Lush Blue Skies and Fluffy White Clouds Bubble Bar Hot

A slice of psychodelic blue jam roly-poly pudding with a patchouli, hippy chick vibe. So light some candles, stick on some Jefferson Airplane and crumble some Blue Skies into the bath! Far out, man.

This is one of the biggest of the Lush bubble bars and is possibly my most favourite of all. It is quite a strong patchouli scented bar and is actually twice the size of my other favourite Ma Bar. This one weighs 200g while the Ma Bar weighs in at 100g. Comparing the prices this one is £3.99 while the Ma Bar is £2.50 so this is actually far better value as I easily get 4 baths from this one and just get three baths from the smaller bars.


I bought this one a s I just love the earthy smell of patchouli and have loved it ever since the days when you could buy the perfume oil in Biba when I was a teenager and we thought we were ‘dead cool ‘. The bubble bar is a bit like a blue and white slice of Swiss roll. I understand that is how it is made – rolled then sliced but I may be wrong so don’t quote me! It looks lovely as the two colours contrast in a subtle and calming blend.

The name is a rather long and I guess it is meant to conjure up images of blue skies of summer with fluffy white clouds as you shut your eyes and drift off in your warm bath smelling the beautifully earthy patchouli and exotic frankincense.

Just in case anyone has not tried a Lush bubble bar, the idea is that you crumble the bar as your bath is filling and then enjoy a huge mountain of luxuriously softening and moisturising scented bubbles. Before I use my bars in the bath I use them to freshen and scent my clothes drawers. It is always a bit of a lucky dip to see what I can find in my drawers when I fancy a special bath. I keep all my Lush soaps and bubble bars in my drawers as that way I never have to buy any drawer scented liners and my clothes always have a “Lushious “smell about them.

On a night that I decide I need a bit of pampering after a hard day cleaning the house or babysitting grandchildren or just because I just fancy a bit of a treat I have a little hunt through my drawers to see what treats I can find. I discovered I still had one of these big blue and white lovelies tucked away so I cut it into quarters and popped three quarters back in the yellow paper recyclable bag in the drawer and took one into the bathroom with me. I took a deep sniff and closed my eyes; the strong patchouli earthiness came through strongly with the exotic frankincense blending for a wonderfully deep, rich aroma.

I started to fill my bath and sat on the edge watching as I crumbled the blue and white bar into the warm running water. The bar is soft and creamy so crumbles easily. I find the smaller you can crumble the bits, the better bubbles you get as the bar dissolves more evenly. Remember this is only one quarter of the bar that created this bath full of bubbles began to grow and sniffed in. I was fully surrounded by the aroma throughout my bathroom and the scent even carried though to our bedroom too. It is a very ‘60s aroma in my view and it never ceases to remind me of my younger days when i would use musk and patchouli perfume oils thinking how sophisticated I was.

I know I’m mean and only use quarter of this bar but that is usually more than enough, in fact I think it would be totally overwhelming if you use a whole one of these bars. The bubbles were abundant and thick as they normally are when I treat myself to one of these. Bear in mind the price of £3.99 I don’t think I’m being unreasonable in expecting at least four baths from that.

Okay wonderful exotic earthy smell and a bath full of bubbles but how does it feel in the bath? Once again I am never disappointed as the water feels creamy and soft and I never need any soap or other cleaning agent I just soak in the bath and luxuriate in the mass of bubbles that surround me enjoy the caressing smooth feel of the moisturised water warmingly soothing tired joints and oozing into my dried old skin!

What are the benefits of this bar in terms of essential oils? Looking at the list of ingredients these include: Sodium Bicarbonate, Cream of Tartar , Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Lauryl Betaine, Patchouli oil, Frankincense resinoid , cinnamon leaf oil, Cocamide DEA, Eugenlol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Perfume, colour 6570, colour 60725

This is not full of many aromas and clearly the patchouli and frankincense are the scents with a little of the cinnamon too and this is evident in the bubble bar as you use it.

Less desirable ingredients:
The sodium bicarbonate and tartaric acid make the water soft and the less desirable sodium laureth sulfate is there to make the bubbles. This has been linked to cancer so if this bothers you then I suggest you have a look at this article. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_laureth_sulfate

The Cocamide DEA is a viscosity, thickening and foam booster but once again there have been stories about links with cancer. The storage and handling precautions are also a little worrying. See http://www.useful-chemicals.com/?p=39 . Furthermore Cocamide Dea should not be used in products with nitrosating agents or formaldehyde-releasing preservatives as then nitrosamines can be formed which are carcinogenic.

So if you are concerned I would suggest you investigate more thoroughly the ingredients just so you know what you are using. Some of the above ingredients can be irritating to skin too; my step daughter cannot use these products as she gets bad eczema if she does.

So all in all what do I think? I love the scent of this bubble bar and I always smell good afterwards. My skin which is a little sensitive to some things feels nice and soft after this and I haven’t had any adverse effects from using this one at all. This is my favourite bubble bar by a long way. As it smells wonderful and I feel I get really good value from this with four baths this works out at £1 a bath which is far from cheap but okay for a treat. It makes me smell good and also fills the bathroom and our bedroom with the same lovely aroma.

So I would recommend if you like the smell of patchouli but if you don’t then you will hate this one as the aroma is powerfully patchouli. Thanks Lush I love it and please don’t stop making this one.