Orange FUN

While Lush feature orange and mandarin oils in an awful lot of their products, it's seldom that they bring out something that is supposed to smell solely of orange. It is rather ironic then that when they do release something supposedly orange-scented, there doesn't seem to be anything in the ingredients list to suggest how they created the fragrance in the first place. 

Orange FUN doesn't beat around the bush when it comes to its design - it's name is to the point, it's colour is to be expected and its smell follows suit. In simplest terms - if you love orange, as I do, you'll no doubt love this addition of FUN; if you're not fussed or care not for citrusy smells, you might want to avoid this one. 

Containing lemon, lemon myrtle and rosewood oil, this bright and very uplifting addition of FUN has a very grounded orange aroma. It's not the sherbety offering I was initially expecting, nor is it a sour rendition that you'd find with Lush's The Sun Liquid Perfume. Instead, it smells like a peeled orange with a very subtle woody element to give it an extra layer of scent.

As with all of the other FUN bars that Lush offer, this one is versatile in how you use it and does a great job in each role. Firstly, this is a great shower companion - replacing your shower gel/jelly and used as an alternative to clean your body from head to foot with. Simply take a small piece (about the size of a grape), wet it under the shower hose and massage it directly across your body. The bar foams up a treat and produces an impressive amount of lather that can be distributed across your skin. 

Just like Lush's shower gels, this bar leaves your skin really clean and with a light orangey fragrance to accompany you about your day. While it's not as moisturising as the gels and jellies, I don't find FUN bars to be as drying on the skin as soap can be, even though they don't offer the complex scents you'd expect with Lush soaps.  

Secondly, FUN can be used in much the same way as a bubble bar - crumbling about a fifth under the running tap to produce an impressive orange-dominated bubble bath. While Orange FUN doesn't offer the same moisturising experience as a bubble bar would, I rectified this by adding in a generous chunk of You've a Been Mangoed and was good to go. 

What is great about Orange FUN is that it lasts for ages - easily rivalling the life expanse of a 250g bottle of shower gel, making it good value for money. As with the other FUN bars, I tend to transfer them to an old 250g Lush tub. This not only prevents a sticky mess forming all over your tub, but means the product is less likely to come into contact with water between uses so it lasts longer. 

On a negative note, I was a little disappointed with the smell as I was expecting a much stronger and more 'spritzy' aroma. While it was clearly orange, I was hoping for more of a zesty, sherbety experience. It just wasn't interesting enough for me to get overly excited about it - almost nesting in that awkward place between being a 'playful' fragrance and a grounded, more serious one.

Secondly, I found that this bar seemed to suffer in the same way that the original Mermaid FUN did - drying rather quickly whether in the packet or in a tub. This meant that when I broke off chunks to clean myself with, the pieces were quite rigid and stubborn to use - meaning it took a little more effort to get the bar to work effectively and I did end up losing quite a bit down the plughole. 

Although I enjoyed using Orange FUN, it's not one I'd use again unless I was creating FUN cocktail bars. While it's another fragrance to add to the collection, it didn't make a big enough impression on me to invest in it regularly. It's definitely worth trying it out at least once, but there are far more interesting scents to invest in in that range. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Cornflour (Zea mays), Talc, Glycerine, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Grapefruit Oil (Citrus paradisi), Sicilian Lemon Oil (Citrus limonum), Litsea Cubeba Oil, Citral, Limonene, Perfume, Colour 15510. 

Vegan?: Yes. 

2015 Price: £5 for 200g. 

Year Of Original Release: 2015.