I’ve been writing about my skincare routine for the past couple of weeks. If you missed the first post, which was my easy-to-follow daily routine, then you can catch up here.
That post also gives a bit of context when it comes to my forty-three year-old face and what I will and won’t do to it. It’s a good solid piece to refer back to, if you ever find yourself thinking do I really need an eight step skincare routine? (Answer: no. Unless that’s your bag and you love a lengthy process.)
What the post doesn’t have, and this was kind of on purpose, is a big convoluted list of product recommendations for each step of the routine. I didn’t want to make a long post even longer by going off on a tangent every thirty seconds to tell you about this favourite serum or that top retinol cream.
And so I thought I’d do a bit of a deep dive, for the next few weeks, looking at the individual skincare categories I use the most and some of the best products available on the market. This week: top cleansing balms. Except – plot twist – they all cost around a tenner.
Cleansing balms are my cleanser format of choice: I love the way that the solid balm feels so luxurious to apply and massage into the skin and how effective it is at removing everything from eye makeup to longwear foundation. I just think that it’s a really foolproof method of deep, thorough cleansing: it takes everything off easily but doesn’t dry out the skin or make it feel tight when you’ve flanneled it all away. Neither does it leave a greasy residue.
I do honestly, honestly think that if you have issues with your skin but you currently perform your evening cleanse using a splash-off wash, or wipes, or micellar water, it is worth swapping to a good balm cleanser before you look at changing anything else. They suit all skin types, even oily, and if your skin usually feels uncomfortably dry or tight or itchy after cleansing then you will not believe the difference it makes swapping to a cleanser that respects the skin barrier and nourishes the skin rather than stripping oils away.
You can get some astonishingly expensive cleansing balms, ones that will set your soul alight with just how beautiful they smell, or feel, or how gorgeous they look in their fancy pots. But all of the cleansers I’m about to tell you about are inexpensive and yet still do the very same job. You may thank me later.
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Cleansing Balm recommendations:
Could this be my pick of the bunch? It’s a tough call. The texture of this unfragranced balm is sort of grainy, but the grains melt down to a smooth, brilliantly effective oil.
In a nutshell: excellent price, high performance, no-frills packaging, huge great wanging amount of product.
Buy Inkey List Oat Cleansing Balm*
