Week 2: Fresh Farmacy

Bonjour! So this week, I really want to praise one of my first purchases from LUSH: Fresh Farmacy! This was the pretty pink facial cleansing soap that attracted me during my first time back in a LUSH store after half a decade. In NYC’s Herald Square, there is a lovely little LUSH store just around the corner from the giant Macy’s. My friend Taylor took me in there (during her birthday trip to the city), and as I said in my first post, it stirred back memories of a store I had been to in New Zealand. So there was something special about this store for me, and I felt compelled to buy something.

    First of all, I need to say that the smell of each and every LUSH store hits your senses all at once in the most appealing way. I, for one, love smells- I am a perfume/scent fanatic, so this place was perfect for my nose. Yes, LUSH stores smell wonderful- it’s a hard smell to describe because everything in the store is so fragrant but not in a synthetic way. The smells are natural, but not in a “hippie” way. It’s bizarre, but anyone who has visited a LUSH store knows what I am talking about.

    Anyways, I happily browsed around the lovely smelling boutique containing colorful soaps, cleansers, shower gels, body scrubs, shampoos, bubble bars and bath bombs. Everything was so delightful, bright and happy. The employees were very helpful and sweet! And as I shopped, I came upon the table showing off their amazing facial cleansers, and there was this light pink face soap that promised to be gentle, natural and effective. It’s called Fresh Farmacy, and anytime I say the name or think of it, I get a special little feeling inside; the same feeling I got when I first saw this beauty of a facial cleanser. I had never tried bar soap as a facial cleanser, but I was attracted to the idea of it. With excitement of getting something new, I asked one of the LUSH workers to cut off a hunk worth about $5 of the Fresh Farmacy.

A wheel of Fresh Farmacy, just so that you can see what it looks like.

Each soap is made in a large wheel or block, and you can choose exactly how much of it you would like to buy. The workers weigh pieces so that you can specifically choose how much you are willing to spend at the time. It’s perfect.

This was a different purchase, but I wanted to show what the wrapping paper looks like, and how they measure out the weight/price. Just to let you know, this $11 hunk lasted me for about 8 months, so it’s totally worth it.

    I received my $5 worth of the beautiful pink cleanser wrapped in LUSH’s own compostable paper. This store literally thinks of every way to be environmentally friendly (and friendly to your skin). Such as: the reason why this light pink cleanser is in bar soap form is because LUSH didn’t want to keep it in a watery form, that way preservatives would not have to be used to keep this cleanser fresh. I loved the whole idea of all of this, and I’m so glad I was drawn into buying Fresh Farmacy.

    So I was happy with my Fresh Farmacy in hand, and I figured I’d get something else to treat myself. I bought the Mask of Magnaminty, a minty face mask. At the checkout, the cashier threw in a free sample of the Ocean Salt facial scrub… And so, for less than $20, I received joy, three great products, excitement, and a new love affair for the rest of my life; that’s what I call a bargain.

My purchases of that day in NYC.

    I was terribly excited to try Fresh Farmacy out. I unwrapped the lovely LUSH paper, and smelled a scent that will always be with me. Fresh Farmacy smells like the color light pink. It is gentle, soothing, relaxing, kind and pretty. Yes, all that can come from a smell. It even has an earthy scent tied in, which adds to its calming quality. This cleanser is meant to be calming for even the most sensitive skin. My skin isn’t rather sensitive, but it definitely doesn’t hurt to use something soothing and gentle. It contains natural ingredients such as calamine, chamomile, rose and lavender- which create the lovely scent, alongside tea tree to deal with blemishes.

    Not only does it smell amazing, but it really works too! It’s amazing that something so gentle can be terribly effective. I just rub a slice of the soap between my palms with warm water, and it lathers up instantly into perfect light pink bubbles. The feeling of it is so smooth, especially on the face. But even with it being really gentle, it does cleanse well. I have taken off the most stubborn makeup with ease while using Fresh Farmacy. Even black eyeliner doesn’t stand a chance against this lovely cleanser.  Plus, since it isn’t harsh, your face is not dry after using it. Another great thing: it really helps with bug bites! The calming qualities given by the calamine naturally and effectively help to diminish pesky bug bites. Seriously, this is an amazing product.

My hunk of FF from a LUSH store in Montreal.

    I have been to many stores all around the world since the one in Herald Square, and I have purchased Fresh Farmacy time and time again. I always have some on hand, and I never grow tired of it. I’m not lying to you when I say this: I love using Fresh Farmacy every single time. I feel good about using it, and I know it really helps my skin to be clean and fresh. This is the perfect facial cleanser, and I will always go back to it. Oh, I just love it!

Xoxo-

Jayme Renee