Review- Lush, Angels On Bare Skin Facial Cleanser (plus how to use it without making an utter mess)

Ok so we played around a bit with make-up and nail polish towards the end of this week, but it's Monday now, back to business, back to skincare. 

If you're like me, you might like to use something every now and then that feels like it's physically cleaning your skin. You might also like to eat just guacamole for dinner, but that's another story. 

Once I realised what a microbead was, and why I shouldn't be scrubbing my face with balls of plastic, I was on the look-out for a reasonably priced scrubby cleanser, I heard such good things about the Lush facial scrubs, that I ventured back into their store, for the first time in about ten years, a very good decision. 

Blog, meet Angels on Bare Skin. 

In a nutshell

Pros: Feels scrubby, lovely aromatic ingredients, gently on skin. 

Cons: A bit of a process to use 

Price:  $42.37 for 250 grams

Purpose: Scrubby cleaner, use once a day, or once every couple of days. 

Packaging: Like the lush pot, easy to open and use. 

Re- Purchase? Yes. The gorgeous scent and skin feel is worth the extra effort.

This cleanser uses ground almonds to scrub your skin, so you'll get that lovely feeling of exfolliating, without damaging the environment, or stripping too much skin off your face. The almonds are in good company with kaolin clay, which will draw impurities out of your skin and soak up excess oils.

But my personal favourite part? The aromatics. There's a (gentle, soothing) party going on in that pot, with lavender, rose and blue chamomile, mmmmmmm. 

There is a drawback though, this isn't the easiest product you'll ever use. For me, the hassle is exceeded by the therapeutic scent and the softness of my skin after use, but it isn't a cleanser to use when you're in a rush. If this product was a boyfriend, it would be a handsome funny one, who is terribly messy. You love him anyway, but that doesn't mean you don't wish he was a little easier to live with! 

Luckily, after a few uses, I've managed to fine tune my technique a bit, and I'm much less likely to end up with almond meal in my hair. So, if you're going to buy this product, let me save you the mess. 

Firstly, Lush suggests you take a pinch off, I take a bit more than that, because I live large. 

The idea is to add a bit of water to make a cleansing milky substance, this is where I deviate a bit more from the Lush directions. I find if I get things too liquidy, it's hard to transfer the scrub from hands to face, and feel like you're getting product in the right areas. 

Instead, I make a very thick paste, like the one you can see below, using only a few drops of water. 

I can then smear that thicker paste over my cheeks, nose and forehead to make sure I'm getting product right around the areas that need to be clean (and avoiding my eyes as much as possible - because those little almond granules love to stick in my lashes!) 

Once I've done that, I massage and scrub a bit more with wet hands, which makes things more milky, but I think spreading the product as a paste first helps me have more control. 

Finally, I place a very hot cloth over my face, and inhale the lavender loveliness, before cleaning all the scrub off.

Low maintenance it is not, but for me, totally worth it, and your skin will feel lovely and baby-soft while you drift into gently scented dreams.