Fairy is a name synonymous with quality and long-lasting products and is part of the huge Proctor & Gamble Corporation. It's also fifty years old this year...imagine that, a product that's younger than I am? For some reason I thought it had been around longer, but that's the power of advertising for you. I don't know if there are any special products being launched to celebrate this milestone, but I would like to know the fate of my last bottle of Fairy Pomegranate and Honeysuckle washing-up liquid, since I can't find it on the current Fairy website.

There are plenty of other types of washing up liquid and dishwasher products, but when I paid my £1.19 for a 450ml bottle of the pom' and honeysuckle make I expected to be able to buy it again. I was drawn to it by the colour and if I'm honest, I was getting fed up of buying the cheap stuff to save in the short run, but in the long run I was out of pocket. Few people haven't tried Fairy at some time and it really does live up to the adverts about it, however weird they have been over the years this does what it says, it lasts ages.

Now I imagine that's because of the concentration of the liquid although ingredient lists are something I don't put in my reviews. It does look quite thick in the bottle, which has a rather fetching shape at the moment. (More later). I bought it partly because my last bottle had run out and I had diluted it to an inch of its life (it only lasted a week), and the product promised a nice fragrance. The price was reasonable as well for a corner shop and I came home clutching my new find determined not to need another for up to six weeks. After all, 'Fairy lasts longer than other leading brands' is part of the fairy slogan.

My dishes were piled up back home and so I proceeded to fill my sink with warm water and a trial squirt of the liquid to see how much I'd need. Despite the advertising I usually need to find the peak of perfection for the required amount. This took about three squirts and I was somewhat concerned it was floating in a deep red blob at the bottom of the water. I soon found out that this is one of the types that need the water to be very hot to bubble properly and I was a bit put off by this, after all, there's no point to saving liquid and using more gas to heat the water.

The smell wafted up into my nostrils with the sort of aroma normally emanating from bubble bath mixture and for a moment I wondered if my senility was advancing. Fortunately I did mange to remember I'd bought this for it's scent as well and it really does smell lovely. Even opening the top without pouring gives a strong smell and I did think for a moment would it do anything to my dishes as the smell lingered long after the plates were dried.

Well, I'm still around and haven't suffered any strange stomachaches, so I am presuming this leaves no lasting traces of anything harmful. I got quite used to compliments about my new 'air freshener' in my kitchen. It's getting down to a third of the bottle now and I bought it two weeks ago, so I estimate it should last another 10 days or so. I could have used more finding out how much I needed to get the water bubbly and my dishes washed.

Back to the bottle and that sinuous shape.
This is getting more like a shapely competition between providers of all kinds of scented things. Just look at the shapes of shower gels, bubble bath etc and you'll see what I mean. This bottle has a tapered shape, with an oval curving to a flat base. It follows the line of a wave and once it's starting to empty you can see the two shapes that look like spray. In fact it looked as if there was a definite purpose to the shape with a clear pattern where the circular label was placed.

On checking the website and getting a bit carried away (as one does on websites), I discovered you can make quite a few things from the bottle with a bit of time, paints and some ingenuity. The bird feeder is an absolute godsend for mums with bored kids. That circular bit is where the birds peck to get at the seed. Fancy me not knowing that! I mean I paid £9.99 for mine and didn't get half the fun of making it.

Would I recommend this?

I have to say that I do love the product despite the niggles about the water needing to be hotter since I try to keep my energy bills down. I don't like wasting money and this does last much longer than the supermarket's own make. I find it irritating when I run out, as washing-up liquid doesn't seem important until you run out and the shops are shut. I like the smell of this, which is more honeysuckle than pomegranate. But although it should still be in the shops, I'm wondering whether it's gone the way of the plain green liquid- ousted by yet another, new, improved version that promises to wash a field full of dishes and make an even bigger and more stately bird home.

Price as stated £1.19. Hands: clean and as soft as my face. Now where did I put my shower gel?

Thanks for reading.

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©Lfuller2012.