I’ve had this post saved for a long time, as when I came to write it up it was October so a little late for peak holiday season! Last year Lush added some new sun protection items to their range including The Sunblock*.
I was kindly given this from the Lush Leeds Spa when it opened and I was itching to use it on my last holiday.
Actually Mr E was literally itching to try it as he suffers from terrible heat rash and had been looking for a suncream that doesn’t clog his pores and make him itch. However when it came to actually using it there were a few problems it posed.
The Sunblock is an actual block hence the name and is shapes into 3 chunks similar to a chocolate bar. The first issue is you need to use 1 chunk to protect your body and at £8.99 a bar that’s pretty expensive. If you were just to use it once a day it would cost nearly £45 for a fortnight’s holiday. However it’s not once a day protection so you still need to top up every 2 hours (I’d recommend using it with another suncream if you were planning on using it)
The other inconvenience is that it has to be applied to the body in the shower. So not only does it mean you have to have a shower in the morning you also face the issues of using it in a small shower cubicle on holiday (definitely don’t even think about it for cruising!!) and trying to reach all your back.
I decided that we would try and use it in the showers by the pool to take away these 2 issues however the block had melted before we’d even got to putting it on.
The upsides to this product are short but should still be considered , it’s great for carry on as it’s a solid not a liquid , so great for a weekend break somewhere hot, and it contains cocoa butter and calamine powder to moisturise and prevent irritation.
I also love the innovation of this, I’ve also seen the powder sunscreen (Powdered Sunshine) too, which is another fab idea! It’s just a shame this didn’t really work for me thanks to budget and difficult application. I’m really keen to try Lush liquid sunscreen (Sesame Suntan Lotion) to see if that fairs any better and so far it’s passed the UK itch test! I’ll be trialling it in Mexico next so look out for my post in a few weeks time! I’d also love to know what sun care you recommend (especially for Mr E’s heat rash/allergy prone skin) or if you’ve had a different experience to me with the Sunblock.