The Lush Fresh Face Masks

There is one brand in beauty blogger land that seems to make everybody tick. Whether it’s because of their natural ingredients, the fact that their products are handmade or that you can smell the store from a mile away, Lush is popular. And I haven’t really been on the bandwagon because their stores aren’t exactly near me, but when I went shopping with a good friend in Utrecht last week I stumbled upon the store and dove in for some much needed browsing.

Naturally browsing led to buying, as always, and I walked out of the store carrying a brown paper bag filled with fresh face masks. The masks are handmade and filled with fresh fruits, essential oils and so much more goodness. They’re quite different in texture than the masks I usually use. They’re much grittier and nothing like the smooth creams that take up my skin care basket.

I chose Oatifix and Brazened Honey, also quite different in effect. One soothes dry and flakey skin using oatmeal and bananas while the other gives the skin a good detox and gives it a good deep cleanse. I used them both before over the weekend to give you a proper review of the masks.

First up is Brazened Honey. This has Kaolin clay that digs down deep into the pores and cleans them out. The recipe is apparently based on traditional Indian Ayurvedic rituals, with spices and fruit acids to warm the skin and brighten it. I was a little worried that this might be a bit too intense, but my sensitive skin handled it well. Friday night my skin was spotted and a bit irritated but I used this and the following morning all my spots were gone. I call that a really good result, ladies.

Oatifix is made with bananas, oatmeal, almonds and so much more. The almond sloughs away rough dry skin while the banana and oatmeal nurture your skin. The result is a gorgeously soft and moisturized face, with that lustful glow everybody wants. My skin just felt happy after using it.

These masks need to be refrigerated because of their fresh ingredients and that might make them a little hard to apply when they’re cold. My advice is to scoop out the needed amount and let it sit in your hand for a minute or two. The warmth from your skin will heat the product and make it much easier to apply.

The verdict on these two fresh face masks, they work. They’re great alternatives to masks loaded with chemicals. The thing I don’t like though, is there limited shelf life. Their expiration date is only a month after it’s been made. And I hardly think I’ll finish the tubs in a month.

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Lush Angels On Bare Skin Cleanser

Lush has always been a brand that spoke to me. Their products often named funny things and made up out of mostly natural ingredients. But somehow I have never ventured off into a store. It could have something to do with the explosion of fragrances that enters your nose when you step into the store. Or the slightly pushy sales assistants that are hell bent on making you fill up your basket with all of their products. However when I was in The Hague last month I finally stepped into the store to check out their Big Shampoo, more on that later.

I was interested in the cleanser that they had laying around. Their fresh face masks also look really yummy. There is one called cupcake, and I am pretty much a sucker for anything cupcake scented/flavoured/inspired. I ended up purchasing a tub of their Angels on Bare Skin cleanser. A dough like cleanser that is supposed to leave your skin feeling soft and hydrated.

Since the description on my tub is in Dutch I went to the Lush website to see what the English description is.

"For heavenly soft and balanced skin, take a smidge of Angels on Bare Skin, mix with a little water and massage in. The kaolin clay base deep cleanses while ground almonds gently exfoliate the dead skin away. Rose and lavender are added to soothe and help balance out combination skin. It's our best selling preservative-free and packaging-free daily cleanser for all skin types, so if you don't know which cleanser to choose and it's heavenly skin you're after, start with Angels."

The description is pretty accurate. The mixing up with water part is slightly tricky and messy, because at first you don't know what the ratio water to cleanser is. I now settle for a pea-sized amount of the cleanser with a couple drops of luke warm water, I mix that together and if I feel like the consistency isn't paste-like enough I add a bit more. I massage this onto my skin. I love how the ground almonds lightly exfoliate my face.

The cleanser is enriched with natural glycerine, which holds moisture really well. This is what makes your skin feel extremely soft and moisturized. The rose, lavender and chamomile smell really calming and make sure the skin doesn't get too red. The kaolin clay extracts dirt and cleanses your skin and pores.

I've read other people's reviews and a common complaint (on Makeup Alley) is that this cleanser doesn't remove makeup properly. This is where I think people are using it in the wrong way. The cleanser is called angels on bare skin, emphasis on the bare part. This isn't supposed to be used as a makeup remover. If you are using this cleanser and you want it to work properly, make sure you have removed your makeup beforehand.

I use the cleanser two times a week as an extra exfoliating treat. On other days I use a new La Roche Posay duo, on which I  will report later.

Keep in mind that this cleanser has a 3-month expiration date. I know for a fact that I will not be finishing this tub within three months. I checked with Lush and it is perfectly fine to freeze their products. So I have taken half the product from the black little tub and put it in a small container in the freezer. Ready to use when I have run out of my first bit.

Lush is available in many countries and in their online shops

A tub with 100 g costs $13,95/€9,90