Veracious Product Review: Lush BB Seaweed Fresh Face Mask

Happy weekend, everyone! And happy long weekend to all my Canadian friends :) Today I share with you a review of a face mask that has recently swept me off my feet. Knight-in-shining-armour-style. Definitely a dramatic statement, but I am a sucker for a good face mask and Lush's BB Seaweed really takes the cake.

To give a bit of a background, I've been a devoted fan of Lush for years. Their Fresh Face Masks have always been an absolute pleasure to use, however the vast majority have irritated my skin and broken me out. Badly. The Fresh Masks are jam-packed full of essential oils and fresh foody ingredients, which is fun and amazing, just not for my sensitive skin. But when I visited Lush a couple weeks ago, I was determined to find a Fresh Face Mask that my skin would be happy with.

I described my skin care woes (combination/oily skin that is acne-prone and also sensitive) to the enthusiastic sales associate and she eagerly passed me a pot of BB Seaweed. She insisted that the formula was lovely to use, super effective, yet specially designed for sensitive skin. My past experience with the Fresh Face Masks left me skeptical, but I snatched it up anyways! And I'm quite glad I did.

As you can see from the photo below, BB Seaweed has a thick, creamy oatmeal-like consistency with strips of green seaweed and a few scrubby bits throughout:

Lush describes the mask as "relaxing and reviving mineral-rich mask to cleanse all skin types" (from lush.ca). It claims that the rose absolute will help improve skin tone, the seaweed will work to moisturize and add nutrients, and that the ground almonds will exfoliate sensitive skins without irritation.  

The ingredient list reveals that the  mask is rich with kaolin, honey, aloe, rose, ground almonds, and seaweed, among other soothing, natural ingredients. Amazingly, it was hand-made less than a week before I purchased it and has a shelf-life of about three weeks. The shortened lifespan can be attributed to the fact that it's 100% natural and preservative-free.

When the mask is first applied, it has a thick, creamy-white consistency with obvious strips of seaweed. Really makes me look like a crazy sea monster! The fragrance is a gentle herbal, rose aroma. Pleasant, but not over-powering. 

As it dries, some of the mask seems to sink into the skin and the base takes on more of a yellow-ish tinge:

When removing the mask, it was definitely more of a scrubby, exfoliating feeling than I expected. My skin is generally quite sensitive to manual exfoliants, so I was worried that my face would be left a red, irritated mess. On the contrary, I was so pleased with how my skin looked afterwards! My face looked smooth, calm, and radiant. The redness in my skin had been all but erased!

Honestly, my skin rarely looks better than it does after using this mask. I've had the same result after each time I've used it (4 times so far), so this wasn't a one trick pony!

Here's a quick breakdown of the pros and cons of this mask:

Pros:

• Incredibly friendly to my sensitive skin. Even with the scrubby bits, my skin wasn't left irritated or angry
• Leaves skin incredibly soft and smooth
• Works wonders to immediately eliminate redness in the skin
• Fresh, pleasant scent that isn't over-powering
• Full of fresh, natural ingredients; so fresh, you have to keep it in the fridge
• At only $7, this is quite affordable. I should get about 6 uses out of the little pot.
• Cruelty-free! Animal-friendliness is always a plus in my books :)

Cons:

• The ground almond pieces might be a bit too abrasive for those with ultra-sensitive skin
• Though the scent is relatively light, this is far from fragrance-free. Might be too fragranced for those sensitive to that.
• The seaweed bits are quite chunky and a bit of a pain to clean out of the sink.

Overall, I really couldn't be happier with this mask! My combination, sensitive, acne-prone skin is totally loving it. Few masks have given me such instant, dramatic results! So glad I gave the Fresh Face Masks another go. BB Seaweed is a huge winner in my books!

Hope you found the review helpful! Have you tried any of Lush's Fresh Face Masks? Which is your favourite?

Cheers! xo