Christina Alyce Beauty

The Comforter is certainly one on Lush’s more popular products and fragrances. This sweet and fruity bubble bar shares it’s scents with quite a few delicious products and is large enough to spread across multiple baths. It was one of my very first bubble bars from Lush and remains one of my absolute favorites. 

The comforter is a pretty massive bubble bar, designed in the same style as Brightside, and Blue Skies and Fluffy White Clouds. I find that I can spread it across 3 baths for the perfect amount of color, scent, and bubbles. I know some people prefer to use the whole thing in one go (which I’ve done and is amazing, though expensive!) or spread it across 4 or more baths. The Comforter produces glorious mountains of fluffy bubbles, and turns the water a beautiful dark pink. Something about being enveloped in a blanket of bubbles and sweet pink water is truly very comforting. I also find that it is quite moisturizing and softening in the water, and I don’t need to rush to apply lotion after my bath.

The scent of The Comforter has to be in my top five Lush Scents. I adore anything fruity and sweet, and the Blackcurrant and Bergamot scent of the Comforter is the perfect balance. its candy like without being sickeningly sweet, and perfect for both winter and summer. I really hope to try this scent in other formats soon. Using this alongside the shower cream and body lotion would make a perfect trio for a sweet blackcurrant themed bath.

Rating: 5/5

Price: 

Status: Permanent 

Scent Family:

Vegan?: Yes

Would I repurchase?: Yes

Ingredients:  Sodium Bicarbonate, Cream of Tartar, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Lauryl Betaine, Perfume, Titanium Dioxide, Cocamide DEA, Bergamot Oil, Cassis Absolute, Cypress Oil, *Limonene, *Linalool, Colour 45410, Colour 17200.

Products featured in this video:

Cherry Blossom Reusable Bubble Bar (Oxford Street Exclusive)
Flowering Tea Reusable Bubble Bar (Oxford Street Exclusive)
Little Dragon Reusable Bubble Bar (Oxford Street Exclusive)
Divination Reusable Bubble Bar (Oxford Street Exclusive)
Mind Cleanser Bubble Stone (Lush Spa "Synesthesia" Treatment Exclusive)
Energiser Bubble Stone (Lush Spa "Synesthesia" Treatment & Spa Gift Set)

Items in this gift:

Cold as Ice Knotwrap

Star Light, Star Bright Bath Melt

Northern Lights Bath Bomb

Abominaball Bath Bomb

Snow Showers Shower Jelly

I love many different kinds of scents- sweet, fruity, herbal... but warm and spicy cinnamon & cloves scent is by far my favorite. When Jacko appeared in the Lush Kitchen at the end of October, I felt an insatiable hunger to obtain as many bath bombs as I could get my hands on. Of course, being the dummy that I am, I somehow only came away with one. My lone Jacko arrived, and I was just as in love with the scent as I had expected to be, and so the hunger didn’t cease. 

I made it my mission to track down more of this wonderful bomb to creat my pumpkin army. The week after the UK Kitchen hosted Jacko, he moved along to the Japanese Kitchen. I joined a group ordering group on Facebook in hopes of obtaining him and everything seemed to be going smoothly for me to order two (and a Witches Ball Bubble Bar) but then I never heard back from the group moderator, despite her assuring me she would place my order. A few days later, someone contacted me through instagram offering to sell me one of hers. I responded, never heard back, and started to give up hope. I checked ebay nearly every day, hoping one would appear,but the only ones that did were absurdly priced. As much as I love Jacko, I would never spend $20 on a single bath bomb. Fast forward to this Monday, I decided to sign up for the app Mercari because I had heard they often had a lot of rare Lush stuff. Lo and behold, I found a Jacko instantly, and was able to bundle him with multiple other items I had been in search of, to get a good deal. Now that I had another Jacko secured, I finally felt I could use my original, just in time for a Thanksgiving bath.

Pumpkin pie is a very popular and rather traditional dessert served here in the US at Thanksgiving. So, of course, what better product to use on Thanksgiving than a bath bomb that shares so many spices with the delicious smelling pie? Jacko’s scent is first and foremost cloves and cardamom, and this is amplified once it hits the water. these spices are warm, strong, and spicy, and nothing smells more like fall. Spearmint also makes an appearance, but is quite subtle, which was a relief to me because I don’t particularly like the idea of mint and cloves together. Luckily, the combination works beautifully together to create a comforting, spicy treat.

Jacko is a fast fizzer, which is probably to be expected since it is relatively small as well as flat. I love a bath bomb that puts on a good show, but of course I can appreciate a more tame display as well. Jacko is just a simple orange bomb, he doesn’t offer a glitter or a thousand colors, but to me, that is perfectly fine. I was surprised by how vividly colored the water was, because at first glance, Jacko is quite chalky and pale. Instead of the weak orangey waters you expect, you’re provided with a beautiful pool of rich orange water to soak in.

I used Pumpkin soap to wash up with, which shares the same scent as Jacko, and the two went together beautifully. It added to and emphasized the clove and cardamom scent wonderfully, and I left the tub smelling good enough to eat.

While the search is not over by any means, I am so glad I was able to experience Jacko, and I will soon have a second stashed away safely. 

Rating: 5/5

Price: £3.50 ($5.25)

Status: Retired/Kitchen Item

Vegan?: Yes

Would I repurchase? Yes

Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Cardamom Oil, Clove Bud Oil, Spearmint Oil, *Cinnamal, *Coumarin, *Eugenol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Perfume, Colour 15510.

Karma is a classic Lush smell. It smells exactly how you’d expect a hippy dippy handmade cosmetics shop to, and it’s absolutely wonderful. The piece in my photo is very well loved, and a brand new slice of this stuff is a beautiful deep red, cut from a ring shape that features various “steps” on it’s surface, so your wedge is likely to feature 2 levels, making it much more interesting than your standard block of soap. I promise to add new photos once I’ve repurchased this, because it is most definitely a staple in my stash.

The scent of Karma is absolutely beautiful. Lemongrass, Elemi, and sweet orange oil give it a bright, zingy scent, while sandalwood is comforting and warm. Pine oil comes through to give the soap a clean scent, and makes it suitable for any time of year. I do find this bright and fresh enough to use in the warmer months, and comforting and complex enough for the fall and winter as well. It’s a lovely flexible fragrance.

This soap lathers incredibly well, and also works to nourish the skin a lot better than many others I have tried, from lush and other brands. It produces a lot of foam, but the rapeseed and coconut oils offer a gentle, creamy lather that is wonderfully nourishing. I have even used this soap in place of a shaving cream, in a pinch, and not had any problems with stinging, irritation, or any unpleasantness. It helped my razor glide very smoothly.

This is a beautiful soap, that works wonderfully. Even though I generally prefer shower gels, I will always come back to this

Rating: 5/5

Price:

Status: Permanent

Vegan?: Yes

Would I repurchase?: Yes, and I have!

Scent Family:

Ingredients: Water, Propylene Glycol, Rapeseed Oil and Coconut Oil, Sodium Stearate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Hydroxide, Perfume, Patchouli Oil, Sweet Orange Oil, Lavandin Oil, Pine Oil, Lemongrass Oil, Elemi Oil, Glycerine, Sodium Chloride, EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Gardenia Extract, Citral, Geraniol, Citronellol, Limonene, Linalool, Hydroxycitronellal, Colour 14700

I feel like I should preface this review by saying that my particular Experimenter was a dud. I have seen dozens of posts about how beautiful and amazing and spectacular the Experimenter is, but as with some products, the one I received was inconsistent with the quality and beauty others have experienced. I have seen many videos and photos of the beauty this bath bomb can produce, so I know it is possible, and I really hope to give this another try after the Holidays. But, for now, all I have is an honest review of a complete dud of a bath bomb. I do hope to update this in a more positive light once I have tried it again.

I had high hopes for The Experimenter. I had seen and red about the gorgeous swirls of the rainbow it produced, so I was eager to try this, and recreat the full spectrum of color in my bath. Unfortunately, mine was much less than I had hoped it to be. Instead of fizzing steadily and letting color foam of all shades of the rainbow expand across the tub, the orange and yellow side fizzled out in a matter of 15 seconds. The remaining portion sank to the bottom where it continued to fizz for quite a while. This bomb does contain popping candy, which is a nice touch, but I only heard a handful of crackles and pops- it didn’t last nearly as long as my Lord of Misrule did. Neither half produced much rainbow hued foam. Instead the colors just ran together creating a murky gray water. I had been aware of the color of the water before using this bomb as it is the only complaint I’ve heard about it, so I was not surprised, though I had hoped it wouldn’t be quite as ugly as it was. 

I also made the mistake of touching the pink/purple/blue portion once it had sank, to try to get it back to the surface. My hand was immediately stained a bright fuchsia, that took some scrubbing to remove.

Perhaps the only redeeming factor I found in this bomb was the scent. The most prominent notes are Vanilla and Tonka- a beautiful sweet vanilla fragrance, that with the addition of Vertivert oil, becomes smokey and sultry. I found the scent quite strong, and it was a beautifully comforting and relaxing scent that I really enjoyed, and was glad that it lingered on my skin for a very long time after the bath.

Because the scent is strong, I believe this bath bomb would be easily split across two baths to maintain a prettier colored bath water. Of course this will mean you won’t have a full array of colors, but you could choose to have one bath that is a more yellow/ gold tone, and one that comes out purple. The scent and glitter will most certainly be plentiful even if distributed across two baths.

Overall, I was quite disappointed with my experience. I really hope that once I repurchase this, I will be able to enjoy it to the fullest extent, as it is intended to be. I also want to point out that like many of the new bath products that were recently introduced to North American stores, the Experimenter is quite a bit cheaper if you order it from the UK site. it is nearly $9 in the US, but after conversion, it is just under $6 from the UK. UK shipping is just a couple dollars more than US shipping so it makes a lot of sense to order from there instead, if you’re purchasing quite a few items. You will save a ton in the long run. Just be cautious- they do ship everything naked, so sometimes there is color transfer between products! I have not had any issues with anything breaking though, so I do highly recommend the UK site. They have so many amazing exclusives as well!

Rating: 2/5

Price:

Status: Newly Permanent, available internationally (previously Oxford St Exclusive)

Vegan?: Yes

Would I repurchase? Yes, in hopes that the next one will preform as it should

Ingredients:  Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Perfume, Popping Candy, Vetivert Oil (Vetiveria zizanoldes), Tonka Absolute (Dipteryx odorata), Fair Trade Vanilla Absolute (Vanilla planifolia), Cream Of Tartar (Potassium bitrate), Water (Aqua), Titanium Dioxide, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Lauryl Betaine, Coumarin, Limonene, Eugenol, Linalool, Calcium Sodium Borosillicate, Tin Oxide, Gold Glimmer Lustre (Synthetic Fluorphlogite, Colour 77492, Silica), Colour 42090, Colour 45410, Colour 45350.

Northern Lights may very well be the brightest soap I have ever seen. It is literally neon green, as you can clearly see in the photos. I haven’t adjusted the color in any way - it really is that bright! The colors are clearly inspired by the Aurora Borealis, otherwise known The Northern Lights, and the soap is a beautiful interpretation of the phenomenon. 

The scent of this soap certainly coordinates beautifully with the color. I found the scent to be a clean, citrusy scent, reminiscent of a citronella candle, but sweeter and much more pleasant. The ingredients include pine needle oil, cypress oil, and lime oil, which all come together to create a bright citrus scent with a hint of pine. This is a lovely scent for summer, but the pine and cypress keep it a little more heavy and perfect for winter too. I find that the smell lingers softly on the skin.

This soap is softer than others, it wouldn’t take much effort at all to bend it. This comes from the rapeseed and coconut oils, which are very moisturizing ingredients. I usually find that bar soaps that contain a lot of oils tend not to lather much, but this soap still provides a very generous lather. After using this soap I feel very clean, but not stripped of natural oils.

Though it is perhaps not my favorite scent, I enjoyed using this soap overall, and would most likely repurchase it. It is beautiful to look at and feels lovely on the skin.

Find more photos and Lush product reviews here

Rating: 4/5

Price: £4.25/100g ($6.43)

Status: Retired Holiday Item, Kitchen Exclusive

Vegan?: Yes

Would I repurchase? Probably

Ingredients:  Water, Rapeseed Oil and Coconut Oil, Glycerine, Perfume, Sodium Stearate, Propylene Glycol, Pine Needle Oil, Cypress Oil, Lime Oil, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Chloride, EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Sodium Hydroxide, *Citral, *Linalool, Citronellol, Limonene, Colour 59040, Colour 45410, Colour 17200, Colour 42090.

The last two bath bombs I used were both major disappointments, so I was really hoping that the third time would be the charm. Luckily, Skydancer was an all around solid choice. Lush UK recently introduced Skydancer to raise money and awareness to support the tagging of the very nearly extinct Hen Harrier. You can read all about the cause here.

Compared to Lush’s other, more spherical bath bombs, Skydancer certainly stands out. Most similar in size and shape to the psychedelic Granny Takes A Dip bath bomb, it is a round disk, but unlike Granny, has a raised bird on the top. I think this bath bomb is very unique, and I love that it looks like the Hen Harrier is flying in front of the sun. Normally I am not a fan of yellow bath bombs because they usually are not very colorful in the water and leave you feeling like you are soaking in a tub full of something unmentionable, but this yellow bomb transformed the bath into an incredibly vivid shade of bright yellow, similar to the fluorescent Yog Nog bath bomb, and was quite beautiful.

Skydancer is a slow, steady fizzer. Despite there only being a small layer of blue, the bird sits mostly atop the water so it stays around for quite a while as the bright yellow foams, fizzes, and colors the water. I found that it did a lovely job softening the water as well.

The scent of Skydance is mellow and refreshing. I was expecting a heavy licorice scent from the citrus, aniseed, and cinnamon combination, but found that it was a clean citrusy scent with a touch of warmth- not spicy, but a hint of comforting licorice in the background. I found that it paired very well with Northern Lights soap, which has a powdery clean citrus scent, and also complimented the color of the bath water, with it’s similarly fluorescent hue.

I really enjoyed using Skydancer. While it doesn’t pop and fizz and spew a thousand colors and mounds of lustre throughout your bath, it is a reliable and enjoyable product, and for a good cause to boot. It has a fresh, unique scent, vivid color, and is a solid addition to Lush’s line-up of bombs,especially for those who enjoy a calmer bath, and don’t enjoy exiting the tub coated in glitter, which is a characteristic of many newer bombs. I really hope I have a chance to order more of these before they are gone!

Rating: 5/5

Price: £3.95 ($6.00)

Status: Limited Edition Charity Item, UK only

Vegan?: Yes

Would I repurchase? Yes

Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Cream of Tartar, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Water (Aqua), Bergamot Oil, Cinnamon Leaf Oil, Sicilian Lemon Oil, Lauryl Betaine, Benzyl Benzoate, Lilial, Eugenol, Limonene, Perfume, Potassium aluminium silicate, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides, Colour 47005, Colour 42053, Colour 42090:2.

I am an incredibly pale person, there’s no denying it. I have searched high and low for the perfect match when it comes to foundation, and no brand ever seems to carry the perfect shade. On the rare occasion that I find a color that works for me, the texture or finish is all wrong, or it triggers a breakout. When I first got into Lush, I sat flipping through one of the catalogues, and I was very intrigued by their line of color supplements. with only 5 shades available, I assumed they wouldn’t have the right fit for me, but the next time I went into Lush I decided to just go for it. 

Upon first application, I was stunned. The color perfectly melded with my skin tone, and gave me a decent amount of coverage. It blended beautifully and without streaking. This is by no means a heavy coverage foundation, but I find that it is pretty buildable, and works well for an everyday foundation. I have spotty skin, and this covers all but the reddest of my breakouts. This can be applied in a number of ways, Lush suggests mixing with a moisturizer as a skin tint (I don’t find this gives me any coverage), mixed with another foundation to give you the perfect shade, or directly to the skin as it is. I use as my foundation. I use a buffing foundation brush to apply, but a damp foundation sponge would work just as well. I do not recommend using your fingers, because it will be difficult to obtain an even finish, and I find that I use more product if I use my fingers. 

Here are some before and after photos showing the product's coverage: