Fun For All The Family Bubble Spinner

As I have said in previous reviews, I have never been enamoured with the idea of a bubble spinner. Not only was the fidget spinner craze something that I wish to forget but I have never been overly keen on Lush's reusable bubble bars as a concept. For this reason, whenever a new one is released, I always feel a little disappointed that the product stands in place of something else.Yet despite all of my reservations, I somehow managed to fall head over heels in love with Fun For All The Family Bubble Spinner. It's incredible.

For starters, the design is simply gorgeous. Sporting a rich, deep shade of blue; carved into a wonderfully satisfying shape; and dusted with a sparkly layer of silver lustre, this bubble spinner is appealing for users of all ages. There is something rather beautiful about this spinner that steps away from the cheesy designs we have seen in the past.

Normally I find that reusable bubble bars never heed a strong colour or scent in the water, which is why I tend to use them alongside a bath bomb to make my experience a little more enjoyable in the tub. However, Fun For All The Family not only produces a vibrant shade of blue in the water after only a matter of seconds, but the fragrance is prominent enough that you don't need anything else to enhance your bathing time. 

This is a first for me when it comes to Lush's reusable bubble bars, so the company are definitely stepping up their game when it comes to their new spinners. I only hope that this echoes the standard and quality of future releases, and I'm excited to see what they have up their sleeves.

Finally, FFATF helps to create a velvety-smooth bath water that mimics that of what a regular bubble bar would normally produce, which means that you skin feels super soft and moisturised when you exit the bath tub. In all of the years I have used Lush products, I don't think I have come across a reusable bubble bar with that much strength, or one that heeds such impressive results.

Fragrance wise, this limited edition is a citrusy affair - made up of orange, lime and olibanum oils that combine to create the same scent as the seasonal Never Mind The Ballistics Bath Bomb. Unlike this bath bomb, Fun For All The Family doesn't contain an underlying note of banana. Instead you get a sweet and very fruity combination of orange and lime - the orange being the stronger of the two; and like I said in my review of the aforementioned bath bomb, the scent reminded me a little of tropical juice, just without the inclusion of the coconut aspect.

The inclusion of the olibanum oil is definitely more prominent here than it is in the bath bomb as well. While it's hard to detect much, I could detect a rich, sultry note underneath the fruity components, which I found gave the overall fragrance more depth. In addition, I feel as if the olibanum resinoid also helped to hold the citrus notes in place a little more, so the scent stayed around far longer in the tub than I was expecting.

As with all of the bubble spinners, the idea is that you hold this under the running water so that it spins and produces a surplus of bubbles and colour that pattern the water. Not surprisingly, I found that Fun For All The Family produced more bubbles than the average reusable bubble bar, and after allowing it to spin for almost a minute under the running water, I was able to set it aside to use for future baths.

Unlike some of the previous bubble spinners, this one is sturdy enough that it shouldn't crumble or fall off of the wooden rod that you hold it with. Therefore, I was able to get four really good baths out of a single spinner, and I probably could have stretched this to five or six.

In between uses it's important to pat it down and store the product somewhere cool and dry. This is because the bubble bar will ebb trails of blue if it is still wet, and while this shouldn't stain any surfaces, it will make your bathroom look a little messy - not to mention that remaining damp will soften and shrink your bubble spinner as well.

Overall, this was not a product I had high hopes for and yet it stole the show when it came to the Father's Day range this year. I would definitely recommend that you invest in one, if you've not done so already. I'm more than certain that many people won't be able to stop themselves grabbing a few more before they disappear, as this is exactly what I've done.

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Carbonate, Cream of Tartar, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Glycerine, Lauryl Betaine, Perfume, *Limonene, Sweet Wild Orange Oil, Lime Oil, Olibanum Resinoid, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Tin Oxide, *Citral, Colour 42053, Colour 47005:1, Colour 42090:2.

Vegan?: Yes.

2018 Price: £5.50 each.

Year Of Original Release: 2018.

Scent Family:
Festive Friends FUN Bar
Fun For All The Family Bubble Spinner
Never Mind The Ballistics Bath Bomb
Tunnel Of Love Soap

Christmas Party Ballistic

There are certain scents and ranges from Lush that get me rather excited, even before I've had a chance to test a product out; Christmas Party Ballistic was one such item. Sharing it's scent with the infamous Snowshowers shower gel and jelly, and the even older Champagne Supernova bath bomb, I already had high hopes for it long before I managed to bag myself a couple on eBay. 

Lush describe it as a 'cocktail of Cointreau and champagne, with just a hint of cognac essential oil'; an exquisite and incredibly uplifting blend of fresh citrus oils, giving it an uplifting yet playfully fizzy zesty scent fit for a queen. Whereas most other products in this fragrance range give off this beautiful scent, Christmas Party was disappointedly average.  

Firstly, I should probably point out that my bath ballistics were definitely not fresh as they could be, which will no doubt have effected it's scent and productivity in the water. However, I recently spoke with two friends of mine who were heavily into Lush around the time this bath bomb made itself known, and they both said that it wasn't the most impressive ballistic even back there.

Although my video shows a 'dud' bath bomb, the one I had a few weeks before this worked a lot better. Upon impact with the water, the ballistic immediately began to fizz, spewing a creamy vanilla coloured foam throughout the bath tub. As Christmas Party continued to dissolve, the plastic stars that were decorating the top of the bath bomb, as well as inside, began to seep out into the water and create a rather pretty scene. 

Unfortunately, within a very small space of time, the stars sunk to the bottom of the tub and laid there. Furthermore, within a few minutes of the bath bomb fully dissolving, the water was once again clear, and it didn't look like I had used a ballistic at all. 

Despite the stars being a very pretty addition to the product, they were annoyingly sharp and I found myself being poked and prodded on the bottom whilst trying to enjoy my 'relaxing' bath. Furthermore, the stars didn't really make me think of Christmas at all, and instead made me feel like I was experiencing something made for the summer holiday. 

As I mentioned above, the fragrance that Christmas Party holds is a lovely lime and fizzy orange scent, which although smelt fresh and fruity in the wrapper, quickly disappeared when being used. In fact, the smell had completely vaporised within the first five minutes of my bath. What was strange though, is that the smell reappeared many hours later, and then decided to permeate my bathroom for about two days. I never did figure out how this had occurred. I ended up topping the scent up with some Snowshowers Jelly, which made my whole experience that little bit more expensive. 

Overall, this is a bath bomb that had a lot of potential, and proved itself to be less than adequate. As with all of my old products, I would be open to trying a fresh one, just to see whether there is a huge difference in smell and performance. However, other people have said that this was one of Lush's weakest smelling ballistics, and with Golden Wonder  showcasing a perfect example of what Christmas Party could have been like, I see no reason to resurrect such an old bath ballistic.

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Mixed confetti bright stars, Perfume, Gardenia extract, Orange oil, Cognac oil, Lime oil, Red stars, Iridescent glitter.

Vegan?: Yes.

Scent Family:
Bridal Bouquet Ballistic 
Bubbly Shower Gel
Buck's Fizz Body Conditioner
Buck's Fizz Naked Body Conditioner

Celebrate Body Lotion
Celebrate FUN Bar
Celebrate Lip Tint
Celebrate Liquid Perfume
Celebrate Shower Gel
Celebrate Solid Perfume

Snow Showers Shower Jelly
Christmas Morning Bubble Bar

Christmas Party Bomb
First Snow Dusting Powder

Golden Wonder Bath Ballistic
Snow Showers Liquid Perfume

Snow Showers Shower Gel
Snow Showers Solid Perfume
Supernova Bath Bomb

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Glam Rock Hair Glitter

Glam Rock Hair Glitter is a product from the deepest, darkest vaults of Lush's back catalogue. A product that made a fleeting visit, soon to be destined to spend the rest of its life in the furthest corners of memory. How I managed to acquire one of these I don't know, but I'm not quite sure it was such a good thing.

If there's one thing that I love about Lush, it's their ability to design and create products that don't fit in with the norm; products that no other company would even think about, let alone dare make. Sometimes the company's experimental side pays off and we end up with superior products (massage bars, solid hair care etc...) and then there's products that leave us thinking - what was that? I think this product fits under the latter category. 

This solid bar was released over ten years ago, I believe as a Christmas special, for the party-goers who weren't satisfied with the hundreds of other 'going out' products that were already available on the market. What more could a person want than lip sticks, balms, tints, gloss and stains, eye shadows and liners, toners and contours, foundations and concealers, nail varnish and transfers, hair gel, wax, jelly, moose and spray? Yes you guessed it, hair glitter!

The product is supposed to be used as a final touch up before you head out the door. Simply massage the bar through the areas you want a little sparkle and there you have it - a stylised and far more glittery alternative to dandruff. I'm being sarcastic of course, but you get my drift.

Unfortunately, Lush assume that anyone wishing to use this will already have another product present in their hair to give something for the glitter to stick to. For someone like myself, who never uses anything aside from shampoo and conditioner, this product simply doesn't work, and in fact, makes my hair feel incredibly dry. Not only this, but I experienced the embarrassment of having specks of glitter falling out of my hair every time I moved, which just made me look like I was the queen of a flakey scalp. 

While Glam Rock smells rather nice - a sweet, floral aroma made up of vanilla and rose absolute, it doesn't offer much else in the way of productivity. I understand where Lush are coming from by releasing this as a solid product, but I feel it would work much better if the company brought out hair gels and waxes that feature glitter. This would have a much better success rate and would probably appeal to more people. 

I am not at all surprised that this has never made a comeback and I can imagine it being a product that never sees the light of day again. While it's an interesting concept, I cannot say that I am disappointed by this revelation. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Cream of Tartar (Tartaric acid), Red Golden Glitter (Polyethylene terephthalate), Water (Aqua), Olive Oil (Olea europaea), Gardenia Extract (Gardenia jasminoides), Vanilla Absolute (Vanilla planifolia), Neroli Oil (Citrus amara), Rose Absolute (Rosa centifolia), Benzyl Benzoate, Linalool, Hydroxycitronellal, Perfume.

Vegan?: Yes

A Blast From The Past - Snow Wonder Gift Set

After my exciting discovery of the Happy Gift Set a few weeks ago on eBay, I was even happier when I found another vintage set available for sale a few days later. While the likelihood of the gift set being usable was rather slim, I was still intrigued enough to make a bid, and was rather ecstatic when I won - even more so when the sealed box arrived shortly afterwards. 

Snow Wonder was released in 2004 - a Christmas collection that while rather colourless, contained enough of a variety of scents to attract anyone serious enough about their baths. Hosting enough rarities to have most Lushies salivating at the mouth nowadays, this collection is a rare and rather wonderful glimpse into a world before the Lush Kitchen, and indeed before the introduction of the retro section.

There are so many hard-to-find ballistics in this collection that it almost saddens me that most of these haven't made an reappearance since this gift set was first available. To almost prove this point, you might be amazed to discover that out of the eight products featured, I have only tried three of them - a predicament that I hope to move away from when Lush choose to bring some of these back in the Kitchen this year.

This set features:

Christmas Carol Bath Ballistic

Christmas Party Bath Bomb

Freeze Shower Gel

Snow Cake Soap

Santa Monica Bath Ballistic

Iridescent Glitterbug Massage Bar

Amandopondo Bubble Bar

Kissletoes Bath Bomb 

While the bath bombs weren't in the best of condition (being over 10 years old gives them somewhat of an excuse), I was surprised to discover that the scent of some of these products was very much intact. The Kissletoe made the strongest impression - a combination of cinnamon and orange to rival that of the current Cinders Bath Bomb. The orange and lime of the Christmas Party revealed itself once the ballistic had been given time to breathe, and a note of carnations and rose made itself known when I had a quick sniff of Santa Monica.

As I mentioned above, this may not be the most exciting collection to look at in terms of colour and condition of the products, but the prospect of owning most of these bath bombs, albeit fresh, is enough to make me wish that they re-release this set in all of its glory.

While most of these bombs are probably unusable at this stage (although the shower gel, soap and bubble bar seem fine), I have enjoyed making the journey into Lush's vast and extensive history. For the sake of myself and other hopeful Lushies, I just hope that history repeats itself, and soon. 

   

Flosty Gritter Bubble Bar

Sometimes I get so overwhelmed with the amount of bath products that I own from Lush, that I often forget what I have stashed away in those overfilled drawers of mine. Too often I'll buy a handful of one product only to find that I own as much as fifteen of them already. Ops! 

With the amount of different bubble bars and ballistics that I have, I sometimes find it a challenge to remember all of their names, so remembering anything else about them is asking for a miracle. However, this latter problem can often turn out to be a blessing, as was the case with Flosty Gritter Bubble Bar. 

It wasn't until I dug out one of my abandoned bars and peeled back the wrapper that I realised why I had been so excited to get my hands on these in the first place. Made from a combination of vanilla absolute, clary sage and lavender oil, this bubble bar shares it's scent with the wonderful American Cream Conditioner and the now discontinued I Am 10 Limited Edition Bubble Bar.   

Described by Lush as a 'sexy vanilla' bath companion, this rare product is slightly smaller than your average bubble bar - measuring in at roughly 5 centimetres in diameter. It's soft and squidgy to the touch, making it really easy to break into halves or quarters, depending on how many baths you wish to get out of it. If, like me, you enjoy bubbles, I would recommend that you share this across two baths as I found that each half gave me the perfect amount of bubbles. If you're not too fussed about the bubble element, you could probably stretch this across three or four baths, although I don't know how strong the scent would be if you do this. 

After crumbling the bubble bar under the running water, the tub filled up with wonderfully soft and fragrant bubbles. Admittedly, there wasn't as many bubbles as I would normally expect for a piece this size, but there was enough to keep most people happy. Flosty Gritter redeemed itself by giving off a pungent and gorgeously-rich fragrance that filled the bathroom very quickly and stayed throughout the entire experience. Furthermore, it turned the water a beautiful shade of fuscia-pink, which only heightened the experience. Although the bubble bar is decorated with a slight sprinkling of glitter, I couldn't detect this once it had been dissolved in the water and neither did I find any on my body afterwards.  

The aroma that this bar gave off was a creamy, wholesome vanilla musk supported by a natural blast of strawberry. The addition of lavender and sage helps to add a herby undertone that compliments the fresh vanilla scent and gives it a more rounded smell. While the herbal element was definitely present here, it was very subtle in the overall fragrance and didn't overpower the fruitiness of the berries.  It's an incredibly comforting and deeply relaxing scent that wraps itself around you - yet the light, fresh element of the aroma means that this bubble bar can be used at any time of the year.

My only issue with this bubble bar, and the reason it didn't score full marks, is that the scent didn't seem to leave an impression on my skin. Although I left the bath feeling soft and well-pampered, the scent was rather quick to evaporate once the water had been drained.

Although I'm not really a 'girlie-girl' and wouldn't initially get excited by the look of this bubble bar, Flosty Gritter is a definite favourite of mine and one I'll be stocking up on whenever I have the chance.

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Cream of Tartar (Tartaric acid), Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Lauryl Betaine, Perfume, Cocamide DEA, Vanilla Absolute (Vanilla planifolia), Clary Sage Oil (Salvia sclarea), Lavender Oil (Lavandula hybrida), Benzoin Resinoid (Styrax benzoin), Linalool, Colour 45410, Colour 17200, Pink Glitter (Polyethylene terephthalate and Acrylates copolymer).

Vegan?: Yes.

Scent Family:
American Cream Body Lotion
American Cream Conditioner
American Cream Liquid Perfume
American Cream Shower Gel
American Cream Solid Perfume
American Pie Shower Jelly
Flosty Gritter Bubble Bar
I Am 10 Bubble Bar
Marshmallow World Bath Bomb
Twinkle Bath Ballistic

Heart Throb Bubbleroon

Out of all of the Valentine's Day 2015 range, it was this particular product that grabbed my attention first, and not without good reason. Not only does the bubbleroon sport a stunning design - one that grabs your attention the second you walk into the store, but it also gives off a wonderfully strong and equally beautiful fragrance. 

Heart Throb Bubbleroon is a new addition to Lush's rostrum this year - one that shares its scent with another one of the company's newest permanent products - African Paradise Body Conditioner. Sporting a vivid red design, this bubbleroon is made up of two heart-shaped layers. These have been sandwiched together with a sticky buttercream that not only gives off a very strong aroma, but also makes it very easy to separate the layers to use on different occasions. 

2015 edition

Made from an impressive combination of oils and butters, this bubbleroon not only smells delicious but is incredibly good for your skin. Firstly, Heart Throb has a generous helping of shea butter - a gentle and very effective moisturiser. This butter works really well with the skin's natural oils and is said to help the absorption of other active ingredients in a product.

This bubbleroon also sports a number of oils that not only help to nourish and improve the condition of your skin, but work together to give off the wonderfully unique and potent aroma that this product offers. The ylang ylang oil gives off a sweet but mildly floral aroma which compliments the geranium oil wonderfully: the frangipani absolute offers the most fragrant element of the bubbleroon - a strong, heady floral aroma that creates the spicy element that sets this apart from most other flowery scents that Lush offer. 

All of these wonderful smells are rounded off with a generous helping of vanilla absolute. This helps to ground the fragrance a little and add a creamy layer that is simply gorgeous. This, alongside the body conditioner, is easily one of the most beautiful floral fragrances I have come across in recent years.  

As well as giving it it's scent, all of these ingredients make this bubbleroon incredibly moisturising. The frangipani helps to nourish and heal cracked heels while soothing other common skin conditions; the lemon oil adds radiance to your skin and helps to flush that colour back into your cheeks again. 

As you can see from my video, I only had to pull the two halves apart before crumbling one under the running water. The bubbleroon was quick to produce thick, fluffy bubbles and the water turned a beautiful deep red, which according to Lush makes for a 'little Valentine's tub lovin''. While I had no one to share the bath with at the time, it was equally as enjoyable by myself. 

What I loved about Heart Throb was that the bubbles wrapped themselves around you when you submerged yourself under the water, and they were fragrant enough that you could still detect the strong aroma for hours after the water had been drained from the tub. 

Although I wouldn't claim this is my favourite bubble bar, it did impress me more than I thought it would. I will be definitely be stocking up on these before  they disappear, and would quite like to use pieces of Heart Throb when I carry out my many bath cocktails.

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Cream of Tartar, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Organic Shea Butter, Lauryl Betaine, Cornflour, Ylang Ylang Oil, Fair Trade Vanilla Absolute, Geranium Oil, Frangipani Absolute, Sicilian Lemon Oil, Citric Acid, Laureth 4, Citral, Citronellol, Limonene, Linalool, Benzyl Salicylate, Farnesol, Coumarin, Geraniol, Perfume, Gardenia Extract, Colour 14700, Colour 19140, Snowflake Lustre, Radiant Gold Lustre, Gold Glimmer Lustre.

Vegan?: Yes.

2015 Price: £3.65 each.

2016 Price: £3.75 each. (Oxford Street Exclusive) 

Scent Family: 

African Paradise Body Conditioner

Heart Throb Bubbleroon