Smelling like a hospital (Lush Flower Tub Bubble Bar)

Name: yummy87

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Product:	Lush Flower Tub Bubble Bar
Date:	19/08/04 (391 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It cleans

Disadvantages: It stinks

Waking up this morning, I decided I needed a little pampering. I had no children in the house; son had gone football training and daughter was at a friend?s sleepover. The house was eerily quiet and I needed something to while away an hour or so before they arrived home.

It was then that I remembered the magnificent Lush delivery I had received earlier in the week, and trotted off to the bathroom to choose a delight to make my bath bubbilicious and fit for a film star.

Lush pride themselves on the fact that their products are made with the freshest ingredients and that nothing used in their manufacturing process has been tested on animals. All of the Lush products are hand made, and the success of the company seems to be growing by the day.

As well as ordering from the Lush mail order catalogue, it is also possible to order online at www.lush.co.uk or by visiting one of the stores dotted throughout the country.

Lush bubble bars contain bicarbonate of soda, which, when added to running water, create a bath absolutely overflowing with bubbles making it an experience to be savoured and enjoyed.

I decided on the Flower Tub bubble bar, a new addition to the ever expanding range, which can be purchased for £2.10 for a 100g slice. When ordering from the website, I have sometimes been surprised when I have received my order, as the colouring of items purchased is sometimes quite different to those depicted on the site. However, the Flower Tub looked exactly as pictured on the site.

As always, the packaging is minimalistic. Lush do not waste money on fancy bows and glittery wrappings. Each bubble bar slice is wrapped in a clear cellophane covering, with the Lush logo emblazoned across its front.

The Flower Tub bubble bar is bright green in colouring, rather like a peppermint cream with s
lightly too much green food colouring added. The surface of the bar has an abundance of small dried flower petals, and the site proclaims these to be Larkspur, Marigold, Rose, Violet and Cornflower, although from scrutinising the bubble bar, it is difficult to tell. Although there are some purple petals, the predominant colouring is yellow and brown, giving an autumnal feel to the bar. I admit, the colouring of the bar is what attracted my attention whilst browsing the site recently, and after having tried other Lush products containing dried flowers I assumed the smell would be gloriously floral.

After unwrapping the bar, first impressions were not good. A slightly antiseptic smell wafted up my nostrils, and after having spent the previous day at hospital visiting two sick friends, I was not overly enthusiastic at having the same smell permeate my house.

The bubble bar, although very firm to the touch has an almost gritty, powdery consistency if rubbed with the finger. After inspecting the bar for a good few seconds, the smell of antiseptic and all things medical was becoming quite overpowering so I decided it was time to put the bubble bar to the test.

As with all Bubble bars produced by Lush, the Flower Tub needs to be crumbled under running water, in order to gain the maximum pleasure and the most bubbles. If the product is thrown into the bath, it does not dissolve properly, and leaves a layer of grit, which can invade the most private of places, so be sure to follow the instructions carefully.

Taps a-gushing with hot water, I broke off about a quarter of my bubble bar, and crumbled it under the cascading water. The bar crumbled easily, into quite a powdery substance and almost immediately my bath was filled with soft, snowy white bubbles. The bath water goes a light shade of green and looks pretty with a few dried flower p
etals bobbing in the water but the smell???????my bathroom resembled a changing room full of men after a football match. I remember that my father used to use Embrocation, or White Horse Oil, which had a very strong medicinal, antiseptic smell and this is exactly what the Flower Tub bubble bar smells like. The strength of the smell almost made my eyes water, and despite my bath being filled with mounds of beautiful bubbles, I was in a hurry to escape the cloying fumes of the bathroom.

Violet is an ingredient in the bubble bar, and I would say there is a hint of the aroma, but there is nothing floral about this bar at all. It smells of hospitals and sterile things and is not nice at all.

The good points are that I did feel clean afterwards and my skin felt soft and silky as it always does after bathing with anything Lush related. However, the vile medicinal smell lingered like a bad karma around me for most of the day and was overpowering to say the least. My son asked if I had pulled a muscle as I think he thought I had sprayed Deep Heat or something similar over me and in the end I bathed again to get rid of the smell.

To say I am disappointed would be an understatement. The smell is still lingering three hours after taking the bath, and I half expect a doctor to leap on me, bearing a scalpel at any moment. Lush, you have failed me for the first time ever, and I won?t be purchasing the Flower Tub any more, despite it looking wonderful in the pictures.

If antiseptic and hospitals are your thing, try it. If not, give it a miss.

Capital letters courtesy of: http://www.chuckleweb.co.uk/fixit.php

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