Assume the Lotus ~ Kiss My Bum! (Lotus Freshness Toilet Tissue)

Member Name: susie19

Product:	Lotus Freshness Toilet Tissue
Date:	31/07/06 (720 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Soft and prettily patterned. Doesn't disintigrate readily.

Disadvantages: Expensive at full price.

It's a bit hot for yoga in this heatwave. Never mind, I can't assume the lotus anyway. Can you?

Cheeky Tissue
~~~~~~~~~
'Soft as a babys' bottom', a well known phrase in everyday use. But what of bigger bottoms? As bottoms grow, they still need caring for. Bottoms of course come in all shapes and sizes but their function is extremely important. So, let's not get anal about bottoms or make them the butt of all jokes, let us appreciate our bums. Have you noticed that bottoms are becoming more noticed through the likes of adverts for cars, "I see ya baby, shakin that ass", as well as the 'Love your bum' campaign by Double Velvet? Incidentally, Double Velvet has now turned a new leaf and become Triple Velvet. How did that happen?

When it comes to bums, I consider myself somewhat of a rare breed; reason one, I am a woman and reason two, I've always liked my bum. Perhaps this stems back to the day when two young male studs walked behind me and discussed my backside. I overheard them say, 'she's got a beautiful bottom', 'yeah and it's not one of those cases of nice bum shame about the face either'. I was secretly chuffed and I share this important proud moment with you now years later so that my memory of this isn't lost forever.

Bottoms are sometimes under appreciated but they can be one of the most attractive parts of the body. But ask yourself, when did you last pamper your bottom? Well the other day as it happens…

For years I have bought Double / Triple Velvet for its strength and softness and been happy with it. Then I made the mistake of purchasing a packet of Sainsbury's Super Soft luxury toilet tissue, thinking it was probably just as good. False economy, as you need more sheets to get the job done. So, I promised myself I would stick to buying Triple Velvet from them on. I then spotted new Lotus with Freshness at 99p for 4 rolls (on offer) at Sainsbury's, so went against my better judgement and stuck a pack in my (virtual) basket.

For the purpose of this review I will test out the Lotus against Triple Velvet and Sainsbury's Super Soft which are in use in our house at the moment.

Number of rolls in a pack & current price at Sainsbury's:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Triple Velvet: 4 rolls (£1.89)
Lotus: 4 rolls 95p (usually £1.89)
Sainsburys SuperSoft: 4 rolls (£1.56)

Number of sheets on roll:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Triple Velvet: 200 sheets, average roll length 24m
Lotus: 200 sheets, average roll length 25m
Sainsbury's Super Soft: 240 sheets.

Size of sheet (OK this is a bit geeky):
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Triple Velvet: 120mm x 109mm, total area 10.46sqm.
Lotus: 125mm x 110mm, total area 11sqm.
Sainsbury's Super Soft: 125mm x 110mm, total area 13.2sqm.

Patterns on the sheet?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Triple Velvet: Embossed with side squiggle patterns joining the 3 ply sheets together.
Lotus: diamond pattern with lotus flowers and dimples, 3 ply.
Sainsbury's Super Soft: 2 ply. Straight lines along the edges.

Softness (Brushed against the cheek test):
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Triple Velvet: Lovely ***
Lotus: Very soft ***
Sainsbury's Super Soft: Not bad **

Strength (Two sheets tugged at both ends)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Triple Velvet 3 ply Strong. ***
Lotus 3 ply: Soft and strong. ***
Sainsbury's Super Soft 2 ply: Snapped into two pieces within a second. *

The Lotus difference
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lotus toilet tissue with 'Freshness' is a 3 ply tissue with added cleansing balm. The balmy stuff comprises a couple of types of alcohol, cetearyl laurate and paraffinium liquidum.

The cardboard roll inner tube is also slightly fragranced. It's not really noticeable when you get it out of the pack but when you've had it sat on your lap for a while (for reviewing purposes), it does get up your nose a bit. Dont go locking yourself in the laundry cupboard if there's no window.

So what is the bottom view on this?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In our household we get through loads of toilet rolls. Nobody seems to comment on any of my recent purchases which probably goes to show that they take little notice as long as there is a roll to hand. On the other hand, I KNOW there would be comments should I decide to replace the white rolls with value cheapies or Izal tracing paper. This tells me as the chief loo roll buyer that soft toilet tissue is fine. My personal view is that the 3 ply Triple Velvet and Lotus are both equally as good, whilst other 2 ply tissues pretending to be quality alternatives are false economy. They may have more sheets per roll but you need more to get the job done.

My little peaches think Lotus is great. The balm makes the tissue really smooth and soft but there is plenty of strength, two sheets do not disintegrate when in use. The cost is the same as Triple Velvet normally and I would say both are equally as good. At the current special offer price of 99p, I'm going to be buying some stocks of Lotus in. So, it's Bottoms Up to Lotus.

Thanks for reading.

Summary: Soft and balmy and prettily patterned. Smell a bit much so not so good for blowing your nose on!