Santa came early for me...!!! (Lush Satsumo Santa Ballistic)

Member Name: Sarccyslayer

Product:	Lush Satsumo Santa Ballistic
Date:	05/11/09 (112 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Smells wonderful, relaxing, moisturising, easy ot find

Disadvantages: None

I am of the opinion that before you buy someone a present it should really be of something you like yourself right? Well that I my philosophy and I am sticking to it, especially where Lush is concerned. I have decided to get my non Lush using friends who use the excuse "the shop stinks" and "the smell gives me a headache" a gift box each from Lush for Christmas and I intend to fill them with Christmas related Lush goodies, problem is there are some new ones that I haven't tried, so guess what? I have bought all the products I have never tried, and there is a fair few of them, to try out and if I like them and are within the budgets I have set, they go into the gift packages.

So, those of you who read my reviews will know that not only am I a proud Lush-a-holic but I am a huge fan of the Lush Bath Ballistics with some of my favourites being Sex Bomb, Supernova and Sakura to name a few. Why do I love Bath Ballistics? Well, I love to spend an hour or so chest deep in a hot bath with mind-blowing aromas , a good book and hopefully a nice glass of chilled wine, which for me is the perfect way to relax and chill out. A Bath Ballistic is often a tennis ball shaped bath bombs which will be made up of bicarbonate of Soda and packed full of essential oils, which give off wonderful aromas, but more recently Lush have used their imagination to come up with some rather funky shaped Bath Ballistics like my recent purchase Satsumo Santa.

The reason that I bought Satsuma Santa is because I haven't ever used it before and I liked the smell of it in the shop, I am one of those people who will buy something, especially from Lush, because I like the smell. He is also shaped like that of Santa Claus with a round fat belly in a bright red colour and a white face complete with beard and just really christmassy.

So whilst Satsumo Santa is is aptly named because he smells very citrusy of oranges, he is also round and fat a rather sumo wrestler shaped but he is a cute looking Ballistic. This ballistic is one of the bigger ones that Lush sell and it weighs in at 200g and is similar in size to the more popular and well known Ballistics such as Sex Bomb and Think Pink and it will only cost you £2.75 which is a little cheaper than the other ballistics Lush stock in this weight range.

When it comes to using your Ballistic, Lush are really good at giving you some hints and tips on how best to use them. In this case and with most Ballistics it is suggested that you place it into a bath a of running water, so like an excited child I got my Ballistic and did just as I was told to do. Once the tap is running at a nice warm temperature, or in my case very warm because I like hot steamy baths, you simply watch it fizz away on its own, spinning round in the water fizzing away to itself slowly turning your water into a pastel pink colour. The fizzing is due to the fact the main ingredient in all Bath Ballistics is Sodium Bicarbonate.

Once the Ballistic has fizzed away into the water I was ready to get into my pale red coloured bubble filled bath to relax, the water wasn't quite the bright red I had imagined it to be like Ruby Red Slippers, it is much paler in colour. The best thing however about this Ballistic is its aroma and that is released as instantly as the Ballistic hits the water and begins to fizz away in the water. The smells that are released are best described as Orangey and they fill the bathroom with their wonderful aroma and this smelt so wonderful that I couldn't wait to get into my bath. Like other products within the Ballistic range, the aroma from this lingered for a good few hours after my bath, filing the house beautifully and this again for me is one of the reason I am also a fan of these products.

The smell emanating from this Ballistic stems from the three main ingredients - firstly there is Bergamot Oil which is great for creating a more relaxed and happy feeling and is therefore really good for the treatment of depression, stress, tension and more importantly at this time of the year it is marketed for helping with SAD (Seasonal Affected Disorder) and only today I saw an advert for it in the Natural Health store not far from where I live. However on the Skin Bergamot Oil is known for its antiseptic qualities that can be useful for skin complaints ranging from acne and oily skin to eczema, psoriasis and cold sores. Secondly we have Mandarin Oil which works well with Bergamot oil because it too is of Citrus origin but on the skin it is used for a variety of reason such as increasing the skins circulation, reducing fluid retention and it also helps with stretch marks. Finally the third ingredient is also of citrus origin and that is Orange Blossom Absolute which like Lavender is known for its therapeutic properties which relaxes both the body and the mind. It also helps with insomnia, something I also suffer from time to time and one of the after affects of this bath for me for the feeling of being totally relaxed and I had no problems falling to sleep that evening. Orange Blossom is also known for its ability to regenerate skin cells which leads to softer and smoother skin, it does also help with rejuvenating the skin and is especially good at fighting stretch marks and reducing scar tissue on the skin, although obviously it doesn't erase it totally. If you want to know what other ingredients can be found within this product then you can usually find them on the Lush website or if you ask in any Lush store, like I do, you get a detailed reply as to what is contained within the product and why it is in there.

So as soon as my bath was running, I simply chucked this Satsumo Santa Ballistic into the water whole, if a Ballistic is a lot larger than this one, I have often cut them in half to get value for money, but because I didn't want to hurt Santa this close to Christmas (that may change if he doesn't bring me the presents I am asking for) so I just chucked the whole lot in and as with all Bath Ballistics, the second it comes into contact with running water it begins to fizz and rushes round the bath whizzing away and dissolves within a matter of seconds into nothingness leaving behind the soft aromas of orange. Once in the water the aroma is a lot stronger as it swirls around the room within the steam rising from the bath and almost immediately I began to relax and unwind taking in the smells and allowing myself to forget the long hours I had just done at work and instead look forward to a relaxing weekend of sleeping and doing nothing in general other than slurping on some wine and reading my crime thriller novel. With products like this Ballistic you can often notice a slight oiliness on the top of the water, which is the essential oils working their magic helping you to relax and most essential oils are kind to the skin, the ones included within this Ballistic are no different.

After drying my skin it felt lovely and soft and well moisturised to the point where my fingers just glided over the skin and obviously there was a lovely orangey smell to my skin. I usually keep either a Radox or Imperial Leather bath cream product in my house as an emergency when I have run out of other products to use and I am always really surprised at how much better my skin looks and feels, not to mention smells when using a Lush product in comparison to a high street brand. I also have extremely sensitive skin and often find that I am limited in which products I can use, for example I am allergic to The Body Shop shower creams and gels, but with Lush I haven't had any problems whatsoever, so that means I can now become a Lush addict and try everything.

So would I recommend this product? I absolutely would without a shadow of a doubt, I admit I am quite bias when it comes to Lush and I love more products than loathe. Also after emptying out the bath water there was nothing left behind clinging to the bottom or the sides of the bath which is always a bonus, the last thing I wanted to be doing was scrubbing red marks from the sides of my bath. Finally with this product as I mentioned I got a really good nights sleep after bathing with this, as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out for the count, whether it was because I was so exhausted or whether it was down to this Ballistic I couldn't tell you either way, but I felt much better.

**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

Summary: A citrus smelling Bath Ballistic in the shape of Santa