Your new year's recipe for Lush skin

Love London

I don't know about you, but post-Christmas my skin has been horrendous. A month of burning the candle, overindulgence, cold weather and central heating, too much alcohol and no vitamin D has left it dull, oily, spot prone and dry all in one. What a treat. Fed up with my make up ending up halfway down my face by lunchtime, I popped in to Oxford Street's flagship Lush store on Friday to see if their new Fresh Facial might be able to help.

Designed as a speedy 30 minute lunch break revival, it may not be as indulgent as some of their other treatments (which you will want to get on board with - trust me, some of the best I've ever tried) but I walked out the door feeling like I had a new face. Taking place in a dedicated shop floor area in the basement spa section, the £45 treatment takes into account your individual skin needs before your therapist hand selects which fresh products your skin needs from the bevy of skincare beauties.

After explaining my issues (all of them), I was prescribed the Ultrabland super simple cleansing balm, (£8.25) followed by the Herbalism fresh cleanser (£8.50), a blend to remove dirt and grease, brighten skin and leave it revitalised. Following a cleanse came a dose of their Light Touch naked facial oil (£9.95), a solid bar featuring clarifying witch hazel, mineral-rich Irish moss, antioxidant rich blue spirulina and rejuvenating jojoba and meadowfoam oils; one weekend and I'm hooked. I've officially donated my previous skin oil to my housemate and this little baby has taken up pride of place on my bedside table.

The use of the oil (much like a serum) first means the Cupcake face mask (£8.50) worked even harder. With rhassoul clay to draw out impuritities, fresh mint to stimulate and tone the skin, cocoa butter and linseed to softer and moisturise, a dose of cocoa powder makes it smell good enough to eat. While the mask was doing its thing a little hand massage ensued, using the DEEPLY indulgent Handy Gurugu (£8.50), a blend of shea, peanut, cashew and almond butters, pumpkinseed and rose water. Seriously rich and remarkably ungreasy, it's a new favourite.

The finishing touch was the Imperialis moisturiser (£16.95), a light balancing face cream packed with herbal goodies to restore the skin, loaded with plant infusions of lavender, St John’s wort, sweet violet, sunflower, elderflower, and mullein, which have been used for centuries to help restore and revive skin.

I wasn't over-exaggerating earlier; after just 30 minutes my skin felt completely overhauled, soft and smooth, revived and refreshed, stark contrast to the juxtaposed flaky oilslick that went in there. Plus given I left with little tester pots of everything used I've been carrying on the good work they started over the weekend.

New year = new skincare regime.

The Fresh Facial is priced £45 for 30 minutes and is currently available the the Oxford Street branch. For more information and to book visit
https://uk.lush.com

Posted Date
Jan 6, 2019 in Love London by Laurel