Being the selfless little soul that I am, I popped into Lush the other day, with the intention of buying for someone other than myself. I'll give you a few seconds to recover from the shock of that revelation...Okay...So there I was spreading the Lush love; birthday presents for my mum and an Ickle Baby Baff for my daughter and okay, one little bath bomb for me, when I get to the till and see this offer that if you spend £25 you get a free goodie bag. Now that was just too exciting an offer to pass up, being not only that it was a free goodie bag but that it would be full of lovely Lush surprises, that I may not have otherwise picked, and therefore, great trying out and great reviewing opportunities lurked.

Unfortunately what else lurked was the boyfriend, outside, on a bench, looking more than a little disgruntled at the amount of time I had already spent in Lush. Okay, I've got to spend £7, and I've got to make it supermarket sweep style quick, and it wouldn't hurt to make the boyfriend look a little happier too. What makes people happy....think think...ah I know Lush makes people happy!! Okay, perhaps that just me (and several thousand other loyal followers not including my fella), but into my basket I popped two treats for him.

So now I've spent £26 and all I have for myself is a bath bomb, how can this be?? Luckily enough, knowing a selfless Lush Samaritan when they see one, those goddesses at Lush gave me one huge goodie bag, and one of it's many lovely contents was the Sakura bath bomb.

Also, as you may or may not know I have been recently offered a place on a Media Make Up course starting in September, which is quite possibly the best news in the world. However, I had an assignment given to me at my interview with one month to complete it...in theory! The problem being, I'm off on my jollies for a month on Friday, cue an 18 hour day working solidly on my assignment. After a little sleep, up I got again, only to work all day long on it again. Needless to say my tiny little mind was frazzled, stressed and over tired by the next evening, and the suggestion of a bath that resembles the Cherry Blossoms of late spring, enjoyed in a park, sipping sake and relaxing with a picnic, sounded nothing short of heavenly.

The bath bomb itself is almost white in colour with little speckles of pink and blue sea salt, the colour theme apparently supposed to be in line with that of cherry blossom. I personally would have preferred actual cherry blossom sticking out of the thing, but it's not the end of the world I guess. It's not an ugly bath bomb, just a little plain and boring, and really who wants to be that? Not me, and I'm sure, not this bath bomb. Give the bath bomb a few pretty petals Lush, it's only right!

Now to begin with, I thought this was perhaps going to escalate right to the top of my Lush bath experiences (to be fair, there's only been two others!) as the smell that came from the bath bomb as it fizzed away in the water was much stronger than the other bath bombs. Not over powering-ly so but just really noticeable, and lovely too!

It most definitely smelt very floral but not in a fake way in a lovely sweet realistic way. I don't know what cherry blossom smells like but it felt like this is exactly how it would smell.

As I lay back I really did enjoy the scent and simply closed my eyes and relaxed and enjoyed the peace. No reading today, my minds done enough work!

After a while I started notice a slightly tangy note coming through the scent, it wasn't necessarily unpleasant and was definitely a tiny part of the scent compared with the floral smell but it was definitely noticeable now and again. It smelt almost like a sharp citrusy scent.

When I got out of the bath the smell lingered on my skin but began to take on a whole different aroma to what I had originally enjoyed. Yes, in the bath it smelt floral, but in a lovely relaxing under a blossom tree way. Once out of the bath however, I realised, I smelt just like my Grandma's bathroom. Who woulda thought Grandma was a Lush addict too?

At first I told myself this was okay. Yes, I smelt like an old woman, but I smelt like a nice cuddly sweet Nana, not like I had bladder control issues and a love of lavender. By the time I'd driven the ten minute drive to my boyfriend's house I was thinking hmm I really do smell like old women. This progressed to a dislike of me smelling like an old woman, to by the end of the night, me actually knocking myself sick with my own scent!

I got in the bath, nice and hot how I like it, ready for those essential oils to work their magic with the steam, and popped the bomb in and let it whizz around. It was all a little disappointing, bath transformation wise. Let's bear in mind that my last bath bomb fizzed away and produced pink water, flowers and even two butterflies - girly heaven! Well this one fizzed away and produced...nothing. Other than the sent that is. It perhaps turned the water a murky creamy colour a best and initially had a few spots of pink salt floating around that soon dissolved. Visually the effect was pretty boring, but the scent was nice and it didn't stop me from enjoying my bath. That said, it would have no doubt, ranked higher with me if it had contained perhaps some blossom petals or something similar and perhaps turned the water a different colour.

I have to say that the water did feel lovely and soft and quite silky whilst in it, although I didn't notice any positive effects on my skin after getting out of the bath. My skin certainly wasn't in any way negatively affected by the bath but it didn't feel soft like some bath bombs can make it do. In fact, from my skin, the only way anyone would know I'd even had a bath would be from the "eau de old lady" aroma wafting out from every pore of my body.

So then, what did this bomb have in it and what should it have done in theory?

Well firstly we have fine sea salt which softens and rejuvenates the skin, relaxes muscular aches and pains and eases skin complaints such as sunburns, rashes, and irritated skin. All in all a pretty good ingredient for a bath then, as it should relax and soothe you whilst also softening the skin.

Lemon oil rejuvenates and brightens the skin whilst also helping clear up any blemishes, all the while the aroma is uplifting and creates a cheerful atmosphere to lift the spirits. It is also said to help It can help stop mental fatigue and literally lift any psychological weight off your shoulders whilst also giving increased concentration, rationality and awareness. Great news for getting back to my assignment then, as a study even has suggested that after using this typing errors decreased by 54%, although in all honesty, I would recommend Microsoft Word, before Lemon Oil, for you're typing error needs! It also explains the tangy note to the fragrance.

Next up is Mimosa absolute which is great for stress relief which is good news where baths are concerned, as I know I personally need a bath most when I need a bit of stress relief, and the elevating properties of this should help lift the mood.

Orange Blossom Absolute is in there to add to the fragrance and as far as I can tell not for a whole lot else.

Jasmine Absolute however deeply relaxes which again is perfect for it's use in a bath bomb and it can lift depression and boost confidence. It also tones and improves skin elasticity and apparently can help to reduce stretch marks and scars - for me the jury's still out on that one as to whether anything helps but it's still a nice little added bonus to think it might be doing some good!

Finally there is Gardenia Extract which can help ease irritability, restlessness and insomnia.

Interestingly, Cherry Blossom actually features nowhere on the list, despite the name; Sakuri, meaning Cherry Blossom.

All in all the ingredients sound like the perfect combination for relaxation, de stressing, skin nourishing and for rejuvenating the body and mind. That said, I felt that it didn't really do all it should have for me.

As mentioned my skin didn't feel particularly soft, although nor was it dried out either. As for relaxing, I did relax to an extent. It was strange because whilst in the bath at one point near the beginning I was lying back inhaling the aroma and I honest to god felt like I went into some sort of meditation type state for a while. I mention this because I'm not at all the type of person to meditate or anything like that and the feeling was so nice but surreal and can only have been induced by the essential oils, and perhaps by my over tired mind.

Where it falls down relaxation wise is I still couldn't actually stop thinking about everything I needed to get done, and after only thirty minutes found myself getting out of the bath. It's hard to say if this was due to the bath bomb not relaxing me fully, or more just me not being able to switch off.

After I got out, I lay down on my bed for ten minutes, and if I had been able to go to sleep there and then I truly think it would have induced the most peaceful relaxing sleep I've ever had.

So there we have it, it certainly does have its benefits and also its downsides too. All in all I was pleased with the experience, until the smell of my skin got a bit too much for me. Whilst in the bath it was relaxing and although I didn't completely chill for a full hour that may have been more down to me as it really did relax me when I allowed it to towards the start and those few minutes lying on my bed afterwards were some of the most relaxing ever. I liked the smell whilst I was in the bath but really didn't like it afterwards, and I loved the relaxation properties when they worked but they didn't for as long as I'd hoped. It did diddly squat for my skin but didn't negatively affect it either. It didn't make my bath water look pretty but it didn't make it look awful either, oh and absolutely no staining of the bath, or in fact any cleaning to do after using it - bonus!

All in all, if I had bought this I would have been fairly happy with it, all the better that it was free! I would possibly buy this again, the only thing that might put me off is how I'll smell afterwards, even the boyfriend managed to conjure up an opinion (or at least agree with mine) that I did in fact smell like an old woman, so it's not just me!

It won't be top of my re buy list as there's plenty of Lush goodies to work through and probably a lot more preferable ones to this, but if I was ever given this as a gift or a freebie I wouldn't be disappointed and I would use it.