charity – Lush Upon A Time

Mermaid Bath Bomb from Lush

I have never been so excited and thrilled to get hold of a Lush product more than when I did the Mermaid Bath Bomb. Its name won me over from the get-go, anyone who knows me personally knows that I live in a world where mermaids, unicorns and all things magical are always very, very welcome.

If you didn’t know already, the Lush Summit is an annual charity event hosted by Lush, all proceeds made from the sales of the products that are there, go to that products chosen charity. The Mermaid bath bomb was raising money and awareness for a charity of the same name, Mermaids. Mermaids raise awareness about gender nonconformity in children and young people while also providing support for both them and their family.

The first thing that I noticed about the Mermaid bath bomb was how similar it looked to one of my all time favourite Lush products, the Intergalactic bath bomb. Mermaid actually looks like it is the love child of the Intergalactic and Avobath bath bomb. It’s a pale, gentle green like Avobath and a mix of colours just like the Intergalactic, it’s so beautiful to look at, so much so that I think bath bombs should have babies together more often! 😉

Mermaid’s ingredients include lemon myrtle, ylang ylang and grapefruit oil which happens to be the exact same 3 essential oils that are found in Lush’s Baked Alaska soap. Scent wise, I’d say that the Mermaid bath bomb is almost identical to the Baked Alaska soap I however find it a lot crisper.

The long list of fruity ingredients are perfectly suited to this light and airy looking bath bomb, once it hits the bath water waves of pastel shaded colour erupt from it. There are greens, pinks, oranges and bright yellows. The bath bomb dances around the water’s surface sending out swirls of bubbly, colourful patterns, I was left mesmerised by its beauty every time I tried it.

As much as I love the bold and bright colours that burst out of the, The Experimenter bath bomb, it’s nice to experience the Mermaid bath bomb’s less intense colours. Its citrusy scent intensifies some what once in the water too, it however like its colour isn’t at all overpowering. It’s gentle enough to lay back and relax in, yet refreshing and tangy enough to give you a boost, the grapefruit oil in it packs a subtle but very revitalizing punch.

*UPDATE in process, photo temporarily unavailable*

Although the Mermaid bath bomb is quite a fast fizzer it does create some very pretty bath art. A long soak in a Mermaid bath leaves your skin hydrated and refreshed. Even once out of the bath I could see a difference in my skin, it definitely appeared brighter and revived. I regret bitterly that I didn’t pick up several more of these bath bombs, not only are they in support of a great cause but are also a very enjoyable product.

Like the Tiger Tiger Burning Bright bath bomb, I think it is a crime for Lush to not make more of these, please, please, please bring these out online Lush, to not only raise further awareness for the Mermaid charity but to also let the world have a chance of using this beautiful bath bomb.

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Tiger Tiger Burning Bright Bath Bomb from Lush

Tiger Tiger Burning Bright Bath Bomb

At the time of writing this review the Tiger Tiger Burning Bright Bath Bomb has only been available to purchase at the 2018, Lush Summit event, once the 2018 Summit was over, all of the stock that hadn’t sold was delivered to Lush Oxford Street.

I was lucky enough to have been in London at the time and therefore managed to grab a few of the beautiful exclusives. I was very pleased with myself as luck hasn’t been on my side as of late.

The Lush Summit is one big charity event, all proceeds made from the sales of the products that are there, go to that products chosen charity. I would have loved to have written a lot more on each of the products chosen charities, this years Summit was however only open to Lush staff so anything I do mention here in regards to proceeds etc is what I have heard via hearsay.

It’s more than obvious that the Tiger Tiger Burning Bright bath bomb is ‘Tiger’ related. It’s design captures all of the beauty of a tiger and more. It’s mostly orange and has a splodge of white at its top. Its black stripes are what I believe to be salt, exactly the same as the Calavera bath bomb (another review I still haven’t completed -doh!)

As far as I am aware this bath bombs cause was to raise awareness and funds for tigers in the wild, the threat of their extinction has never been so dangerously close to becoming a reality.

The tiger is such a beautiful, majestic almost magical looking creature. If mankind end up stripping the earth of this incredible animal the world will never be the same. I pray that Lush make this bath bomb available on a global scale as it’s for such an important cause.

The Tiger Tiger Burning Bright bath bomb shares its scent with the Prince Charming shower cream. This news filled me with delight as the Prince Charming scent is a Lush-scent-family I have been waiting to try in a different format for a very, very long time. It suits the bath bomb format so well, I’d go as far as to say that I favour it over the shower cream equivalent.

As soon as the Tiger Tiger Burning Bright bath bomb hits the water a burst of orange erupts from it, slowly but surely it dances around the water’s surface. After about 20 or 30 seconds red foam appears alongside the orange creating swirls of brilliant orange and bold red. The scent is detectable throughout the whole bath, it’s a very mellow fragrance. Warming and sweet, I see what people mean when they say it is similar to the Yuzu and Cocoa scent, it isn’t however zingy, I’d describe its scent as quite similar to marshmellows.

A good, long soak in a Tiger Tiger Burning Bright bath leaves your skin perfectly hydrated. Even once out of the bath I could see a difference in my skin, it definitely appeared brighter and also felt incredibly smooth too. I regret bitterly that I didn’t pick up several more of these bath bombs, not only are they in support of a great cause but are also a very enjoyable product.

It would be a crime for Lush to not bring out more of these incredible bath bombs, please, please, please bring these out online Lush, to not only raise further awareness for the wild tiger but to also let the world have a chance of using this unbelievably perfect bath bomb!

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Orangutan Soap from Lush

Orangutan Soap

Whether you are or aren’t a fan of Lush, the one thing you can’t fault them for is the amount of charity work that they do. It’s so refreshing to see a company that doesn’t solely obsess over making profit just for themselves. Lush’s most recent charity-product is the Orangutan Soap. All proceeds (minus VAT) made on the sales of these soaps are going towards the Sumatran Orangutan Society. Their aim is to buy 50 hectares of old Indonesian palm plantation so that they can restore the land back into native forest. This will give the Orangutans a much needed extension on their dwindling home and habitat.

Currently there are only 14,600 wild orangutans left in Sumatra, the decline in forest space is slowly but surely working towards making the orangutan in Sumatra extinct. To help raise the money for this product Lush have made 14,600 orangutan shaped soaps to sell, this means that each soap made represents one of the remaining Sumatran orangutans. This really hit home for me, it made me realise just how close we are getting to losing the Sumatran Orangutans forever.

The first thing I noticed about the Orangutan soap was its intricate design. It truly is a work of art, the attention Lush have given just on its detail alone is more than impressive. It resembles an orangutan so accurately, it even has delicate lines all over it to represent the orangutans fur. Lush have almost made the orangutan shaped soap too pretty to use, I bitterly regret not ordering 2 for myself now. One to use and one to leave on display.

The Orangutan soap contains patchouli and orange oil giving it a musky and smoky scent with a layer of orange sweetness. In some ways it reminds me of the Supertramp and Blue Skies and Fluffy White Clouds bubble bar. The patchouli is definitely the most dominant ingredient within it, there is however just enough orange and coconut oil in it to soften the strength of the patchouli slightly.

When using the Orangutan soap I was surprised at how quickly it created a workable lather. Although the soap has quite a strong scent, after using it its scent doesn’t remain on your skin for very long. It is however more moisturising on your skin than I had expected, the addition of coconut oil has made a real difference to how the soap feels on the skin. I wouldn’t say the soaps scent was a favourite of mine but it isn’t at all unpleasant, I can imagine it working very well with the Lord of Misrule bath bomb. That isn’t a cocktail I could try myself though as that bath bomb triggers my migraines. If anyone does try the two together, I’d really love to hear your thoughts on the pairing.

Overall I really do like this soap, the scent doesn’t blow me away but it’s perfectly sculptured design does. A lot of time and effort was clearly put into the making of this product, I hope that the Sumatran Orangutan Society benefits from the sale of this soap even more than they had hoped.

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Fox Bath Bomb from Lush

When I very first see this pretty, little Fox shaped bath bomb I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a few. I adore the character products that Lush create, past favourites include the Spring Bunny, Ickle Baby Bot and the Butterbear bath bomb.

The Fox Bath Bomb was a Lush Summit product exclusive back in February 2017. It was a charity bath bomb that was brought out to not only raise some money but also to spread awareness of the cruelty that the fox is up against when Fox hunting is in question.

With the UK’s general election only a few days away, foxhunting has been a frequent topic of conversation. Currently it is illegal to participate in foxhunting in the UK but there have been talks about making it legal again.

Even though this bath bomb is now no longer available, Lush are still pushing their campaign on it, I’m not here to preach politics but I will say that I am dead set against foxhunting. In all of the UK Lush stores they currently have posters displayed that read, ‘Dear 16%, we find foxhunting cruel. Sincerely, the 84%’

Once as a child I was sat in a car and we drove past a huge gathering of horses, riders and foxhounds. It was one of the most eeriest experiences I have ever had. It was almost as if I could smell the fear in the air. I am not a lover of foxes, in fact I am petrified of them, I would however never condone killing them just for fun.

No matter how much I love Lush and their products, sometimes there is the odd few that I don’t get along with. Unfortunately the Fox bath bomb is one of those products. I want to kick myself as to look at, it is such a beautiful and sweet design, the fact that it is also fronting a campaign I believe so strongly in makes me feel even worse, I however cannot get on with its scent. The scent it has is from the ‘Lust’ Lush-scent family meaning that the Fox bath bomb isn’t the first Lush product to have its scent.

The Fox bath bomb is heavily fragranced with jasmine and ylang ylang. I’m not entirely sure what it is about the mixture of those two ingredients that upsets my nose so much but I have tried and tried to like it with no joy. 9 times out of 10 I grow to appreciate a product’s scent but as for the Lust scent, I don’t think it is ever going to happen.

Please do not take my word for it though, I have seen many Lushies raving about the Lust, Lush-scent. Just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean that you’ll feel the same. Recently the Lush Kitchen created an online poll of Lush scents in a bid to find out our favourites so that they could create brand new products with the most popular scents. The Lust scent came 5th, this proves that there are in fact a lot more people out there that love the scent, than there are people (like me) that hate it.

Although I didn’t stay in the Fox bath for very long due to me not liking its scent, I couldn’t help but notice how quickly it had softened my skin. It’s a fairly quick fizzer too, the quicker it fizzles away the quicker you can lie back in the bath and get your relax on! 😉

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Error 404 Bath Bomb from Lush #KeepItOn

The Error 404 Bath Bomb is back for a really great cause and with a brand new scent!

All of the profits made from the sales of it go to the Digital Fund supporting Access Now.

The people behind Access Now defend the digital rights of users at risk around the world.

They are campaigning to make having internet access a human right.

Globally, internet has become an essential to everyday life, switching it off for a country completely is not just an inconvenience, it’s life damaging.

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Shutting down the internet doesn’t just make it impossible to have a cheeky browse of your Instagram feed, it stops ALL online communication for everyone and every thing.

Without internet access families are torn apart unable to communicate with each other, emergency services are unable to share vital information, even businesses lose out on money.

Whole countries are silenced with one flick of a switch. Complete internet shutdown causes absolute chaos.

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All profits from the Error 404 are going to the Digital Fund and they aim to raise a grand total of £250,000.

The Digital Fund support grassroot activists and charities protecting the ‘freedom of expression in the digital era,’ while also ‘fighting to keep the internet free, open and safe.’

Lush have previously done several campaigns like this before and all have been a real success.

The selling of the May Day bath bomb and the Love Soap were the most recent off of the top of my head.

I love companies that give instead of just take, take, taking.

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The old scent of the Error 404 wasn’t one of my favourites so I was happily gloating when I found out that they had changed it. Its new scent is very strong, I was a little taken aback when I first had it in my hands, I however have decided that I do in fact like it, a lot.

Scent wise I’d describe it as burnt toffee. I know that doesn’t sound overly appealing but it’s just how my nose has envisioned it. It’s sweet, smoky and warming which is all I look for in a bath bomb during the cold winter months.

Error 404 is decorated with a coating of golden lustre, lustre sometimes puts people off of a Lush product, I even used to avoid them myself. I now know that there really isn’t anything to worry about with them, it’s exactly the same type of lustre you find in makeup, bronzers or highlighters, harmless.

I cannot emphasise enough that you do not need to be scared of the shimmery Lush products. Using them doesn’t make you look like you’ve had a fight with a fairy and lost. I promise!

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Once in the water the scent of Error 404 fills your bathroom. It becomes a much more gentle scent which I really liked.

The water turns an aqua blue colour. Once the coating of gold lustre has dissolved a green layer is revealed. Other colours then come out of the bath bomb, blue and gold. The patterns it creates are so pretty and made me think of peacocks.

The calming pastel colours and the scent of 404 are a match made in heaven. My skin is silky smooth once I get out and I also feel warm, refreshed and super relaxed after using it.

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Once the bath bomb has finished you find a surprise paper insert with a message.

I got a little impatient with mine and accidently ripped the corner and smooshed the text, whoops… It should read: ‘Visit AccessNow.org/KeepItOn to fight internet shutdowns #KeepItOn’.

Until this campaign started I was ignorantly unaware that internet shutdowns actually happened. Now I know about them and I am aware of the negative impact they have on a country, it has made me feel so grateful for what we have here in the UK. I will now always think twice before I moan about poor signal on my phone or laptop.

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#KeepItOn

Skydancer Far From the Madding Guns Bath Bomb from Lush

The Skydancer Far From the Madding Guns Bath Bomb is a limited edition Lush product created to raise money for England’s endangered hen harriers.

As England’s current most endangered bird, I’m so happy that Lush are providing them with a life line as well as a voice. All profits made from the sales of the Skydancer bath bomb will help fund the satellite tagging of future hen harrier chicks. This will allow research to be carried out in the hope of saving the hen harrier from extinction.

The Skydancer bath bomb’s design is unique when compared to any other bath bomb from Lush, it resembles a harrier hen flying with the sun on its wings.

Skydancer has bergamot, Sicilian lemon and cinnamon leaf oil in, all of which are firm favourites of mine. With all of those ingredients Skydancer has quite a complex scent. It is sweet, spicy and fruity too. The cinnamon leaf oil in it gives Skydancer a warmer and much spicier tone than I am used to for a product with bergamot and Sicilian lemon oil in. Despite the long list of ingredients, the final product however has a very subtle fragrance, all of the ingredients compliment each other beautifully. It appears that Lush have managed to add each ingredient in the perfect quantity.

Upon hitting the water Skydancer starts to fizz, the yellow foam is really thick and silky smooth, I couldn’t quite believe how slowly this bath bomb fizzed away. As soon as it hit the water the scent of Skydancer really hit me, I could also pick up hints of aniseed, I’m not a huge fan of it but luckily it wasn’t too strong. I remember people saying that the May Day bath bomb had hints of aniseed too but I couldn’t really detect it in that bath bomb either.

After about 10 minutes I got inpatient and dunked the blue bird under the water to see how it looked… Sorry! I’d say this bath bomb took a little over 15 minutes to fully dissolve, I imagine it would have taken a little longer if I hadn’t dunked it.

My skin felt fabulous after a long soak in its water.

I’m really angry with myself as with this being a charity bath bomb I should have done this review sooner. The Skydancer bath bomb is still available in most stores and is currently still available online. If you haven’t tried it, please give it a go as it’s for a good cause and it is quite an impressive bath bomb if I say so myself.

Be quick though as they won’t be available for very much longer!

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