I'm fizzing mad! (Lush Bath Ballistics in General)

Member Name: calypte

Product:	Lush Bath Ballistics in General
Date:	03/01/02 (446 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: easy gift idea, the fizzing can be fun

Disadvantages: one word: BITS!

Well, first off I think I should get the apology out of the way – I realise that a lot of people will either have given or received these things for Christmas. Sorry ;o)

What I’m about to do is say nasty things about a product that (1) everyone else seems to think is the bestest thing since, um… the last best thing, and (2) it was a birthday present. Ooh, ungrateful wretch that I am – just on the off chance that a certain person reads this, I was very very grateful for the present and the lovely thought, but this is Dooyoo and half the point is to bitch about things that annoy me! ;o)

So, warning out of the way, and I thought I might invite you all to join me for bath time. Ooooerrr missus – not like that!! Quite apart from anything else, my bathtub is barely big enough for one never mind the whole of you lot as well!!


Bath bombs. Quite a nice idea, really – like taking a bath with a packet of Alka-Seltzer, only they smell nice. And Lush is a lovely shop, full of products that smell delicious and are made from nice natural ingredients.

The particular pack of I was given was the Lush ‘Fairies and Flowers’ trio, containing the varieties Summer Blues, Softy (rose and ylang ylang), and Fairy Jasmine. The first two contained flower particles, while the third had sparkles – quite a nice idea, in my opinion, but unfortunately I only have baths before I go sleep – this might be nice if you were going out afterwards, though.


TWO KINDS
In my opinion, there are two basic types of bath bomb: those that come with little bits of… stuff… in them, and those without. I have no problem with the ‘without’ kind – just drop them in your bath, they fizz away and then you have – well, a bath. It probably smells nice, but there are no bubbles. Other than novelty value (or ‘the Alka-Seltzer effect’, if you prefer) I don’
t see any gain over any of the other kinds of goo you can put into your bath water; conversely, they cost a whole lot more per bath. Still, they look nicer as presents. Probably.


BITS
Okay, this is the real gist of my opinion. If it wasn’t for the d*mn bits they insist on suspending in bath bombs such as the one I used the other night, I would be giving a nicer rating. In fact, I’d probably not have bothered writing this at all.

However, there ARE ‘bits’ in many bath bombs. Some people might actually think this is A Nice Thing, but I tell those people – you’ve been brainwashed. To explain, let me tell you about my bath last night – and for those mucky minded people out there, let me first assure you that I had a swimming costume on. Ahem.


MY EXPERIENCE WITH ‘BITS’ (dodgy innuendo? Me?!)
So, I decide to have a nice relaxing bath. A Very Nice Person had bought me three Lush Bath Ballistics for my birthday, and I decided it was time I used one. The ‘flavour’ I chose was called Summer Blues – a lovely blue colour, nice smell, and little bits of dried purple flower in it. I dropped it in the water and away it fizzed. And out floated… well, all the bits of dried purple flower. Now, as a nice romantic notion, this is quite a nice thing. On a practical level – who came up with this idea?!!

There are several problems with having ‘bits’ – even nice flowery bits – floating in your bath water. For a start, they stick to you (if you’re really unlucky, you could end up with petal particles in unfortunate places, although this is thankfully unlikely). Secondly, have you ever noticed how certain fragments of dried flowers look like dead insects? Well, I did last night – no matter how logical I tried to be, my fear of insects made me jump every time a suspicious piece of desiccated petunia floated past.

>And finally, once you’ve finished and empty the water out of the bath, what happens to all these dreaded ‘bits’? Hmmm?? Let me tell you: the ones not stuck to you either stick all over the sides (petal tidemarks?), remain in the bottom – both meaning more cleaning out than usual – or quite possibly decide to clog up your plug hole.

So, can you see why I’m not overly fond of bath bombs?

In case I haven’t put my point across strongly enough, let me tell you about an even worse idea: the very first bath bomb anyone ever gave me had a ‘woodland’ theme. This ranks as one of the most stupid ideas ever: instead of having pieces of flower stuck who knows where, that particular bath time ‘treat’ contained bits of twig and leaf and other *little hard and painful bits*!! Gah!



SUMMARY
*Advantages:
• they can smell quite nice
• there’s a novelty value – the ‘Alka-Seltzer’ fizzy effect
• they’re an easy gift idea
• having petals floating in your bath can be quite romantic – bear in mind, though, that you’re also going to get various other parts of dried flowers, which don’t look so pretty

For my particular Lush variety experience:
• I admit, after my bath (and once I made sure all the petals had been removed!), my skin did feel quite soft
• it didn’t irritate my sometimes sensitive skin, although I thought it might
• Lush only use natural ingredients
• it was a present. I’d guess that 99% of bath bombs are actually given as gifts, so at least they’re ‘free’


*Disadvantages
• One word: BITS
• I feel that novelty value is the main point – once they’ve dissolved, no gain over other bath products
• quite expensive per bath
• no bubbles
• di
d I mention the bits? Some ‘bits’ are worse than others, too
• cleaning the bits off me, and out of the bath – and possibly out of clogged plug holes




MY RATING
*Bath bombs without bits: three stars – a nice enough idea, but nothing amazing

*Bath bombs with bits: one star – a romantic idea, but utterly impractical!


So: if it has bits in it, be warned!

Summary: