Lush: Coalface Review

So, when I made my trip to Lush a few weeks ago, I had also gotten a sample of Coalface facial cleansers. Once again notice, I said sample... I told the sales associate it was something I was interested in trying and that I only wanted a sample to see how my skin would react. I actually walked in saying I wanted a sample of both Coalface and Dark Angel. Both cleansers are contain activated charcoal and are made for oily skin. She suggested the Coalface because it was less exfoliating. And she told me that to try to make it last me two weeks to really get an idea of how my skin would react. It lasted me more like 3 weeks.

Coalface Facial Cleanser
Okay, so like I mentioned, the main ingredient in this cleanser is activated charcoal. Another active ingredient is licorice root. 

First thing you will notice from this cleanser is that it's black. Kind of a scary thought, even though you are rinsing it off of your face. It also has a light licorice scent to it. I didn't mind it, but if you really don't like licorice, you won't like this cleanser. Something else you will notice is that if you run your fingers over the side of the bar, it feels scratchy. This is supposed to be exfoliating, but I think the particles that are causing this, are just too small and too far apart to be anything but scratchy. It just doesn't feel nice.

Credit

This cleanser differs from some of their other cleansers. The other ones, you break off a chunk and then rub it between your hands to create a paste and then rub it to your face. This cleanser is more like a black bar of soap. From some of the reviews I have read on this cleanser, it seems that most people will take the entire bar and rub it over their face. I tried that and I just didn't like it. For one, I didn't like the scratchy exfoliation and for two, you end up using the bar so much faster. I actually rubbed the bar between my hands, like I do with the shampoo bars, and then rubbed what was on my hands into my skin. I think this is why my bar ended up lasting so long.

This, like the shampoo bars, has the Sodium Lauryl Sulfate in it, which is drying to your skin. That's why, I guess, this one in particular, is so good for oily skin.... it strips the oil from your skin. Now before you jump on me for what I just said, I don't necessarily agree with this process.. stripping your skin of its natural oils, but for whatever reason, this worked... my skin really didn't get that oily during the day. And for my skin, if I can make it less oily, then I can reduce my acne (but like I've said, mine is hormonal, so I don't think I'll ever get rid of it). 

In general, I think I prefer this cleanser over Herbalism (but I have quite a bit left, so I think I'm going to give Herbalism another shot). Right now, I think its the combination of having to switch facial cleansers and my skin still recovering from "that time of the month" that I am completely broke out right now. I'm just not sure at this time what Herbalism is doing for it, but I know that when I was using Coalface, my acne wasn't too bad.  Before throwing myself into Coalface entirely, I do want to try a couple other charcoal facial cleansers... so we will see!


I would say I purchased this product with my own money, but I didn't... it was a sample. However, the sales associate had no way of knowing I would be writing a review on this product. Once again, I am in no way affiliated with Lush or its distributors and all of the above opinions are of my own. Please make your own judgments when using this product. 

 Much Love!!  Xoxoxo