Product Review: LUSH Angels on Bare Skin

I'm intrigued by LUSH products. I love the idea about them: fresh, hand made, all natural, sustainable packaging, and no animal testing.... I like how I can smell the store long before I even get there and when I do, there are always plenty of fun products to play with. I'll use them in combination with other products since I really do think that there's a limit to how much an all-natural product can do. Retinol, Salicylic Acid, and Benzoyl Peroxide, Lactic Acid, Glycolic acid, and other AHAs provide benefits that all-natural compounds cannot compete with. Nevertheless, I do enjoy integrating LUSH products into my regime.

I've tried all of their clay-based cleansers, Angels on Bare Skin, Aquamarina, and Herbalism. I'll post reviews on the other two at a later date since I'm currently using Angels.

Description and Ingredients list from the website:

"Angels on Bare Skin is a simple enough idea: clay and ground almonds to cleanse and gently exfoliate your facial skin, glycerine for suppleness plus lavender oil to balance the amount of oil your skin produces naturally, soothing chamomile, protective benzoin and rose absolute to soften your face. There are no preservatives in it so it helps to maintain your skin’s natural flora, your own defences against microbial attack. It looks like a lump of rough putty but it smells divine and works like magic."

Ingredients:

"Ground Almonds (Prunus dulcis), Glycerine, Kaolin, Water (Aqua), Lavender Oil (Lavandula hybrida), Rose Absolute (Rosa centifolia), Lavender Flowers (Lavendula hybrida), *Limonene, *Linalool, Perfume."


Despite the claim that it smells 'divine', that was definitely not my first impressions of its scent. It wasn't offensive per se, but like many LUSH products, the scent was strong. Given the ingredient list, it comes as no surprise, but it really just does smell very strongly like lavender.

I love how soft it makes my skin feel and albeit it relatively messy, I think it's a rather fun product to use! You pinch of a piece of the putty-like product, soften it with water, and rub it on your skin. The clay may help with oil absorption, and sometimes, I will use a little more product and let it sit on my skin like I would a face mask.

My only complaints are that I can't use this product alone but will use it only after washing with another cleanser first. I do this for two reasons. First, it isn't a very effective make-up remover. Secondly, I have fairly oily skin and perhaps it's more of a pyschological thing, but I don't feel like Angels is 'heavy-duty' enough to dissolve a day's worth of dirt/grime.

Angels on Bare Skin is priced at $10.50 per 100g and is available at all LUSH stores and online at http://www.lush.com/.