PRODUCT REVIEW: Lush Ocean Salt Facial Scrub

Today I'm doing a product review on another Lush product, this time it's the Facial Scrub "Ocean Salt". Like all Lush products, it's made out of all natural ingredients. The main ingredient for the scrub part of the product are real chunks of sea salt. So when you open the packaging at first, it would have a citrus and tangy smell, like an ocean breeze. Since there are some real sea salt in the product, some of you would be worried about it tearing at the facial skin. It doesn't tear at it at all, with coconut and avocado (two natural moisturising ingredients) it does no harm to the skin, the salt isn't jagged with any sharp points and would fall of after a few minutes.

Ocean Salt comes in two sizes, this is the smaller version of it. It comes in a black plastic pot, but the beauty is that this pot is recyclable. The company encourages people to recycle the plastic pots with their gather 5 pots and get a Fresh Mask free idea. Honestly, I don't like the pot idea at all, its so small and messy and the product just goes everywhere, the only great thing about it is that it is easy to store. Like all Lush products, they seem to have the black and white theme going.

This is what the actual product looks like. As Lush in the kind of store that tries to be all natural, I did not expect it to be all colourful and beautiful. It has a really strong citrus smell though. since there is so much citrus extract in the product. I know that they didn't really use perfume on the product since its one of the last few ingredients in the list. It smells great and I personally really like the lime smell. It freshens me up whenever I use it.

As with most things in life, too much is not always a good thing. Scrubs does wonders for your skin but too much scrubbing isn't good at all. Your skin also needs time to regrow itself, so if you want you're baby soft skin, use it sparingly. Again, a little goes a long way with this product. There is a dosage on how often you should use the product, for dry skin once a week is enough, for oily (Depending on the severity,) it could be twice or thrice a week.

I have combination skin so I usually use this thrice a week max. I've been using this regularly and I can say that while it smells great, it has a so-so scrubbing power.Yes it did clean my skin, but it didn't really help with preventing whiteheads from popping up. I love the smell and the fact that this is a natural product, with no harsh chemicals whatsoever but it didn't really do what I expect it to do. A tip for those who buys this scrub, there's real salt so when  you rinse it off, make sure you keep you're mouth and eyes shut tight unless you want salty water to come in. (trust me, it was NOT funny)

All in all I give this product a 6/10, for the not so great packaging and the lack for scrubbing power. I would recommend it to those who are natural product junkies who are searching for a more gentle scrub, not so much for people like me who likes a slightly harsher ones.

So that's it for my view on this product, if any of you have different experiences with it comment bellow, I'd love to see what your experiences are about the product :) Have fun trying it out for those who like gentler scrubs.

-ElizabethTiffany

Asian Skin Care Routine

Being an Asian myself, I notice that there are several differences between an Asian skin care routine and a Western skin care routine. With the latest trend being the a lot of Asian branded skin care products from mainly Korea or Japan, I think that it'll be great to share with you guys on the main parts of an Asian skin care routine.

It's strange but I notice that most westerners prefer to splurge on make up (personally I love to buy these as well since they're the fun part of a girl's life) but Asians usually go nuts about skin care. Sunblock, whitening, brightening, all the things that prevent skin from tanning and helping skin grow whiter is what most of us splurge on. I myself like to splurge on sunblock and face masks, they're my two favourite things. We like to have pale and bright skin, I myself try to avoid tanning myself to much and prefer to stay in the shade because of this. Although I'm pale for an Asian, it's nothing compared to most Westerners who have very pale skin. Pretty much a clear bright skin is the aim with of most women in Asia.

A typical skin care routine for me would be:

1. Do the Double Cleanse, this is when I first use my Cleansing Cream/Lotion (in my case the Lush 9 To 5) or a Cleansing Oil to first remove my make up completely from my face, then I use a Foaming Cleanser to further ensure that no make up is still in place.
2. Next I would use a Toner, most Asian Toners not only cleanse but they also hydrate the skin, to fix the amount of fluids lost through the Double Cleanse technique. Western toners usually help to remove the particles between the skin so they are a bit more drying. Sometimes, we could use a Booster which helps the absorption of other products into the skin together with the toner. Some toners have a mix of both a toner and a booster while some brands separate them.
3. For those people who use Eye-cream, the next step would be to use the eye cream on both the upper lid and the eye bag area. As the skin around the eye is very delicate, it is best to spread the eye cream with light pressure by using the ring finger. Most people feel that using an eye-cream is only for those who are fighting anti-ageing signs but teens can use them too, as long as its only for hydration purposes. (Eyeshadow goes on better after using eye-creams)
4. For the skin care enthusiast, they would use the Sheet Masks (or Paper Masks) for night time ONLY. Paper masks are basically thin cotton sheets soaked in treatment essences that helps a particular skin problem (e.g lemon = brightening, honey = moisture & brightening, etc). You could use them daily, or twice a week (it depends on you really). Use the mask for 15-20 minutes and don't wash it off, just rub the excess residue into the skin. 
5. Next is the Essence/ Serum which are just liquid concentrated skin care actives, with a texture thats around a liquid and a gel. They are also known as ampoules.
6. After the Essence is the Emulsion. Emulsions are just lighter versions of moisturising creams but with a lesser concentration of the skin care active ingredients in an Essence. Living in a tropical country (terrible heat and humidity issues) would mean that this is the only moisturising you'll need.
7. Spot Treatment comes after, all the acne treatments, whitening serum, anti-ageing spot treatments, etc are used after
8. Then for people living in four seasoned countries, they could use Creams to further moisturise their skin.
9. Finally (again this is optional) for the night time routine, there's the Sleeping Pack my favourite being the Laneige Sleeping Pack Ex. It's basically a sleeping mask that gives intense hydration and other added benefits to the skin 
10. For day time routines, use a Sunblock at the end.

Depending on how hot and humid the day is I might use some products that merges some steps together (e.g use a toner that already has a booster) or when I'm feeling lazy, I tend to skip some steps but this is the basic Asian skin care routine, you could try and combine steps if you want to try and save on time. It has great results and hopefully, you'll get your favourite Korean celebrity's skin.

If you want to go FULL on Korean, then some brands that are legit from Korea are Innisfree, Skin food, Etude House, and Face Shop. ( I like them all really but not so much on Etude House, leaning more to Skin Food and Innisfree as a favourite Korean brand) 

Your skin care products don't have to be full on Asian, just use products you feel fit the categories listed above and substitute them in. Western products could be used too together with the routine. I like to switch up my masks between the classic clay mask and the paper masks just to get both benefits from the two masks,

Have fun getting the lovely skins you want :) good luck. No need to hide yourself too much with a ton of make up, let your natural beauty peek through. With clear skin, it's much easier to apply make up.

-Elizabeth Tiffany

PRODUCT REVIEW: Lush 9 To 5 Cleansing Lotion

Product Review: Lush Cleansing Lotion 9 To 5















Actually, I bought this when I went to summer school a few months back in Oxford, England. When I first bought the product, I didn't really know about the brand Lush, it just looked like an interesting hippie styled store that has a similar outlook as body shop. So I am pleasantly surprised on my first purchase. Lush uses all natural ingredients in their products so they are gentle to the skin. For the 9 To 5, Lush uses Dove Orchids and Ylang Ylang Oil, which follows their all natural motto. The packaging itself is very simple, black and white printed label. The neo-futuristic feel of the product gives it it's edge natural feel.

The cleansing lotion feels like a normal moisturiser, it has a pastel yellow colouring and is quite light to use. It claims to remove all types of make up be it waterproof or smudge-proof, which should be great for most eye make ups. Typically, I like to use a waterproof mascara everyday so having a make up remover that could do that is a great help. The skin around my eye area is usually very sensitive to most types of removers so the removers I use cannot be too harsh for the skin.

I usually use the cleansing lotion with a cotton pad to wipe the mascara off my eyelashes. It feels slightly cool and it doesn't irritate my skin. There's no stinging sensation when I slowly remove the mascara. Usually, one cotton pad lathered with the lotion is enough for removing two coats of mascara on each eye. The lotion is quite good in removing my daily make up, it also doesn't hurt that its gentle :)

Thanks to this cleansing lotion, I actually became quite a fan of Lush products. The natural appeal is great and the products actually does what it's supposed to do, with that I give the product again a 9/10. A nine only because I thought that they could try and be better with the packaging. I really liked the product and recommend it to anyone who likes to do the Double Cleansing method.

-ElizabethTiffany