I made a Lush haul back in APRIL. Thanks to the Icelandic volcanic eruption, it took me over a month to receive (whereas my UK orders always take about a week to turn up). It's also taken me just as long to blog about it as I'm here, there and everywhere...
First up is The Comforter shower gel. Paid about £11 for this. Worth it to me, as it's the HUGE bottle. At the time it was a Lush Forum party exclusive.
The Comforter is a scent I'm addicted to-- it's mostly juicy blackcurrant (almost Ribena-like, for those of you familiar with the British drunk) with bergamot, cassis and cypress mixed in. The Comforter bubble bars remind me of all of my time spent in England, as I frequently kicked back in the tub with some wine or champagne after a long day.
I've discovered that this makes an EXCELLENT shampoo, as the first couple of ingredients are almond oil and cocoa butter (I've found that in the US version, these have been omitted... not sure why).
On the US site, this bottle costs $25.95. Mine was equivalent to $15!
Not currently for sale on the UK site.
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Another forum special was a huge bottle (16.9 oz) of Snow Fairy shower gel for £5.95 ($8.50 USD) and a FREE Snow Fairy solid perfume (a £5.10/$7.35 value). This is a seasonal Christmas product, as many of you know, and I suppose they had to get rid of this stock.
I have a love/hate relationship with Snow Fairy. Some days it's delightful, other days it's sickly-sweet.
It's like a combo of candy floss or bubble gum with berries. I think I like the solid perfume better than the shower gel.
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I frequently pair the Snow Fairy products with Strawberry Feels Forever massage bar.
Out of all the massage bars, I think this is my favourite. It doesn't have that phony-baloney, artificial strawberry scent. It's like the real thing, with a creamy finish.
The scent is quite strong, and it lasts. Equivalent to using a solid perfume, if not better. I feel this scent lasts longer.
Many complaint that it's too greasy, but I find it perfect. Sinks right in and is a fantastic moisturiser.
Sold on Lush USA site for $9.95, I got mine from Lush UK for £5.10/$7.35.
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Lush UK had Honey Bun bath ballistics on sale for £2.10 ($3). These were an Easter exclusive and I guess they were clearing them out. I purchased two. They smell exactly like their Honey I Washed The Kids soap, which is my favourite fragrance from Lush.
Though this was a seasonal product, you can get your same fix by getting your hands on their Honey Bee bath ballistics.
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For placing a "Forum Party" order, I received three FREE bath ballistics - Big Blue (lemon, lavender, seaweed, sea salt); Think Pink (tonka bean, vanilla absolute, lavender) and Blackberry (blackcurrant, bergamot, frankincense).
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The samples I chose (and usually choose every time I order were):
Happy Blooming bath melt (£3.60/$5.20 UK or $6.95 US site). For you 'Mericans, it smells a lot like a cherry dipped cone from Dairy queen mixed with a bit of flowers.
It's very soothing to the skin, as it contains calamine and cocoa butter.
It smells better in solid form than it does in the water, and unfortunately, the scent doesn't stick to the skin. I give it a 3 ouf of 5.
Holy crap, Creme Anglaise. Incredible stuff! The smell, the texture... and the price. Lush UK is selling this for £25 ($36), Lush USA for $45. Why?? Premium ingredients. The main one being saffron. As a food afficionado (especially when it comes to Spanish food), I know firsthand how expensive saffron is per gram. It's used to give the product the colour of real Creme Anglaise, without using artificial colouring.
It's made with various oils and butters and vanilla absolute, and is just DIVINE.
Greasy it is not-- it leaves a very velvety texture on the skin, and while the scent is supposed to be that of food-- it's not too food-like. It's hard to describe. Trust me-- it's good! Definitely worth the splurge!
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No, this doesn't smell like a sweet, delectable confection.
This reminds me of being four years old. My mom used to frequent this antique shop that carried soaps and sachets like MAD. You know those little cutely-shaped guests soaps? Yeah, those. My favourite soaps were the rose-scented ones. Sort of sharp, but very clean smelling.
This is how Turkish Delight smells.
Lush calls it a body polish, and I'm not sure why. It's akin to their shower smoothies. If you've used their Ring Of Roses body butter, it leaves that moisturised yet waxy feeling to the skin.
The list of ingredients are rather interesting-- it starts of with toning rose water, has a multitude of butters and oils and finishes off with rose absolute, jasmine absolute and neroli oil.
I've used this on my face and it worked pretty damn good.
The scent really clings to the skin. You have to like rose scents to like this. It smells very similar to the tea roses I have growing in my yard.
£15/$21.60 UK, $29.95 US.
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Lolita also sent me a decent-sized slice of 13 Soap. This was first released in the UK and was being marketed as an antibacterial soap. It's a strange combination of turkish rose and oregano-- and smells just like that. I never picked it up, as I always had a billion other things on my want list!
I was happy to get a sample of this. Lolita bought this as a facial soap, and it works great for that! It's not drying, and I do think that the oregano helps with keeping bacteria in check. It also contains expensive manuka honey, which also has SUPERIOR antibacterial properties.
Once a month (YAY!), my face gets rather oily and breaks out. This definitely helped keep those breakouts at bay!
I have always loved using their 'Retro' Queen Of Hearts soap on my face, but this is a lot better!
£3.60/$5.18 UK, $6.95 US
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So what's the deal with these Lush Forum parties, you ask?
You have to be a member of the Lush UK forum. No biggie.
They will make an announcement about a week prior to the sale. It's usually special prices and/or special never-before-released items that may or not be available to all consumers in the future. You CANNOT order these items online; you have to ring up Lush Mail Order and place your order over the phone. They provide all of that information for you.
Perhaps a drawback for the US customers (unless you have free international calling, like me). Also, the time difference (but I'm used to that). Dunno, if you're into Lush and really want these products, it's worth it!
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