Products I've Used Up #43 - The Lush Edition

Lush empties: Karma perfume // Breath of God perfume // Rose Jam shower gel // Big sea salt shampoo // Brazened Honey fresh face mask // Ro's Argan body conditioner // Don't Look at Me fresh face mask // Oatifix fresh face mask // Ocean Salt face & body scrub // Kalamazoo facial wash // Dirty Springwash shower gel // The Comforter shower gel 

One of my favourite places to shop is Lush. I know this is quite divisive - a lot of people hate it - but I really rate their products. It's rare for me to buy a 'fail' at Lush (which is good because the products aren't cheap) and I appreciate the ethics and the morals of the company which values animal welfare and environmental awareness. 

Lush encourage recycling by offering a free face mask when you return 5 of their black pots. I was lucky enough to get some lovely gift sets for Christmas which I've been steadily working through, and I wanted to share a post of some of my empties before I trade them in for a mask. There are products in here that I buy again and again, as well as some that were new to me! I've decided to use a bullet point format for a change to keep things simple and make it easy to decipher my thoughts on each product.

• Karma perfume (£29 for 30ml) This is one of my signature scents. A heady mix of patchouli and orange, it's layered and potent, anchored in the 60's with a free spirited attitude. I'll always repurchase this and hopefully Lush will never discontinue it (as they are wont to do with lots of their scents!)
• Breath of God perfume (£25 for 30ml) The story behind this perfume is a little different. I tried it in my local store just because the name intrigued me - what the heck should God's breath smell like?! I sprayed it on and the first thing I smell is hay - sun warmed and dusty. I know that sounds a bit off, but I could not stop smelling my wrist all day and as the scent developed, it just became more and more intoxicating. I bought a bottle the next day. It's a strange scent, woody and mysterious, which is hard to pin down but it's so much more interesting to me than a generic floral or traditional 'summer' scent.
• Rose Jam shower gel (discontinued, only available as part of a gift set, £28.50) The trouble I have with the Lush shower gels, and I do love them, is their price. A tiny 100g bottle is £4.95, and rises to £27.50 for a 1kg bottle. I appreciate they are made from special ingredients but I have trouble telling them apart sometimes from my favourite Original Source shower gels, which cost £1 for 250ml. The scents are always lovely but I can't say that I think they're worth the price.
• Big sea salt shampoo (£6.95 for 130g) This product I actually bought for Adrian as part of a gift set and he loved it. I only used it once but it's not really practical for my long, thick hair - I think it's probably easier to work into short hair. The smell was incredible though and Adrian really enjoyed it, so it's definitely one I'd repurchase again (for him).
• Brazened Honey fresh face mask (£7.50 for 75g but FREE with 5 empty pots) I loved this mask which I redeemed against some empties. It's slightly exfoliating, cleansing and refreshing and contains lime juice to cleanse, and fresh fennel, ginger root, parsley and coriander to stimulate and detoxify the skin. It's a fresh mask and the only trouble with these is that you only get a short window of time to use them. Mine did go over that a bit and he product went a bit dry - something to consider if you have a lot of other products to use up first.
• Ro's Argan body conditioner (£16.95 for 225g) This is a really interesting product which I enjoyed using - a body conditioner which you apply in the shower, like a hair conditioner, and then rinse before getting out. It leaves a slight film on the skin which, when you've patted dry, absorbs and negates the need for further moisturisers. The smell is beautiful and it did leave my skin really soft, but there is a bit of a greasy element to it which I didn't always like. I can't imagine wanting to get dressed after using it, unless into pyjamas!
• Don't Look At Me fresh face mask (£7.50 for 75g but FREE with 5 empty pots) This mask is amazing - containing ground rice, it provides gentle exfoliation, so much so that I actually preferred to use it as a facial scrub rather than a mask. The smell is amazing, fresh and citrusy, and it leaves skin super smooth and nourished.
• Oatifix fresh face mask (£7.50 for 75g but FREE with 5 empty pots) Made with oatmeal, illipe butter and bananas, this feels like smoothing a flapjack on your face. It smells good enough to eat, and although a little messy to use, made my skin much softer than any of the other fresh masks I tried. It's super nourishing and this is the second tub of this I've used.
• Ocean Salt face and body scrub (£8.95 for 120g ) another part of Adrian's gift, I helped myself to this a few too many times because it was just lovely. It turned the shower into the seaside and really made my skin feel like it does when you've been in the ocean and the salt has gently buffed away any rough patches. I tried it on my face but found it way too harsh on my skin, however it was perfect for knees and elbows!
• Kalamazoo facial wash (£7.50 for 100g) I've definitely discussed this product before because I've bought multiples of it. I know it's technically a beard wash - but I love to use it as a cleanser, it's refreshing and smells lovely, leaving my skin clean and soft.
• Dirty Springwash shower gel (£4.95 for 100g) Despite my protestations about price, this shower gel is lovely. It's got spearmint in it which makes it smell really fresh and unusual - I loved it. I haven't rebought it because of the price, but of all of the gels I've tried, I probably would repurchase this one.
• The Comforter shower cream (discontinued) I quite liked this shower cream although the shower creams don't create any lather so I feel like I always use too much in an effort to get them to bubble up! This one contains cassis so smells to me like those cheap fruit jellies you used to be able to buy in packets of cubes. Not unpleasant, but probably not one I would re-buy, even if I could! Strange because I know this is a very popular product with Lush fans, but it's not really my cup of tea.

XO Amie