I've never been a fragrance kinda girl in the past, I absolutely detest most perfumes on the market and having to walk through the perfume section of a large department store is one of my worst nightmares! I feel like I'm suffocating! Even Lush shops are rather overbearing for me, with all the smells mingling into one another it can be very overpowering and makes me sneeze and my eyes start watering... although, of course, I love their products and individually they smell divine.
While I was in town with my friend Katie the other day, she pulled out a Lush solid perfume from her bag and I could not stop sniffing my wrists all day after I tried some on! I just had to research them when I got home, and spent ages on their website reading all the descriptions of the various fragrances and the customers' reviews. I came to the conclusion that I simply HAD to go and buy the Vanillary and Love perfumes as they sounded really "me" - and I certainly wasn't wrong!
I am now particularly obsessed with the Love fragrance. I adore its rich, warm apple and cinnamon scents and subtle hints of citrus. Vanillary is gorgeous as well, and is much stronger and sweeter than Love. My friend's boyfriend says she smells like a cake shop when he picks her up after work, and that's hours after she's applied it! It does seem to stay on the skin for a long time, much longer than Love, which only seemed to last me half a day before I had to reapply. Gerry also seems to agree that Vanillary is like a cake shop in stick-format, as he keeps trying to lick it off my wrists whenever I'm wearing it!
What I like about these fragrances, is that they are quite unique in the fact that they can smell different at various stages of the day. For example, when I first applied Love, the smell of flowers and apples was quite apparent. Later on, the warmth of the cinnamon began to come through, then the citrus became stronger, before finally just a slight flowery scent before it vanished. From reading all the reviews online it seems most of these perfumes react differently on each individual person, which I think is quite unusual and also another favourable point seeing as it makes it more unique.
Both fragrances I purchased cost €8.00 each, which is quite a bargain because the solid perfumes have many advantages over the sprays. They are not as strong, not alcohol based so do not irritate your skin, and will not cause a lot of mess like bottles do when they spill in your bag.
Go HERE to view their full range of solid perfumes, and also their limited edition perfumes which are available in the Dublin stores for a select amount of time. Some of the fragrances (Dirty and Ladyboy in particular) apparently also appeal to men, so beware...... they may be stolen by male occupants of your household! Next time I get around to trying another perfume I think I'll go for the Ginger one :)
Another new Lush product that I have tried which is totally vegan is their Toothy Tabs. These are solid tablets of toothpaste that you crush between your teeth then as it begins to foam you brush your teeth with a wet toothbrush. I tried Ultrablast, and I can definitely say that due to the slight abrasive nature it really made my teeth feel cleaner than ever before! They cost €3.45 for a packet of 40 tablets, but the cheapest comes in at €2.50 for 40. They come in an array of different flavours and one that even helps whiten your smile :) I'm really not going to go back to tubes of toothpaste after trying these. I just love them, and also the fact that there's less packaging and they are also fluoride, SLS and preservative free! WIN!
