My favorite Lush products for Holiday 2013

Press Sample 

Every once in a while, I get asked a question that goes something like this: "G, what's your favorite type of product to review on your blog?" Whenever I'm asked this question, my answer's always the same: "Bath and body products!" 

For some reason this always seems to surprise people, but bath and body products are my first love and they always have been (above makeup and yes, even nail polish!). So when I was sent an assortment of Lush Holiday 2013 products for review a while back, you can imagine that I was like a kid in a candy store. I'm so excited to show you my favorites today, in case you're thinking about indulging in some Lush goodies for yourself or your loved ones this holiday season. I've got some old favorites and also new things to show you today, so let's get started!

Lush Holiday 2013 I Want Candy Gift Set

(retail: $14.95 at Lush stores and online)

So let's start with the I Want Candy Gift Set:

When you remove the (very cute) wrapping paper, here's what it looks like inside:

A mini-catalog of Lush products

Rock Star Soap and Candy Mountain Bubble Bar

From the Lush website:

This duo of sugary treats is sure to sweeten up anyone’s day! Our year-round favorite Rock Star soap’s decadent vanilla-candy fragrance and creamy, moisturizing suds will have you singing in the shower. If you love that scent, you’ll recognize it in our limited edition Candy Mountain Bubble Bar which has a touch of whimsical luster for magically fragrant vanilla bubble baths. We’ve wrapped these sweeties up in lovely candy-cane printed paper and tied it up with a candy-striped ribbon- what could be sweeter!?

 Candy Mountain Bubble Bar

($7.45 when sold separately, 3.5 oz)

The Candy Mountain Bubble Bar looks like...a little candy mountain! I love the silver shimmer (aka: snowflake luster) on this bubble bar.

From the Lush website:

Vanilla candy with a twist 

Candy Mountain has undergone a sparkly new makeover inspired by the pretty pink luster in Snow Fairy. This year her peak is swirled up and polka dotted with pink and pearly white. We've mixed in snowflake luster to add a touch of magic glimmer to the water. Crumble under the running tap and watch mountains of fragrant vanilla bubbles rise. We think this is one of the most beautiful Candy Mountains yet! It's a sweet treat you won't soon forget. 

Ingredients 

Sodium Bicarbonate , Cream of Tartar (Potassium bitartrate) , Sodium Laureth Sulfate , Lauryl Betaine , Citric Acid , Fragrance , Cornflour (Zea mays) , Snowflake Lustre (Potassium Silicate & Titanium Dioxide) , Fair Trade Vanilla Absolute (Vanilla Planifolia) , Titanium Dioxide , Polyester-3 , Methyl Ionone , D&C Red 28 , D&C Red No. 21 

How To Use 

Crumble under running warm water as you fill the tub. The stronger your water pressure, the more bubbles you will make; we encourage experimentation for best results. To get the most out of your bubble bars, keep them in a cool, dry place.

I'm actually not a bath person (I love showers) but I make a special exception when it comes to Lush Bubble Bars. It's so fun to crumble a bit of a bubble bar into your bath (you definitely don't need to use the entire Candy Mountain for one bath!) and watch the water turn milky and silky and bubbly right before your eyes. This bubble bar has a sweet, but not sugary-sweet scent to it. It's difficult to explain,  but it's not what you would normally think of when you hear "candy." It's not a "pink sugar" type of fragrance. It smells like vanilla and bubblegum and almond and other things that I can't quite pin-point.

It is definitely not for those who prefer a subtle fragrance--I could smell this one before I even took the wrapping paper off the gift box! It makes my entire bathroom smell delicious when I use it in the bath, and my skin is scented when I get out of the bath (and the scent sticks around for a while on my skin, which I love). This is a very moisturizing bubble bar, but it doesn't make me feel greasy. Both my bath water and my skin feel silky when I use this one. Such a decadent treat.

Rock Star Soap

($7.95 when sold separately, 3.5 oz)

Also in the I Want Candy Gift Set is a bar of Rock Star Soap. This soap is available all year around, but it comes shaped as a star for the holidays.

From the Lush website:

Vanilla candy soap for rock stars 

There’s nothing hard rock or heavy metal about this soap. We’re serious about soap, but not too serious not to love our pink sudser. It’s unabashedly a best-selling pop hit that everyone, boys and girls, can’t wait to get their hands on. While you may object otherwise, once you try our pink, vanilla-scented cream soap you’ll be singing a different tune. Scented with real vanilla (the gorgeous stuff that comes from pods, not labs), and decorated with soap stars embedded inside you’ll want to give Rock Star a regular rotation in the soap dish. 

Ingredients 

Water (Aqua) , Propylene Glycol , Rapeseed Oil , Coconut Oil (Brassica napus; Helianthus annuus; Cocos nucifera) , Sodium Lauryl Sulfate , Sodium Stearate , Sodium Hydroxide , Fragrance , Titanium Dioxide , Vanilla Absolute (Vanilla planifolia) , Glycerine , Sodium Chloride , EDTA , Tetrasodium Editronate , Methyl Ionone , D&C Red No. 33

If you've never tried Rock Star soap before, I think it's one that everyone should try at least once. I believe this was the first Lush soap I ever owned, and now that I have another bar of it, I'm kicking myself for not keeping one on hand at all times. One whiff takes me right back to the time when there were no Lush stores in the US and you had to order everything from Canada. It was an extra-special treat and when I first smelled this soap many years ago--it was unlike anything I had ever smelled before. It still makes me feel that way. I get vanilla, black licorice and almond in this one, but everyone has a different interpretation (some say it smells like bubblegum, some say it smells like baby powder). To me, it doesn't smell exactly like the Candy Mountain Bubble Bar but, again, you may disagree!

The thing I love about Lush soaps is that they have this silky-smooth lather that makes them beautiful to shower with, as well as to shave with (seriously, try shaving with one). This soap is so silky, but it rinses cleanly and leaves my skin squeaky-clean. I can detect the scent on my skin for an hour or two after I get out of the shower, so again, it's on the stronger side (like the Candy Mountain Bubble Bar).

Limited Edition Rose Jam Shower Gel

($10.95 - $29.95 in-store and online)

If, after you read this review, you think you might like a bottle of Rose Jam Shower Gel, DON'T WAIT. This is a limited edition product and it will be gone after the holidays. And trust me, you might seriously regret it if you don't get it while it's still available.

From the Lush website:

You begged and pleaded with us to make Rose Jam available for Christmas and we listened: it’s here for a limited time! A decadent, rosy shower gel made with vanilla pod infusion, goji berry juice and nourishing argan oil, Rose Jam leaves your skin soft, hydrated and sweetly-scented. Lovers of our Rose Jam bubbleroon and Ro's Argan body conditioner will recognize its gorgeous rose absolute and lemon fragrance. Lathering up with this shower gel is a truly indulgent way to wash!

There are so many things I want to say about Rose Jam, but let me just sum it up like this: This shower gel was not even on my radar until I read Victoria of EauMG's review here. G'head. Read it. I'll wait...

OK, done? So yeah, when a perfume blogger whom I trust and admire says that you need this in your life, I take notice. And she was 100% right.

I tried to capture rich, deep, rose color of this product but my photo doesn't do it justice:

I can't say it any better than Victoria did, so if you want a perfect description of this product, just read her review again. This shower gel is magical, for lack of a better word, and you know what? I 'm not even a huge rose fan. But I'm telling you, this is truly something special.

Snowcake Soap

($7.95 in-store and online, 3.5 oz)

From the Lush website:

Our classic holiday soap is back once again; how could we live through winter without it?! This soft, creamy soap is made with soothing rose and benzoin resinoid (known for its sweet vanilla ice-cream essence) making it wonderfully soothing on dry, winter skin. The almond icing and marzipan fragrance is just what you need during the season of sweet indulgences - it smells good enough to eat! Lather up with our creamy Snowcake and you'll see why it has become a LUSH Christmas cult classic.

Lush describes this as having an "almond icing and marzipan fragrance" and that pretty much sums it up. If you're a fellow almond fan, you'll probably adore this soap. It's creamy, creamy, creamy and the lather is just like Rock Star--so rich and silky that it feels decadent to use. I like to get my bath pouf wet and rub this soap into my bath pouf for a minute, which creates a creamy, silky lather that feels wonderful on the skin. The scent lingers on my skin for a little while and my skin feels silky-soft after my shower. This is another one that works well for shaving, too.

One side of the soap has pretty gold foiling, which rinses off during the first use.

So there you have it! These are my picks from Lush for Holiday 2013. If you're a bath and body fan and you're thinking about picking up some holiday goodies, I would certainly consider any of the products featured above. If I could only buy one thing, I would get Rose Jam Shower Gel since it's limited edition and, well, it's amazing.

If you're thinking of ordering online in time for Christmas, you've got one day left (as of the time of this post) for air shipping. To find a Lush store in your area, check out the store locator here.

Are you a Lush fan? What are some of your favorite holiday products?

A sample of this product was given to Nouveau Cheap for editorial purposes, either directly from the manufacturer or from the agency that works on behalf of the manufacturer. All reviews on NouveauCheap.Blogspot.com are the honest opinion of its author and editorial samples do not, in any way, affect the outcome of product reviews. For more information, click here.