You may have noticed that this is one of Glamour Magazine's freebies this month. With the full-size product retailing at £20, I simply had to try this Cleanse & Smooth Face Balm out!
Balance Me is a relatively new company to the beauty world, bringing us 100% natural skincare products which are made in the UK. This cleansing balm is aimed at normal to dry/sensitive skin - and even though mine is more combination-oily, it was still worth a good gamble.
First glance
The packaging is clean-cut and appealing. The squeezy tube makes the product hygienic, and suitable for the consistency of the balm itself. The cleanser itself has a thick, semi-solidified honey texture, it has a pleasant sweet herbal smell (with no added fragrance!).
Ingredients
There are many, many notable ingredients in this concoction of goodies. The largest component is sweet almond oil, followed closely by beeswax, oat kernel extract, mango seed butter and shea butter. It definitely has the moisturisation part covered, plus these natural oils help to 'melt' or break down make-up and city grime build-up. To add on top, there is also a mixture of natural antioxidants including Arctic cloudberry, which help with premature ageing.
Application & performance
The balm melts straight onto the skin, and I find it's best squeezed into the palms and then worked onto the face. The finely milled beads are fairly exfoliating at first, but they seem to 'melt' into the product after a good massage.
On the back, it suggests to 'apply warm water' after putting on the balm - this didn't really do anything for me personally. Instead I just reverted to the usual hot cloth cleansing method, where you take off the product with a wringed cloth which had been rinsed with warm water. After trying out a few different face towels, I find a fine-knit cotton muslin works best. My current favourite is the Liz Earle pure muslin cloth.
After use, my skin definitely feels clean but extremely nourished and supple. It actually takes off most of my stubborn waterproof makeup, and does not sting the eye area at all. It does leave a (non-sticky) 'film', due to the beeswax. As I have more combination-oily skin right now, I solve this by simply swiping off the excess with a cleansing toner, such as the Body Shop Tea Tree Facial Toner (but you need to avoid the eye area!).
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| Very fine oat extract exfoliating beads |
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| A little goes a LONG way! It spreads very evenly across the skin. |
Claims to fame?
"Polishes and adds radiance" - the oat extract is what provides the 'polish' in the product, but I reckon it's only really enhanced by using a high-quality face cloth (shame it's not included in the product!).
"Enhancing the natural radiance of normal to dry skins and balancing normal to oily skins." - I definitely agree with the former, it adds a dewy, natural glow after use which lasts all day. However, I just think it's too rich for oilier girls like myself in mornings, but can see myself reaching for this after being in air-conditioning or a computer room all day.
Final thoughts
This is an excellent, all-natural product suitable for everyday cleansing. It works effectively at taking off all make-up (but would suggest using wipes or micellar water first if you wear a LOT) and soothing dry skin. You may need to be cautions if you tend to produce lots of oils naturally, as it keeps on moisturising for a fair few hours!
I would definitely recommend this to combination-dry and dry sensitive skin types, or otherwise for use in colder Winter months.
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Hope this review was helpful to some of you who were unsure about getting this amazing freebie. My advice is - go and grab it/stock up whilst you still can! ;D
Lots of love as always,
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