Review: Lush Rub Rub Rub

Not another Lush review I hear you cry - but surely you can't have too much Lush in your life? 

I certainly can't. 

I do intend to do a 'best of'/recommended Lush product post in the very near future, but these will be basic summaries of my favourite products, whereas I like to go into a lot more detail in my individual reviews. 

This time it is the turn of Rub Rub Rub shower scrub, a delightful concoction which Lush say can be used on both the body and hair. Interesting.

First things first, the packaging.
As part of their 'Green Incentives', Lush try to use as little packaging as possible in their shops, and about half their product range can be taken home 'naked', such as bath bombs, massage bars, shampoo bars and so on (although they do usually give you a recycled paper bag, to save mess in transit!).

Where packaging is required - such as for Rub Rub Rub - they try to use recycled materials, with 90 per cent of packing materials being of recycled origin. The black recycled tubs which have became rather synonymous with Lush are both recycled and recyclable, and as an eco-friendly incentive Lush will give you a free face mask of your choice when you bring back 5 clean pots/tubs/tubes.

I personally like the simplicity of the packaging designs, and Rub Rub Rub's screw-top pot means it's easy to scoop out product whilst in the bath or shower without any fiddly bits!

The product itself (a fairly generous 330g, which retails for £7.95 - for comparison's sake, Soap and Glory's Sugar Crush is £8.00 for 300ml) is a bright blue, highly salt-concentrated paste, with a very unique smell that I can't quite put my finger on - Lush describe it as blossom-scented sea salt, with Orange Flower, Jasmine and Mimosa as key notes in the mix. A lovely scent nonetheless, it doesn't particularly apply itself to either men or women, making it an ideal unisex product.

When used in the shower on wet skin it is almost like a cleansing shower gel, but for real scrub effect it is best used on dry skin before stepping under running water - not for the sensitive skinned out there, but perfect if you like it rough! - to leave skin very smooth and receptive to moisturiser. 

I am not a fake tan user, therefore I can't comment on how this might affect fake tan application afterwards, but it does leave a very slight moisturising oil on the skin, which might make it better suited to post rather than pre fake tan.

A couple of other uses for this product as suggested by Lush is as a refreshing foot scrub (which I can vouch for, especially if the Volcano Foot Mask is used afterwards) and also to wash hair with, as sea salt is known to add volume to hair. 

I've not yet been brave enough to put this near my tresses (I can't get my head round how it would work - how on earth would I get all the salt out my mane?!), but I might use the last bit of product i've got left and give it a go...i'm sure you'll hear about it on Twitter if it's a disaster!

Like a large majority of Lush products, Rub Rub Rub is preservative free, which means no nasty parabens that can be absorbed by the skin, and recommended to be used 'fresh' (although it does come with a use-by date - mine is October this year). 

Disappointingly it does contain SLES (or Sodium Laureth Sulphate - not dissimilar to Sodium Lauryl Sulphate, which is used to create the 'foam' in shampoos, shower gels and so on), a chemical detergent  and foaming agent or surfactant (as it is chemically known) which can be irritating to the skin. 

In the 'Ingredients' page on their website,  you can find out how Lush justify the use of this chemical (amongst many, many other ingredients - it really is quite fascinating, especially for a would-be skincare geek like me!) in their products - in a nutshell it is to allow water and oil to become dispersed (i.e. with their bubble bars) and hence allow the mechanical removal of dirt. 

Despite this, I personally have not experienced any irritation with Rub Rub Rub (and i've got quite tempremental, psoriasis-prone skin), and they do make up for the use of chemicals and perfume with lots of other lovely ingredients:

Fine Sea Salt, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Fresh Organic Lemon Juice, Water, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Jasmine Flower Infusion,Mimosa Absolute, Orange Flower Absolute,Jasmine Absolute, Lemon Oil, Lactic Acid, Lauryl Betaine, *Limonene, Perfume, Colour 42090, Colour 45410

(Black = safe synthetic, Green = natural ingredient)

I would really recommend this as a refreshing once-a-week treat for your body, and Lush are really good with their free samples, so if you fancy trying this but don't want to fork out the £7.95 at first, pop into your local store and ask for a sample. 

Tell them I sent you!