Monsieur Gustave Bath Oil

When I first encountered Lush's bath oil display, I was rather taken aback by the sheer quantity of different products that were on offer. As my mad dash on opening day didn't allow me time to sniff them all before bagging them, some of them have remained a mystery to me until now. This is great because at times I have no idea what sort of bath I'm going to procure, which is exciting, but I also feel a little saddened when I fall in love with a product and then realise that I could have been using it sooner. Such is the case with this item.

Monsieur Gustave is a beautiful looking bath oil that follows the same formula as most of the other bath oils on offer. Comparing roughly in size to that of large baby plum tomato, this bathing companion is packed with a layer of cocoa butter to soothe, soften and and moisturise your skin, while leaving it smelling delicious to boot. 

Sharing its name with Ralph Fiennes character in The Grand Budapest Hotel, this exclusive product gives off a sweet, malty and very sensual lavender aroma. Not to be confused with the Twilight family, this bath oil is not as sugary in scent - instead offering a fragrance that is very close to both Waves Solid Shampoo and Unicorn Horn Bubble Bar. 

The inclusion of the rose absolute adds a very subtle floral aroma, although it's not strong enough to recognise the fact that it's coming from the rose; the  tobacco absolute gives this bath oil a very gentle woody component but again it's very subtle in the overall fragrance and not something that stands out without knowing it's already there to begin with. 

In the tub, this ball of essential oils immediately begins to bleed out across the surface - releasing little puddles of purple colour etched with silver glitter. These streams of colour slowly sink to the bottom and create interesting streams of colour that paint the water like a watercolour picture. Once the bath oil had completely dispersed, the whole water turned a lovely warm pastel purple colour and the smell radiated across the whole bathroom - creating a very relaxing experience for me to enjoy after a long, hard week at work.

Once I was submerged underneath the water, I was impressed to discover that the condition of my skin improved very quickly, and within minutes my body felt really soft and well-nourished. While the aroma wasn't the strongest I've experience when it comes to Lush's bath oils/melts, the gentle smell that was present was perfect to help relief the tension in my overworked muscles and disband a headache that was threatening to erupt. Despite being fairly subtle in the water, I did find that I could detect a gentle lavender aroma on my skin afterwards, and this was lovely. 

While this looks identical to many of the company's other bath melts, albeit the colour, I found that this one did seem slightly more oilier on the surface of the water. However, it didn't stain the tub like I was worried it might do and it didn't leave me feeling greasy at all. 

Although I would normally choose the sweeter, citrusy bath melts to use in my Lush cocktails, I actually found Monsieur Gustave to be amazing and will definitely be buying multiples of them to use when I want a more relaxing experience before bed. This may not get a lot of press but it's definitely one of the best bath oils currently available. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Organic Shea Butter (Butyrospermum park butter)  Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter (Theobroma cacao),  Laureth 4, PEG-6 Caprylic / Capric Glycerides & PEG-60 Almond Glycerides, Lavender Oil (Lavandula angustifolia), Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (Cocos nucifera), Perfume, Organic Jojoba Oil (Simmondsia chinensis), Rose Absolute (Rosa damascena), Tobacco Absolute (Nicotiana tabacum), Benzyl Benzoate, Citronellol, Geraniol, Limonene, Linalool, Colour 45410, Colour 42090, Colour 42090:2, Colour 45410:2, Purple Lustre.

Vegan?: Yes.

2015 Price: £2 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2015.