Review: Face Cleansers

I'm blessed to have good skin.  I've never had any acne/oil problems.  When I was younger, I would use bar soap to wash my face -- and remember, this was the Ivory stuff! -- and still maintained a clear complexion.  I never used special cleansers or a moisturizer, and miraculously, I made it through my teens.

Now that I'm older and my skin isn't as forgiving as it used to be, I need to take care of it.  Lush has a variety of face cleansers -- each one to suit the needs of different skin types.  Of course, you can't just place your skin-type into one of four neat categories (normal, oily, dry, combination), so my suggestion is to go by trial and error.

Best seller: Angels on Bare Skin

How to use: The "logs"
 Several Lush face cleansers are made and formed into logs, with the approximate size of a Starbucks venti cup. (Sad that we all know the reference, huh?)  A huge benefit is that you can go into a Lush store and buy as much or as little as you need.  Sorry online orderers, you will need to purchase their pre-packaged 8.8oz or 3.5oz sizes.  To use, place a pea-sized amount in the palm of your hand.  Add water to make a paste.  Then rub on your face and rinse.

Aqua Marina - This pasty log is made with calamine powder and aloe vera to soothe sensitive skin. It's also wrapped in seaweed to give it a boost of nutrition.  I don't need to try Aqua Marina to know that this isn't right for my combination/oily skin.  The Irish moss infusion makes it very gel-like and sticky, but sure to leave your skin super moisturized. Good for sensitive and/or dry skin.

Angels on Bare Skin - This cleanser has ground almonds, which makes it nice and scrubby.  The kaolin clay base (or it could be the lavender oil) leaves a residue on my skin that I didn't like.  This would be better suited for someone with dry skin, or combo/normal skin who wants a bit of moisturizer in their cleanser.

Herbalism - Also containing ground almonds, this herb-filled scrubby cleanser is good for oily skin-types.  I liked the way this felt on my face, but I couldn't stand the smell!!  So sorry, Herbalism, you are not for me.

Fresh Farmacy and Coalface

Coalface - This is a solid bar, so you would use it like a bar of soap.  Lush makes them in large molds, so you can cut off a large or small chunk.  Coalface contains -- you guessed it -- coal!  The powdered charcoal sucks up the oils in your pores and leaves you squeaky clean.  I really liked how clean my face felt after using this, but the licorice root took a toll on my nose, so I thought I'd give Fresh Farmacy a try.

Fresh Farmacy - Similar to Coalface, in that you use it like a bar of soap.  Fresh Farmacy contains calamine powder -- which is why it is pink in color -- and is good for reducing redness and irritations.  I find it to be a bit drying, which is probably good because it is sucking oils out of your pores.  I love the smell and the squeaky clean results of my skin, but I only using it every once in a while because it does dry my skin quite a bit.

Ocean Salt - I can see why this is one of Lush's most popular face cleansers.  The sea salt and lime cleanses the skin while the avocado and coconut moisturizes.  I was surprised at how gentle this scrub is.  I was expecting the sea salt to be more coarse, but they are fairly fine granules.  In fact, too fine for me.  I didn't feel like it was scrubby enough.  But I'm hardcore and like a good, rough scrubbing.  Try it for yourself -- you'll probably really enjoy this one.

AND THE WINNER IS....

Dark Angels, cute sugar bowl

Dark Angels - This is my all-time favorite cleanser, hands down!!  It truly is a combination of Angels on Bare Skin and Coalface.  It has the consistency of Angels on Bare Skin (but uses black sugar instead of ground almonds) which makes it nice and scrubby.  It also contains powdered charcoal like Coalface, which sucks up oil and dirt.  Lush also adds avocado to the mix to moisturize skin.  I love this product.  It is my every day staple.

You have to keep  your "log" cleansers away from water when not using.  I keep mine in a glass sugar bowl, because all of my Lush products have cute homes. (: Right before I enter the shower, I take a small amount out (I like to use a chunk the size of two peas) and set it on the counter right next to my shower so I can grab it right before I wash my face.  For my gym bag, I purchased several 1/4oz flip-top pill containers and filled each one with enough Dark Angels for one use.  Keeping it very simple, I only need to enter the gym shower with: a bath sponge, shower gel (Lush shower gels are awesome for body and hair) and container of Dark Angels.  Easy.  Done.