(Review) Buche de Noel: Have Your Cake and Wash Your Face With it Too

Ever since I can remember, my mother has been nuts about skincare.  I remember I would sit in her bathroom on the edge of her tub, watching her apply her washes and creams, massaging them gently into her skin.  Every so often if I were home sick or feeling mischievous, I'd root through her cosmetics, opening jars and flinging powders, and the only telltale sign that I had been there would be tiny terra cotta handprints on the lavender-gray countertop.  Of course she would tell me not to go into her things again...and of course I never listened.  I was a precocious little scamp ;)

As I grew older, my mom taught my younger sister and I all about good hygiene, skincare being one of her main focuses.  When I was nine she bought me a gentle, drugstore face wash and a light, mild moisturizer and explained to me the benefits of good skincare.  At first I fought her.  Washing my face in the morning cut WAY too far into my pre-school cartoon time, and my bangs always got wet.  But again, with age, experience, and the discovery of headbands, I grew to love washing my face.  Not only skincare, but showering and bathing in general are like a morning meditation for me.  It helps me wake up and prepare for the big bad world outside.  And a nice hot bath at the end of my day helps me re-center, wind down, and have my stresses melt away.  Skincare does the same for me as well, and ever since I started working at Lush, I've fallen head over heels for their skincare.  While bath bombs and bubble bars from Lush are all well and good, I feel like the hair and skincare products don't get the recognition they deserve

Buche de Noel is a limited edition cleansing roll that only comes out for Christmas.  Described as a more moisturizing form of Angels on Bare Skin, Buche de Noel was inspired by and named after the holiday cake of the same name, and is meant to look like a yule log.  Buche packs in dried cranberries, ground almonds, and brandy, which sounds good enough to eat!  But there's also kaolin for deep cleansing, cocoa butter and soy glycerine for supreme hydration!  Like all cleansing rolls, these can also be used on the body.  Most cleansing rolls have ground almonds included for a nice scrub!  These babies come to the store wrapped in recycled cardboard and recyclable wrappings.  When unrolled from their packaging, they look like uncut swiss rolls, one big log of face cleansing goodness.  Then we as Lush employees weigh, cut, and pot these babies so everyone can enjoy them!

When my Let the Good Times Roll ran out, I quickly snagged a pot of this stuff, curious about it since Bossman hates it with a passion ("it just doesn't make sense!" he says, emphasizing his point with a dramatic wave of arms.  "Why bring out a cleanser JUST for Christmas?!").  I can definitely see his point of view, but that's one thing I love about Lush.  I'm a very non-commitable person when it comes to anything and everything (my romantic history is a travesty and clear example of such).  I like to switch things up lest I get bored, and I found a great opportunity with Buche! 

To me, Buche de Noel smells like the delicious almond bread my mom will sometimes bake (which she hasn't done in a while...I should ask her to bake me a loaf the next time I'm home!) with a slight seaweed scent that doesn't spoil the overall scent.  The texture and even appearance are very similar to Angels on Bare Skin, and the ability to mix it into a paste was similar as well.  Since Buche has a very crumbly consistency, one needs to pack the cleansing roll quite tightly as to not have chunks fly everywhere when you mix it into a paste.  I enjoy it though.  I'm one of those people that savors a shower, staying in as long as time and hot water will allow, and this only adds to my experience.  So I took a chunk the size of a chickpea, added water, vigorously mixed it into a face, and washed my face.  The ground almonds were soft, but still scrubby enough to leave me feeling invigorated, and the smell was intoxicating and made me hungry.  When I rinsed my skin felt very soft and supple, but not like there was a layer of something making it feeling that way.  My skin looked bright and fresh and felt pillowy soft. 

With time and continued use, I found Buche de Noel made my skin soft, bright, even, and lessened the impact of my monthly hormonal breakouts (I enjoy being a girl).  While I am bummed this only comes out once a year, it gives me another reason to look forward to Christmas at Lush!  I highly recommend anyone who needs a bit of extra moisture and care in the dry winter months pick up a pot of this.  It's very much worth it!

**Buche de Noel is certified Vegan

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