Review // Lush Christmas 2015

The release of the Lush Christmas collection really heralds the start of the festive season and it's always super exciting to find out the new releases. Unfortunately, this always mean retiring a few and I'm gutted that this year three of my favourites- Christmas Penguin, Christmas Eve and Melting Snowman- have been relegated to the retirement home. We do, however, have some really incredible new products so swings and roundabouts!

BATH BOMBS
Star Dust This year, Lush have not brought back the usual Star Light, Star Bright melt but have replaced it with this understated Star Dust bath bomb. The dust part is very accurate- it's very powdery. Be careful when smelling it as I ended up accidentally snorting a load of star dust! The fragrance is a simple, but very strong, vanilla and it's a very fast fizzer. However, I found it seems to lack substance and doesn't seem quite enough to fill my (very average-sized) bath. Due to the surprising blue centre, it turns the water a foggy ice blue with multicoloured, biodegradable confetti stars. A nice, warming product but not one of the most memorable.

Dashing Santa This little Santa is a firm favourite so I'm not surprised he returned this year. Apparently, he is named "Dashing" Santa because his feet dissolve first, giving the impression of him running. This wasn't true of mine at all! He is a very slow fizzer and releases a super citrussy, uplifting fragrance of bergamot and mandarin while turning the bathwater a bright salmon shade.

Butterbear
I loved Butterbear last year so I'm really glad he's back again. Half bath bomb, half bath melt, Butterbear is a super duper moisturising little fella with globules of cocoa butter which turns the bath water- and skin- slippery soft. The warm, comforting scent of cocoa and ylang ylang lingers on the skin for ages. Butterbear is always one of my favourites, and I'm pleased to see a gift set dedicated to Butterbear this year!
Yog Nog 
I'm not much one for soaps- I find them really drying- so I've never used Yog Nog, although I love the scent of it. Luckily for me, this year Lush have released a Yog Nog bath bomb with exactly the same fragrance as the original soap. It's a warm, creamy marzipan scent with a touch of aniseed, although this isn't listed as a fragrance. In fact, it smells very similar to May Day. Once dissolved, it turns the bathwater into a bright lime shade. 
Luxury Lush Pud Another one of my favourites, Luxury Lush Pud may replace Christmas Eve as my Christmas Eve bath product. With a soft lavender fragrance, it's super relaxing and soothing. The Christmas pudding design is adorable and it turns the bathwater a dusky lilac shade with swirls of rainbow colours. I love it!
Father Christmas Father Christmas must be a really popular product because he's an old reliable to return year-on-year but, for me, I never find him particularly memorable. Case in point: After using him this year, I thought "Is this the same fragrance as usual?" Reading last year's review reveals that I was disappointed as it was listed on the site as Snow Fairy scented and mine wasn't, so that explains it. This year, my Father Christmas definitely had that sweet, candy fragrance and turned my bath water a bright emerald turquoise.
Shoot for the Stars

When I went to Lush Oxford Street to stock up on the Christmas products, they didn't seem to have Shoot for the Stars so I thought they'd discontinued it. Thankfully, when I went to the Southampton store, I noticed that they did have them after all. I'm very glad as Shoot for the Stars is one of the products I always look forward to. With a lovely toffee caramel scent with orange and bergamot, it turns the water a deep blue. It's fun to watch dissolve too as the outer shell dissolves a lot more slowly than the inside, meaning it whizzes around like a hamster wheel.
Cinders After my disappointments of 2014 and 2013 with Cinders, I deliberately picked the one with the strongest scent I could find. Imagine my upset when it still gave off no fragrance in my bath. I had a real disappointment with this one because not only did it not smell of anything but it also didn't dissolve properly and the popping candy didn't pop. It just sat on the bottom of the bath in a weird wet yellow powder until I used my hands to stir it up. What a let down! 
So White So White is definitely a Christmas staple and I absolutely love it! It has a super fresh apple scent and is completely understated with the plain white ball and just turning the water murky. There's no bells or whistles with So White. It's all about that delicious fragrance.
Golden Wonder Golden Wonder is always an absolute delight with its strong citrus fragrance like sherbert lemons. It's massive so fills up the entire bath with a deep emerald shade and that zesty, fruity fragrance. I adore it!
BUBBLE BARS & MELTS
Snow Angel Although Snow Angel is absolutely coated in glitter, it's actually not as sparkly as it seems. Yes, it does leave glitter on my skin but it's more of a subtle shimmer. As it slowly melts into the bathwater, it leaves a warm, biscuity fragrance of benzoin and cocoa butter which leave a soft, delicate scent on the skin, which is left soft and moisturised. Surprisingly, considering the white and gold colour, it turns the bathwater a bright shade of lime.
Peeping Santa Peeping Santa is a new, super cute bubble bar which is very similar to the old-style bubbleroons. His soft, sweet fragrance took me ages to work out, until one of the staff members at Lush Southampton pointed out that it's the same strawberry scent as D'Fluff. As you might imagine, this little cutie turns the bathwater an orangey-red but he also has something of a moisturising element which is a nice bonus.
Holly Golightly I loved Holly Golightly so much last year that I stocked up and had actually just finished my last bar when the new collection was released. With a super festive, spicy fragrance of cinnamon and cloves, and a slight lustre, Holly Golightly is larger than most bubble bars so it goes a long way. In this festive spirit, it turns the bathwater a deep emerald green.
Candy Mountain I'm going to say it: I'm a bit bored of Candy Mountain. I loved it at first but, to be honest, how many Snow Fairy-scented products do we need? Between this, Magic Wand, Father Christmas and, y'know, actual Snow Fairy, it's just too much. Pro tip: Use Snow Fairy as a bubble bath and it will go much further than a bubble bar. Moving on to the actual review, though, Candy Mountain doesn't leave the bath or skin glittery, despite its shimmery appearance, and unfortunately turns water something of a slightly pink grey shade.
Bar Humbug A new product, Bar Humbug is definitely one for those people who, like me, are getting fed up of candyfloss fragrances year on year. With a citrus liquorice fragrance of bergamot and fennel, it's more of a spicy scent that lingers on the skin. Although it's a little smaller than similar bubble bars, half a bar is enough for one bath and it turns the water violet.
Magic of Christmas I was so excited to try Magic of Christmas. It's a bubble bar wand, similar to the classic Magic Wand, but with an Actual Cinnamon Stick for a stick. Capitalised for emphasis. When I gave it a sniff in-store, it had a deliciously warm marzipan scent, with hints of aniseed. However, I think I left it a little too long, because I found there was very little fragrance pay-off when I used it. However, I am glad to find that you can get a good five or six baths out of the wand and the glitter turns into a slight lustre in the yellow-orange bathwater. It's a shame it wasn't what I expected but I'll definitely buy a fresher one and try again.
Magic Wand Another Snow Fairy fragrance. Great. Like Magic of Christmas, this wand gives at least five baths with a good amount of bubbles and a pink-coloured bath. The candy fragrance is always very strong but it's cheaper to buy a bottle of Snow Fairy shower gel and use it as a bubble bar.
Five Gold Rings Another new release that I was really excited to try. I love the unique way of presenting this bubble bar as each ring is the perfect amount of product for one bath. In fact, if you wanted to stretch it out even further, you could probably get away with using half a ring. Like many of the other shimmery products, it isn't actually as glittery as you'd expect, so you don't get out looking like a disco ball. With elements of vanilla and tonka, it's a warm fragrance and leaves the bath an orange-yellow shade. 
SHOWER & SKIN
Christingle Body Conditioner
I'd never used a body conditioner before this but man, am I converted! Christingle is a thick, bright blue cream that you slather your body in before rinsing off- just like you would a hair conditioner. One of the best things about this product is that it never seems to go down. I use a generous slathering each time but the pot still seems to stay just as full as it was when I bought it. My absolute favourite thing, however, is the fragrance. With peppermint, spearmint and a hint of grapefruit, it is a full-on minty slap in the face. My skin feels incredibly soft and smooth after use, with a strong lingering scent of mint. Then comes the product's secret, and the reason for its name- as you dry off, the menthol crystals kick into overdrive and your skin tingles all over with a cooling sensation. Probably would have preferred this effect in a summer product, rather than using it when I'm already cold, but still really interesting. The downside? It's stupidly expensive at £16.50 for a 225g pot. I probably wouldn't have even picked it up if I'd paid attention to the price when I bought it but I'm glad I did! I go to Christingle every Christmas Eve so, now that Lush have continued the Christmas Eve bubble bar, I might need to make this my new Night Before Christmas tradition!
Salt and Peppermint Bark Shower Scrub
Ooh this is candy cane goodness in a scrub! The fragrance is pretty much entirely down to peppermint oil, although cocoa and cupuacu butter make it super moisturising, and sea salt scrubs away all the dead skin. Like the Rub Rub Rub solid scrub, I've found it's a bit gentle for my liking- although I tried it on wet skin rather than dry- but it does make my skin touchably smooth afterwards. I like to use this scrub with Christingle for double the softness and double the peppermint.
Icing on the Cake Roulade
First of all, what the hell is a roulade? When they were released in Oxford Street, I just ignored them but now they've been rolled out (rouled out? heh) nationwide, I couldn't deny them anymore. Turns out these roulades are just the old shower smoothies in naked, solid form. A little softer than a bar of soap, you use them in much the same way- either by rubbing over your skin or by lathering in your hands first. When I gave Icing on the Cake a little sniff in-store, I wasn't overwhelmed. In fact, I could hardly smell anything at all. However, once I got home, I was pleasantly surprised. Icing on the Cake has a gorgeously subtle, sugary fragrance of cream, cocoa, almond oil and citrus peels, and was completely overpowered by the other scents inside the shop. It is easy enough to use although, far from the moisturising effect I was expecting, I found it made my skin dry in much the way Lush soaps do. It's a shame as it smells absolutely incredible.
Santa's Belly
The Snowman shower jelly is one of my favourite Lush products ever, so I couldn't wait to try out this new festive jelly. Unlike Snowman, Santa's Belly is a really easy shape to use as he's not formed into a fancy figure. Instead he's just an easy-to-hold block with cute stars hidden within. Jellies are super slippery so this makes a big difference. I was gutted that Lush didn't return So White shower gel but this jelly has a very similar apple fragrance, so I'll let them off! Unfortunately it doesn't seem to lather as much as other shower jellies but the scent is so lovely that I'll forgive them!
Cranberry Face Mask
I'm not a fan of cranberries but I still had to try this face mask. Needless to say, I wasn't a fan of the zesty fragrance but that's just my personal preference. I know there are lots of cranberry fans who would love this. The mask is a dusky pink shade and has a thick clay-like consistency that is easy to apply without it dropping all over the place. Afterwards, I found my face felt smooth and soft, and had a natural rosy shade. I may not purchase it again but I'd recommend giving it a go if you like cranberries.
Buche de Noel
Buche de Noel is a returning product but this is the first time I've tried it. Like most Lush cleansers, it's a bit of a pain to use as you have to mix it with water to form a paste which is both time-consuming and messy. It has a really interesting mix of ingredients, with satsuma, almonds and cranberries but one of the strongest notes is the brandy (Lush do also sell a non-alcoholic version if you can't use the alcohol-based products). After use, my face felt really deeply cleansed and soft. One of the great things about Lush cleansers is that they last absolutely ages so I wouldn't be surprised if I still have this next Christmas!
WHAT'S MISSING?
As you can see, I didn't review the entire range here because there are certain products that I don't want or need, and I'm not going to buy them just to review. Although I mentioned earlier that Snowman is my favourite ever shower jelly, I still have two pots from last year so I didn't see the sense in buying more right now (though I'll probably stock up on some later). I also still have bottles of Rose Jam and Snow Fairy from last year and I never buy Lush soaps because I find them really drying. Celebrate body lotion is something I keep meaning to pick up but just haven't got round to yet. If I do, I'll post its own mini-review. Then there's the gift sets, which I've made clear I'm not a fan of since you pay extra for the packaging (although they are worth it to get sold-out products in the half price Boxing Day sales). 
Yet again, Lush have pulled it out of the bag this Christmas. Although I haven't forgiven them for getting rid of Christmas Eve, Christmas Penguin and Melted Snowman, some of the new products- in particular Christingle and Icing on the Cake- are absolute triumphs.
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