Clear Away Blackheads and Acne with one Avon Product

I once thought that Lush Ltd's Ultrabland Cleanser was the best product to clear up acne and cleanse the skin. However a recent buy from Avon has shown me how wrong I was. The Avon clearskin pore penetrating black mineral mask is the gold standard for face care.

I have a real issue with blackheads on my nose and this is the only product I have found that renders them almost invisible. The results from using this product are simply incredible. Apply the mask all over your face and leave it on until it changes from a shiny black colour to matte grey (15 to 20 minutes). The mask will even remain black over those troublesome pores to show just where your problem areas are.

After you've washed off the mask you won't recognise yourself. My skin felt smooth and clean, oh and those blackheads were almost invisible. My acne also faded down making me look less pizza, more Prada. I cannot stress enough how amazing this product is. See below for links.

This mask is currently £2.50 for a limited time for those of you shopping in the UK, $6.99 for US
customers.

UK Customers Click HERE
US Customers Click HERE

THIS IS NOT A PAID ENDORSEMENT 

Product Review: Ocean Salt (Self-Preserving)

Acne is awful. It's messy, painful and it leaves nasty marks all over your face. While these marks are nothing more than cosmetic (and shouldn't bother you) clear, soft skin is the dream of those of us who suffer from endless spots. Cleaning, Cleansing and Caring are the best ways to deal with acne. While a good cleaner will lift away that oil and dirt from a hard day you sometimes need something to scrub a little deeper, and that is where Ocean Salt comes in.

I first picked up this product in November of 2015 and have been using it religiously ever since. This scrub is great first thing in the morning to lift the tiredness off your face and prepare you for the day ahead. The mix of avocado and lime gives a pleasant smell and the salt helps exfoliate the skin.

My only complaint is that Ocean Salt can irritate any areas of irritation on the face (I see the irony of salt in the wound) and the salt seems to sink to the bottom meaning you really need to stir the product up before you use it. However these are just minor complaints

If you're looking for a good face (and body) scrub to leave you feeling refreshed then I must recommend Ocean Salt. You can buy it from Lush HERE (£7.95 for 120g)

Help for Oily Skin

If, like me you are cursed with skin that has more oil than the North Sea it is likely the bane of your existence. Tissues and towels are used frequently to wipe of that nasty, greasy shine. Fortunately I have a number of useful products for removing this oil that blocks pores, causes acne and generally irritates me.

While Lush sells a number of useful products, it's Boots who come to the rescue with their 'Skin Clear Oil Absorbing Sheets'. These wonder sheets are contained in a small cardboard packet (50 sheets per pack) and do exactly as they claim. Just dap it over the oily areas and the paper absorbs them. You get an instant matte complexion and don't have to worry about BP setting up an offshore platform on your face.

The sheets are £3.99 per pack and you can buy them from Boots website HERE

The second product is from Lush and is their Tea Tree Toner water (separate review coming soon). This spray can be spritzed on your face and then wiped away, taking all the oil with it. Good if you're having a long day and need a refresher. This toner can also help with any irritation on the skin, can freshen clothes and it even takes greasy marks off phone screens. It's like a wonder product.

Lush offers two sizes for this a 100g bottle for £4.50 and a 250g bottle for £8.50. You can buy it from Lush HERE

As a bonus you can also get a Tea Tree Toner Tab (that's a lot of 't's') for when you want to steam those pores with tea tree goodness. Buy from Lush HERE (£1 each)

Ultrabland Cleanser: The Ultimate Product

I don't believe in magic, my own personal acne battle has been filled with medicines and creams prescribed by doctors that have done little to help me. In November 2015 I ventured into Lush to search for something to clear the excess oil off my face and help clear up the acne once and for all. Two months later and I've stopped taking my prescribed treatment and have moved onto almost all of Lush's acne products. While I discovered Ultrabland after receiving it as a Christmas present it has now become the most important of all my skincare products and is as closest to magic as I think I'll ever get. Below is a YouTube video I found that sums up the feelings of myself and many others who use Lush.

As the packaging says, if your skin is particularly bad, toy should use Ultrabland to bring it back into balance. This product combined with the previously reviewed Grease Lightning and Vanishing Cream helps clear up your acne and fade the redness.

Since making this product a major part of my skincare routine my face has become much less oily and much less spotty. Usually in a review I would go over the positives and negatives of a product, but I really believe this product has no drawbacks. It has worked perfectly for me bringing my skin the closest it has ever been to clear. If this your fighting in the acne battle think of ultrabland as the atomic bomb that will destroy your spots leaving clear, clean skin in its place.

After speaking to staff at Lush they all recommend this for acne it's definitely one of Lush's lesser known gems.

You can buy Ultrabland from Lush HERE for £7.50

Product Review: Lush Grease Lightning

Lush offers a number of masks, cleansers, scrubs and toners to help purge your face (and body) of acne and their product Grease Lightning is the central focus of this range. It is a small tea tree and witch hazel gel which Lush claim will strike spots with 'lightning precision'.

So, does it work? Well the short answer is yes, the long answer is sometimes. Not all spots are created equal some are painful, some big, some small. Of course you'll know this, but my point is that Grease Lightning only seems to work well on small spots. For example, I had a small spot under my nostril and one beginning to form under my lip. I applied Grease Lightning to both and within a day the small nostril spot was gone, and the lip one had formed into a massive yellow planet on the side of my lip. Really this product is best used continuously and alongside other products I intend to review later.

Similarly Grease Lightning has failed to clear the spots on the side of my head, it does reduce them down from yellow lumps to smaller red ones, but clear skin is the aim and this isn't really working in the way that I had hoped.

This brings me onto my major problem with this product, specifically with its packaging. As this is a gel Lush have put it in a small bottle with a horrendous cap. The cap is sort of like a soap dispenser but it's so stiff when you push it tons of the gel comes out. This can be a bit annoying when you just want a little. Also when the gel dries it cracks and tends to flake off (or get caught in eyebrows) not a good look.

Pros:
+ Smells Good
+ Soothing on painful spots
+ Can be very effective at times

Cons:
- Dispenser often releases too much
- Only works around 50% of the time
- Best used with other products

The current price is £6.50 (a 45g bottle lasts months) and you can buy from Lush HERE

Please Note: This blog is not funded by Lush or any other company. All views are my own. Pictures sourced from Instagram