Dad's Garden: Chamomile And Honeysuckle Liquid Perfume

What I love about Lush perfumes is the backstories that go into making them. There's something really special about knowing how much thought and effort has gone into producing a scent and this can sometimes sway me into appreciating a perfume more because of it. 

Dad's Garden Chamomile and Honeysuckle is an example of a fragrance that I have grown to love even more after reading what inspired the Lush team to create it in the first place. Described by the company as a 'sensitive and sophisticated' perfume, this scent is one of two that play tribute to Mark Constantine's late dad. 

This particular perfume is a beautiful yet haunting mixture of chamomile, lavender, jasmine and orange flower - a gentle yet poignant offering that represents the smells and memories that Mark has of his father's garden. I would describe this as a floral fragrance - yet it's not a typical, 'run of the mill' example.                                                                                                                                         It's clear from the get-go that chamomile is the dominating note here - a fresh, uplifting but slightly apply aroma that jumps out at you from inside the bottle. Both the jasmine and orange flower come through as well, complimenting the aroma of the chamomile and adding the natural sweetness of fresh flowers. The lavender is almost an afterthought - the final layer that brings it all together and adds a silky, sultry finishing note. It's more of a herbaceous floral aroma than a straight up flowery combination but this doesn't make it any less beautiful. 

Dad's Garden disperses quite quickly onto your skin - losing the warm, compact scent that it showcases in the bottle and instead branching out into a light, bright and rather uplifting offering. This is quite a gentle and rather pretty smell, despite all of the strong ingredients that have gone into creating the scent. 

I was expecting a rather potent floral fragrance - something along the lines of Imogen Rose, and I was pleasantly surprised that it's not at all like this. It's a sophisticated and rather youthful offering from Lush - something that I've noticed a lot when it comes to many of the perfumes in the Volume 3 collection.

While it is not one of my favourite ones from Death, Decay & Renewal, that's not to say that the fragrance isn't a wonderful addition to their perfume family. Lush have yet again been able to dispel the myth that all floral perfumes are samey and old-fashioned - Dad's Garden is both unique in it's aroma and youthful in it's deliverance. A great spring/summer scent to compliment the nicer weather.

Quantitative Ingredients: DRF Alcohol, Perfume, Roman Chamomile Oil (Anthemis nobilis), Lavender Oil (Lavandula angustifolia), Jasmine Absolute (Jasminum grandiflorum), Orange Flower Absolute (Citrus Aurantium amara), Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Benzoate, Benzyl Salicylate, Coumarin, Eugenol, Farnesol, Isoeugenol, Limonene, Linalool, Lillal, Geraniol. 

Vegan?: Yes.

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The Sunblock Solid Sunscreen Wash

I am somebody who is very self aware - I think it's a trait that comes with most people who chose to become vegetarian/vegan. To be able to think 'outside the box' and recognise how your words and actions directly effect your immediate and distant environment, is something that not everyone has the power or inclination to address. 

Recently, with the negativity surrounding the Lush Kitchen, I have found myself becoming very pessimistic towards the company, despite not having a bad experience to write about. When Lush first revealed this particular product, I immediately reacted with negativity - how could a solid wash protect you from the sun? Yet, I realised that Lush wouldn't release a product that wasn't thought-out and hadn't been through numerous vigorous testing procedures before making it's way onto the shelf. I needed to have more faith.

The Sunblock Solid Sunscreen is the first of it's kind - a wash-on, rinse-off sunscreen that nourishes the skin whilst protecting it from the sun's rays at the same time. Made with cocoa butter, rose absolute and calamine powder, this unique product is a buttery, fragrant offering, and one that I was very keen to test out. 

According to Lush, one 100g bar should be broken into three parts and used on three different occasions - massaging the bar onto the skin towards the end of your shower and then dabbing down when you're drying yourself off. Initially, I was skeptical that using this in the shower would be effective - surely the sunscreen would just wash off and eradicate the need for this product at all?

However, as soon as I began to apply Sunblock to my skin, I realised that it wasn't going anywhere. The bar creates a thick, oily layer that is very similar to what Buffy and Aqua Mirabilis Body Butters do - coating the skin with a layer of silk that seems impenetrable. Once the product has been applied, water cannot enter the pores as the oil and water cannot mix, so it runs away from the areas where Sunblock has been used and allows the sunscreen to absorb further into the skin. 

What you will find is that your skin will stay rather greasy for a good 30 minutes to an hour, so it's not something you throw on before heading out of the door. Furthermore, I found that I was able to use a sixth of the bar to coat my entire body, so this 100g bar could probably stretch across a few more uses than the company claim.  

The cocoa butter makes this a wonderfully smooth and gentle product, and my skin definitely felt really moisturised after using it. However, this ingredient didn't really add much to the overall scent that I detected. For me, the rose and calamine were the key scents here - giving it a smell that was reminiscent of Fresh Farmacy. 

Although there is no mint here, the overall smell did remind me a lot of mint aero. The calamine is at the forefront and gives a refreshing, almost antiseptic smell and it's inclusion makes it wonderful for those with irritated or sensitive skin; the rose rounds off the smell and removes the astringency of the calamine, chamomile and eucalyptus. 

Aside from it's smell and how well it treats your skin, the most important element of this is how it works in relation to the sun. After using this for the first time, I embarked on a five hour walk in the blazing heat and was pleased to discover that I didn't burn or feel any side effects of going out without applying other sunscreen first.  

The Sunblock really does seem to work, although I am still curious about how long the protection from this would last. I'm heading to Spain for a lovely weeks holiday at the end of July, and I plan on taking this to use with me there. I will report back on what I find and whether this really would last an entire day. 

On the positive side, there are a lot less ingredients in this product than you would expect to find in other sunscreens. This stops your skin from being overexposed to too many preservatives and chemicals that might effect the condition of your pores. However, this is not a product you could reapply throughout the day, meaning you'd have to rely on a second sunscreen to do the job when you're out and about. Coupled with the 3-6 use block setting you back almost £10, this makes The Sunblock a rather expensive investment and one that I cannot see anyone buying on a regular basis.

While I recognise that this works and I love the fact that Lush are experimenting with the way they offer products to the consumers, I don't know if it's one that'll prove overly popular and I cannot see it being around in future years.  

Quantitative Ingredients: Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Calamine Powder, Octocrylene, Octylmethoxycinnamate (Ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate), Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Organic Sesame Oil, Magnesium Carbonate, Chamomile Blue Oil, Rose Absolute, Eucalyptus Blue, Limonene.

Vegan?:Yes.

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Karma Shower Jelly

I'm on a bit of a Karma binge at the moment - currently using both my jelly and gel in the shower. A part of me thought that this was a little bit of a waste, as neither of these items were currently available to buy in store and hadn't been for a long time. However, when Lush advertised that they were having a Karma-themed week in the Kitchen, I knew that my Christmas had come early.

   

Despite my excitement at being able to use these products, my feelings towards Karma Shower Jelly, much like with Karma Shower Gel, is also a little vexed in places: I am perplexed and somewhat saddened by the fact that this product has only ever been sold in limited edition batches, and released so seldomly that a pot of the stuff causes a frenzy when it appears on eBay. For a product that possesses one of Lush's all-time top selling fragrances, further proven by the permanent feature of both a bubble bar and body lotion in this scent within their range, I have no idea why Lush are so keen to keep this product out of the limelight. 

Karma Shower Jelly, alongside Calacas, is probably one of my all-time favourite shower jellies from Lush. I say this not because of it's scent, which I'll get to in a minute, but because of how the product works in the shower. As I've mentioned in previous reviews, I'm not always very enamoured with the challenging task of using a jelly effectively whilst near water - I find that the ratio for how much I use compared to how much gets lost down the drain, is probably about 1:8, which makes jellies a very expensive investment. However, maybe my love of Karma influenced this particular one to work a lot better than most other ones I've tried.

What I found with this product, is that it's slightly elasticated so I can pull off a biggish piece and expect to get a lot of use out of it. Whereas something like Avojelly or Gold, Frankincense and Beer would melt away rather quickly once mixed with water, this one had a lot of 'life' to it and a small, penny-sized piece would be enough for two showers, not one. This meant that one small 100g tub, lasted me a good month, with me using it twice most days. This makes it fantastic value for money.

Secondly, this shower jelly smelled incredible- surprisingly strong for something that was a couple of years old. I can only imagine what my fresh ones will smell like when they arrive.

As with the shower gel and bubble bar, Karma Shower Jelly is comprised of a few key ingredients that make it's fragrance so wonderful. Karma is an ambient fragrance reminiscent of the sixties. Spicy orange oil is definitely the heart and soul of this fragrance, with warm, earthy hints of patchouli to compliment the main scent. An occasional burst of lavender gives it a herbal touch and pine oil seals the deal, making this a multi-layered festivity of smells. The scent is both sweet and citrusy, and reminds me of those old-fashioned cola bottle sweets you used to get when you were little. Yet it is somehow quite a mature smelling jelly, and one that wouldn't go amiss on people of all ages. 

I found that this shower jelly smelt identical to that of the perfume, which made it stronger and more desirable smelling than the shower gel variation. That's not to say the shower gel didn't have it's merits, as I still consider it amongst my favourites, but this shower jelly showcased that sharp, zesty element that was more dormant in Karma Shower Gel. 

Finally, this jelly was very easy to lather up and I found that, despite it's slippery skin, it didn't tend to slip out of my hand all that much, which was a relief for me. The lather this product does create is surprisingly light and gentle, as I was expecting a more oily foam. It leaves your skin feeling and smelling amazing, and much like the shower gel, leaves a wonderful fresh, fruity and summery scent on your body. It made me feel beautiful.

Although I never thought I'd say this, I'd actually prefer Lush to bring Karma back in this format as opposed to the shower gel, as it just gave off a much stronger, more defined scent that I love so much. Furthermore, it's much better value for money, and whereas a 100g pot lasted me a month, a 500g bottle of the shower gel only lasted me a couple of weeks more.                                                                               Lush need to update and increase their Karma range, and they should definitely start with bringing this back - permanently.

Quantitative Ingredients: Glycerine, Fresh Lemongrass Infusion (Cymbopogon Schoenanthus), Chamomile Infusion (Matricaria Recutica), Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Propylene Glycol, Carrageenan Extract (Chondru Crispus), Perfume, Patchouli Oil (Pogostemon Cablin), Orange Oil (Citrus Aurantium Dulcis), Lavendin Oil (Lavandula Hybrida), Pine Oil (Pinus Sylvestris), Lemongrass Oil (Cymbopogon Schoenanthus), Elemi Oil (Canarium Luzonicum), Water (Aqua), Citral, Geraniol, Limonene, Linalool, Colour 14700, Methylparaben, Propylparaben.

Vegan?: Yes.

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The Blonde Solid Shampoo

You're not seriously going to use that in your hair, are you? This was a reaction I received from one of my flatmates when she saw this arrive in the post earlier this week. Her distain didn't stem from the fact that the shampoo was in solid form, or because it had what she describes as 'lots of frilly bits on top'. Her concern was based on the fact that this shampoo is designed for hair on the other side of the spectrum to what mine is. And after witnessing how my hair can alter when using new products, she had a right to be worried.  

The Blonde Solid Shampoo is one of Lush's age-old products, released many years ago when Lush were only just beginning to release their solid haircare into the world. As the name suggests, this shampoo is aimed at those with fairer hair - the ingredients combined together especially to help bring out the natural shine in golden locks and brighten any highlights, natural or not. 

Firstly, it's a known fact that chamomile in all of it's forms, is the best herb for maintaining and intensifying those with lighter-coloured hair. It helps to give blonde hair a natural glossiness whilst keeping it soft and vibrant. There are many shampoos and conditioners on the market that claim to contain elements of chamomile in their ingredients list. However, unlike this one, most of the commercial brands have seriously watered down the amount of chamomile that they use. This means that the goodness it can offer hair is severely reduced and doesn't do much more than just adding to the overall scent of the shampoo. 

Coupled with marigold, The Blonde gives off a beautiful fragrance - you can really smell this combination immediately upon tearing back the wrapper. As well as the inclusion of these plants, you can also smell a very pungent citrus smell, which almost overpowers the chamomile. 

This solid shampoo features lemon juice, tangerine and mandarin oil, as well as dried orange slices for decoration. Together, they offer the user a strong, natural and slightly bitter citrus smell. It's fragrance reminds me slightly of fresh lemon rind - that bittersweet uplifting tartness that gets up your nose and refuses to leave. I happen to love this smell although I can imagine it might be too dominating for some people. 

The Blonde works in the same way as all of Lush's other solid shampoos. You can either massage it through wet hair, or rub it between your hands and create a lather, which can then be applied to your locks. Either way, you can really tell how much shampoo is compacted into a single bar as it lathers up really easily but takes forever to shrink in size. 

This particular shampoo is very slightly soft between the fingers so it's definitely worth being a little more proactive at keeping this dry when it's not being used. I can imagine that this would soak up water a lot easier than some of Lush's other solid bars so I would recommend patting it dry after every use, just to play it safe.

Even though it's marketed for those with lighter hair, Lush do make a point of saying that this works just as well for those that have dyed their hair a darker colour, and perhaps it is this reason that I found The Blonde worked wonders for my locks. 

It took a couple of uses to start the ball rolling but once my hair was used to the shampoo, it was a pleasure to use. My hair felt beautifully soft and noticeably glossier immediately, and it made my hair brighter rather than stripping or fading the dye that I use regularly. I also noticed that my hair seemed more manageable and I was able to wear it down without having to straighten it first - it supported my natural wave but worked on reducing any frizz that would have given me a bad hair day. 

The Blonde Solid Shampoo has quickly cemented itself as one of my favourite hair care products and I have already ordered myself a few extra blocks to see me through the summer. Even if you don't have fair hair, I really recommend that you give this one a try - I'm glad I did. 

Unfortunately, the fact that this has come from the Kitchen means that it won't be a regular part of my routine. However, I'm hoping it's popularity convinces Lush to make this a permanent member of their range. Another fantastic product from my favourite company!

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Stearic Acid, Chamomile and Marigold Petal Infusion, Glyceryl Stearate & PEG-100 Stearate, Perfume, Lauryl Betaine, Soya Lecithin, Fresh Organic Lemon Juice, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Tangerine Oil, Mandarin Oil, Gardenia Extract, Limonene, Linalool, Dried Orange Slices, Dried Roman Chamomile Flower.

Vegan?: Yes.

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Ickle Baby Bot Bath Bomb

A bath bomb shaped to look like a Robot?  The general theory of relativity? Hah, Einstein! The person who invented this is more of a genius than yourself. I have a strange obsession with all things 'Robot' and it goes without saying that I'm a massive Lushie, so this should go hand in hand as being the best cosmetic invention of the last few hundred years.

Okay, so I may be being a little 'over-the-top' but you get the gist. I love Robots. I love Lush. Robots + Lush = potential favourite product ever. However, all is not well. Perhaps it was my high hopes, or maybe I was just having a bad day, but this product did not live up to my expectations. 

First off, I have to make it clear that this product has been designed for babies. The baby bot claims to exterminate tiredness and send babies off to the land of nod. Not only does it contain sleep-inducing oils, but everything has been selected to be mild, gentle and soothing for skin and any itchy bits.

However, Lush never create a product that has a single purpose so I was keen to try this out on myself. Possessing a natural lavender scent and containing essential chamomile and sandalwood oils, it's ingredients have been selected to be mild, gentle and soothing on the skin and the senses. Why wouldn't it work for an adult as well as a child?

Needless to say, this ballistic turns your bath water a dazzling shade of blue, and fizzes instantly as it hits the water. The scent is a very mild one, which given that it's designed for children, I was expecting. Unfortunately, as it's designed for the little un's, it also doesn't stretch very far in the bath, so you may need to use two to get a stronger scent or more 'fizz' for your buck.

It does seem to help you to relax and unwind, so that's definitely a positive, and it would probably benefit those with sensitive skin, who may find other Lush bath bombs too 'overpowering'. At a low price of £1.90, it's also Lush's cheapest bath bomb. However, it doesn't fair well in an average adult-sized bath and the scent all but disappeared very quickly upon it dissolving in the tub.

Overall, it didn't really do much for me and the colour and scent faded within 5-10 minutes of being in the bath, so not one I would choose to use again. I was hoping that this ballistic would have multiple uses but this is probably the first cosmetics I have purchased from Lush that really only works for it's intended purpose. I'm sure babies and toddlers will appreciate this, but as a fully grown insomniac, it's not going to get me far. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Lavender Oil, Sandalwood Oil, Chamomile Blue Oil, *Limonene, *Linalool, Perfume, Colour 42053, Colour 42090.

Vegan?: Yes

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