Lush bath times

Back in the old days when views about cleanliness and hygiene weren't quite the same as today, a lot of people only had a wash perhaps once a week or in many cases even more rarely. However, when it was time for Christmas it was a tradition for the whole family to have a Christmas bath to make sure that everyone was nice and clean for the big Christmas meal. Well things have certainly changed since then and I'm sure I'm not the only one bath lover who looks forward to the Christmas collection from Lush every year to indulge in all things fun and seasonal, although a lot of the products are almost too cute to use up. I got a little bit carried away this year when I saw the new collection, but at least I will have lots of gorgeous products of all kinds, colors, shapes and scents in my bath basket to choose from.

If we start with the shower gels I had actually already bought Snow Fairy and Ponche when I happened to see Glögg (£13.50) on the website. Glögg is a traditional heated red wine based winter drink, similar to mulled wine which is spiced with cinnamon, orange, cognac and cloves and something I'm very familiar with as I'm Swedish, and the thought of a glögg smelling shower gel was just too much to resist. It doesn't smell exactly like the glögg from my family home, but it's close enough and it has beautiful warming essential oils for a feel good shower after you've been out in the cold.

Next is my annual shower gel highlight and all time favourite Lush scent - Snow Fairy (£10.95). This is a bit of a love it or hate it scent and I'm very firmly in the love it camp because of its pink and sweet, fruity bubblegum scent. It's fresh, fluffy and light like candy floss and I have had such a hard time to stop myself from using it before December, but today I will celebrate first of advent with an indulgent Snow Fairy shower.

The last shower gel is Ponche (£8.95) which is a citrusy, juicy tropical sweet scent with a very light hint of cinnamon and buckets of tequila. Apparently this is a traditional Mexican Christmas drink, and although I prefer warmer scents in the winter, I do like the zestiness of it and could see myself still using this in Spring time for a bright, sparkly and refreshing shower.

Now we come to all the bath bombs, melts and bubble bars. Golden Wonder (£3.50) is a bath bomb in the shape of a gorgeous glittery Christmas present and it even has a bow on it. The scent is sparkling, citrusy with sweet orange and lime but with a warm undertone to it, making it great for winter time. Apparently this is a bath bomb that you should take your time to enjoy and that releases wonderful colors and stars when you drop it in the bath. But be careful when you pick it up because it has soo much glitter on it, that it gets absolutely everywhere - and yes I did walk around with gold on my nose for a few hrs...I've seen photos of this in the bath and I'm very excited to try it and to let it wrap me in gold while I enjoy a glass of chilled champagne - now that's how you ease in Christmas!

Next bath bomb is Cinders (£2.45), less sparkly on the outside but just like Cinderella has a bit of a transformation in the bath. It also has a very fruity and spicy scent of orange combined with cinnamon and which smells very comforting and relaxing. The transformation of this one in the water is down to the popping candy which should crackle like a log fire. Sounds interesting and it'll be fun to see if it actually works.

Lush has really latched on to the Christmas drink concept and another bath product to resemble a traditional hot drink is the Hot Toddy bubble bar (£3.25). You crumble it under running water for lots of creamy bubbles to form and the bathroom will be filled with that luxurious and whipped spicy but soft scent of eggnog, citrus fruits and nutmeg. It's a warming and relaxing scent and since the bubble bars are so foaming, I'll probably split this in two to get more use out of it. 

Christmas is a very sparkly time of year and even more so if you use the Star Light, Star Bright bath melt (£3.30). It's such a pretty bath melt, covered in a heavy dusting of silver that unfortunately goes absolutely everywhere and again that sticks to your fingertips for hrs. It has a rich and moisturising center of shea butter and is supposed to make the water feel soft and creamy and turns it silvery turqoise. This is a more piquant and invigorating scent than the other bath products because of the ginger and lime and it's deliciously refreshing.

We're now on to the bath products that are almost too cute to melt, although this little guy looks as if he's already well on his way - it's the Melting Snowman bath melt (£2.25). The shape is different, but it has the same warming scent as the Hot Toddy bath melt and the same moisturising qualities that will leave the skin nice and soft. So if you don't have the heart to finish our snowman off, you can get the same scent and effect from the Hot Toddy melt, but with less of a guilty conscience.

The cuteness factor is at an all time high with the Christmas Penguin bubble bar (£2.95). It's a very fresh and almost Mediterranean scent of sweet orange flower and mandarin oil a and it's so refreshing that I'll probably save this for a morning bath, to set me up nicely for the day. I would like to try and split this bubble bar into two as well, but I suspect that it'll just fall into pieces if I do - as if it isn't bad enough that we have to dissolve him... Poor penguin...

Last up we have Father Christmas himself (£3.25) with his cheery, merry face in a cute pink and white bath bomb, but when you drop it in the water it'll completely unexpectedly turn green! It has a lovely fresh but warm orange scent and for me I think this will be the one to save for Christmas day, after all I need Father Christmas to drop off my pressies before he fizzes away!

As a bath lover I'm so glad that things have changed since the old days, and it probably wasn't easy getting hold of a decent bath bomb either... Luckily I'm all sorted with lots of goodies and I'm looking forward to some lush bath times before Christmas.