A while ago I visited my local (when I say local I'm talking an 8 hour drive away) Lush Cosmetics store after hearing so many rave reviews about their products. I mainly decided to join the LUSH 'cult' because I had bought my fair share of chemical-drowned supermarket cleansers and my skin was clearly sick of it. So I opted for LUSH because even expensive high-end cleansers are still chemical-y and regardless of what most beauty enthusiasts claim, I personally don't see much difference between putting a $10 chemical concoction on your face or one that cost $70, so I chose the price-friendly, eco-friendly and skin-friendly LUSH range. I walked into the amazingly cute store in Rundle Mall and was instantly overwhelmed with hundreds of different products claiming to do thousands of different wonderful things. However, being a skeptical/cheap skate bitch, I didnt exactly want to buy something that was totally wrong for me or something that didn't even work. So I awkwardly walked around the store for a few minutes because I was way too scared to ask for help, but much to my suprise, one of their shop assistants sparked up a conversation with me straight away (talk about friendly!).
Basically, I had a major word-vomit moment and told her my entire life story and everything about my skin. The poor girl was probably scarred for life, but she helped me out nonetheless. After testing about six different cleansers on my skin, she explained the benefits of each and informed me on how LUSH works. A half-an-hour long conversation and an amazingly soft hand later, we decided on two cleansers; the popular 'Ocean Salt,' and 'Herbalism'.
The packaging suggests using a small pea-sized amount and mixing it with water to form a paste, but lets be honest, I use 2-3 'peas' to get a good scrub. I don't use a lot of water because I prefer to use my LUSH cleansers like masks, meaning that they work better as a thick paste rather than a runny cleansing water.
So heres the important bit of the post,
Texture: The texture is grainy (ground almonds to be specific) but not coarse and rough like the 'Ocean Salt' scrub that literally rips the dead skin cells off your face (which I love). However, once you add water to this one you can pretty much change the consistency to suit your personal preferences. 9/10
Scent: Unlike most of the LUSH products and most beauty products in general to be honest, this cleanser smells like shit. It has that horrid smell of natural minerals and dirt, pretty much like a smoothie of dirt, leaves and almonds. But the smell definitely reassures me that I'm not putting chemicals into my skin.
Benefits: This cleanser claims it is for oily skin types or acne sufferers but as someone with reasonably good skin, I've found that it works perfectly fine for me too, especially when I'm getting a few breakouts. I also found that my skin improved vastly when I started using it 3/4 days and alternating with the 'Ocean Salt' exfoliator for a deeper clean.
Price: $16.95 (http://www.lush.com.au/)