I am sure I have mentioned before that living in a hard water area in the capital city plays havoc with your hair and skin, often leaving it feeling dry, dirty and in need of extra loving care. When it comes to treating myself and naturally my husband Lush is usually my first port of call for something nice, long lasting and because I have been using Lush for a long time now, I tend to know what I am buying when I make a purchase and know that each product usually does the task it is sold to do. In fact I have only ever found one Lush product I really didn't like and I haven't purchased it since.

So when it comes to pampering myself I tend to spend a long time in a nice hot bath, usually with a Lush Ballistic, an array of facemasks to choose from, creams, lotions, potions, a glass of wine and a girly film. All you need or all I need for a perfect night home alone with only myself to think about.

In a previous review I mentioned the 'Retro' range which Lush now sell online and the retro range are some of the first products to be sold by Lush which became discontinued, but due to popular demand they have slowly come back into circulation and some are available to buy online. Some of these products were around long before my addiction to Lush, so I am enjoying testing them out.

Aqua Mirablis Underwater is a massage bar. One of my favourite products from Lush is the massage bars because they are a great way of getting up close and personal with a loved. However I decided this time to be a bit selfish and buy Aqua Mirablis Underwater because it is a massage bar for one, unless you like to share your bath with someone. Something I don't like to indulge in.

The 'Aqua Mirablis' massage bar was only £2.85 for a 200gram bar of product, which is such a bargain price and it is similar in size to The Amazonian massage bar. The prices for each massage bar do vary depending on which ingredients are used to make it but they do last a very long time, so they are definitely worth their money. Each Massage bar comes wrapped within a clear cellophane wrapper clearly displaying the Lush logo.

The 'Aqua Mirablis' bar to look at looks like a piece of soap with bits stuck in it. Colour wise the main base colour is an off-white almost creamy colour and then running throughout the bar are colourful strands running throughout the bar in oranges and yellows and as well as looking pretty it smells absolutely amazing with a hint of cocoa butter and apricot being the two main smells you can detect.

Now to use it you pretty much mimic the actions of using a soap bar or any other Lush Massage Bar and to melt the bar you rub it between your hands which then loosens some of the calming essential oils and butters to enable you to massage much easier so that your fingers glide over the skin. However with this product it is designed so that you can use it in the bath or the shower hence why it is really a massage bar for one and the idea is that you use it in place of your old exfoliators and such like because this massage bar not only nourishes and moisturises your skin, it also gets rid of old dead skin cells which cause dry skin therefore leaving you with soft, smooth suppleness all over. Not only that but as well as using it on your body it is soft enough to use on your face if you have nothing else to use. I personally tend not to use it on my face unless I have run out of my facial exfoliator but it works just as well.

When it comes to Lush products there is always an interesting list of ingredients used and this one is no exception? Firstly there is a combination of both Cocoa Butter which is known to soften and moisturise the skin. Secondly there is Apricot Kernel Oil which is high in vitamin A and rich in minerals and vitamin A is especially important because it helps to deeply soften your skin whilst keeping it well nourished and sealing in moisture which adds to your skin looking and feeling much healthier. The third main ingredient is Sandalwood Oil which is a known emollient for skin (emollient means using a product to soften and smooth) to help keep it soft and smooth and for anyone who has dry skin, dehydrated skin or even sensitive skin like mine, you can use this essential oil with ease because it doesn't irritate the skin. The final ingredient to mention refers to the exfoliation part of the product and within Aqua Mirablis it comes in the form of Ground Almond shells which are finely ground down into small particles and then they work effectively on the skin, without being to harsh at dead skin cells and dirt which has built up whilst at the same time giving your skin a good polish and encouraging a rosy glow. I have found with this product that the Almond Shells don't create that raw scrubbed feel on your skin despite being quite vigorous when I use it.

There are also many other ingredients contained within this massage bar and they can be found at www.lush.co.uk

To get a good use of this bar I would suggest that you ensure the parts you want to use it on are obviously wet first and then to being massaging your body you should mimic those soap using actions to loosen up some of the essential oils and then in a circular motion complete the exfoliation of each limb and body part in turn until you have been totally cleaned. Once you have finished your bath or shower you should pat your skin dry, never rub your skin and then apply a moisturiser. After using this product I did find that my skin was not only very soft but also moisturised with that healthy glowing effect. Another good thing about this product is that when you are in the bath it is sometimes difficult to keep hold of a bar of soap but this massage bar is very easy to keep hold of whilst you are using it.

So do I recommend this product? Well you won't be surprised to learn that I would recommend this bar to anyone who loves a good Lush product and one that is quite unusual. It does what it claims to do and is cheap for the length of time it seems to last, in my case a good few months and I use it a few times a week and I still have more than half the bar left to use.

**Extra Information**

If anyone wants to investigate Lush further to see what ingredients are used for this or any other products then you simply go to www.lush.co.uk which will give you the UK version of their website.

Lush products are not tested on animals, in fact they are vehemently against products being tested on animals and to test their own products they do tests on humans to ensure they are safe for general sale to the public and they will not buy ingredients from companies who use testing on animals as one of their protocols.

Lush first officially launched their products in 1995, although they had been around for many years previous and their name was decided upon in a competition after many years of working under the name 'Cosmetics to go' as a mail order company and so to Poole in Dorset the firm grew and became globally known.