Buy A Better Bubble Bath (Vicks VapoBath)

Member Name: ButterBear

Product:	Vicks VapoBath
Date:	01/11/08 (222 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Relaxing

Disadvantages: Doesn't ease congestion, makes sensitive skin sore, bubbles fade quickly, pricey

Poor Christopher always seems to be poorly in one way or another, if he's not suffering and eczema flare or a bump to the head then it's a cough or cold, he's recently suffered a cough so bad that it required a visit to the doctors, something we save for only the worst cases. We were given medication to help with the cough but nothing that could help with the increasingly bunged up nose, I have Karvol drops which I happily use at night, and even during the day in bad cases, and I also have some traditional Vicks Vaporub however the cream we use for his eczema is so thick it would take a miracle for the Vaporub t work through it so I wanted to try something different. I'd been given a bottle of Vicks Vapobath for Christmas, an odd gift but that's my mum for you, and I thought it could be worth a try.

Vicks Vapobath is designed as a traditional bubble bath to be added to your bath water, it not only creates foamy bubbles but releases menthol vapours into the air which are said to soothe and relax you, it contains Eucalyptus and Menthol essential oils as well as Lavender. The thick green liquid smells quite strongly of a blend of the Menthol & Eucalyptus but I found it hard to detect the scent of Lavender. Now I'm not
one to follow instructions on bubble baths preferring to just slop a load if it into the water and hope for the best, a generous sized dollop immediately started to produce bubbles and the menthol smell started the waft through the air, it was a lot milder then that of the concentrated liquid though and I did wonder if it would have any effect on clearing Christopher's nose.

Christopher is a little boy who loves his baths and I tend to let him have them on a morning when possible as it means less chaos around me while I'm trying to sort out Baby Jack, even after and hour when the water is cold he still wants to play but I found that after half an hour the bubbles had gone from his water completely. It was also immediately noticeable that the patches of eczema on his skin were very red and angry, I decided to take him out of the water and immediately apply his eczema treatment to stop them getting sore or itchy but they remained that way for the rest of the day, still noticeably angrier then they had been when he'd woke up that morning when I put him to bed that evening. There was also no noticeable change with his bunged up nose.

I have used the Vapobath for myself on occasions when I've not had a cold and even with a clear nose the "vapour" smell isn't that strong, as with Christopher bath I found the bubbles faded quickly too. I did find it very relaxing and have come to the conclusion that despite the Vicks name the product is not for clearing blocked noses or eases cold symptoms but for simply providing a relaxing bathing experience. My skin was left soft after the bath and thankfully not smelling of Menthol!

As far as I can tell the Vapobath is available in 250ml bottles in the region of £3.99 and is available from pharmacies and supermarkets alike. My bottle was a gift and I'm glad at that, I would have been more then a little annoyed to pay £4 for a bottle to find it doesn't actually help cold and flu symptoms, on reading the packaging closely you'll notice that it never actually claims to be able to do so, so it seems odd for Vicks to put their name to the product after all there are many soothing and relaxing bath products on the market already, ones that are far more pleasant to bathe in, with longer lasting bubbles and a more pleasant smell.

One of the most unfortunate aspects of the bubble bath, rather then its failure to ease symptoms, is the effect it had on my son's sensitive skin, it's not a product I would recommend certainly not to those with skin conditions or sensitivity. I also wouldn't recommend it to anyone suffering a cold and hoping to ease it because it's simply not going to have an effect and as far as being a regular bubble bath, well like I said earlier there are far more pleasant products available for both women and men.

Summary: Save your money for some Karvol drops and a bottle of Radox