Catastrophe Cosmetic Mask - Lush
If you take five empty balck pots you can get one of these FREE. I also got mine free but I made it myself. This was a recent offer that Lush working with Clipper tea made available. If you bought a pack of Clipper green tea with a pink tag on it then you could book a FREE make your own face mask and have a facial in the shop nearest you. I was so thrilled that I bought four packs. I went by myself one day then went a second time a couple of weeks later with my son's girl friend. I also sent a tag to my daughter in London and she went to one event near her in the evening.

THE FACE PACKS GENERALLY
In the shop the various facemasks are in big stainless steel bowls on ice and presented with fresh items that are in the actual facemask as garnish; So this one had a fresh blue berries on it as garnish. The face packs are made fresh and sent up to the Derby shop each week from the factory in Dorset .

As these are made with fresh ingredients they have a limited life and must be stored in the fridge. I have once had two face packs as I was given one in the shop and because we were just about to go on holiday I stuck it in the freezer. We were away about four weeks and when I returned I retrieved my facepack and it was absolutely fine, it lasted another six weeks in the fridge and smelled great and I used it once a week for the six weeks. So don't worry too much about the keeping aspect as they do last a fair time if kept in the fridge and used with clean fingers or a spoon to get the stuff out.

SO MAKING OUR FACE MASK
This required squashing and mashing fresh blueberries, a whole punnet went into ours; we then added all the rest of the liquid ingredients which were cold pressed almond oil, a glycerine which was so pure you could actually taste it ( very strange sort of sweet taste) then we added an infusion of various flowers and Irish moss gel which smelt like sea water but I didn't taste it and then in went a small amount of the essential oils and perfume to give the scent and the benefits from the ones like rose absolute, chamomile and orange oil. Finally we added the dry ingredients which were calamine powder and a really fine talc that felt like silk when we felt it as it was going in. All this time we mixed it well to combine all the ingredients.

Once it was all mixed We then left it to blend together and the two lovely ladies gave us our facial.

THE FACIAL EXPERIENCE
We were asked how we wanted our skin to feel after the pampering and what it felt like now and this information was used to select the products for our facial.

We started by having our faces cleansed and the cleanser chosen for me was 'Ultra bland' which is just so rich and creamy, this was then followed by a facial wash and the one chosen for me was 'Angels on bare Skin' but i did try different ones on my next visit! After this we enjoyed a fabulous face massage using 'Full of Grace ' serum bar. Our fresh face mask was then applied and we sat for around five minutes before this was washed off.

After washing off the mask a toner was then applied and the one chosen for me was 'Breath of fresh Air' as I already had 'Eau Roma ' at home wanted to try a different one. We were finished off with a moisturiser suited to our skin at the time and I had 'Skin Shangri La' .

Having been pampered for around an hour these lovely people then packed up our face mask in pots so we ended up with a medium sized pot of that as well as sample sizes of all the other products that we had used in our facial except the serum bar which I did buy as I have had it before and liked it.

So not only did we have a free facial and a big pot of thye mask we made but we also had a bag full of other samples as well. Our session was finished off with a squirt of perfume from the selection they have in Lush.

WHAT YOU NORMALLY GET
It comes in a small back recyclable pot and you get 75g in the pot. The cost if you buy it is £5.75 which is quite expensive but I don't think I have bought one for quite a while as I have had free ones through bringing back my black pots.

This facepack is a dark blue or even pink colour depending on the colour the uice of the blueberries comes out. One was much bluer than the other of my two pots. The main colour is a creamy blueish pink but you can clearly see the blueberry skins in the mix and these are left in as they are so good for you.
It is very thick rather like a paste, thick mud texture and not at all runny. In fact ours was getting so thick and dry that we added some water to the mix and you can do this at home if yours gets too dry to spread. It makes it go further too.

What does it smell like? Well it isn't a strong scent but i can smell sweet fruitiness and the rose and it is specially obvious when you apply it and have it under your nose for a while. It feels lovely and creamy soft apart from the blueberry skins which tend to drop off as you apply the mask.

WHAT DO YOU DO WITH IT?
Well More or less I follow what we did or had done in the Lush facila, cleanse then you can use the face wash or just wipe it off with warm water, apply the lovely serum bar and you don't need much at all. Apply the mask.

This is the best part. I get into the bath and lie back and relax and finally wash it off in the bath as it is less messy. You could do it whilst having a shower too. According to Lush you shouldn't let it go completely dry and crusty before washing it off but I leave mine until I feel it has done its job. If it does get dry then it doesn't matter as I can use lots of water to gently wash it off.

Once you have washed the mask off it is essential to close the pores with a toner otherwise all those nicely opened pores will be ready to absorb any muck in the environment.

After toning then apply whatever moisturiser you feel your skin needs and then make up if you want to.
Prior to washing this one off though I make use of the lovely ground almonds in the facepack and give my face a bit of an exfoliation as I take the mask off.

I then get out of the bath and dry myself patting my face dry before I reach for the toner to close those pores and then of course moisturise as for night or day depending on when you use it.

WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE?
As I lie in the bath I can feel the coolness of the mask, remember it comes straight from the fridge, and it feels quite pleasant, not at all tight even as it dries a little. I find if I am in the bath the steam helps the mask work and stops it drying out so quickly. I really relax and lie back and sniff. I love the fact this one is so gentle and because it has the almond oil in it my face never feels dry after using it; afterwards I find my skin feels very soft and looks awake.

We were told that the reason they made this face mask when doing this event was that this mask is suitable for all ages and skin types. The fact that it has almond oil in does not make it unsuitable for those with greasy skin as this oil helps balance the oil production in skin.

I have quite a sensitive skin and am allergic to many cosmetic chemicals but this has not given me any problems and I have my pot every third day for the last three weeks

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?
The ingredients in this are supposed to balance your skin and calm it. The Irish moss softens the skin, the almond oil moisturises it and the blueberries are full of anti oxidants and vitamins good for skin brightness. The rose absolute and chamomile essential oil help to any reduce redness and any skin irritation. The dry ingredients of Calamine and talc do a great deep clean of the pores and also help to soothe the skin as well.

According to Lush website this :
"Stops you making a mountain out of a molehill
"This is a deep cleansing mask that it designed for regular maintenance to keep the skin clean and clear. Regular deep cleaning can avoid spots occurring and keep skin in top condition."


I usually give myself this treat each week on a Monday morning as my husband goes off to play golf early in the morning so I have time to myself to pamper in the bathroom. It is good to have time to rinse out the bath too after using this as of course there are gritty bits left. However since i have had such a huge supply of this I have used it three times a week and my skin does feel nice because of this.

I do find that my face feels not only really clean and fresh but also the gentle almond oil and other ingredients do make my face feel well nourished afterwards . My skin feels soft and healthy and after a quick spritz of a toner I only need a light moisturiser to finish.

WOULD I RECOMMEND?
Yes I love this one as I know exactly what went into it as I was there making it and although it doesn't smell that strong it is very pleasant. It does make my skin feel well pampered and calm so I am happy. I am especially happy as it was free and part of my wonderful morning at lush although it does cost £5.75 if you don't have five pots to hand back. This is still quite good value as easily get six uses from this little pot as you don't need to cake it on thickly and if you use my trick of wet hands it goes on really smoothly.

Thanks for reading. This review may be posted on other sites under my same user name.
©Catsholiday