Shattered Dreams

Oof, these busted bath and beauty items are giving me nuthin’ but shattered dreams (shattered dreams!) – unfortunate victims of a sudden drop and a short stop, both. 😦 And yes, I know being crushed all to bits impacts the functioning of this Luxury Lush Pud bath bomb and Unicorn Horn bubble bar not a whit, but for blogging purposes, I always prefer to have these things looking their finest.

But shattered or not, I can’t say really say my dreams with regard to these items were all that grand – I’ve been a bit off Lush as of late.  Or perhaps I was never actually “on” Lush to begin with – I’ve never really cottoned to their scent blends or company aesthetic. Then a string of expensive, dudderiffic bath bombs kind of sealed the deal on my whole informal Lush embargo, at least until I’ve used up the few items I already have in storage.

Which is where this Luxury Lush Pud and Unicorn Horn come in – might as well use up that which is busted all to crap, as no saying I know of goes.  Anyhow, my Pud wasn’t too badly damaged in its swan dive off the counter, so it performed nicely, throwing off first pastel – and then ultra vibrant – swirls of pink, turquoise and yellow bubbles.

And the Unicorn Horn, jaundiced devil that he is (there’s seriously so much yellow in that Horn), provided mounds of creamy, lavender-scented bubbles beneath which to sink.  A very relaxing and daintily-hued bath, broken bits or not.

Over and Over: A Mini Lush Review

So I dropped this Over and Over bath bomb into my tub the other day, and immediately began composing mildly snarky puns in my head about how over and over, Lush has been disappointing me with the longevity – or lack thereof – of their bath bombs.  Of the four or five I’ve tried so far this year, all have been ultra fast fizzers, petering away to nothing in well under a minute.  This bath bomb initially seemed to suffer from the completely opposite problem – after dropping it into my tub, it just kind of floated there, occasionally emitting a weak stream of pale yellow honeycomb bubbles.  For the next two minutes.  I seriously thought the thing was broken.  Or maybe that was just my back as I crouched over the tub with my camera (like a beauty blogging moron, guys!)

Then the orange shell covering the top half of the bath bomb melted away, and the Over and Over ballistic erupted into a cheery, frothy mess of hot pink and sunshine yellow bubbles.  For the next two minutes. Seriously, this bath bomb just kept going and going and going…it was the Energizer Bunny of bath products! Definitely enough to get me to eat my words on the subject of lasting power.  Don’t discount your bath bomb before it’s fizzed, and all that jazz.  It also made for some very, very pretty bath art.

Ah, but the smell…it was terrible!  Lush says lime and fennel, I say that closet at your grandparents’ house that smells like expired medicine, old Sears catalogs and unidentifiable cleaning products.  It was pretty nasty.  I actually climbed out of the tub and stepped straight beneath the shower in an attempt to wash off the ick. And given that the Over and Over bath bomb also stained the ever living crap out of the sides of my tub, necessitating a post-soak scrub-down of all ceramic surfaces – and all for the low, low price of $8.95 Canadian – I can’t imagine that this is a bath product I’ll be reaching for again, pretty though it was.

Bubble Bubble

…toil and trouble.  The toil being the not inconsiderable amount of time I put into this manicure, only to then run directly into the trouble – smashing my fingertips straight into the bathroom door after a post-mani wash-up.  Aargh!  As always, take your time, friends, to do all parts of a job well, and don’t forget to stick the landing!

(P.S. The glitter polish I used here?  Polish Me Silly’s Mr. Bubble.  It’s bath time fun for everyone!)

Ballistics and Sparkling Red Slippers: A Mini Lush Review

Combating a dreary start to the week with a couple of cheer-inducing bathtime goodies from Lush, Sparkling Red Slippers bubble bar and a Never Mind the Ballistics bath bomb. Released as part of Lush’s 2016 holiday collection, I think both were brand new creations this season, at least for North American consumers.

For this super sunny bath, I crumbled up half of a Sparkling Red Slipper, a mica-dusted bubble bar the exact same shape and colour as one of Dorothy’s iconic ruby pumps, and ran it under the tap until I had a fluffy mound of bubbles.  If you like to spice up your bath with coloured bubbles and water, but you’re looking for something a little softer than Lush’s usual high intensity palette of neon pinks and blues, I’d suggest a Sparkling Red Slipper bubble bar – my bathwater was a beautiful, plush rose red, and scented like a bouquet of slightly peppery carnations.  Very nice!

Then, being quite careful not to drop my phone into the carnation-scented water, I lowered a Never Mind the Ballistics bath bomb into the cloud of bubbles and watched as it erupted into a delightful mess of banana split-hued bends and twirls.  And then I took pictures of it!

I quite helpfully took no note whatsoever of Never Mind the Ballistics’ scent, but I do remember giving the simple yellow orb (partially dipped in a hot pink, bath melt-type shell) a curious sniff and thinking that it wasn’t unpleasant, and vaguely reminiscent of tart, powdery candies.

Aw, dude, I *heart* you, too!  So nice when your bath products show you a little love in return. 😉

What a Wonder: A Mini Lush Review

Okay, so I never particularly care for the scent of, well, any of these, and I always have a bit of a hard time watching $7.00 to $11.00 literally dissolve into glittery nothingness in my bathtub in less than a minute, but ding dang, Lush’s bath bombs – fizzy little orbs of multi-coloured sodium bicarbonate tenuously held together with good-for-your-skin essential oils – are just plain fun.  Far preferable to regular old water (although much like dosing your drinking water with flavoured extracts, you really ought to give plain eau de tap a go every now and then; the pigmentation in these things cannot be good for your delicate bits if you’re using them every day.)

But pretty!  And glittery, and colourful, and…okay, so I won’t comment on the smell.  They all smell like powdered (insert approximation of whatever the heck Lush thinks X smells like.)  Weirdly, though, I really like the smell of this pretty little bath bomb, Lush’s Golden Wonder.  Lush’s website tells me its scent notes and active ingredients include lime oil and bourbon extract, which…maybe?  Smells like citrus to me, which I quite enjoy.

Actually, I really enjoyed everything about this bath bomb, from its buttery yellow hue, to its dusting of gold mica, to its secret green and purple core.  I even loved the weird little ghost creature that popped up right toward the end of the bomb’s life cycle, eking out one final, bubbly gasp before dissolving into the glittery gloom.  Really, look at this odd little guy!  I think he looks like one of those swooping ghost baddies from the Super Mario games.  Or Mr. Boo Berry without his hat.  He don’t look like nothin’ now, though, because I sat on his face (in a completely non-sexual way, of course.) 😉

The one thing I didn’t love about this bath bomb was that it, like so many Lush bath bombs I’ve purchased recently, dissolved totally in about 30 seconds flat.  And while I recognize that there’s more to bath bombs than the wow factor (this one was super moisturizing and turned my bathwater the coolest shade of glittery moss green) their main job is to put on a big show.  And when you’ve barely had time to whip out your camera, not drop it in the tub and fire off just a smattering of photos before everything’s said and done, well, that’s not very good value for your money (in this case $6.95 Canadian.)  All the same, the Golden Wonder bath bomb is one I would definitely buy again, should Lush bring it back next holiday season, with or without the little interloping ghost man!

Northern Lights: A Mini Lush Review

Whooo, what a colourful stunner this Northern Lights bath bomb turned out to be!  Good job, Lush, this one’s a keeper (indeed, I think Northern Lights makes the rounds just about every Christmas, although this is my first time giving it a whirl.)

And “whirl” is just the right word, as Northern Lights’ chubby little cylindrical shape keeps this bath bomb swirling, twirling and barrel rolling from the very first moment it hits the water.  The colour effect on this guy is pretty spectacular, too, morphing from a bubbly mess of Barney-type hues to a gorgeous spray of neon yellows, pastel oranges, periwinkles, dusky purples and bubblegum pinks.  The neon pastel colour palette of this bath bomb is unlike any other in Lush’s collection, and I had a ton of fun messing about with the slowly dissolving bomb.

Drawbacks?  I didn’t care for the scent, which Lush describes as a blend of ylang ylang and jasmine, two fragrances that have never rung my chimes.  However, gigantic grain of salt when it comes to my assessment of Lush scents, as historically, I don’t tend to care for any of them (eh, Twilight’s lavender is nice and The Comforter’s not-too-sweet currant is great in shower cream form, but you get my drift.)  Also, Northern Lights’ colour combination – yellow and turquoise in a plummy purple shell – results in gorgeous bath art, but also some seriously gungy-looking bathwater.  Just a bit of a warning if you’re not fond of sitting around in suds I describe as being the shade of shimmery bong water. 😉

Bendy Bomb: A Mini Lush Review

Actually called a Yoga Bomb, but to yoga (that’s a verb, right?) means to be bendy, plus the coloured bubbles that erupt out of this bath bomb bend and swirl throughout your tub.  I’ll ask for your forgiveness of that rather laboured analogy – I’ve spent all day putting together a number of the Devil’s Swedish pressboard insanity-making devices (Ikea furniture) and I’m unbelievably knackered.  I actually wish I had saved this bath bomb for a soothing post-pressboarding soak as opposed to using it up last night – I’m quite in need of a hot bath to un-knot my furious forearm and back muscles, and it might as well be pretty while I’m in there.

Well, initially pretty.  Or actually, initially quite plain – this Yoga Bomb bath ballistic from Lush Cosmetics is not much to look at on first glance, just a pretty, peachy little sphere that smells like your third grade teacher (the hippy-ish one who wore Birkenstocks and always had a bit of cat fur on her nubbily knit sweaters.)  Then you drop it in your tub and it erupts into a gorgeous mess of purples, pinks and blues.  Intermingled with the warm orange of the outer shell, it looks like twilight and dawn meeting up at the same time – just gorgeous.

But not particularly long-lasting.  Perhaps owing to the fact that my Yoga Bomb came delivered with a small fissure running along its horizontal fault line, it cracked open quickly, putting on a mad, sunset-hued display before petering out in less than three minutes.  That’s not the best value for an already dubiously-valued, single use item that retails for $8.95.

Also, not that you needed a picture of this, but the resulting bathwater was the colour of bong water.  Bong water dusted with gently glimmering mica, yes, but bong water all the same.  And we all know the rules about bong water – don’t drink it, and cripes, don’t bathe in it either!

I’m not sure this one would be a repeat for me, but you may wish to check it out – perhaps hippy teacher bong water sunset bomb is totally your bag (come to think of it, all of those things kind of go together!)  I purchased my Yoga Bomb from Lush.ca, and you can, too. Happy bathing!

Pink(berry) Bath

While my American friends are off observing Memorial Day in all the usual fashions (I hear beer, beaches and BBQ factor prominently) it’s just another hot and sweaty start to the week everywhere else.  So what better time to highlight the berrylicious bath I took last night; add some more hot and sweaty to this Monday afternoon, whether you’re hanging with friends and family or just trying to make it through the workday without collapsing. Both groups sound like they could use a relaxing bath at the end of the day regardless – here’s some fun suggestions for making it a sweet one.

Pink and fruity was the name of this bath game, with two Comforting Lush products taking centre stage, The Comforter shower cream, a silky, black currant-scented body wash, and its complimentary bubble bar.  This plump bubble bar retails for a whopping $11.95 on Lush.ca; like many of Lush’s products, that’s quite enough to give the average shopper a bit of pause.  But as noted, this bubble bar is a bruiser, weighing in at a solid 200 grams.  I’ll get four to six generously bubble’d baths out of this guy, particularly if I continue to cut off the pieces as I use them and run them under the tap in a strainer, comme ca (far less waste this way; also, I find whole bars don’t hold up well to repeated direct use, taking on an odd, grainy kind of texture):

Ambiance and additional fruity smells were provided by a new-to-me wax vendor, Sassy Girl Aroma, and their – wait for this word (fruit) salad – Mango Pomegranate Strawberry Raspberry Guava wax chunks.  This is pretty much the best smelling stuff on earth, crazy name notwithstanding – sweet and tart and super, deliciously fruity.  So good.

The final touch was another Lush product, this time another new-to-me item, a Razzle Dazzle bath oil…bomb?  I’m actually not sure how to categorize this super emollient, neon pink butterball except to say it’s exactly like holding a super emollient, neon pink butterball.  A melt!  It’s a bath melt.  Which means when you drop it into your tub, it floats around, melting down into a little puddle of berry pink oils and other moisturizing stuff.

I can’t say this is an item I’d purchase again.  Retailing for $3.50 a piece, I found this bath melt to be pretty pointless, providing little of the moisturization you’d expect from a 20 gram ball of essential oils (on the plus side, it was delightful to scoop it out of the water and let it run down my hands and arms.)  It also smelled nothing like a raspberry, and was incredibly messy to handle.  Like trying to hold a pat of pink mica-dusted butter.  I’ll also note here that some months back a young woman got into trouble with this exact bath melt after she mistook it for something other than what it was and rubbed it all over her face and body.  You may remember her skin turned an angry neon pink – I believe it, because today I see that in between my fingers, there’s lots of hot pink smudgy bits, and that was with very little direct contact.  So a bit more effort than payoff on this one, unfortunately.

So there you have it, a fruity refresher fit for the workday warrior seeking relaxation, or the happy holiday-er washing the last bits of sand off the long weekend.  I hope you enjoy it, no matter the day’s activities. 🙂

Intergalactic Planetary: A Mini Lush Review

Ahh, now this is more like it.  Some of you may remember that last week I attempted a design inspired by an Intergalactic bath bomb from Lush Cosmetics.  Through the ultimate confluence of poor polish choice, poor design choice and just plain old not paying attention, that manicure wound up looking a lot like a pair of turquoise, floral print board shorts, the kind you never see on real people out in the world, just faceless mannequins at the mall.

So I took another run at an Intergalactic-inspired mani, and this time I think things turned out much, much better, don’t you?  I particularly like my ring finger; it looks very much like the bath bomb I wound up dropping into my tub some hours later.

And how did the bath bomb perform?  Incredibly well, actually!  Fizzing neither too slowly, nor too quickly, it bobbed around for at least five minutes, shooting off the most gorgeous, mica-dusted rainbow bubbles with every swirl.  The effect was so cool, as were the cute little crackling noises it made as it released the popping candy at its core.  And unlike the similarly hued Experimenter bath bomb I tried last month, this one did not turn my bathwater putty brown – instead it was the most gorgeous shade of indigo blue, and glimmered gently with golden mica dust.

S is for Sandra!

Also, and I don’t mean to alarm you, but there appears to be a rainbow-vomiting eel in my bathtub.  Were it not for Lush’s firm and stated commitment to providing cruelty-free, vegan products, I wouldn’t put it past them to do precisely that – “Now with 100% more eel!”  Lush loves to sneak little bits and bobs into their products. Thankfully the only add-ons to this bath bomb were those sweet little bits of popping candy.

A small word about the Intergalactic’s smell.  If you’re a fan of earthy scents, this will probably be right up your alley.  Infused with peppermint, it tingles the nose (and the skin.)  That peppermint, though, in combination with the earthy note – patchouli, sandalwood, etc. – sends this one, for me at least, straight into old man, grandpa territory. The scent is also very strong and lingers on the skin (and the surface of the tub) for hours. Something to be aware of if you’re very sensitive to those sorts of smells (I don’t like them very much, but I can deal with it in a one-use product like this one.)

And while I had no problems with this colour-saturated bath bomb staining my hide turquoise blue, the water clinging to my skin when I got out of the tub – which also made its way onto the floor, and the lid of the toilet, and the edge of the tub – WAS turquoise blue.  There was also a good deal of gold mica glitter pooled in the bottom of the tub.  So for the sake of your skin and your acrylic surfaces, I’d dance around beneath the shower for a few moments post-bath, literally wash them blues (and golds) away.

Small issues of scent preference and turquoise-tinged water notwithstanding, the Intergalactic was an awesome bath bomb, and a fun, beautiful addition to my bath time routine.  I’m glad that it seems to have become part of Lush’s all-the-time, regular offerings.  You can nab one for yourself at your preferred Lush retailer; I purchased mine from Lush.ca.

Fairytale Bath

It was late last night when, feeling kind of chilly from the day’s unrelentingly damp weather, I decided to warm myself up with a well-deserved bath.  But not just any bath! No, a bath I’ve been planning for a bit (if that’s even a thing, which it totally is in the age of blogging and Instagramming) – a nearly mythic bath time combo featuring a handful of fun, fairytale-themed products.  It was a sudsy little pick-me-up (and warm-me-up) and I emerged relaxed, refreshed and smelling like a princess.  If you’d like to follow along at home, here’s how you, too, can add a touch of fairy dust to your standard bath time routine.

Straight off the bat, you need to set the mood with both a lighting scheme AND a scentscape (if “tablescape” is a word, by hell, I’m making “scentscape” one as well.) Tealight wax burners come in handy for this part – bathe by the glow of your tealight as it warms the scented wax from beneath.  Here I melted a chunk of Rosegirls‘ Pink Sugar, Grape Cow (grape milkshake) and Whipped Cream, a gentle sort of bubblegummy scent that I freely admit aligns more with the colours of this bath than the actual theme (although I suppose a Grape Cow absolutely fits into the realm of a fairytale.  Or an acid trip.)

For the bath itself, I used a simple combination of Lush’s Unicorn Horn bubble bar tossed in a small strainer and topped with a smoosh of Prince Charming shower cream.  Run the strainer under very hot water until the bubble bar dissolves (the hotter the water, the fluffier the bubbles, for reasons I’d have to be a scientist to understand.)  This will tint your bathwater the loveliest shade of mica-dusted pink.  Prince Charming, a mild, pomegranate-infused shower cream, is actually quite floral and not too heavily scented – as such, it doesn’t have a terrific load of presence beyond its colour, particularly when it’s running up against the Horn’s heady lavender fragrance.  It’s a very nice combination, though – fresh, fruity and a touch herbal.

Then, as the finishing touch, I plucked the petals from two soap roses from this set my mother brought back for me from a trip to World Market in Florida (which I understand is a beauty and home goods and lifestyle scrounger’s shopping paradise) and sprinkled them across the top of the shimmery suds.

The soap rose petals, while so gorgeous, were a bit of an odd consistency – a little gummy and a whole lot sticky.  When I use them again, I’ll be sure to add them to the running hot water first so they have time to break down before I get into the tub.  All the same, when they did finally dissolve, they left my skin soft and nicely moisturized.  Plus, bathing among rose petals?  ‘Tis no better way to get in touch with your inner princess.

So there you have it, the punchline to what happens when you get into a rose petal-dusted bath with Prince Charming, a unicorn and a Grape Cow.  Or something like that. 😉