I am a huge fan of Lush's range of fresh face masks, however my nearest Lush is a good half an hours drive away and so I don't get to buy these as often as I would like. I should order these online but have never quite got around to this for some reason! On a recent visit to Lakeside shopping centre I decided to treat myself to some Lush goodies and one of the items that made it to my basket was the Brazened Honey face mask. I have previously used this mask but it was quite a while ago so I couldn't remember what it was like.

The mask itself is part of Lush's fresh face mask range. These are masks that have been made with fresh ingredients (which can often be found in your kitchen) and contain no preservatives. For this reason they need to be kept in the fridge and used within 3 weeks. The Brazened Honey mask comes in a small 75g black tub, which like all Lush products tells you who made it and when it should be used by.

According to Lush the mask is a powerhouse of effective ingredients for all tired skins and acts to exfoliate, detoxify, stimulate and nourish the skin. It contains refreshing herbs and fruit juice which is blended with warming Ayurvedic herbs and spices. It also contains ground almonds to exfoliate the skin and polish it and honey to moisturise. It sounds like an odd concoction but equally sounds intriguing and Lush claim that it will leave the skin looking vibrant and feeling revitalised.

On opening the tub I was greeted with a thick yellow paste and a quite pungent smell of spices and the main one I could identify was ginger. Scanning the list of ingredients I spotted that this contains a variety of herbs and spices including parsley, coriander, turmeric, fennel, cardamom, ginger and cloves. It also contains fresh eggs so is not suitable for vegans. The paste reminded me of the traditional paste/mask that South Asian brides wear before they get married as this also contains tumeric, which according to my mum is supposed to even out the skin tone, leaving the bride glowing on her big day.

To use, apply to clean skin, avoiding the eye and mouth areas. I find it easier to apply the mask to skin that is slightly wet. As the mask was drying I felt my skin start to tighten a little but not in an unpleasant or uncomfortable way. My skin did also tingle slightly which did alarm me a little as I was worried that my skin was reacting to the mask but as this didn't get any worse I left the mask on till it dried. Once the mask has dried it started to become quite dry and flaky. The smell of the ginger and spices got stronger as it dried and it wasn't a scent I found particularly pleasant.

The mask is not a peel off one and had to be rinsed off with warm water after it had dried, which took around ten minutes. As I rinsed the mask off I could feel the ground almonds exfoliating my skin. I was a little surprised at this - I was expecting the almonds to be a little finer but they were quite coarse and I was worried at just how scratchy they were. I made sure I rubbed gently as I removed the mask as I did find the almonds a little painful and I had images in my head of my face getting all scratched up!

Once washed off my skin felt really clean, refreshed and quite tingly. I examined my face in the mirror and was pleased to note that there was no damage caused by the rough almonds. After a couple of minutes this tingliness had subsided and my skin felt extremely soft to the touch. I've used this several times now and with repeated use my skin has become really quite clear and bright, enough for others to comment on how well I look! The honey in the mask is quite moisturising and after use my skin felt silky soft so I didn't feel the need to slap on the moisturiser. I was also pleased to note that the gingery smell did not linger once the mask was removed.

I tend to use the mask a couple of times a week and have got 8-9 uses out of a single pot. The pot costs £4.95, which is probably a little more expensive than some of the masks that are available in chemists for example, but in my opinion, considering the fresh ingredients and the positive effect it had on my skin, it's worth every penny! Lush also have an ongoing offer where if you bring back 5 empty pots of lush products you receive a free fresh mask - definitely worth it in my opinion as you can save money and do your bit for the environment!