Well! I've already dropped some hints, but this week is actually my ten-year anniversary at Now Smell This. My very first post, a review of Lush's Bathos Bubble Bar, went live on December 17th, 2006. I've used countless body products over the past decade, but I'm still shopping at Lush, so this review is a return to my (scented) roots.
Since this a busy and often stressful time of year, I've decided to focus on two lavender-fragranced products. Lavender (as you most likely know!) is recommended in aromatherapy as a calming influence. And it's certainly a time-tested ingredient, having been used since the ancient Roman Empire — its name even comes from the Latin verb "lavare," meaning "to wash," because the ancient Romans used fresh lavender sprigs to scent their bath water.
Sleepy Hand and Body Lotion (shown below) is a special product for the holiday season, and I scooped one up as soon as I saw it, because I've found Lush's hand creams to be top-notch and I love the idea of a lavender treat for bedtime. Sleepy is a lilac-tinted cream, thicker than Lush's Dream Cream (but with many of the same skin-soothing ingredients) but not as dense as Handy Gurugu.
Sleepy's fragrance will be familiar to fans of Lush's limited edition Twilight Shower Gel, because it's a blend of lavender, benzoin and tonka. The benzoin and the tonka add lots of warmth and sweetness to Sleepy's lavender, and there's a touch of patchouli somewhere in the mix, too. Its the kind of sugary-earthy scent that wouldn't have sold well before we all became acclimated to Angel and its Angel-spawn, but it's also the kind of thing that Lush does very well.
On the other hand, if you like your lavender straight up, you should give Serendipity (top image) a try. This soap (part of the year-round catalogue) is offered in circular bars, each with a "calming pale purple center" and "dreamy outer shell dotted with springs of real lavender." It's generously fragranced with real lavender oil, too, as well as chamomile (another soothing botanical!).
Like many Lush soaps, Serendipity can be somewhat drying on skin, so I've been saving it for washing my hands at the bathroom sink. It's pleasing to look at, and it's pleasing to use: its true lavender aroma (the chamomile is very subtle) is just the way it should be, gentle yet somehow bracing. Its scent carries into the air as I lather up and rinse, giving me a "spa moment" between ordinary household tasks.
Even if I weren't in the mood for lavender, I probably would have gravitated towards this soap just for its name. The dictionary definition for "serendipity" is "the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way," something I like to believe in. It's how I feel about my arrival at Now Smell This, and about many of the connections and conversations we've all shared here over the past ten years. Thank you, fellow aromaphiles.
Lush Serendipity Soap is available for $7.95 (100g); Sleepy Hand and Body Lotion is sold in 95g ($9.95) and 215g ($23.95) sizes. Both are available through Lush stores and the Lush website.
Hey, happy 10th!
Thanks, Olenska!!
Congrats on the milestone!!And keeping us interested in reading!X
Thanks for sticking with me, even when I’m wordy and I write so many posts about florals!!
Hey,we first chatted on Twitter….aaaaages ago!!,Miss Lipstickrose!That turned me onto the Malle line,esp the Lipstick Rose…hehe!x
Happy 10th anniversary! May you have many more here at NST.
Cheers, and thank you, Jalapeno! It’s the best place, isn’t it?
Yeppers!
Thank you, Jessica! Your articles are very soothing, like cybernetic lavender, most especially in these hard times we’re going through! I love the concept of serendipity, and the soap looks great. Thank you for reviewing it.
Okay, that’s one of my favorite comments ever! Now I want to form a band called Cybernetic Lavender. Or I would want to, if I were a performer of any kind…
I refuse to stop thinking and talking about small sensory pleasures during hard times. That’s when we need them more than ever, as you said!
Congratulations, and lovely review. I love Serendipity, and luckily (ha!) don’t find it drying at all. My only grumble is that a circular shaped bar of soap is hard to hold. (Tip: cut it in half.) The scent is just as you describe.
Loved Twilight shower gel but only discovered it after it was d/c and a SA sold me one of her last bottles. Sleepy sounds terrific – thanks!
Thank you! I loved Twilight… not just the scent, but that deep blue-purple color, which just made me happy for some reason.
Congratulations on ten years. I’m waiting for the 2 for 1 sale to pick up some of the limited editions. I’ve got my fingers crossed that the ones I want are still in stock by then. Did you see they also have a twilight scented dusting powder called Mr. Sandman? I don’t get along well with lush soaps. I find them goopy and overly pigmented. Their Fireside soap looks stunning but the lather is like Dijon mustard and leaves a real mess in the sink.
Oh, I love that day-after-Christmas sale! Let’s hope some good things are still left for us! Some of the soaps do get a little mushy — especially the more glycerin-based ones. This one is not messy, fortunately!
I always enjoy your reviews, Jessica. Congratulations on your 10th anniversary.
Thank you, dear Siciliana! Time flies!
Congratulations! I love Sleepy. It layers really nicely with lavender centric perfumes.
Yes! I guess I’ve been in the mood for lavender layering. Sleepy would be really nice under Caron’s Pour Un Homme or La Parfumerie Moderne’s Annees Folles.
Congrats on 10 scented years!
I haven’t been to Lush in a while and am trying to avoid it, though these sound tempting… I did have and like their Dreamwash. Non-drying and mild lavender scent that didn’t linger-which I prefer.
Dreamwash is nice and gentle! and Dream Cream has a very light lavender and chamomile scent, so soothing at bedtime!
Congratulations and thank you for the 10 years on NST! My sister loves lavendar and I’m looking for a good hand cream, so these recommendations will come in handy
Lush’s hand creams work so well for me! I’ve repurchased them many times…Helping Hands, Gurugu, Love and Light, Smitten. All smell good *and* are very effective!
Congratulations on your 10 years of NST! I’ve yet to buy my first LUSH product but Sleepy sounds rather tempting.
What?!! We must remedy that situation straightaway!!
Happy anniversary, Jessica. I share your love for Lush products. Sleepy lotion is lovely. As for Serendipity, is nice but a bit dull for my taste. My favorite Lush “lavender straight up” is French Kiss bubble bar.
Glannys, do you remember a soap they used to sell, a deeper purple/burgundy bar that had a scent of lavender and red wine? This was years and years ago…
You might mean Ooh La La soap – dark purple and decorated with flowers. The colour was so deep that the foam was purple too, and the soap looked and smell gorgeous. On the other hand it did not contain or smell of red wine, so maybe we are talking about different soaps.
Congratulations on your 10th anniversary, Jessica. I don’t use much from Lush these days, but I was an avid consumer of the output from their previous incarnation as Cosmetics To Go. My husband loved their True Grit soap, which was rosemary & pumice & smelled just lovely. I used their Botanomancy cleanser, toner & ‘steam cream’ moisturiser, plus a face pack type of thing which was honey & clover based & didn’t dry & crack, like so many similar products did years ago. I also used their Ginger fragrance, which was always commented on, & another called Hay, which was a men’s after shaving essential oil based product – but I used it as perfume & everyone commented on it also – it was divine. Their solids soaps were excellent, too. They weren’t widely known in the pre internet days, so I was always able to give unusual gifts to friends & family. I do like Lush, but CTG was in a league of its own & I still miss it all these years later.
Thank you, Carolyn! I really regret missing out on CTG. It sounds like it was a very special company happening at a very specific moment that has passed. I did like the Ginger perfume when Lush revived it in the early 2000s, though!!