A while back a couple of readers asked me to post about my cleansers – as you can see from the line-up above, I’m an indiscriminate cleanser! I switch between brands/type and texture depending upon what I think my skin needs, and to a certain degree, what I can be bothered to do. So I’ll run through them and why they’re in my cleansing stash.
Sarah Chapman Ultimate Cleanse: This is a liquid balm type consistency – good for dry feeling days and double cleansing combined with some massage. There’s hardly a drop left and I use it at least a couple of times a week to get really stuck in. It’s £40 and at the very top end of what I’d pay for a cleanser HERE.
Nude Detox Brightening Fizzy Powder Wash: This is still my lab sample bottle because a little goes a very long way, but I use it when my skin feels.. I suppose grimy is the word. It does that really clean thing that makes me feel that there is nothing in the way of debris left..just clean skin. There’s a skin brightening element (that would always come if you started with a grimy face!) but it doesn’t feel as though my skin is starved of moisture after using. It’s £38 HERE and again is at the top end for me.
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Ole Henriksen Melting Cleanser: I love this for its consistency – part gel and part balm.. I bombed through my full size version so all I have left is the little pot that was in my last BBB Box and I’m saving it for my holiday! It’s £24 HERE.
Bioderma Sensibio: A classic micellar that everyone loves – since I discovered micellars they’ve always been part of my routine and I can’t count how many bottles of this I’ve been through. This little bottle is all that’s left from the many. It’s £4 HERE.
Garnier Micellar Water: Some micellars can be quite drying on the skin, even though the inclusion of oil (micelles) mean they shouldn’t be. I find this one completely non-drying and soft feeling on my skin. It’s one that I turn to for a quick and lazy cleanse. It’s £3 HERE.
Simple Kind To Eyes Make Up Wipes: Instead of winkling away mascara and shadow with bits of cotton wool soaked in cleanser, I’m much happer using these little wipes to get rid of make up. They’re just easy – cleansing that you don’t have to really think about – and do the job on all but the most determined mascaras. They’re £3.99 HERE.
Erborian Herbal Energy Cleanser: If I had to pick out a favourite, at the moment, it’s this one – it’s something of a mix of textures; imagine a more oily micellar and you’re about there. Part oil, part water. It does contain mineral oils but they don’t upset my skin – but what my skin loves about this is that it catches every single bit of everything that needs to come off! It’s like a super-cleanser. And my skin is very soft afterwards: I will be on a second bottle very soon at this rate. It’s a bit of an all round win if you can tolerate mineral oils.. It’s £23 HERE.
B Micellar Water: Again, a very soft micellar that does the job perfectly well – especially on hot days when you just don’t want anything heavy on your skin. It’s been a staple in my line up since I came across it and probably my favourite B product. It’s £4.99 HERE.
Cera Ve Hydrating Cleanser: This big pump bottle of Cera Ve is what I use to remove make up from my arm after swatching so it lives in the kitchen where I take all my pics. If I’m swatching a lot in one day, my arm can be red raw if I use anything drying, and one thing I can say about this is that it never dries out my skin. In fact, if anything, it feels like it’s more conditioned. Other than the stainiest tints, it never has trouble removing anything. A big bottle is about £18 but it’s hard to find.. I found mine on Amazon or Ebay.
So, these are the things that I really use – and which one I pick is just what I feel like on any given day; I’m not a cleansing snob by any means.. I don’t think it’s essential to do a 20 minute cleanse morning and night, but only you’ll know what level of cleansing your own skin needs. It’s occuring to me that we’ve come a very long way in terms of choice from even a few years ago (remember that in the UK, micellars were barely heard of here only a couple of years back) and our choices were a few apologetic cleansing milks (anyone remember Ann French?!). It’s a rare day indeed that I’ll go to bed without having cleansed, but I have done it occasionally, and nothing bad happened.
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