Miracle in a P495 bottle: LUSH Grease Lightning Spot Treatment

I normally do not post anything related to beauty or skincare in my blog because I do not feel knowledgeable enough in the topic. I am slowly getting into makeup, but so far, I haven’t gone past experimenting lipstick shades that are suitable to my face. My progress is really slow, to the point that it looks like I’m hardly trying lol.

Anyway, that isn’t the point of my post. Today, I thought of writing a rave review of a certain Lush product I discovered and I regret not finding out about sooner.

Lush Grease Lightning Spot Corrector Gel

Grease Lightning is a powerful combination of ingredients that will nip any breakouts in the bud without upsetting the skin around them. We use an infusion of antibacterial and antiseptic rosemary, thyme and tea tree, as well as antioxidant-rich grape juice and witch hazel, which is astringent and anti-inflammatory and is said to soothe redness. This product is ideally applied when you feel a spot is about to erupt – prevention is better than cure.

Lush, the brand, is mostly popular for their soap products which do more than just smell really, really good. They are also an animal-cruelty free cosmetics company, and all their products are handmade. Other than their delightfully-smelling soaps, and other items in the bath products department, the price tags of their items don’t exactly come cheap.. hence why I was so reluctant and always skipped their stores whenever I’m at the mall, despite the inviting smell tempting you from miles away. 😛

Then one day came that my zits became really stubborn and I put my foot down and decided it can’t be like this forever. There HAS to be a cost-effective way to get rid of them for good.. or at least keep them at bay. I definitely do not want to resort to spending thousands of pesos going to a dermatologist. I mean.. It’s ridiculous that I break out the next day after I eat something as good as a piece of well-done steak. Mmmm.. steak. 

A bit of background: I (believe I) have oily, or maybe combination skin. And given I am not exactly a healthy person, I think that also affects why I am prone to getting zits a lot more easily than most people. As for zits, I would get them whenever I eat oily, fatty foods, too much meat. Sometimes milk becomes a culprit, too. Definitely staying up late adds up to reasons why I get ’em. Lastly, chocolate breaks me out! Google says there’s no connection, science says the same thing.. but IDK, I just do when I eat chocolates. Boo hoo.

Do I religiously follow a skincare routine? No, I do not and don’t have one, AFAIK. I also don’t wear heavy makeup. If anything, I just put lipstick, and not even a thick shade of it.. just so I don’t look pale. I’ve never made-up my face unless there was a big, big, big occasion. The most makeup I’ve done was put layers of face powder, but still leave out the eyes. I don’t touch my eyebrows and eyelids either, I dunno how to use eyeshadow. Shit I really don’t know how to makeup. How to be a girl?! All I want is to have clear skin. Doesn’t need to be spotless, or perfectly clear. Basically clear will do. 😆

The search for a cheap, effective, OTC anti-acne product without resorting to expensive dermatologist treatments  

Obviously, I’ve tried a lot of products already at that point. From the big-brand drugstore brands of anti-acne gels, creams, toners, and whatever-else-I-could-get-my-hands-on.. to the ones that are a bit hard to find and get like the “independent” skincare products that are often sold and promoted about in the local Instagram community. Basically I’ve went around from one product to another for months, to 2-3 years, changed my facial cleansing routines accordingly to the product I was trying out. Occasionally I’ve.. dunno if it’s the right term, “broke” my skin from trying products that are too harsh. It caused my face to peel really bad. I’m relieved it went back to normal after a few days, and that I didn’t have a reason to go out. Oh how mortifying would that be going out looking like the crypt keeper.

I have also exhausted my pockets in search of the perfect anti-acne product for my face and skin. Not happy about that, but whatever. The search is over anyways. Other than Lush, I have tried Kiehl’s, and Body Shop’s Tea Tree Oil line. They were the brands I would consider to be the high-ends that I’ve given a try. They have worked but only for a short time. This was the Kiehl’s product that I tried: Kiehl’s Acne Blemish Control Daily Skin Treatment. I might do a separate review about it. The gist: It worked, but only for a short time. Also it was hard to see any results at first. I hardly saw any improvements, or I was just really impatient.

Finding “Grease” in the last place I would even look for

One day, I found myself bloghopping from random makeup, fashion, beauty blogs when I stumbled at a post of a blogger doing a Lush product haul. I believe she was posting about her soap haul. I could care less about soaps but.. I guess I was bored at the time so I read all of it. The photos were especially nice to look at, and that’s what drawn me in. Then I thought of looking up the company, Lush, what do they do.. make.. whatever. Products and whatnot. Then I stumbled on their anti-acne line of products.

Then and there, Grease Lightning is their bestselling anti-acne spot corrector gel. There are other stuff in the line such as a toner and facial cleanser.. or was it a soap. Haha. After reading numerous reviews from MUA and a lot of blogs, I took the plunge and made my first Lush visit a week later.

Hesitant to spend money again on something I am not sure if it would be effective.. but I went for it anyway. It was my only reason why I went out that day to the mall. I must’ve spent an hour or two inside the Lush shop carefully looking around each product before finally approaching one of the sales assistants and asking about Grease Lightning.

People say that SAs in Lush are most accommodating and helpful. They are correct about that. The lady who assisted me was indeed a) talkative (but in a good way); b) suggestive without being forceful; c) engaging to talk to; d) casual talker. The whole experience didn’t feel like she was overselling me a product, nor was she talking to me for the sake of making a sale.

My plan was only to buy Grease Lightning and Fresh Farmacy. The soap was supposed to be optional. I walked out of the store, with more items than those two. At the time of purchase, Grease Lightning costs P495. Fresh Farmacy is the soap that’s supposed to complement the spot corrector gel. Very sensitive soap, it had to be stored in room temperature and it mustn’t get wet unless you will use it or else it will melt. So for every time you use it, you have to dry it and store in a dry place after.

First impressions of Grease Lightning and my Lush haul

I was very excited to head home and try them as soon as I’ve paid for my purchases. I had bought way more than I intended to buy. My ~Lush haul~ consisted of a bottle of Grease Lightning, Fresh Farmacy facial soap (bought the minimum amount, I think it was 100g), Honey I Washed the Kids and Karma soap pack. I only bought the last two because they were best sellers for the soaps, and why not? Although.. at the moment, I don’t use them that much and they’ve become incense in my room lol. I had it cut into tiny pieces, which is always recommended over there, for some reason. It’s to conserve the soaps and to be able to use them longer, since you’ll be going through it piece by piece. Each piece can be used for 2 weeks, or more, depending how often you wash with it.

First off, the soaps don’t do much for me. They smell really good, yes. They also claim that the fragrance is long lasting. Not true in my case. It lasts longer as an air freshener in my room, lol. I think because of this, I won’t be repurchasing Lush soaps. The bath bombs look tempting, too, but nah, I don’t really need it.

Moment of truth for the Grease Lightning Spot Corrector Gel: Well, it is a liquid gel you apply to the area where the zit is. The bottle suggests to apply it anywhere where a zit is on or about to have. It also says to apply it as often as you like. I, however, applied it as generously as I could. 😆 It numbed my face in the beginning, because it is gel after all, but I got used to the sensation after some time. It doesn’t last for a long time either. At first I only applied it on the affected areas, but eventually, whenever I use it, I put it all over my face. I didn’t notice any alarming reactions of my skin, in places where there aren’t any zits on, so I continued applying it all over. I think, it even made my skin clearer and immune to having zits since then. One more thing: It does not sting (at least for me).

Trial and error, and the results..

How often did I apply this on my face? After I tone, which is usually only at night before I sleep. I have to stress this very important step: YOU HAVE TO APPLY THIS WITH CLEAN FINGERS. Literally after you wash your hands would be ideal, or else it’s useless methinks. There were no noticeable results at first. It probably only showed when I stopped paying attention but kept on using it as often as I could. The texture is also clear, so it won’t leave any visible residue anywhere upon applying. Maybe it was a month later when I noticed that the painters came in and I didn’t break out as badly as I used to. And that’s when I noticed it, upon closely looking.. they’re gone. Achievement unlocked moment. 

It was weird at first, haha, I was wondering why I wasn’t breaking out when I’m sure I’ve ate a lot of food that causes me to break out. I chucked it out to luck and right timing, but it’s been a few months since I started using this and some people have noticed that my face is now a lot clearer than before, which was nice to know of course.

I get the occasional teeny tiny bumps from time to time, but nothing close to a cystic/hormonal/huge zits like before. When that happens.. when I feel a bump somewhere around my face and know that’s going to be a zit in a few days, I head to my go-to product ASAP before it gets messy. 😉

At last, the search is over and I’m done product-hopping. Happy to have found something that finally works for me. It was the best P495 I’ve ever spent, tbh. 

Present facial routine and ending

I like that my facial/skincare routine is simple and are less than 3 steps and yet it does everything I want. The basic steps, from what I read around are ‘wash, tone, moisturise’. I think I hardly do the last part.. I wonder if I’ll regret it at some point. But IDK, I just don’t see the need for it at the moment?

Wash I use Body Shop’s Tea Tree Oil facial wash. My Tea Tree Oil pack from The Body Shop is still here and I am just finishing it. Not sure if I would repurchase if I use up all of it (including the toner which I RARELY use, if I even do)

Tone Does this count as a toner? It’s what I use before I apply Lush Grease Lightning. I think it’s a big stronger than Body Shop’s TTO toner.. because it stings whenever I use it, but it’s tolerable so I don’t mind.

And that’s it. Two steps. Let me remind you though that this is what works for me. Following the exact steps of how I came about this facial care routine may or may not work for you. However, I recommend BIG TIME that you try Lush’s Grease Lightning especially when you’ve tried a lot of products to tame the beast (lol) and you’ve yet to reap from your losses. Very happy that I took the plunge, the risk, purchased a bottle. I would definitely repurchase as soon as I finish this one I have. Currently, in the Philippines, it sells for P495 a bottle. It only comes in one size, which I think is okay.. and I think the amount of gel inside is more than what you pay for.

Would I recommend this product to anyone having the same or similar acne/zit problems? YES, YES, YES! 

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. The featured products were purchased with my own money. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own, based on my experience upon using it.