Let's be honest: Harry Potter is a series that lends itself well when it comes to cosmetics. There are so many different concepts within both the books and the films that play perfect inspiration for bath bombs and bubble bars, perfumes and much more. In all fairness, I'm a little surprised that it's taken this long for Lush to bring out a product such as Dark Arts.
One of four new 'jelly bombs', this ballistic is inspired by the more sinister side of J.K.Rowling's fictional world. As with the other variations of this new concept, this bath bomb features an active ingredient known as sodium alginate, which is what creates the jelly-like reaction in the bath water. Mineral-rich and known for its moisturising properties, this ingredient gets to work at making your bath one of the most nourishing experiences you could wish for.
Containing a combination of cinnamon, orange and almond oils, this bath bomb is surprisingly gentle in scent. While I would describe it as being a warming, musky cinnamon scent, unlike Cinders Bath Bomb or Taai Taai Shower Gel, the smell featured here is nowhere near as heated or as spicy. Instead, you get a slightly powdery cinnamon smell with a subtle hint of orange. The fruity side of the orange oil is also very dampened in Dark Arts, so don't expect more than a gentle reference; while the almond oil offers an almost burnt-like note that sits alongside the other components and rounds the smell off.
While I think it's a lovely fragrance to bathe with, I would have quite liked it to have been a little stronger, and I also find it a rather odd choice for a summer release. I see this as being more of a limited edition Christmas or Halloween product, as it would be more suited to that time of year. Not that cinnamon is exclusively a winter scent; just that it would not be a product I would want to reach for in the warmer weather.
Upon contact with the water, the bath bomb immediately begins to fizz, and sends out waves of thick, gloopy black colour across the surface of the tub. Quite a fast fizzer, it didn't take long for Dark Arts to fully dissolve, and what was left behind resembled that of an oil spillage at sea. There was a thick layer of jelly-like residue that clung to the water, and I found that the second I began to get into the tub, this stuff latched itself to my body and made a mess of my skin.
Throughout the experience, I found that the jelly did begin to dissolve into the water, and within about fifteen minutes it had fully disappeared. However, during this initial stage, the gloopy mess stuck to most parts of my body and had to be rubbed a number of times to clean it off. Although it certainly didn't stain myself or the tub at any point, it was a little stubborn at removing itself from my skin.
One word of warning that should be heeded is that the base of the tub becomes extremely slippery when you first hoist yourself into the bath - a fact I learnt fairly quickly when I almost slipped over when climbing into the waters of this very bath bomb.
Once you're submerged in the water, the jelly gets to work at moisturising your skin very effectively, and I was definitely impressed with how soft and shiny my body looked and felt afterwards. Furthermore, it should be noted that I would not describe this experience as being at all oily or greasy in the slightest. While it looks as though it's going to be too overwhelming, there was just enough of the sodium alginate to make an impression on the skin, without drowning your pores.
Having said that, I did not particularly enjoy the many smudges that appeared around the outside of my bath tub after using one of these. While most of the smudges can be rinsed away easily afterwards, I found that if the bath hadn't been scrubbed clean beforehand, black smudges did make their way to these places. In addition, some of the black residue did remain on the back of my legs, unbeknownst to me, and this transferred onto my towel afterwards, which then had to be cleaned right away.
Although the bath bomb wont stain your skin or the bath permanently, there was something rather messy about this experience that I didn't really enjoy. With the amount of 'gunk' present, I wouldn't feel confident washing my hair in the water, and I didn't feel as refreshed or as clean when I stepped out of the tub, as I would with most other bath bombs.
Finally, I found that the fragrance of this was a little weaker than I was hoping for. For a bath bomb such as Dark Arts, which makes a big statement with its design and functionality, I was expecting something a little bit bolder and stronger than the aroma that stayed with me in the bath tub.
While this is a novelty concept, and one that I have enjoyed testing out in my bath, this is not one that will sustain my interest for very long, and definitely not one I would buy regularly. Although I understand the allure of a Harry Potter-inspired bath bomb will no doubt make this a popular seller over the coming months, I cannot see this as being one that'll have much longevity in the great scheme of things.
Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Sodium Alginate, Cornflour, Perfume, Almond essential oil, Brazilian Orange Oil, Cinnamon Leaf Oil, Titanium Dioxide, Propylene, Glycol, Laureth 4, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Tin Oxide, *Eugenol, *Cinnamal, *Limonene, Colour 77491, Colour 77266, Colour 17200, Colour 16035, Colour 60725.
Vegan?: Yes.
2017 Price: £4.95 each.
Year Of Original Release: 2017.
I personally don't like the jelly bombs. :x
ReplyDelete