~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
LUSH opened a store in Madison fairly recently (just this past summer), and I was pretty excited to take a wander through it, because I've always enjoyed shopping there. I've enjoyed some of their solid shampoo and conditioner bars, and especially their massage bars for travel, because of the liquid restrictions for carry-on luggage.
I had found the remnants of an old massage bar, but I think it was so old that the fragrance had completely degraded. Unfortunately it smelled exactly like varnish, so I decided it was time to get something new.
I ended up walking out with a bar of the "Organic Therapy" massage bar, a small block of "Honey I Washed the Kids" soap, and a "Ceridwen's Cauldron" bath melt.
I've written up some thoughts regarding these items (and another soap) below, for those who haven't tried them and may be curious. I tend to have sensitive dry skin, so a lot of my focus in choosing body products is geared towards making sure they won't cause too much irritation or excessive dryness.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Organic Therapy Massage Bar == Excellent!
"Organic Therapy" has a nice scent that's slightly spicy, slightly herbal, and not too sickly sweet. I usually enjoy sweet and floral scents, but in the form of massage bars, most of them make me feel a bit ill because they're too cloying. This one is nice because it smells good but isn't overly strong. The moisturizing power of the bar is just as I expected from their previous bars. It melts nicely after a few seconds of rubbing either between the hands or directly wherever you're trying to put it, and at least for me, the moisturizing effect lasts much longer than most regular lotions. I do prefer to use it before bed, so that it can sit overnight, because it does initially leave a film of old on the skin. If you're not a fan of that feeling, then these probably won't be the thing for you.
I bought this soap because people mentioned that they liked how it worked on their sensitive skin. I often have issues (especially in colder, dryer seasons) with my skin getting extremely dry and irritated. The smell of this soap is delicious, it's like inhaling a caramel flan. I do appreciate that it has a sweet caramel smell, but it is not artificial and cloying like some "candy" scents can be. As for the soap itself, it is quite nice and worked fine for middle of summer, but I think it's still too stripping for my skin in autumn and winter. I hadn't read the ingredients carefully enough the first time, because I was just going off recommendations, but this soap *does* contain SLS, which is the main stripping ingredient. While it is lower on the list than some of LUSH's other soaps, it is still pretty prominent. As much as I love the scent, I probably wouldn't buy this soap again for regular bathing use.
Ceridwen's Cauldron == TBD
I also bought "Ceridwen's Cauldron" because it was mentioned as being really good for moisturizing and soothing sensitive skin. I'm not generally a big bath person, as I don't generally have time and just never really grew up with that sort of habit. However, I thought this one might be a nice one to try this winter if I want a bath to warm up or something. The ingredients in this look promising, particularly the oatmeal, which I have found to be a good skin soother, so I look forward to trying this out.
Sultana of Soap == Very Good
After I finished "Honey I Washed the Kids," I returned to LUSH to try another of their soaps. I did pay more attention to my research this time, and concluded that the only two of their regular soaps that do *NOT* contain SLS are "Sultana of Soap" and "Figs and Leaves." After sniffing both soaps, I went with "Sultana" because I liked the scent a little more. It's supposed to look like a fruit nougat, which it sort of does. The scent to me smells like sweetened baby powder, which can be good or bad depending on your preferences. I don't mind it, and the soap really is very moisturizing and cleansing without leaving my skin with that squeaky stripped feeling like most other soaps do. I forgot to take a photo of the raw block, but it basically looks like the way it does now but with sharp edges.
The one thing I'm not liking so much about "Sultana" as I'm nearing the end of the block is that the little fruit and nut bits in it are actually fruits and nuts embedded in the soap. So now I end up leaving some soap detritus in the bathtub that I need to clean up after I shower. I think when I finally run out, I'll give the "Figs and Leaves" soap a try.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
No comments:
Post a Comment