It's not very often that I don't recognise a product that appears on the Lush Kitchen menu. In fact, since the introduction of the Kitchen some three years ago, there have only ever been two items that have stumped me into having to carry out a little research. The first was Aqua Mirabilis Underwater Body Butter, of which I didn't even realise there were two variations of the same product, and the second was this recent release.
Scrumptious Shower Smoothie reads exactly as it means to go on. While the company are known for using witty puns to name their products, and using tongue-in-cheek taglines to entice their customers, this one is as literal as you can get. At first glance, it could even be accused of being a little presumptuous, and has a lot to live up to given the bold statement that is its name. Thankfully, Lush are fully aware of how to make something both smell and behave scrumptiously, and I cannot stress how amazing this product is.
First released over seventeen years ago, this shower smoothie has been described as being both like a 'blueberry parfait' and a fruit salad. Boasting a myriad of different fruity ingredients, it is no wonder that the outcome is a product that completely blew my mind upon first sniff, and one that I continue to use on an almost daily basis.With a base made from a blueberry infusion, and a combination of fresh orange juice, mashed bananas, and lemon and lime oil making up the other key components, this shower smoothie smells like the world's greatest desert. From the tub I could immediately smell both the bananas and the blueberries - a pairing that produces a rich, creamy fruity smell, and reminds me a little of homemade ice cream. It's by no means an overly powerful smell, but it's strong enough that you'll be hard-pressed not to want to stick a spoon in the tub and shove a mountain of the smoothie into your mouth. Disclaimer: I should probably add that curiosity got the better of me and I did attempt to eat some, which only heeded disappointing results.
Both the lime and the lemon oils are also present in the aroma of this smoothie. However, there isn't any citrus notes to observe here; it's strictly a fruity smell, and one that is interestingly sweet without being what I would describe as uplifting or zesty in any way. Strangely, you almost get a note of raspberry bubblegum when you smell this in the pot - a factor that just made me fall in love with this product even more.
For those unsure what a shower smoothie is, Scrumptious is like a soap that has been pulverised into a liquid, and had extra oils and butters added to make it more moisturising for the skin. You use it in the same way you would a shower gel - lathering it across your body and then washing it away under running water.
Impressively, I found that this particular smoothie foamed up a lot better than most of the other ones I have tried from Lush. Usually, I find that they coat the skin but don't work in the same way that both a soap or a shower gel would be expected to do. However, Scrumptious Shower Smoothie lathers up a treat and you need very little to clean your whole body with. For this reason, I would say that this is one of the better valued variations, and lasts a lot longer than most of its siblings. Judging by how much I have used so far, I would say that you could easily get a good 20+ full body washes out, and even more you're only using it on specific areas. As if the fragrance wasn't enough to make me fall in love with this product to begin with, I was amazed to find that I could smell it on my skin for a good couple of hours after I had towelled myself down. Moreover, I found that if I used this before I went to bed, the smell of fresh blueberries and banana would still be on my pillow the next morning, which was a welcoming reward first thing in the morning.
I should point out that I would refrain from using this on areas that have recently been shaved, or use this as an alternative to shaving foam, as I found that it irritated my pores and caused them to either sting a little, or come out in a rash for a short white after bathing. However, this rule applies to most of Lush's soap-based products, so I wouldn't expect anything different with this one.
Overall, this is by far my favourite shower smoothie for Lush, and its name really does describe how this product smells and works in the shower. While my skin didn't feel as moisturised as a shower gel would make it, it was definitely a step up from a normal piece of soap, and I feel a smoothness once I had towelled myself down.
Ultimately, I really hope that the Lush Kitchen choose to bring this back in the near future because I'm getting dangerously close to finishing my first tub, and the idea of not having this as a permanent fixture in my bathroom, is a little disheartening.
Quantitative Ingredients: Blueberry Infusion, Walnut Oil, Glycerine, Vegetable Soap, Fresh Orange Juice, Sodium Lauryl Sulphate, Fresh Banana, Lime Oil, Lemon Oil, Methyl Paraben, Propyl Paraben.
Vegan?: Yes.
2016 Price: £10.50 for 250g.
Year Of Original Release: 1998.
