Aqua Marina Facial Cleanser

As I said in my previous post, my goal is to try every single vegan product that Lush bring out - whether they're part of the regular line-up, or indeed a seasonal release. This will allow me to find scent families that I enjoy and ultimately, establish my favourites. So when I ran out of my current favourite facial cleanser, Angels on Bare Skin, I opted to buy a tub of both Herbalism and Aqua Marina - two very different products, but two I was equally intrigued to try.

Asides from AoBS, Aqua Marina seems to be the only regular facial cleanser that is not aimed at people with oily or greasy skin. And unlike all of the previous cleansers I have tried, this one seems to be the only one with this consistency. As opposed to the usual dry, crumbly cleansers that I use, this one is rather squishy and wet - it looks a little like pureed mushrooms mixed with blanched spinach. Not what you'd immediate gravitate towards in a shop, but one that is intriguing enough to gage a second look. 

For starters, it is a pretty pinkish colour - a cleaner which is then wrapped in nori seaweed to add moisturising qualities, not to mention keep it fresh when it's presented in the shop as a roulade. Despite this, once it reaches you in the tub, the seaweed and cleanser have merged somewhat - leaving you with a less attractive and rather 'wet' splodge of castle pink and green.

Lush have mixed together an ocean of ingredients which supposedly soothe and calm the skin. They've added carrageen extract, vegetable glycerine, Irish moss gel and aloe vera gel, which are all ingredients known for their skin calming properties. There is also fine sea salt, sweet wild orange oil and patchouli oil - all essential products needed for smoothing and cleansing dry skin. Finally calamine powder and kaolin are added to cleanse and exfoliate dead skin cells and debris from the surface of the face. 

Yet again Lush have created a product with multiple purposes and properties. But does it work? Unfortunately, my face didn't get on well with this cleanser at all. On the positive side, it was easier to use than other cleansers, as I only had take a pinch and smoother it all over my face. However, once I had rinsed it off, I found my face felt rather dry and rough. Given that Aqua Marina is a facial cleanser, which is specifically designed to sooth and soften the skin, as well as to brighten it up, I couldn't believe that my face felt the complete opposite. 

To add to my disliking, Aqua Marina has an unpleasant synthetic scent, which I just couldn't get used to. Although there is nothing synthetic about the ingredients, there is an underlying 'greasy' smell that I associate with cheap body lotions. The initial smell is a unique blend of moss and aloe vera, but it's not unique in a good way - there's a reason why many people claim that this cleanser has a fishy element about it.

Not only this, but its consistency meant that my face felt really greasy and rather clogged up after using this. Rather than exfoliating and then soothing my face, I felt it somewhat smothered it and left it feeling heavy and unpleasant. 

Having used this cleanser for a good month and not noticing an improvement, I have to say that I don't feel as if the cleanser is right for me. While Aqua Marina is obviously a love-it or hate-it sort of product, I'm unfortunately in the latter bracket and will not be purchasing this again. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Glycerine, Calamine Powder, Kaolin, Irish Moss Gel, Organic Aloe Vera Gel, Fine Sea Salt, Nori Seaweed, Sweet Wild Orange Oil, Patchouli Oil, Carrageenan Extract, Perfume.

Vegan?: Yes

2015 Price: £6.75 for 100g.