Product Review: LUSH Fair Trade Foot Lotion

Everyone knows that winter is the worst possible time of year for skin. The harsh winter air dries us out, make our skin rough, wrinkly and itchy. Which parts of our body suffer the most noticeably? Our hands and feet, and it always seems that no matter how much lotion you pile on, your hands drink it up immediately and you need to apply more a few minutes later anyhow.

However, LUSH has a great solution to our winter dryness dilemmas. Their Fair Trade Foot Lotion is an absolutely wonderful product to get you your hands and feet through the winter months. I'll be breaking down the pros and cons of this product in the areas of scent, texture/consistency, and effectiveness.

Scent

The second I opened this container the smell got my attention. It is quite strong and my first thought was "mentholated cocoa butter." It might not sound appealing, but in my opinion it was rather the opposite. I think it smells fresh and cuts through the air nicely, cleanly. After reading the ingredients printed on the top of the lid, I saw that it was made with fair trade cocoa butter and spearmint. I love that I am able to smell both ingredients strongly. In some LUSH products I usually see that one scent either overpowers the rest, or the scents are so intermingled that I can't distinguish them at all. This, though, was nice because I was able to account for the products that were advertised to me. A small joy, but I think it smells absolutely gorgeous. To any fan of cocoa or mint scents or flavors, this is a perfect blend.

Texture/Consistency

In my personal opinion, this is a very girly looking product. Once I opened the top, I was met with a pink cream. I'm not quite sure what I expected - the majority of the other cocoa butter products I've used were either white or yellowish - but pink was certainly an unexpected surprise. The cream itself is smooth with no granules, lumps or exfoliants; just pure cream. Because of this fact it spreads over the skin quite nicely, and I liken the consistency of this cream to softened, whipped organic butter or thick lotion. Personally I am a fan of the lack of "gritty bits" in this because it makes it much less messy, and allows for gloves or socks to be put on right after application.

Effectiveness

Now, for quite possibly the most important element - does it work? From my experience I would have to say yes, and very well at that! After coming in from a day out shopping my hands look chapped, dry, and about 20 years older than the rest of my body. I like to put this on my hands to soothe them and it definitely works. Sometimes when my hands are little extra dry I apply a thicker layer of this cream and it feels great after that. My favorite way to use this lotion, though, has to be this: after I get out of the shower at night, I like to put a nice thick layer of this on both of my feet, paying special attention to my heels. I massage it in completely, and then apply another thin layer. I don't massage the second layer in, but rather I put socks on right on top of it and go on to bed. In the morning when I wake up and take the socks off, I have what feels like the softest feet in the world!

Overall, I would have to give this product and honest 8 out of 10. The 2 docked points have to be for the smell - while I love it, I know that there are definitely some people that it would turn off. But this stuff smells great and only runs about $8USD on the LUSH website. This is a great investment because the stuff lasts forever; a little bit goes a long way. The Fair Trade Foot Lotion is definitely a fresh winter must-have!