I'm an Angel and I do love Bare Skin! (Lush Angels On Bare Skin)

Member Name: sweetpea01

Product:	Lush Angels On Bare Skin
Date:	13/05/09 (153 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A great soothing cleanser

Disadvantages: Not visually appealing!

I'm always in search of greatness when it comes to my skin. I'm always looking for "the" best product possible that will suit my sensitive skin. I always use Lush products as they just seem to compliment the skin a lot better than other brands I have tried. The great thing about Lush is that they generally product products based on skin type, rather than a multi-skin type product which can be hit or miss.

Even though I use liquid cleansers it's always nice to have a change, to give the skin a break from the norm and to freshen up a bit. I've always been intrigued by Angels On Bare Skin as even though it's not visually appealing it's write up is great as are the reviews. Surely if so many can forgive it's quite ugly appearance then so can I!

Angels On Bare Skin is a solid face cleanser containing gently exfoliating ground almonds, deep-cleansing kaolin, balancing lavender oil and flowers (to which Angels On Bare Skin owes the bulk of its fragrance), and softening rose oil and glycerine. Angels can at first be very tricky to use. The company suggests mixing the cleanser with water in your hand to create a paste and then spreading it across your face. In my past experience with similar products, I've found that the paste-making strategy isn't a particularly effective way to clean skin. I have learned to splash my face with lots of water and then gently rub a piece of the product across damp skin; this creates a nice layer of cleanser without sending lots of product down the drain while you attempt to make a "paste".

Angels On Bare Skin is fairly easy to use. It spreads across skin in a layer of medium thickness. I wouldn't describe this cleanser as "exfoliating" but, when I really concentrated, I could discern the ground almond bits in it. I also noted that it felt slightly oily (thanks to the lavender oil it contains) as I massaged it onto my face. The lavender flowers that this product contains are very visible, disturbing, and entirely unnecessary. I absolutely adore lavender and can't get enough of it but even this won't stop me from hating dead foliage in bath products!

The almonds are ground very finely and are blended with kaolin, lavender oil, rose and lavender flowers. What you have is a very smooth creamy scrub with enough power to clear away dry skin and moisturize the rest of your face at the same time.

But who, exactly, is this cleanser for? Lush's websites often recommend this
exfoliating cleanser for all skin types. Meanwhile, the Lush Times rarely indicates the type of skin this cleanser was designed for, even as every other cleanser on the page has a recommended skin type listed in large font above their descriptions! To make matters even more confusing, if you look at the actual labeled pot, you'll usually find a discreet recommendation for "normal to dry" skin.

Well, there's a reason for all of this confusion; admittedly, Lush more often than not focus on creating products to address specific problems rather than blanketed labels of types (which sometimes is just want you want). And this has never been more true than in Angels On Bare Skin's case. Dry to normal skin can expect to feel smooth and soft, with the added benefit of disappearing fine lines (and that's before you apply moisturiser), owed to no longer using a cleanser that contains harsh, stripping chemical ingredients, but rather one that naturally removes dirt, makeup and oils - which let's face it aren't we all after this effect? We don't want something that costs a fortunate and that ruins the skin.

Angels on Bare Skin then replaces them with calming essential oils that work miracles not only on your face, but also on your mind. (the lavender oil as we all know is a great relaxant and perfect for taking your make up off before bedtime!) Additionally, a brighter colour can be expected where your overall complexion is concerned; after about a week of use a radiant glow will be permanently fitted to your face, even first thing in the morning when you'd normally expect to look and feel awful.

Oily or combination skin can also use Angels On Bare Skin, especially if prone to sensitivity - whether experienced year round or solely with the chafing cold of winter. In fact, oily skin is typically more prone to sensitivity than any other; not only is it often thinner, but the tough cleansers assigned to it can irritate and dehydrate its outermost layers, while deeper layers compensate by producing all that much more sebum. It's quite scary as to how much I know about sin, as I've mentioned in my Lemony Flutter review I have been subjected to years of trails with my friend who is a now a qualified beauty therapist, so you do pick up things along the way!

I think the best way for your skin to really get the benefits of Angels on Bare Skin is by coupling this with your usual stronger cleanser: for example, opting for a milder Angels On Bare Skin wash in the morning and Ocean Salt, Coalface, or Herbalism in the evenings to remove a day's worth of makeup and grime. Second, you may wish to altogether pass on moisturiser, with your having the advantage of viewing this as a convenient two-in-one product, especially where your T-zone is concerned. Even though I do have dry skin when I go to bed at night I sometimes don't put a moisturiser on so my skin can actually breath.

In fact, when my skin is at its most sensitive, Angels works best for me when coupled with nothing more than Lush's softening rose and lavender Eau Roma Toner (which is a firm favourite of mine!), this is definitely worth a try. Summed up, this cleanser can solve problems associated with all skin types; it just takes a bit of know-how at the oilier end of the skin care spectrum. Hence the Lush Times' apparent hesitancy to definitively label Angels On Bare Skin's natural effectiveness as being suitable for only some or simply all.

What Lush says:-

Angelic medieval rose & lavender cleansing wash.
Angels on Bare Skin is the Lush version of an excruciatingly expensive medieval skincare recipe. Rare, precious essential oils were first brought to Europe by the crusaders who encountered Arabian medicine; they were immediately banned by the church because of their ability to alter states of mind - the devil's work! Anyway, at the end of the day the final result was Cosmetics 1, Church 0. Rose oil and lavender oil were discovered to do wonderful things for the skin too; almost a thousand years later you'd be hard pressed to find a better all round cleanser and exfoliator than Angels.

Angels On Bare Skin costs around £5.14 for a pot. Which yes is slightly more expensive than your average supermarket toner but you don't need to use a lot, so a little goes a long way. And I'm sure you'll get over the price shock once you see a change in your skin!

Most exfoliating scrubs can only dream of being Angels on Bare Skin. They are scratchy, stingy and somewhat annoying for the most part. It is rare to find an exfoliating scrub that is kind to sensitive skin and this is perhaps the most calming and moisturizing scrub you will ever find.

Summary: All of the above!