Lush

I've recently taken to a skin-care line called Lush. Since I've had time on my hands, I can't resist researching and watching videos on recommended products for hair and skin, seeing as both are suffering on my end. I'm happy to say that my skin has improved since the horrendous past two years. Stress kills skin!

Lush basically hand-makes all its products i.e. it follows other ever-trendy "organic" cosmetics brands. At first, the idea that it was marketed as all natural and organic put me off. I can't help but find people and companies who hawk organic products to be somewhat elitist (this is after living in a part of Philly that only had Trader Joes, Whole Foods and similar stores in its vicinity); however, I'm pleasantly surprised by how much I actually like this stuff. Because it's environmentally as well, Lush uses minimum packaging; without purchasing the shampoo bar tin, I would be walking away with a bar of shampoo wrapped in brown paper.

Anyway, the two products I've been using from Lush are Herbalism cleanser for the face and New! shampoo. The cleanser is a grainy, solid, messy lump of green that is mostly made of vinegar (so the smell is a bit funky though I don't mind, it kind of reminds me of this delicious Indian snack made of rice and coconut) and rubs on like a scrub. I know I am possibly making this sound extremely unpleasant but it actually works to exfoliate the skin and make it soft. The Lush rep that sold it to me explained that this was a good cleanser for oily skin (me) that's prone to breaking out (also me). So far, I've been using it for two and a half weeks and I haven't had any crazy issues. Wonderful, considering how sensitive and reactionary my skin.

The shampoo is in a solid bar form, that is, it looks like soap. It's mostly made of cinnamon and clove, and you basically rub or swipe it in your hair. It lathers up pretty quickly, thus you don't need to use a whole lot of product. The bar was $9. It is a bit expensive but I am told that it lasts for months, and judging by how I'm using it, I can believe that. I bought this shampoo to address my thinning hair. It is advertised in this way:

"If you're losing your mane because of hormones or age, you could go out and buy a new toupee, but first try New shampoo and see if it doesn't do the trick"

Well I've been using it for a couple of weeks now, and I do like it. I notice my hair is falling out less. I'm hoping it can stimulate some hair growth and healthy follicles. The downfall is that it dries the hair out so investing in a good conditioner might not be a bad idea. My scalp gets oily pretty quickly so I don't mind it drying out; however, I am beginning to think that even I could use a conditioner because as it dries out, it does make the hair a bit coarser.

The sales rep also sent me home with a sample of tea tree water toner. This is different from the traditional tea tree oil that you could get at bath and body or the body shop. I have to say, I wish I purchased the tea tree water because that was potentially the best out of the three Lush products I tried. It made my skin not only feel really clean but I think it actually thoroughly cleansed. It also went on gently and I didn't have any rash-type side effects like I did with tea tree oil.

I bought these Lush products from the Macys in Menlo Park Mall. They also have a couple of locations in the city.

Bottom Line: Check this place out and ask for samples. You may find your processed self craving for detox immediately.