Review: Butter Cream Soaps and Mud Flats

Lately, I've had a run in with a lot of weird Lush soaps lately -- not bad, per say, just not for me.

Two of them are the soon-to-be-discontinued butter cream soaps: Lemslip and Ring of Roses.  They are called butter cream soaps because they contain cocoa butter, to moisturize the skin.  Unfortunately, this cocoa butter prevents the soap from lathering!  It took a lot of effort to get my bar of soap to actually act like a bar of soap.  If I rub it on a sponge or washcloth, I'd get a little lather, but when using it solo, I was very dissatisfied.  Sure, the end result was good -- I was clean and moisturized -- but the experience was not up to par.

Ring of Roses had a really nice floral scent, but Lemslip was too lemony for my taste.  If I wanted zing, I'd grab a bar of Bohemian.  For both soaps, the scent was mild at best.  It just didn't have the "wow" factor for me.

Mud Flats was a whole different experience.  I was eager to give it a shot, because I wanted to see how effective the Rhassoul mud was in soap form.  Right off the bat, I was hit with an overpowering herbal scent.  I get it -- it's got rosemary oil, tea tree oil, and sage oil -- all, combined with the Rhassoul mud, should be very astringent.  But again, herbal scents are not for me.  Then I smelled it again and got a strong peppermint scent??  It was weird.  I looked at the list of ingredients and didn't see anything that would smell minty.   Did it get me clean?  Sure.  Would it clear up spots and body acne?  Hard to say.  But the scent alone would prevent me from testing any further.  But if you're into that woodsy, herbal scent, you should try Mud Flats. (:

MY SCORE: 1 OUT OF 5

I never thought there would be any Lush soaps out there I didn't love.  What's the phrase?  Can't please them all? (:

Review: Aromarant

Most antiperspirants contain aluminum.  Yes, like the stuff your cooking foil is made of.  Think about little microscopic particles of aluminum plugging your pores so you don't sweat.  Pretty gross, right?  Well, that's why you should think about switching to natural deodorants!  And yes, they are deodorants, not antiperspirants.  It's good for your body to sweat.  Sweat is a good thing -- stink is not. (:

With that said, if you've been using an antiperspirant for a long time and you switch to a natural deodorant, your body will need to adjust.  So be aware the first few days of using a natural deodorant, your sweat will smell stinkier than it's ever smelled before.  That's because your pits are detoxing and purging all those chemicals that were clogged up!  But after a few days, you'll be glad to have made the switch.

It's true-- some Lush products just aren't that easy to use.  Their deodorants are one of them.  Lush deodorants come in two forms: powder and bar.

• Coconut - too messy
• Greeench - too messy, and I don't like the herbal smell
• T'eo - more for heavy sweaters (which I am not) and the powder leaves some residue on skin and/or clothing
• Aromaco - patchouli?  no thanks!
• Aromarant - winner!

It's truly been a love/hate relationship with Aromarant.  When I first started using it, I was very surprised.  It smelled really pleasant -- but of course, I'm a sucker for sandalwood.  There's also a hint of lemon -- yes, just a slight hint -- not a distinct smell, but definitely enough to brighten the muskiness of the sandalwood.  I loved the way it was able to absorb some moisture, because of the witch hazel and sodium bicarbonate.  I also loved that my pits didn't smell like anything.  It didn't smell like body odor, or Aromarant.  It just did not smell.  And that's the point, right?

A few weeks after happily using Aromarant, something weird happened.  I got fire pits!!  (Lots of reviews on Lush's website talk about getting rashes or "fire pits" after using Aromarant)  It was truly bizarre.  I've been using the product for weeks now, and suddenly, I get fire pits?  So sadly, I stopped using it and went back to Tom's of Maine.

Then one morning, I had a bit of an epiphany: the rash may have been because my skin was too dry and irritated.  So I tried something unusual -- I put some Dream Cream on my pits before using my deodorant.  The thinking is, the Dream Cream contains soothing ingredients that will calm and moisturize my skin before I apply deodorant.

Hallelujah!!  It's been working for several weeks now, and I am a happy fresh-pit-smelling girl!

MY SCORE: 4 OUT OF 5

My score is not a 5 because it's so dang difficult to use.  Couldn't Lush put it in a nice, traditional deodorant container??  I know, I know... carbon footprint, trash, etc.

Helpful hint: Keep your Aromarant wrapped up in a ziplock bag.  This will keep it soft and makes it easier to apply.  If you leave it out, air will basically oxidize it and make it hard.  If it does get hard, just use a butter knife, or your fingernail, and scrape off the outer layer.  Sometimes before applying, I soften the bar (just the part that will be in contact with my skin) by rubbing it with my fingertips.

Review: Shower Scrubs

Sugar Scrub and Sugar Babe both contain sugar and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda).  The Sugar Scrub also contains fennel oil and fresh ginger.  Naturally, it will smell kind of herb-y -- something I'm not into.  The Sugar Babe is its sweeter companion, made with Mimosa absolute, Ylang Ylang oil, and coconut oil.

Brimstone Shower Scrub.  Picture courtesy of Lush NA.

Brimstone is not a Sugar Scrub.  It contains sulfur powder -- not sure why, but Lush claims it's good for the skin.  It smells pretty rancid, so they use loads of jasmine absolute to cover up the smell.

How to use: Get wet in the shower and use the Scrub to exfoliate your skin.  Because of the sodium bicarbonate, the Scrub will start to bubble up and soften when it is in contact with water.  With that being said, make sure the Scrub isn't in the direct stream of the shower and certainly don't leave it around in the shower if you're not using it, because it will dissolve.

The first time I used Sugar Babe, I thought it was too harsh and too messy.  The Scrub started to break off into chunks.  So for the second use, I put it in a bag and whacked it with a hammer, creating smaller pieces that I could just use in the palm of my hand.  That seemed to work, but I still felt unsatisfied with the exfoliating factor.  It just felt like I was rubbing sand on my skin.

Brimstone, however, is pretty hardcore.  I cut it into quarters, for a more manageable size.   Use just like a Sugar Scrub.  But I learned (the hard way) that sulfur powder does not dissolve like sugar.  The outer layer of Brimstone was fine, but once I got down to the core, it wasn't dissolving nicely.  Not nice at all, in fact.  It really started to hurt!  I had to be super gentle, then eventually faced the facts that this Scrub is not for the weak, ie: ME.  One good thing about Brimstone, though, is that my bathroom smelled like lovely jasmine for 3-4 days!

When I want to exfoliate, I'll use an exfoliating soap (Figs and Leaves, Sexy Peel, Porridge) and when I want something more hardcore, I'll use Buffy.  Goodbye, Shower Scrubs.  I won't really miss you.

2011 Discon List

Yesterday, Lush NA (North America) released their 2011 Discon List.  Not sure if any of these products will make it Retro, but they will definitely be taken off the shelves at the stores.


Helping Hands - 45g only
Pied de Pepper
Charlotte Island
Vit C
Vit E
Keep It Fluffy(Orange & Purple)
Lemslip
Ring of Roses
Joy of Jelly
Vanilla in the Mist
Noubar
Summer Pudding
All Emotibombs
Brimstone
Sugar Babe
13 Unlucky for Dirt
King of the Mods
Aromarant
Tuca Tuca Massage Bar

When Lush UK released their Discon list, I remember everyone freaking out over it.  Lush NA reassured us that just because it's being discontinued in UK, doesn't mean it will be the same in NA.  Phew!  They were right!

Some of the ones on the UK Discon list that I'm so very happy about not making it on the NA Discon list: Ma Bar, Mange Too, Creamed Almond and Coconut Smoothie (I seriously would have died), Heavanilli, Demon in the Dark.  You can see the full UK Discon list here.

I really don't use any of these products, except for Aromarant, which I'm totally bummed about.  What am I going to do?!  Go back to using deodorants that contain aluminum?!  Thankfully there's Toms of Maine.  And I think the Body Shop just came out with a non-aluminum deodorant.

I was also just starting to like the emotibombs.  I caught a small cold a couple of weeks ago, and sticking my head over a bowl of hot water with a Too Drunk in it was exactly what I needed.

The soaps: Lemslip, Ring of Roses, Vanilla in the Mist, Noubar, Summer Pudding, and 13 Unlucky for Dirt.  Lemslip and Ring of Roses are nice, but kind of pricey because they contain cocoa butter.  For a citrus-y soap, I really like Sexy Peel.  And for a floral soap, my all-time fave is Alkmaar.  I was starting to really like Vanilla in the Mist and 13 Unlucky for Dirt, so I'm hoping those will go Retro.

Shower scrubs... prepare for a review....