Hey everyone! Today I'm going to talk about the LUSH facial cleanser called Dark Angels. Can we first start off by appreciating how cool and mysterious the name Dark Angels sounds? Okay maybe it's not that cool but I still like the name! Anyways, I'm going to start off by saying this is the first LUSH facial product I've ever gotten for myself besides their Coalface which I only used a little bit because I had actually gotten it for my boyfriend. I've seen people on Youtube talk about this before so I was intrigued and wanted to try it out as part of my daily routine. If you don't know, my skin type is more on the dry-combination side. It's not so dry that it gets flaky or anything, but it's definitely not oily. However, I do get a little oily in my T-zone occasionally which is why I would classify myself on the combination side. My face tends to feel more tight and smooth rather than the sort of sticky, soft supple feeling that some other people have and I think that's just because my skin isn't as moisturized as that, but I prefer it like this so yea! Sorry if that's wasn't the greatest explanation but I just wanted to give a description of my skin type first because everyone has different skin types so one type of facial product may work differently with your skin - this is just my opinion and how it worked for me. Take it with a grain of salt and enjoy~!
On the website, the description claims:
"Black sugar and charcoal gently exfoliate and absorb excess oils to
leave dull, oily or acne-prone skin feeling fresh and matte. Even oily
skin can be sensitive, so we've made this one soft and soothing to calm
redness and irritation, too. Its rhassoul mud base deep-cleanses to help
prevent breakouts while vitamin rich cold-pressed organic avocado oil
nourishes skin to leave it soft and lightly hydrated. Use all over for
perfectly smooth, bright skin. An angel indeed!"
So what does that all mean? Basically it's good for oily skin and exfoliates, smooths, and brightens skin.
On their site, it's rated a 4.4 (but all of their products are like a 4+) and there's a lot of great reviews about it. Some of the pros mentioned in the reviews include it smelling good, controlling oil, exfoliating, and being good for acne-prone and oily skin. Some cons are that it can be messy and leave a dark-ish residue on those with fairer skin. As you can see below, it's a bit pricey, but all LUSH stuff is pricey so you gotta keep that in mind if you're considering shopping at LUSH in general.
Price: $31.95 for 8.4 oz.
Where to buy: LUSH website
Okay so enough of the boring information, let's get on with my personal experience. I don't mind that it comes in a tub and that you have to scoop out the product. I can see this being a little unsanitary and especially since there's no preservatives, I feel like dipping your hands in it multiple times might speed up the "going bad" process. I really don't know how you even know if you're cleanser goes bad but mine actually passed the "best used by" date last week or so, so I'm furiously trying to use it up. I did read that you can use it on your body as a body scrub and lots of the reviews mentioned people using it on their body as well as their face. If you're doing it like that, I can totally understand how you would use up the whole product, but for me, well I'm barely halfway done and I've had it for over 3 months. That being said, I don't use this product every day. I did initially use it both day and night to cleanse my skin but one day I noticed my skin had a ton of little scratches and I realized it was from the cleanser so I decided to cut down and only use it maybe once every one or two days.
In my opinion, Dark Angels is more of an exfoliant to be used a few times a week, not daily as a cleanser. My skin is definitely not sensitive and it's pretty good at taking harsh products. For example, the St. Ives apricot scrub, my skin can take that daily nbd. I actually think that's less rough than Dark Angels. I know there's a lot of controversy about the St. Ives apricot scrub with people saying it's really bad for your skin and causes micro-scratches and tears your skin, but honestly, I don't get that. I like the way St. Ives makes my skin feel really clean and I don't feel like it's harsh at all. Dark Angels is made with black sugar to give it that exfoliating property and Rhassoul mud (charcoal I think) to absorb excess oil. Since my skin was never super oily to start with, I can't really say if Dark Angels controls my oil production or not. I guess it does but who knows. *shrugs* Many reviews talk about how it controls their oil so if you have oily skin, this could work for you. But back on the topic of sensitive skin - if you have sensitive skin, I don't think I would recommend this for you. Especially if you can't stand St. Ives apricot scrub. The black sugar component of Dark Angels makes it pretty rough in texture and after seeing those tiny scratches/red lines on my face, I don't think it's a good idea to press too hard when using that. But my problem is that if you don't press the cleanser into your face, it won't stick on your skin and will just drop off into the sink/shower/wherever you wash your face and dude, that's like 10 cents right there! (Lol oh the stingy side in me comes out).
With regards to people commenting on the scrub being messy, I don't think it's that messy. Sure some bits drop off, but if you're careful, like me, you shouldn't have too much fall out and all you have to do is use water to wash it off the sides of the sink/wherever it dropped and it's gone. Not that big of a deal right? The instructions say to only grab a pea size amount and then rub it in your palms with some water. What I do is grab about a pea size amount using my knuckles. This is a trick I learned when I had gotten gel nails and lotion kept getting stuck underneath my nails (#thestrugglewasreal ;D). Using your knuckles to get out lotion or the cleanser is a great trick if you have longer nails or just want to be a little bit more sanitary (somehow I think it's better than using your fingers). Then I rub it in my damp/wettened palms and rub together onto my face. I don't always do this though. Sometimes, I take it off my knuckles and just directly place it on my "freshly-water-splashed" face and rub it in. I wash my face by holding my face above the sink (looking downward) and catching water with my two palms and splashing it up against my face. No not like those commercials where the water splashes against the models face and goes everywhere but yes I do cup the water in my palms and bring it up to my face. I then use my hands to rub off and of the excess product still clinging to my face (kind of necessary for any cleanser really). I repeat this until all the product is washed off. I'm telling you this because not everyone does this (which surprised me when I first found out) but I think it's one of the best ways to efficiently wash your face.
Okay so all in all, I don't think I would repurchase this cleanser. I like it and I don't mind the smell but it's definitely on the pricier side and since it has an expiration/best-use-by date and I can't use it that often (or choose not to), I don't think it's the best product for me personally. I do think it'd make a great body scrub but it's also one that I feel like I could make on my own (oh the multitude of DIY sugar scrubs you can find online) for much cheaper. My body skin isn't oily either (who's is anyways?) so I don't know how good of a use it would be to use Dark Angels as a body scrub (seems like a waste of money but at the same time, if my cleanser is past the use-by date.. I might have to resort to using it up on my body). I think this is a great exfoliating product that should be used occasionally, especially if you have sensitive skin. Maybe you can try pressing with less force, but even then, I feel wary about recommending this to anyone who's skin is generally pretty sensitive. I would follow up with a good moisturizer (I use my aloe gel because that's just what I use everyday and I would HIGHLY recommend everyone and anyone to use aloe gel if you aren't already. Seriously the bomb for any type of skin). The cleanser can be a bit crumbly and strange if you're not used to using products out of a tub (plus unsanitary) which are a few cons I might bring up if you're considering purchasing Dark Angels. So I suppose that's it for my review on Dark Angels. It's not bad and if you want to try out a new cleanser or exfoliating product and have the money to spend, you can definitely try it out. Just make sure you have a friend who you can share it with or give it to if you don't like it or don't want to use it that often but need to finish it before the best-by date!
What other LUSH products have you guys tried and what would you recommend? I love their Bath Bombs but can never get myself to buy one but let me know what you think is worth the splurge!
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