This soap brings me back to the M&S advert a few years ago, when the company tried to convince everyone that their products were exceptionally better than everyone elses. The ingredients list reads like a dessert, and I cannot help but think: If Lush made dessert, it would be the best dessert that the world has ever seen.
What I find really strange is that this soap has caused quite a lot of controversy regarding what customers are proclaiming it smells like. At the risk of sounding crass, Christmas Rocker supposedly smells like a certain male bodily function - although I’m going to be honest and say that I don’t really experience that at all myself.
Amusingly, a lot of Lush fans are also convinced that the odd fragrance was no mistake at all, and that it’s all an elaborate joke from the powers that be. This stems from the tag line that sits alongside the product on their website, which reads: m ‘Come one...come all’. Whether or not you suspect it’s a deliberate attempt at something far more satire than usual, there is no denying that the evidence points to this conclusion. As its name suggests, Christmas Rocker is carved out in the shape of an old-fashioned rocking horse, which fits in nicely with the Victorian theme that the seasonal range is leaning towards this year. Although small and seemingly more expensive than other, chunkier pieces of soap, you’ll be pleased to hear that the product is rather rigid in the shower, and will last you just as long as a piece of a bigger size.
Christmas Rocker Soap is not only the cutest one this year, but it also happens to be the best newcomer (in my humble opinion.) Containing dried apricots, mandarin, tangerine and bergamot oils, this limited edition sounds like a bowl of the most exquisite fruit sorbet, and I for one would be all over that idea.
While the ingredients list reads like The Brightside, I was happy to discover that it did not share the same scent. Although I love that fragrance more than most, customers have already been treated to a soap in that scent with last year’s Sunrise Soap, so I’m glad we had something different to indulge in.
Firstly, my nose picked up quite a strong, tangy orange aroma - a little like a bitter orange that’s been peeled with the pith still intact. The bergamot is clearly at work here - throwing in a little green note to give it more of a fresh, natural aroma. Alongside this, there is a bitter element, which I think comes from the apricots and the bergamot combined. However, there is also a note of what I can only describe as musk. While I wouldn’t assume the cocoa butter would be potent enough to impact the smell, it does smell like an element of this has bled through into the fragrance.
What I found with Christmas Rocker is that it’s far more pleasant once it has come into contact with warm water. I couldn’t really detect much of the scent while it was sitting on the edge of my bath. However, the second I began massaging it across my skin, I could pick up a far better fruity smell to enjoy. While I wouldn’t say this was a scent that I appreciated that much, it’s definitely not as terrible as people have been saying it is. It’s just a little bit average and forgettable, if anything.Despite its odd smell, Christmas Rocker worked up a treat - creating a creamy, fragrance lather to massage across my body. It produced a bright orange foam, which you need to be careful about not splashing anywhere while you’re washing yourself, and left my skin feeling rather soft and radiant.
While the scent didn’t stay on my skin afterwards, I was surprised to discover that the inclusion of the butter and oils did make this soap a little gentler on my body, and I wasn’t left with really parched skin - which I often experience after using a lot of soaps. Much like most of Lush’s new gourmet soaps, this one also dissolved rather quickly when I kept it under the running water during use. For this reason, I would suggest you get it damp and then clean yourself out of the way of the running tap.
Overall, I really enjoyed this soap and don’t really understand why so many people have expressed their dislike of the fragrance. Although I can understand why consumers might reach the conclusion about what the soap might smell like, I think there are far too many other components that make it a nice soap. Having said that, a ‘nice’ soap is not one that will be remembered in a few months time, and I can’t imagine why this would make an appearance again.
Quantitative Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Propylene Glycol, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Dried Apricots, Sodium Hydroxide, Perfume, Mandarin Oil, Tangerine Oil, Bergamot Oil, Gardenia Extract, Glycerine, Titanium Dioxide, Citric Acid, Sodium Bicarbonate, *Limonene, *Linalool, Colour 15510.
Vegan?: Yes.
2017 Price: £4.50 for 100g.
Year Of Original Release: 2017.
