LUSH Valentine's Day 2016

It's February, so that means hearts, chocolates, and rom-coms abound! Of course, this also means the return of LUSH's limited edition Valentine's Day collection. As usual, it's full of romantic scents and sweet pink hues.

Returning from previous years are The Kiss lip scrub and Unicorn Horn bubble bar. Prince Charming shower cream and The Kiss lip gloss are billed on the LUSH website as new, but imo they're sort of a grey area; they've been available before, but the formulations have changed this year.

The one truly new addition is Roses All The Way soap. This is a heart-shaped, rose-patterned solid soap made with rose oil and rose infusion. The result is a hydrating soap (that fits perfectly in the palm in my hand!) with a mild, fresh rose scent. This won't be an explosion of rose and floral--the scent is more subtle and would be a good pick for someone that finds LUSH's other rose-scented products too overwhelmingly rose.

I originally thought that this year's The Kiss lip gloss was just last year's tinned The Kiss (review here) in a convenient tube format, but this isn't quite right. This version is packed with even more hydrating ingredients for super-soft lips: the shea butter, agave syrup, cupacu butter, and glycerin from the tin version is now joined by jojoba oil, coconut oil, illipe butter, and candelilla wax. The tube also looks more shimmery; application leaves lips with a silvery sheen (I'd prefer to do without it, but still works okay on me). The pink tint is much less present in the tube version though. In last year's review, you can see a soft pink colour to my pigmented lips, whereas the tube version imparts no colour at all. This year's The Kiss is more lip balm than lip gloss, but it's a fabulous lip balm with a sweet, bubblegum scent--very hydrating and emollient.


But before you put on that lovely lip balm, be sure to exfoliate first! The Kiss lip scrub is a favourite of mine, because it made me realize how awesome lip scrubs are (last year's review here)! No face towel or toothbrush can compare to the scrubbing effectiveness of The Kiss' caster sugar and fine sea salt, combined with hydrating safflower oil and cocoa butter. I'm happy that this year's jar seems to have less sprinkles and hearts, because they just get in the way of the scrubbing action!

Prince Charming shower cream seems to be a new incarnation of Prince Charming shower gel (review here). It seems about the same in terms of the ingredients list (vanilla pod, marshmallow root, pomegranate juice, etc), but the texture is thicker and the colour is a deeper, more vivid pink. It still has the same sweet, slightly fruity, candy-like fragrance, and compared to Roses All The Way, the scent is stronger and lingers on the skin more afterwards.

dat shimmer!

Last is the rainbow Unicorn Horn. This bubble bar creates shimmery, pastel-coloured bath water with a scent that's both relaxing and uplifting with lavender, ylang ylang, and neroli oils. You folks know I don't take baths, but this sounds perfect for a quiet night in, whether you're sharing your bubble bath with your partner or enjoying it all to yourself.

Although they're not specifically part of the Valentine's Day collection, I also recommend checking out LUSH's range of massage bars to get a romantic night going! The scents range from bright and citrusy (Each Peach, Shades of Earl Grey) to sexy (Yes Yes Yes, Tender is the Night).

Overall, my favourites from the collection are still the dynamic duo of The Kiss lip scrub and lip gloss. Get these if you want pillowy-soft lips! What products do you use to get your lips makeout-ready?


Available at LUSH: Roses All The Way ($7.95 CAD / 100 g); The Kiss lip scrub ($9.95 CAD / 25 g); The Kiss lip gloss ($8.95 CAD / 5 g); Prince Charming shower cream ($9.95 CAD / 100 ml); Unicorn Horn bubble bar ($7.95 / 100 g)

Roses All The Way ingredients: glycerin, fresh rose infusion (Rosa damascena), rapeseed oil, coconut oil (Brassica napus, Cocos nucifera), sorbitol, kaolin, water (aqua), sodium stearate, rose syrup, talc, fragrance, rose oil (Rosa damascena), titanium dioxide, sodium chloride, sodium hydroxde, EDTA, tetrasodium editronate, citronellol, benzyl alcohol, alcohol, lilial, geraniol, Red 4, Red 33

The Kiss lip scrub ingredients: caster sugar, safflower oil (Carthamus tinctorius), fine sea salt, fair trade organic cocoa butter (Theobroma cacao), red edible hearts (hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose, glycerin, gum arabic, sodium carboxy methyl cellulose, Red 40), flavor, Sicilian mandarin oil (Citrus reticulata), almond essential oil (Prunus amygdalus amara), corn starch (Zea mays), geraniol, limonene, Red 7 Lake, Red 30, soft pink lustre (mica, calcium sodium borosilicate, titanium dioxide, Red 28, tin oxide)

The Kiss lip gloss ingredients: fair trade shea butter (Butyrospermum parkii), Kalahari melon oil (Citrullus lanatus), Japan wax (Rhus succedanea), organic jojoba oil (Simmondsia chinensis), illipe butter (Shorea stenoptera), extra virgin coconut oil (Cocos nucifera), cupuacu butter (Theobroma grandiflorum), candelilla wax (Euphorbia cerifera), sunflower wax (Helianthus annuus seed wax), glycerin, caprylic/capric triglyceride, organic agave syrup (Agave tequilana), Flavor, Sicilian mandarin oil (Citrus nobilis), almond essential oil (Prunus amygdalus amara), guarana seed powder (Paullinia cupana), polyvinylpyrrolidone (pvp), synthetic fluorphlogopite, titanium dioxide, tin oxide, cetearyl alcohol, calcium aluminum borosilicate, polymethylsilsesquioxane, methicone, geraniol, limonene, Red 7 Lake

Prince Charming shower cream ingredients: water (aqua), sodium laureth sulfate, sodium cocoamphoacetate, marshmallow root decoction (water, Althaea officinalis), fair trade vanilla pod decoction (water, Vanilla planifolia), stearic acid, fragrance, lauryl betaine, propylene glycol, fresh organic pomegranate juice (Punica granatum), grapefruit oil (Citrus paradisi), sandalwood oil (Santalum austro-caledonicum vieill), geranium oil (Pelargonium graveolens), almond oil (Prunus dulcis), mica, titanium dioxide, citronellol, farnesol, geraniol, limonene, linalool, Red 33, Red 27, Red 4, methylparaben

Unicorn Horn bubble bar ingredients: sodium bicarbonate, cream of tartar (potassium bitartrate), sodium laureth sulfate, lauryl betaine, corn starch (Zea mays), fragrance, lavender oil (Lavandula augustifolia), ylang ylang (Cananga odorata), neroli oil (Citrus aurantium amara), citral, limonene, linalool, Yellow 8, Red 27, Yellow 10, Yellow 5, mica, Blue 1 Lake, titanium dioxide, maltodextrin, copper powder