You can't butter me up (Lush Butterball Bath Ballistic)

Member Name: Suzela

Product:	Lush Butterball Bath Ballistic
Date:	02/03/09 (237 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Your skin feels lovely for a few days

Disadvantages: Messy, little fragrance, not relaxing

Ok so I'm getting withdrawal symptoms from not writing a Lush review for over a week! In the latest instalment of "The strangest thing happened in a Lush store the other day" I was sniffing around the bath ballistics and I was drawn not to the bright and pretty looking ones but to the large basket of one of the smallest and cheapest (£2.20) products - Butterball. And amazingly I managed to pick them up and get to the till before I was seduced into buying something else by those sirens called Lush shop assistants.

I have to say that I am not really a fan of the ballistics range - in my experience they either stain your bath, leave it covered in oily scum or they leave it covered in glitter or soggy flowers or something else equally messy. But I am quite fascinated by them in a strange way and these white balls looked totally inoffensive and bath (cleaner) friendly. But what I also liked about this ballistic was that it had cocoa butter and ylang ylang oil in a vanilla base (this vanilla base though is a synthetic fragrance and not the real thing). I loved the idea of the cocoa butter shavings to help moisturise and the ylang ylang and vanilla to give that lovely warm, exotic fragrance that I always find so relaxing. I was really looking forward to trying this out on one of my pamper evenings.

So I got a bonus pamper night on Thursday as my husband was out and I ran myself a lovely hot bath in readiness for this new ballistic. As with all ballistics the reaction of the sodium bicarbonate and the hot water produced a satisfying fizz. As the ball dissolved it darted around the bath and I could see the lumps of creamy cocoa butter floating on the surface of the water slowly melting. There wasn't that much of a fragrance though which I found quite disappointing. I hoped the fragrance would grow in the warmth of the water as the ylang ylang oil warmed but it was still pretty non existent. I noticed that the water had an oily film over it and as the water level changed as I slipped into the bath I noticed the distinct ring of scum which I had found annoying with so many other ballistics. I was on the verge of getting annoyed but I noticed that as the hot water rose over the line it began to melt into the water unlike some of the other products I have used. The bath wasn't going to need scrubbing again - result!

The oiliness on the water coated my skin with a thin layer of melted cocoa butter and the water was repelled easily from then on. After 20 minutes or so I decided to get out of the bath as the lack of noticeable fragrance was making the bath a little uninteresting now. I also didn't want the water to cool too much in case there was a reintroduction of the oily scum ring around the bath. The only thing was that the bath itself was quite slippery from the cocoa butter - something which I only found out when I slipped trying to get out of the bath. Luckily I didn't hurt myself but it did give me one of those slow motion heart-in-the-mouth moments. I did need to spray the bath with a cleaning product and hot water to make it ready and safe to use again.

Once out of the bath I could see the oil on my skin so I massaged the excess into my skin. Now on the one hand this is great moisturisation and yet my skin didn't really feel that clean. It was clean but it felt a bit clammy and even a couple of hours later as I was lounging around in my dressing gown when I touched my leg it still felt as if it had a residual layer of oil on it. The bottom of my hair didn't come out of the bath too well either. I don't usually but my head right into the water - the most that gets wet are the end. My hair was sticky and greasy and it didn't really dry properly for 4 or 5 hours. I also had to use two doses of shampoo the next day when I washed it to make the ends really clean. Unfortunately I can't even say "oh but my hair felt noticeably different" because it didn't. It just felt horrible for a few hours.

But an interesting thing had happened. The fragrance which was so noticeable by its absence in the bath was now sitting quite nicely on my skin. It didn't last long and it was very subtle but it was there and there was enough to be commented upon by my husband. It's just a shame that the fragrance wasn't more prevalent in the bath because when you want to relax in the bath part of the experience is the fragrance especially when there aren't any bubbles to play with.

For the next few days though my skin did feel nicely conditioned even after having a couple of showers so from that perspective I have to say that this is a nice product. You could almost call this a bath treatment for your body. Not something you would use very often but occasionally when your skin needs pampering rather than you as a person.

I'm a bit undecided about this product. Initial impressions are not good - it doesn't have a strong fragrance, it makes the bath slippery, it doesn't make you feel refreshed or fresh but it does make your skin feel lovely and soft and beautifully conditioned for a few days. I wouldn't say I wouldn't buy it again because as a treatment it is good value. The only thing is I don't know that the hassle and disappointments that you get with the product make it worth it. If you want nicely conditioned skin there are other and easier ways to do it than sitting in a bath. And certainly if you are looking for a product that allows you to have a good long relaxing bath then there are far better alternatives out there.

Summary: You might like it - not sure I do.