Ring bombs — bath bombs that dissolve to reveal hidden jewelry — are popping up all over Facebook and Instagram in promoted posts and video ads. Which ones are worth your money? Find out by following along as I try out and review ring bombs from all over the Internet! Find all Ring Bomb Bonanza posts here.
The Company: JewelScent
JewelScent has been around since 2013 and sells jewelry candles, wax tarts, bath bombs, body scrubs, and aroma beads. Their “Essentials” lines are the same products sold without jewelry (at a price that’s lower by about $8-$10 per item). They also offer membership in Prize Club, a monthly subscription that comes with a three-wick premium jewelry candle, two Essentials (no ring) bath bombs, and a shot at winning a monthly sweepstakes. Like Jewelry Candles, JewelScent has a consultant/rep program you can buy into to earn commissions on direct sales.
JewelScent bath bombs retail for $14.99, although as I wrote this post there were a few sale items available for $12.95. I took advantage of a Fourth of July promotion to score three ring bombs for $33 (plus $6.95 for USPS Priority Mail shipping). I selected the fragrances I Dream of Jasmine, Oh My Gardenia!, and Early Morning Lilac. I placed my order on a Tuesday and it arrived the following Saturday (quick shipping even before you factor in the Fourth of July, which fell in the middle of that week).
The Bomb
When I buy a bath bomb, I’m looking for fragrance (or rather, smelling for it, I guess), and on that front, JewelScent does not disappoint. Strong floral aromas basically exploded out of the box as soon as I opened it. Oh My Gardenia! and Early Morning Lilac both smelled wonderful and true to their names. I wasn’t sold on I Dream of Jasmine on first whiff — it seemed a little chemical — but over the next day or two I noticed a very nice soft jasmine aroma filling the room, so I guess the bomb just wasn’t designed to be aggressively sniffed so much as diffused.
All three bombs (7.5 oz each) were heavy and dense and sunk quickly in the tub before bobbing back up to the surface. These bombs are less foamy or frothy than a LUSH or Fragrant Jewels bomb, but extremely fizzy with a decent lifespan. They all smelled wonderful in the tub, including jasmine, and all the fragrances lingered well after the tub was drained. The gardenia and lilac bombs seemed more moisturizing than the jasmine bomb, although jasmine was the fragrance that stayed longest on my skin.
I tried the jasmine bomb first and was surprised when no ring bubble popped up to the surface. I felt around the pink-tinted tub and finally put my fingers on a little foil packet that had sunk to the bottom. The lilac bomb’s ring was packaged similarly, although the gardenia bomb had a plastic ball inside containing a ring, so maybe they’re in the middle of changing their system. Personally I’m a fan of less plastic waste and more room in the mold for bath bomb material, so the foil-wrapped rings were just fine with me.
The Rings
Being used to Fragrant Jewels and its themed collections, when I started this ring bomb review blitz I sort of expected that all ring bombs were packaged in color schemes or themes that coordinate somehow with the bomb. As it turns out, this isn’t the case (in fact, even Fragrant Jewels produces non-collection bombs and candles that contain random rings). Most of the bath bombs I’ve tried have contained rings that don’t correlate in any way to the fragrance — something to keep in mind as you’re shopping online for ring bombs. This is the case with JewelScent, or at least with the bombs I bought.
The rings I received in my JewelScent bombs are all silvertone (I didn’t see any 925 stamps, so I assume they are not sterling) with different colored center stones and accents. All three are very different but very pretty, and they appear to be well made. In fact, my four-year-old already attempted to make off with the one that has a pink stone and a silver butterfly accent. The sizes are all accurate (I ordered a 7, an 8, and a 9), and I love that in three bombs I got three rings in very different styles.
The Gimmick
JewelScent says its rings are worth between $15 and $7,500. Rather than offering you a code that lets you enter a sweepstakes for a more expensive ring (like Fragrant Jewels does) or requiring you to send in photos of your ring (like Jewelry Candles), JewelScent ships its rings with a code attached. You go to the Appraisal page, enter your code, and find out what your rings are worth.
Two of my rings had the same code, which indicated a value of $20. I neglected to read the instructions when I tried my first bomb, so I threw away the tag before I had a chance to check the value (turns out these various appraisal systems all start to get jumbled up in your mind after you’ve tried three or four brands), but I assume it’s around the same value.
In fact, I know for sure it’s not an expensive ring, because for rings valued at $100 or higher, JewelScent doesn’t put a ring in the bomb at all; it replaces the ring with a gold token that can be redeemed for a piece of jewelry.
The Bottom Line
I was generally pleased with my JewelScent experience. The bath bombs weren’t the absolute greatest ones I’ve ever tried, but they were not disappointing, and I like the rings. The Prize Club ($35 plus shipping; the candle includes a ring valued at $40 or more) looks fun — it has a United States road trip theme, with each month dedicated to a different state — although I’d be more likely to subscribe if the bath bombs had rings. I am not a fan of digging jewelry out of hot wax.
At $14.99, JewelScent bombs are somewhat less expensive than some of the other ring bombs out there. I’ll wait for another deal like 3 for $33 if I decide to order again.
What an interesting concept! It sounds like a lot of fun not knowing what you’re going to get with the possibility of a high value ring inside.
It is fun! I don’t harbor any fantasies of scoring a valuable ring, but worst case scenario is you get a relaxing bath and a fun piece of jewelry. As I’m trying lots of different brands, I’m finding there’s a wide spectrum when it comes to quality, although it seems like every brand has some dedicated fans.