LUSH Ocean Salt…

LUSH is a brand that I got to know in my mid-teens while flipping through overseas teen magazines – I still remember the first item I ever tried from the range…their Green Pea soap, when I was about 15 – and got super upset when they stopped making that particular soap some years later.

When I went to Perth to study I was delighted to find LUSH in Australia, although the prices were less than endearing (due to the exchange rate of importing the products into Australia and living on a lowly non-earning student’s budget!) so purchases were few and far between…

So you can imagine how crazy I went when I finally got myself to England (where LUSH originates from)…hehe…ever since then, I’ve kept myself with a steady supply of LUSH – at least for a few months at a time, since their products contain fresh ingredients (read: short expiry date!) One of my most recent purchases was the Ocean Salt, which I fell for after trying it at the outlet.

Description:
Generous portions of fine and coarse sea salt line the rim of an enriching facial scrub to wash away everyday grime. Ocean Salt refreshes, nourishes, and tones, all while smelling deliciously of violet and lime. Butters of the avocado and coconut variety take the edge off, moisturizing and softening your face to reveal a brighter you. Try it on other parts of your body as well and take a trip to Margaritaville without the hangover.

Directions:
Splash water on your face and apply about a teaspoonful of scrub using an upward, circular motion to exfoliate, detoxify and refresh the skin. Rinse thoroughly after. Can also be used on other parts of the body including chest, back, arms and legs.

The Verdict:
Quite the shocking colour, isn’t it? :) The colour in the picture above is after I’ve used it a few times – the original colour when I first opened the pot was an almost-turquoise green-blue swirled in pearly white (a very roundabout description, but that’s as close as I can get!) I suppose the colour was meant to either denote the ocean, or a margarita?

First things first…this – scrub – smells – great! The violet, grapefruit and lime scents give a lovely note, with a hint of vodka – perfect for the subliminated alcoholic in me…LOL! I usually try to stay clear of products that have too much perfume in the mix especially if they’re going to be applied on my face, but in this case the scent is mostly from essential oils and fresh extract and is not strong at all.

When rubbing some scrub between my palms before applying it to my face, I noticed that the coarse sea salt is really coarse – you can see it clearly from the picture above. This was a bit worrying, but as soon as I applied it to my skin it was a different matter altogether…*bliss*

The salt granules in the scrub melted once I dampened it to gently exfoliate and cleanse my skin. Thanks to the glycerin, lanolin, fresh avocado butter and coconut fat, my skin felt amazing afterwards, without feeling ‘greased up’ – I felt like doing that ‘toiing toiing’ bounce on my cheek with my finger (can’t remember which facewash commercial I saw that in on TV) because my skin really felt like that…two thumbs up!

The directions recommend a teaspoonful of scrub, but that’s being a bit generous – about ¾ that amount is more than sufficient for my face. And did I mention that it’s fab for scrubbing those rough patches from my elbows and heels? Talk about multi-purpose!

Given the amount I use on my face and the contents of the pot, they’ve estimated the expiry date quite well…you can easily finish up one tub in 3 months or so if you use it on your face every other day. *sigh*… I regret buying the 120g pot though – should’ve gotten the 250g pot instead! There’s only one warning I have for potential users though – it does contain alcohol so be warned that it could sting if you have very sensitive skin or raw blemishes.


LUSH Ocean Salt retails at £5.95 (approximately RM37) for a 120g pot, and is available at all LUSH outlets.


Rating: 4 / 5
Value: $$$