It’s bath season guys. I love Lush at any time of the year, but it absolutely can’t be beaten in autumn and winter. Last week when it started to get really cold I took myself along to the Princes Street branch to stock up on the new in Halloween goodies. I was seriously tempted by the Christmas stuff but I showed restraint – I’ll pick them up next month. With the exception of the Lord of Misrule bath bomb, these are all new products for this year. I’ve already used a few of these so I shall tell you what I think as we go.
This is the Sparkler bath bomb (£3.50) which, as the name suggests, has been created with Bonfire Night in mind. I love this as Bonfire Night is an occasion which is often overlooked by brands as it is a purely British tradition. It is an odd night to celebrate – the capture of a treasonist who was about to blow up Parliament and his subsequent execution – but let’s move swiftly on. This is a fun new shape from Lush and I think it’s a winner. It’s much easier to break in half if you want to get two baths out of it so adds value for money.
Sparkler has the Rose Jam scent which is rose (obviously) but with just a hint of lemon to keep it fresh and modern. The centre of the bath bomb is filled with extremely fine bronze and gold glitter particles which explode out of the middle like fireworks. The glitter in this is fantastic – it distributes itself evenly through the bath so your bathing in shimmery water but doesn’t really show up on our skin when you get out and rinses away very easily. Sparkler is also studded with popping candy but unfortunately I didn’t hear any of it popping which would have added a lovely effect to the ‘firework’ show. I was disappointed with this as I always get the Cinders bath bomb and always get the crackling effect with that one so I don’t know if they’ve changed what kind they use or if I was just unlucky. Still, a great bath bomb. The effect lasted a good amount of time – 5 mins or so – and afterwards I was left with a yellow-gold shimmering bath which softened my skin and smelt divine.
Next I tried the Sparkly Pumpkin bubble bar (£3.50). It’s a good size and could do you for at least three baths. It is a vibrant orange covered in gold glitter and a little piece of cinnamon stick for the pumpkin stem. I think it looks really cute.
Sparkly Pumpkin is very soft so easy to crumble under the running water. The gold glitter does come off in your hands, but like the glitter in the Sparkler, is easy to rinse away. It smells very citrusy and zest as it has both lime and grapefruit oil and I really like the scent. It creates a good amount of bubbles which last for your entire bath – something that I think the bubble bars do much better than the bubble wands that Lush make do. I actually prefer Sparkly Pumpkin to last year’s Pumkin as I think it’s softer, creates more bubbles and I prefer the smell, so even if you weren’t keen on last year’s, do check this one out.
This is the Northern Lights bath bomb (£3.50) and I would describe it as the showstopper of the collection. Again, this is one you could break in half if you wanted to but I think that you would lose some of the effect that it produces.
As you can see, it’s a bit spectacular. The purple outer explodes and releases swirls of vibrant yellow and blue. The effect lasts around 5-8 minutes and afterwards you are left with a bright purple bath scattered with white stars. The stars eventually dissolve so if you’re a fan of long baths like me, you don’t need to worry about scraping them off your tub. Northern Lights is scented with jasmine and ylang ylang so it’s a really nice soft floral, soothing fragrance, perfect for a relaxing evening bath. It also makes the water super soft and your skin feels great afterwards. Definitely my favourite of this selection of bath bombs, and possibly in my top few of all.
This guy is the Wizard bubble bar (£3.25). I’ve not used him yet but the texture is the same as the Sparkly Pumpkin so I’m sure it’ll create lots of bubbles in the bath. He is covered in a very fine silver shimmer so I’m expecting the bath to turn a pale purple with a slight sparkle. He is scented with juniperberry, fennel,orange and ylang ylang. The smell is sweet but with a slight spiciness to it and really reminds me of something that I can’t quite put my finger on. I find the fragrance unexpected but weirdly pleasant. This bubble bar is the same size and shape as Candy Mountain and the Penguin bubble bar so I know I can get three baths out of it.
Lastly, a returner from last year – the Lord of Misrule bath bomb (£3.50). Again, I haven’t used this particular one yet, but I did buy it last year and I love it. To me, it has that typical Lush smell – y’know that mixture of scents mingling so you can’t pull out just one but you know it smells good. It’s fragranced with patchouli, black pepper and vanilla, an eclectic combination by anyone’s standards so I think that it explains it! The green outer foams up slowly then cracks open to reveal the fast fizzing purple inner to leave you with an indulgent wine coloured bath. There’s also popping candy in this one so hopefully it’ll be noticeable this time.
I really like the entire collection this Halloween. I didn’t get the Fairy Ring soap that goes with it as I don’t use soap bars, but I’m sure it’s also lovely. If you can only get one product I’d say go for the Northern Lights bath bomb, I’ll definitely be getting a couple more before they disappear and I already hope that it comes back next year!
So what is your favourite thing from Lush? Any Christmas products I just have to try?
Brilliant post! I will be heading to get a ton of stuff soon… I just love it all
Me too, could easily spend a fortune in there!
I haven’t had chance to pick up any of the new stuff yet but I’m definitely heading into store next week to get my hands on a few bits – Northern Lights looks wonderful!
Definitely get Northern Lights!
Great post! As for Christmas, head for the Snow Angel (brand new) and Snowcake soap. BIG fan and I stock up every year.
x
I like the look of Snow Angel actually. I don’t usually buy the soaps but will make sure to give Snowcake a sniff as I’ve heard it’s a lot of people’s fave.
Great reviews, everyone seems to be loving Northern Lights and I can see why. I’ve got Cinder, it smells perfect and I can’t wait to try it out xx
Cinders is one of my favourites, hope you’ve got one with lots of popping candy!
lovely post! I love Lush products
ceridwen’s bath melt (think it’s like called a witch’s brew or something lol ) is lovely as well. Also I really love BIG shampoo, Jungle Shampoo and the Cinnamon shampoo bar ( can’t think of the name). Alkmaar was my favorite soap but it was discontinued😦 the pumpkin bath melt looks lovely!
Oh that bath melt sounds like a good companion to the rest of the Halloween stuff. I love BIG too – need to stock up on this soon
the pumpkin is soo adorable i want it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)