Cleanser Hall of Fame

I love a good cleanser. Going through the skin troubles I've had this past few years, I've completely changed my routine and have tested a lot of products. I've made some poor decisions (harsh, foaming cleansers) and I've still got a lot more I want to try, but these have been my favourites so far. They were chosen with my sensitive, acne-prone skin in mind, but most would work equally well for those with dry or oily skin as they are simply brilliant cleansers.

First up, is the Origins Never a Dull Moment (£18) face wash, which is the only foaming wash I've had any success with. I reviewed a while back and you can find that post here.

My second most used is the No7 Beautiful Skin Melting Gel Cleanser (£9). I've been through, ooh, about 4-5 bottles of this. It is a gel to begin with, and I apply it to my skin without wetting my face first. I really massage it in to ensure it has emulsified all my makeup, then I remove it with a flannel rinsed in almost-hot water. It takes a couple of repeats (rinsing the flannel, wiping, rinsing) but it'll take most of the day/makeup/SPF off in one go. I usually double-cleanse if I've been wearing foundation and SPF and general wisdom is that you can either cleanse for the second time with the same product, or go for something else with different skin benefits. This gel cleanser leaves my skin feeling clean and soft, however, despite it being marketed towards normal/dry skin I do feel that it works better for oily/combination as when my skin has gone through dry phases this cleanser has been a bit too harsh.

My third most used is the Suti Cleanse Organic Balm (£28). This is gorgeous. The balm itself is quite a creepy colour (bright green) but it has a lovely smell - a bit like kiwi fruit. Unfortunately the top ingredient in this is shea butter - my arch nemesis (it breaks me out). As a pre-cleanse however, this is fab. I cleanse with this then reach for either the No7 gel or the Origins wash. As long as the shea butter isn't sitting on my face in a moisturiser I seem to be ok. Despite the evil (for me) ingredient this balm is pure, organic loveliness and is well worth the money if you're into your cleansing and love the ritual (and the scents).

If I'm not using the Suti balm, my next favourite pre-cleanse oil is the Botanics 100% Organic Facial Oil (£9.99 usually, but on promotion for £6.66 just now) . I did a full review of this a few days ago which you can find here.

A more recent addition is the Clarins One-Step Gentle Exfoliating Cleanser (£16 at Escentual just now) which I got as a gift-with purchase. This has gritty bits in it, which in all honesty, I'm generally not very sure about. I usually get my exfoliation from "flanneling" (ha) and from chemical exfoliants (glycolic, AHA, etc). But this is nice. It's a good one to take into the shower (don't wash your face in the shower if you have the water really hot!) in the morning - just a nice wee scrub to buff away any dull, dead skin cells that have accumulated overnight.

I recently got samples (from a magazine) of the REN Rosa Centifolia Cleansing Gel (£14 at M&S just now) and the Balance Me Daily Essentials Pure Skin Face Wash (£16 for the big size from the brand website, interestingly, you can also get a teeny trial size for a few pounds) and I've been seriously impressed with both of them. I've loved REN products for a while now, their hydra-calm cleansing milk (danger shea butter!), glycolactic mask and rose otto bodywash especially are superb, but this was my first try of a Balance Me product. I really liked the cleanser and will certainly be exploring the range further (hello "congested skin serum" and "skin bright hydrating face mist" - come to me my pretties!)

While all these balms and gels and things get the bulk of the makeup off, I'm always a bit scared to put them near my eyes. I don't wear a lot of eye makeup: only eyeshadow, mascara and undereye concealer as my eyes are sensitive. To sweep this away, I love the Vichy Purete Thermale Soothing Eye Make-Up Remover for Sensitive Eyes (£8.70 at Escentual). It's the most gentle, soothing, refreshing product and it's one of only two removers I trust near my eyes (Klorane Soothing Eye Makeup Remover is the other). I'm not sure how effective these are if you smear your entire eye area in heavy, waterproof mascara, eyeliner and eyeshadow, but for normal, everyday makeup removal - these are great.



Phew, another long post. I hope this was somewhat helpful if you were thinking about buying any of the above, or if you were thinking of updating your regime. I'm always on the lookout for new cleansers to add to my stash, so please feel free to leave any recommendations in the comments :)