Twinkle twinkle (Lush Twinkle)

Member Name: PyrettaBlaze

Product:	Lush Twinkle
Date:	05/01/08 (105 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Smells lovely, nice subtle glitter

Disadvantages: doesnt do much for the skin

This review would be a bit on the tardy side considering that Twinkle is only available at Christmas, although you can probably still find a few left over, lonely Twinkles sitting on the shelf!


About the bath ballistics

Ballistic is basically Lush's word for a bath bomb (because they have to be different). You fling it in the tub (not literally) and it fizzes and dissolves and turns the water glittery and a lovely delicate shade of blue.


Ingredients

Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Perfume, Vanilla Absolute (Vanilla planifolia), Clary Sage (Salvia sclarea), Lavender Oil (Lavendula hybrida), Benzoin Resinoid (Styrax benzoin), Coumarin, FD&C Blue No. 1, FD&C Yellow No. 5, Iridescent Glitter (Polyethylene terephthalate and Acrylates copolymer).

Lush tend to try and steer clear of chemicals, however there are a few worrying colours creeping in to the ingredients list here (odd as Twinkle has a fairly pale colour).

Vanilla has a sweet, romantic smell long associated with women's perfumes. Vanilla has long been known for its calming properties. Clary sage, on the other hand, has quite a sharp, warming smell which is much more masculine. It is traditionally used as a stress reliever and aphrodisiac in aromatherapy. Of course, everybody knows the floral scent of lavender and its use for relaxation. So all in all, Twinkle should be a bath ballistic that will put you to sleep...or possibly make you horny!


A twinkly ball of Lushy goodness

Unlike most of Lush's bath ballistics which are a whopping 200g and usually £2.50 plus (which is expensive for one bath, and really far too much ballistic for a single bath), the Twinkle ballistic is a petite 95g...much more suitable for a single bath, and the same size as the Butterball for those Lush addicts reading. Its a pretty pale blue colour, nice but not particularly Christmassy, with a subtly glittery sheen to it. Its not the first thing that would catch your eye given Lush's rather loud Christmas displays, but picking it up and giving it a sniff will quickly tell you why its so well-loved!

Looks aside, the Twinkle ballistic smells like heaven. The scent is modelled on "American Cream", one of Lush's conditioners, and it smells absolutely heavenly. Apparently the main components of the perfume are strawberry, vanilla and orange but vanilla is by far the strongest scent...Twinkle has a classic sweet and slightly fruity but never overpowering smell. It also smells slightly "fizzy" like sour sweets (no idea if this is just psychological or not). The "American Cream" smell is one of the finest fragrances Lush has ever come up with, in my humble opinion...just sweet and fruity enough without being overpowering, and not floral at all (I'm not a fan of floral smell).

Now for the fun bit....run a hot bath and chuck Twinkle in and watch it fizz into nothing. The great thing about a Lush bath (or bad thing, depending on your opinion) is that the bathroom reeks of it for hours afterwards. None of this getting in and not being able to detect the fragrance, your bath will positively reek of Lush when you get in (in a nice way of course). The twinkly glittery bits float around in the bath making you feel Christmassy, which is nice, but this isnt one of the ballistics that I think does your skin much good. Some of the Lush ballistics make you feel gorgeously smooth after leaving the tub, but this one does nothing for the skin, apart from leaving it with a film of glitter. Nice if you want a sweet-smelling bath, but if you want soft skin too I'd recommend the Butterball.

One of the other problems with Lush is that they are pretty bad for staining the bathtub...although the colour of Twinkle wont leave marks, the glitter will likely stick to the tub and annoy the pants off the next person who gets in (especially if they are male...most of them seem to take offence to being covered in glitter!). Having said this Twinkle has a more subtle glitter than some of the more downright tacky (sorry Lush) bath bombs which just explode gold, silver and pink glitter when they dissolve. In my view this is just the right amount of glitter for a product to have...not so much that you look like a Christmas tree!

At £1.90 for a 95g ballistic, Twinkle is one of the cheaper options for the Lush addict, if you're feeling the pinch most of the bath ballistics can be broken up by dropping them on the floor (still in the bag) or taking a hammer to them (at the risk of you looking like a looney to the other people in your household). The smell is absolutely gorgeous and the subtle glitteriness of the water is nice too (until you have to wash the tub), but given that the ball does nothing for the skin, you'd be as well plonking a blob of American Cream conditioner in the tub instead. If on the other hand your feeling particularly flush, combining one of these with a Butterball results in a bath that smells devine and leaves you with silky smooth skin! Result!

Twinkle is one of the Christmas Lush products that is definitely worth buying...it doesnt attract the attention like the glittery explosions of Ruby Red Slippers, but its divinely sweet vanilla fragrance more than makes up for it. If you happen to visit a Lush in the next few weeks and they have any left over, make sure you bag one!

Summary: Lush's Christmas Star!