OK I have a little confession to make. Prior to going on holiday I had become very lazy with taking my makeup off. I’d say 5 days out of 7 I would just use a micellar water at the end of the day and occasionally a little hot water on a flannel after. My skin deteriorated pretty quickly and even though I knew the reason why I didn’t really do much about it as I was incredibly busy with work and life etc etc. Then, after I came back from holiday and my skin had been healed by a healthy dose of sun I wanted to maintain its appearance. I knew I had to stop being so lazy with taking my makeup off and I’m proud to say that I’ve used a cleanser every night since. In fact, I bough a new bottle of Bioderma at the end of June whilst in London and I haven’t even broken the seal on it yet. Of course all this means that I’ve been powering through cleansers a lot quicker than normal and it’s been fun trying to find the best one for my skin.
The Lush Ultrabland Facial Cleanser* is described by Lush as one of the founders Desert Island products. I was lucky enough to be given a sample, which I’m pretty sure is a full sized product at the Birmingham Blogger event in June (read about that here.) I’ll be honest, when I think of Lush I think of bath bombs and soaps and before this event I never even thought about their skincare which is actually a pretty extensive range.
Ultrabland is designed to be a rich, soft, oily cleansing cream that caters for all skin types. The first time I used this cleanser I did feel like I was rubbing vaseline all over my face but with a bit of work, it becomes a lot more creamer. It contains many natural ingredients including Almond Oil, Rose Water, Beeswax and Honey and it is the beeswax that’s the big ingredient here. Beeswax is one of the most natural products you can use that will break down the oils and waxes found in makeup. Using products with beeswax in them makes it easier to remove makeup with so when you use a face cloth to remove this cleanser it should bring off all the makeup with it.
If I’m honest I found Ultrabland a bit ‘meh’ at first. I wasn’t sure about the thickness of it as I thought that it would take loads to get my makeup off and the smell is not the most enchanting either. My feelings on the scent haven’t changed and there are definitely other cleansers that I have used that smell better. However I was surprised to learn that actually it spreads fairly easily over the face and doesn’t require you using a huge amount after all. It makes my skin feel squeaky clean after using it but not particular soft. I guess that isn’t super important from a cleanser (the makeup removal bit is!!) as I apply moisturiser afterwards but as somebody with dry skin, I really like it when cleansers do make the skin feel soft and moisturised as well.
Overall I have been fairly impressed with my first undertaking into Lush skincare but not enough to perhaps call this one of my favourite cleansers. Ultrabland has a lot going for it in terms of natural ingredients and its ability to cleanse the skin but there is something that I just can’t seem to put my finger on that is stopping me calling this a well rounded, ‘amazing’ product. If you’d like to try Ultrabland for yourself it is available at Lush for £6.95 for 45g.
Have you used any of Lush’s other cleansers? Which one is your favourite?
♥
*PR Sample
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