Tuca Tuca Massage Bar

It wasn't until I accidentally purchased the Tuca Tuca Liquid Perfume one day, that I realised that particular fragrances are interlaced with stories and memories of my childhood. Neither did I realise until I fell in love with the perfume, how much I love and pine for violet-scented products, and how this is probably the most prominent scent of my youth. 

When I found out that Lush would be re-releasing their Tuca-scented massage bar, I could not contain myself and I ended up spending a good ten minutes basking in the aroma of the perfume - imagining what it would be like to smear the violet goodness all over myself. 

When this massage bar arrived, I was a little disappointed to discover that it's a lot smaller than every other massage bar I have tried from Lush so far. It's circumference is probably the same size as a face mask pot, with a depth of about 1.5cm. Needless to say, I was less than impressed, especially given the £7.95 price tag. 

However, my heart was soon won over as I lifted the bar from the Lush box and was greeted by a gorgeous, seductive and seriously sexy aroma. This product smells identical to that of it's perfume counterpart, so if you like Tuca Tuca, you'll need to get your greedy mitts on one (or ten) of these. 

Made from a combination of cassie, vanilla, sandalwood, vetivert, violet leaf and ylang ylang oil, this massage bar is a sensual, sweet and flirty fragrance dominated by the vanilla and violet. It smells exactly like the parma violet sweets I used to eat when I was little, except that this fragrance is far more exquisite and complex than that. Laced throughout the fragrance is the sandalwood to pad out the scent and give it depth, ylang ylang and rose to add subtle elements of floral and vanilla absolute to add a warm, comforting and overall musky aroma.

Much like all of Lush's other massage bars, this one has a ton of wonderful ingredients to give your skin a feast; cocoa butter and shea butter are both present to help moisturise and remove dry, scaly skin; oils such as vetivert and sandalwood alter and improve your mood so you can de-stress whilst using the bar. Lush have then chosen a refined, sexy violet scent that will linger on the body long after your massage has ended, ensuring you feel and smell divine throughout the day. 

What I loved about Tuca Tuca is that it offers a balance between being generous with it's oils but not being wasteful with them either. The bar melts fairly easily, so I found it straightforward to use when massaging across my skin, yet it doesn't produce an abundance of oils at any one time so you don't have to worry that you'll overdo it and waste any of the liquid. 

It disperses into your skin fairly quickly so you won't be left with sticky, greasy skin - yet it leaves your arms feeling really nourished and soft. I couldn't stop marvelling at how smooth and radiant my arms and legs felt after using this massage bar. The icing on the cake was the fact that the gorgeous scent stayed on my skin all day and into the night - I didn't have to top up once.

As the bar was perfectly designed, I found that I used very little each time, so despite it's small size, I can see this lasting me almost as long as a normal size massage bar would. I can see me getting a good 10-12 full body massages out of this product and I think that makes it good value for money.

This is one of my favourite massage bars from Lush (as I thought it would be) and I think the company would benefit from making this a regular product. None of Lush's other bars have a scent close to or like Tuca Tuca and I think their range is crying out to feature a product such as this. I hope I don't have to wait another couple of years for it to show it's face again as this is now one of the staple items in my daily routine. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter, Perfume, Fresh Rose Petal Extract, Cassie Absolute, Vanilla Absolute, Sandalwood Oil, Vetivert Oil, Violet Leaf Absolute, Ylang Ylang Oil, Benzyl Salicylate, Cinnamal, Coumarin, Eugenol, Geraniol, Benzyl Benzoate, Farnesol, Limonene, Linalool, Methyl Ionone, Titanium Dioxide, Colour 77019, Colour 77007.

Vegan?: Yes.

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Princess Cottongrass Liquid Perfume

On Saturday, I was lucky enough (and desperate enough) to travel across London to visit the new Gorilla Perfume shop on Camden Passage. Having not read up much about the new perfume collection, I had no idea what to expect upon arrival. The first thing that greeted me upon walking into the shop, was a mound of this perfume and I excitedly clamoured over the employees to get a sniff. 

Princess Cotton is a feminine fragrance and despite the vast difference in it's ingredients list, will appeal to fans of perfumes such as Lily Savon and Happy Happy Joy Joy Conditioning Hair Perfume. It's a light yet complex aroma and offers a very uplifting fragrance - one that reminds me of fresh flowers and plants - of the cool crisp exterior of a greenhouse or the fading scent of a freshly cut garden.

This perfume is made from a combination of pine and neroli oil, nettle and violet leaf absolute - it's a fragrance that lends itself well to fans of all four ingredients as you can detect them all at various stages of wear. Surprisingly, I found that despite being one of the main ingredients, the pine oil didn't dominate the overall smell. If you're expecting a heady, earthy aroma, you'll be left disappointed.  

In the bottle, I noticed the nettle leaf slightly more than the other notes, which helps to give this scent a very herbal, grassy aroma. The inclusion of neroli oil compliments this smell and adds a very aromatic green layer underneath. This latter ingredient also offers wearers a fresh floral scent which, when mixed with the violet, creates a complex, multi-layered smell.                                                                                                                                           Despite showcasing a handful of strong, domineering smells, this perfume is not as heavy as you would expect. Instead you get a wonderful light, crisp scent that lingers on your skin for a very long time. And as the warmth of your skin stimulates the different layers, you'll experience wonderful little floral bursts throughout the day. 

While I wouldn't claim to be a big fan of this sort of smell normally, this is the perfect perfume to see you through the summer months. It compliments the warmer weather - offering an uplifting and thoroughly refreshing fragrance that  bleeds together on your skin and gives off a very natural scent. 

While it's not something I would wear all of the time, I have found myself reaching for the bottle many times this weekend. It's one that's not overly dominating on your skin, but one that gently stimulates your senses so that over time, you come to appreciate it even more.

Priced at £16 for a 10ml bottle, it's averagely priced if we compare it to other Lush perfumes. However, it is definitely worth the price tag. I would describe Princess Cotton as the modern day 'Grandma Perfume' - yet I use this term lightly as I feel the fragrance is mature enough to appeal to older consumers, but youthful enough to appeal to a younger audience as well. 

While it's not one I would rush out to buy immediately, I am choosing to take Princess Cotton with me on holiday - which says something about the beauty of the perfume. I can see this being a favourite for many Lush fans.      

Quantitative Ingredients: DRF Alcohol, Perfume, Pine Oil (Pinus sylvestris), Neroli Oil (Citrus Aurantium amara), Nettle Absolute (Urtica urens), Violet Leaf Absolute (Viola odorata), Benzyl Benzoate, Citral, Eugenol, Farnesol, Geraniol, Limonene, Linalool, Citronellol, Lillial.

Vegan?: Yes. 

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Kerbside Violet Liquid Perfume

When I initially heard that Lush were releasing a third volume of perfumes, I had a mixture of strong and rather contradicting emotions. On the one hand, I was really excited about the new smells that they would introduce and was hoping that I'd discover a few favourites amongst the collection. I was also hopeful that the new releases would appeal to me more than Volume 2 - I found many of those to be not to my liking and this was rather disappointing.

However, I was rather worried about how much it would cost me to invest in these perfumes. I have to try each and every perfume over a couple of days to really experience the fragrance - I cannot spray a little on myself in the shop and hope it wins me over. I was also worried about how much time it would take me to review the lot - I still have almost fifty perfumes in line to be reviewed and I was hoping my 'to do' list would shrink over time, not expand.

Kerbside Violets is the first perfume to be released from the new collection - a fragrance influenced by the 'chance encounters on the street that spark a fleeting interest that just as quickly disappears around the corner.' Whatever that means I'm unsure, but it sounds poetic at least.

Lush have described this perfume as 'fresh, sweet and uplifting' and claim that it's their second attempt to get the violet scent 'right'. I'm a little confused by this claim because their Tuca Tuca Perfume, which is also predominantly violet, is a stunning example of a fragrance well mixed. Each to their own, I guess.

This perfume contains a combination of violet leaf and jasmine absolute and it is the former that comes through the strongest. In the bottle the violet is very fresh smelling - it doesn't have that heavy, cloying fragrance that Tuca Tuca gives off. Instead, it has a very light, grassy aroma which intertwines with the jasmine and gives off a naturally sweet smell. The ylang ylang oil adds to the floral element nicely and helps to pad out the floral element without making it too heavy on the senses.

In the bottle, Kerbside Violet smells very much likes Tuca Tuca, just without the sugary, syrupy element that some fans dislike. However, on the skin it becomes a gentle, refreshing scent that releases different smells over the two-three hours it remains on your skin. At first you get the natural violet leaf, jasmine and ylang ylang coming through. However, as the scent matures, the rosewood oil makes an appearance and adds a very comforting and sweet impression.                                                                                                                                   It's definitely more of a feminine smell - something that would appeal to those who like complex but not overly dominating smells. Although I prefer Tuca Tuca a little more, I know this is because I am a sucker for sugary-sweet fragrances, whereas Kerbside Violet is more of an uplifting, floral aroma. 

Despite this, I really enjoyed the perfume and it's a great first release for Volume 3. Priced at £18 for a 10ml bottle, it's definitely something you have to commit to. However, I am really glad I bought myself a bottle and I will definitely buy this again. Whereas Lush's last perfume collection seemed more experimental and strange, this would sell well in a normal high street shop so I can see it being one of the most popular ones in this collection.  

Quantitative Ingredients: DRF Alcohol, Perfume, Violet Leaf Absolute, Jasmine Absolute, Ylang Ylang Oil, Rosewood Oil, Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Benzoate, Benzyl Salicylate, Citral, Eugenol, Farnesol, Isoeugenol, Limonene, Linalool, Methyl Ionone, Citronellol, Geraniol.

Vegan?: Yes.

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Imperialis Facial Moisturiser

I'm always wary when trying out new facial moisturisers, just because I know how temperamental my skin can be. Even the slightest change in temperature can make my nose greasy or cause my chin to break out in spots. So committing myself to using a lotion on my skin for three months, not knowing how my face will react, makes me rather nervous.

Imperialis is the second to last vegan facial moisturiser left for me try from Lush's range. This product claims to be suitable for all skin types and is supposedly 'great for skins that can't make up their minds', which is exactly how I'd describe my face. 

One aspect of this moisturiser that I appreciate, is that it is quite a light face cream, similar in consistency to Almond Kisses and Celestial. Before I discovered facial moisturisers, I would always use a normal body lotion on my face, and would hate how heavy and cloying it felt against my skin. I know the best way to start the day is by refreshing my face with something hydrating and gentle, so this product bodes well with my routine. 

Infused with an array of different ingredients, this product owes is scent to the mixture of elderflower, lavender, mullein, St John's wort, sweet violet and sunflower extracts that feature in it. All of these wonderful natural, earthy plants have been used for centuries to restore, revive and replenish skin across the ages, so Lush saw it as reason enough to feature them all here. Why fix something that isn't broke, right?

I find Imperialis' scent hard to describe. To me, I can pick out a subtle blossom scent with elements of both lily and orange, all of which intensify when massaged into the skin. The lillies also act as a firming agent alongside the lavender, whose scent I cannot detect in the mix. Lush then use a mixture of olive oil, shea butter and cocoa butter, to act as emulsifiers, helping to thoroughly nourish and moisturise the skin.

This product doesn’t leave a heavy residue behind and is quickly absorbed into the skin, so is great to use as a base for your foundation or concealer. I tend to use this after each and every shower, applying it onto my face after I've used 9 to 5 Cleansing Lotion to cleanse my pores. It leaves my skin wonderfully soft and doesn't leave behind any strong lingering smell that may interfere with your perfume or body lotion.

I would definitely use this again as I found that after a week or so, my skin felt really radiant and soft. Across the three months that it took to finish a tub of Imperialis, I found that I rarely broke out in spots and my face remained smooth even on the days when I forgot to use it first thing in the morning. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Lavender Flower Infusion, Mullein Leaf Infusion, Orange Blossom Water, Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Stearic Acid, Shea Butter, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Glycerine, Cetearyl Alcohol, Orange Flower Absolute, Brunello Lily Petals, St. John's Wort Extract, Elderflower Extract, Sweet Violet Extract, Sunflower Petal Extract, Alkanet Extract, Triethanolamine, Methylparaben, Propylparaben.

Vegan?: Yes.

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Breeze On A Sea Air Toner Spray

I'm not going to lie to you when I say that I recognise that Lush have a great deal when it comes to their toner waters. Given that the prominent ingredient in these products is water, it's no surprise that I was a little hesitant to fork out almost £9 for a 250g bottle. Although I love the company and most of what they stand for, I appreciate the fact that these products are slightly overpriced. However, through a mixture of loyalty, curiosity and no doubt stupidity, I reached into my pocket and paid the price for a bottle. 

Breeze On A Sea Air Toner Spray is a weird choice for Lush to bring back - you would assume that they would opt for their more popular bath bombs and shower gels; appealing to the masses. However, I for one am really excited that they're resurrecting lesser known items, as it means that Lush fans, new and old, get to sample products that we all assumed would never see the light of day again. 

This toner water works very much like their other ones - firstly acting as a refreshing aide for when your skin needs that 'pick me up' throughout the day. Simply spray directly onto the face and then wipe away with a cotton pad - Breeze revitalises and rejuvenates skin, leaving it feeling instantly uplifted and dirt-free. 

Featuring a blend of mineral-rich sea water and rejuvenating rosemary, this toner water also works at conditioning your skin without clogging the pores or upsetting the natural balance of your complexion. The inclusion of aloe vera gel means this toner water also has a cooling effect on your skin, making it a perfect companion for the summer months when you're looking for a little something to help keep your temperature down.

As well as toning and refreshing your skin, Breeze On A Sea Air features violet leaf, which gives the product most of it's scent and works as an antiseptic to keep your skin calm and under control. I'm lucky enough not to suffer from sensitive skin, but I did notice how gentle it felt against my face, especially when I wiped it away. 

With some toner waters, you can almost feel them stripping your face of it's natural oils, and they can leave skin parched and lifeless. However, this toner water left my face feeling wonderfully soft and radiant. Even after the initial application, my complexion was noticeably softer and smoother to touch, and it felt really hydrated, toned and with a natural glow. In fact, I would say that this product gave me better results than that of my facial moisturiser, which is why I have stopped using Enzymion for a while and plan on using this instead. If I wasn't convinced that a glorified bottle of water could make a lot of difference to my skin, I was after I had used this. 

What I found with this toner water, is that it's probably the weakest smelling one I have tried yet - I could only smell elements of the aloe vera and violet for a brief second before I couldn't detect any fragrance at all. However, in hindsight, I don't think this really matters. This product is aimed at a quick fix that relieves you and your skin during the stuffier moments of your day, whilst supporting the natural state of your skin. Having a strong, long-lasting fragrance would only clash with any perfume you may be wearing at the time, so I actually prefer the fact that it barely smells at all.

Breeze On A Sea Air Toner Spray is a perfect companion to carry with you at all times. Whether you work in a stuffy office, travel frequently or just need a pick me up during a night out, this is a product that will instantly refresh and uplift your skin, whilst rejuvenating your mindset and leaving you feeling beautiful. 

Although this is expensive for what it is, a bottle of this size will last you for at least two months, making it worth the initial cost. In hindsight, I wish I had bought a second bottle as I'm keen to take this with me when I go holidaying during the summer break. I hope that Lush choose to release this through their kitchen again as I will definitely invest in another couple of bottles to last me throughout the year. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Spring Water, Fresh Sea Water, Fair Trade Organic Aloe Vera Gel, Violet Leaf Absolute, Boronia absolute, Perfume, Methylparaben.

Vegan?: Yes.

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Bathos Bubble Bar

When I first involved myself with forum chats and online discussions about Lush, the one product that kept making an appearance was Bathos Bubble Bar. At the time, I remember thinking that, from how it was described, it seemed like an interesting product but definitely not one I was going to get worked up over. 

Lush Kitchen 2014 Design 

I was lucky enough to win three of these from an eBay auction early last year, and because of how many bath products I was collecting at the time, these bars were thrown into one of my many bubble bar drawers, never to see the light of day again. That was until yesterday, when digging through my stash to find something to share a bath with, these purple beauties revealed themselves to me. What happened next, is inadvertently amazing...

Bathos Bubble Bar is a violet-scented product, packed full of violet leaf essential oil to create a strong smelling, moisturising and highly relaxing bath-buddy. Combined with jasmine absolute, which adds a sensual fragrance to the mix, and ylang ylang oil, this bar is a sophisticated and rather luxurious addition to any bath tub.

What I love about the scent of this bubble bar, is that it's completely different to the usual rose-scented products that Lush release all the time. Don't get me wrong, I love the scent of rose as much as the next person. However, it wasn't until I smelt this product for the first time, that I came to realise how much I love the smell of violet more. And smell of violet it does; in fact, Bathos gives off a very poignant smell, so for those of you who dislike strong floral smells, you may wish to avoid this. 

To use any of Lush's bubble bars, you can either crumble it under running water, or as I do; hold it directly under the flow of the tap, which I find creates more bubbles. As soon as the water hits the bar, lots of bubbles start to form and disperse throughout the tub, creating mounds of beautiful, soft foam and turning the water a beautiful deep violet colour.

Bathos helped to create a wonderfully relaxing bath. Firstly, the gentle aroma of violet and jasmine filled the entire bathroom, and lingered around for the duration of the bath. This helped me to relax and ease those overworked muscles. Secondly, and probably the most impressive, the water was beautifully soft and slightly oily, which helped to moisturise my skin within minutes of being in the tub. When I begrudging climbed out of the bath at the end, my whole body felt wonderfully smooth and silky soft; I definitely didn't feel the need to moisturise after this. Finally, the beautiful violet smell permeated my skin somewhat and stayed with me for hours; I could even smell it in my hair the following day.

Ultimately, what started as a simple interest, turned into a fully-fledged love affair; I am officially in love with the Bathos Bubble Bar! It did everything I was expecting and more; made me smell wonderful, softening my skin and making me feel so much better after I was finished. I really hope that Lush see the cult following behind this product and bring it back again soon as a permanent, not just a limited edition exclusive; I would definitely like to stockpile a handful of these for the future.

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Cream of Tartar, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Lauryl Betaine, Methyl Ionone, Perfume, Cocamide DEA, Violet Leaf Absolute, Rose Absolute, Jasmine Absolute, Ylang Ylang Oil, Bergamot Oil, Clove Bud Oil, *Eugenol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Green Glitter, Colour 14700, Colour 45410, Colour 17200, Colour 60725.

Vegan?: Yes.

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Chocolala Massage Bar

One of the best aspects of the Lush Kitchen Initiative, are the pictures that accompany each of your orders. I think it's a rather lovely touch to be able to see your products being made and experience part of that excitement as you tear open the packaging and hungrily eye up what you have in front of you. It's always a shame then, when you find the product doesn't live up to the expectations set.

When I first glimpsed at the pictures of Chocolala Massage Bar, it reminded me of a giant rolo, and I envisaged a creamy, gooey chocolately product that would moisturise my skin and leave me smelling divine. However, my experience was tarnished from the get-go and it didn't improve at all during usage. 

Firstly, upon opening my Lush package, I found that my massage bar did not look as appetising as the ones I saw being made on their website. Mine came out looking rather beaten and dishevelled, and some of the chocolate had been chipped away or smeared across the surface. This could have easily been the fault of the postal service, so I wouldn't have had such an issue had it not been for the fact that this was one of the smallest massage bars I have ever purchased from Lush, despite it being the most expensive.

Chocolala was priced at almost £9, and from the pictures I imagined a massage bar that perhaps surpassed the size of most of Lush's regular sellers. However, this bar's diameter is probably no more than 4cm wide and barely stretches to 4cm tall. It's incredibly overpriced, especially given the minimal ingredients that were used to create it. 

Much like all of Lush's other massage bars, this one has a ton of wonderful ingredients that supposedly help to soften and moisturise your skin; cocoa butter, shea butter and sandalwood oil are all present to help moisturise and remove dry, scaly skin, while the latter oil makes up the majority of this bar's scent; orange oil has been added to give the bar a subtle citrus scent whilst containing key properties to clean your skin. 

On initial sniff, you can definitely pick out the sandalwood and violet, and these two dominate the overall fragrance. There is a slight hint of chocolate, but it's not as present as I was expecting. When it's being used on the skin, the chocolately smell comes out a lot more and you begin to smell the beautiful creamy dark chocolate that makes up most of this bar. 

My main issue with Chocolala is that it's not very good at doing the job it's marketed to do. Firstly, it's very difficult to massage this bar successfully across the skin. Despite me warming my hands up, and despite my body still being very warm from my recent bath, this product would simply not melt and I was left with large smears of chocolate all over my body. I was finally able to rub these stains into my skin so they weren't visible externally, but the whole experience left me and my body feeling sticky and dirty. 

Secondly, the massage bar didn't help to soften or moisturise my skin at all, and I resorted to applying a body lotion just to give my skin something to work with. Furthermore, the scent didn't linger for very long at all and a mere 30 minutes after I'd battled to apply the Chocolala, I could no longer detect any of the wonderful violet and sandalwood tones that made this massage bar smell so good.

Overall, my expectations of this massage bar have been truly dashed and I'm glad I opted in purchasing just the one to try. Having spoken to other Lush fans, there are quite a few who love the messy element to this product, and perhaps it's a lot more fun when you're massaging somebody else. However, my experience was a very unsuccessful one and I would not use this product again. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Dark Chocolate, Cocoa Butter (Theobroma cacao), Shea Butter (Butyrospermum parkii), Orange Oil (Citrus dulcis), Sandalwood Oil (Santalum album), Violet Leaf Absolute (Viola odorata), Perfume.

Vegan?: Yes.

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Ocean Salt Self-Preserving Scrub

Ask any one of my friends and they will tell you; if I had been asked a few weeks ago to name a Lush product that I wanted the company to veganise, the first words out of my mouth would have been American Cream, very quickly followed up with Ocean Salt! I can't tell you exactly what it is about the scrub that seems so appealing to me, but it's something I've wanted to try every since I first knew of the product's existence. 

Ocean Salt Self-Preserving Scrub is a cleverly developed face and body scrub that Lush have been working on for quite some time. Not happy with releasing highly natural, low-preservative products, the company wanted to take their innovative ideas that one step further, and produce a range that was completely preservative-free. In order to give their products their properties, as well as maintaining a long shelf life, Lush have carefully crafted each item so that the ingredients form a self-preserving formula. 

When it comes to Ocean Salt, the change of formula has not only made it better for your skin but also removed the sole ingredient that made this product non-vegan beforehand. Lanolin is a waxy residue that comes from the skin secretions of sheep, and is often used in cosmetics to help bind ingredients together as well as give them an oily consistency to soothe and heal skin. Lush have removed this animal derivative, and replaced it with far nicer sounding ingredients; silken tofu, Japan wax and mango butter.

One other change that this product has gone through, is that it's no longer marketed as simply a facial cleanser (or facial scrub as it was referred to). Instead, the new, improved product can now be used over the whole body. 

Despite my excitement about Ocean Salt, I'd never actually smelt or researched it in that much detail beforehand, so trying it for the first time was rather interesting. One of the key ingredients here is lime soaked in vodka - an ingredient that gives this scrub both it's crisp, uplifting scent and it's cooling properties once it's applied onto the skin. Then there's an array of different fruits; grapefruit, mango butter and lime oil, all rich in minerals that help to soften and hydrate the skin. Furthermore, the addition of avocado butter, coconut oil and seaweed leave it conditioned and smelling wonderful. 

The most prominent ingredient though is salt, which makes up most of the scrub's body as well as being sprinkled over the top for decoration. Sea salt is rich in minerals and excellent for scrubbing away dead skin as well as being a natural preservative; allowing the ingredients in Ocean Salt to remain as fresh as they can be. The salt adds to the citrus scent of the lime, giving this product an overall lovely refreshing fragrance.

To use in the shower, just scoop as much or as little out of the tub and lather it all over your body, rubbing it in a circular motion to really stimulate those pores and exfoliate tired skin. Although this is probably an obvious point to make, I would recommend that you don't use this on newly shaved areas. I made the mistake of slathering this all over my legs mere minutes after I taken a razor to them, and I was in a lot of pain afterwards.  

One thing I found off-putting when it comes to Ocean Salt was that the texture of the salt was a little harsh on my skin, and it scratched a lot when I was exfoliating myself in the shower. I was expecting it to be similar in consistency to Rub Rub Rub but I found that it was almost as rough as one of Lush's many solid sugar scrubs.

Furthermore, unlike the above body scrub, Ocean Salt was also a little difficult to spread over large areas. I found that each scoop would exfoliate the immediate area it had been applied to, but by the time I had spread it across my entire thigh or my right arm, it was nothing more than white foam and a few stray bits of salt. For this reason, my 250g tub went down very quickly, and if you're planning on using it as a full body scrub, you're likely to only get around 5/6 uses out of it, whereas a same sized pot of Rub Rub Rub will see me through a couple of months. 

Overall, I wasn't as enamoured by this product as I thought I was going to be. Whether it was my high expectations or something else, Ocean Salt is not a product I would rush out to buy again. Although the scent was highly refreshing, it did take some getting used to and the overall condition of my skin after use was not that different from how it was before use. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Fine Sea Salt, Hand Harvested Sea Salt, Fresh Grapefruit Infusion, Silken Tofu, Glycerine, Japan Wax, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Fresh Organic Lime Extracted in Vodka, Mango Butter, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Avocado Butter, Lime Oil, Seaweed Absolute, Violet Leaf Absolute, Limonene, Linalool, Perfume, Colour 42090.

Vegan?: Yes.

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Zest Hair Gelly

I cannot say that I'm ever enamoured when Lush bring out new hair styling products - simply because it's not an area of cosmetics that I'm particular interested in. After years of abusing my hair with cheap shampoos, over-dying, straightening and hair spray, I've fought so hard to restore and retain my youthful locks in as natural a way as possible. Now that my hair has forgiven me, I'm not about to revert back to using cosmetics that dry or damage my hair again. 

However, ever since I discovered Sea Spray and have been using it religiously ever since, I'm a little less reluctant to test out styling products, as long as they're natural, of course.

Zest Hair Gelly is a new and innovative styling gel, designed to mould and hold hair without leaving it greasy or feeling heavy. Unlike any of Lush's previous hair-styling products, or indeed any other company's styling products that I've come across, this item is solid in consistency. It's almost identical to the shower jellies that the company offer, although a little softer and slightly more stickier to touch. 

Containing wild orange, petitgrain and neroli oils, these ingredients not only give this product a potent citrus smell, but help to create a hair gel that both performs effectively as well as conditions and moisturises the hair. 

In fact, it is Zest's strong scent that first grabbed my attention when it arrived in the post. To me, the scent is dominated by the fresh orange juice that features as one of it's main ingredients. This overpowering citrus fragrance is coupled with petitgrain oil - a fresh, green and woody aroma that gives this gel a unique but very natural smell. It's a scent that wouldn't work as a body lotion or anything that requires you to smother on your body, but is a lot better smelling than any other hair styling product I've used before. 

As per usual, Lush have included many of these key ingredients to perform multiple jobs whilst still creating an effective gel; orange is great for rejuvenation, helping to soften your hair without drying it out. It also supports those of us with dyed hair as it helps to brighten your locks; the various oils hydrating and conditioning your hair whilst this is going on.

To use, the tub recommends that you tip the jelly into your hands, where you transfer it backwards and forwards between your palms. Once some of the product rubs off onto your hands, you should pop the chunk of jelly back in the tub and then style your hair as you please. I found that this works really effectively and I was left with the perfect amount to use on my hair. 

As I often wear my hair down, I used Zest to style and set the front of my head so that the little wayward strands I normally deal with were kept in place. I found that this was really effective and kept my hair in place for the majority of the day, without leaving it greasy or dry. In fact, once I had styled my hair, it didn't feel as if there was anything in my hair at all; neither was their any evidence to show I my hair was anything but natural - factors I was very happy with. 

The only problem that I wondered might happen with Zest, is that it could end up being a little greasy for those of you with more oily hair. This didn't happen with me because I have quite dry hair although I'd be interested to hear from those of you with different hair types. Furthermore, I'm not sure whether or not this jelly would be very effective at doing anything other than 'flattening' stray hairs - I definitely cannot see this helping to hold hair in place for those of you who enjoy styling it to great extremes. Having said that, I'm not sure whether this product is really meant for this sort of styling anyway...

Overall, it's a good quality product and I will definitely enjoy using my tub. However, it's not good enough to replace my much loved Sea Spray, so not a product I'll be using regularly. 

Quantitatives Ingredients: Glycerine, Fresh Organic Orange Juice, Water (Aqua), PVP, Perfume, DRF Alcohol, Carrageenan Extract, Sweet Wild Orange Oil, Tagetes Oil, Petitgrain Oil, Violet Leaf Absolute, Lilial, Citral, Farnesol, Geraniol, Hydroxycitronellal, Limonene, Linalool.

Vegan?: Yes.

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Violet Nights Bath Oil

When Lush announced that this would be one of the first products to come out of their new 'Lush Kitchen' initiative, I was not at all surprised. I have had countless conversations, both off and online, with Lushies who salivate over the very mention of it's name. As it hasn't been released for a very long time, I've never been able to get my hands on any...until now.

Violet Nights Bath Oil is quite a unique product within the Lush range as it's not very often that you find them creating and selling bath oils, especially not in recent years. Normally, I rely on my bath melts to condition and moisturise my skin, so I was rather excited to see how this compared to that of my favourite melt, You've Been Mangoed. 

Firstly, this product works out at being exceptional value for money. I was initially unsure whether I could justify spending £13.95 on a 250g bottle of, in it's simplest terms, oil. However, after using it in the bath this evening, I realised just how many uses you could get out of a single bottle. 

As I was unsure how much to use, I experimented a little and ended up adding in the equivalent of one and a half dessertspoon's worth. Obviously, how much you decide to use will be dependant on how strong you'd want the fragrance to be. The instructions stated that it works best when added into the bath under the running water, so this is what I did, pouring it carefully onto a spoon and letting it run off into the tub. Immediately, bubbles began to form and the beautiful smell of violets filled the bathroom. This was the perfect amount for me, and looking at the bottle, I barely even scratched the surface. I'd say that this bottle will last me upwards of twenty baths, making it far better value than the solid bath melts.

Secondly, being able to control how much you add to your bath is a great way of ensuring that you get exactly what you want out of the product. There might be days when I feel the need to double up the dosage, and I have the option of being able to do this without having to buy any other products to top up my bath. 

Violet Nights' best trait is it's smell; a beautiful rich and creamy violet aroma - one that smells exactly like Parma Violets. Although I love the smell of Daddy-O and can definitely smell the popular candy in it's fragrance, this bath oil is far sweeter and more sugary smelling. The addition of vanilla absolute adds that rich, comforting note and the ylang ylang oil helps to combine the scents together, adding a very subtle floral scent that nestles into the overall fragrance. 

Once in the bath, the oils began to moisturise and condition my body, and it wasn't long before I could feel the difference that it was making to my skin. When I got out of the bath, my skin felt beautifully soft and silky, and there were elements of the fragrance lingering gently on my skin. Not only this, but both my feet seemed wonderfully nourished and velvety soft. I believe if I was to use this product regularly, I would notice a large reduction in the dry patches that I often get in these places. 

Ultimately, Violet Nights is a luxurious treat that'll moisturise your body, relax your mind and leave you looking, feeling and smelling beautiful. And if this isn't enough, you could combine this with a bath bomb or bubble bar so you get the luxury of conditioning your skin, whilst enjoying the scent and/or colour of a ballistic as well. I'm so glad that Lush have chosen to bring this out and I look forward to sharing my next bath with this gorgeous product. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Soya Oil, Laureth 4, Perfume, Cassie Absolute, Fair Trade Vanilla Absolute, Sandalwood Oil, Vetivert Oil, Violet Leaf Absolute, Ylang Ylang Oil, Methyl,  Ionone, Citronellol, Eugenol, Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Benzoate, Farnesol, Limonene, Linalool, Colour 60725, Propylparaben.

Vegan?: Yes.

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