(Review) Shoot for the Stars: One Giant Leap for Bathkind

I still remember the first time I saw a shooting star.  I was a young'un of eight years old, and was at a campsite with my family and their friends.  My childhood friend and I were wandering back from the bathrooms, flashlights in hand hoping we didn't get lost (we did).  On our way back we heard some sort of banging and giggling.  Being the curious little tykes we were, we turned our flashlights to a couple getting all manners of handsy against a silver pickup truck.  And again, being the curious little tykes we were, we decided to help the guy along by catcalling and shrieking as high as our little voices would go.  An angry grunt and a flurry of curse words later, we were running for our little lives, laughing and cackling like the maniacal little cock blockers we were.  When we were far enough away, we slowed to a stroll, my eyes cast upwards as they always were at night.  The sky was clear and I started singing that song from Titanic, a movie I was obsessed with at the time ("come Josephine in my flying machine/and it's up she goes/up she goes!") and as my friend joined me (she was equally obsessed) that was when I saw it.  A bright streak of white that flew across the sky.  My first shooting star!  We both stopped singing and excitedly asked the other if we saw it.  We shrieked in joy and went to tell our families about it (stopping at the wrong cabin first of course, embarrassing ourselves).  Mama Llama and Papa Bear (two loving nicknames I've bestowed upon my mother and father) just smiled and said it was good luck.  I remembered going to bed that night, excited for all the good luck that was in my future.

The next morning I ended up puking all over the deck of our rented cabin.  So either good luck takes a while to show up or that was karma for ruining that guy's chance to score.  Nonetheless, that memory still resonates with me today.  Since then I've seen many shooting stars in the night sky, usually camped out at summer bonfires with a cool summer shandy in hand and drunken shenanigans on our lips.  And when I saw Shoot for the Stars bath bomb, the space nerd in my couldn't resist picking it up!

 

Shoot for the Stars bath bomb was out last year for Christmas, but came back this year with a mini makeover.  Instead of a yellow star on the top, it's been swapped out with a silver lustre star, but smells and looks almost exactly the same.  Scented with Honey I Washed the Kids, I was super excited to try this one out since the other HIWTK scented bath bomb (Honey Bee) left me feeling itchy and dry.  That and one of my coworker who transferred from another store (we affectionately call her Ham.  I personally call her Hamtaro) wouldn't stop raving about it.  So one dark and cloudy night, I decided to bring the night sky to my tub!

Did that last line sound cheesy?  It probably did.  I apologize for said cheese

 

When I dropped Shoot for the Stars into my tub, I knew I was in for a visual treat.  It immediately turned a pastel blue with dark blue freckles scattered on top of the bomb.  Yellow and pink soon joined the swirling mass and I was reminded of Van Gogh's "Starry Starry Night."  At one point I stopped snapping my camera for this blog entry and just sat and watched, entranced.  I've used quite a few bath bombs and I have to say that this was the most visually stunning of the bunch.  It was like watching twilight turn into the darkest night as the water darkened to a deep, rich blue.  And then the shimmer appeared.

 

I vaguely remember setting my camera down and doing my best Keanu Reeves-esque "WHOOOOOOOA" when that first touched of shimmer showed up.  If there was a bath bomb that screamed holiday, it was this guy right here.  It just poured out like a fountain of diamonds and it was absolutely stunning amongst the dark blue backdrop.  The pink slowly dissolved and disappeared into the night colored bathwater, leaving just a solid deep blue with silver shimmer.  When I sunk in, it literally felt like I was sinking into the universe butt first.  Kind of spiritual if you think about it (not really though...).  The water was nice and warm and the bomb didn't lose any of its sweet scent when it dissolved.  I immediately grabbed my phone and started plastering pictures over every social media site I had an account on.  Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook, you name it, there's a picture of the bathwater and my pasty white legs on it!  By the time I got out, the water was ice cold and my teeth were literally chattering.

So overall, Shoot for the Stars was one of the most visually stunning bath bombs I've ever used.  The only complaint I had was that the glitter felt a bit itchy in the tub, but not enough to make me dislike it.  If you don't like glitter, this is definitely not for you.  The shimmer easily rinsed out of my tub, but I was still finding sparkles in my bra the next day.  Which I didn't mind.  I enjoy feeling like a disco ball sometimes.  But overall, stunning product with a great smell, and definitely a must have for this Lush Christmas season!

**This product is certified Vegan
***Pick up Shoot for the Stars at your local LUSH store or online HERE

**Questions for the People: What Christmas bath bomb are you positively LOVING this year?  Leave your answer in the comments below!!**

(Review) Honey Bee: Bathtime Sweetness

I've been feeling just awful lately (hence no bathtime blog entry last week).  Allergies bite the big one.  All week I've been in a fog, with a clogged head, raw, itchy throat, dry eyes (as in dry enough that my coworker thought I was crying because they were so red) and a stuffy nose.  But on the positive, I get to experience the sweet satisfaction of having that one clogged nostril pop in the morning.  You know, that one clogged nostril you get when you're sick or have bad allergies.  Aww yeah, it's a great feeling!  So while I was feeling cruddy, I decided that I needed a nice, cleansing bath.  So I chose to have a sweet scented bath filled with soothing and cleansing clays!

 

Scented with the lovely Honey I Washed the Kids fragrance, Honey Bee is nice and sweet, but not too sweet!  HIWTK is one of my favorite scents from LUSH, and is my mother's all time favorite soap (I bought her a huge hunk of it for Mother's Day and I'm now convinced I'm the favorite child).  There's something about that salted caramel toffee scent that just makes my mouth water.  And I'm sure it made the inventor's mouth water too, as this was the whole point of the bath bomb!  Capturing HIWTK in a bath bomb!

Dragging my sorry butt to the bathroom, clutching my antihistamines and kleenex to my chest, I started up the bath tap and fished out the brown and yellow bomb.  Honey Bee may not be the prettiest bomb, but it's one of the sweetest smelling bombs!  The brown tone comes from the rhassoul mud, a rich clay that can only be mined from underground.  It's used to soften and cleanse the skin, and I needed a good deep clean.  Honey is also included (making this bomb vegetarian rather than vegan) to soften, and aloe vera to soothe.  It's fantastic if you have body acne or are just feeling like your skin is congested.

So into the tub Honey Bee plopped, immediately fizzing away.  The funniest complaint I hear about Honey Bee is that it makes the water yellow.  Well...DUH.  It's a yellow bath bomb, thus it will make your bath yellow.  Common sense really.  So I sat beside the tub, watching the bomb fizz as it sat rather close to the bottom.  It was quite a fast fizzer, gone within a few quick minutes.  It did turn my bath water a pale yellow, a color most people complained about as they found it looked like urine.  Well, if that looks like urine to you, some of you guys need to drink more water!  

Flakes of rhassoul mud clearly visible amongst the bath bomb froth

So I sank into the tub, sniffling away, massaging my temples with Vapo Rub in an effort to soothe my aching head.  The smell did fade a bit once dissolved.  I only caught occasional whiffs of it as I soaked.  And I didn't soak for long.  After about 30 minutes my legs started to get rather itchy.  Like I was wearing leggings full of sand.  I soaked for another 30 minutes, than clambered out, desperate for some body lotion.  I did find the scent clung to my newly cleansed skin quite well, smelling stronger on myself than it did in the bath, but I felt it did dry me out a bit.  I didn't like the itchy feeling it gave my legs.  It was very uncomfortable and I found I was hard pressed to even sit through the extra 30 minutes in the tub.  My skin can be a bit sensitive to the weirdest things, and I'm kind of glad I wasn't too fond of this bath bomb.  Because what didn't work for me might work for you and vise versa.  If your skin isn't as sensitive, or is head to toe oily, this bath bomb would be fantastic for you!  If you find you're more on the dry or sensitive side, I'd avoid it.  

Overall, this was a nice smelling bath bomb, but unfortunately made for an uncomfortable bathing experience. I loved how the smell stuck to my skin, but disliked how dry my legs felt afterward.  I still recommend you pick one up so you can try it for yourself!  The sweet toffee smell is hard to resist!

*This product is certified Vegetarian

*Purchase Honey Bee at your local LUSH store, or buy one online here

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(Review) Golden Egg: The Goose Didn't Lay this One

I've never been a timely person, hence why I'm reviewing an Easter product in June.  My store wasn't open for Easter, so I didn't get my Easter goodies until later, so I knew that when I got my box of goodies that I had to hold onto this baby for a good while.  But I've heard many things about the coveted Golden Egg.  I remember seeing people online trying to draw up swaps for a Golden Egg, offering any Lush item at all for that shimmery sweet smelling bomb.  People were still asking if we had it long after Easter had ended.  It's a highly sought after item, and after marinating in it for hours, I can definitely see why!

So I got a nice weekend off and the apartment to myself, and that was a special enough occasion for me.  So I busted open the little plastic baggy holding the coveted egg inside and tossed it into the tub.  Obviously if you don't like glitter, this bath bomb isn't for you.  The fine, shimmery coating immediately disperses when it hits the water, and doesn't release as much glitter as you'd think.

Is it just me or does Golden Egg look like a glittery potato?

Golden Egg is different from other bath bombs because it's coated with a bath melt layer.  The inspiration behind such a product was Cadbury Eggs, except with a hard inner layer and a creamy outer layer.  So an inside out Cadbury Egg, except without the chocolate and the urge to vomit after eating a half dozen or so.  It takes a long time to melt through that layer, slowly distributing a pale yellow shimmery oil until it gets to the bomb tucked inside, which promptly starts to fizz and rotate the egg like a spinning top. 

Golden Egg is made up of a bunch of super moisturizing ingredients, mainly olive oil and fair trade cocoa butter.  All of Lush's cocoa butter comes from Columbia, specifically from the Peace community in San Jose.  It's certified organic, fair trade, and deodorized so the scent isn't overpowering.  It's also used in the Therapy and Peace massage bars.  Golden Egg is also scented with the infamous Honey I Washed the Kids fragrance (also used in It's Raining Men shower gel) and I could definitely tell.  The only note that was missing was that salty note that makes HIWTK smell like salted caramel toffee.  So it just smelled like caramel toffee to me, which is fine (and delicious!).  Golden Egg also contains citrus scented oils like sweet wild orange and bergamot to cut through that sweet toffee scent and tone it down.

The melt layer is almost gone, and the bath bomb beneath releases spurts of frothy white foam

 

When the bath bomb had fully melted, I sank into my nice, sweet smelling bath.  Despite being completely frosted in shimmer, I found I wasn't sitting in a tub full of it.  I saw a nice amount of sparkle here and there, but it wasn't overwhelming.  The olive oil contained in the egg was made apparent, as the bath water looked like I was soaking in a tub full of it.  Amongst the glitter and creamy white froth, I saw oil deposits floating along the surface.  I soaked for a good long while, content with reading A Clash of Kings and listening to Futurama blasting in the next room, occasionally contemplating the craziness of Orange Is the New Black (how crazy was the second season?!).

When I got out of the tub, I was coated in oil.  Not heavily so, but enough to where I patted myself dry and rubbed the excess in so I wouldn't want for a moisturizer later on.  All the glitter sank to the bottom of the tub, but was quickly gone and down the drain when I turned the shower on.

Overall, this was a fantastic bath bomb.  I was super moisturized and sweet smelling all night and the morning after.  Honestly I didn't even need a moisturizer this morning after I got out of the shower!  It was THAT intensive.  So if you want a sparkly sweet treat and a tall glass of water for your skin, this is the right bath bomb for you!

So tell me readers...if you could have any LUSH seasonal product be put in the permanent range, which would it be?  Let me know in the comments!  I have anonymous comments enabled, so anyone can comment!  I'd love to hear from you all!

*This product is certified Vegan