even so, I was rather intrigued to try out Lush's new African Paradise Body Conditioner. When the product arrived, my first thought was that it didn't smell at all like how I imagined Africa to smell, although that isn't to say that this product doesn't harvest a wonderful aroma. 

Made from a combination of eight different oils, shea and cocoa butter, and a range of different fragrant ingredients, this body conditioner has multiple layers that make up it's scent. The initial smell that I get from this product is a combination of carnation absolute, ylang ylang and cocoa butter - it has an almost 'rose' smell - a dry, sweet floral scent.

However, the more you're exposed to this fragrance, the more you pick up different elements of it's smell. There's a splash of aloe vera here and as you delve deeper, you can pick up tones of almond oil and moringa oil. The mango juice and melon oil give African Paradise a very subtle sweetness but it's difficult to pick these scents out individually.    

This body conditioner is a powerhouse of moisture and smell; a product you have to smell for yourself to appreciate the wonders of it's fragrance. It's unlike anything that I've smelt from Lush before - more sophisticated and floral than the likes of Charity Pot or Ro-Argan, but far sweeter and spicier than Potion and Dream Cream.  

It's a perfect companion to have in the shower, when your skin is looking for that special something to repair itself with. To use, simply lather it all over your body, just before you plan on exiting the shower. I found it easier and more effective to step away from the flow of the water to do this - this helped me to apply the lotion without getting water in the pot and also gave me time to massage it into my skin without it being washed away too quickly. Then rinse the lotion off and pat your body down as per normal.

What I found was that my skin felt taut, refreshed but very slightly greasy in the early stages. It took a good 5-10 minutes after I had dried myself off before the oils had been fully absorbed into the body, and this is when I noticed how amazing my skin felt and looked.

Firstly, it's scent remains with you for a very long time - so long in fact, that I don't have to use any perfume on the days I use this during my morning shower. It's gorgeous. 

Secondly, even after the initial use, my skin literally glowed with health; I'm a very pale person, and it doesn't take a lot to add colour to my skin, but I found that after using this, my arms and legs seemed to glow like I had a gentle bronzer on. Lush claim that it's the mango juice that helps to brighten the skin, and I can verify that it works.

Finally, my skin felt beautifully soft, nourished and hydrated thanks to the many different oils and butters that make up this wonderful product. My only qualm with this aspect of the product, is that you do have to allow it a little while to settle and absorb into the skin, so not something you want to use if you're in a bit of a hurry.

I wasn't expecting much from African Paradise as I'm not one to use their body conditioners regularly - I find that they tend to be too greasy on my skin. However, this one really grabbed me as being something  I would use regulary. It has a very strong, feminine smell, which makes you feel wonderfully clean and leaves your skin beautifully smooth. I really hope that Lush choose to bring out further products with this scent as it's one of their most sophisticated and potent-smelling fragrances to date. 

I'm glad that this is being made a permanent product as I will definitely be using this regularly to help moisturise and condition my skin. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Glycerine, Almond Oil, Moringa Oil, Fresh Aloe Gel, Fair Trade Shea Butter, Stearic Acid, Marula Oil, Baobab Oil, Kalahari Melon Oil, Triethanolamine, Fresh Mango Juice, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Ylang Ylang Oil, Clove Bud Oil, Carnation Absolute, Sandalwood Oil, Cetearyl Alcohol, Benzyl Benzoate, Benzyl Salicylate, Citronellol, Eugenol, Farnesol, Geraniol, Isoeugenol, Linalool, Perfume.

Vegan?: Yes.

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