Hokkaido Bath Bomb

With so many products left to review, I have found myself reaching for the most interesting ones as opposed to the ones that have been in my possession for the longest amount of time. Therefore, a miniature bath bomb with very little colour, doesn't have any hope of being noticed when its competing with far more interesting counterparts.

Hokkaido Bath Bomb was first released in the Lush Kitchen back in January 2017 - appearing to generate little excitement as it remained available for the whole week and into the successive week as well. Although it wasn't a product that I had tried before, I found myself placing an order without feigning too much excitement. Upon arrival, it joined the stack of bath bombs that were waiting to be tried and tested, and it wasn't until I used one for the first time yesterday, that I realised how much I had underestimated this little gem.

One of Lush's smaller bombs, this limited edition ballistic appears a little on the expensive side to begin with. However, while I would say that the £4.25 price tag is definitely on the high side and doesn't necessarily reflect the overall quality of experience that you get, there is good reason as to why it is more than you would expect it to be.

Containing a bigger range of oils than perhaps any other bath bomb I have seen from Lush, Hokkaido is surprisingly subtle in smell: a factor that would normally dampen my experience with a product, but in this case made me appreciate this ballistic far more than I initially thought that I would.  

A combination of ginger, clove bud and cedarwood oils gives this product a gentle, spicy and rather warming aroma. Firstly, I should start by saying that I was surprised by how subtle the overall fragrance was. This is perhaps one of Lush's most delicate scents that features clove bud oil, and it's one so gentle that you would almost expect to lose the smell completely in the bath tub.

The cloves and ginger offer a light, herbal aroma, while the inclusion of the lemongrass gives this bath bomb an element of grassiness to it. What is rather peculiar about this arrangement is the fact that the lemongrass doesn't offer any of the citrus elements that you would normally expect. If you were to compare Avoshower to this bath bomb, it's unbelievable to think that the two products could share the same component: they are so far apart in fragrance.

Alongside these different smells, this bath bomb also contains cocoa butter, rice bran oil and soya milk powder. Together, these three components make this one of the most moisturising bath bombs that Lush have ever released. For something so small, you would not believe how thick and nourishing the water was after one of these had fully dissolved.

While the bath water ends up a slightly murky shade of green, there is an impressive blanket of foam that rests on the surface, and you can see the droplets of oil in the water as your bathe. For this reason, this is definitely not suited for bathers who dislike the greasier bombs, as you can definitely feel the impact of the cocoa butter in the water. Furthermore, I would not recommend that you try to wash your hair in the water as it's likely to impact the overall condition of your locks. Moreover, I would ensure that you give the sides of your tub a wipe down afterwards as some of these oils tend to smear themselves across the surface. 

Overall, the only aspect of this bath bomb that lets itself down is its colour performance in the water. Yet, the purpose of Hokkaido is to provide a sensual experience with additional skin-softening properties, and so I cannot actually imagine the bath bomb working as well if these additional colours were included. This is definitely one that I would buy again in the future - it's just a shame that many people would have missed out on this one because it isn't the most interesting to look at, nor the most exciting on paper.   

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Laureth 4, Soya Milk Powder, Perfume, Rice Bran Oil, Titanium Dioxide, Cedarwood Oil, Clove Bud Oil, Ginger Oil, Lemongrass Oil, Sandalwood Oil, Gardenia Extract, *Citral, *Eugenol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Colour 42090.

Vegan?: Yes.

2017 Price: £3.75 each.

Year Of Original Release: ?