It was only a matter of time before I found new ways to enjoy my Lush products. Now that I have tried pretty much everything that Lush are currently offering in their shops and I'm on top of my Lush Kitchen orders, I have a little spare time to experiment and convert my favourite Lush products into other formats.
What could be a better start than converting my favourite scent, Lord Of Misrule, into my favourite format - the shower gel. While I don't expect this to be a success first time around, I love a good challenge and I'm going to have lots of fun perfecting the product.
Video:
Review:
What you'll need:
-Two bowls
-A Spoon
-A Cheese grater
-An empty plastic bottle (preferably 100g)
-A Sieve
-1/2 a Lord Of Misrule Bath Bomb
-A Bottle of Unscented Shower Gel
-A capful of olive oil
Begin by measuring out the amount of shower gel you'll need for this project. Fill up the 100g empty bottle with the unscented gel and try to leave a small, 1cm gap at the top of the bottle. This will allow room for the excess shower gel that you'll get once you've added in both the bath bomb and olive oil.
Pour the measured shower gel into one of the glass bowls and then begin to grate the Lord Of Misrule Bath Bomb into the bowl. You'll need to grate half of the ballistic because you want the shower gel to pertain a strong enough scent. However, you can either grate it all at once or do it in sections and mix in between.
As you begin to stir, you'll notice that the mixture will react to the grated bath bomb and will swell considerably, creating a thick, foamy concoction that looks rather disgusting to begin with. This is completely natural and to be expected - it is the inclusion of sodium bicarbonate in the bath bomb that is reacting to the liquid in the same way it would if it was added to water.
Once you've finishing combining the two products, leave the mixture to sit for a good 30-40 minutes. This will allow the two ingredients to fully merge together and soak the fragrance into the shower gel. After this time, you need to stir the mixture once more and it is now that you'll notice the sudden change...
As soon as your utensil makes contact with the liquid, it's consistency will change and will become like a thick, elasticated gel. The colour will also deepen considerably and you'll be left with a beautiful-looking purple concoction that remains as vibrant throughout it's entire lifespan.
Once this has been stirred again, then comes the first of two hard parts. In order to make it a little smoother in the bottle, pour all of the mixture into a sieve and use a spoon to force it through into a bowl below. This will take quite a while and a lot of effort to do so, but it definitely removes some of the grit that may have been irritating when the finished product is in use.
Next, add in a capful of olive oil. This helps to not only make the shower gel a little smoother but will add extra moisturising properties to the product and make it more nourishing on the skin when you're using it.
Once you have stirred this in, you will need to pour the mixture into the plastic bottle for storage. If you have a funnel, I would highly recommend that you use it as it'll make things far easier. If, like me, you don't have one of these handy, you can craft a makeshift funnel using a piece of greaseproof paper and some sellotape Make sure that if you're using the latter, you support it whilst the liquid is being transferred as it can make a large mess if the paper falls out midway through.
Once it's in the bottle, it's ready to use. By this stage, the product smells beautiful and the deep purple shade adds to the allure. As there is not preservatives in this shower gel, I would say that a 100g bottle will last up to 5 weeks, depending on how it's stored. The shower gel shouldn't separate but you may need to give it a little shake from time to time.
Unfortunately, I did find that the gel was a little gritty still - a problem I plan on rectifying in my next attempt. Having said that, the shower gel lathered up nicely and produced great soapy suds that I was able to wash myself with. While this is far from perfect, it's not bad for a first attempt and it means I am able to enjoy this wonderful smell in more ways than just the bath bomb format.
