NEW Mouthwash Tabs from Lush

After the most amazing Lush filled week, I have finally found the time to get my 3rd and final post drafted up on the new mouthwash tabs from Lush. If you have been following my posts then you’d know that the wonderful people behind the Lush Kitchen kindly gifted me all 3 flavours prior to their release date last week.

I won’t repeat myself as I am eager to get on with my reviews, I will however leave you with 2 links just in case you missed my earlier posts on the subject, post one can be found here, as well as post 2 here.

I am going to start by writing a little bit about the concept behind a solid mouthwash. A lot of people just don’t get it. Liquid mouthwash is easy enough to get hold of and works just fine. That statement is true but now that Lush have created a solid version the possibilities of mouthwash have grown.

Travelling light is always a struggle. Especially if your chosen mode of transport is an aeroplane. If you’re only taking hand luggage with you, there are so many restrictions on what you can take on board. This also applies just for travelling in general, if you can have a lighter bag due to not having to pack huge bottles etc then the concept of making solid cosmetics to travel with is ideal and a complete cosmetics game changer.

The list of supplies I need to have with me when travelling is never ending, it’s not until you do start to pack for a trip that you realise how much you really do need at hand.

Mouthwash tabs are therefore a much welcomed addition to the the solid cosmetics family invented by Lush Cosmetics. Several solid Lush products have already proved very popular and their sale stats reflect their popularity. A solid cosmetics boom has taken over the cosmetics and beauty industry and it is so exciting to have been given the chance to be a part of it. Thank you Lush Kitchen!

The clever people at Lush have provided us with the likes of solid deodorant, solid shampoo and conditioner bars, solid toothy tabs (used just like toothpaste), solid perfumes, shower jellies and even solid sun block. There was therefore most certainly a gap in the market for a mouthwash equivalent.

The bottles of the mouthwash tabs are both small and compact, the tabs are easily used anywhere making them a great ‘I can’t leave the house without it,’ product.

Directions on how to use the tabs are as follows; ‘After brushing your teeth, pop one tab into the mouth and take a sip of water to start the fizz. Nibble and swish before spitting out. They can also be used throughout the day whenever you fancy a bit of oral refreshment.’

All you need is one tab and a small swig of water to aid you in the quest of quick and easy oral refreshment. Freshening ones breath in-between morning and nightly brushing, has never been so easy!

Many people have asked me which one of the 3 tabs are my favourite. I honestly can’t decide. All 3 have qualities I look for within a mouthwash and I am keen to discuss them with you below.

Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster Mouthwash Tabs

Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster mouthwash tabs were the second of the 3 mouthwash tabs that I tried. Out of the 3 I’d say that this one left my mouth feeling the cleanest. several hours after using it my teeth still felt as if I had only just brushed them, whenever I use one I can’t stop running my tongue over my teeth, nothing feels better than a decent set of pearly whites!

As far as mouthwash products go you would expect the one that left your mouth feeling the cleanest would be minty. Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster mouthwash tabs aren’t minty at all.

Reading their ingredients I thought I wouldn’t actually like the taste of them. Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters have lemon and aniseed oil in, aniseed is something I personally really don’t like as an ingredient as I dislike the flavour.

I was nervous about putting the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster tab in my mouth as there’s nothing more icky than not being able to get a taste out of your mouth I however took one for the team and shock, shock, horror, horror I was pleasantly surprised! it was the complete opposite of a horrifying experience. I liked its flavour.

The lemon and aniseed compliment each other and neither packed too much flavour. They appeared to be in perfect quantities. The scent was even pleasant, the lemon being more prominent than the aniseed. The Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster may have also changed my opinion on aniseed too which is a HUGE thing for me.

Crème De Menthe Mouthwash Tabs

The Crème De Menthe Mouthwash Tabs are probably the best ones to start off with if you’re unsure of the concept of solid mouthwash. It like traditional mouthwash is peppermint based so is an excellent first stepping stone for the uncertain mouthwash-tab newbies.

The presence of peppermint oil was what made me decide that Crème De Menthe would be the tab I tried first.

I find the Crème De Menthe tabs to be really refreshing. They aren’t quite on par on a fresh-scale as the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster but they do an equally good job.

Like the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster tabs my mouth feels so clean after using it. The fact it has peppermint in makes it the mouthwash tab I feel most confident in using. It is excellent used as a quick oral-refresher after meals.

Ugai Mouthwash Tabs

From reading other people’s reviews on the Ugai Mouthwash Tabs I can conclude that it is the least popular of the three. The same feelings I had for Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster in regards to the aniseed ingredient were present for the Ugai tabs too as I really wasn’t sure how I felt about its ingredients.

Tea tree is one of my favourite ingredients within Lush products, putting it into a product that is meant to be put in my mouth however had me feeling anxious.

Influenced by my positive experience with the aniseed in the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster tabs, I decided that I could yet again be wrong so tried Ugai without hesitation.

My new found trust in Lush has taken me by surprise, I have learnt that you really do have to try everything at least once…

People in reviews have said that they couldn’t get their head around the Ugai being mainly tea tree based. They have also said that they couldn’t stand the taste of the Ugai as in addition to the tea tree there is also a huge amount of sea salt in it.

Against all odds I actually really like the taste of ‘too much’ salt. Salty water although I obviously don’t drink it has always been a nice taste for me. I would happily gargle salty water for hours and have had to do so because of dental work I’ve had etc.

Using a Ugai mouthwash tab was in no way an unpleasant experience for me. I liked it just as much as I did the other 2. I would recommend using it as a palate cleanser in between food as its flavours doesn’t change much within the mouth. It cleanses but isn’t masked by scent/taste.

We’ve all tried sipping orange juice straight after brushing our teeth with minty toothpaste and it’s not a pleasant experience at all! This is why I feel that Ugai is perfect for cleansing your palate in between courses or just in between meals.

The tea tree and sea salt within Ugai makes it antibacterial too. This will prove very beneficial if you have any infections within your mouth and throat, gargling it alone won’t get rid of any infections it however is an excellent way to keep things orally clean.

Overall I am blown away and so, so, so impressed with all 3 of the brand new mouthwash tabs, as I said above each one has its own reason for being great and I strongly recommend giving them a go, my mouth has never been so spoilt!

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Big Calm Shower Jelly from Lush

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Big Calm Shower Jelly was yet another Lush product I desperately wanted but always seemed to miss. My luck however changed for the better and this June just gone (2016) I managed to bag myself a pot!

Described by the Lush Kitchen team as a way to ‘take a dip into the Caribbean and enjoy year round sunshine,’ Big Calm shower jelly sounds like a bit of me.

Big Calm smells just like a piña colada. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it at first, it smelt good enough to drink and it really reminded me of beach, pool and sunny holidays.

Which might I add is the only type of holiday I think is worth going on because I’m lazy and can never get enough time snoozing in the sun.

There’s nothing I enjoy more than basking in the sunshine, book in one hand, cold drink in the other. When I am on holiday I want to do the same things all day, every day. Breakfast, drink, book then pool. Lunch, drink, book then pool and on and on until bedtime. Bliss.

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A cold pool to cool down in makes hot weather so much more manageable, I am getting depressed writing this as I literally CRAVE a holiday right now… That’s where the Big Calm shower jelly comes in, although it isn’t a Caribbean holiday, if you shut your eyes in the shower it smells and feels pretty close to one.

Packed with several tropical ingredients; Pineapple, coconut infusion and sweet orange oil, this jelly really does smell like a dream holiday.

Big Calm also has vetivert oil in, I feel this adds a smoky depth to the jelly. In my imagination it makes me think of a beautiful beach BBQ, sand in between your toes, salt in the air, delicious food in your belly.

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Big Calm is a deep dark blue with flecks of white. The exact shade of blue matches the deep parts of the sea that you wouldn’t want to snorkel in on your own, just in case Jaws was out swimming at the same time and same place. We’ve all seen the movie…

When I very first used Big Calm I was sure that something that smelt so fruitylicious would be sticky. It wasn’t, it lathered up so quickly and left my skin soft and smooth.

The refreshing scent stayed with me throughout the day. It made me really crave a pineapple and coconut juice. As much as I’d love a jug of piña colada or 10 I no longer drink alcohol, by ‘no longer,’ I mean I don’t even have the one glass on special occasions any more, boring I know. A pineapple and coconut juice however suffices and if you add a Big Calm shower into the mix it’s basically the same thing as a piña colada anyway.



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The Experimenter Bath Bomb from Lush

At the time of writing this review and as far as I am aware, The Experimenter (apart from the Magic bath bomb) is the only other hexagonal shaped bath bomb ever created by Lush.

It was originally released and presented as an Oxford Street exclusive at the opening of Lush’s London-flagship-store in 2015. Demand for this colourful bath bomb grew at an unbelievable rate and at the time of writing this review they are available both online and in all Lush stores.

Sporting an array of colours The Experimenter is an eye-catcher and a half. For the plainer coloured bath bombs I always tend to write in my reviews that they get overlooked because of other, more colourful bath bombs. The Experimenter is one of those legendary colourful bath bombs, that are virtually impossible to ignore.

All of the Experimenter bath bombs are of an hexagonal prism shape, this makes it exclusive to any other Lush bath bomb currently available in Lush’s all-year-round product line.

The Experimenter’s shape although a little more complicated than the standard Lush bath bomb has made it possible for it to have its own symmetrically-perfect design.

It is divided into 4 equal pieces, each of the pieces being a different colour; Pink, blue, goldy-orange and ivory. Above I have shared a photograph I took of 2 Experimenters next to each other so that you can see all of their colours. The 4 colours are then lined with what I could only describe as a purple belt. Later editions of this bath bomb however lost the purple belt.

In regards to the Experimenter’s scent, when I finally got my hands on one I wasn’t that much of a fan. I can remember sniffing it for the first time sat on my living room floor, I was a little disappointed.

The Experimenter bath bomb has a very musky and smoky scent. My first one was posted up to me from Oxford Street and it totally dominated the other bath bombs that were in the same package.

Looking at its colours I however decided that I would still give it a go. After all, I do find that a lot of the scents that Lush create take a while to get used to. A great example of a bath bomb’s scent that grew on me is Frozen.

As soon as you plonk the Experimenter bath bomb into the bath it starts to furiously fizzle away, spurting a rainbow of frothy, crisp colours. When used as fresh as possible the Experimenter puts on the most amazing, technicolour bath time show.

I remember the first time I used one, I was completely overwhelmed with the pressure of capturing a photograph that did it justice. I didn’t know where to point the camera, there was just so much going on and I missed most of it! naturally this meant I NEEDED to buy it again!

I left writing the review of the Experimenter bath bomb for over a year, I wanted to get a proper feel of it and I personally do really like it. Performance-wise, to me it is what Lush bath bombs are all about.

I however know that a lot of people are disappointed by the end result. Once all the bath bomb has fizzled away it leaves your bath water a dark-brownish shade of grey.

I’m not quite sure what the people that are disappointed expected the end result to be as all of those colours mixed together can only really end in one way!

When people point it out I like to compare the bath water you’re left with to an artist’s paint brush water after painting a masterpiece. Think Vincent Van Gogh or Paul Klee! This sometimes wins people around but I understand why the end result of the Experimenter bath bomb wouldn’t appeal to some. It has however sold very well since its release and I can see it sticking around for a long time.


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