LUSH Hottie Massage Bar

 

Here’s to my third LUSH product in my review of five in a row.  This time I’m going for the Hottie Massage Bar.  In general, LUSH’s massage bars are fabulous. Obviously, a massage bar can used essentially as you would use oil for massage.  There’s just a different application technique.  Instead of pouring it out of a bottle, you rub the bar in your hands or over skin to melt the oils.  So really the massage bars are more like a regular moisturizer in solid form.  LUSH likes to do that with a lot of things.  Like if it’s normally liquid, wouldn’t it be fun to make it solid?  Lol.  So using their massage bars is like using a fabulous lotion. 

If I were a masseuse, I would want to use all LUSH massage bars instead of oils, because they’re so luscious.  But the Hottie Massage Bar is the only one that I actually use mostly for actual massage (i.e. begging my boyfriend to give me a massage when I’m feeling sore from the gym or whatever, he’s usually a good sport about it J). That’s why Hottie is special. 

So the reason why Hottie is so great for a massage is because it contains black pepper and ginger oils to create warmth and help improve circulation and ease sore muscles.  (I would just be careful to make sure no Hottie massage turns “frisky”, as pepper oil doesn’t sound like it’d be too pleasant to have in um, certain sensitive areas.)  The bar is shaped with nubs I suppose to help in the massage aspect but essentially they are pointless.  The bar melts too fast for them to really be used to knead sore muscles. 

You only need to rub the bar over the massage area for 15-30 seconds to melt enough oils for a great lubricated massage.  Then I recommend putting Hottie down so it can cool down to room temperature and re-solidify, keeping it mostly intact for your next use, and continuing on with your massage using the oils that you just melted. If you just kept rubbing the bar over skin, you’d get gobs and gobs of oil as it kept melting, making the whole mess super slippery and probably majorly greasing up any bedclothes nearby.  You only need a little bit.  So rub on a small amount, then keep it close (I keep mine in a little tin on the side of my bed), so you can grab it again if you feel you need more lubrication.  And besides being a great lube for massage, Hottie also leaves your skin smooth, soft, moisturized, and dreamily scented.

It smells heavenly and is therefore soothing in that way too, adding to the massage experience.  It contains vanilla absolute, which is probably why I like the smell so much.  I remember the first time we used it I was like OH MY GOD this smells AWESOME.  But it doesn’t really smell strictly of vanilla.  I think I can detect hints of vanilla & ginger, but overall I’m not sure what to call the scent.  Besides amazing.  Overall, LOVE IT!

Scent: 5 (Delicious.  Very soothing.)
Health: 4.75 (No parabens!  Ingredients mostly recognizable!  But not all organic.)
Ethics: 4.75 (LUSH is fabulous, but not perfect.)
Price/Value: 4.5 ($8.95 at LUSH, not too bad.  It’s high quality, and lasts as long as you use it & store it properly.)
Does what it says: 4.75 (Definitely.  Leaves you soothed and moisturized, no matter what the skill level of your masseuse!)

Overall: 4.75 (Overall makes everyone feel great!  Grab a friend or lover and have some fun!)