(Review) Amandopondo: Player One Defeated

There are many things I picture when I hear the word "luxury."  Most of the time it's over-exuberant things like solid gold toilets and diamond encrusted napkin rings.  You know, absolutely useless things that probably cost more than half a years rent that the upper crust of society deems something they absolutely need.  Luxury these days (to me at least) has gotten pretty obnoxious, bordering on delusional.  While I'm not a champagne sucking, yacht toting, more tiny dogs than I can count la dee dah member of the rich and famous (yet), I like to keep my luxuries simple.  Hell, even keeping a roof over my head that I pay for out of my own pocket is a luxury in itself.  At this point in my life, luxury is having the time and ingredients to make a home cooked meal, keeping my apartment clean, and actually going out and socializing with people where my mouth does the talking and not my fingers flying across a keyboard.  My luxuries are simple, but at the end leave you feeling like a million bucks.  Cue segue into bubble bar review.

Ironically being a Lush employee, I'm not too big on bubble baths.  I wasn't big on baths in general before I started working at Lush either.  But once in a while, I'll get this mad hankering for a movie starlet-esque bath, overflowing with bubbles and candles in every corner of my bathroom.  So when one of these cravings set in, I found it a good time to bust out the soon to be discontinued Amandopondo.
 

Amandopondo has an interesting backstory, and is arguably one of the favorite product stories of my staff at my shop.  Meaning "forgiveness" or "defeat" in a language I believe is spoken in Africa (I'm not sure what exact language it is though), Amandopondo was inspired after a lawsuit against Lush accusing them of plagiarism by a rival company.  Well that rival company lost, and when asked what Lush wanted in return, co-founder Mark Constantine (ever a total BAMF in my eyes) requested a dozen of the finest red roses money could buy, and a simple apology, or admission of defeat.  The company obliged, and Amandopondo was born. 

Described as floral yet citrusy, Amandopondo packs lemon, orange, and rose oils into a tiny ivory bar.  A tiny pink rosebud is all that decorates this simple but effective bar!

I'll admit, due to its simple appearance, I wasn't necessarily drawn to Amandopondo.  As someone who loves color and dramatics, I felt like Amandopondo didn't really jive with my "bath personality."  But when I heard it was on the discontinued list, I decided to give it a shot. 

The floral yet citrusy scent is super subtle, but pleasant.  I'm not one for floral scents, but this one was light enough to where I didn't mind it, and I do enjoy citrus so the pair went together nicely!  And I have to say, for a bubble bar with a simple appearance, it' a prime example of why you should never judge a book by its covered.  When I held this baby under the running tap, the bubbles produced were huge!  Instead of being clear, the bath water underneath all that foam turned a milky white, and the scent was slightly amplified.  I sank into my bubble bath feeling like a Hollywood starlet, except replace the red lipstick with a face mask and the champagne with an ice cold water and an iPhone.

I'm both happy and sad to say that Amandopondo exceeded all of my expectations in the bubble bar department, and I'm quite sad to see it go.  The bubbles it produced was voluminous and over the top, while the scent was subtle and as soft as my skin felt after I was done soaking.  It's perfect for those moments where you want to indulge in a little luxury, and forget that the dinner you're about to eat afterwards is a bowl of ramen.

 **Amandopondo is certified Vegan

(Review) Space Girl: Stardate - The Year of the Tiger

"I want it to look like I'm bathing in a GALAXY!"

Oh readers...if I had a dollar for every time I heard a teenage girl come into my store and say that, I could probably buy every single Lush product; discontinued, current, and new thrice over and store them all in my mansion with my pool boy and private gaming theater.  That was the very beginning of the "galaxy bomb" craze that happened right after the madness of Christmas.  I actually remember the first time someone asked me for a galaxy bomb.  A young teen girl, bright eyed and bushy tailed, came up to myself and my coworkers and meekly asked if we had "the galaxy bomb."  My coworkers and I looked at each other and asked her what she meant.  She then vividly described a tweet she saw where a bath bomb was described as a galaxy and the picture was one of the most beautiful things she saw!  Before we could link her to Twilight (the actual "galaxy bomb"), she grabbed a Space Girl, gave it a deep inhale, and skipped her way to the counter while my coworkers and I all stood confused, dumbfounded, and a sense of dread that our post-Christmas chill was about to be interrupted by a tweet gone a-twitter.

From that moment on our tiny shop was flooded with an influx of high school and college aged girls, all clamoring for the beautiful bath bomb that looked like a field of stars.  It turns out (and we all found this out at a staff meeting a few months later) that the "galaxy bomb" tweet was retweeted around 10 million times and that the Kitchen compounders were working 24 hour shifts because of the seemingly overnight demand of bath bombs.  At one point we only had Blackberry and Pink bath bombs in stock, and customers went frantic thinking we were going out of business.  But even though the galaxy bomb was actually Twilight, many mistook it for Space Girl, and ever since, it's been a high demand bath bomb that's hard to keep in stock.

Space Girl is a bath bomb that never really gripped me in the beginning.  I will admit the black currant scent was intoxicating, and smelled like a juicy, fruity hard candy I could pop in my mouth and suck on all day.  Grapefruit, almond oil, and bergamot also make up this scent.  Shaped like Saturn with a splash of burgundy and glitter on the side, I could see why many young girls were being drawn to this particular bath bomb.  So when I heard it was being discontinued, I decided to pick one up and see what all the fuss was about.

I'll also admit that while the scent and presentation didn't initially draw me to Space Girl, the pictures I saw on social media did.  Many pictures of big bathtubs with a maroon center with a red wine splash in the middle graced both my Tumblr and Instagram feeds.  Maybe this bath bomb would surprise me and be fantastic!  So on one unseasonably cold July night, I plopped this guy into the tub and...was sorely underwhelmed.  Unlike the gas giant she's modeled after, Space Girl sank right to the bottom of my tub and halfheartedly fizzed, a trail of bubbles breaking the surface the only sign that she was even in the tub to begin with.  I brought her up to try and pop her on the surface, but she sank like a stone once again (note: is it weird that I'm referring to a bath bomb as "she?").  My bath slowly turned an earthy maroon-dusty plum color and the sweet scent was mouthwatering.  

A little disappointed that the fizzing time was so fast, I plunked into my tub where the black currant scent washed over me like a cleansing steam.  It felt very sweet and cozy, and I could only imagine what using this bath bomb would feel like in winter as opposed to summer.  It was still light though, and didn't bog me down like heavier scented bath bombs like Fizzbanger.  It smelled like sweet summer berries and looked like shimmery wine.

Overall, Space Girl was kind of a meh bath bomb for me.  While it was one of the more fragrant bath bombs I've used, the presentation left a lot to be desired.  Nonetheless, I was still quite surprised that this was being discontinued.  If you had told me Space Girl was leaving six months ago I wouldn't have batted an eye, but since the "galaxy bomb" craze, this has grown quite a lot in popularity.  I've heard rumors of black currant becoming more difficult to source, and while I can't confirm that (haven't heard anything from Bossman or any other Lush employee about that) it's entirely possible.  I know many will be sad to see this go, but rest assured that when a product is discontinued, a new product is usually waiting in the wings, ready to take its place.  I guess you'll just have to stay tuned to find out what new things are in store!

**Space Girl is certified Vegan