LUSH Karma Bar Soap

I have been on the fence about trying the LUSH Karma Bar Soap for quite a long time, I can stand the scent of patchouli but I don't think that I love it enough to use it on my body.  This is a cult LUSH product so I really wanted to see what all the hype was about and decide for myself if this is a fragrance that I could wear in small doses.  I don't mind patchouli notes in perfume and they were well on my skin so I thought that I would be able to wear it on my skin.  Turns out...I can't and this is not the Bar Soap for me.

I waited for cooler weather to arrive before I tried this strongly fragranced soap and I will only use this soap at night.  Even with the advent of fall, this fragrance is still too strong on my skin to use during the day.  As much as I love LUSH soaps, this is not the fragrance for me and I will use this one bar and then not order it again.

"An all-time classic, Karma is the ultimate LUSH scent. Spicy patchouli is complemented with refreshing lemongrass, orange oil and pine oil to create a clean and lovely smell that lasts on the skin for ages after you've washed. One whiff and you'll be hooked - for this life and the next. There's enough Karma fragrance in each bar to perfume your whole body each time you wash, and transport you back to the days of free love and flower power. Give yourself good Karma; if you've been mindful and brimming with loving kindness, this is the soap to reward you.", states the LUSH website. 

This soap performs very similarly to the rest of the LUSH Bar Soaps that are translucent, foams up well and rinses clean without drying skin out.  I have no issues with the way that this soap performs. The reason that this soap is not for me is the fragrance, it reminds me of entering a head shop and this is not a fragrance that I can wear.  Incense doesn't bother me in small doses but I cannot wear this fragrance on my skin.  I was hoping that a bar soap would leave the lightest amount of fragrance but this is still too strong for me so I cannot buy this product again.

This is a very polarizing product, people either love or hate this fragrance however this same effect tends to occur anytime that patchouli is used in a fragrance.  I cannot wear this fragrance on my skin, the only aspect of this fragrance that I like is the smell that is leaves in my shower after I get out.  It reminds me a bit of the yoga studio after a class and I love that fragrance.  I am realistic enough to think that this fragrance would begin to annoy me toward the end of the bar.

I love and will continue to order LUSH Bar Soaps but this cult product is just not the fragrance for me.

photo courtesy of LUSH