I am a longtime fan of LUSH Cosmetics, a fabulous skin and body care line that prides itself on natural ingredients, eco-friendly packaging, no animal testing, and many vegan products. Additionally, they just make plain good quality bath and body goodies. Everything smells wonderful because LUSH uses natural ingredients and essential oils, from yummy honey, chocolate, and cocoa butter to pretty jasmine oil and rose absolute. Best of all, after using their products, your skin will feel soft and smooth. Two of my favorite categories of LUSH products, which are related, are the Massage Bars and Body Butters. These are solid cocoa and shea butter based bars that replace a body lotion. The Massage Bars are designed to be applied to dry skin and the Body Butters are designed to be applied to wet skin in the shower.
The Massage Bars are fabulous for their titled use, but because they are made with cocoa butter, shea butter, and essential oils, they are intensely softening and hydrating, leaving the skin with a gorgeous scent that lingers throughout the day. So in addition to using them for massage, I think they make a great substitute for body lotion. They are more moisturizing than lotion, their scents have more staying power than lotion, and your skin will feel incredibly soft. My favorite scents are the Heavanilli, which is made with vanilla, jasmine, and tonka. It smells soft and beautiful but more sophisticated than the vanilla scents we bought at the drug store back in junior high school. For a lighter fruity scent, try the Each Peach bar, which has lime and mandarin oils and mango butter. As an added benefit, the mango butter helps repair sun-damaged skin.
LUSH also makes a fabulous scalp massage bar called Snake Oil that is designed to treat scalp dryness and irritation, and in particular, dandruff. It is the single best dandruff remedy that I have heard of, and it is extremely gentle and good for your hair, unlike most dandruff shampoos. And despite the name, it leaves your hair smelling good as well with essential oils like lavender, tea tree, and peppermint. Sadly, this product was discontinued in the U.S. LUSH stores, although I understand that you can still get it in the U.K. and you can order it online at the LUSH web site under the LUSH Retro list. If you are prone to seasonal or occasional dandruff or other types of scalp irritation and itching (like eczema), you should stock up on a few of these bars while they're still available online and keep them in the fridge. Most LUSH products have minimal to no preservatives, but I've found that they'll keep quite well in tupperware in the fridge. All the massage bars run $10 to $12 except for Snake Oil, which is a bargain at $8.
LUSH's Body Butters are similar but they're designed to be used on wet skin, which makes them perfect for the bath or shower. Some of them are both exfoliating and softening, like the aptly-named Buffy the Backside Slayer, which combines shea butter with ground rice, almonds, and beans to exfoliate. Many LUSH fans swear by this one to reduce the appearance of cellulite. I love it to scrub away the rough skin on my knees and elbows. Buffy leaves them feeling soft. Running to the Embassy is a body butter designed to replace your pumice stone in the shower. Like Buffy, it exfoliates, but it also adds spearmint and peppermint oils to refresh and soften tired feet. But my favorite Body Butter has to be Soft Touch, which is non-exfoliating. This one is all about the soft nourishing shower butter. It has good-for-you wheatgerm oil, cocoa butter, mango, and beeswax. Think of it as a solid body lotion that you apply in the shower or bath. The moisture and scent stays with you throughout the day, even after you towel dry. The body butters are $12 to $15.
No comments:
Post a Comment