Fancy a bath? I do - regularly! When I'm cold or soggy from a walk home in the Scottish weather; when I'm feeling snuffly, or stressed; or just when I'm in the mood for a bit of indulgence! Baths are great for all these things, and Lush hit the spot - particularly for the indulgence factor! Yes, paying two or three quid for one bath (and that's before we add in the ever-increasing cost of energy to heat the water!!) has some people rolling their eyes in horror at how silly some of us Lush-fans are. BUT - compare that price with other things that might provide some of those stress-relieving, feel-good needs: glass of wine, perhaps, or borrowing a movie? Similar costs, right? Of course, it depends on how long you spend in the bath, but me and a book will easily get an hour - at which point, £3 isn't that bad!

Anyway. Just in case you needed some justification! ;)

Keep It Fluffy (KiF from now on) is a relatively unassuming member of the Lush ballistics family - ballistics being the solid, non-bubble-forming bath products that you (pretty much) have to just chuck in in one go (I've tried: splitting them is *hard*!). And my usual guidance note: run bath, get in, then add the ballistic - that's vital if the ballistic has bits, but just more 'fun' watching the fizz closer up.

Fortuntely KiF is a non-bits ballistic - I don't approve at all of things floating past me in the water, and gods forbid it's something sharp/spiky/sticky - okay, okay: let's just say bits are bad!! But none here, hurrah! :)

The biggest selling point - I think, maybe, to someone? - of the KiF is that you get to pick your colour. Well, you get to pick purple or orange. This makes absolutely no difference at all to anything other than the colour your bath water turns: pale lilac or peach, both with a little bit of a white, flat foamy layer (nicer than it sounds!). Scent-wise the two colours are identical, though, so just pick whatever matches your bathroom or your mood!

Although vanilla is the top listed essential oil in the ingredients, I don't find that particularly prevalent, rather adding a certain creaminess to the combo of jasmine and ylang ylang. Those two are very feminine, sensual essential oils, and yet the whole thing doesn't smell overly flowery to me. Perhaps it's the balance from the tangy yet indistinguishable lemon grass?

For me, the KiF has a gentle, somehow 'soft' scent - and is very relaxing! It is talked about (online) as an uber-girlie scent, but to be honest I'd say it's not overly so. Feminine, yes, but not so in your face that you'd have an allergic reaction for not wearing pink and a tiara!! It's not a scent that lingers much past the bath, but it is just so very easy to sit in for an extended period, and promotes maximum relaxation by not being in your face.

Skin-wise, and again this is really nothing to write home about: I was neither noticeably moisturised nor left dried out. Wrinkly, yes, but then I will sit in hot water for an hour, reading - so my fault, not the product ;)


Overall, then, I found this very pleasant in a gentle, restrained kind of a way. However, while I've picked one of these up on a few occasions and never regretted it, it's just not an Occasion in the way that, say, a Melting Marshmallow or even Sex Bomb is. That said, sometimes that lack of 'event' is exactly what you want in a bath - when you need to drain away stresses and strains and just be at peace for a little while!


~Boring bits~

Availability: ah, here's the rub! KiF is included in the recently announced discontinuation list, meaning that it's going to slowly start disappearing from the shelves. It may or may not appear in the soon-to-be revamped Retro section (products available via the website or mail order, but not in the shops). You've still got a month or so (from time of writing) to grab one, online or in one of the relatively few stores across the country [as an aside: if you're in Central Scotland but not in either of the main cities, a new store is apparently planned for Livingston (!)]. The new Lush website (following the hacking problems last year) is at www.phoenix.lush.co.uk.

Price: £2.30 - restrained by Lush standards, but one to weigh up against the relative lack of excitement in the product for me.

Ingredients (from the website):
Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Perfume, Cocamide DEA, Vanilla Absolute, Jasmine Absolute, Ylang Ylang Oil, Lemongrass Oil, Titanium Dioxide, *Citral, *Coumarin, Methyl Ionone, *Hydroxycitronellal, Colour 17200, Colour 42090
*occurs naturally in essential oils

Lush say:
"Vanilla and jasmine scented wonder-bomb to wrap you in fluffy. You might recognise the fragrance from B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful. As Helen says: keep it fun, keep it fragrant, keep it fluffy."

I say:
Not exactly exciting as far as these things go, and the colour choice doesn't change that, but nice enough and hits that mellow spot at times.