Review: Lush Skincare Part 2

I recently put up a post on my Lush skincare experience, which mainly focused on the Angels in Bare Skin Cleanser. This is the follow up post on the Breath of Fresh Air Toner and Imperialis Moisturiser. If you haven’t read it already I strongly recommend you do so as it contains all the (slightly gross) details on the nature of my skin.

Many of the toners I have tried in the past have been targeted towards combination/blemish prone skin. However even toners that are targeted toward more normal skin I find strip my skin leaving it feeling cleansed but quite tight and dry. My skin decides to counteract this by producing an excess of oil. Fun. The Breath of Fresh Air Toner I picked up in Lush is probably the first toner I have used which doesn’t do this. This toner is actually formulated towards dry skin and so after applying the toner to my skin it feels cleansed but not stripped or dry, just like how I imagine normal skin should feel like. The product contains sea water instead of alcohol which I feel helps make the product less stripping and drying.

Breath of Fresh air comes in a handy spray bottle which dispenses the product in a fine mist. When we had the brief heat wave over here in the UK at the end of May I reached for this as a cooling spray. It really helped in the heat, cooling down my skin and feeling me refreshed. It’s definitely my Holy Grail toner and I will be running to repurchase this the moment it runs out, which thankfully doesn’t look to be anytime soon!

Lastly I received a sample of the Imperialis Moisturiser. Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures of the product but I can assure you that it looks very similar to that seen on the Lush website here. While the moisturiser is supposed to contain the same balancing products as those found in the cleanser and toner, I found it to be too rich to use as a day cream. Throughout the day I found my skin became very shiny and a little too hydrated. I then switched to use this at night and found the rich formula to be more appropriate. While this product was an effective moisturiser I don’t think I will be purchasing it again.

So that’s the round up of the Lush skin care items I have tried out. I’m pleased to say that the two products I purchased were definitely worth it and while the sample of the moisturiser wasn’t for me, I’m glad I had the chance to try it out. The service I received in Lush was amazing and if you have any skincare problems I would definitely recommend talking to one of the very knowledgeable staff in your local Lush store.

You can get hold of the Breath of Fresh Air Toner in store or from the Lush Website for £3.75 for 100g or £7.00 for 250g as well as the  Imperialis Moisturiser for £11.95 for 45g.

Love Rae

xxx

Review: Lush Skincare Part 1

Towards the end of April I wandered into Lush in the hopes of finding some products help manage my hair. As well as coming out with a new shampoo and conditioner to try, I also ended up purchasing some skincare items. I’ve never tried Lush hair care or skin care products before and was very eager to try something new. As I’ve now finished using the cleanser I picked up I thought I would share with you my opinions on the skincare items. 

First of all I should tell you about my skin type. I would describe my skin as normal/combination with the oily areas mainly being around my nose and spreading onto my cheeks a bit. I have to be very careful with what products I put on my skin as products which appear to be fine for other people with oiler skin (such a Chanel’s Vitalumiere Aqua foundation) just make my oiler areas even worse. I’m also prone to the odd spot here and there but nothing too severe luckily. I’ve been on the hunt for a set of products which will clean my skin well without stripping it, or adding too much moisture which seem to make my skin go into oil overdrive!

I relayed this lovely account of my skin to the very helpful sales assistant in Lush who suggested that my skin needed balancing and produced a range of cleansers, toners and moisturisers which would help to balance out my skin and hopefully keep those oily patches at bay. A lot of these products contain rose, lavender and camomile which I was told would all help to soothe and balance my skin while cleansing it deep down. It sounded like a winning combination to me and so I purchased the Angels on Bare Skin Cleanser and the Breathe of Fresh Air Toner. I was also given a small sample of the Imperialis Moisturiser to try. I was going to give a review of all 3 products here but it all got a bit too long so you can find an additional review on the toner and moisturiser here.

 

Angels on Bare Skin is a cleanser with a clay like consistency. I’ve personally never used anything like it and found that the best way to apply this was to dampen my skin first and then take a small pinch of the product and massage it into the skin. When the water mixes with the clay the consistency of the product becomes thick and milky, much more familiar to what I’m used to! Within the clay there are pieces of lavender which, in addition to help balance out the skin, also provide some gentle exfoliation which I found to help buff away any dry patches and keep my skin looking bright.

I used Angels on Bare Skin for around 5 weeks and once I had gotten to grips with applying the cleanser to my skin I really enjoyed using it.  Over the 5 weeks I noticed that my skin was generally much better behaved. The oily patches were far less oily, the number and frequency of blemishes had reduced and in general my skin was just looking a lot healthier. I’m currently trying out the Liz Earle cleanse and polish (which contains similar ingredients) but would definitely go out and repurchase the Angels on Bare Skin Cleanser again. At only £5.95 a pot it isn’t too bad on the wallet either. The Angels on Bare Skin Cleanser can be found in Lush Stores or online here.

Have you ever tried any Lush skincare items? How did you get on with them?

Rae

xxx