Lush for less
I am only an occasional dabbler in Lush products as, although I do enjoy using them, I do find they can be a bit on the pricey side - and I am not a fan of some of the fragrances! But just after Christmas I picked up a gift box in the sale and I was really pleased to have the chance to try out a few goodies for less money!
One of the items in my gift box was this – Snow Fairy Shower Gel. I received the 100ml bottle which sells for about £3, although I believe it's also available in larger sizes – and you can only buy it at Christmas! But if you really wanted to try it out, there seem to be a lot available on ebay.
The shower gel comes in a simple plastic bottle which is see-through so you can see the contents easily. One thing I really like about Lush products is the little sticker that tells you when and by whom your product was packaged, and this one tells me that Jemma was kind enough to package this shower gel for me. Inside, the gel is a really lovely shade of pink - a kind of rich raspberry shade.
Sweet and pink
When you flip the lid at the top and pour out a little of the gel, you immediately notice how thick it is. It is thicker than similar products, and that lovely pink shade is there again. You also get a nose full of the sweet scent straight away! It's a really unusual fragrance and quite different to any other product I've ever used (although it is very similar to the Lush Bubblegum lip scrub that I have also reviewed) - it's just really sweet. Not fruity sweet or floral sweet like other products, but just sweetie sweet - a bit like candy floss! I really like the fragrance but I think a lot of people would simply hate it as they could easily find it a tad sickly. The sweetness of the scent is quite strong and may definitely be overpowering for some so this is one that you must try before you buy!
The gel seems thick as you squeeze it out of the bottle, and it is definitely thick as you rub it into the skin too. I use a shower puff to aid the process and I have to say that a little goes a long way and it lathers up really nicely. The lather feels rich and quite luxurious, and it's very pleasant to use. And when you wash it away it does leave skin feeling lovely and soft, with a slight sweet smell that just lingers.
Sparkle-free
One thing I must add about this gel is that the bottle states it contains iridescent sparkles but, try as I might, I couldn't see any evidence of these either in the bottle or after I squeezed the gel out. I checked the bottle in the light, and even had a close look at my skin after washing but I was definitely a sparkle-free-zone. I was sure that Jemma forgot to add them, but either way I wasn't too bothered as I've never quite seen the point of sparkly shower gels - surely the sparkle will just wash away anyway - or end up on the towel after drying? However I recently found my sparkles! In a ring around the inside of the bottom of the plastic bottle, there they were, sparkling away on their own.
So I gave the bottle a good shake but the sparkles didn't shift! So I decided to leave the bottle upside down in an attempt to force the sparkles into my shower gel using the force of gravity. But 24 hours passed and the glitter still hadn't made much progress – the gel had all sunk to the bottom of the bottle but the glittery particles just seemed stuck down the sides. So whatever you do – don't buy this for the sparkles!
The verdict
Overall I do like this product - it has a nice sweet scent, it's thick and pleasant to use and leaves skin feeling soft. But for me it isn't one I would buy again - as nice as it is, there are shower gels I certainly prefer and, for the price, it is too steep for my pocket. If I was going to spend this much on a shower gel, there are others out there that I would buy in preference to this.
Hey Jemma, where are my sparkles? 
