Lush: Shower Gels, Jellies, and Smoothies

Shower Gels

Happy Hippy (10/10): Grapefruit Goodness in a bottle.  This shower gel has a nice texture, gives a great lather, and the grapefruit scent that LUSH pulls off is to die for.  There's even a hint of frankincense in there for the discerning nose (haha).  It's just pure happiness in shower gel form.  Washing with real citrus essential oils is not only good for your mood, it improves the tone of your skin too.  Citrus is great at eliminating excess body oil without drying you out, and happy hippy does the trick!

Flying Fox (7/10):  I love the texture because of all the honey in flying fox.  It's got 4 different types of honey! Hungarian honey, Greek honey, English honey, and a generic unspecified "honey."  I know a ton of people go nuts for the jasmine scent, my sister included, and it is quite nice, but no longer my favorite. I used to adore this shower gel when I first got into lush, but maybe my nose has changed a bit through the years.  It will be a full 10/10 for you if you know you like LUSH's take on jasmine.

The Olive Branch (6/10):  This is a bit too thin for my taste. Also, not a huge fan of the scent personally, but I know a lot of people like it.  It's mostly Mandarin, Lemon, Orange Flower, and Begamot, eg. Mediterranean Citrus.  I do like how the olive oil moisturizes your skin (you have to shake the bottle before each use), but I like what It's Raining Men does for you better.  If you love LUSH's Pop in the Bath bubble bar, this is the same scent.

Grass (1/10): UGH!  EEW!  I can understand how some would like this scent, but it's just not for me!  It's made with real wheatgrass, which is an excellent antioxidant for the skin, but oh my god... I mean it lives up to it's name.  It smells just like a freshly-mowed lawn... and nothing else.  Just simply grass...  Bleargh!  To be fair, it is a clean and fairly masculine scent; I bet there would be a lot of men out there who would like this.  But, ugh. It's just grass.  I had to cocktail this with other shower gels to use up my sample.  Also, I was worried my skin would react to this since I get rashes from spending too long in grass, but I guess the wheatgrass they use is a bit gentler on the body.  Also, I get a good chuckle from it's product story; it was released on 4/20.  I gave this 1 out of 10 stars based on the scent and texture.  It's way too thin and the scent is just one note.

 It's Raining Men (10/10): ONE OF MY FAVOURITES. I make no qualms about it; I love honey scents.  Give me your sweet, foodie, honey scents.  I will go nuts. I love how moisturizing this shower gel is.  It leaves me feeling so clean and soft.  I rarely feel like I have to put on lotion after I use it.  In the shower, the floral scents come out much more than a direct sniff from the bottle would leave one to believe.  Rosehip, lotus flower, tigerlilly infusion, wild orange, and bergamot oils all meld into one delicious way to get clean.  It also gives off a slight toffee scent on the skin.  The scent that lingers is very similar to Honey I Washed the Kids.

Dirty Springwash (6/10):  Dirty Springwas is part of the new Dirty line of men's products.  By men, read in "minty."  This shower gel is thinner than many of the others, which is why it has a lower rating.  Also, the minty scent gets dangerously close to smelling like mouthwash, which is a no-go in my book.  But the boyfriend likes it and it smells good on him after a shower, so it's a 6 in my book.

Be Never Too Busy to Be Beautiful (10/10):  Oh here we go with the honey again.  OM NOM NOM.  This is just pure decadent, delicious, delirious luxury in a bottle.  It's so thick and full of lather and the scent is like nose crack.  I want to just rub this all over myself every day.  The scent is very strong on the honey, so if you don't like honey scents, this is not for you!  However, they balance the sweet honey with deep sensual sandalwood, light rose, and floral jasmine.  This is one thick glorious shower gel that I just want to eat. 

Flying Saucers (8/10) : Hello Honey once again!  This may be the shower gel of choice for those who want the decadent moisturizing properties of honey without the sweet, clingy scent.  Your shower will be filled with the earthy scents of fresh pine, cypress, ylang ylang, and a hint of vetivert.  Very very nice indeed!

Uluru (3/10):  Uluru is not a shower gel to go crazy for.  The description sounds so promising: seductive and intoxicating rosewood, orange oil, sandalwood, lemon myrtle, and gardenia, but this gel simply fails to deliver.  Yes, it will get you clean, but this is not something I would pay Lush prices for.  Uluru is one of the thinnest, flattest, most blase gels I've tried from lush.  The essential oils combine to form only a single note that is just unexciting.  To top it off, you don't even get that one note lasting on your skin.  You might as well wash with drugstore soap for all the benefit you get from Uluru.  Where are the layers of scent that lush is so good at creating?

Avoshower (7/10):  Thin and runny, but the scent is true to LUSH's avobath (lemongrass, avocado oil, bergamot).  Avoshower earned higher points than the other thin shower gels because the green glitter LUSH adds to the shower gel creates a beautiful shimmer in the shower without leaving any glitter on you!  I like the look of shimmer, but I am a grown woman and will not for the life of me wear glitter in public. Thankyouverymuch.

Snow Fairy (6.5/10):  Snow Fairy has been around for a several years, and it's about as girly as it comes.  This is a Christmas shower gel that comes back every year and has a massive cult following.  Think spun sugar, candy floss, pink glitter.  This gel is fun and all, but despite my bath and shower obsession, I'm not very girly.  The texture is medium to thick, but Snow Fairy lost points for the ingredient list.  There's almost nothing natural or LUSH about this!  There are no obvious essential oils (there may be some hidden in the "perfume" listing, but this is unspecified since LUSH doesn't want other companies to copy their fragrances).  Snow Fairy contains lactic acid, synthetic musk, and at least some of the perfume is synthetic.  This earned a 0.5 star bump since the Snow Fairy shower gel actually makes a half-decent bubble bath!

Glogg (8.5/10):  Based on a Swedish drink of mulled wine and brandy (mmmm), glogg shower gel does not disappoint.  This is another Christmas-only gel, and I hope it comes back next year.  Cinnamon sticks, boiled cloves, Organic OJ, lemon, and lime.  The texture is medium to thick, and usually the scent is glorious.  Also, LUSH promises a warming sensation from all the cinnamon in this gel, and indeed it delivers!  It seems like the colder you were during the day, the more you feel the effect in the shower.  Glogg lost a few points because some batches smell too much like Dr. Pepper (maybe a bit too heavy on the lemon, lime, and OJ?).

Rub Rub Rub (7.5/10):   The Japanese Cherry Blossom scent is quite pretty and the slight sea salt scrub you get from this is very gentle.  However, the sea salt dissolves too quickly since it's so fine and the lather is a bit reduced from the added salt.  This is the same scent as the Sakura bath bomb.

Shower Jellies

 The Joy of Jelly (5/10):  This shower jelly has the texture typical of most of LUSH's shower jellies.  They're made with carageean seaweed, which gives them that jello like texture and will make them a bit more softening on the skin.  I use them by mushing them in my shower poof, but I know many live by the freezer method.  (You can freeze your jellies so they're more like a bar of soap and you get to bring something very cold into a hot shower).  The scent in this one is very very similar to Flying Fox or any of LUSH's other Jasmine scents.

Iced Wine (9/10): Introduced for Christmas 2010, this found a strong following almost immediately.  Inspired from a Canadian Christmas tradition, this shower jelly combines fresh grape infusion, grapefruit and other citrus, with iced wine: wine grapes frozen directly on the vine.  Iced wine is boozy in a sweet, red wine type of way with uplifting perks of fruitiness.  Similar in texture to other LUSH shower jellies.  This is a scent I dearly wish they would bring back.  Pair this with a glass of wine, some good old fashioned Judy Garland Christmas music, and a hot shower and you are set to dance at all night!

The Jilted Elf (7/10):  Very unique indeed!  This is not a typical lush scent.  It's filled with Fig infusion and Vodka.  This shower jelly is inspired by a New York cocktail by the same name.  This scent is a bit out of my comfort zone, but I have to say that I like it.  It's not an everyday type of scent, but it's refreshing and a bit boozy and zingy all at once.  I can totally imagine this being an excellent choice for a morning-after partying hangover shower.  The lather is similar to the other shower jellies. The Jilted Elf was introduced for Christmas 2011.

Snow Showers (10/10):  A cult classic.  This is a champagne citrus scent that lush has used over and over and it's still just as loved as it was the first time.  It's clean, crisp, very refreshing, and sweet without being overly cloying.  This jelly is a bit softer and creamier than other LUSH jellies.  This was introduced for Christmas 2009.

Smoothies

 

Creamed Almond and Coconut Smoothie (10+/10): Creamed Almond and Coconut Smoothie is the creamiest, most decadent shower smoothie I have ever tried from any company.  The rich butters and plant oils just melt right into your skin.  Imagine the best vanilla almond cake you've ever had.  Really imagine what that tasted and felt like.  This smoothie has that texture.  This smoothie has that scent.  It just melts onto your body and you and everyone around you will be sniffing the air around you asking "what smells so good?"

Turkish Delight (3/10):  Turkish Delight earned it's 3 points based purely on scent.  I do love roses and LUSH's Imogen Rose perfume is one of my favorites, but something about the texture of this product that is WAY off.  It's drying and waxy and uncomfortable, which is not something you expect from a $33 luxury rose-filled shower smoothie.  You can try washing your hands with it if you're in a store, but if you can't try it for yourself, pass on this one. 

DreamWash (2/10):  The texture of this is a bit drying like Turkish Delight, but if you have angry, sensitive skin, you may want to try this with a good, strong lotion afterwards.  It's filled with soothing ingredients like aloe vera, chamomile, and calamine, but the scent leaves a lot to be desired.  It smells plastic, strange, and fake.  The chamomile is overwhelming, the calamine is drying, and the tea tree is oddly tangy.  I had high hopes for my sensitive skin, but this left me disappointed.

Birch Tree Naturals (Etsy)

The website: http://www.etsy.com/shop/BirchTreeNaturals
"Skincare found in Nature" handmade in Wasilla, Alaska.

I placed an order last January and was quite pleased with the service!

The Experience (10/10):

1.  Great turn-around time (TAT).  I placed my order January 8, got my confirmation of shipping (CS) Jan 11 and products arrived shortly thereafter. (These are handmade, so I assume she had a batch already made up??)
2. Excellent Communication. Meaghan emailed me asking questions about what I like and whether I wanted the old or new version of her coffee scrub.  She's super friendly, easy, and great to work with!  Would totally order from her again based just on this!
3. She offered samples for freezies!
4. Pricing is reasonable and affordable 
5. Labels show list of ingredients, but the paper used fades very quickly and wrinkles if it gets slightly wet.
6. Super A+ for good, mostly-organic ingredients!

The Products:

Wild Horses Body Butter in Twilight in Forks (2/10):  
Pretty much a "meh" scent.  I definitely don't get a feeling of twilight; there are no earthy or evening tones.  It honestly smells like a tamed down version of Mulberry (see below).  I bought 3 of these body butters because they contain horsetail (the plant), which is very high in silica.  Horsetail works wonders on brittle dry nails, and as a lifetime nail biter, I need all the help I can get!  I was hoping that these would be a replacement for LUSH's The Soft Touch, which got discontinued Summer 2010, but alas!  These have been pretty disappointing.  I haven't seen any improvement in my nails and the texture of the lotions is uncomfortably greasy.  Now, I love thick lotions that take a second to sink in since my legs tend to get terribly dry living in the desert, but this just never absorbs.  I've tried using this as a foot lotion under socks before bed and it's okay.  Just okay.  My feet do feel softer, but they're still a little slippery when morning comes.  I figure I'll use up the rest of it this way.

Wild Horses Body Butter in Mulberry (1/10): 
This one got the lowest rating because the mulberry scent in this lotion smells so much like children's cough syrup that I just can't use it.

Wild Horses Body Butter in Pumpkin (4/10):  
I'm a big fan of pumpkin smells and this one is acceptable.  Nothing amazing, but certainly acceptable.  Out of the 3, I've used this one the most. This one got an extra star since the boyfriend likes it.

Coffee Scrub (7/10):
Quite nice!  Super scrubby and moisturizing.  A little oily, but it worked for me.  I wonder if I would have liked in as well in a more humid climate though.  This is made with actual coffee grounds, so you have to love the smell of coffee to use it!  I used this for morning showers to help wake me up.  I got the old formula, without almond oil, so I can't speak to her new formula.  On the plus side, scrubbing and using products that naturally have caffeine helps temporarily reduce the appearance of cellulite! Of all the products, I may order this again.

Oatmeal Bath Soak (3/10):
Very soothing in the tub!  Oatmeal is great since I'm fair-skinned, prone to sunburn, and fairly sensitive to chemicals.  This soak helped speed my recovery from a sunburn on my lower arms (always use Luke-warm water if sunburnt!).  This didn't get a higher rating because the oatmeal flakes just kinda sat on the surface and didn't dissolve enough in the water. It still worked, but I've found better.

All in all, this was a very pleasant etailer to work with, and although I wasn't crazy about her products, I would recommend at least trying her out if you're curious!

Welcome!

It's been several years in the making.

It all started in Portland, OR on a dreary rainy day (that's every day in Portland for those of you who have never been there).  I was in a fog of depression.  I felt like my life was falling apart and that I must be the biggest looser in the world.  Although I had graduated from a top name school just 5 months prior, I couldn't find work.  I trying so hard; I was putting out a resume a day with barely a response back.  I had $50 dollars to my name pitted against several thousand in school loans. I had just gone through the most painful break-up of my life with my boyfriend of 3 1/2 years. We had been living together and were practically married, but things weren't quite right.  I lost most of my friends in the break-up since they were mutual.  I had to move to Portland since I could no longer afford to pay my own rent.  I was living on my sister's futon with a shabby sheet divider separating me from the living room and her roommates.  I was using boxes filled with my things as furniture.  Also, my father's health was failing and he was too far away to afford to visit.  Basically, I felt like a mess.  I was a Type A personality failing at what I was supposed to be good at: functioning in life.  I had nothing but time on my hands to simmer in the gross goo of all my "problems."  And although I tried to keep looking on the bright side, I blamed myself for everything.

It was during one of my many depression walks in the rain.  I had just crossed through a soppy puddle when I smelled something delicious.  Not a bakery scent, not floral, nothing I could truly place, but something just... delicious.  The scents were so inviting that I had to lift my head up from staring at the ground.  It was coming from a store in front of me called LUSH.  The colors inside were bright, the people were cheery, and although I was a grumpy soggy mess, I walked in.  I walked around the store, not really knowing what I was looking at, but I was sniffing everything.  Everything smelled so good!  I walked over to what I would find out later were bath bombs and picked up the one with the most relevant name for what I needed: "The Happy Pill."  It was half grapefruit goodness, half bergamot (a natural antidepressant). I also picked up the bath bomb that would later become my favorite of all time: "Butterball."  It seemed silly at the time.  I knew I shouldn't be buying luxury items, when I couldn't afford much else.  But dammit, I needed help pulling myself out of my sad slump, and they smelled soooo good!  I figured I've got nothing but time on my hands, so I might as well spend it in the bath feeling a bit better.  That bath was amazing.

That was about 3 years ago.  Since then, I've been wonderfully employed in my field as a biologist working with lizards, sea lions, and desert tortoises, and I've developed quite a bath and shower habit along the way!  (I also managed to pick up a weekend gig working for the Las Vegas LUSH for about 2 years!)

I've tried nearly every LUSH product from 2009-Present and have quite the unruly stash on my hands.  But my love of natural, handmade bath and shower products doesn't stop there.  I've also expanded into many other wonderful smaller etailers!   I tried so many decadent soaps, scrubs, shower gels, lip balms, lotions, etc. that I have plenty of advice on what's good and "natural" out there.

It's about time I share my knowledge and experiences with every one else!

Tip: Happiness comes from within, but a glass of Wine with your Bath can do wonders for your mood!  ;)