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:
- UK £3.95
- US $8.95
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.
