Photo: Courtesy of Lush.Certain beauty products — think NARS blush in Orgasm, Clinique's Black Honey lipstick — are so good, they're practically famous. And, while we do love so many of those well-known, well-loved products with a loyal following, we've been wondering why others have been quietly flying under the radar. With that in mind, meet our beauty series, Cult Classics, in which we'll introduce you to the products you really, truly should know about (and try, like, right now). They're not brand new, but trust us: They've got staying power.
If you have breakout-prone skin, you know how difficult some days can be. (Or weeks or months.) One day, your skin could be completely under control; the next, you wake up to a colony of whiteheads on your face. Rough. At times like these, I reach for Lush's Cosmetic Warrior Fresh Face Mask.
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Let's get the bad news out of the way first: This isn't the best smelling mask out there, but it's got good reason to stink a little. Lush's masks are hand-blended from natural ingredients — and the ones in Cosmetic Warrior happen to be egg whites, tea tree oil, and garlic.
But, don't dismiss this mask in favor of a more pleasant olfactory experience. Remember, we're talking industrial-strength pore cleansing here. Consider Cosmetic Warrior the bouncer of the trendy club that is your face. Its job is to kick out the bridge-and-tunnel gunk that doesn't belong — and those clogged-up pores are public-enemy number one. So, save those rosewater masks for better skin days.
I use the mask in two ways: as an all-over treatment when my skin is particularly rotten (thank you, polar vortex) and as a spot treatment when my acne is concentrated within certain areas of my face. I even spread the stuff over my chest and back when my gym habit causes a body breakout. The ingredients are powerhouses; garlic has naturally occurring antioxidant properties, and tea tree oil is an antiseptic. Combined, they're the perfect acne-blasting collaboration.
Since Lush's face masks are mixed from scratch and contain so many natural ingredients, they do have an expiration date — usually around two weeks. For me, nothing goes to waste since I use the mask twice a week on my face and once a week on my body. And, since this baby will only set you back a measly $7, it's a smart investment to keep acne (and vampires) at bay.
Lush Cosmetic Warrior Fresh Face Mask, $6.95, available in-store at Lush
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