Lush Winter – Page 39 – Lush Upon A Time

Ectoplasm Jelly Bomb from Lush

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The Ectoplasm Jelly Bomb was the last of the Summit 2017 products that I really wanted but have only just now got hold of. Since the Summit it has had a slight update, it now has a ghost shape on it much like all of the other brand new jelly bombs’ unique mascots, for example Snow Fairy has a star and Dark Arts has an eye.

As far as I am aware the Ectoplasm was the first of the jelly bombs to be finalised and released (albeit at the Summit). With it only being available for one day out of the 2 Lush-Summit-days, it meant that only a small handful of people had the privilege of trying it. Therefore when the aforementioned Dark Arts alongside the Marmalade, Green Coconut and The Big Sleep jelly bombs were released earlier this year the Lush world wondered where Ectoplasm had gone.

The second time Ectoplasm became available was via the Lush Kitchen a few weeks back, although nothing has been confirmed I suspect it will become available everywhere for Halloween 2017.

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The Ectoplasm jelly bomb is jam packed with uplifting citrus ingredients, fortunately its scent is nothing like that of the Marmalade jelly bomb, this pleased me immensely as sadly the Marmalade jelly bomb isn’t a product I enjoy purely on the grounds of its scent.

Ectoplasm contains tangerine, grapefruit and litsea cubeba oil (an ingredient that was unfamiliar to me), at first I was a little puzzled as when sniffing Ectoplasm I could only really make out a lemon scent, after having a quick look at its ingredients I worked out that this is because of the litsea cubeba oil.

Ectoplasm’s scent is a very gentle zest and packs a subtle sharpness, just the right amount of lemony-freshness to help lift and refresh your spirits.

Upon hitting the water the Ectoplasm jelly bomb begins to bob around hissing out a burst of fluorescent green colour, the bubbles fizzing out of it are at first purple tinted but slowly turn the same green. Its green and purple colouring reminds me of the old version of the Northern Lights bath bomb. The bubbles merge together on the surface of the water and slowly froth into a thin layer of jelly. I use the word ‘jelly’ loseley as it’s not gooey at all, it’s more of a silky luminous froth.

Upon first use I was a little disappointed that the Ectoplasm didn’t produce more ‘jelly’, after all it is a jelly bomb. I have since tried it again though and on the other occasions it did have more jelly, therefore I advise that it’s worth giving Ectoplasm a few goes before you decide if you like it or not.

I suspect the ghost motif was inspired by the colour of the jelly, if you’ve ever seen the 80’s movie Ghostbusters then you’d know exactly what I mean!

It much like the Snow Fairy jelly bomb took a while to dissolve. Some of it was in fact still floating around when I needed to get out. I recommend trying the jelly bombs with as hot as you can stand it water, just like the Butterball bath bomb it performs better the hotter the water.

Pushing the leftover lumps aide, everything else about this jelly bomb ticks my boxes for a good Lush product. Once you’re out of an Ectoplasm bath your skin feels fabulous, I’ve said it before and I will say it again, the effect the seaweed based sodium alginate ingredient has on your skin (the ingredient that creates the jelly like substance) is like nothing I have experienced in a cosmetic product before. The Lush jelly bombs are a game changer in regards to skincare, even after a day has passed, your skin still feels soft, smooth and fabulous after sharing a bath with a jelly bomb.

Ectoplasm’s scent stays with you throughout your bath. Once you get out it remains on your skin for a few hours too. Before I forget, I want to point out that the jelly it creates dissolves into just bath water after a short time, I have mentioned it as this is a question everyone keeps asking me. Overall I am very impressed with this jelly bomb, I have my fingers crossed that it is a part of the Halloween range this year and that hopefully by then they may have improved the recipe in some way so that we don’t get as many lumps hanging around at the end.

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Calacas Shower Gel from Lush

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I believe that the Calacas Shower Gel was my very first shower gel purchased via the Lush Kitchen, why I have left it so long to review it is beyond me, as I LOVE the stuff, ~~maybe even more than I do my husband~~.

I know I throw the love word around a lot but Calacas is hands down one of my favourite Lush scents ever. If I hadn’t have ordered this shower gel back in the day I don’t think I’d have even got so into Lush. It’s divine. The Calacas scent is refreshing, uplifting and zingy. Lush have carefully combined oil of lime, neroli, cooling aloe vera and olibanum to make the most gorgeous and energising bath time treat in shower gel form.

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If you are in need of a boost, a quick shower with the Calacas shower gel will reinvigorate both your mind and body. It’s fruity but not like anything else you’ve tried before, some people describe it as smelling like fruit pastille sweets, I can see where they are coming from but it is so much better than that. I am hoping that they decide to release the Calacas shower gel as a store product this Halloween, it has only been available in the Lush Kitchen on occasion for the last few years and I just don’t understand why something so beautiful isn’t readily available in stores. I’d love to see it as full time stock but even if they release it just for the Halloween period, that would make me a very happy Lushie.

Another wonderful thing about the Calacas shower gel is how it looks, it has actually been available in the past as several different shades, red, green and a yellowish orange. For the purpose of this blog post I have included pictures of the orange version.

I have never seen a shower gel like it, depending on how the sun catches it, it can look so many shades of orange, sometimes I even get a glimpse of it and think it is glowing. Consistency wise the Calacas shower gel is quite thick, I’d compare it to the likes of the Plum Rain shower gel which happens to be another fruity shower gel that I cannot get enough of.

Calacas lathers up well, a little of it also goes a very long way which is great considering its consistency and even better when you take into account how rare it is. I was glad to see that for Halloween 2016 Lush decided to bring out a bath bomb with the Calacas scent called the Monsters’ Ball. I have my fingers crossed that this bath bomb returns again as the Calacas scent needs to be enjoyed by everyone! it is one of those scents that work brilliantly in any format.

My favourite thing about the Calacas shower gel is how long its scent stays with you after use. Much like the Yuzu and Cocoa shower cream I can still smell it on my skin hours and hours after using it in the shower. I also have very fine hair and can get away with using Calacas shower gel as a shampoo every now and again.

I am currently almost out of my latest batch of Calacas shower gel so if Lush aren’t bringing it out as a staple product for Halloween 2017 then I hope they bring it out in the Lush Kitchen again very, very soon. It’s a shower gel a Lushie should never be without!

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Snow Fairy Jelly Bomb from Lush

After falling head over heels in love with 3 out of the 4 newly released jelly bombs I was delighted to see that Lush had yet another up their sleeve. The Lush Kitchen announced that on the 14th of August 2017 a small and very limited amount of brand-new-to-the-world, Snow Fairy Jelly Bombs would become available to order. Although I am desperately trying to save money for next months Lush Showcase, I couldn’t help myself and grabbed a few.

Although nothing has been officially confirmed, I have a feeling that the Snow Fairy jelly bombs will be a part of this years Lush Winter line, therefore potentially being available at the Showcase next month. For everyone that missed out on getting one of these jelly bombs through the Lush Kitchen, I am keeping my eyes peeled and my fingers crossed that my prediction of them becoming available everywhere comes true!

Design wise the Snow Fairy jelly bomb is decorated just like the other jelly bombs, quite unique to anything Lush has created before, each individual jelly bomb has its own shape included in its exterior design, for example, Snow Fairy has a star and the Dark Arts jelly bomb has a mysterious and magical looking eye.

Jelly bombs look and work just like the average Lush bath bomb, the difference between a jelly bomb and a bath bomb is that the jelly bombs produce a foam-like-jelly that floats on the surface of the water instead of just either creating foam or changing the colour of your bath water. Although I was initially a little freaked out at the idea of bathing in what I imagined to be thick gloop, I found that this wasn’t the case at all and the experience of sharing a bath with a Lush jelly bomb was in fact very pleasant.

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The magic jelly ingredient in Lush’s jelly bombs is sodium alginate, this is what creates the jelly that floats on the top of your water. I have had a lot of people comment on my Instagram account that they just can’t bring themselves to try a jelly bomb as they fear the consistency. It really isn’t like wading through gunge though, it’s very much like any other bath bomb, it is however a lot more moisturising.

Much like the other jelly bombs I have tried before, the Snow Fairy hisses away sending a burst of white foam with the odd speck of pink across the water surface as soon as it hits the water. Its scent is sugar-sweet, there is a Snow Fairy scented product list as long as my arm. In the Winter it is one of Lush’s biggest sellers, last year (2016) Lush released the brand new Snow Fairy body conditioner I loved it and I am hoping that the Snow Fairy jelly bomb is this year’s Snow Fairy scented Winter line newbie.

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Just like the Big Sleep jelly bomb, once Snow Fairy hits the water it begins to bob around, I noticed that the Snow Fairy jelly bomb reacted to being added to the water in exactly the same way as the Green Coconut jelly bomb does, the Dark Arts jelly bomb seems to explode of jelly within seconds, where as the Snow Fairy and Green Coconut jelly bombs take their time.

I didn’t like the Snow Fairy scent that much when I first got into Lush, it did however grow on me and now I always look forward to seeing what product Lush create next with its scent. If the Snow Fairy jelly bomb does become a part of this years Winter line, I don’t think we’ll be seeing the Father Christmas bath bomb again… (also Snow Fairy scented).

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For scent and design the Snow fairy jelly bomb gets a 10 out of 10 from me, in my opinion it is by far the prettiest of the jelly bombs, I am however biased as I have never been able to resist anything pink or anything that includes stars.

The only thing I noticed about the Snow Fairy jelly bomb in comparison to the others is how long it took to dissolve. I have the patience of a saint but after 25 minutes I ended up crushing what remained of the jelly bomb up in my hands. This task isn’t easy, with the jelly bits covering most of what remained, it was like playing catch with a fish, which I guess would be quite fun for kids.

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Be that as it may, upon getting out of the Snow Fairy jelly bomb bath, my skin did feel amazingly soft and just as moisturised as when I had used the other jelly bombs. The effect the seaweed based sodium alginate ingredient has on your skin is like nothing I have experienced in a cosmetic product before. The Lush jelly bombs are a game changer in regards to skincare, even after a day has passed, your skin still feels soft, smooth and fabulous after sharing a bath with a jelly bomb.

If you find the Snow Fairy scent too sweet, (I did at first myself, don’t feel like an outsider) you’ll be pleased to know that even though its scent does stay with you, it is no where near as strong as when the jelly bomb is first in your hands. It stays on your skin for the best part of the next day but has a very gentle, soft and pleasant aroma. Like the scent that the So White bath bomb has, I find it really comforting.

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