Lush Haul, experience, and reviews Part 1: Oxford Street Lush, Fresh Farmacy and Charity Pot

For a few years now, I’ve heard a lot of good things about LUSH Cosmetics. I’ve heard that they are cruelty free and homemade with fresh ingredients and that their products (like their face masks) are wonderfully decadent.  Unfortunatley I cannot no get readily get them where I live. The closest LUSH store is in Philadelphia which is quite a drive and a place my family doesn’t go (we’ve been there once) and I wouldn’t like to buy them online because I want to be able to smell my body products before I buy and I hate to pay shipping prices when I know I don’t have to. So, since London has several Lush stores, I decided to pick up some things while I was here.

The Lush store I went to is near Oxford Street, but not actually on it so be careful and look it up first. I had actually just heard that the store was on Oxford street and walked the entire length of it before giving up and going home. The second time I was more prepared; I knew that is was on a street just off Oxford street near the Bond street station.  I went in the wrong direction first, but then tured around and found the street, I believe it’s called “South Molton” or something like that. The trick is to go out of exit one at bond street (the “oxford street exit” ) and to turn right and sharing the same wall with the station is an Omega watch shop. If you do not see the shop go to the other corner and see if it’s there or check street names; it’s the first street by the station. Then walk a bit down the street (it’s like the 5^th shop or something) and then there’s the shop.

When I walked in I was greeted by several members of staff (they had two or three walking around and two behind the counter even though the shop is very small) and was asked if I had ever been in a Lush before. I said no, and they wondered if they might show me a few things. I agreed and they proceeded to show me the bath bombs they are famous for (and invented apparently!) by dropping one into a bowl of water and show the scent and the fizziness of it. I was surprised they used an entire bath balm; I hope it was a defect or something because otherwise I would have preferred for them to just cut off a bit of one and give the rest to the customer! They showed me a few other things and then I asked where the lip scrubs were (my reason for going). They have three lip scrubs in cute glass jars: milt julips, popcorn, and bubblegum. I had thought I would go for the mint julips, but I was won over by the bubblegum scent.

I also then asked about the face bars; I had hoped to be able to get a small hunk of it to pay for (like a pounds worth or something) but instead they decided to give me a small sample. I had been thinking about the coalface for my oily skin, but after talking to the cashier, who was very knowledgeable and used many of the products herself, she decided that the Fresh Farmacy would be the best fit for my only, acne prone, skin.  She also gave me a small sample of the ultra-bland face cleanser, a cream cleanser that she said also should work well with my skin.  When I went to pay she asked if I wanted to give a pound to charity, and I said yes, so she gave me a small tin of their Charity Pot lotion.

Overall, the staff was wonderful. They were friendly and very knowledgeable, and the fact that they gave samples (two, one I didn’t even ask for!) was very nice. The store itself was a bit cramped, but it seemed like they had all their products and was pretty organized with a lot of testers.  It also smelled fantastic! So then… onto a few reviews!

In this first part I will be reviewing Fresh Farmacy and Charity pot. Part two will include the bubblegum lip scrub and the ultra-bland cleanser.

Fresh Farmacy: This is a soap bar like cleanser which is meant for the face. It was recommended to me by the staff based on my oily, acne prone skin which I use a lot of acne stuff on. According to the booklet that they gave me it is “a mild calamine and chamomile soap with cooling and calming properties”. The chunk they gave me for free as a sample and it is probably around 10 grams; it is about 1.5 inches by 1 inch and about ¼ an inch thin. You only need a very small amount so this will probably last me a good 10 washes if not a bit more. The normal price is 4 pound 75 for 100 grams. When using this is took a few shaving off the end and rubbed it with warm water between my hands until it lathered and then applied it to my wet face.  The lather was decent for a natural product and the smell was okay. I think the main scent is a slightly herby calamine which isn’t the best. Whine I washed it off I was surprised at how clean my face was. It actually squeaked which I heard wasn’t necessarily a good thing for your skin, but I liked the feeling.  I’m not in love with this product, but I could see maybe buying a 50 gram piece for a new thing to try.

Charity Pot: this is a hand and body lotion that they sell in small tins of 10 grams for a pound (which I got) or 6 pound 75 for 100 gram or 12 pounds 95 for 240 grams. All of the profit from this goes to charity. It is supposed to have floral scent, but upon application all I smell is cocoa butter (a main ingredient).  After is soaked in though, I could smell a bit more flower. At 10 grams, it isn’t a lot. It will probably last about 10 applications. It is very softening and moisturizing for the hands which is nice and since it goes to charity too, it is well worth a pound.

Overall, I am pleased at these lush products (especially since one was a pound and the other free) but are not products I absolutely love. I definitely think though, that there is a love product at lush somewhere because with such a high quality and wide range of products and scents, it would be hard not to love something.