Christina Alyce Beauty

Sugar Babe was in the Lush Kitchen the very first time I discovered the Kitchen, and among a few other items, made it into my first order. The description sounded lovely - like a softer, floral version of Sugar Scrub, a product that has become a staple in my stash. 

Once my order arrived, I unwrapped Sugar Babe, and I could already tell it was going to be a lovely scrub. Presenting itself in a form reminiscent of a half snowball, this pure white scrub bar is the same size and shape as Sugar Babe, but much softer and more crumbly to the touch.  My only issue with Sugar Scrub is that it is very abrasive, and I need to break it down before use, but that can be difficult because it is very dense and not easy to break. Sugar Babe on the other hand, is easily segmented into the perfect amount for multiple showers. I chose to cut mine into quarters so that this will last me 4 showers. Upon slicing into it (I used a knife for better accuracy but this could be broken by hand just as easily) it revealed a bright red dot on the interior. I don’t think this burst of color serves any skin-benefiting function, but it does look pretty. 

When using Sugar Babe, it is important to keep it out of the flow of the water, because since it is all sugar, it will dissolve quickly. I place the segment that I’m about to use on the side of the tub, and the rest is stored in a recycled black pot in my bathroom closet, safe from humidity. After I wash and rinse my skin thoroughly, I step out of the direct stream of the shower head, and take my segment of Sugar Babe in hand, and crumble it into a mound of what looks like granulated sugar. I rub the granules all over my skin, in gentle circular motions, then rinse off.

Sugar Babe is a wonderful everyday exfoliant. It’s probably not the most effective on areas that need heavy duty exfoliation, but for gentle exfoliation a few times a week, it works beautifully. Aside from exfoliating, it does a lovely job moisturizing the skin. Coconut oil and beeswax work to lock in moisture, so when paired with the exfoliating sugar, you’re left with soft and hydrated skin. I didn’t feel at all greasy after this either.

This scrub is strongly scented, and the perfume lingers on your skin for a long time after use. Ylang Ylang, and Mimosa offer a very floral scent, that I found to be very slightly powdery. Coconut oil also offers a slight hint of creamy sweetness, though I think a more pronounced coconut scent would be beautiful, because I’m not a huge fan of floral scents.

Overall, this scrub is a fantastic choice for those who enjoy Sugar Scrub, but crave a gentler and more moisturizing alternative. It’s lingering floral scent is sure to please any floral lovers as well.

Rating: 4.5/5

Price: £3.50

Status: Discontinued/Kitchen Exclusive

Vegan?: No, contains Beeswax

Would I repurchase? Yes

Ingredients:  Fair Trade Sugar, Sodium Bicarbonate, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (Cocos nucifera), Cream of Tartar (Tartaric Acid), Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Mimosa Absolute (Mimosa tenuiflora), Beeswax Absolute (Cera alba), Ylang Ylang Oil (Cananga odorata), Cocamide DEA, Lauryl Betaine, *Coumarin, Benzyl Salicylate, Perfume, Colour 73360 * Occurs naturally in Essential Oils

I was intrigued by the charitable aspect of this hand cream, and I was on the hunt for a new lotion to keep on my desk at work. This little black pot is full of nourishing ingredients, and 100% of the proceeds go towards various grassroots organizations. You can read all about the Charity aspect of the product and the company’s SLush Fund initiative here. 

This lotion contains moisturising ingredients such as olive oil, jojoba oil, aloe vera, shea butter and cocoa butter. This makes for a nourishing cream. I was a little unsure at first because it ends to be a little greasy if you put too much on, but overall it is very hydrating and it has a beautifully silky texture. I also find that the “greasiness” left behind feels more like a protective barrier against dehydration, which makes this a great cream for winter. 

When I smelled this lotion for the first time, I immediately thought of a little Italian bakery I pop into from time to time. I’m not sure how the geranium, rosewood, ylang ylang, and vanilla essential oils combine to create that doughy, sweet smell, but I swear it does. The scent is quite strong when you first apply the lotion, but after 15 minutes or so, it mellows out to a gentle sweet fragrance, pretty much undetectable unless you put your hands right up to your nose.

I love the creamy luxurious feel and the charitable aspect of this cream. This is the first lotion I have tried from Lush, and I’m really excited to see what else they have to offer!

Rating: 5

Price: Small £6.95/$6.95 for 95g/1.7oz or Large £13.50/$25.95 for 240g/8.4oz

Status: Permanent, charity item

Vegan? Yes

Would I repurchase?: Yes

Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Fair Trade Olive Oil (Olea europaea), Glycerine, Organic Jojoba Oil (Simmondsia chinensis), Moringa Oil (Moringa Oleifera), Fair Trade Cocoa Butter (Theobroma cacao), Stearic Acid, Fresh Aloe Gel (Aloe Secundiflora), Fair Trade Shea Butter (Butyrospermum parkii), Triethanolamine, Geranium Oil (Pelargonium graveolens), Rosewood Oil (Aniba rosaeodora), Ylang Ylang Oil (Cananga odorata), Fair Trade Vanilla Absolute (Vanilla Planifolia), Cetearyl Alcohol, *Citronellol, *Coumarin, Geraniol, *Linalool, *Limonene, Fragrance . *Occurs naturally in essential oils

I ordered this bubble bar while it was still  a UK exclusive, so I didn’t have a chance to smell it before purchase. When it arrived, I was pretty surprised at the scent. On the website, it lists orange oil and patchouli oil as the main fragrances, so I was expecting something citrus and earthy, perhaps softened by the skimmed milk. When I took this out of the box however, all I could smell was a very clean floral smell reminiscent of laundry detergent or baby wipes. I am not a fan of floral, soapy smells in the bath - I much prefer something sweet and fruity, or earthy and spicy. Despite this, the bubble bar contained skin softening ingredients like skimmed milk and cocoa butter so I decided to give it a try.

I popped he bar in my strainer and stuck it under the tap.When trying a new bubble bar I usually use the entire thing, just to see how many bubbles it can produce. While this bar produced a good amount of bubbles for this bath, it probably would not be worth it to spread the bar across two baths, as it wasn’t an impressive amount of bubbles by any means, and about ¼ of them dissipated within the first 5 minutes before leveling off to a standard amount of bubbles for the remainder of the bath.

I did notice the scent of the bar amplified upon meeting the water. I really couldn’t help but imagine myself soaking in a bath fragranced with nothing more than laundry detergent. While this would make a lovely scent for clean clothes, I don’t exactly want to bathe in it. I feel like lush missed an opportunity here. Perhaps it is the patchouli that gives this soapy scent, though I would find it surprising. If so, I feel like almond absolute or almond oil would’ve done an excellent job in it’s place, creating a sweet, soft scent as well as contributing wonderful skin nourishing properties, and mingling beautifully with the orange oil. Out of the bath, this left a light, clean fragrance on the skin that lasted for hours, and was much more pleasant than the overpowering scent in the bath.

This bar did soften the bath water, and I feel like it did a decent job at softening the skin, though once I removed myself from the tub I felt incredibly soapy, so I had to give myself a good rinse under the showerhead to make sure my skin didn’t get dried out. I don’t usually feel the need to have a super thorough rinse after other bubble bars like The Comforter or the old formulation of Karma, so I feel like that is a good indication of just how soapy this bubble bar is.

Overall, I feel like this bubble bar was not suited to my tastes, but those who enjoy a fresh and lightly floral scent will adore this. It doesn’t make for the most exciting looking bath because the water stays clear, but it produces a good amount of bubbles when you use the entire bar and smells very clean.

Rating: 3, Ok, but not my taste.

Price:  £3.75/ $7.95 ($2.15 more in the US, wtf!!!)

Status: Permanent Item, worldwide.

Vegan?: No, contains skimmed milk

Would I repurchase? No

Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Cream of Tartar (Potassium bitartrate), Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Lauryl Betaine, Skimmed Milk, Corn Starch (Zea Mays), Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter (Theobroma Cacao), Glycerine, Fragrance, Orange Oil (Citrus Sinensis), Patchouli Oil (Pogostemon cablin), Fair Trade Olive Oil (Olea europaea), Laureth 4, Silver Lustre and Silver Glimmer (Potassium Aluminium Silicate, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides, Corn Starch, Maltodextrin, Synthetic Mica), Amyl Cinnamal, Benzyl Salicylate, Lilial, Citronellol, Geraniol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Hydroxycitronellal, *Limonene, *Linalool . *Occurs naturally in essential oils