Lover Lamp Bath Bomb

This product would have had to have been pretty terrible to be anything less than impressive in my eyes. When I first heard the name and saw the design, I thought one of two things - either this was going to be a less 'messy' replica of the now-discontinued Lava Lamp - a product that had a fragrance to salivate over, or this was going to be a brand new scent from Lush, which is always welcome in my books.

As it happens, Lover Lamp is the latter - a bath bomb that may not be the most colourful offering from the company, but one that definitely packs a punch in both the fragrance department, and offers something a little unique when it first hits that water.

Made from a combination of vanilla absolute, cocoa butter and orange oil, I was expecting a very 'obvious' scent to come from the bomb. With other Lush fans describing it as omitting a chocolate orange aroma, I was almost taken aback when I received my handful and realised that the fragrance was not as simple as they implied.

In all honesty, this is quite a difficult scent to describe, but one that is definitely different from anything that Lush have ever released before. Out of the packet, my immediate reaction is that it's quite a powdery scent - something that is echoed by the fact that bomb is also quite powdery itself.

With equal layers of both vanilla and orange, Lover Lamp offers a creamy and sweet smell that reminds me a little of Star Dust Bath Bomb combined with a light spritz of The Sun Liquid Perfume or perhaps even a note of Brazilliant Solid Shampoo. I wouldn't say that the orange featured in this bath bomb is as sour or as pronounced as the aforementioned products, just that you get a whiff of orange underneath the vanilla, and it's definitely more of a sweet orange than a zesty one.

Upon impact with the water, this bath bomb immediately begins to fizz - sending waves of white across the water and leaving little oily puddles on the surface. The three red hearts break away and float by themselves - dissolving very slowly - so slowly in fact that two of them were still completely untouched when I was close to getting out of the bath.

These red hearts are where the cocoa butter is, and when you massage them into the water, you get a wonderful chocolate orange aroma - probably where the initial descriptions came from. As they are there to act as bath melts, I wouldn't say that they were strong enough to make that much of an impression in the water, but they definitely made the whole experience really moisturising on the skin.

As well the three main hearts, each of which add a little golden lustre to the whole experience, there are smaller edible red hearts that rest on the surface. These stay afloat throughout and wash away with ease afterwards. Although I wouldn't say this is the most attractive bath bomb in the water, it's definitely something very different from any of their previous bath products.

What I find intriguing is that the puddles of white tend to stay, and unless you mix them into the water - producing a cloudy white bath, they'll remain untouched throughout the whole experience. I would recommend that you do combine the layer on the surface as I found that it can stick to your skin slightly, and it ended up staining the top layer of my nail vanish when it came into contact.

In terms of longevity, Lover Lamp maintains its fragrance throughout the whole bath, and even when you're using stronger products to wash yourself with, I found that I could still revert back to its scent afterwards. It's also incredibly moisturising, and you only have to be in the bath for a matter of minutes to notice how smooth and soft your skin becomes. Unfortunately, it didn't leave much of an impression on the skin in terms of scent, but as I was applying body lotion anyway, this factor didn't really matter to me.

Overall, I love the fact that it's something very different to previous releases, and it's not something that smells as stereotypical as both Lush and other consumers have described it being as. I will definitely be buying a few more of these to try before the season finishes.

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Titanium Dioxide, Fair Trade Vanilla Absolute, Brazilian Orange Oil Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil Organic Castor Oil Red Edible Hearts *Limonene Perfume Gold Glimmer Lustre.

Vegan?: Yes.

2016 Price: £4.25 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2016.