LUSH Angels on Bare Skin - Review

What Lush claims: Picture a cleanser called Angels on Bare Skin and you probably wouldn't imagine a lump of stuff resembling grainy, grey putty. We could try to make it more attractive to look at but that would be at the expense of its true beauty: its ability to cleanse and exfoliate your facial skin. We based it on a medieval recipe that would have been excruciatingly expensive at the time. To make you face 'faire and smoothe' take a small, pea-sized piece in your hands, smooth it all over damp skin and wash it off. The ground almonds exfoliate, lavender oil helps to balance oil production, kaolin (china clay) absorbs oils, rose softens your skin and glycerine helps it to absorb and retain moisture.

Ingredients: Ground Almonds (Prunus dulcis), Glycerine, Kaolin, Water (Aqua), Lavender Oil (Lavendula hybrida), Rose Absolute (Rosa centifolia), Lavender Flowers (Lavendula hybrida).

Price: Rs. 585/- for 100 gms.

How to use: take a peanut size amount of the cleanser. Add some water to make a paste & use.

I use this a little differently as I find with the above method it just turns into a milky thin liquid making it difficult to use. Instead I wet my face, take a pea sized amount, warm it in my palm using fingers and then apply it directly to the face and neck.

Pros:
1. I love the intense smell of lavender in this cleanser. It is a very strong, very intense smell, so do take a whiff before you get this thing. Everyone may not like it.

2. Very calming for the skin, it instantly calms down any inflammation that I have. The scrub is gentle enough for daily use and I love crushing the bits of dried lavender flowers that it has to release the frangrence.

3. Leaves the skin soft and smooth and it has actually overtime helped balance out oil production, so I no longer get dry bits or flakes. It does leave a film of moisture/oil on the face. I don't mind it, but people with oily skin might not like it.

4. Lasts quite long for something without preservatives. To be honest, I do store this in the freezer. It is just too damn expensive for me to let it just spoil by lying outside. Every week, I remove a small amount and keep it outside for weekly use and the rest goes back in my freezer. I have been using this since March and it is still in mint condition *touchwood*

Cons:
1. Very tiresome to use, the scrub bits get entagled in hair and keep falling all over the place

2. Although it is called a cleanser, it doesn't remove makeup, and the exfoliation is quite gentle. The almond peices are very soft and almost squshy. Those of you who like your scrubs to be a little gritty, or densely packed with scrubbing agents (think walnut, apricot granules) may not like it. The good thing is, you can sample this at the store, feel the texture.

3. The price, a hefty 585 for 100 gms. & you can't buy lesser than this.

Will I re-purchase: Unsure.

I do make a very similar scrub at home with ground almonds. Though it doesn't smell as nice as I don't have bits of lavender to add, it too does a pretty good job of exfoliating gently, softening and nourishing my skin as well. Though not as well as this & I also just love the smell of this cleanser, it is so soothing at the end of the day to smell all that lavender. Feels like a treat.

Have you tried this or any other cleanser from LUSH? Any reccomendations?