Poisson D-Avril Bubble Bar

As I’ve been away from the community for a matter of weeks, I’ve missed out on learning about all of the products in the latest seasonal ranges. This has definitely come with many merits, most notably the fact that I have been able to appreciate each and every fragrance and format without any preconceptions, which has also created an extra element of excitement to the process of trying and reviewing everything.

When I first set my eyes of Poisson D-Avril, I not only fell in love with the design immediately but I told myself that I already knew what the bubble bar would smell like. Without even looking at the ingredients list, I conjured up a sweet, fruity, floral fragrance that I just 'knew' would be the scent of this seasonal exclusive. Upon finally being able to sniff the bubble bar when I got home, I was immediately taken back by how far away from the mark I had been.

What happened upon first sniff of Poisson D’Avril Bubble Bar is two things. Firstly, the smell hit my nose and immediately conjured up feelings of familiarly that I just couldn’t shake off. Almost three days later and I was still trying to establish why I knew the scent, without relying on the internet to tell me the answer. Secondly, the confusion I felt at being so wrong about what the product would smell like took me by surprise, and it was a while before I was able to adjust to the actual fragrance on offer.

Harvesting a combination of cinnamon, oakmoss and neroli, this bubble bar shares its scent with Spank Me With Sapling Shower Jelly - a rare, retro release that made a single appearance towards the end of the Lush Kitchen's reign. While not familiar to many, this product was very much a favourite amongst old-school Lush fans, and I'm surprised that more products haven't been released in their fragrance before. 

What is interesting is that this product does not contain lemongrass - a fact that I found hard to contend with as this was my first reaction to smelling the aforementioned shower jelly, and indeed this bubble bar as well. What I will say is that, much like the retro jelly, Poisson D-Avril offers a bright and slightly sharp citrusy aroma. Yet what sets this apart from a lot of the many products that Lush bring out with similar smells, is that this one has both herbal and  earthy notes as well. 

In fact, it is the neroli that offers that slightly soured, citrusy smell - one that gives off subtle elements of grassiness and adds delicate green-like properties to the overall aroma. Alongside this, the oakmoss brings an earthy note that sits underneath the neroli, while the black pepper and the cinnamon bring subtle threads of spice that intertwine with the other components.

Despite the different layers of scent here, it is definitely the neroli that dominates overall. For this reason, I always describe it as being predominantly citrusy, but with various other layers that makes it much more interesting, and perhaps far more natural than other citrus-type smells. 

Given its size, this bubble bar would easily stretch across two to three baths - each one heeding a generous amount of scent and bubbles. Given the greedy minx that I am, I chose to use the whole thing in one go and this gave me a really amazing experience of the product firsthand.

While I found the bubble bar a little stubborn at crumbling, it didn't take too much effort to crumble it under the running tap. As the water filled the tub, so did the number of bubbles multiply, and by the end I was impressed to discover that my whole tub was filled with soft, fragrant bubbles to blanket me during the chilly evening. I would even go as far as saying that choosing to use less than a whole one would be far more conducive and a lot less excessive.

As you would expect, the bubble bar turned the water a wonderful shade of red - very much as intense and as beautiful as the bubble bar to begin with. Given how robust the scent was before use, I was not surprised to find that Poisson D'Avril was just as intense throughout my experience, and I was able to smell it lingering on my skin just slightly after I had towelled myself down. 

As far as bubble bars go, this was equally as moisturising, although not as nourishing as I have found some of the more recent ones to be. Having said that, my skin did feel really soft and smooth afterwards, and I didn't need to moisturise before heading to bed. In the morning, I was surprised to find that I could still smell traces of this on my pillow, which was a nice present to begin the day with.

Ultimately, this bubble bar sports a great design; has a unique fragrance to indulge in; and is great value for money, given that you can get at last two uses out of a single bar. This is definitely one I would buy again, and I'd like to see Lush release a bath bomb in this scent, in the near future. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Cream of Tartar, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Lauryl Betaine, Cornflour, Black Pepper Oil, Cinnamon Leaf Oil, Oakmoss Absolute, Neroli Oil, Titanium Dioxide, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Tin Oxide, *Citral, *Eugenol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Cinnamyl, Alcohol, Geraniol, Perfume, Colour 14700, Colour 17200, Colour 77491, Candy Eye.

Vegan?: Yes.

2018 Price: £5.95 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2018.

Scent Family:
Poisson D-Avril Bubble Bar
Spank Me With Sapling Shower Jelly

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