Category: New for 2023

Screaming Banshee Bath Bomb from Lush

The Screaming Banshee Bath Bomb is a brand-new, limited-edition product from Lush’s 2023 Halloween line.

It is inspired by the banshee from Irish folklore; The banshee is said to be a fairy-like-woman or female spirit whose mouth is permanently open and screaming the most grief-stricken of screams, the scream is said to mark someone’s impending death.

If the thought of a banshee doesn’t make your blood run a little colder than normal, you’re a braver person than me. I don’t think there’s ever been a scarier Halloween product…Weighing in at only 85g the Screaming Banshee is one of the smaller and therefore cheaper bath bombs from the 2023 Halloween line.

The Screaming Banshee bath bomb contains plenty of popping candy as well as sea salt, apple powder, bergamot oil, grapefruit oil and almond essential oil.

It shares its scent with the Space Girl bath bomb, the most recently released products that also share the same scent as the Screaming Banshee bath bomb are Halloween 2020’s, Very Very Frightening shower gel as well as the Asteroid bath bomb and Asteroid City shower gel.

The ‘Space Girl’ scent family is a much-loved Lush fragrance that I’m always happy to see make an appearance in any product format.

The scent of the Screaming Banshee bath bomb is not an easy one to describe, it reminds me of a pot of raspberry yogurt, it’s sherbet-sweet and mouth-wateringly good. Lush have previously described the scent as a ‘nostalgic scent of blackcurrant’ although, as I said earlier, it reminds me of raspberries more than it does blackcurrants.

It is not an overpowering fragrance like some Lush scents often are. It would be a very good choice if you prefer the softer Lush scent-families.

As soon as the Screaming Banshee bath bomb touches the water you are greeted with a burst of light and dark blue colour.

The Screaming Banshee bath bomb is not fantastic bath-art-wise BUT does turn the bath water an inviting shade of chamomile blue. It doesn’t take long for the popping candy to make an appearance either; Crackling and popping as the bath bomb fizzes away. After just under 10 minutes, the bath bomb fully dissolves.

I found the chamomile blue waters left behind by the Screaming Banshee bath bomb silky smooth and incredibly refreshing. It’s raspberry-like-scent can also still be detected on your skin long after getting out of the bath which surprised me as it is a very small bath bomb.

My skin still felt soft and hydrated for the whole of the next day after using it too.

I really enjoyed the Screaming Banshee bath bomb, I like that it is one of the more affordable bath bombs from this year’s Halloween collection and that it has such a great scent, I’d have maybe liked a bit more bath art out of it but other than that I think it’s a fantastic addition to the Halloween line.

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NEW Monster Octopus Shower Jelly from Lush

The Monster Octopus Shower Jelly is back as a part of Lush’s 2023 Halloween line. It was originally released back in 2021 in a different colour; 2021’s Monster Octopus was a wine-red colour and 2023’s version is light pink.

The Monster Octopus shower jelly is inspired by the Kraken, a legendary giant octopus from Scandinavian folklore that was said to terrorise sailors. It has a fantastically spooky back story, making it perfect for the Halloween period.

The first thing that I noticed about the Monster Octopus shower jelly was its shape. A lot of Lush’s shower jellies are just the standard pot shape. Some are however (like Monster Octopus) made into the shape of a character. Monster Octopus happens to be as its name suggests, an octopus!

If you have read any of my shower jelly reviews before this one, you’d know that I prefer to use my shower jellies whole, in a very similar way to how you would use a standard bar of soap. Some people however chop their shower jellies up using one piece at a time. There’s no right or wrong way to use them so just do whatever you are most comfortable with.

In the past, I have always favoured the shower jellies that are in the standard shape. This is because I find them a lot easier to use and they tend to last longer too. The character shaped shower jellies just don’t seem to have the same level of stamina, falling apart a lot quicker.

I am pleased to however report that the Monster Octopus shower jelly has lasted me a good 3 uses and doesn’t show any sign of depletion or wear and tear yet!

Going back to this shower jellies shape – I mentioned a few paragraphs ago that this shower jelly has been made into the shape of an octopus. Many people have however pointed out that it only has 5 legs. TRUE. I’m unsure as to why Lush decided to give it 5 legs, instead of the 8 that octopuses are meant to have. I suspect that it is something to do with flimsiness and ease of handling it during use. It could however also be something as simple as it just looked better with 5 legs. Again, these are just me guessing.

My overactive imagination however decided that the Monster Octopus shower jelly is in fact a star fish that is wearing an octopus Halloween costume! I liked that idea so I’m choosing to believe that now.

The Monster Octopus shower jellies scent is a sweet and powerfully rich, fruity affair. It contains fresh-passionfruit, vanilla, blackcurrant, sweet-wild-orange and tagetes. It’s the perfect mix of both sweet and sour and it fits perfectly into the theme of a candy filled Halloween. It lathers up with ease, incredibly quickly. I discovered by accident that if you hold it under a running tap, it also works brilliantly as a bubble bath too.

Using it in the shower or bath leaves me feeling clean and my skin soft. Its powerful scent also stays on your skin for the best part of the rest of the day after using it. It mentions on its packaging that it can be used as a shampoo too; I haven’t tried it in my hair but would be interested in hearing anyone’s review if they have.

Overall, I am really impressed with the new Monster Octopus shower jelly. Although it’s no different from the old version really… If you liked 2021’s version, you’ll also very much like 2023’s!

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Magic Potion Bath Bomb from Lush

The first brand-new-product from Lush’s 2023 Halloween line that I wanted to try was the Magic Potion Bath Bomb AND it did not disappoint! 

This year’s Halloween line is absolutely incredible and dare I say it… Much better than the Christmas line. 

The only thing that could have made this year’s Halloween line any better was if Lush had brought back the Calacas scented, Monsters’ Ball bath bomb. That or the Big Foot bath bomb (also Calacas scented).

The Halloween line is never truly complete if a Calacas scented product isn’t included but the Magic Potion bath bomb impressed me enough to look the other way about it.

The Magic Potion bath bomb contains plenty of popping candy, bergamot oil, jasmine absolute, ylang ylang oil and powders of nettle and dragon fruit.

It shares its scent with the Northern Lights bath bomb and Christmas Eve bubble bar, both of these happen to be favourites of mine.

I still haven’t forgiven Lush for not re-releasing the Northern Lights bath bomb after its last run in the Christmas 2016 line but finally, with Magic Potion, we have a bath bomb with the same fragrance at least!

The Magic Potion’s scent is a musky, floral scent. It’s a beautiful and refreshing fragrance that has a lot of depth and layers, the more you focus on its scent, the more your nose seems to pick up on.

It’s not a particularly strong scent although some may say it is because it is quite a unique blend of ingredients.

Each Magic Potion bath bomb is approximately 100g each, the only negative point I can find to say about them is that all of the ones I ordered online arrived rather worse-for-wear.

It is a bath bomb I will be grabbing a few more of before Halloween is over BUT I’ll be picking them up in store so that I can pick them out myself.


As soon as the Magic Potion bath bomb touches the water you are greeted with a burst of pink, blue, purple and turquoise foam, as well as snap, crackle and pops from the popping candy.

The Magic Potion bath bomb is also lightly decorated with golden shimmer, and it isn’t long until that golden shimmer starts to glide into your bath water too.

I know I say this in almost every bath bomb review but the bath art photos in this review do the Magic Potion bath bomb no justice at all.

Once I am able to pop into a Lush store to pick a non-crumbly version of Magic Potion up, I may update the photos in this review the bath art potential is so much better than I show here.

The Magic Potion bath bomb takes approximately 7 to 8 minutes to fully dissolve, leaving you with plenty of time to sit back and enjoy the show that it puts on.

I found the purple waters left behind by the Magic Potion bath bomb so smooth.

Its scent can still be detected on your skin long after getting out of the bath, in fact, I could still smell traces of it on my skin long into the following morning after using it. My skin still felt silky smooth for the whole of the next day too.

I really LOVE this bath bomb, as I said earlier those ordered by post could do with a more thorough level of quality control but other than that, it’s a dream product. I pray that the Magic Potion bath bomb isn’t a one-year, one-hit wonder as it really is bath bomb perfection!

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