In one of the most surreal twists on natural beauty products we've seen to date, people have been taking to social media to share their experiences with a certain massage bar from Lush that has caused actual plants to grow in their showers.
The Lush Wiccy Magic Muscles bar contains whole aduki beans, which lend it a smooth, nubby texture ideal for massaging away tension. Billed as a "spicy bar for sore muscles", the cinnamon/peppermint-spiked product melts into the skin, occasionally releasing beans along the way. Left unattended in the ideal, moist habitat that is a shower (where many people choose to use the bar) these beans—also called adzuki beans and commonly used in cooking—aren't afraid to go ahead and germinate, as evidenced in this Tumblr post that's gone viral.
Stunned and a little creeped out? Us too. Here are a couple of more Lush shower-sprout specimens for you to examine.
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While we can't be mad at the actual aduki plants—they're cute and innocent enough—there's something so Little Shop of Horrors about them creeping up out of the plumbing like this. How can such a thing even happen, given that the beans have been encapsulated in solidified coconut oil and other ingredients one might assume could smother them? Even Lush's own product creators have been taken aback by the photos circulating online. "Truthfully yes, we were a little surprised!" Jeff Brown, brand and product training manager, tells us. "We don't use our massage bars with water—they're designed to be melted down on the skin and massaged in like oil—so we didn't expect those little beans would find a way to grow. We do love to use as many whole, natural ingredients as we can in our products, and in a way this serves a reminder of just how real those ingredients are!"
True. But while we dig Lush's hippie handmade vibes as much as the next girl, we have to say that the sight of green leaves sprouting from our drain would still be unsettling. "Knowing that the beans may germinate when left in water, we would definitely encourage customers to be be conscious of using the product correctly, and to keep an eye out for stray beans if they choose to use it in the bath or shower," Brown says. "Besides, you should save them; those beans would probably rather grow in a flower pot than a drain pipe anyway!" Zesty adzuki bean salad, anyone?
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