Bewitched by a two timing tart on your birthday! (Lush Happy Birthday Bubble Bar)

Member Name: Sarccyslayer

Product:	Lush Happy Birthday Bubble Bar
Date:	23/07/09 (129 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Smells lovely, Easy to use, effects of the skin are great

Disadvantages: None for me

So It was my birthday just a few days ago and what a better way than to start the day than a Lush Bath? Thankfully I have some wonderful family members and some lovely friends who know just how to put a smile on my face - yep I got a Lush Birthday Package from my best friend who, rather than choose a pre-packed birthday gift, decided she would make up her own and add in a few of my favourite Lush products such as 'Two Timing Tart' Bubble bar, Bon Bomb Ballistic,. Bewitched Massage Bar, Pineapple Grunt soap and finally the Happy Birthday Bubble Bar all of which she chose from the Retro section of Lush. The retro section hosts all of the old time favourite Lush products which have now become discontinued and have gone from the shelves of Lush shops, the only way to continue to buy the products from the retro range is to do so online.

The Happy Birthday Bubble Bar was the obvious choice for a long relaxing hot bath on my birthday, not just any birthday I was twenty ten (note to anyone who mentioned the number 3 and 0 - you will be on my bad list) and therefore how better else to start your day?

This particular Lush Bubble Bar 'Happy Birthday' is shaped like a small badly wrapped birthday present and hosts the words Happy Birthday in the corner with a ribbon tied neatly around it. The Bubble Bar itself is pastel orange colour and is quite a big size at 100g and costs £3, so if you want to save to some pennies, you can actually break this Bubble Bar in half and have two baths for the price of one. I however always chuck the whole thing in so that I can have copious amounts of bubbles and because I would always lose the half which I had saved.

Once the bath is running it is always best to put your Bubble Bar or Ballistic into the bath once there is a few inches of water at the bottom, the reason for this is because I always place the Bubble Bar into the water for a few seconds to soften it up because to use a Bubble Bar you need to crumble it under running tap water using your hands and to try and do this before the Bar is wet is sometimes quite hard to do. The one thing I have always noticed with Bubble Bars is that when you crumble them up they feel like wet sand on your hands and between your fingers and as you do crumble it up, some of the larger pieces will drop into the water and fizz away on their own. The fizzing effect is due to the fact the main ingredient in all Bubble Bars is Sodium Bicarbonate, like with the Ballistics and this ingredient also helps to soften the water which is particularly good if like me, you live in a hard water area like me, it can sometimes be troublesome on the skin.

Once you have crumbled the Bubble Bar you will notice that the water has changed colour to become a pastel orange colour and thankfully I also had lots of bright white bubbles on top of the water. One of the best things about these products is the amount of bubbles which are created and if you like to have a Bubble Bath with lots of bubbles this is a product you should try. As soon as the Bubble Bar comes into contact with the water essential oils are released and through the steam vapours you can immediately smell them. The first thing I noticed with this Bubble Bar is the orangey smell with a hint of vanilla which was absolutely divine. This Bubble Bar is also said to relax and de-stress the person using it.

So what is contained within 'Happy Birthday' to make it smell so wonderful? For me there are three main ingredients which have been specifically chosen to ensure that the person using these products becomes totally relaxed. Firstly we have Bergamot Oil which produces the orangey smell is a natural anti-depressant and has many uses especially on the skin where it hosts antiseptic qualities and is therefore good for skin complaints such as acne, oily skin conditions, eczema and psoriasis but it is also good for de-stressing and relaxation purposes. Vanilla Absolute is the second ingredient to mention and it is said that as well as producing a sweet aroma it is also said to be extremely calming and comforting and works well alongside the Bergamot Oil. Thirdly there is an ingredient called African marigold which appears in a lot of Lush products and it comes from the tagetes plant and it is well known for its antioxidant, antifungal and antibacterial properties making it ideal for troubled skin that has blemishes, inflammations and/or fungal infections. The final ingredients to mention are Cocoa Butter and Almond Oil both of whom do not present that much of a strong aroma when using this Bubble Bar but both are especially kind to the skin because they are not only great moisturisers which are suitable for all skin types, they help to relieve irritation, inflammation and itching they all help to keep the skin soft, smooth and supple. As always with Lush there are further ingredients, which can be found listed on the Lush Website.

As mentioned earlier in this review, when you crumble any Bubble Bar they feel like wet sand and surprisingly there was not one piece of the product lurking on the bottom of the bath nor clinging to the side of the bath, it had completely dissolved. The fruity smell which comes from this Bubble Bar is that of Bergamot oil which I immediately recognised once the Bubble bar has been released into the water and it wasn't a sweet sticky smell, it was very relaxing and not too over-powerful.

After my bath I did feel very relaxed and my skin was very soft and moisturised. There was a slight citrusy smell with a hint of vanilla evident on both my arms and legs but not as obvious as previous Bubble Bars where the smell of other ingredients has been much stronger but the lingering smell was still pleasant and noticeable. Before using this Bubble Bar I was feeling slightly tired and worn out yet after using I did feel incredibly relaxed and refreshed and the one good thing about these kinds of products is that they definitely awaken your senses and manage to refresh and revive you whilst relaxing you completely.

So would I recommend this product? I definitely do would without any hesitations. As someone who loves Lush products and is rather partial to buying lots of them I am bias, but this products gave me a lots of bubbles to relax with, it smelt wonderful and left my bath clean after I had finished and for me I get a lot more pleasure and relaxation from these Bubble Bars than I do from similar products. I also have super sensitive skin and find that a lot of products simply irritate my skin, with Lush I have never had one problem, however, I would advise you to go onto their website and check the ingredients used, they are listed under each product so it is easy to find out.

**Extra Information**

If anyone wants to investigate Lush further to see what ingredients are used for this or any other products then you simply go to www.lush.co.uk which will give you the UK version of their website.

Lush products are not tested on animals, in fact they are vehemently against products being tested on animals and to test their own products they do tests on humans to ensure they are safe for general sale to the public and they will not buy ingredients from companies who use testing on animals as one of their protocols.

Summary: A Birthday treat from Lush