For the holidays, Lush has plenty of offerings to tempt you. Here’s a quickie overview of some of the products I recently tried:

Melting Snowman ($5.95 for 2.1 oz.) is a bath melt, which are supposed to be used either in halves or wholes and tossed into the tub as you fill it with warm water. They’re supposed to add a hydrating element to your soak. He smells of chocolate, cinnamon, and orange. The “chocolate chip” eyes don’t fully melt and tend to float and smear on the tub (not so sexy to look at), and I did find myself needing to scrub those bits away post-bath. It’s definitely hydrating and makes the skin feel softer afterward.

Cinders ($4.95) is a bath bomb that also has “crackling vegan candies,” so you’ll actually hear it crackle and pop a bit once the majority of the bath bomb has fizzed away (about a minute). It smelled like spiced cider, not too sweet or too spicy, and it really was like splashing around in a vat of cider. You can hear the candies crackling here and there for about five to ten minutes. This was my favorite of the bath bombs I tried this season. It turned the water yellow, and I think this might have worked better if it turned the water orange or tangerine? in terms of aesthetics.

The Christmas Penguin ($7.45 for 3.5 oz.) is a bubble bar shaped like a penguin–and he’s a rather pricey bath bomb as a result! Crumble his little penguin body into a hot bath for some bubble action. When used, it will turn the bath water a light blue. It had a slightly tart, slightly sweet mix of citrus going on–a little fizzy and lemon-lime like.

Golden Wonder ($6.95 for 7.8 oz.) is a larger bath bomb that has a treat inside–if you shake it around, you’ll here something rattling inside. It’s golden and has gold glitter on the exterior, and it fizzes away in about a minute and a half. It had a very strong, somewhat synthetic, sweet orange. I didn’t love it–it didn’t give me a really fresh orange fragrance, more cloying and syrupy sweet. Spoiler alert: the portion inside is a vibrant turquoise-blue and did leave some bluish residue along my tub, so be sure to scrub and wash down accordingly.

Luxury LUSH Pud ($6.95 for 7 oz.) is supposed to be a lavender-scented bath bomb. When placed in a hot bath, it turned the water a muted, magenta pink with some foaminess. It took about two minutes for the entire bath bomb to fizzle away. It smelled like a mix of sweet vanilla and lavender.

Sandy Santa ($9.95 for 4.5 oz.) is a body buffer in the shape of Santa. It uses sand and sugar to exfoliate dead skin sells, plus it’s in solid form, so it also contains coconut oil and shea butter for softening and hydration. I wouldn’t say it hydrated all that much, and it really melts very, very quickly. I highly recommend breaking off just a small piece, going over the skin lightly, but then rubbing what you’ve melted off in with your hands, not the bar itself, as you’ll just waste most of it. It smelled primarily of orange oil with a little lemon, and for me, it read synthetic. Breaking him into pieces, I was able to get three scrubs worth of mostly legs and arms but not much else. I was surprised at the price point, given how few uses I was able to get out of him.

Let the Good Times Roll ($12.95 for 3.5 oz.) originally launched for the holidays but made it into the permanent range due to its popularity. It smells like incredibly sweet sugar cookies with a very, very subtle cinnamon spice. It contains maize flour and corn meal, so it is a gentle exofliator with fine bits that leave skin feeling soft but never raw, dry, or red. As a gentler exfoliant, I really liked it, and I’ve been feeling like there’s a void in exfoliators/scrubs in my routine lately, so this has been filling that void nicely. Of all the products I tried this holiday season, this was the only one I’d consider buying.

Celebrate ($29.95 for 7.7 oz.) smells of champagne and citrus–primarily orange–and has a slightly whipped consistency that makes it seem lighter than it is, but it is a rather rich product, because even after two hours of my legs dangling (open to the air!), my legs still felt greasy and slippery. I ended up toweling off what wasn’t absorbing so I could go to bed. I tried it again, and I used the smallest amount possible, and I still felt somewhat greasy after an hour. I would actually say it could make a nice massage lotion, since it never seems to really absorb, so there’s a lot of slip, which is great for massaging! I will also mention that my husband really didn’t like this scent–he found it overwhelming (and he can barely smell, I swear). Like his reaction is encompassed by this scenario: I take one step into his office, and then he says, “What is that smell?” with this face that says, “Please step back.” It had an almost medicinal quality to the orange/citrus in it for me.

See more photos!

Lush for Holiday 2013

Melting Snowman

Melting Snowman

Cinders

Cinders

The Christmas Penguin

The Christmas Penguin

Golden Wonder

Golden Wonder

Luxury LUSH Pud

Lush Holiday 2013

Sandy Santa

Sandy Santa

Let the Good Times Roll

Let the Good Times Roll

Celebrate Hand & Body Lotion

Celebrate Hand & Body Lotion

Celebrate Hand & Body Lotion