[Review] LUSH Herbalism

During my Lush haul a few months back, I also got Herbalism. It was recommended to me because the staff told me that it cleanses very well. Plus, it has antibacterial properties which ensures cleaner skin. It's supposed to clear up blemish-prone skin and oily skin. There are also ground almonds in the product which helps to exfoliate the skin.

The product smells very clean, green and fresh. I love the smell as it wasn't very overwhelming and it made me want to smell the product more and more. 

I love how the ground almonds exfoliate the skin really well. The grains were relatively coarse but it wasn't very rough on the skin, which was just nice.

After you wash off the product, it leaves a thin film of oils on your skin to moisturize and protect your skin. Even so, I still prefer to use a moisturizer after using Herbalism, just that I use less of my moisturizer.

Pros: My skin feels really clean after cleansing and the exfoliating was an extra plus. I also love how it left a layer of moisture after rinsing with water.

Cons: Nil! :)

Price: It was the same price as Aqua Marina at around $25 per tub. However, since I bought at the same time I got Aqua Marina, there was a 50% discount, so it costed around $12.50.

Will I repurchase? Definitely! It was a great cleanser for me! Faith in Lush restored :D

[Review] LUSH Aqua Marina

A few months ago when I had my Lush haul, my skin was breaking out so badly and there were so many patches of redness. I was recommended Aqua Marina by the staff because the product was supposed to reduce the redness and soothe the skin, great for sensitive skin. I don't doubt the function of the product because there was calamine in the ingredient list.

Like the picture shown, the product is pink and squishy and is rolled up with seaweed. The smell was a bit funky and I didn't like it at all despite the continual use. It did smell fresh, but it wasn't the type of fresh which I like.

So how to use the product? Basically, you just pinch some out and place in your palm, then rub it to create a creamy paste consistency and then massage into your skin. Sounds easy? Well, it actually isn't. Because it has such a paste-like consistency, the product keeps getting stuck on my hands and kept sliding sideways away from my palms and fingers. It was terribly difficult to keep the product centered so that the product can actually contact my skin.

After a month of using the product, there wasn't any improvement to my skin. My skin still looks very red and inflamed after cleansing. Personally, I found that the product did not help me at all. But don't take my word for it, because in skincare, the whole regime counts and maybe my moisturizer or serums weren't working as well so my skin didn't improve. 

Pros: Nil.

Cons: Smell was funky. Difficult to use. Overall an ineffective cleanser for me.

Price: The original price was around $25. I say around $25 because every tub has different weight of the product and the price depends on the weight. Luckily for me, I bought it when it was 50% off so I paid around $12.50, though I can't remember the actual price.

Will I repurchase? Absolutely not! I didn't like this product at all despite the great reviews by other people. It's a total miss for me :( I feel lucky knowing that I only paid half the original price for this product.

[Review] LUSH Grease Lightning

I was really happy to get this spot treatment from Lush because apparently, it was really popular among many beauty gurus on Youtube. It's supposed to clear up spots and blemishes and I was excited to try this out because my face has been breaking and I didn't know (and still don't know) why :(

Like all Lush products, the information of Grease Lightning can be found online. In a nutshell, the main ingredients are:

• §   Aloe vera gel to soothe and moisturise.
• §   Seawater for its antiseptic properties.  
• §   Grape juice to cool and calm the skin. 
• §   Thyme, rosemary and tea tree herb infusions to be gently antibacterial.
• §   Witch hazel, an astringent that is great for bruising and helps broken blood vessels shrink and contract.
• §  Tea Tree oil, a powerful antiseptic.

The product is of a gel-like consistency, in fact, it is actually more fluid. It goes on smoothly and will form a thin film layer on the spot, which helps to prevent contact with external bacteria.

However, because of the thin film layer, it is important that you don't spam a whole blob of it onto the skin, because once it dries up, it may look like your skin is peeling. Luckily for me, I found out about this at home. Imagine the horror if you are out and people wondering what is going with your skin having a peeling-fest.

The sensation upon application was wonderful. Because it is such a fluid gel, it was cooling when the gel touches the skin. It also smells very pleasant and not heavy at all. As expected from Lush :) The product also did not dry out my skin at all because like all Lush products, there are minimum synthetic/chemical ingredients.

I've actually been using this product regularly in place of other chemical spot treatments such as the famous Oxy10. And I'm not that overwhelmed by the results. Even after 5 consecutive days of using the product, my spots only gotten smaller but not completely cleared up. Comparing to the past when I was using Oxy10, Oxy10 cleared my pimples and spots much faster, which is around 2 to 3 days.

I have been using this product for almost a month now, all for the sake of finishing it. Even though it wasn't effective for my spots and blemishes, I was comforted by the fact that the thin film layer provides some protection for my skin. But of course, I've been using it in conjunction with my trusty Oxy10 to kill acne bacteria and other whitening serums to lighten my blemishes.

Pros: Provide a thin film layer of protection if applied in small amounts. Has a pleasant scent.

Cons: Did not work to clear my spots and blemishes.

Price: SGD$22.50 for 45g. This small bottle lasted pretty long! I've been using it for a month and I've still got half a bottle left.

Will I repurchase again?
No. For me, it didn't work to clear my spots and blemishes at all, so there is no point repurchasing a product that did not work for me.

P.S. As you can see, there are several other Lush products in the background, so stay tuned for more Lush product reviews hehe :D

[Review] LUSH Jungle Solid Conditioner

Recently, I have discovered an amazing brand called Lush! Every beauty gurus will know what the brand is about. Basically, they are a store of handmade cosmetic products with shampoos, soaps, to perfumes and massage bars. In addition, the ingredients in the products are either all natural, or there are only, at most five, synthetic chemical ones. Unless your skin has an allergic reaction towards a particular ingredient, the products are gentle enough to use and will not make your skin break out or clog your pores. There are little negative things people can ever say about Lush.

One of the things I got when I visited Lush was this little baby called Jungle.

Jungle is a solid conditioner that mainly contains cocoa butter, organic avocado extract and bananas. 'Jungle' is a highly appropriate name and I can imagine why it was being called that. It smells really fresh and sweet without being too overpowering. Plus, the patterns of a palm leaf and what seems like an iguana were really cute. It helps to soften and moisturize the hair, just like an actual conditioner. The concept of a SOLID conditioner was really fresh and it was pretty intriguing to know that a conditioner comes in a bar which you can actually hold it in your hands.

The girl at the store told me that it can last around 50 washes. You're supposed to rub the solid conditioner through your hair, and then rinse it out.

The conditioner smells AMAZING. It smells so natural, like avocados and bananas. You shouldn't hold it in your hand for so long because your hands will feel a little oily due to the essential oils and the cocoa butter.

The conditioner really works and my hair was really smooth and manageable after it got dried. In addition, the smell was just so yummy and so amazing I can't even.

However, I didn't really like the process of using it because it was a little troublesome. The girl at the shop told me to rub the conditioner between my hands to warm up the solid, so that the essential oils and butter will melt slightly in my hands, and then smooth my hair with my hands. I tried that but I felt that it wasn't enough for my hair, because my hair is pretty long. As a result, I had to repeat the process so many times in order to feel that my hair has been properly conditioned.

The second time I used it, I cut a small chunk of the conditioner so that I can rub the small bit in my hand more easily. It was much better than the first time but it was still quite difficult to get the conditioner totally melted in a creamy texture, like, there were still really small chunks which wouldn't work itself into the hair just like that. And if I kept on using it this way, I'm very sure that the product won't last me even 40 washes.

After I used the conditioner while in the shower, I couldn't run my fingers through my hair, so I wasn't sure whether the conditioner was working or not, or whether I was using enough of the product or not. But after my hair dried, it was really smooth and smells really wonderful.

The solid conditioner comes in a paper bag, like many of the unpackaged Lush products. It is not a good idea to store the solid conditioner in the paper bag because the paper can absorb the oils and butter from the product.

Therefore, I put my solid conditioner in a small black pot.

Pros: The smell and my hair felt amazing after it dried.

Cons: Troublesome and my hair felt quite rough in the process of using it.

Price: SGD $11

Would I repurchase?

No. Even though I love the smell and the end results, I didn't enjoy using it. Being enjoyable to use is important to me because when I use a product, I want it to be easy to apply/use and basically, be glad and excited to use it. Jungle is just too troublesome in my opinion and I have better experiences with other conditioners that are more reasonably priced and smells as great.

[Review] LUSH Soap - Sandstone

When I went Hong Kong, I saw LUSH and it was my first time buying something from LUSH so I was excited. I didn't know what to get so I decided on this soap which is called Sandstone.

The LUSH website said this about Sandstone:

Sandstone is seriously scrubby; it’s the strongest, scrubbiest soap we make. Loved by men and women alike, it was inspired by babes on the beaches of Brazil who mix sand with tanning oil to make their backsides smooth as silk. The layer of sand will exfoliate your body as you wash to leave you with soft, touchable skin. For once, getting sand all over your bits is a good thing! Coriander and gardenia oils tone and brighten, and your skin will be seductively scented with citrus notes of a tropical cocktail. Have yourself a shower vacation.

My take:

Like what the website claims, this soap really is very scrubby and exfoliating. It smells really nice, like lemon and citrus fruits. Personally, I like very scrubby soaps and shower creams/gels, so I really like this. However, because my skin can be rather dry, the skin on my legs feels quite tight after the shower. So I had to moisturize, which I don't normally do because I live in a rather tropical climate.

For people with sensitive skin, DON'T use this. No matter what degree your sensitivity is, don't use this. The soap can be very rough.

The soap is quite pricey so I don't think I'll buy LUSH products frequently. This soap itself was HK$91 for 120g, so I'll only get it again after a long time.