Angels on Bare Skin

Price: $13.95 for 3.5 ounces 

                         or                            

          $33.95 for 8.4 ounces

                     at Lush

Lush is known for making cruelty-free, natural products, but do they actually do any good?  Angels on Bare Skin is a face and body cleanser sold by Lush that promises to even out skin tone and leave a healthy glow.  I have tried multiple facial cleansers from Lush (in sample sizes) and this is the only one I've actually paid for...twice.  Find out the good and the bad below.

First, let's talk about what the product is.  It's a clay based cleanser that uses lavender (to even out skin tone) and chopped up almonds (to exfoliate).  It's topped with lavender seeds and comes in a Lush tub that can be returned (once you have 5 empty tubs) in exchange for a fresh face mask.  First, we'll talk about the ingredient list.

Handmade with fresh ingredients:

Ground almonds, glycerine, kaolin, water, lavender oil, rose absolute, chamomile blue oil, tagetes oil, benzoin resinoid, lavender flowers, limonene*, and linalool*. 

 *Occurs naturally in essential oils

Now for the actual use of the product.  As you see in the picture below, this doesn't come in your typical liquid or gel textured form. As it is a clay based cleanser, it comes in more of a solid. What you do is take off a pea sized amount, add some water in your hand, and rub it together until it becomes more of a creamy consistency.  Then, rub it on your face or body and wash it off.  I've only ever used this on my face, so I'm not sure how well this works on the body.

Before we get into whether or not this works, let me tell you what I told the Lush associate when I was looking for a facial cleanser.  I told her, "I have combination skin.  Oily in the T-zone, but with a very annoying dry patch on one of my cheeks that is constantly red.  When it comes to cleansers, I don't like the tight, squeaky-clean feeling that comes after a cleanser, so I want one that will be moisturizing while not increasing oil in my T-zone."

She directed me to Angels on Bare Skin the minute she heard that I don't like the squeaky-clean feeling.  I understand why as I've tried other facial cleansers from Lush and nearly all of them had me reaching for my moisturizer within minutes.  AoBS smells wonderful.  It's perfect to use at night before bed since that lavender is so relaxing.  I didn't expect much from this product since I hadn't found a cleanser that worked the way I wanted it to yet, but it actually surprised me.  Since using this product, that red dry patch that's lived on my cheek for about 5 years has gone on vacation (thank you, rose absolute).  I wouldn't mind if it never comes back.  My face feels smooth and moisturized after using it and it's not screaming for a drink.  There are, of course, pros and cons.

Pros:
Smells GREAT (if you like lavender)
Leaves skin feeling smooth and soft
Lightly exfoliates without irritating (my) skin
You get a LOT of product

Cons:
It's not cheap
Did not improve acne
Expires after 3 months

If you are looking for a product that will prevent acne and you want to buy it from a cruelty-free, all natural company like Lush, watch out for a future review on their product called Dark Angels.  I've heard it works wonders for acne prone skin and I'm giving myself more time to test it out before I give an in depth review.

Price-wise, I say go for the smaller packaging.  The last one I bought was cut in store and weighed 0.25 pounds and cost $15.75.  Since I wasn't sharing with anyone, the product lasted me from the beginning of April until the end of July.  That's one month after it expired!  When I realized it expired, I tried it to see if it would have horrible effects after expiration.  I can't recommend using any Lush products after expiration, but this one didn't seem to do too bad.  Some of their products have things like egg in them and those products should not be used after expiration.  But, if you pick this up and have enough left for a week or two after it expires, I don't think there would be an issue.

I use a simple face wash in the morning and AoBS at night...every night. It's gentle enough to use daily, I know some people use it every morning and every night!  I cannot sing the praises of AoBS enough, it's amazing.  It truly is the first facial cleanser that I can swear by.  Love love love!!