Getting Steamy with Lush! (Lush Vit E Toner Tab)

Member Name: pink_glitter

Product:	Lush Vit E Toner Tab
Date:	26/07/08 (270 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: smells nice when in the water, pampering, left my skin soft

Disadvantages: only get one use out of it, smell was strong before it hit the water

As I have mentioned in previous reviews, I've had a couple of major Lush sprees lately, and the latest Lush product I have tried out is their Vitamin E toner tab.

I believe toner tabs are a relatively new addition to the Lush collection, and there are three options to choose from - Vitamin E, Vitamin C and Tea Tree. I was initially going to get the Tea Tree one to use when I next have a breakout of spots, but then I thought I'd be tempting fate, so went for the Vitamin E instead.

So what exactly is a toner tab? Well basically it is a small effervescent tab (or tablet) which contains lots of different essential oils. The idea is, you drop it into a bowl or sink of steaming hot water, and put a towel over your head to lock in the steam, and effectively give yourself a facial sauna. Afterwards you can then use cotton wool to wipe the water over your face, which acts as a toner.

I actually used to do these types of facial saunas quite regularly using just plain water when I was a teenager (I obviously read it in Just 17 or something!), but it has been years since I had done this, so I was looking forward to using the product.

The toner tab is round in shape and just slightly bigger than a £2 coin in diameter, although it's maybe a centimetre or so in height. It has the letter E imprinted onto it. If you have kids in the house you may want to be careful where you put this, as it does resemble a sweet in some ways. To pick it up it's quite powdery and will leave a white powder residue on your fingers and also a bit of a floral smell.

The toner tab contains Geranium Oil, Lavender Oil, Neroli Oil and vitamin E oil, as well as sodium bicarbonate, citric acid, and that ever ambiguous ingredient - perfume. The smell is sweet and floral - the main scents coming through being the Geranium and Neroli I would say. Overall, I was not particularly keen on the smell, I thought it was a bit overpowering and flowery for my tastes. I ordered this from the website, so didn't know what it smelled like before using it, but I would guess if I had picked it up in the shop, I probably would have put it back down again.

When I came to using it, I filled my bathroom sink with hot water, and dropped in the tab. Straight away it began to fizz, and looking at it reminded me a bit of an alka seltzer! So sitting down (I had took a chair into the bathroom or I would have done my back in), I put my head over the sink and covered it with a towel. Considering I hadn't liked the smell of the tab before I used it, I was pleasantly surprised that it smelled totally different whilst in the water. It had a sort of powdery, floral scent, and although I thought it was a bit of an old-fashioned sort of smell, it was still pleasant and I was glad it wasn't too strong, as I don't think I could have stood the combination of the hot steam and the strong floral smell this had before putting it into the water.

I found that I actually started to feel quite relaxed and sleepy whilst I was using this. It's possible it was just the heat of the steam, but is more likely to be due to the lavender oil, which is known for its relaxing, sleep-inducing properties which is why it can be found in a lot of 'bedtime' products designed to aid sleep.

So after sitting with my head over the sink of steaming water for around five minutes, I was getting a bit bored, so decided to come up for air! As instructed, I got a piece of cotton wool and dipped it in the water, before rubbing over my face. I was surprised that I could feel the oils in the water on my skin, although I have to add that it did not feel greasy at all.

After using this, my skin felt clean and refreshed, and it even felt softer which I was fairly surprised about after just one use. I think to see better results you would need to use this on a regular basis though. I can't imagine having the time to use this daily in place of a liquid toner, but as a weekly treat it may be nice.

Unlike most products it did not scent my bathroom, however given its small size, I wouldn't really have expected it to.

At just 75p the toner tabs are one of Lush's cheapest products, but do bear in mind you will only get one use from them.

Overall, I was fairly impressed with this product, and will definitely buy the other two toner tabs to try in the future.

Summary: Another Lush hit!