Cinders Review

What Lush says: This is a bath bomb to evoke the feeling of sitting by a crackling fireside, drinking a glass of warm fruit punch. Cinders is designed to bring comfort at Christmas. Lie back, letting the water support your body, and listen to the fire as the smell of fruit punch fills the room.

The week before Christmas I was treated to a bath bomb of my choice from Lush. I was delighted to come across this beautifully coloured bath bomb with a delicious scent. What I hadn't noticed, unfortunately, in the shop, was that it had hints of cinnamon in it. I really don't like cinnamon. Cinnamon challenge, you ruined my life forever. However, it wasn't the spicy smell that turned me off of the bomb that I had been so eagerly anticipating.

Appearance: On Christmas Eve, I threw this bomb into the bath, preparing myself for the popping candy to fizz, and the orange aroma to hit me, and nothing happened. The bomb fell to the bottom of the bath, took 10 minutes to dissolve and nothing spectacular hit me. I didn't even get the crackling sound I was promised, the popping candy fell to the bottom of the bath and was a bit sharp. The water turned a shade of yellow that reminded me of urine. When I woke up on Christmas morning, my mother informed me that it had left an obnoxious yellow ring around the bath.. Oops.  

Scent: I had been worrying about the smell of cinnamon, but there wasn't really any smell accompanying it after it had gone in the bath. I was disappointed because I had loved the orange smell it was giving off before I had popped it in the water.

Effect: This bath bomb didn't leave my skin feeling particularly moisturised, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

All in all, I wouldn't recommend this Christmas "favourite", but maybe I got the bad one of the bunch.

PS: This photo is from Lush's website, and not one of Órlaith's, as I used the bathbomb before she could take photos of it.

Dragon Egg

(This time the photos are all by the infamous Orlaith)

What Lush has to say: "The ultimate lift: Dragon’s Egg makes bathtime exciting again as it fizzes and crackles and changes the colour of your water to a gorgeous citrussy gold. Its scent is reminiscent of lemon sherbet, with a hint of jasmine, leaving you feeling great and ready for a good day."

So tonight I tried my first Dragon's Egg. in the St Stephen's Day sales, Órlaith picked me up two of these little gems, and I adore them.

Appearance: I dropped the bomb gently into the bath after laying down and getting comfy. It sizzled gently, creating a path of beautiful white foam. The rice paper confetti floated off as the bomb spun around the bath, after a couple of minutes, it was leaving an orange trail of bubbles. In  a matter of seconds, the bath had become a glittering golden pool. The beautiful amber coloured water and the glitter were absolutely gorgeous. I was so blown away, I hadn't expected the colour to be so vibrant and pretty.

Scent: The smell in the packet was gorgeous. Citrus smells are my favourites and this was no exception, the lovely blend of lemon and bergamot was beautiful. It smelled distinctly of lemon sherbet, it was sweet, but not sickeningly so, nor was it overbearing. The smell lingered for the full hour that I spent in the bath with this, and the smell has lingered well. (I still smell delicious after 6 hours)

I was so impressed with this bath bomb, I can't wait to indulge in my second one!

Effect: This bath left me feeling awake, smelling great and noticeably soft. It was really moisturising. The smell and appearance of this bath bomb are just amazing, you really need to try it for yourselves. Although it was slow to start, once it began it didn't stop.

It wasn't an expensive one either, it was €3.95 which isn't their most expensive than compared to other of Lush's products.

All in all, an absolute must have.

Seanik Shampoo Bar

This is my "photography". Still waiting to buy more products for Órlaith to take photos of.

Soften tangled locks and add oceans of shine with this mineral-rich, sea salt volumizing shampoo. Seanik is made with nourishing ingredients from the sea: softening Irish moss seaweed and Japanese nori seaweed make your hair soft as silk from root to tips, and sea salt gives body and volume to hair that’s fallen flat. One seriously sexy shampoo, we added lemon oil for extra shine, and the exotic far eastern fragrance of sensual mimosa and jasmine oils to bathe you in the heady scent of tropical flora all day long.

Thus far, this is probably my favourite Lush product. It was the first one I ever tried, and it got me hooked on brand. It was simple, cheap (in the long run), and easy to use. At €7.99, it seems very expensive, but this one shampoo bar lasted me 6 months. I purchased the bar around the 21st of July and I threw the last few crumbly bits away on Christmas Eve. Depending on how often you wash your hair, and how many people use it, it can last from about  3-6 months. I personally wash my hair twice a week, and I got six whole months. 

The scent is quite strong when the product is dry, but once it's lathered up into your hair and washed out, the scent is quite weak and pleasant, leaving you to use your favourite conditioner to have your hair smelling just the way you like it.  

It's really easy to use, you just rub it on wet hair, and it lathers up. I normally rub in circular motions around my head for about 10 seconds, and I get a great lather. 

A great bonus with this product is that it leaves my hair incredibly soft and voluminous without product build up.. Every so often, I use a different shampoo because that's what's in front of me, but the shampoo works great for me. I have also noticed that my hair has grown about 4 inches since using it, but that's over 6 months. 

I like to pat my bar down with a towel to get off the excess water and I leave it in tin-foil to drain before just sitting it in the aluminium tin like a wheel. 

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a shampoo to give their hair a bit of lift, shine and lustre.