The ultimate LUSH battle: Angels on Bare Skin vs Dark Angels
Posted by ilyana | Filed under Make-Up & Beauty
Today two LUSH favourites battle it out to decide who stays in Ilyana’s bathroom cabinet and who gets dumped in the bin! It’s a fight to the death and the winner takes it all!
Angels on Bare Skin is Lush’s top selling cleanser, it’s made of ground almonds, kaolin, lavender oil - a cocktail licensed to inflict divine punishment onto misbehaving skin! YEOWWWCH! My skin was in a terrible state after my holiday in Melbourne, it’s been ravaged by the great winds and the sudden change of climate so I came back with spotty but parched skin. The only thing that saved it was the tub of Angels on Bare Skin (AOBS) I bought from the Lush store in Melbourne, it was an impulse purchase and thank fork for that.
This is my second tub of AOBS actually, I bought my first tub in Hong Kong about a year ago, loved it but somehow forgot about it :/ You’re supposed to take a small amount, mash it up in your palm with a teensy bit of water and smooth it gently all over your face. I think it’s smells very comforting, like catching a whiff of a field of lavender in the wind.
When you wash the cleanser off, it leaves this thin moisturizing layer of “I don’t know what the heck that is” (it could possibly be the essential oils?) but it doesn’t make my skin feel/look greasy and my skin feels really smooth so I have no complaints ;D
AOBS repaired my skin to its normal state within two weeks of using it as my night time cleanser and has since restored my faith in mankind. Amen.
My BFF, Nicholas aka the cream cheese to my bagel and the Louis Vuitton to my Prada, bought me this from his last holiday in Hong Kong (yeah we both love HK, it’s an amazing place!). Dark Angels is somewhat new, I think it got released from the magical formulating heavens of Lush HQ just last year? I actually wrote a short review about Dark Angels in a previous entry but now that I’ve had it for a couple of months now, I thought I’d write a longer one comparing it to its pale sibling.
Anyway, this is some serious hardcore stuff. You can’t find lil’ ground almonds, soothing lavender and all that lovely fluff in this blackened pit of oil-faced doom. Instead, you get straight up Rhassoul Mud (which just sounds so fricking badass btw), powdered charcoal (like the mud ain’t black enough already) and sandalwood oil.
If you have sensitive skin, I suggest you stay away from Dark Angels because it can get really abrasive if you’re not careful. Dark Angels is definitely targeted to people with very oily skin and even if you do have very oily skin, I won’t recommend using this as a daily cleanser because it might just kill your skin.
I don’t love Dark Angels as much as AOBS simply because I don’t need it. I have combination skin and just AOBS alone in the evenings takes care of my skin. I’ve used Dark Angels mostly as a weekly scrub and well, I don’t really like it that much. It leaves a thin layer of “I don’t know what the heck that is” on my skin but this time, this thin layer actually feels icky on my skin so that’s not good :/ I think it’s a decent scrub though but I definitely won’t repurchase.
Verdict: AOBS is, without a doubt, the winner! It’s great for all types of skin but if you have *very* sensitive skin, use this as a weekly scrub! I love this cleanser so much <3
Urgh I am so behind entries! I am absolutely swamped in facial masks and packages I haven't gotten the chance to take photos of including my Secret Santa package from Mel! I hate how every single time I want to take photos of all the stuff I’ve received/bought in the past couple of weeks, it starts raining or something else just comes up x_x I guess that’s life for you, completely unpredictable.
My New Year’s Resolutions:
1) Appreciate my family and friends 100000x more.
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I am so blessed to have a very supporting family and 2-3 really close friends that I can trust. This year, I just want to appreciate and be grateful for what I have because things change but your family’s love for you will never waver.
2) Study til my brain cells hurt.
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Finally after a 1 1/2 year break from school, I’m quitting the workforce and re-immersing myself into the world of Hogwarts…except without the magic, cute owls and the lightning scar drama. It’s going to be a huge change for me because I’ll be moving to Australia for the next 3-4 years of my life (maybe even more!), thousands of miles away from my family and friends - it’s scary but hell yeah I’m excited-nervous-excited!!
3) Lose weight.
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I was incredibly overweight in 2008 but I lost about 20 odd kilos over the past 2 years and I’m very happy with my current weight but I’m just a couple of kilos away from my goal weight. I’m going to take my time because hell, there isn’t any real urgency for me to get to my goal weight so I am going to eat my cake, my ice cream and my sushi without any remorse.
4) Blog more…like, a LOT more.
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There was a point in time when I updated Tea Noir only once a fortnight LOL. I wasn’t really into it and felt very uninspired. Things have changed and I try to write an entry at least 3x a week which is no mean feat especially for me. I hope this continues in 2010 and hopefully I get more readers who comment. I’ve been getting a lot more followers lately and I am really thankful for that but please do leave a comment if you’ve enjoyed reading because I would love to know who you are and get to know you better ;D
5) Get to know more beauty bloggers!
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I’ve been reading quite a lot of beauty blogs recently and some of them are linked in that sidebar to your right ;D I hope to get to know each of them better this year, they’re gorgeous and I think they’ve got some great beauty reading material. I’ve gotten to know Catherine of Strawberry Mochi.com and she’s so bubbly and cute! It’s been awesome talking to you, hun! I love her blog too, go check it out!
All the best in 2010, everyone! ♥
Tags: LUSH, review: cleansers
