Hedgewitch Soap

Too many soaps; too little time I say - my skin is certainly not going to be happy with me when I manage to get through this year's seasonal collection. Yet it is such a shame that my skin doesn't react well to the many variations that Lush offer, as the fragrances that come with them are far superior to their rather pathetic range of shower gels that are currently on show. 

One of two brand new products to feature the Plum Rain fragrance, this limited edition will have you salivating with its collection of different berries - which not only offer a beautiful, fruity scent to indulge in, but also works at cleansing the pores and radiating the skin at the same time.

Based on a witch who creates herbal and plant-based healing concoctions, Hedgewitch claims to put the spring back into your skin. With freeze-dried blackberries and dried mulberries in the ingredients list, Hedgewitch reads more like a dessert than a cosmetic. Both of these components help to clean the pores and work as antioxidants to clean and clear the skin at the same time. The inclusion of the osmanthus absolute adds a sweet but subtly green fragrance to the soap, which along with the mandarin oil gives this seasonal special a light, sweet but very fruity fragrance.

Strangely, the soap features a honeysuckle infusion which is something that neither the body spray or the shower gel feature. However, honeysuckle is known for its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, which is a bonus for those using the soap regularly on your skin. As I use most of my soaps as hand soaps anyway, this extra feature is a welcome bonus for my skin. 

While this soap does have the same fragrance as Plum Rain, it is not an exact replica. The inclusion of both the honeysuckle and the osmanthus add a green, almost floral note to the scent, which sits alongside the fruity components and add a different spin

Unfortunately for me, I ended up being sent a slab that was mostly red, which is a shame given that the whole wheel contains a combination of different colours. However, it did complement the fruity fragrance so I wasn't overly bothered by that fact. I was also hoping to receive a number of pieces of both mulberries and blackberries in both of the pieces I bought, as I was hoping the soap might be a little exfoliating with these under the surface. Unfortunately, these are sparsely added in across the entire wheel, so you may be lucky if you get one or two piece throughout the whole chunk.

Surprisingly, I discovered that this, along with many of the seasonal soaps, features a gourmet base - which I was hoping would mean that Hedgewitch would be far more moisturising than a typical Lush Soap. I did find that the lather it created was super creamy and slightly oily in consistency, although this still didn't perform miracles for my skin.

What I will say is that the soap produces a rich, creamy gel-like foam that massages across your body with ease. You need very little water to stimulate the ingredients in this seasonal special, and those who love fruity fragrances will love how the scent lingers for a short time on the skin afterwards. This 100g block lasted me a good two-to-three months before it was too small to hold under the water. For this reason, it is much better value than the shower gel. 

While in use, I found that my skin looked and felt really radiant, and after I had towelled myself down, my skin appeared quite plump and soft - thanks no doubt to the inclusion of the cocoa butter. However, some areas felt quite taut after a short time, and I did need to apply a body lotion to ensure that my skin stayed as supple as it felt in the shower.

This is a great soap to use in the winter time and I will continue to use my last piece until I run out. As I said above, Hedgewitch is great for fans of Plum Rain, who want something a little brighter, fruiter and slightly greener. However, it's unlikely that a soap will ever be able to replace my love of shower gels, and I will not be buying any more of these before the season is out.

Quantitative Ingredients: Honeysuckle Infusion (Lonicera capifolium), (Lonicera Caprifolium (Honeysuckle) Extract), Propylene Glycol, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter (Theobroma cacao), Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (Cocos nucifera), Water (Aqua), Organic Castor Oil (Ricinus communis), Sodium Hydroxide, Fragrance, Osmanthus Absolute (Osmanthus fragrance), Petitgrain Oil (Citrus Aurantium amara), Sicilian Mandarin Oil (Citrus nobilis), Freeze Dried Blackberries (Rubus Fruticosus) Dried Mulberries (Morus Alba), Glycerine, Titanium Dioxide, Gardenia Extract (Gardenia jasminoides), Citric Acid, Sodium Bicarbonate, *Citral, *Limonene, *Linalool, Red 4 Yellow 8 Red 28 Red 33 Green 5.

Vegan?: Yes. 

2017 Price: £4.95 for 100g.

Year Of Original Release: 2017.

Scent Family:
Hedgewitch Soap
Plum Rain Body Spray
Plum Rain Naked Shower Gel
Plum Rain Shower Gel
Plum Snow Bubble Bar

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Plum Snow Bubble Bar

If I'm going to be honest, I was a little bit disappointed when I first saw the Christmas range this year, and noticed how few new bath bombs there were on offer. While I love bubble bars and seem to have collected far more of them than their spherical friends, most of my highest-rated bath bombs are the seasonal ones, and I was hoping to discover a few more favourites this year.

Yet, it only took me a matter of minutes after my order arrived to discover that the bubble bars on offer this season are impeccable, and easily the best range that Lush have offered in a good many years. Not only does this gorgeous looking specimen share its scent with the popular Plum Rain Shower Gel, but it also happens to be even bigger than the rather huge Man In The Moon Bubble Bar.

While this is one of two bubble bars priced up at a hefty £5.95, Plum Snow is definitely worth an investment. Containing a combination of petigrain, mandarin and osmanthus, this bubble bar offers a sweet, fruity collaboration - one that may initially appear rather subtle, but definitely makes an impression in the water. 

Much like the shower gel, this bubble bars smells to me like stewed plums and mandarins. It's a very warming, comforting blanket of aroma that makes your senses salivate immediately. After using this product, I just fancied making myself a traditional English crumble, which isn't particularly great if you're trying to watch your waistline. However, this bubble bar should serve as a healthy alternative.

When compared to the shower gel and spray, I would say that it is more like the latter out of the two. While not exactly alike, it does have more of a bright, citrusy element and is less grounded than the shower gel. Having said that, it is definitely not as 'spritzy' as said former spray - although together they are a sublime pairing.  

Despite its size, it's a big old softy, and you'll find that this bubble bar will crumble with ease between your fingers. In fact, if like me you sometimes crumble what you want to use from the whole bar and then put the rest aside, you may wish to cut your slice beforehand, as you'll find that you may use more than you bargained for. 

Once crumbled under the tap, Plum Snow gets to work at producing lots of light, fluffy fruity bubbles that stay with you for the whole experience. Furthermore, the water turns a brilliant, vivid shade of purple and the water is exceptionally soft to boot.

After bathing with this bubble bar, I found that my skin was not only velvety-soft to the touch, but had a radiance about it that stayed with me for a good many hours. While the scent might have diminished only a short while after I had towelled myself, my Plum Rain Body Spray allowed me to enjoy this scent for the remainder of the day.

As I probably know by now, I tend to use an entire bubble bar when I have a bath. Even with the size of this one, I still indulged in my greedy tradition. Having said that, this bubble bar could easily offer 4-6 separate bathing experiences - making it great value for money. For fans of this fragrance, all we need now is a bath bomb to pair this seasonal bubble bar with and we'll be one happy family. Lush: take note.  

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Cream of Tartar, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Lauryl Betaine, Perfume, Osmanthus Absolute, Petitgrain Oil, Sicilian Mandarin Oil, *Citral, *Limonene, *Linalool, Colour 17200, Colour 42090.

Vegan?: Yes.

2017 Price: £5.95 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2017.

Scent Family:
Hedgewitch Soap
Plum Rain Body Spray
Plum Rain Naked Shower Gel
Plum Rain Shower Gel
Plum Snow Bubble Bar

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Secret Garden Liquid Perfume

When I first tried out all of the Volume 4 perfumes, I was convinced that I still preferred the previous Volume, as there seemed to be more 'staples' in that range. Having spent the last few months religiously using all of the new fragrances, I am now of the opinion that this is easily my favourite collection from Lush. Every fragrance is so very different, and the stories behind each and every one have a poignancy that makes them even more lovable. 

Having said that, there are a couple of week contenders, and Secret Garden is unfortunately one of these. While I wasn't bowled over by Sweet Grandma either, I at least appreciated the meaning behind the creation, which allowed me to see it as rather endearing and 'sweet'. However, the combination of notes in this fragrance, and the rather uninspiring story behind it, leaves me a little uninterested.

As an optimistic gardener, Simon based this combination of osmanthus and immortelle on his struggles to create the perfect, permaculture plot. Unable to muse a collaboration of plants and flowers in the manner that suited him, he decided to turn his hand at creating a perfume that would do the job instead.  The name 'Secret Garden' plays homage not only to the person who taught him all about permaculture in the first place, but to how he imagined his plot would smell like after it had been finished.

Dark in colour, Secret Garden Liquid Perfume at least has an alluring appeal in the bottle. Just like the recently reviewed Road From Damascus, it is also an extremely powerful and rather heavy floral aroma - one that almost saturates your skin with its different components, and stays on your body and clothes for hours on end. 

Unlike the aforementioned fragrance above, this one isn't as playfully sweet: it's far more resinous and smoky, and touches upon more of a wet, exotic floral smell as opposed to a bright and uplifting one. From the bottle, there is something almost aniseed-like about the smell, although I wouldn't claim that this is what the perfume smells like on the skin. However the combination of the ingredients does remind me slightly of liquorice a little - almost like there is a syrupy, resinous note to it.

Once sprayed on the skin, the osmanthus offers a slightly spicy, green-like floral note - the immortelle absolute supporting this with a gentle smoky smell that pads the aroma out. Intertwined is the myrrh resinoid, which not only expands the fragrance out even more, but brings about a rounded warmth, and gives Secret Garden a very unique and very heavy scent. 

Imagine walking through an overgrown garden after a night of rain: with trees drooping above you, wet with dew; and plants and bushes bursting with hundreds of threads of fragrance, and you may begin to understand what this limited edition perfume smells like. It's like nothing that Lush have ever released before, and offers much more of a pessimistic impression than most of Lush's other floral smells.

Despite how unique it is, and how impressed I was that it lasted on my skin for so long, it wasn't a smell that I grew to appreciate all that much. For those who enjoy more exotic floral smells, you will no doubt enjoy how unique this one is. However, I can safely say that this one is my least favourite from the Volume 4 collection.

Quantitative Ingredients: DRF Alcohol, Perfume, Osmanthus Absolute, Everlasting Flower Absolute, Myrrh Resinoid, Linalool, Limonene, Hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde, Citronellol, Benzyl Benzoate, Geraniol, Eugenol, Farnesol, Benzyl Salicylate, Benzyl Alcohol.

Vegan?: Yes.

2017 Price: ?

Year Of Original Release: 2016.

   

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Blackcurrant Angel Liquid Angel

For those who have been following my blog for a while, you'll know that blackcurrant is one of my favourite scents from Lush. Like a lot of people, I fell in love with The Comforter Bubble Bar at the very beginning of my Lush journey, and the experience was so incredible that it solidified my faith in the company. Too many times I have come across, what I would term loosely, 'berry-scented' cosmetics, only to find that they're synthetic and far-removed from the natural fruity fragrance that they should be. When it comes to Lush, they know how to do it well. 

Blackcurrant Angel is one of the latest creations from the company - a limited edition from the Volume 4 range that is strangely not part of the general release, and has so far only been made available at specific Gorilla Perfume events across the globe. With it being so exquisite and unique, I do hope that it becomes commercially available at some point in the future: it's one that needs to be experienced. 

As with all of the Volume 4 perfumes, this one is based on the life and workings of Hal Samples - an eccentric and very interesting artist that Lush have chosen to pair up with, to bring you an eclectic and very unique range of fragrances. This particular perfume is inspired by the people that Hal met when he was exploring the streets of Dallas a number of years ago. 

During his exploration, he came across a homeless man who made a big impression on his perception of those souls living on the streets. As the conversation transpired, Hal asked the man what superpower he would opt to have, if he was given a choice. His response was: “I just want the power of visibility. People walk past me all the time and they don’t see me.”

The effect this had on Hal inspired him to begin documenting other homeless people - particularly focusing on their thoughts, dreams and fears. When Lush and Hal began working together, this was one of the stories that had the biggest impressions, and they set about creating a scent that represented what they termed as the 'Blackcurrant Angels'. Thus this perfume was created.

If there is one thing that I should make clear, it's that this scent has no connection to The Comforter, or any product that features in that scent family. This is a completely new fragrance, and there might even be people who appreciate this, even if they're not a fan of the aforementioned staple.

Containing guiacwood oil as the key ingredient, with both osmanthus and blackcurrant absolute supporting underneath, this limited edition is a calm, woody fruity fragrance, with just a subtle hint of spice to give it a beautiful, well-rounded edge. It is light and refreshing, while also offering a grounded base that stays on the skin for a good 4-5 hours.

Initial sprays showcase a sweet, fruity blackcurrant that you could almost describe as being a little like The Comforter. However, almost immediately afterwards you get a resinous hit from the osmanthus, which adds a grassy, floral element and removes some of that fruitiness. On the skin, the guiacwood develops with the heat of the body, and adds a warming, woody note to seal the deal. 

If anything, I think the blackcurrant component takes a back seat slightly, and the other notes are what makes this perfume so special. While there is a fruity element to the fragrance, I would describe this as being more of a sweet, floral aroma - with gentle hints of both wood and green alongside this.

What I do love about Blackcurrant Angels is that it develops and changes over time, and you will notice different notes throughout the day. I found that I only had to spray this twice - once in the morning, and then again about five hours later, and the warming fragrance offered me bursts of beautiful scent all day.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this fragrance, and I just wish that Lush would make it more commercially available. While I don't quite know whether or not this would work in other formats, I would definitely be intrigued if the company did decide to bring other products out in this scent. 

Quantitative Ingredients: DRF Alcohol, Perfume, Water, Glycerine, Guiacwood Oil, Benzyl Benzoate, Benzyl Alcohol, Osmanthus Absolute, Blackcurrant Absolute, Citral, Geraniol, Isoeugenol, Limonene, Linalool.

Vegan?: Yes.

2017 Price: £35 for 30ml.

Year Of Original Release: 2017. 

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Plum Rain Body Spray

My heart almost skipped a beat when I learnt about the numerous body sprays that there making themselves available across various stores earlier last month, and this wasn't just because I have a real interest and passion in collecting 'Lush smells.' While many of the ones released were fragrances I already owned in perfume format, there was one that stood out as being a potential 'all-time favourite'...

Plum Rain made a huge impression on me when it first made itself known as a shower gel last year in the London Flagship store. Not only was the colour one of the most wonderful shades that Lush have ever created, but the smell was incredible. Fresh and wholesomely fruity, the release was a hit in my house - so much so that I went out the very next day and bought myself another 500g bottle.

Fans of the shower gel will be pleased to hear that the body spray is equally as beautiful, and lends itself well to this format so well. Containing osmanthus, pettigrain and mandarin oils, this is a fragrance that is perfectly suited for the warmer months, which is surprising because I feel as if the shower gel is better equipped for the colder months.

From the very first comforting spray, I was bowled over by how refreshing and how natural the scent presents itself as. On the one hand, it smells exactly like a freshly-squeezed mandarin, with the osmanthus oil offering notes of peach and apricot to pad out the smell and give it a little more depth and complexity. At the same time, the pettigrain offers a well-versed burst of 'greeness ', which doesn't constrict or alter the fruity components, but instead adds a subtle layer that gives this spray a very natural feel about it. Without trying to diminish how natural and delicious it is, there is a small part of me that would describe this spray as smelling a little like tropical Fanta.

While similar, I do feel as if Plum Rain Body Spray is not a direct replica of the shower gel. There is something a little less constricted about the spray: something that makes it lighter and more appealing in my eyes. Like a fresh glass of freshly-squeezed juice, this spray is deliciously fruity and will have you salivating from the start. Although it may be nondescript for those who prefer heavy, complex smells, I for one believe that this one excels because of its simplicity.

Retailing at £20, this spray is less of an investment than a 30ml bottle of perfume, making it outstanding value for money and one I am not afraid to use over and over and over again. Having used it multiple times a day for the past few weeks, I can honestly say that this 200ml spray will outlast any bottle of perfume you may have, and then some. Furthermore, the longevity I experienced whilst wearing this was equally as impressive. Two sprays will easily heed a good three to four hours worth of fragrance, and I would often be able to smell it on my coat and scarf after a full day at work - meaning it has the potential to linger for seven to eight hours at time. This is surprising given how little fragrances of the fruity kind usually tend to last on the skin. 

Plum Rain has certainly secured itself as my number one summer scent this year, and I shall be wearing this most days between now and the end of the warmer months. Refreshing, delectably fruity and wonderfully crisp, this is the perfect fragrance to compliment the warmer weather, and you'll feel delicious each and every time you choose to indulge. An incredible release from Lush.

Quantitative Ingredients: DRF Alcohol, Water (Aqua), Perfume, *Limonene, Glycerine, Osmanthus Absolute, Petitgrain Oil, Sicilian Mandarin Oil, *Citral, *Geraniol, *Linalool.

Vegan?: Yes. 

2017 Price: £20 for 200ml.

Year Of Original Release: 2017.

Scent Family:
Hedgewitch Soap
Plum Rain Body Spray
Plum Rain Naked Shower Gel
Plum Rain Shower Gel
Plum Snow Bubble Bar

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