LUSH Product Review: Cupcake Fresh Face Mask

As far as Lush products go, one of the most talked-about items is their Cupcake facial mask. On my first trip to Lush, I had to take a look at it to see what this miracle product claimed to do. On the packaging it states that this mask is for oily and/or acne prone teenage skin. While I am just a year out of my teens and don't have problems with acne, I do have some oily skin - especially in the summertime. I decided to pick it up and see what was big deal was.

An important thing to note is that Lush's facial masks cannot be purchased online, only in Lush stores due to the fact that they have a short shelf life (no artificial preservatives, all natural ingredients) and must be kept refrigerated. So, if you are thinking about buying "Cupcake" or any of Lush's other facial masks, look for a store in your area. You can find one using the shop locator on the Lush website.

Now I'll cover some of the main aspects of the product and what I liked and did not like about this mask.

1. Scent. Scent is a major factor for people when it comes to cosmetics. I for one was absolutely blown away at how delicious this smelled! It smells exactly like a dark chocolate cupcake with mint. You can also smell just enough of the cleansing Rhassoul mud to be able to tell that you're not just applying useless fluff to your face. Score: A+.

2. Consistency. I can best describe the consistency of cupcake as a very thick whipped mousse. Because you have to keep it chilled in the fridge, this keeps the product at the perfect firmness for application. It is a smooth formula with just a few small "dark brown flecks" which I am assuming is linseed skins, which don't add or take away from the application process at all. The only slight complaint that I have about the consistency of the product is that you need to apply it to the desired areas of your face fairly quickly, because once it touches your face it warms up very quickly and becomes hard to spread evenly - kind of like spreading melted chocolate on your face. Score: A.

3. While it's on. With some masks you can feel your skin tightening up anywhere from slightly to uncomfortably before you wash it off; kind of like the product letting you know that "it's working." With Cupcake, however, I don't feel that tight stretching feeling at all, which is a definite plus for me - I was never a big fan of that tight feeling on my face. Also, when Cupcake dries on my face, it doesn't actually get hard - it maintains a slightly softened feel, which is nice because it does not make me feel like my skin is being dried out underneath the mask. Score: A+.

4. Washing it off. I actually love the way that Cupcake washes off. Because, as I mentioned, it doesn't get hard and flaky but stays a little bit soft, it comes away from the skin with warm water much easier than many leading masks (namely the popular Queen Helene Mint Julep Mask). I wash this away with warm water, massaging it off of my face in small circles with my fingertips and I find that this is the most effective way to push the mask off and let it continue to moisturize my face at the same time. Score: A.

5. How does it feel afterwards? My skin feels absolutely heavenly soft after using this stuff, and it really cuts down on the oiliness of skin, mainly around my nose, for several hours after I use it. Score: A+.

6. Long term/ promised effects? This absolutely helped with the oiliness of my skin. So, it gets my vote on that. As for acne, again I have to say that on a regular basis I do not have to deal with more than one or two pimples per month. However, this past month I had a pretty significant hormone induced breakout on my forehead. For those of you girls who get hormone pimples, you know that creams do absolutely nothing to clear them up - you simply have to wait 'em out, which can be from a few days to a week. I even tried Queen Helene Mint Julep Mask on the breakout, which for me dries up pimples within a few hours of use. I put Cupcake on my breakout, not expecting anything to really happen, but I was overjoyed to find that about an hour after I had washed it off I was able to see a definite reduction in the redness of the pimples in the breakout. I was thrilled that the next morning, the breakout had calmed down a bit and the finer pimples had shrunken a bit - all this, when nothing else did even a little bit to help! Score: A.

Overall I absolutely love Cupcake. This is a product that I have found to live up to its hype, and I will certainly be buying it again. From me, I would give this item an overall score of an A.