(Review) African Paradise: It Means No Worries!

I don't know about you darling readers, but I am NOT a morning person.  There's nothing I dread more than hearing the shrill, incessant beeping of my alarm clock in the morning, going to turn it off but end up slamming my palm into my glasses, letting out a stream of curse words and praying that my glasses aren't broken, then five minutes later find said alarm clock and press snooze.  This practice usually repeats 2-4 times until I realize I'll be late for work, in which I pretty much ooze out of my warm, cozy bed and slither into the shower like the abnormally pale, night-dwelling creature I am. 

So by myself (and I'm guessing most of you, because I'm convinced morning people aren't human) not being a morning person, I like to keep my morning routine simple and not too complicated.  Because until I get that first taste of sweet heart palpitating caffeine, I'm pretty much comatose in the morning.  And because I'm not so much a morning person, sometimes I run late, which means I sometimes need to speed up my already simplistic morning routine.  Needless to say, African Paradise, LUSH's newest body conditioner has been a total game changer.

It kind of baffles me when people come into my shop and are completely confused as to what a body conditioner is.  Part of me kind of understands, but the other part is like "it says right there...on the...on the pot...right there."  For those of you that don't get what a body conditioner is, it's a conditioner for your body!  But for those who still don't understand it (and I do get some people who still don't get it after I've told them that, but that's okay, because I'm here to save the day!) I describe it as an in shower body lotion.  You wash with your soap or body wash of choice, then you smooth this on, do whatever you do in the shower (shave, wash your face, contemplate the meaning of life and existence as we know it) and rinse it off.  No need for lotion afterwards, because body conditioners do all the work that body lotion is supposed to!  And African Paradise is the newest to the body conditioner range, joining the classic Ro's Argan Body Conditioner (which smells DIVINE)!

LUSH staff box version of African Paradise

So when I bought my first full sized pot of African Paradise, I notice that it was a beautiful creamy cappuccino color as opposed to the slightly pastel white color of the one included in my staff box.  Still had the same scent though!  The scent is described as a "frangipani-scent"(which is a fancy word for Plumeria) and smells very light and powdery.  Honestly, it smells very similar to the new self preserving Charity Pot that should be out in September (which you can read all about here).  Among the frangipani (that's a fun word to say!  Just try it.  Say it out loud like, right now.  I'll know if you don't!) fragrance, there's also a smattering of fair trade, exotic ingredients from all over Africa!  For instance, the aloe, kalahari melon oil, and baobab oil included in African Paradise are from Kenya, completely fair trade, and very soothing if you had a long day out in the sun and have transformed into a human lobster hybrid.  Fair trade shea butter and fair trade moringa oil are both from Ghana and are super moisturizing.  It just blows my mind that everything in that little tub of goodness was once on a tree or harvested from somewhere in Africa.  Talk about an exotic bathing experience!  LUSH has also included fair trade vanilla into African Paradise, and we are the first company to EVER use fair trade vanilla!  But the best part about this new body conditioner.  It is totally and completely 100% self preserving, meaning no preservatives or parabens are included whatsoever.

Fun fact: LUSH includes hidden messages underneath the made by stickers!  Check some of yours out for a little message from the compounders!

So cut to a few days ago, to myself having my annual slapfest with my alarm clock's snooze button.  Realizing I hit it one too many times, I immediately rushed into the bathroom, obscenities streaming from my mouth like it was going out of style, leaving a trail of pajamas and underthings in my panic.  I hopped in the shower and furiously began scrubbing away, thankful that I'd washed my hair the night before.  In my sleep deprived haze, I remembered that I had bought my full sized tub not too long ago, and hastily rubbed every inch of skin down with the stuff.  I had previously used Ro's Argan and loved it, but I noticed how much lighter African Paradise felt on my skin than Ro's did (I still love Ro's though!).  After washing my face, I rinsed the conditioner off, patted myself dry, and marveled at how my skin felt, looked, and smelled.  The thing I still can't get over is how LIGHT it felt.  I was really surprised that something so light feeling could leave me so well moisturized.  And being that it was quite hot and humid out, the lightness was a welcome feeling as opposed to being sticky and gross.  I smelled very light and powdery, and my skin looked opalescent and even.  I was actually surprised I was awake enough to remember all of this!

Overall, I'm in love with African Paradise.  In my store amongst my coworkers, it's pretty much the universal favorite, and on the first day, we were selling it like CRAZY, and the customers are still coming back for more!  It's a fantastic product that feels so incredibly light, but moisturizing, and is made from quality, fair trade ingredients.  It's great if you don't like the feeling of lotion on your skin, or if you beat the snot out of your snooze button like I do.  I love demoing this on people and seeing their faces light up when they touch their arm.  It just makes me happy that I can love a product so much and show people why I love it, how it works, and why they'll love it too!

   
**This product is certified Vegan

**Pick up African Paradise at your local LUSH store, or buy it online HERE

(Review) Honey Bee: Bathtime Sweetness

I've been feeling just awful lately (hence no bathtime blog entry last week).  Allergies bite the big one.  All week I've been in a fog, with a clogged head, raw, itchy throat, dry eyes (as in dry enough that my coworker thought I was crying because they were so red) and a stuffy nose.  But on the positive, I get to experience the sweet satisfaction of having that one clogged nostril pop in the morning.  You know, that one clogged nostril you get when you're sick or have bad allergies.  Aww yeah, it's a great feeling!  So while I was feeling cruddy, I decided that I needed a nice, cleansing bath.  So I chose to have a sweet scented bath filled with soothing and cleansing clays!

 

Scented with the lovely Honey I Washed the Kids fragrance, Honey Bee is nice and sweet, but not too sweet!  HIWTK is one of my favorite scents from LUSH, and is my mother's all time favorite soap (I bought her a huge hunk of it for Mother's Day and I'm now convinced I'm the favorite child).  There's something about that salted caramel toffee scent that just makes my mouth water.  And I'm sure it made the inventor's mouth water too, as this was the whole point of the bath bomb!  Capturing HIWTK in a bath bomb!

Dragging my sorry butt to the bathroom, clutching my antihistamines and kleenex to my chest, I started up the bath tap and fished out the brown and yellow bomb.  Honey Bee may not be the prettiest bomb, but it's one of the sweetest smelling bombs!  The brown tone comes from the rhassoul mud, a rich clay that can only be mined from underground.  It's used to soften and cleanse the skin, and I needed a good deep clean.  Honey is also included (making this bomb vegetarian rather than vegan) to soften, and aloe vera to soothe.  It's fantastic if you have body acne or are just feeling like your skin is congested.

So into the tub Honey Bee plopped, immediately fizzing away.  The funniest complaint I hear about Honey Bee is that it makes the water yellow.  Well...DUH.  It's a yellow bath bomb, thus it will make your bath yellow.  Common sense really.  So I sat beside the tub, watching the bomb fizz as it sat rather close to the bottom.  It was quite a fast fizzer, gone within a few quick minutes.  It did turn my bath water a pale yellow, a color most people complained about as they found it looked like urine.  Well, if that looks like urine to you, some of you guys need to drink more water!  

Flakes of rhassoul mud clearly visible amongst the bath bomb froth

So I sank into the tub, sniffling away, massaging my temples with Vapo Rub in an effort to soothe my aching head.  The smell did fade a bit once dissolved.  I only caught occasional whiffs of it as I soaked.  And I didn't soak for long.  After about 30 minutes my legs started to get rather itchy.  Like I was wearing leggings full of sand.  I soaked for another 30 minutes, than clambered out, desperate for some body lotion.  I did find the scent clung to my newly cleansed skin quite well, smelling stronger on myself than it did in the bath, but I felt it did dry me out a bit.  I didn't like the itchy feeling it gave my legs.  It was very uncomfortable and I found I was hard pressed to even sit through the extra 30 minutes in the tub.  My skin can be a bit sensitive to the weirdest things, and I'm kind of glad I wasn't too fond of this bath bomb.  Because what didn't work for me might work for you and vise versa.  If your skin isn't as sensitive, or is head to toe oily, this bath bomb would be fantastic for you!  If you find you're more on the dry or sensitive side, I'd avoid it.  

Overall, this was a nice smelling bath bomb, but unfortunately made for an uncomfortable bathing experience. I loved how the smell stuck to my skin, but disliked how dry my legs felt afterward.  I still recommend you pick one up so you can try it for yourself!  The sweet toffee smell is hard to resist!

*This product is certified Vegetarian

*Purchase Honey Bee at your local LUSH store, or buy one online here

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