LUSH Holiday Bath Bomb Review: Cinders

The scent of spice, orange, and cinnamon is really nice, especially as it lingers on afterwards. This is the sole reason as to why I bought and enjoyed Cinders. This bath bomb is equal to the warmth of a crackling fire on a dull and dreary evening. I took my bath using Cinders during the late afternoon while strong winds ran gustily against my window at 63/km an hour outside. I was thankful to be inside and in a hot, comforting bath!

Lush describes it as: "The warming, sweet cinnamon and orange fragrance was inspired by a comforting yuletide drink in Sweden and is utterly irresistible on a chilly evening. Cinders is the color of a glowing ember and crackles like wood on the fire (just like the fire that Cinderella slept beside in the fairytale)."

I had used Cinders at two different times and had slightly varying experiences in regards to the pop rocks. The bomb with the most pop rocks showing (see picture below) did not give off a crackling sound that I could hear. However, the one with the least did. But I wasn't in the tub for the first one, only the second. Maybe that would make a difference. I thought it was the water dripping when I heard it. But nope. It was the pop rocks! So if you'd like to enjoy that, I would recommend to actually be in the tub to listen (and not be taking pictures). It also fizzes quite a bit.

(these pictures were taken with a flash so the color of the water appears a little bit brighter than IRL)

Unfortunately, it leaves some residue. I'm not quite sure what that stuff is; it was like floaty and soft. I thought it may have been undissolved rocks, but it wasn't hard. I'm not sure! I wasn't too worried about it though.

There are a few downfalls I should mention. One, it made my skin feel sticky. It may have just been me, all in my head. Maybe I was paranoid about bathing in candy. I'm not sure. Let me know if you've had a similar experience. Two, it left a yellow ring around the tub while bathing. It wasn't the most appealing thing but it's easy to wipe down afterwards. And three, I had on a sheer pink nail polish. Towards the end of my bath I noticed that my nails were developing a yellow tinge to them. I probably wouldn't use this if you've just got an expensive manicure, just in case.

The water was a transparent amber color. There are no bubbles, as it's a bath ballistic. The best thing about this is it's scent! Which is exactly why I got it. If you're after a Christmass-y, winter theme bath, then definitely check this out. I hadn't noticed any significant benefits to my skin afterwards (just the stickiness). Although Cinders does contain sodium bicarbonate which, I believe, is to promote circulation and skin softening.

Now, no two things are alike. Not with these babies anyway. One I ordered online and  the other came from a store. They are slightly different colors with a difference in its texturized look, and varying in the amounts of pop rocks.

I purchased these two only and probably will not re-purcahse again. It is a nice treat for the a cold winter day and I loved the scent. But it's not something I would not use often. I'd rather use bath bombs containing moisturizing agents and whatnot than nothing at all.

♥M

LUSH Holiday Bath Bomb Review: So White

I personally don't think this is one of lush's finest.

It smelled of a delicious green apple scent in the store. But in the tub? Not so much. The fresh scent did not deliver very well when completely dissolved in the water. It was quite faint; it didn't lingered very long, unless my nose just got use to its subtle fragrance. That was just a little disappointing but it wasn't what totally made this one a downer.

So White bath bomb has a bit of bubble bar built in. As the bath bomb sizzles in the water it also creates a few tiny bubbles. So it does make for a sight-fully pleasing  drop-of-the-ball. But that's it. After a few minutes of being in the tub, all this dissolves and completely fades away into nothing. So White is also the smaller sized bath bombs that Lush makes. But I'm sure size has nothing to do with the results, it's more so the formulation, I think.

Anyway, it's as if I never even added anything into the tub. A regular 'ol bath. The water ended up clear with no bubbles and the scent was weak. It was not exceptional in any way. In fact, quite boring. If you want to see what I mean, help yourself to it. But I wouldn't recommend it.

Lush has a lot of other nice Holiday choices to choose from. I really can't wait to use Cinders because I love its scent.

♥M

LUSH Holiday Bath Melt Review: Star Melt

This is a delicious bath item that would make a sweet treat for yourself or as a gift, especially for a girly girl (think stocking stuffer perhaps). If you enjoy the vanilla and candy fragrance of Snow Fairy shower gel, you will love this.

This product's moisturizing ingredients include starflower oil, shea butter, and cocoa butter. It is also made with some icing sugar which helps create a silky texture in the water. And if it weren't already so delectable, the icing sugar sure does amp up the sweetness factor.

As this began to melt away in the water I had picked it up and it felt like a glob of soft icing mixture. There were no sparkles in mine but it did leave my skin gleaming while in the tub. I found it certainly moisturizing but, in my experience, it didn't quite have the lasting effects of the Mr Butterball bath bomb, which left my skin feeling more soft and supple after the bath. Also, the Star Melt turned my water into a nice foggy baby pink color.

After the bath I took a shower to rinse off the icing sugar (I personally didn't like the idea of icing sugar sinking into my skin). And of course, it pairs perfectly with the snow fairy shower gel!

You could probably get away with cutting it in half if you wanted a little more for your money. But I would prefer to use the whole thing at once. It wouldn't be as strong of a scent and you'd only get half of the oils and its moisturizing goodness.

I would re-purchase this Star Melt bath melt time and again if not only just for the scent! The sweet scent, the pink shimmering water, its moisturizing aspects definitely make for a luscious bath. If you are one for sweet scents I would highly recommend you give this one a try.

FTC Mandatory Questions:

1. Did you get this item sent to you for free or did you buy them yourself?

    I bought it myself.

2. Are you affiliated with the company in any way?

    No.

3. Are you being paid or compensated by this company for your review?

    No.

4. Is this your honest opinion or a paid review?

    This is my honest review.

For your information: I have never received any products for free to review. This review, along with all past reviews on this blog, have always  been my honest review. The products reviewed on my blog are purchased with my own money. I am not here to help out a company. I am here because this is what I enjoy doing and I am not seeking anything in return. And if I do help a consumer make a decision, even better. But I'm not here to get free stuff, make money, or whatever. If, however, I ever do receive a free product to review (if I choose to review it) I will ensure to let everyone know, if that's the case. And with everything else, I will continue to provide honest feedback from my own experience. Thanks for reading and have a great one!

♥M

Favorites of November

Okay, so frankly there were not as many makeup favorites this month. My cosmetic favorites have pretty much remained the same since the previous month. However, there are a couple little beauty-related things as well as some other items that I have been partial to during this month of November.

MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack

I prefer this gel formula when it comes to eye liner. If I use any other eye liner - like a pencil liner, MAC technakohl liner - it will transfer to the upper part of my eye lid. Fluidline doesn't do that. And it's also ideal when using false lashes.

Pure Liquid Vitamin E

I like to use this at night on my lips, around the eye area, any dry patches on my skin,nails and cuticles. Vitamin E is vital for healthy, shiny hair, nails, and skin. So in its pure liquid form I can apply it directly to those certain areas. I got mine from Shopper's Drug Mart.

Botanics Night Cream

This stuff is heaven. I love the way it feels, it's like a fluffy cream texture. It works well in moisturizing and repairing my skin during the night. And it's a drugstore product!

Tea: Green, White, and Mint

I've been drinking quite a bit of tea in the past couple months, especially these three kinds. Green tea because of its health benefits. I picked up Tazo's Berryblossom White Tea because it sounded good and I have proved that it is in fact good. And mint is a good one to drink after dinner, especially if what you ate isn't settling well, because it aids in digestion. Tea also makes for a warm and healthy treat in these coolers months.

Snow Fairy Shower Gel

Smells so good; vanilla and candy. I want to eat it.

And..

Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Movie

I watched this film for the first time while in Montreal. I loved it! I can't wait to watch it again and again.

♥M

LUSH Holiday Bath Bomb Review: Mr Butterball

One of my favorites. Mr. Butterball is super moisturizing and serene! It's also limited edition so I will need to stock up before it's too late.

I had used this shortly before going to bed one evening, which I think is the best time to use it. The vanilla and ylang ylang scent really aids in relaxation and unwinding before going to sleep.

This bath bomb contains chucks of cocoa butter, a skin softening ingredient. When I got out of the tub and into my PJs, my skin felt so smooth and soft to the touch and I hadn't even used any body moisturizer. I don't believe there are any color dyes added and the water is natural; a bit foggy, but still transparent. If you enjoy bathing in pretty colors, you may not enjoy this one as much.

You can see the oils floating in the water. I like to massage my legs, arms, or any  dry areas to really allow my skin to absorb in the cocoa butter goodness. If you're not a fan of oils or a greasy feeling you may want to steer clear of this one.

The only downfall about this item is that it did leave a little tub residue. As I was laying there, I could see the ring of oil that was developing around the tub. Just be sure to take a rag and wipe it out afterwards to ensure it doesn't collect other grime and to prevent slippage.

If you have dry skin or live in a cooler climate during the winter, I would highly, highly recommend the Mr. Butterball bath bomb. I want to stock up on these and use them during times I want/need that extra skin-quenching, especially throughout  the winter.

♥M

A Review: LUSH Comforter Bubble Bar

First off I want to say I wish there was a Lush store in my area! The nearest one is 3 hours away and I don't go up that way very often. I think I would love to walk around the store, smelling everything and buying everything. So just for your reference I make my Lush purchases online.

This was my first ever Lush experience and I'm pleased to announce it was a good one! I had placed an order online and the day I received my goodies in the mail I tried out The Comforter Bubble Bar right away. This one was free because of a promo Lush was having with their online store. It's value is around $8 for this generous size that I got. This is one of their best sellers and I can see why.

The Comforter bubble bar produces a good amount of bubbles. I won't say it's over-flowing with bubbles or anything but its a good hefty amount. However, what I did notice was the bubbles lasted a super long time. I was in the tub for quite a while (45 minutes, maybe an hour, refilling with hot water) and there were still bubbles by the time I was draining out all the water. Usually with the supermarket bubble bath I'll pour in a ton of it to make mountains of bubbles but then they're long gone at the end of a bath.

I loved that the water turned to a bright, opaque pink. Very pretty and girly. I used the entire bubble bar but I could probably get away with only using half of it by cutting it with a good kitchen knife. I thought that the bubbles, aroma, and the color were more than enough when I was running it under the tap and the whole thing wasn't even gone yet.

Although the smell was delightful, I found it was just a bit strong at the beginning of the bath. Perhaps that's just me. The website describes it as "cypress and bergamot oils soothe skin while cassis adds a mysterious and seductive aroma". And while it is a berry and cream aroma there was a hint of spice which, after the bath, lingers on the skin which was also soft to the touch. It was nice to slather on some moisturizer - which I always do after a bath - on my body after using this bubble bar.

I'd also like to note that there was no left over residue in the tub. However, mine was a bit slippery afterwards, so just be careful.

Will I repurchase this? I would love to repurchase The Comforter again. But first, I'm going to continue to try some different ones in the near future. What I'll do to get more out of my money is cut the  bar in half. It is one of the more expensive ones and you really don't need the whole thing for one bath.

If you were like me and have not yet tried The Comforter or if you're looking to make your first purchase with Lush I would certainly recommend this one. I think it's a safe bet.

♥M

My First LUSH Haul

My first online purchase from Lush! Unfortunately, there is no Lush store in my province and the nearest one would be 3 hours away. I was super excited to get my package in the mail; the box smelled scrumptious!

There was a promo online to receive a free bubble bar ($8-9 value) with your purchase. I choose The Comfort. It was huge and I was so excited to try it out! And I did just that. That's why you'll see that this is the only one not pictured in the haul photos because I had used it right away that evening.

I've only tried the one bubble bar so far - which I'll be posting a review on very shortly - and so far I'm quite satisfied. Even with the scents of these products alone  make me happy. My favorite scented items that I received include cinders, lush lil pud, jacko (which smells like candy and autumn spices). And Mr. Butterball smells great, too (vanilla & musk). I think Mr Butterball is going to be a good one in the tub, I read a lot of good reviews on it.

Here's all of what I got this round:

Bubble Bars

Holiday

Flosty Gritter

The Comfort (freebie)

Bath Bombs

Lil' LUSH Pud

Satsumo Santa

Christmas Party

Jingle Spells

Cinders

Jacko Ballistic

Mr. Butterball

Other

Snow Fairy Shower Gel

Jungle Solid Conditioner (free sample)

Honey Waffle Soap (free sample)

The Satsumo Santa

Lil Lush Pud, Cinders

Flosty Gritter, Holiday

Jacko Ballistic

I think the next thing I'll try is the Jacko Bath Bomb on Halloween day (tomorrow)! So deliciously appropriate.

Free bubble bar promo ends Nov 2nd '09 Promo code: BBSFREE

♥M