Lush Showcase 2018 – Lush Upon A Time

Royalty Bath Bomb from Lush

The Royalty Bath Bomb started off as a Lush Japan Harajuku-store-exclusive.

It also became one of the six exclusive bath bombs that were available to purchase in very limited amounts at the 2018 Lush UK Showcase; Each of the six bath bombs were sold for one hour only over the two day event (I don’t think I’ve ever experienced FOMO so intensely.)

Luckily, Lush see sense and it became readily available online for the 30 years-of-bath-bombs celebration back in 2019.

Since then, it was discontinued to make way for other products BUT with the Lush Kitchen Subscription box items now being announced ahead of their release, we know that it will be available in the May 2024 box.

Here I am, finally pulling my socks up and finishing my review of it!

Royalty is a golden-yellow crown shaped bath bomb with pink points to look like the crown has jewels.

Some of the ingredients included in the Royalty bath bomb are jasmine absolute, ylang ylang oil, sandalwood oil and vanilla absolute.

Its scent is best described as musky, the vanilla mixed with the jasmine gives it a burst of sweet floral too.

If jasmine is in a cosmetic product, it is normally the dominant scent, but the vanilla in the Royalty bath bomb really dampens the jasmine down. As someone who doesn’t enjoy heavy jasmine scents, this was a positive for me.

As soon as the Royalty bath bomb comes into contact with the water you are greeted with a burst of bright yellow foam.

As the Royalty bath bomb fizzes away more colours spill out of it. Green and pink blobs separate from the bomb in a similar way to the colourful bits that are in the Golden Wonder bath bomb.

Considering its size, I was surprised to see that the Royalty bath bomb had fully dissolved in just shy of four minutes. This didn’t give the bath bomb much chance to create any notable bath art (although as you can see in the photo below it was colourful, just for a very short amount time.)

Sadly, the scent really dampened down to the point I couldn’t smell it at all after the bath bomb had fully dissolved.

The end water was however a beautiful shimmery yellow; The scent didn’t stay on my skin (If I am being honest I’m unsure if the scent was ever on my skin at all) but my skin did feel a lot softer than it did before I’d used the Royalty bath bomb.

Overall, I thought the Royalty bath bomb was beautifully made and one that really stood out, especially piled up high at the 2018 Lush showcase but I would have liked to have seen more bath art from it during use.

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NEW Black Rose Bath Bomb from Lush

The Black Rose Bath Bomb has had a mini makeover; I have received a handful of emails asking why the Black Rose bath bomb in my 2018 review looks a little different to the one currently available in store and online so I thought I’d do a shiny new review.

Originally the Black Rose bath bomb was 1 of the 6 Lush Japan, exclusive bath bombs that were available to purchase in very limited amounts at the 2018 Lush Showcase; Each of the 6 bath bombs were sold for one hour only over the 2-day event.

Since the 2018 Lush Showcase the Black Rose bath bomb had become more readily available. For a little while Lush did actually discontinue it but brought it back, albeit with a slightly different look, hence this review.

At the point of writing this review, the Black Rose bath bomb is listed as a Lush bestseller. Bringing it back was a very wise idea, indeed!

The Black Rose bath bomb is quite the piece of art and is made to look just like a rose. The original version had red petal edges that were hand painted on to each individual bath bomb, now it is just a plain black rose. Without the painted on petal-edges I imagine it is now much quicker to hand make. – Even without the red edges, the bath bomb’s attention to detail is still just as beautiful as its previous version. Based on its looks alone I can see why it is still so popular.

Black Rose is a part of the Rose Jam scent family, you will most likely recognise it from the Rose Jam shower gel. The Rose Jam fragrance features heavily in several different Lush products throughout the year, it’s very popular so I could tell upon first sniff at the Lush Showcase that the Black Rose bath bomb would sell well.

The Black Rose bath bomb contains rose, geranium and Sicilian lemon oil. Although Rose Jam is primarily a floral based, rose-rich scent, it also has other depths to it with the addition of the lemon oil, this pinch of sourness really rounds off the scent, it’s almost musky. Rose scents are stereotyped as a scent for older people but the Rose Jam scent is and can be enjoyed by both youngsters, old dears and all those in between!

Now I think I shall address its colour, this isn’t the first only black bath product Lush have released. The first black bath bomb in my memory is the Secret Arts jelly bomb. I will admit, before using that for the first time I was terrified at the prospect of a very dirty bath after use, much to my surprise it wasn’t messy at all and neither was the Black Rose bath bomb.

With every bath bomb (even the light coloured ones) I do recommend using them in a clean bath as any bath bomb colour will cling to residue left in the tub (even the almost invisible stuff like soap scum.) If you do find yourself in a situation where a simple rinse with the shower head doesn’t work, my secret weapon is dish washer soap.

A sponge, hot water and dish washer soap cuts through grime and grease fantastically! I actually use it to clean my bath all the time. It’s that good a combo.

Once the Black Rose bath bomb hits the water you are greeted with an explosion of black foam sizzling out of the bath bomb, slowly turning the bath water a dark and shimmery black. From this point on, this new version of the Black Rose bath bomb is exactly the same as its older version, Bath art and all.

As the Black Rose bath bomb charges around your bath spreading black foam it doesn’t take long for the hidden purply-pink innards of Black Rose to make an appearance. The photos I took and have put in this blog post do the bath art that Black Rose creates no justice at all.

It’s a fairly slow fizzer but once it has all gone you are left with jet black, shimmery water with an ever so slightly purple tinge. Overall I really did enjoy using the Black Rose bath bomb, it left my skin smooth and soft to the touch, its light scent remained on my skin for several hours after getting out of the bath too.

Apart from the now absent painted-on-red-petal-edges, there’s not much difference between this version of the Black Rose bath bomb and the older one. Black Rose isn’t one of my favourite bath bombs but I would happily use it again as I’m a fan of its Rose Jam scent.

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Kitsune Bath Bomb from Lush

Kitsune Bath Bomb

The Kitsune Bath Bomb was 1 of the 6 Lush Japan, exclusive bath bombs that were available to purchase in very limited amounts at the 2018 Lush Showcase; Each of the 6 bath bombs were sold for one hour only over the 2 day event.

Fortunately, Kitsune is now readily available online and in Lush stores that have chosen to stock it as a part of the 30 years-of-bath-bombs celebrations. For anyone out of the loop, thirty years ago the bath bomb was invented by Mrs Lush (AKA Mo Constantine) in her garden shed. A very happy 30th birthday to the bath bomb!

Containing Sicilian red Mandarin, patchouli and benzoin resinoid the Kitsune bath bomb has many great qualities. Its scent is packed full of energy, I’d describe it as a warmer version of the Avobath bath bomb. It seems to have the same citrus-punch as the aforementioned bath bomb it however has a much warmer fragrance-layer because of the benzoin resinoid.

This makes it a great bath bomb to use if you are like me and live with chronic pain, the benzoin resinoid mixed with the patchouli stimulates your blood flow which helps you wind down and relax, relieving any tired and achy muscles as you lay back and enjoy Kitsune’s waters.

When I first see the Kitsune bath bomb piled high at the 2018 Lush Showcase I thought it was a sea shell design, I was getting beach and mermaid vibes and it had me so, so excited. I was however wrong; Flip the Kitsune bath bomb the other way and it is actually a foxes head.

May I add without eyes – which isn’t a bad thing as I do find myself getting attached to all of the Lush products with eyes… Not ideal when you’re all waiting for a review!

I now know after 10 or so minutes of research, that ‘Kitsune’ is the Japanese word for Fox. The Kitsune in particular is a mythical, 9 tailed fox that commonly features in Japanese folklore. As soon as I realised the 2 pointy bits on the bomb were in fact fox ears I couldn’t wait to see how it performed in the bath.

As soon as the Kitsune bath bomb touches the water an explosion of foam bursts out of it. Shimmery gold, pastel reds, oranges and yellows erupts from within. Next, the Kitsune bath bombs magic truly begins. As most bath bombs do, Kitsune bobs around the waters surface slowly spinning. The photo below does this bath bomb no justice at all, you really have to try it to appreciate how much of a performance it puts on.

As Kitsune spins in the water, gold and pastel yellow lines seem to appear, this is what Lush meant when they described Kitsune as a ‘shapeshifter’ (something the Kitsune from Japanese folklore can do.)

The magic of a Kitsune fox is displayed so cleverly in this bath bomb, I always say that the Lava Lamp bath bomb is the cleverest bath bomb design and concept but Kitsune is just as good! Who knew that a bath bomb could tell you a story and so vividly?

As Kitsune is quite the fast fizzer you don’t have to wait very long for its spectacular show to be over allowing you to lay back and relax in its even more spectacular waters. The Kitsune bath bomb leaves your skin silky smooth with a tiny splash of beautiful, natural shimmer.

The Lush website claims that you’ll rise out of a Kitsune bath ‘wiser and clearer of mind’ and I really, really believe that you do. Its scent is so zingy and warming and can still be detected on your skin hours and hours after using it. It’s a very hydrating bath bomb too. I’d love to see this scent feature in other product formats in the future.

Overall I would say that Kitsune was my favourite of the Showcase 2018 Japan exclusives. Lush were kind enough to send me one out as a random act of kindness earlier this week and I cannot wait to share another bath with it. Maybe I’ll get better photos of the Kitsune ‘shape shifting’ the next time I use it, watch this space! 👀

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