Review: Movis Facial Soap by Lush

I’M LOVING IT!

Oooohhh. I really am loving Movis (a wheaty Face Soap). Every time I dab my face dry, I get a little more in love with it. My face feels smooth to the touch, soft, supple and oh so clean. Whether used in the morning, noon, night or dawn, it gives me the same beautiful result! Such a pleasure to use this one. Really. Think soap version of honey-sweetened oatmeal (although it has wheat germ and wheat bran in it and no oats!). My nose thinks it has a touch of cinnamon—at least a hint of the scent, but it isn’t listed as one of the ingredients. My face feels so fresh and clean that it tempts me to skip the moisturizer (but I don’t). When used fresh, a little goes a looong way; foaming up easily and exfoliating decently. Plus: I get to open my eyes comfortably and that for me is such a treat. Got my healthy sized sample from Lush Mong Kok (Hong Kong).

DOWNSIDE:

After the four-week mark, it dries and shrinks down to a gelatinous state instead of the initial soft, bready kind of soap. Am I making any sense?! It was easier to use when it was still at the latter state simply because it was easy to pinch off a little bit, lather up and scrub the face with the bran and the germ. But 4 weeks have passed since then and it is no longer easy to take a bit off. It even gets more challenging to lather it up on my face or on my palms. When it shrank down to a gelatinous state, the scrubbing action was gone. I still thoroughly enjoyed using it though. Like tonight, it was harder to form a lather and yet, my face still feels great after.

Over 4 weeks

I used it as a “solid facial scrub,” a facial loofah of a sort. Same result. Skin was smooth and fresh. However, I do have a bit of psychological problems with it. It has not broken me out but the thing is, I am not so sure how hygienic it is when used directly on my face---I do rinse it off after use (just how one would when using solid soap) but still…right? And also, when I rinse it under the tap, I do know that a bit of product is washed away. Nonetheless, in spite of all the rinsing, it still has stayed in its “chewy” state.

A HAPPY ACCIDENT:

Left the chewy Movis bar by the tub and it got really wet (kids were enjoying Shooting Star and Drummers Drumming-both by Lush).  The chewiness gave way to floppiness and when I used it, it was as if I was using it fresh from the store. Its outer surface sloughed off and the bran and wheat germ were free to roam around and scrub my face. But then again, I wonder about what germinates in there when it gets “rehydrated.” Result-wise though, I still am happy to say that after using it this way for a week, it still delivers the same beautiful result.

THE CHALLENGE:

I still do not know how to extend the fresh state of this soap beyond the 4 weeks. I have used zip lock, the lush tin…with no desired result. Was planning to stock up on this as it isn’t available in the Philippines yet, but as with all Lush’s fresh facial cleansers, its short shelf life prevents me from doing so.

INGREDIENTS:

Review: Neutrogena Deep Clean Energizing Foaming Cleanser

REPURCHASE? MAYBE.

Purchased Neutrogena’s Deep Clean Energizing Foaming Cleanser from our local Watson’s store here in Manila for the price of PhP190 (roughly USD4.5). You get 85 grams of product (about 90 ml). Will I get this again? Maybe but not after I’ve finished all the other cleansers I have lined up. I’m on a facial-cleanser-ban as I have several of different brands (a whole lot!) to finish within 3 years. If this had reached Holy Grail status for me, I would have made an exception to my self-imposed moratorium.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

This product comes in an oversized plastic tube with a flip top cap. Do not be misled. You only get 85 grams of product. I was surprised that after only a couple of uses, I started to see a noticeable “dent” on the tube. That was when I looked closely and realized what I had paid for. 

Product itself is a silky light blue creamy foam that has very few blue beads scattered. These blue beads are what the packaging promises to be “energizing microbeads.” I found them to be anything but energizing. I got mildly irritated with them at times—not skin wise. Firstly, there were so few of them that it just served to be a nuisance. Now you feel them, now you don’t. Secondly, when you did feel them, they were so micro, so smooth, so polished that it made me wonder whether it served any purpose at all. I was thinking that maybe, just maybe the beads would burst and give off energizing whatever but nope. Nothing.  By the way, they do not even dissolve--this got me a bit unsettled. Haven’t clearly figured why it makes me feel like so.

Nonetheless, this product delivered on its promise of leaving my skin “refreshingly clean, soft and smooth” or at least as smooth as it can get.

This foaming facial cleanser is from Neutrogena’s Deep Clean line, a line which has wowed me twice. Its Blackhead Eliminating Warming Treatment I’ve repurchased again and again and its Oil Free Makeup Removing Wipes, I buy a lot of when I get the chance (I have not spotted it here in Manila).

EXPERIENCE:

I usually squeeze a very short strip of product every use. I like how it lathers up easily into foam, turning opaque white, even with makeup on.  I love that I can open my eyes comfortably. I highly appreciate having the option of keeping my eyes open even after Ive soaped my entire face. Eyes closed in my bathroom (any bathroom for that matter) just freaks me out big time! Heck, my own face in the mirror even freaks me out! Sorry. Anyway. Scent. This has a light fresh scent. Pleasant. I would have probably described this as a no-nonsense, straightforward kind of face wash if it weren’t for those pesky beads! Did I mention that there are so few of them that I can actually count how many there are. On an average, there are 12-15 per use. Darn beads! Moving on. Another thing I liked about this was how consistent it was. Whether or not I worked it in thoroughly or haphazardly (rinsed off after 5 seconds kinda thing) my skin still felt fresh and clean but not dry, taut or stripped. This made a decent makeup remover (even waterproof mascara), too. I found that I just needed 2 cotton rounds (with Bioderma makeup remover) to take the very last traces of makeup. When used with my Clarisonic Mia, I skipped Bioderma altogether.

COOLING TIP:

I noticed that it gave a very slight cooling effect if worked in thoroughly for at least a minute.

PACKAGING:

Aside from the oversized-marketing-gimmickry kind of packaging (I’m open to hearing legit reasons), I love how the product can stand on its flip top cap. Saves counter space. One more thing. The flip top cap can be unscrewed off allowing you to pinch the tube towards itself, squeeeezing out the last bit of product. When I did this, I was able to get an additional week’s use out!

REVIEW: Blousey by Lush

I WILL NOT REPURCHASE:

I wont repurchase plainly because it did not wow me.  Forking over PhP1250 (roughly USD28) for 240 grams of product (about 25 to 30 uses for my really long hair), I felt ENTITLED to be wowed. I EXPECTED to be wowed. Unfortunately, my hair just didn’t take to it.

The reason why I got Blousey in the first place was because of the online hype surrounding banana shampoo and besides the packaging itself claims that it is for damaged, bleached or naturally fragile hair.

MY HAIR FACTS:

I have really long, black, coarse hair that has been re-bonded twice in the past 3 years. Last re-bonding happened over a year ago.  I used Blousey around 6 months after that. I have never colored my hair. I shampoo every 3 to 4 days--I can afford to do this because I use dry shampoo in between washing. I use argan oil for the ends on a daily basis. I rarely blow dry my hair (thrice a year--max), opting for the fan if I am rushing. I rarely use heat styling tools (twice a year--max). I get a trim once a year only---it should be more often but it requires so much effort to go to a salon and have it done--my patience was all eaten up by the re-bonding session!

WET HAIR EXPERIENCE:

The Lush UK website (https://www.lush.co.uk/products/blousey) describes this as:

“[a] thick, deeply moisturising shampoo that hydrates your hair, leaving it feeling soft, nourished and cared for. Blousey is bursting with butters, bananas and berries to revive and protect hair. Bananas are protein-rich and soften the hair; cocoa and cupuaçu butters also restore moisture, xxx.” It might have hydrated, nourished and protected my hair but it did not show nor did I feel it. I did get to do my “no conditioner test” though (a test I do to see how well a particular kind of shampoo performs on its own), so this wasn’t as bad as the other shampoos I had tried (Johnson’s Baby Shampoo, Lush’s Shampoo Bars Ultimate Shine and New) where my wet hair just screamed for conditioner! However, like I said, this was a mediocre performer especially taken in the backdrop of the price I had paid for it.

 

“xxx and antiseptic pimento berry is effective in maintaining a healthy scalp.”

My scalp felt great though. My hair felt clean, smelled clean (nothing of banana); oils were easily washed away but not leaving it stripped. BUT. But. Although my hair felt squeaky clean, my white towel would tell a different story. Some fibers from the banana would always be left behind, no matter how often and how vigorous you rinse your hair. Worse it would transfer to my poor white towel. At first it bothered me but towards the end, I just shrugged it off.

DRY HAIR EXPERIENCE:

I felt my hair to be a tad too bouffant, volumized and frizzy on day 1 when I used this without conditioner. Day 2 gave better results but I’ve seen my hair looking beautiful, soft and shiny with other shampoos  even without conditioner!

Pairing this with Lush’s Veganese & Happy Happy Joy Joy or Macadamia Natural Oil's Deep Repair Masque & Moisturizing Rinse, most definitely helped. But again, (who cares if I sound redundant, right?!) i’ve had better hair days with cheap shampoos paired with those enumerated conditioners.

SCENT:

I really do find the scent to be that of fresh bananas. Banana scents almost always come across to me as funky and off the mark but there is nothing artificial-smelling about this one. It helps of course that fresh real bananas are used. The scent may be strong if you sniff the product straight from the pot but the scent lightens up when used and pairs with other scents (of conditioners) well.

DOWNSIDE:

Aside from its mediocre performance, man how this product stings!!! So do not let it get to your eyes, even when rinsing! And if you have an over active imagination (like my sister), you might want to get used to the way it looks --think wrigglers in a pot of sludge. It doesn't help that it oxidizes as it ages.  Hope the picture helps.

TIP:

This product bubbles up only when there’s much water added to your hair. The first time I used this, scooped so much of it because my wet hair just did not lather up. It was when I started to rinse off under the shower that it did.

SHELF LIFE:

This lasted quite a long time. I used this for almost 2 month past the best before date without any changes in its performance.

INGREDIENTS: