LUSH Review: Fresh Farmacy Facial Soap

For the last nine or ten months I've been walking past a LUSH shop most weekends and some days during the week and every time I walked past I told myself to go in and check out some products. Two weeks ago I finally did it. I went in knowing absolutely nothing about the company except that they sell bath bombs and their products were all homemade. So in I went. The lady behind the counter asked if I needed any help and I told her I was just browsing around. I picked up a moisturiser called Cosmetic Lad when the lady came over to me again and asked how I'd describe my skin, to which I replied something like "it gets oily and I suffer from a few blemishes here and there" We spoke for a good fifteen minutes and she let me try out quite a lot of products. I tried out a facial soap called Fresh Farmacy. I've been using it ever since and I am absolutely loving it.

Fresh Farmacy has been described as a "cleansing chamomile bar for troublesome skin". I consider my skin to be a small bit troublesome and very oily. I ended up buying a block of it for €8.50 and have been using it every morning and night and my skin has improved so much since I first bought it. Most of my blemishes have cleared up and I get a lot less spots now. 

The product itself is a solid soap that tends to last longer than other wet alternatives. Soap can sometimes leave your skin feeling very tight and dry but thankfully Fresh Farmacy does the exact opposite! This bar of soap lightly foams to gently cleanse easily irritated faces without drying out all the oils. 

Fresh Farmacy contains chamomile extract to calm the problem areas that you may have going on around your face, rose and lavender to sooth dry patches and tea tree which contains antibacterial and antiseptic to get rid of blemishes. 

The way I use it is after the shower every morning when all of my pores have been opened up by the steam. I simply step out of the shower, wet my face again and then rub in your hands to form a lather and then apply to my face in circular motions focusing on the problem areas more. I then wash it off after it's all on my face and then pat my face dry using a flannel. As you use this product more and more the bar of soap will become smaller so I recommend rubbing it directly to your face. I store it by cutting it into smaller pieces and storing them in a container and using them as I need them. 

Overall, I am very impressed with the purchase, it's made my skin improve a lot and I plan on using it for a long time. 

Ingredients: Calamine Powder, Propylene Glycol, Chamomile Decoction (Anthemis nobilis), Elderflower Decoction (Sambucus nigra), Rapeseed Oil, Coconut Oil (Brassica napus; Cocos nucifera), Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Stearate, Sodium Hydroxide, Water (Aqua), Lavender Oil (Lavandula hybrida), Chamomile Blue Oil (Matricaria Chamomilla), Tea Tree Oil (Melaleuca alternifolia), Rose Absolute (Rosa centifolia), Glycerine, Sodium Chloride, EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Limonene, Linalool, Fragrance

YO

My sister and I at Times Square, New York. 2013

I'm Joe, an 18 year old guy currently living in a small village in West Cork, Ireland. I'm not a huge fan of the countryside. When I was a small boy I used to do a lot of exploring with my friends in the forests around our houses and playing a lot of games outside but as soon as the internet came into my life I pretty much stopped going outside. All of my time was either spent on the internet, eating, listening to music or reading. But now that I'm a bit older and I like to think a bit maturer, I've developed a taste for the city life. This summer I'm moving to Cork City with one of my closest friends, Kitty. Hopefully we can both get a job to pay the rent. If not then it'll be one heck of an adventure. As my mother says, "you'll be broke most of the time but you will have one hell of a time". I hope she's right! After summer we're both gonna be in college and be broke again! 

Up until three years ago I didn't have any interest in my appearance. When I was fifteen and in third year, I took an hour bus ride into the city with two of my friends and I was dressed in a tracksuit pants and a cheap jumper that was pretty ugly. I walked into Topman and bought my first pair of proper jeans, a hoodie and a shirt. I guess you could say that's where my interest in fashion started. I got home and Googled fashion for guys and the website Lookbook.nu came up on the search, so I clicked into it and spent hours browsing through all the different styles for men.

I'm pretty much interested in anything, really. I like to try everything at least once whether it be extremely adventurous or something small like try a new dish I've never tasted before. If I had to choose three of my favourite things in the world then I'd have to pick going to gigs as my favourite thing. I've been to quite a few gigs in the last year or so and plan on going to a lot more. One of my favourite bands played in a few small venues around Ireland and I saw them twice in one week. My friends and I got to meet the lead singer in Kerry after the gig! I always seem to get something from a gig that I go to. I managed to get a setlist and poster from the Bombay Bicycle Club gig in Kerry, the guitar pick from The Vaccines and one of the drumsticks from The 1975! 

Secondly I'd choose Bon Iver. I'm absolutely in love with everything about this band. Their lyrics, the vocals and just everything about them is amazing. I remember hearing Skinny Love when I was in first year and immediately got hooked on the band. I listen to them most nights when I go to sleep and quite often throughout the day. 

Thirdly I'd have to go with travelling. I've been lucky enough to see most of Europe. My dad works as an aircraft technician all over Europe so we go out to visit him every now and then and my sister is cabin crew for Aer Lingus so my family and I get cheap flights! I went to New York for only 60 euro last April!

I've made this blog for both myself and everyone else. I haven't got a real plan as to what I'm going to post on here yet, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. There aren't many male bloggers out there so one more won't do any harm. I will mostly blog about products that I use/try and give my honest opinion on them but I will also throw in some OOTD posts, photography of mine, maybe review an album if I love it and pretty much anything that I like.

JM