Lush I Should Coco

I had been mildly successful in avoiding Lush stores – while being able to smell them a mile away I've never really managed to get over the general sense of revulsion I experience when walking near one. I bit the bullet and actually decided to venture into their Manchester store a couple of years go (looking back, sadly for me it was actually close to a decade ago) – yes the hype I’d read about Lush overcame the rational (well I think I’m rational) thoughts bouncing around my noggin (that’s head for you non-Northern readers).

"I Should Coco" soap bar. I’d read about the "I Should Coco" soap bar online and saw it as too girlie to actually use. I bought a 100g bar and from the first time I used it I was hooked.

The pictures show the bar in all its glory and I won't be going into any amazing description of it. The only thing that you tend to miss nowadays when buying it online like some sort of subversive is the coconut on the top as shown below from my latest eBay purchase. For £1.95 for a bar weighing 100g it was never cheap soap by any stretch of the imagination. 

Layered into three shades of pink the topside of the bar was coated in flakes of coconut making it very easy to grip, even when wet. Basically the soap looked and oozed a very feminine vibe. It’s not something you’d be rushing to take into the showers at the gym.

The bar itself contains creamed coconut along with Orange and Coriander oil which smells almost sickly sweet. I wasn't never sure whether I should be washing with it, or indeed taking a sizeable bite from it. The mild coconut aroma is striking and blends fantastically well with the Orange oils.

After it is immersed in warm water, the aroma from the bar increases but never becomes overpowering on the senses. I'm now down to my last nub of the soap and actually worried about the day it is no more, deceased like a certain Norwegian Blue (if you don't get it reference 'Dead Parrot' by Monty Python).

The beauty of this soap is that that it lathers up superbly, with a little going a very long way. The coconut flakes act as a mild abrasive, exfoliating dead skin as you wash meaning that not only did you not need to use half a bar in the shower, but you also didn't need to use a different product to moisturise after washing.

The final results were and continue to be amazing, my skin felt clean, fresh and above all moisturised. Any traces of body odour after travelling on a packed tube train were removed and the soap left a very subtle but noticeable coconut fragrance that lingered for a few hours. What more could you ask from a soap?

I now regularly use this in the shower and haven't noticed any adverse effects at all. I'm actually quite tight with the use now though! The only problems apart from the actual price is that when used in the bath the soap does fall to pieces rather quickly. It turns the water pink, there is an oily residue around the bath and floating pieces of coconut seem to take an absolute age to remove when getting dried!

Overall I love this product and will not be returning to 90% of the major high street brands.

Using this encouraged me to try more from the Lush range. I’ve been converted – I’m no longer a Lush-o-sceptic!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

BeautykingUK needs you! 

I'm so in love with this soap that I think we should let Lush know how we feel. 

Show your support for the reintroduction of "I Should Coco" by clicking on the poll on the right hand side of this page - two seconds of your time could sway opinion.

View Post

Swisa Beauty Dead Sea Facial Peel

I have over time devoted more and more time to a cleansing regime to ensure that the skin on my face despite the constant battering it takes from the London air and my sometimes unhealthy lifestyle remains smooth, soft and generally appealing. Nobody wants to stare at or get up close and person with someone with a layer of grime on their face with dead skin aplenty. 

Having never thought about using a facial peel this fell into my possession while trying to escape the hell of a shopping trip to the mall from hell. I do of course refer to the place where discount goods go to die - Shopping City in Wood Green, London.  Accosted by a rather persistent sales assistant on a stall she gave me a quick demonstration which literally turned my stomach. Within seconds a pure white cotton pad was as black as the ace of spades. Yuck! What was worse was that I was only 30 minutes out of the shower! 

I was shamed into parting with £30 for a 30ml pot of Swisa Beauty Dead Sea Facial Peel

Now in my opinion £30 is a lot to pay for any sort of beauty treatment/product so the proof is in the value for money test, how it performs and ultimately if it can be found elsewhere for cheaper. 

When replacing my first tub of the facial peel some 6 months after my first experiences with it I paid only £25 from the same stall (the prices never stay the same and haggling is always the order of the day) however when looking online I felt rather violated by the fact that it can be bought for as little as $22 (yes, that US Dollars not Pounds) from places like eBay. 

So, I think I have established that this is something of a luxury item, but once you remove it from the outer box you find a mock glass (clear plastic) tub which looks remarkably stylish with a black screw top lid. 

Contained within the outer box are no instructions on how to use the product, how often you should use it or indeed what the potential benefits should be. Going off from the sale patter given by the stallholder I was told that this would remove black and white heads, dead skin whilst at the same time retaining moisture to maintain the pH balance of my skin. 

In layman terms she advised that it was good to clear off the gunk that builds up on the face that just isn’t removed by a normal exfoliator or day to day washing with soap and water. She stated that it was only to be used once or twice a week and that only a pea sized amount was needed. With this in mind, I couldn’t wait to see what came off my face as soon as I got home.

Containing Dead Sea Minerals and various other anti-oxidant ingredients such as Echinacea, Ginseng and Rosemary as soon as the lid is unscrewed the delightful aroma is unleashed. Rather than being overpowering and with a chemical base in terms of fragrance was greeted me was a subtle, fresh smell akin to watermelon, not too strong with hints of Rosemary. If I had to sum up the fragrance I would say a cross between fruity and herbal.

The facial peel has a gel like consistency when in the tub and is easy to remove and apply to the face and neck. I dipped my fingers into the tub and the pale green facial peel literally stuck to my fingertips. As recommended I tried only a pea sized amount but found that after smoothing it across my face it only covered one cheek so 3-4 pea sized amounts were needed to cover my forehead, cheeks, chin and nose. As it is smoothed over the skin it does thin quite a lot making it easy to massage into the face. At this point the minerals that should remove the dead skin and black heads were not noticeable in the slightest however there was a gentle tingling sensation and my face felt very cool.

After massaging the facial peel in for 2-3 minutes most of it was absorbed and the more I massaged it became evident that what can only be described as small clumps of dead skin started to build up from nowhere. The entire massaging process took 5 minutes and once finished I took a cotton pad and started to methodically wipe my face. The results judging from the colour of the dirt and grime that had been removed were exceptional. In the end I used 3 pads as the grime built up on each pad really quickly. A closer inspection of the pads I had used revealed something I had never noticed when looking in the mirror, blackheads, and lots of them stuck to the pad in between the obvious grime. Instead of just removing the head, the entire root was on the pad.

After washing my face down with cold water and patting it dry I took the brave step of touching my own face and found that the skin was so smooth and soft I could help stroking my cheeks in disbelief. The results were simply put - out of this world. 

After using it the first time the amount of dirt, grime and blackheads removed each week decreased slightly but it is still removing that stubborn stuff that insists on sticking to my face.

My first 30ml tub of the facial peel lasted 6 months using it once a week. Based upon the initial purchase price and the results I would have no hesitation in recommending this to any potential consumer. 

Personally I did not suffer any sort of irritation but would provide an air of caution to those with sensitive skin. The tingling if left on the skin for too long can start to burn a little. Try a tester before making such an investment. If I had to pay £30 for another tub I would happily part with it because I am delighted with the results but now that I have found a supplier much cheaper I will continue to cleanse using the Swisa Beauty Dead Sea Facial Peel.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

View Post