Hot Toddy shower gel review: "It's like a layered cake"

Can I say before I go on further, how I feel so crap for missing Hot Toddy at Christmas.  I feel like Christmas never even happened if I'm honest.  So I'm quite eager for Christmas to roll around again... Only 7 months to go! Yay..... *whimper*

BUT thankfully in the mean time, I found someone who wanted rid of their 250g Hot Toddy and I jumped at the chance.  I'll write at this point that I got a 500g bottle from another fabulous account as well.

Oh my Toddy... This shower gel really is something special.  It smells just like Atomic Fireblast candy.  I think its the same as Red Hots too.  It is such a beautiful shade of red, such a beautiful shade.  The gel is a totally different colour in the shower opposed to the colour seen in the bottle.  It's kind of like a neon red colour and it's rather impressive how different it is.  I can't even compare it to other shower gel colours... The colour of the gel outside the bottle is kind of like Heart Throb bubble bar.  Also, the shower gel has a beautiful gold shimmer of glitter through the gel kind of like Yummy Mummy with silver shimmer.  But as with most Lush shower gels, the majority of the glitter has sunk to the bottom of the bottle (look below).

Hot Toddy smells exactly like Atomic Fireblast / Red Hots candy.  I can't even begin to stress how identical these candies are to the fragrance of Hot Toddy.  It is a sweet cinnamon scented gel.  Very spicy but underneath that spice is a lovely sweet and sugary fragrance.  And also kind of grounded since, personally, I can smell the patchouli in Hot Toddy.  I'm a patchouli warrior but - I smell it in everything! It's like a layered cake.  It's like a cup of coffee.  You smell the coffee first and then gradually get a waft of the sweetner you've put in it.   Well, with Hot Toddy, you get the waft of cinnamon and ginger first and I'd say the lemon juice, lime, and orange oils follow to make that lovely sweet depth.

I use a wash mitt in my shower routine and the shower gel soaks well into it to create a delicious lather.  It spreads quite thin! But not water thin like Happy 4 Sad.  And out of all the layers of Hot Toddy, I'd say it is most definitely the cinnamon which lingers on the skin.  I've used it a couple of times now and the fragrance can last for about five hours.  After using the gel, my skin felt clean and refreshed... Very squeaky clean! And it also felt soft courtesy of the carrageenan extract.  Surprisingly, I also felt this shower gel was rather sensual.  The kind of Lush product that makes you want to purr... Yeah, a lot of people might not get that description and some might just think it's crazy.  But I'd recommend Hot Toddy as an "intimate" shower gel.

A great combo with this is King of Skin or Sympathy for the Skin.  Both of these calm the vibrant cinnamon scent and bring it to a more gentle finish.  They bring out the sweeter scent of Hot Toddy as the spicy notes are more prominent than the sweet in general use. 

The only thing I'm not liking about Hot Toddy at the moment is how I feel after using this shower gel.  I feel as if I'm breaking out in sweats whenever I use this.  And although there is fair warning on the label, I didn't expect this to really make you feel warm.  But it does.  Oh Toddy it does.   Almost an hour after using the shower gel I still feel warm.  So, why is this a problem? Well come the summer weather when I'm constantly roasting, burning, panting and fanning myself continuously - this gel will probably be my worst nightmare.  The heat it gives you is unbelievable.  Unless you're well acquainted with cinnamon or this gel you won't understand what I'm trying to convey with words.  Just imagine lying by the pool and feeling very, very warm and desperate to jump in the swimming pool.  Just imagine the way you feel when lying in a sunbed after the ten minute mark.  That is what Hot Toddy does to you.  


This is a lovely shower gel by Lush and is perfect for the Christmas season.  It's colour fits in, it's fragrance is that of baked goods for Christmas and it just screams Christmas.  With its warming tendencies, I definitely wouldn't recommend using this when summer comes about - unless you are having a cold shower.  

All in all this is a great festive creation by Lush and I'm very, very pleased I've got my bottles.  I'm hoping Lush will bring it back for the 2015 Lush Christmas Collection.  However, I'd like to see Glogg or Ponche since... (oh boy)... Ihaven'ttriedthembefore.  Oh that felt good to confess but still pains me.   But when the other shower gels offered for Christmas are Snow Fairy, Rose Jam and So White... Hot Toddy is a refreshing difference.  

Ingredients: Ginger Infusion, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Fair Trade Aloe Vera Gel, Laurly Betaine, Propylene Glycol, Fresh Organic Lemon Juice, Fine Sea Salt, Clove Leaf Oil, Patchouli Oil, Lime Oil, Benzoin Resinoid, Cinnamon Leaf Oil, Sweet Orange Oil, Carrageenan Extract, *Cinnamal, *Eugenol, *Limonene, *Linalool, *Benzyl Benzoate, *Benzyl Cinnamate, Coumarin, Hexyl Cinnamal, Perfume, Colour 14700, Colour 17200, Gold Glimmer Lustre, Methylparaben
*Occurs naturally in essential oils


Thanks for reading!

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