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13 April 2014

Ocean Salt Self-Preserving Scrub


Ask any one of my friends and they will tell you; if I had been asked a few weeks ago to name a Lush product that I wanted the company to veganise, the first words out of my mouth would have been American Cream, very quickly followed up with Ocean Salt! I can't tell you exactly what it is about the scrub that seems so appealing to me, but it's something I've wanted to try every since I first knew of the product's existence. 

Ocean Salt Self-Preserving Scrub is a cleverly developed face and body scrub that Lush have been working on for quite some time. Not happy with releasing highly natural, low-preservative products, the company wanted to take their innovative ideas that one step further, and produce a range that was completely preservative-free. In order to give their products their properties, as well as maintaining a long shelf life, Lush have carefully crafted each item so that the ingredients form a self-preserving formula. 

When it comes to Ocean Salt, the change of formula has not only made it better for your skin but also removed the sole ingredient that made this product non-vegan beforehand. Lanolin is a waxy residue that comes from the skin secretions of sheep, and is often used in cosmetics to help bind ingredients together as well as give them an oily consistency to soothe and heal skin. Lush have removed this animal derivative, and replaced it with far nicer sounding ingredients; silken tofu, Japan wax and mango butter.
One other change that this product has gone through, is that it's no longer marketed as simply a facial cleanser (or facial scrub as it was referred to). Instead, the new, improved product can now be used over the whole body. 
Despite my excitement about Ocean Salt, I'd never actually smelt or researched it in that much detail beforehand, so trying it for the first time was rather interesting. One of the key ingredients here is lime soaked in vodka - an ingredient that gives this scrub both it's crisp, uplifting scent and it's cooling properties once it's applied onto the skin. Then there's an array of different fruits; grapefruit, mango butter and lime oil, all rich in minerals that help to soften and hydrate the skin. Furthermore, the addition of avocado butter, coconut oil and seaweed leave it conditioned and smelling wonderful. 

The most prominent ingredient though is salt, which makes up most of the scrub's body as well as being sprinkled over the top for decoration. Sea salt is rich in minerals and excellent for scrubbing away dead skin as well as being a natural preservative; allowing the ingredients in Ocean Salt to remain as fresh as they can be. The salt adds to the citrus scent of the lime, giving this product an overall lovely refreshing fragrance.

To use in the shower, just scoop as much or as little out of the tub and lather it all over your body, rubbing it in a circular motion to really stimulate those pores and exfoliate tired skin. Although this is probably an obvious point to make, I would recommend that you don't use this on newly shaved areas. I made the mistake of slathering this all over my legs mere minutes after I taken a razor to them, and I was in a lot of pain afterwards.  

One thing I found off-putting when it comes to Ocean Salt was that the texture of the salt was a little harsh on my skin, and it scratched a lot when I was exfoliating myself in the shower. I was expecting it to be similar in consistency to Rub Rub Rub but I found that it was almost as rough as one of Lush's many solid sugar scrubs.

Furthermore, unlike the above body scrub, Ocean Salt was also a little difficult to spread over large areas. I found that each scoop would exfoliate the immediate area it had been applied to, but by the time I had spread it across my entire thigh or my right arm, it was nothing more than white foam and a few stray bits of salt. For this reason, my 250g tub went down very quickly, and if you're planning on using it as a full body scrub, you're likely to only get around 5/6 uses out of it, whereas a same sized pot of Rub Rub Rub will see me through a couple of months. 
Overall, I wasn't as enamoured by this product as I thought I was going to be. Whether it was my high expectations or something else, Ocean Salt is not a product I would rush out to buy again. Although the scent was highly refreshing, it did take some getting used to and the overall condition of my skin after use was not that different from how it was before use. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Fine Sea Salt, Hand Harvested Sea Salt, Fresh Grapefruit Infusion, Silken Tofu, Glycerine, Japan Wax, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Fresh Organic Lime Extracted in Vodka, Mango Butter, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Avocado Butter, Lime Oil, Seaweed Absolute, Violet Leaf Absolute, Limonene, Linalool, Perfume, Colour 42090.

Vegan?: Yes.

2015 Price: £7.75 for 120g, £13.95 for 250g.

Year Of Original Release: 2014. 

22 comments

  1. Did you use it on your face as well? Or would it be too harsh?

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    1. Hi there - I did use it on my face however I was very gentle as I could feel it scratching at my skin and I worried that I'd irritate my pores. It left my face feeling quite soft but I know If I used this regularly, it would no doubt bring my face out in a rash; just like Let The Good Times Roll did when I first used that and scrubbed too hard.

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  2. Have you used it on wet skin? Because you should use it on dry skin to get a good exfoliation, so the salt won't dissolve into water and you will get a nice scrubby cream ;) i use it like this on my face once or twice per week, and it works wonders

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    1. Hi there - thanks for the advice. I have indeed tried it on both wet and dry skin and unfortunately, it still seemed to irritate my skin. I did find it slightly better on my face but it won't be replacing my favourite cleanser anytime soon!

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  3. I thought I was nuts being someone who wasn't in love with Ocean Salt!

    It's completely redundant in my bathroom: it smells yummy, but I prefer Rub Rub Rub (or Sugar Scrub if I've been lazy and not been using RRR regularly and need a super scrub) for the body, and I find Herbalism gives me sufficient exfoliation on the face since I use it once or twice daily!

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  4. I have the solution for you!! :D If you scrub your face with this one and then put on your face catastrophe cosmetic your face will be super soft, velvety and calm without red cheeks and irritated pores :)

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    1. This sounds really interesting - I love Catastrophe Cosmetic. I might request a sample and try this out. Thank you!

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  5. For how many months can you use it? The expiration date it's still the same?

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    1. By the look of it, the expiration date is the same length as the non-preserving one. I cannot comment on whether it fulfils this as my tub didn't last long enough to test this out but it does have a long shelf life.

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  6. I used to love Ocean Salt. It was my 'absolutely can't live without......' product. Not now. The new formula is awful on my skin. And the new smell makes me feel sick. Please go back to the old formula. Or at least offer us both products. I'm not a vegan. I'll happily have lanolin in my product. Lush will probably lose my custom over this.

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    1. Hi there - I'm so sorry to hear that the new formula doesn't agree with you or your skin. From what I believe, Lush still offer the old formula so you can still buy the one you love!

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  7. I love Ocean Salt!

    I do agree that it goes entirely too quickly considering the price, but I love it and will continue buying it. I'll have to try the new formula before buying it, though. I have about 1/3 of a 250g tub left, and I bought it a little over a month ago. I haven't had any issues with it not staying scrubby long enough to do what I need it to do, though that may be just a difference in use. *shrug*

    What I do is I take a good scoop out with a plastic spoon we had left over from a party and put it on the shelf in my shower out of the spray. I pull off small amounts and squish between my palms and start on my arms, spreading it over my arm and then really rubbing it in. Then I do my legs. I don't use it on my face because it is far too scrubby for that. Dark Angels is about as scrubby as I get with my face, and I follow that with a good bit of Aqua Marina to calm the skin.

    What I really like to use Ocean Salt for - and makes it last longer for the price - is to exfoliate before shaving. I've only paired it with Dirty Shaving Cream so far since I'm waiting for my D'Fluff to come in the mail, but I still have half a sample of Dirty and a whole Sample of Prince to try it with before D'Fluff gets here. Using Ocean Salt to exfoliate my legs and then the really rich shaving cream makes my legs super soft, and the effect lasts for days.

    Since I can't use Rub Rub Rub due to lemon being a trigger for my husband's migraines, Ocean Salt is my body scrub of choice. I find that sugar scrubs melt too quickly in the water, where the salt lasts a little longer. And I love the smell of Ocean Salt. :)

    Sara

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    1. It's a shame you cannot use Rub Rub Rub as I find that product amazing. I too would not use Ocean Salt on the face - it would be far too harsh for my complexion. Speaking to both of my flatmates, they much prefer the consistency and smell of the original Ocean Salt so I think something may be 'missing' from this product. It's a shame as I've been desperate to try this ever since I discovered Lush.

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    2. Have u gotten ur d fluff? how is it with the ocean salt? Any good?

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    3. I haven't purchased d fluff actually - unfortunately it's not vegan so I won't be able to!

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  8. Hi I bought a small tub of this product last week, but mine looks nothing like your picture !! It doesn't have any blue bits in it and it is beige colour, it also seems more watery, I'm confused ! Are they using a new formula or is it out of date (although the label says it's in date until march 2016)

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    1. It could be perhaps that you picked up the none self-preserving one perhaps? This one is vegan but the original one is not and my flatmate has said that she has noticed a difference between the consistency of both of them. Either that or it could be that this one wasn't mixed up properly? I know what you mean when you say a beige colour as I have seen some of the bigger pots looking more like your description than mine. I do plan on buying another pot of this soon so I'll see how it compares to my last experience.

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    2. It is definitely the self preserving one and it says vegan on the tub, but I think perhaps there is just a variation in the batches, I'll try giving it a good stir too, thanks for your reply, I love your blog so much, I always read your reviews before purchasing any product, they are really helpful

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    3. Most likely! As long as it still works, that's the main concern :) Thank you so much for your lovely comments, I'm glad this blog is helpful and I just hope it doesn't make you spend too much money :)

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    4. Hehe I do usually spend quite a lot of money , last haul was over £60 (which is a quite lot for me as I am a college student) but gradually I am converting my entire beauty regime to lush products :-)

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  9. hi Jen! I'm Carolina. I know this is an old post, but I just read it last week as I was looking for some info on this particular scrub. I needed to see if it was appropriate for my needs. I finally got it, based solely on your review, and it was wonderful for what I needed it for. Your review was so complete and thorough that it answered all my questions. Then I started reading other reviews from you and I can see you cover every aspect of the products tested. I've just discovered Lush, so know few products so far. I have only tried a few things: Ocean Salt (love it), Happy Happy Joy Joy (extra love it), Fairly Traded Honey (it's OK, I mix it up with vodka, just for the fun of it, I don't even know if it's a wise combination), American Cream (not opened yet), Curly Wurly (love everything... but the coconut pieces....). When I "have" to buy another Lush product, I will certainly come here to your blog and see if I find your opinion on the product I want to buy. Now I want to try the Flying Fox shower gel and the Imperialis cream, they say it's apropriate for combination skin (my type), I struggle to find a good moisturizer that doesn't leave my face shiny. Thanks for sharing your experiences with the products, and best regards from South America!

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    1. Wow - thank you so much Carolina - I'm so glad my reviews have helped you to have such an amazing experience with Lush so far! I'm also glad to hear that the products you have tried have all worked out for you - you seem to have a good taste in products already! Welcome to the world of Lush - just try not to spend too much during your stay ;)

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