Lush (Bellevue)

City/neighborhood: Bellevue

Hours: 9:30 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. Monday - Saturday; 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. Sunday

Parking: Street parking

There's something so satisfying about slathering your face with frosting. Or chocolate. Or even a basil-mint paste. Who wouldn’t want to live a Lush life if it feels and smells this delicious?

Lush, world-renowned for its bath, body and skin-care products made from scratch using fresh organic ingredients, arranges its wares as if in an open-air farmers market. Silver bowls of face creams on ice, bath bombs packaged like fresh tomatoes on foam trays and blocks of soap that slice up like cheese all add to the illusion.

For 10 years, the international store with British beginnings has offered a full-on sensual escape from chemical cosmetics. Follow your nose to find it -- the cloud of scents is overwhelmingly intoxicating. Inside the store, your eyes see neat stacks and rows of color, from pastel bath bombs to bottles filled with deep teal and orange concoctions. Textures range from the smooth, translucent mounds of soap to the chalky bath bombs studded with dried flowers, seaweed or pieces of fruit. You shouldn’t taste these products, but you'll want to. (With titles like Emperor of Ice Cream, Hot Milk and Melting Marshmallow Moment, who can blame you?)

The names and descriptions aren't all about food, though; they also mix poetry and pop culture with puns about each product's purpose. Anyone remember Cynthia Sylvia Stout from Shel Silverstein's "Where the Sidewalk Ends." She's reincarnated here as a shampoo made from stout beer. Buffy is watching your back as Buffy the Backside Slayer. Or what about this provocative question about Whipstick lip balm: "Would you like your boyfriend to taste of chocolate?" (Don't answer that.) We can't overlook Spank Me with Saplings, Angels on Bare Skin, or the Two Timing Tart. But seriously, it's not the five senses that make Lush a success; it's just plain good sense. This stuff works!

By Alison Peacock
Special to NWsource