Gritty Politti Naked Facial Cleanser

When Lush created their range of naked facial cleansers, they probably didn’t anticipate someone travelling halfway across the world, to Africa, to put them through their paces. Obviously, this wasn’t the sole reason I decided to visit Tanzania for three weeks, but with so much dust around, and with very limited means of washing yourself, this trip would challenge these facial cleansers to the max.

As the name suggests, these little 30g nuggets of various oils and butters are designed to cleanse your pores and leave your complexion as clean and as clear as possible. At the same time, the ingredients ensure that some moisture is absorbed back into the face so that your skin is replenished straight afterwards. 

Gritty Politti stood out for me straight away because the consistency was very different to the other variations on offer. Containing small grains of coconut shell throughout, this facial cleanser offers a gentle exfoliation as well as removing excess dirt and debris from within your pores.

When massaging this disc across my face, I could feel the grains gently scrubbing away at my skin. This left my complexion looking a little more vibrant and there was a noticeable difference between how smooth my face felt before and after using this product. Of course, I wouldn’t say that this was super impressive as a scrub, but it does offer something a little different from the other naked facial cleansers that Lush have created.

The idea behind each of the naked facial cleansers is that you massage the disc across your skin; leave it on for a few minutes; and then wipe away the product with a slightly damp cloth or cotton wool pad. The oils and butters work at not only nourishing your complexion a little, but they’ve been specifically designed to give your face a gentle cleanse whenever you feel the need to refresh your face.

When it came to Gritty Polliti, I found that this facial oil was not only a little greasier than I initially anticipated, but it did leave a little bit of a mess which was annoying to clean up afterwards. Let me explain. Usually I would use a facial cleanser after my shower, to remove any dirt that may still be present in the poresand to leave my face gently moisturised and replenished. After using this facial cleanser however, I found that the little pieces of coconut shell were a little stubborn to remove when I tried to wipe them away with a cotton pad. 

Although it works a little better with a wet pad/cloth, I still didn’t feel as though my face was thoroughly clean afterwards. For this reason, I’d recommend using this before showering, so you can clean out your pores first and then use a little of the water to ensure that the product has fully left your skin. 

Furthermore, Gritty Politti does tend to leave your skin feeling a little greasy, even after you’ve wiped away the excess product with a cotton pad. So I would again advise using it before a shower so you can remove at least some of these excess oils under the running water.

While smell only plays a small importance when it comes to choosing a facial oil, this one offered a gentle scent of coconut (and sandalwood?): nothing potent enough to offend even the most sensitive of noses.

Ultimately, this facial cleanser isn’t really one that is suited to my face, even though I thought that my dry complexion would benefit from a little extra helping of butters and oils. Having said this, the affects of Gritty Politti lasted far longer than most of the other naked facial cleansers, and I can imagine lots of people would enjoy this for the gentle exfoliation it offers on top of everything else.

Quantitative Ingredients: Kokum Butter, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Ground Coconut Shell, Rosewood Oil, Sandalwood Oil, Vetivert Oil, Benzoin Resinoid, *Linalool, Perfume.

Vegan?: Yes.

2018 Price: £4.95 each (15g)

Year Of Original Release: 2018.