First impressions can determine a lot when testing out new skincare products. Today I tried the Dark Angels cleansing scrub from Lush Cosmetics and these are my thoughts.

First off, let me just say that it took some convincing from my boyfriend to actually try this stuff. Since many of us with eczema know how tricky it can be to find skincare products that are suitable for our skin, it took a while before budged. I spoke with a sales assistant at the LUSH V&A waterfront store, who advised that I try the Dark Angels cleanser whilst in the shower because the product needed to be thoroughly rinsed off after use. The instructions said to take a piece of the mud-like substance and add water to create a paste. This part was relatively easy, though at first I dropped most of the mud on to the floor before I could actually work it into a paste. Nevertheless, after getting that part right, I applied it to my face and liberally massaged all over, avoiding the under-eye area.

After moisturizing my face with my usual 2 drops of jojoba oil & aqueous cream, I applied some concealer and brow gel and went about my day as usual. Not much later, I discovered several droplets of sweat on my nose, upper lip and chin; my pores had obviously undergone some serious de-clogging. Although some people might be thoroughly put off by this, I wasn’t – all it took was a clean tissue to dab away the sweat.

As for my overall opinion on this product, based solely on my first impression, I think it’s a good product that really cleanses and declogs pores. While I wasn’t completely blown away by the product, my skin did show some improvement and a smoother texture after using the scrub. From the scrubs I’ve used before, like M.A.C’s volcanic ash face scrub – which you can read about here – I think my initial expectations were set too high. However, if you’re simply looking for an everyday scrub that does a thoroughly good job of cleaning your skin, you’ll get value for money from this cleanser. Wondering about the price tag? You can expect to pay about R165, which is consistent with most charcoal-based scrubs on the market.

If you’ve tried this product and have any thoughts, leave me a comment below as I always enjoy hearing back from you.

Happy Beauty,

The Minimale Blogger