Before I begin, I have to say that Caroline Hirons played a large part in how I chose to overhaul my skincare regime. Her blog is fantastic - she makes the world of skincare, which I had always found to be a huge minefield, so easy to navigate, and is hilarious to boot. Her writing is pretty much the catalyst for my skincare revelation, and I began to understand not just what I was putting on my face, but why. Genius.
Firstly, I realised that, although I thought I was making a good effort in using facewipes to remove my makeup at the end of the day, they really weren't doing the job; they contained irritating ingredients, and were almost definitely leaving some makeup on my face overnight. Gross. I found that proper cleansing is really the most important starting point. No matter how expensive or effective your moisturiser and other treatments are, they just aren't going to work properly if they can't get to your skin because your makeup is still there!
Also, the importance of cleansing in the morning shouldn't be overlooked! The products you put on your face the night before, plus the fact that we sweat overnight (lovely), means that a light morning cleanse should never be skipped. It preps your face for the products we tend to load on our face for the day.
Secondly, I discovered that, although I had blemish prone, oily skin, I was making the problem worse through using products that stripped my skin of all it's natural oils, and left it "squeaky clean". This was overdrying my skin, and the end result was just that it went into oil production overdrive to try and compensate for this, meaning more spots and more oil. A bit of a vicious cycle really! When I first read about using oil, balm and cream cleansers on my oily skin, I thought it was madness. Then I tried it. And now I am converted. Using gentle and moisturising cleansers avoids stripping the skin of its natural oils, allowing the skin to better regulate its own oil production. If you are adding moisture to the skin rather than stripping it, your skin doesn't have to work so hard to keep itself moisturised! It just makes sense.
So I set out to find some new cleansers with this in mind, and these are the three that I have come to love: Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit Cream Wash; The Body Shop Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil; and Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm
The Body Shop Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil
This is simply a really great cleanser. The texture is exactly what it claims - a silky, thin oil which glides onto the skin and cuts through even heavy makeup. The smell is really nice, and very subtle - for those who aren't fragrance fans, this is nowhere near being overpowering. You only need a small amount of this - I find that 1 or 2 pumps does my face and neck, depending on how much makeup I have on. You can see how much is left in the bottle - I have been using this almost every evening since the beginning of November. I massage this into my skin, and then remove with a cloth soaked in warm water. This leaves absolutely no residue on my skin, it just leaves it feeling soft, smooth, clean and moisturised.
Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit Cream Wash
Usually in the AM I reach for this, or my Garnier Micellar Water (which I posted about here). I bought this to tackle the blemishes that still seem to appear on my blemish prone skin, especially around "the time of the month". I didn't have high hopes but I actually like this cleanser - as it is a cream wash, rather than a foaming one, it doesn't dry out my skin at all. It does have a grapefruit fragrance though, and a hint of menthol (which personally I enjoy in the mornings, it's refreshing!), and also contains salicylic acid, so I think this may irritate more sensitive or drier skins. Perhaps one for oily skins only!
Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm
A balm which is solid in the pot, but which melts to an oil when you rub it between your hands, this seriously takes off every bit of makeup - including waterproof - without fail. This is a great product for all skin types, as it doesn't contain any ingredients that could potentially irritate the skin - NOT included in this cleanser are fragrances, mineral oil or essential oils. Yay! It leaves my skin feeling soft and smooth, and doesn't leave behind an oily film. As with the Body Shop Oil, I massage this into my skin and then remove with a cloth soaked in warm water. Also, a small amount of this really does go a long way. I have had this tub for AGES - probably getting on for 6 months?! - and have barely grazed the surface, so while it may seem like a bit of an expensive product initially, for how long it's going to last, it really is worth it.
So what are your favourite cleansers and why? Let me know in the comments below!
Where to buy...
The Body Shop: £10 for 100ml The Body Shop online or in store
Neutrogena: around £4.00 for 150ml available all over the place! Boots, Superdrug, Tesco
Clinique: £22 for 125ml available from Boots or Clinique
**Disclaimer: all products featured here were purchased by me, and all opinions are my own. This is not an affiliate post, I was not paid for this review. Any links contained here are not affiliate links. I am not a health or beauty professional. The photographs used in this post are my own. Please see my Disclaimer page for full deets on all the boring stuff**
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