LUSH, LUSH, and more LUSH... (4 rounds' worth!)

Let's just say I'm having a LUSH moment.  I'll go months without taking any interest in LUSH, walking straight past the shop when I'm in the mall.  But then, particularly around the holidays, I remember the magic that is LUSH... and I go a bit crazy.

First, I placed an order from LUSH UK about a month ago when the Christmas collection released. Observe...

• Buche De Noel cleanser
• Superstar bubble bar
• Celebrate lip tint
• Pow Wow lip scrub
• Snowcake soap
• Rose Jam Bubbleroons

Celebrate lip tint, Pow Wow lip scrub

Both of these smell really, really delicious.  Celebrate is like neroli and champagne to my nose, while Pow Wow is literally POW! in-your-face lime.  I love them both.  Celebrate reminds me a bit of the YSL Rouge Pur Couture #37 on my lips. It's a pearly nude pink.

Buche de Noel cleanser

(looks disgusting, but smells like fruitcake!)

I've already used half this tub - I love this stuff! It's perfect for using in the shower. It gives very gentle exfoliation, leaves my skin feeling clean and soft, and is just so fun to use!

Snowcake soap 

(almond marzipan yumminess)

I wasn't really wow'ed by the scent of the Superstar bubble bar - it's very been-there-done-that. If you like Candy Cane, The Comforter, or any of the other sweet fruity scents, you'll like this one.  I wish I would've just ordered The Comforter, though! I haven't tried either Superstar or the Rose Jam Bubbleroons yet, so I can't review them.

So, then, after I placed that order, I released I hadn't ordered a little bottle of Snow Fairy like I'd planned, and also forgot the Candy Cane soap. So, after the first order arrived, I went the website, and the Halloween "collection" (a collection in the same way Miss Piggy for MAC is a "collection"!) was available.  So I ordered the two things I'd missed before, plus a bar of Lady Catrina soap (which is the same scent as the Day of the Dead perfume that I love so, so much).

Lady Catrina & Candy Cane

Snow Fairy shower gel

(smells like bubblegum)

Candy Cane

(smells like candy cane...duh...)

Okay, so I looove Candy Cane. However, I've seen some really cute pieces of this soap, but mine is not one of them! I think it resembles a pulled tooth! At least it smells great!

Lady Catrina soap

(insanely fruity - lime, lemon, candy... LOVE!)

see the pretty shimmer? (magpie alert!)

Then, I don't remember why, but I was looking on the other LUSH site (lushusa.com) - wait! I remember why! I was trying to find out if they were going to be doing forum fragrances again this year (told you I love my Day of the Dead!). Anyways, I saw that they had a bunch of new Gorilla perfumes.  I'd never really been interested in the other scents, but these new ones sounded intriguing, so I ordered the spray version of Superworld Unknown, a sample vial of B Scent, and while I was there, a tub of Lush Lime Smoothie from the Retro section - I've been wanting to try it for two years!

Superworld Unknown & B Scent (sample vial)

Superworld Unknown, as described by LUSH: 

Sweet neroli and cocoa reminds you of whipped candyfloss 

while rose and sandalwood keep your feet on the ground.

Sounds amazing, right? Well, at first spritz, it's pretty awful.  Flat, musky cologne. Great, I thought, that's what I get for blind-ordering fragrance. However, on the drydown, it really grows on me. It's a really unusual blend of notes, but somehow, it works (at least, in my opinion). If you're looking for Snow Fairy in spray form, this is not it.  But if you're a fan of complex scents that run a bit earthy (this reminds of something out of Aveda, which I happen to like), you might want to try this one. I will say, though, that I do detect something Snow Fairy-ish in the drydown.  Like I said, it's really unusual! I definitely don't own anything else like it.

B Scent, as described by LUSH:

B Scent was scent from heaven to enrapture you 

with its grapefruit oil, fennel and florid rose and jasmine. 

At first spritz, B Scent is like opening a bag of licorice allsorts, and 

when settled, gives the wearer a recognizable perfumed panache.

Licorice allsorts is a great way to describe this one, as licorice the first note I picked up in it. It has a bit of sweetness to it as well, although I don't really pick up any of the ingredients listed in the description. It's another nice scent. 

It's hard to recommend either of these scents, as I think they're both kind of love or hate. I personally really like them both, but if they become available in stores, I'd recommend trying them out on your own skin first!

Lush Lime Smoothie

(smells just like it says - strawberries and lime!)

Like I said, I've wanted to try this for about two years now.  Well, it did NOT disappoint. It smells sooo amazing. I wish they made a body cream or fragrance of this! It's definitely lime and strawberry, but it's not too strong or overpowering. If you like fruity scents, I'm pretty certain you'd like this.

I was hesitant to order it in the past because I'm not a huge fan of the shower smoothies (I've tried the Almond & Coconut and Dreamwash). I find them awkward to use and not great at either cleansing or as a shave cream.  Well, this one is different. It's still awkward to use (I hate opening and closing tubs in the shower!), but it works really well as both a body cleanser and for shaving.  So happy I gave in and bought this!

I got some samples free with that order as well (one PRO for ordering from lushusa as opposed to the UK site - samples!), but I forgot to photograph them -- Herbalism and Angels on Bare Skin cleansers. How did they know I'm a huge fan of their cleansers? ;)

Finally...

Intrigued by the new Gorilla scents, I wanted to check out my local store earlier today to see if they had them in stock (they didn't) and to re-evaluate the original Gorilla fragrances.  I'm glad I did, because I loved the solid fragrance sticks in Vanillary (which I used to HATE) and Orange Blossom (really love this one). I didn't purchase them at the time, but I plan to soon!

I did pick up three other things, though (plus two nice samples!).

• The Jilted Elf shower jelly (didn't think I'd like it from the description, but I do! It reminds me of an appletini)
• Big Shampoo sample (I can get a good 3 or 4 uses out of this!)*
• Colour Supplement in Light Yellow
• Candy Cane soap sample

*I was a bad girl and asked if I could try a sample of Big, though I've purchased it probably three times before! I love it as a clarifying shampoo, especially if my scalp is dry or itchy.  The salt feels AMAZING!

The last thing I bought was kind of random, but I could NOT resist it! It's one of their knot wraps in a super adorable vintage-looking holiday print chock-full of forest animals.

knot wrap - seriously, how cute is this??

It was really quiet in the store when I went in (it was a Monday afternoon), and I was in the mood to socialize, and the LUSH sales associates are always happy to oblige. I was color-matched to Light Yellow in Colour Supplement (I've been dying to try this stuff - basically LUSH's foundation), and they gave me a really generous sample of Big and a sample of Candy Cane soap (which I've already tried - scroll up! - and love).  Also, I've never bought one of their knot wraps before, and they showed me all these different ways you can fold it or shape it - you can even make it into a pillowcase! They showed me how to make it a little drawstring bag, a headband, and a scarf. I think this would be cute for a Christmas card display board as well. So many possibilities!

Okay, that's ALL! Finally!  And I would say "no more Lush for me for a while," but I know that's a lie, because I want to pick up the Orange Blossom and Vanillary solid fragrances sometime soon! I also KNOW I will be keeping my eyes and ears open for news about whether there will be limited edition forum fragrances again this year. I hope so! And a re-release of Snowcake shower gel would be nice, too... ;)

Okay, I'm off to roll around in my big ol' pile of Lush.

Thanks so much for reading, lovelies! See you soon!

xoxo,
<3 Jess

(Sidenote: I thought I should add really quickly, lush.co.uk has lower prices than lushusa.com, however, shipping is slower and I've never received samples. Pick your poison. Also, sometimes products will be released on one site and not the other. For example, I don't believe the new Gorilla scents were available on lush.co.uk when I placed my order, although they are up now. Usually it seems lush.co.uk gets new products first.)