The Brightside Bubble Bar

There are rare moments during my obsession with Lush, when a product or experience has that extra 'wow' factor that sets it apart from most of the other items available from their range. The Brightside is one such product. Originally released for the Easter 2013 range, this bubble bar proved to be so popular that it was brought back again this year, with many rumours circling that this will be made a permanent member of the Lush family. I really hope that it does.

This generously sized bubble bar is enough for more than one refreshing bath. In fact, it is the same size as the famous Comforter Bar, which will easily give you four incredibly soft and super bubblelicious baths. Priced up at a very reasonable £4.95, this bar is somewhat of a brick in size, so you're definitely getting your money's worth when purchasing one of these.

Named after the much loved Monty Python song, this product is definitely something that'll cheer you up and wash away those winter blues. This bubble bar is packed full of refreshing, uplifting and hydrating ingredients to give you a wonderfully satisfying bath.

Firstly, The Brightside features tangerine oil, which not only gives the bar it's wonderfully zesty fragrance, but can also aid digestion and reduce the appearance of scars and stretch marks. Next up there's Mandarin Oil; a clean and zesty scent which is believed to inspire positive energy as well as improving mood and restoring equilibrium. It is said to help relieve stress and restlessness as well as improving circulation and maintaining water balance in the skin. Finally, there's Bergamot Oil - an uplifting oil that works alongside the mandarin oil to combat stress and stimulate circulation in the body, which in turn can relieve muscle tension.

Together, these ingredients help to create a beautifully uplifting, calm bathing experience, which in turn makes you feel pretty damn wonderful once you've prized yourself out of the tub. Furthermore, these ingredients also help to soften the water and product lots of fruity, velvety bubbles that leave your skin feeling beautifully smooth and moisturised.

Its scent is very orangey and zesty; it reminds me of freshly peeled satsumas when they're perfectly in season; a sweet (and slightly fizzy) smell with a sugary, sherberty bite. Much like orange Fanta but with a bit more of a warm, well-rounded citrus fragrance.

What is great about The Brightside this year, is that Lush have obviously improved upon the recipe, as last year I found that some of the bars tended to be a little too compressed for my liking, and it was often difficult to get the bars to crumble properly under the tap. However, this year the bars are much softer and work perfectly in the bath. They crumble and dissolve with ease and don't leave any pieces in the bottom of your tub.

Much like last year, this product creates a vivid orange-coloured bath, which immediately looks warm, summery and very inviting. This beautiful shade of tangelo remains with you for the duration of the bath and washes away at the end, without leaving any staining on the tub.

Overall, I think The Brightside is a all-rounded perfect product. Firstly, it's stunning to look at and will immediately draw your attention to itself in the shop. The beautiful swirls of reds, oranges and yellows make it perhaps the most gorgeous bubble bar I have ever seen come from Lush. Furthermore, the scent is very strong before and during the bath, but it's a very light, refreshing smell so it's not at all overpowering. This beautiful fragrance remains throughout the entire bathing experience and lingers on your skin for a few hours afterwards.

The Brightside left me feeling invigorated, highly moisturised and very happy when I got out of the tub. It's a product that needs to be made permanent as I just don't think I can go another year before being able to try this again. Lush should definitely create a shower gel using this same fragrance, as it is simply beautiful. However, this would mean that I would most probably spend the duration of my life in the shower, smothering it all over myself for hours at a time. Alongside Ponche, this is quite easily, the best new product to come from Lush in a good many years. Simply amazing.

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Cream of Tartar, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Lauryl Betaine, Sicilian Mandarin Oil, Tangerine Oil, Bergamot Oil, *Limonene, *Linalool, Perfume, Gardenia Extract, Colour 14700, Colour 15510, Sicilian Mandarin Oil.

Vegan?: Yes.

2016 Price: £4.95 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2013.

Scent Family:
Brightside Body Lotion
Brightside Bubble Bar
Brightside Solid Perfume
Here Comes The Sun Naked Shower Cream
The Jester Reusable Bubble Bar
Sunrise Soap

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Carrot Soap

I have to say, whenever Lush release a new soap, I'm never normally enthused by the idea. As you've probably gathered from previous reviews, I'm definitely a 'shower gel lover', and would rather have numerous bottles of multi-coloured, wonderful-scented gels, than a few blocks of soaps. I find that shower gels look better, retain their scent for longer, and just last me that much longer; not to mention that they're easier to store and to use.

When Lush announced that they would be releasing Carrot, a brand new, limited edition soap for their Easter 2014 range, I wasn't immediately excited. However, the more I read up about it - the fact that the design means each slice has a white rabbit leaping through it, and the fact that it features carrot oil as one of the main ingredients, I began to warm to the idea. 

The soap has a wonderfully strong smell - a refreshingly fizzy blend of buchu, lemon, coconut, bergamot and carrot -a fragrance that reminds me of fresh tropical juice with a sherberty twist. This zesty and very fruity combination is probably one of the strongest smelling soaps I've had from Lush in a while, and I was really eager to try it out in the shower. 

The orange part of the soap is made with moisturising carrot seed oil, and the white part has lots of skin-softening Fair Trade Organic cocoa butter. This carrot seed oil has a sweet and pungent scent with fresh and herbaceous top notes but earthy, dry woody undertones, which helps to 'pad out' the overall scent so that it has depth to it. Lush claim that together, these ingredients will 'leave you feeling as soft as the Easter Bunny himself.' Unfortunately, my experience with this soap was less than satisfying. 

Firstly, this soap is quite difficult to lather up; you really have to work the piece between your hands to get any sort of foam. This made it rather difficult to use by itself as I never really felt like I was clean after using it. I would often follow up by lathering shower gel all over my body afterwards, to ensure that I was clean, making the use of the soap almost redundant.

Secondly, when I washed off the small amount of lather that I did manage to massage onto my body, it had completely removed all of the moisturise from my skin. I found that my skin felt taut and dry, and where I had rubbed the soap between my palms, my hands felt raw and stiff. After my shower, I had to moisturise my body a couple of times, just to ensure my skin didn't dry out too much and begin to peel. 

I recognise that soaps can make your body feel a little dry at times, but I've never had such an adverse reaction to a soap as quickly as I have with Carrot.

Despite it's beautiful smell, this is not a product I would be interested in trying again. Although it possesses a beautiful smell, and one quite unique to Lush's range, I would only consider buying it again if Lush used it in a different context (a shower gel would be wonderful).

Quantitative Ingredients: Water, Propylene Glycol, Rapeseed Oil and Coconut Oil, Perfume, Carrot Oil, Sodium Stearate, Buchu Oil, Sicilian Lemon Oil, Bergamot Oil, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Titanium Dioxide, Glycerine, Sodium Chloride, EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Lilial, *Limonene, *Linalool, Colour 15510.

Vegan?: Yes. 

2016 Price: £4.50 for 100g.

Year Of Original Release: 2014.

Scent Family:
A Bunch of Carrots Reusable Bubble Bars
Aster La Vista Soap
The Carrot Bubble Bar 
The Carrot Soap
Snowman FUN
Snowman Jelly

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A Bunch Of Carrots Reusable Bubble Bars

Despite the similarity in their names, I didn't realise that these bars possessed the same fragrance as The Carrot soap, until I began swishing one around the bath tub and picked up it's wonderful scent. Unfortunately, the soap didn't do anything for my skin, even though I thought it smelt absolutely beautiful. Therefore, I was really excited to try these bars out in the hope that they would provide me with a more pleasurable experience.

A Bunch of Carrots is not a new product from Lush - it's just been redesigned and sold under a slightly different guise. Although I don't know the full extent of the reasonings behind this, I believe it has something to do with the functionality of the old design, which I remember from last year being very hard and stubborn when releasing bubbles and scent into the bath.  

What is great about the design of this product, is that not only can these bubble bars be used multiple times, making it a lot cheaper than most other Lush products, but they can also be separated so that they stay dry when not being used, meaning they'll last a lot longer. Priced at £5.95 for the three carrots, these bars cost a little more than your average bubble bar or ballistic. However, I managed to get two good uses out of each bar, giving me a total of six baths. This means I only paid £1 a bath which I consider to be great value for money.

A Bunch of Carrots has a wonderful scent - a refreshingly fizzy blend of buchu, lemon and bergamot -a fragrance that reminds me of fresh tropical juice with a sherberty twist. This zesty and very fruity combination reminds me a little bit of the outer layer of a Solero ice-cream. Yummy!

What differed from this product and the soap variation, was that the fragrance was much subtler in bubble bar form. I felt slightly disappointed at how much stronger The Carrot was than these bubble bars, and I wonder whether it has anything to do with the different oils that have been missed out in this product. However, that isn't to say that I was altogether dissappointed here.

As you can see from my video, I used A Bunch Of Carrots by holding the green leafy part and swishing it throughout the water until I had enough bubbles and scent for my liking. I also chose to hold the bubble bar under the tap for a matter of seconds as I know that this generates bubbles a lot quicker and more effectively.

One aspect that you must remember about this product is that, after you've finished using it, you'll need to store it somewhere dry so that it doesn't deteriorate. I find that laying it on the packet it came in, or standing it upright in a mug, will often do the trick.

Ultimately, what I enjoyed about this product, was that the beautiful fresh, tropical aroma made it's presence known immediately on impact with the water and stayed with me throughout my entire bath. Unfortunately, the scent wasn't as strong as I would have liked, especially when compared to how strong The Carrot soap is when in use. However, the bubble bar did make the bath water exceptionally soft and I could feel my skin being moisturised mere seconds after sinking under the water.

The bubbles were velvety smooth and super-fruity smelling, and left my skin feeling really soft and hydrated. Furthermore, under the bubbles, the water turned an interesting psychedelic yellow colour, which reminded me a little of The Mum Reusable Bubble Bar that I enjoyed yesterday.

After my bath, I was left with a beautiful tropical smell that lingered on my skin, especially on my hands, for a while after my bath. This really perked my mood up, which is exactly what I was hoping to achieve. This bubble bar would be a great choice for an early evening summer bath as the fruity fragrance really helps to perk you up and leave you feeling refreshed.

However, I believe that Lush could do more to strengthen the fragrance in this bar and I hope that, if they bring these bubble bars out again next year, they'll do more to make A Bunch of Carrots smell that little bit stronger. This is important as I feel a fragrance so beautiful should be enjoyed as best as it can be, and there were times during tonight's bath when I envisaged how much better it would be if the scent was more prominent. Because of this fact, I can really see these bubble bars losing their scent if stored for too long, and it is this reason that I will not be buying any more to see me through to summer.

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Carbonate, Cream of Tartar, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Glycerine, Lauryl Betaine, Perfume, Buchu Oil, Sicilian Lemon Oil, Bergamot Oil, Lilial, *Limonene, *Linalool, Colour 15510.

Vegan?: Yes.

Year Of Original Release: 2014

2016 Price: £6.25 per bunch.

Scent Family:
A Bunch of Carrots Reusable Bubble Bars
Aster La Vista Soap
The Carrot Bubble Bar 
The Carrot Soap
Snowman FUN
Snowman Jelly

The Immaculate Eggception Yellow And Pink Ballistic

Lush first released The Immaculate Eggception as part of their 2012 Easter range; an oversized ballistic that can be used to create one epic bathing experience, or three slightly less epic but still amazing ones. Available for a limited period of time, this is a bath bomb that you don't use lightly. Priced at £6.95, it's definitely an investment, so it's one that has to impress. Luckily, that it does. 

This ballistic is packed full of refreshing, uplifting fragrances that'll help you to unwind whilst washing away those winter cobwebs. Containing grapefruit and lemon oils, this fruity bath bomb is incredibly beautiful and Lush have also included a dash of vanilla absolute to round off its scent with a warm, sensual kick.

Lush have included the grapefruit oil to help clear the mind and refresh the body, while the lemon oil is added to brighten, tone and cleanse the skin. Together, they create a beautiful fragrance that invigorates the senses whilst leaving your body feeling velvety soft and clean. There is something rather complex about the aroma of this bath bomb - one that comes alive when it meets the water and lasts on your skin long after you've left the bath. 

Despite both the pink and yellow designs supposedly possessing the same fragrance, I did notice a slight difference to their scents. The yellow variety is definitely very fruity and fresh smelling - perhaps the grapefruit and lemon scent seemingly intensified because of the colour the ballistic as well as the colour it turns the water. On the other hand, the pink variety is a little more musky-smelling and I found that the vanilla fragrance is more prominent here; giving it an almost chocolately scent that I love.

In the tub, both varieties perform a little differently as well. The Pink Eggception spews out an array of vivid colours; blues, yellows and pinks, which quickly fill the tub and turn the water a wonderful deep carmine colour. The Yellow Eggception spits out streams of yellow and orange, both of which merge to form a golden yellow bath. 

When comparing the two ballistics, the pink one is slightly more appealing to me. The smell is a little richer and more sumptuous, and the colour it produces in the water is prettier and just feels more relaxing. Furthermore, I found that the Yellow Eggception stained the edge of my bath tub and I had to spend a good 5 minutes scrubbing it off afterwards.

If, like me, you decide to crack open an Immaculate Eggception before using it, you'll find that there is a little surprise inside to greet you. Depending on the colour you get, you'll either find a mini bunny or a mini chick inside. I'll leave it up to you to decide which one goes with which ballistic - I don't want to spoil everything for you!

Overall, I really enjoyed using this ballistic, and it's one I will buy again if Lush release it in the future. It does possess an expensive price tag, and I can see why a lot of people would be put off buying it because of this. However, I think that, as a seasonal product, you can justify purchasing it as a one-off luxury treat for either yourself or a loved-one. In particular, it would be a great Easter present to give and receive, especially for those of us who don't want to or can't eat chocolate. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Perfume, Grapefruit Oil, Lemon Oil, Vanilla Absolute, Dipropylene Glycol, Gardenia Extract, Colour 15510, Colour 42090, *Limonene, *Linalool, Candy Jelly Diamond.

Vegan?: Yes. 

2015 Price: £6.95 each.

2016 Price: £6.95 each.

Year of Original Release: 2012.

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Bunny Bubble Bar

Inspired by the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, this fresh-faced bubble bar is an 'almost new product', released to coincide with Lush's Easter 2014 range. By 'almost new', I am referring to the fact that, although we've never seen this design before, we have experienced it's scent in the form of Lush's popular Creamy Candy Bubble Bar. 

There have been mixed reactions to the fact that Lush have 'regurgitated' quite a number of their established scents to create this year's Easter/Mother's Day range. While I wish there were more unique fragrances to try, I do recognise that Lush cannot release brand new scents each and every season, especially if they want to ensure that the new smells that they do create, are interesting and long-lasting. Therefore, I'm not going to tarnish my opinions because of this fact.

Much like it's older brother, Bunny is packed full of rich oils and butters to soothe, soften and condition your skin, leaving it velvety soft and smelling wonderful. However, unlike it's predecessor, this bubble bar retains some of it's scent once it has been dissolved. This meant that I was able to enjoy the wonderful sweet smell throughout my entire bath. 

The scent itself is absolutely gorgeous. It's so sugary sweet and girly, reminding me of candy floss and the musky vanilla scent of freshly baked cupcakes. Although not as sickly sweet, this is definitely a product that would keep most fans of Snow Fairy very happy until Christmas. 

One aspect of Bunny that I was a little confused about, was that lush claimed that this bubble bar contained blue cornflowers, which are supposed to float through the water and surround you whilst your in the tub. All I got from mine, were little scraps of what looked like thin twigs, that only made themselves known once I was draining the water away. Despite this, I was impressed to find that this product turns the water a beautiful baby pink colour, strangely something that it's older brother doesn't do. 

Furthermore, the bath water felt lovely and silky without being greasy, and my skin stayed soft and smooth for many hours afterwards. Bunny is packed with Shea butter and coconut oil, both of which help to soften skin; they really do make you feel hydrated and royally pampered.The scent does linger on your skin, and I was pleasantly surprised when I could smell it on my pillow the next morning.

This is as wonderful bubble bar that actually outshines it's predecessor, and I'll definitely be buying a couple more of these to last me through the year. Whatever Lush have done to make this bubble bar successful, they should look into doing to Creamy Candy, as I'd be much more inclined to purchase more of them if they did. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Cream of Tartar, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Lauryl Betaine, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Cornflour, Perfume, Fair Trade Shea Butter, Fair Trade Vanilla Absolute, Blue Cornflower Petals, Titanium Dioxide, Sodium Sesquicarbonate, Methyl Ionone, Colour 17200, Colour 45410, Colour 14700, Pink Candy Eyes, Yellow Candy Tail.

Vegan?: Yes.

2015 Price: £3.95 each. 

2017 Price: £3.95 each. 

Year Of Original Release: 2014.

Scent Family:

Bunny Bubble Bar
Candy Cane Bubble Bar
Candy Floss Showder
Candy Mountain Bubble Bar

Candy Mountain Bubble Bar Slice
Close To You Massage Bar
Creamy Candy Bubble Bar
Creamy Candy Liquid Perfume
Rock Star Soap

My Easter/Mother's Day 2014 Order!

Surprisingly, this is the smallest seasonal order I have ever placed at Lush. I normally always buy a good 4+ of every item available. However, my New Year's Resolution was to halve my current Lush stash, so this means not over-spending. It's difficult but I know it needs to be done!

Overall, all of these items look lovely and smell just as amazing. The only let down was the size of the Rose Bubble Bar; I was expecting a Happy? or Karma sized bar. Instead, it's probably about the size/weight of a quarter of the Comforter Bar, which makes it extremely expensive at £2.95 a pop!

I cannot wait to try out all of these beauties, and if you visit my blog every day for the next week, I'll be reviewing a new product each day. 

Golden Egg Bath Bomb

I knew when Golden Egg was first unleashed on the world, there would be a division of fans; on the one side there are those that get overly excited about anything glittery and will no doubt head straight for the most lustre-tastic looking product in the shop. Then there are those that sort of grimace at anything vaguely shiny and begin envisaging how much of a clean up there'll be after the bath. As for me, I'm one of those rarities that sort of balance precariously in the middle, hoping that lush have used the force of balance to create a product that can offer a sensual experience alongside one that's a little bit sparkly.

This product is new for 2014, although it shares it's scent with the Honey I Washed The Kids range so it's not all-together that new. What is unique about it however, is that it's composed of both a bath melt and a bath bomb, and it is this part that intrigued me the most. 

The outer shell is a glorious cocoa butter and sweet orange oil melt that, on contact with hot water, immediately begins to melt and ebb into the water, creating a beautiful stream of yellow foam. As Golden Egg continues to fizz, the bath bomb centre begins to release creamy white foam, which disperses into the tub and mixes with the yellow. The result is a wonderful, golden bath that possesses just the slightest hint of lustre. There's enough glitter to create a slight shimmer on and underneath the surface, but not enough that you have to worry about scrubbing it off of you afterwards. When the bath water has been drained, there is traces of the glitter left behind, but nothing that doesn't wash away after a splash of water. 

The best part about this product is that it gives off a wonderfully sumptuous and warming toffee and honey scent; it really is a rich treacly fragrance that wraps itself around you and leaves it's wonderful presence on your skin. I kept getting whiffs of this all night after I used one of these eggs, and it even stayed in my hair the following day. Furthermore, I love the fact that this product is vegan as I adore the Honey I Washed The Kids scent, yet can rarely buy any products with this smell as, like the title suggests, the products tend to contain honey. I love that Lush have found ways of producing this fragrance without using any animal derivatives. 

Lush claim that because the bath melt part of Golden Egg is rather heavy, this product sinks to the bottom of the tub before resurfacing when the ballistic part starts fizzing. However, I found that mine remained on the surface, which meant I was able to watch the egg spew out it's wonderful velvety entrails.

My only negative observation is that the bath melt part of Golden Egg is nowhere near as moisturising as other Lush bath melts have been in the past. When I was in the tub, I didn't notice any beads of cocoa butter or traces of oil like I would normally expect from such a product. Although my skin felt really smooth and soft afterwards, it didn't feel anything more than what I would expect an average bath bomb to do. 

Overall, this is a wonderful product, and one I will certainly buy a few more of before they are discontinued. The scent is strong and prominent throughout the entire bathing experience, something I value a lot with my bath products; definitely good value for money.

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Fair Trade Organic Colombian Cocoa Butter, Citric Acid, Laureth 4, Cream of Tartar, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Perfume, Sweet Wild Orange Oil, Bergamot Oil, Olive Oil, Cornflour, Lauryl Betaine, Amyl Cinnamal, Citronellol, Geraniol, Lilial, *Linalool, *Limonene, Gardenia Extract, Colour 19140:1, Radiant Gold Lustre, Gold Glimmer Lustre.

Vegan?: Yes. 

2015 Price: £3.75 each.

2016 Price: £3.95 each.

Year of Original Release: 2014. 

Scent Family:
Golden Egg Bath Bomb
Gold FUN
Honey I Washed The Kids Body Spray
Honey I Washed The Kids Liquid Perfume
Honey I Washed The Kids Solid Perfume
Honey I Washed The Kids Soap
Humpy Dumpty Bath Bomb
Ma Bar Bubble Bar
Noni I Washed The Kids Body Lotion
Santasaurus Reusable Bubble Bar
Shoot For The Stars Bath Bomb (2013)
Shoot For The Stars Bath Bomb (2016)
Sugar Mama Sugar Scrub
The Mum Reusable Bubble Bar

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