Lush: Shower Gel: Ponche (£4.25/100g)

I always remember the first time I ever went into a Lush store. I must’ve been about ten and my best friend told me I had to see inside this place. The first thing that hit me was the overwhelming smell; jasmine, vanilla, roses. It was as if someone had taken that sugar-and-spice-and-all-things-nice that girls were supposed to be made of and put it all into one room (I can only assume the slugs-snails-and-puppy-dogs-tails were being held next door). Bath bombs in crazy shapes and colours were stacked precariously down one side, soap that looked good enough to eat down the other. I was in heaven. The smell didn’t give me a headache, like it does most people, instead I could swim in its perfume for hours, spending all my pocket money on pots of edible face mask.

I’m now a woman well into my twenties, but Lush still holds that impish intrigue for me and although I rarely get to visit an actual store anymore, a month rarely goes by without me purchasing something from the Lush website.

Ponche is a cinnamon and plum infused shower gel from Lush’s new Christmas range, made with orange juice and a kick of tequila. As with almost every Lush product I’ve ever tried, I immediately wanted to eat it as soon as it left the bottle. The freshness of the orange, mixed with the spice of the cinnamon actually reminded me of fruit cake. If there had been a bit more cinnamon involved, it might have a bit sickly, but as it is, Lush have once again got the balance between spicy and sweet spot on. The orange smell is lovely and fresh as well, so you feel really clean when you step out of the shower, and although the smell is initially strong, it doesn’t hang around for too long afterwards and therefore combat any other fragrances you might want to wear.

The scent is its main selling point, as other than that, it’s just a shower gel. It lathers up nicely; you don’t need to use a lot, so although the price may seem a little high, it should last you a while. It’s not an exfoliator and doesn’t explode when it touches the water. It doesn’t make your skin irresistibly soft and it doesn’t eradicate spots. But it does its job and it does it while smelling frickin’ amazing.