Lush 9 to 5 Orchid Oil Facial Cleansing Lotion

I love lush products but I have only tried a couple of their skincare products - I have tried their eau roma water toner which is fantastic, the angels on bare skin cleanser which is also fantastic and a few of their steam/toner tabs. This is the only liquid cleanser that lush makes I believe.

- About the product and the packaging

This cleanser comes in two sizes of bottles, the first and the smallest is 95g which is the one I have and the second larger bottle is 240g. The bottle is the normal black bottles that lush has and it is one of the few products at lush that needs an actual container. There is a description of the product on the bottle and the bottle also has the full ingredient list on it (and the sticker of the individual who made the product - and the all important expiration date). The bottle is fairly small as it is only 95g so it would be good for traveling in my opinion and I will be taking this with me on holiday this year. The product is dispensed through a small hole in the lid or you can unscrew the lid to dispense the product. Overall, I like the simple packaging and the sticker which depicts the individual who made your product (which I think is quite cute and very unique). I also like the size of bottle as it is quite convenient in my opinion.

- Lush description of the product and the full ingredient list

"9 to 5 will gently remove all traces of dirt, grease and make up without dragging the skin. You will be left feeling fresh, clean and ready to start the day. Although you might also want to pour yourself a cup of ambition."

"Water, Almond Oil, Stearic Acid, Fresh Dove Orchid Extract, Everlasting Flower Absolute, Ylang Ylang Oil, Triethanolamine, Cetearyl Alcohol, Perfume, Methylparaben, Propylparaben" Lush uk site

This is the only product from lush that I have seen in which the synthetic ingredients out weigh the natural ingredients - there are five natural ingredients in this product and there are six synthetic ingredients.

- Texture, consistency and scent of the cleanser

The consistency of this product is fairly runny and it is not as thick as I thought it would be. This product has an incredibly smooth texture, it is very silky and creamy feeling on my skin which is nice and the smooth texture makes this cleanser apply and absorb really well into my skin. As with all lush items this product does have a scent, which I am not too keen on skin care products with scent but this product has a really nice scent to it. The cleanser smells like a mix of flowers (orchids) and sun screen in my opinion, which does not sound very nice and I have to admit it is a bit of an unusual scent as with a lot of lush products but in my opinion it is a really nice and calming scent.

- Using the product

On the lush site the only information on how to use this product is as follows: "It's really gentle so you can use it on your eyelids too. Wipe it off with a cotton pad or flannel". I do use this product in the way described but I just use a cotton pad, not a flannel, but you could use either. I use this product to cleanse my face in the morning or at night, but I do only use this product once a day. I use this product when I have make up on and when I don't as I find it works well either way. If I have make up on then I will first start by dispensing some of my facial toner onto a cotton pad - the toner I am using at the moment which I really like is the boots botanics organic rosewater toner. I then dispense some of this cleanser onto my finger tips - If I have make up on I will dispense more of the cleanser than if I did not have make up on. I then take the cleanser that is on my fingertips and I dot it onto my face, this makes sure that the cleanser is evenly distributed over my face before I start to massage the cleanser into my skin using gentle circular motions. As this cleanser is really gentle I use it over my eyes as well, to get rid of my eyeshadow, eyeliner and or mascara. Once I have massaged the cleanser gently into my skin and over all of my make up I then take the cotton pad that I had already applied my toner too and then I swipe the toner soaked cotton pad over my face - including my eyes, lips, jaw and slightly over my neck too. Once I have wiped all of the cleanser from my skin I sometimes take another cotton pad with some of my toner on it and go over my skin again, especially if I wore quite a bit of make up that day or if I feel like my skin needs an extra clean with my toner. Then I wait for my skin to dry, which takes about 20/30 seconds and I then apply my moisturiser - lately I have been using my Simple Hydro cream which is amazing!

- Results

I love the results of this product! This cleanser is a liquid cleanser and it is fairly runny but when it is applied to the skin the cleanser gets a bit thicker and sinks into my skin, this makes my skin a lot less dry and flaky which is fantastic! This product makes my skin clean, slightly scented and moisturised. I also find that this product is surprisingly fantastic at removing my make up, it removes my foundation (well about 90% of it in my opinion), eyeshadows, concealer and it removes these products really quite quickly and easily. It only takes a couple of minutes to cleanse my face and remove all of my make up with this product and it works really well with my toner. The only downside to this product in my opinion is that it does not make my skin feel like it has been cleansed very well as it is a really quite moisturising cleanser - I would not use this product if you want a deep clean for your skin but for the days in between exfoliating and those lazy days it is a fantastically, amazing product and I would definitely recommend this product for people with normal or dry skin and I will be buying another small bottle of this cleanser when this one has run out.

- Price and availability

I bought this product quite a few weeks ago and I still have a lot lot as I only use this product about twice/three times a week and you don't need lots of the product each time either. The 95g bottle that I have can be bought from lush for £4.50 and the larger 240g bottle is £8.95. I would buy the small bottle again but I don't think I would buy the large bottle, even though the expiration date is about a year long. This product can be bought from lush stores or lush.couk.

Conclusions

Positives

*Easy to use and remove with a cotton pad and a toner (you do not need a toner to remove this as you can use a flannel which is damp)
*Good sized bottle to try out and for traveling in my opinion
*I personally like the scent but others may not as it is fairly unusual
*Removes about 95% of all of my make up which is good in my opinion but I would not use this product if I wanted to deep clean my skin
*Smooth, silky texture which makes this product apply nicely
*Has not made my skin break out in spots/redness or have any adverse reaction or irritation
*Lush is against animal texting and the bottle can be re-used when you have used up all of the cleanser

Negatives

*Some may think the prices are a bit expensive
*Synthetic ingredients out weight the natural ones - this may bother some people but I don't mind as the product works really well for me and my skin type (which is sensitive and extra dry)

Thank you for reading my review