STAND BACK- Don't Come Any Closer! (Lush Cosmetic Warrior Face Mask)

Member Name: coolcam7

Product:	Lush Cosmetic Warrior Face Mask
Date:	23/03/04 (577 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: soft skin, reduces oiliness

Disadvantages: the stench of garlic!

A recent trip to London meant (of course) a visit to Lush on Regent Street. I like to make the most of my visits because it saves me ordering from the website and having to pay for delivery so I didn?t hesitate to stock up. For some time now I have used the Lush mask of Magnaminty; an invigorating mix of herbs and natural oils and I find it very effective. I had no reason to stop using this mask other than the fact that I wanted a change. Seeing a whole shelf of different face masks laid out in front of me is so much more tempting than buying products from the website where I simply order my usual products and prompted me to choose a different mask for a change.

At this point I was approached by a Lush assistant who helped me choose a new mask to try. After complaining that the central heating was making my skin too oily (though sometimes it seems to really dry it out) I was pointed towards Cosmetic Warrior. I don?t take much persuading when it comes to Lush products so I added a pot to my already over-flowing basket of goodies.

This particular face mask is from the Lush Fresh range so it has to be kept in the fridge to prevent the ingredients going off. I like using products from this range because at least you know that the product hasn?t been sitting around in a stockroom shelf somewhere for ages. However the one annoyance is that the products have to be kept in the fridge and even then they have a relatively short life. I was told that I shouldn?t keep this one for longer than two weeks. I don?t tend to use face masks particularly often but with this one you have to otherwise it will go off and you?ll end up wasting half of it.

The product comes in a little pot with the Lush label on the front. Don?t expect any fancy packaging in Lush because you won?t be getting any. I like the
simplicity of the packaging because it suits the beliefs of the company and somehow makes the product seem more personalised but that might just be me who thinks that! Cosmetic warrior comes in a little see-through pot with a label on the front- told you it was simple.

On examining the ingredients label I was slightly alarmed to see that one of the listed ingredients was fresh garlic! I?m used to Lush using some pretty strange ingredients but garlic?! Other ingredients include fresh green grapes, fresh free range eggs, honey and tea tree oil. Well I can cope with that lot but I was still slightly sceptical about opening the pot after the mention of garlic. Would I be blown away by a waft of the stuff? Well not quite but you can certainly smell it. To be honest I?m not particularly keen on applying, and leaving on my skin, something which reeks of garlic.

Well after forking out £6.65 for 100g I wasn?t prepared to give up at the first hurdle, not even the stench of garlic was going to put me off using it! Application is easy; cleanse your face and then apply the face mask avoiding the eye area, then leave on for 5-10 minutes. The mask is fairly smooth with small pieces of grape skin in it. I thought that maybe the smell wouldn?t be so strong after I?d applied it but sadly I was wrong; you can still smell it for the entire duration that you leave the stuff on your skin. I lasted 5 minutes before I had to wash it off.

Now I have to admit my skin did feel very smooth after I?d washed the mask off and my skin stayed softer for a couple of days. I also had less oily skin for a couple of days after using it so I can?t deny it did what they told me it would but frankly even for nicer skin I can?t tolerate the smell of garlic for that long.

I haven?t actually used it since its still not reached its expiry date but I
; haven?t braved opening the pot again, it?s left lurking in the back of the fridge. Would I recommend it? Well I can?t deny it is very effective but I just don?t think it is worth the smell. There are plenty of other Lush face masks that smell nice which I?m sure would work just as well. My usual mask of Magnaminty is quite a refreshing and invigorating smell whereas this just smells of, well garlic.

And it doesn?t end there either. Oh no, just as annoying as garlic breath the smell seems to linger on the skin. I could still smell it about 3 hours later so if you plan on seeing friends or having any contact with other people avoid this face mask or you risk losing all your friends! I've given it 3 stars because it IS effective but do you really want to smell of garlic?

Perhaps I struck unlucky with a pot that contained an unusually large quantity of garlic in it but all I can say is that I won?t be buying this again and I?ll be smelling every Lush product before I buy it in future.

Thanks for reading! ☺

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