Shunga oriental bath crystals - sensual bath discontinued by Shunga Erotic Art - review by Library Girl

This is the first bath product that I have tried from the site. I primarily picked it for review because of the Dead Sea salt ingredients. I also thought that the packaging was quite pretty. I was generally happy with the salts but I don't think that I would purchase them in the future as I am happier with products I have used in the past.

The container does have a nice design on the outside. However, it is extremely difficult to open. Imagine the lid to a can of paint and that describes the way that the lid fits on the bottom canister. It does come packaged with a red ribbon stuck in the opening with an ornament on the end as shown in one of the pictures on the site. This does help to initially open the canister, but it quickly becomes shredded with the force required to open it. After that, you probably need a screwdriver, can opener, or to leave it slightly open which could lead to moisture affecting the crystals. Frankly, I put it in a small plastic container with a lid to keep it fresh. However, the smell is quite strong so I will probably throw out the container because I bet the scent will not wash out of it.

When you do finally get it open, there is a floating candle and a small scallop shell inside. I presumed that the shell was meant to be used as a scoop. The candle is frankly a silly addition. Although it floats, it is rather small and there is only one. I put it aside with my emergency supplies for power outages. In my opinion, a candle to put on the side of the bath would be more useful. Do you really want a floating candle in the tub with you? The shell is ok as a scoop, but is shallow and hard to hold on to if you have arthritis like I do. Just a regular scoop would be more useful, but I get that they are going for a romantic style of packaging.

The bath crystals themselves are in a plastic bag with a twisty tie. The picture on the web site shows them in the container, but this is not how they initially arrive. I guess it prevents spillage upon opening.

There are two scents to pick from; I tried the ocean scent. I disliked it as it was quite strong and cloying. It tickled my nose and made me want to sneeze. Putting less in the tub helped with the strength, but I would personally prefer a lighter scent.

As shown in the picture, the crystals are very, very blue. (Did I say they were blue?) This color does saturate the bath water, again the strength of color dependent on how much you use. The crystals are kind of sharp, so you want to be sure it is well dissolved in rather warm or hot water so you don't sit on something. The salts do create a beautiful foam. It has extremely small bubbles that are more diffuse than would happen with your average bubble bath product. The foam could be described as sparkly, crackling, and fizzing. The color and foam create a relaxing effect, perfect for a good soak after a hard day or a romantic bath for two.

The package weight is given at 1.5 pounds. This adds up to a lot of crystals. It will last you a long time, especially if you are using a smaller amount for each bath.

I used the bath salts to relax as I love to soak in the tub and read a book. If you are not used to bathing in soft water it can be a strange sensation when you get out. The high salt content in the product seems to produce the same effect as a system wide salt-based water softener. When I got out of the tub, my skin felt like it had a mildly oily texture like I wasn't completely rinsed off. But I have extremely hard water in my area which is what I am used to.

I ended up passing this container on to a friend. It's a rather large container of crystals, and the scent was too strong for me, so after a couple baths I gave it to her to try. She preferred the scent and got quite a few more uses out of it. The container is a little off depending on your decor and the smell would probably never come out of it, so she recycled the tin.