Sunday Riley Luna Sleeping Night Oil - an update

For the final post of the year I thought that I would update on the Sunday Riley Luna Sleeping Oil which I purchase back in April and I would have to say is the one product which has made the biggest difference to my skin.

So I have finished my Sunday Riley Luna Sleeping Oil, and my replacement has arrived and is ready to be opened.

I bought my original back in April - no it hasn't lasted me eight months, that would have been pretty phenomenal. I used it for about two months every night, then I dropped it to a couple of times a week, sometimes three times. I had a bit of a break of about a month, and then back to a couple of times a week.

I have never used a retinol product before, and all I can say is that this one product has made the absolute difference to my skin this year. Yes I still have all the little niggly bits which come with my age; uneven skin tone, broken thread veins, blackheads, open pores, but this product has evened everything out, as if it has put a sheer wash of optimism over my weary features and said "yes you may no longer pass for twenty five, or thirty five or even forty five, but your skin is in pretty good nick."

What I like particularly about this product is that it is easy to apply, the texture is an oil, so there is no difficulty in dripping it out from the dripper into my hand and then getting it onto my face which can be a problem with some products which have a texture almost like water.

My original review is here this product is now available from SpaceNK and Cult Beauty and I would indeed buy it again in a heartbeat. £85 for 30mls

Emma Hardie Cleansing Balm

The trouble with blogging intermittently and infrequently and on different blogs is that one forgets what one has posted about.

Emma Hardie Moringa Cleansing Balm is a cleansing balm which I have used on and off for several years but haven't blogged about it here. 

So a cleansing balm, a buttery balm to oil unguent which, as per the norm nowadays, becomes a milk once water is added.

For me the uniqueness of Emma Hardie is two fold; it smells delicious, a beautifully light orangey flowerblossomy stunner, and if it smells good, one wants to use it and luxuriate in using it. Its texture is very soft, really like soft butter on a warm afternoon, meaning it quickly melds into an oil, rendering it easy to massage around the face and dissolve the makeup and grime of the day, one just needs to watch the ambient temperature, as can be seen in the photo below, the oil can migrate.

The ingredients are plant based oils both the carrier oils and the essential oils and it is refreshing to see a product where water is not the first ingredient.

What I like about Emma Hardie cleansing balm is that it is a utilitarian product which feels sumptuous on the skin.

For me it removes my makeup but feels special enough to allow for a bit of indulgence, a bit of time taken, if I want to go on with a second cleanser I can, but if I can't be arsed then that is okay too, because I don't feel that i have missed out, or that my skin hasn't.

Emma Hardie is available from SpaceNK, Cultbeauty, and other online retailers including the Emma Hardie website. A 200mls jar lasts me around four months of daily use, at around £50. If I am being picky, I would prefer a jar with a wider diameter. 

Blue Copper, Moon, Cocoon

Looking around in my current routine, I realised that several products are blue, from the delicate faded chambray blue of NIOD Copper Amino Isolate Serum, to the pale turquoise of Sunday Riley Blue Moon Tranquility Cleansing Balm, to the deep petroly teal of Sunday Riley Luna Sleeping Oil.

Maybe even five years ago I would have been suspicious about such a distinctive shade in a skin care product, when all I wanted was a neutral cream, maybe with a hint of buttery yellow, but now looking at the ingredients, this distinction is due to the ingredients, I think that Luna has colour added but it is the final ingredient in the list.

I cannot comment on NIOD having only just started to use this watery blue treatment, and Sunday Riley Blue Moon Tranquility Balm, whilst having worked my way through a third of a jar, is too beautiful a product to dismiss its worth with a sentence or two here, and Luna deserves an update all of its own.

Of course missing from this plethora of blue is May Lindstrom's The Blue Cocoon, but that is housed in my very special box.

And I don't even want to disturb it until 25th December.

Votary Cleansing Oil

Another day, another cleanser. Or to be exact cleansing oil. And this is superb, I mean just the packaging is a glorious understated quality, from the beautifully rich dark green of the glass, so more pleasing than the pervasive brown glass, and equally protective, to the soft bronzey rose gold of the label, to the embossed white box. I know one should not judge quality of product by quality of packaging but in this case I was totally swayed and totally right.

The older I get, the more I require my cleanser to be nourishing and comforting, I find that I don't mind if my cleanser sinks into my skin somewhat prior to removal, infact I rather delight in that, because I feel that the moisturising process has begun, and I don't have dry skin, my skin is oily, but I don't bloody care, the sensory pleasure of massaging in something which sinks in a little at the same time results in my skin feeling lovely.

The ingredients list is reassuringly short and I for one am glad to see apricot oil above jojoba and grape seed oil for it is a far richer carrier oil.

There are essential oils in this cleansing oil, but this does not smell like some namby pamby lavender (not to lambaste lavender which smells divine, but can be added almost as a given to products), it smells as it is of a cleansing oil with with essential oils in, the chamomile coming through particularly for me.

It is a light oil, which is sprayed on to the hands rather ingeniously I thought, no dropping or dripping or pouring anxiously.

And remarkably it really does remove makeup, a couple of passes, more for pleasure than effectiveness and I have soft, clean and comfortable skin.

In these days of cleansing-oil-balms-which-turn-into-milks this is a welcome change. I absolutely love it and want to try the facial treatment oils in this range.

Currently £45 for 100mls it comes with a plush white flannel - blissful.

More information from the Votary website.

Eve Lom Powder Foundation Brush

I do love a foundation brush, I really do. Well strictly speaking I love a buffer brush, something to buff my chosen base of choice into my stricken skin. And the chosen base of choice could be liquid, cream, powder, dependent on the strickeness of my skin and how much coverage is required.

This is £38 so to my mind is a considered purchase when there are many and varied buffing type brushes available at considerably less.

But I am on the quest for the one, the one true buffing brush which is long of handle, I find most buffing brushes frustratingly short in that department and dense of bristles.

So this brush is certainly full of bristles, but the head itself is reassuringly small and thus easy to manoevre.

The fault for me is that it is beautiful, and in its beauty lies a reluctance on my part to use and dent its perfection, on the few times I have used it, it has certainly performed and added a polish to my skin, but frankly I prefer to look at it and stroke it occasionally.

Orange stuff for my poor old hands

My hands really are poor and old. I look at posts where I have swatched onto the back of my hands and I see age spots and thin papery skin. I work in a hospital and at times when I am holding the hand of an aged patient - and by aged I mean over eighty, probably ninety and maybe one hundred - and I can barely distinguish between their hands and mine.

I am not good with handcream - I could say that I am a bit of a handcream tart for I will skit about from brand to brand with barely a couple of uses before moving onto the next brand, and I will apply once, usually at night.

So these products sit by my bedside and I apply them every night, without fail. Their cheery orange hues never fail to put a smile on my face when I apply.

Margaret Dabbs Nail and Cuticle Serum, is a light serum with a slightly citrussy whiff. It comes in a pump which is a little temperamental, one pump is sufficient for all ten nail beds. What I like about this product is that it sets the scene for me, it sinks into my cuticles with a bit of a massage and feels both healing and nourishing without the drippiness of an oil - my nails which are now short, look healthy and well groomed. I should be putting it in my handbag and using it regularly but frankly my brain is not that forward thinking - it would make its way into the handbag or more likely pocket and then languish there until I remembered it, in the meantime my nails would revert back to hard and painful hangnailness.

Pai Rosehop BioRegenerate Oil, I have not really managed to incorporate this into my facial routine but I know about its legend ability to tackle discolouration. I don't find it especially moisturising but I find it nourishing if that makes sense, what I mean is that it seems to penetrate my papery skin which at times can look like those left over leaf husks, maybe they are sweet pea seed husks? I don't know but there is a transparency to the skin on the back of my hands which reminds me of them. This product fills out the transparency and gives the skin some substance.

Balance Me Supermoisturising Handcream, currently my favourite handcream. It is for me the moisturising part of the equation, my skin feels hydrated after an application. It is quite thick but not heavy and has quite a spicy scent. 

I have plenty of "before" pictures but I will attempt to remember to post some "after" pictures in a couple of months to see if there has been a significant improvement.

NIOD Skincare - my thoughts albeit initially

Up until a week ago I had not heard of this brand, but wandering around the interweb as is my wont led me to Victoria Health and some intrigue and the above kit.

NOID stands for non-invasive options in dermal science - hardly catchy to my mind, and the strap line of "skincare for the hyper-educated" serves to alienate me further if I am honest, for there is a lot of science about this brand, and a lot about its ingredients, which is great and the website is clear and informative but maybe a tad lacking in the readability to me, which is a criticism of me rather than the website, sadly my 49 year old brain skids off information even if it is simply set out - I no longer have the capacity for concentration.

However, the reviews are positive and the enticement of something new in skincare is a delight and a motivation for me to investigate further. Incidentally Jane at British Beauty Blogger has a written about the range here, here, here, and here which makes for informative, and entertaining reading as is to be expected from her.

So these are my initial thoughts only, I have had this kit less than a week and will have used it for four days when this post goes up

Firstly the sizes in the kit, whilst appearing small - the eye concentrate is 3mls -  all have a fluid, water like consistency, which means that a little really does go a long way. The products are cased in brown or clear bottles with pipettes or droppers as needed and the scent is of nothing, maybe a faint trace in the cleanser but it is innocuous.

But this fluidity can lead to a bit of a panic for me, how do I get the darn stuff onto my face? It does have a tendency to run.

So what I can say on such a limited use? Well I think that a trial size of a product should enable one to see if one gets on with the smell, texture and ease of use. 

I feel that I can only really comment on the cleanser and the eye serum, the Multi Molecular Hyaluronic Ester and the Photographic Fluid Opacity 12% both need further exploration for me.

The Low Viscosity Cleaning Ester or LVCE appeared to me on first glance like one of those ubiquitous micellar waters which never floated my boat, too boring frankly. This is a weird one, water is not an ingredient apparently, and it does not feel like water on the skin, it feels like a light oil, a very light oil mixed with, well, water. It has slip. It removes makeup remarkably well, it whistles through sunscreen and full foundation and concealer, and mascara. I need a second pass, but then that is always a given with me.

The Fractionated Eye Contour Concentrate or FECC is extremely moisturising on my eyes, well the skin around my eyes. The instructions are to apply a drop, which is enough for both eyes, the drops from the dropper are tiny, so I apply two and I was amazed that my eyelids and general eye area comfortable and moist well into the evening post application some four hours earlier. I did not feel the need to add an eye cream on the top which further amazed me.

All in all I want to try these further and they are already on my bathroom shelf, but the sensorial paucity may dent my enjoyment.

More information from Victoria Health, the kit is currently £25.
Caroline Hirons has just published a helpful guide here

Sunday Riley Sandwich

Most nights I partake of a Sunday Riley Sandwich. I cleanse and then cleanse again and maybe cleanse a third time, leaving my third cleanser on whilst I complete the rest of my ablutions. I will then rinse and rinse again and maybe rinse a third time, apply a "toner" of some sort and then continue with the aforementioned sandwich.

From what I understand from those who have contacted Sunday Riley directly, the order of Luna and Good Genes is Luna always first onto clean dry skin and then Good Genes, and the idea is to leave Luna on as long as possible without any other product on the top.

Now I don't know much about ingredients, I am learning but I do tend to switch off somewhat.  My approach to purchasing products may seem somewhat cavalier in that I buy what I like the sound of, I read magazines and blogs and websites and other customer reviews and dip my toe in and have a go.

Sunday Riley came onto my radar a couple of years ago, I started with the Ceramic Slip Cleanser - being the cheapest product in the range, liked what I tried and continued from there. I have reviewed Good Genes here, and my initial thoughts on Luna here and whilst they are each stand alone products in their own right, for my skin, the combination of all three has made the biggest difference which equates to more even skin tone and that is it.

An update on Luna Oil is to follow as I am now coming to the end of it. Flora Facial Oil (mine is under the previous name Isis) review to follow.

All purchased from SpaceNK or Cultbeauty with various offers/Ndulge points to redeem.

Chanel CC Cream SPF 50

I struggle with a summer base. Being oily and with a myriad of albeit fairly minor imperfections, including age spots, redness, thread veins, blackheads, open pores, it feels like I need something industrial to even out and smooth, for as Gestalt said "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts."

I have attempted mineral powder foundation and often it is okay, but often it ends up as a bit of smeary mess, because not only is my skin oily, it is old and the fine line between matte and dead, glowy and sweaty is gossamer at my age.

I want sun protection, I want some pigment, I want the moon.

I had come across Chanel's CC Cream SPF50 before but dismissed it because it came in the "universal-one-shade-suits-all" misnomer because they are always too dark on me.

However there are now some different shades and I chose the lightest B10 which I have swatched below.

It is quite thick in texture. I would say this is a cream texture. 

It is very pigmented. A little goes a very very very long way - so much so that I am invariably caught out, and am trying vainly to force it back into the tube.



Blended in badly below.

Ingredients below.

What I like is the shade, neutral, thankyou. I like the level of pigmentation which is full. I like the finish which is glowy, but in a glowy skin way rather than a sweaty too rich way. And I like its tenacity - this stuff is there from application at 6.30am to removal at 7.00pm.

I have made the mistake of setting it with powder, but in this incredibly hot spell that is currently in place in UK that is a mistake, I apply, and blot with any blotting papers as necessary. 

Currently £44 for 30mls

Aurelia Revitalise and Brighten Eye Dew Refill

I have written about this before, but how lovely to receive a hand written note along with a re-purchase within its hand wrapped package.

Now previously the Eye Dew was only available as part of the Eye Revitalising Duo which Aurelia produces, and which contains the Revitalise & Brighten Eye Dew (10mls) and the Illuminate & Smooth Puff Reduction Eye Cream (15mls). 

When I first purchased this duo I whizzed through the Eye Dew, not within days or weeks mind you. I finished it just shy of three months, the Illuminate & Smooth lasting a good four months. And whilst I would repurchase because I found the products to be both a joy to use, but also an effective joy to use, soothing and revitalising in equal measure, the Eye Dew in particular was a bit of revelation. It really is a dew like consistency, and for my aged and bagging eyelids I feared that it would be a bit like an excuse for an eye cream, all style over substance. But it really did both hydrate and nourish, calm and moisturise.

However £90 is a considered purchase to me.

This refill is not really a refill in that it is a full size product complete with its metal roller ball, but it is missing its partner. And at £40 I can cope with that. 

I do hope that Aurelia consider making the Illuminate & Smooth Puff Reduction Eye Cream a single purchase also.

Cult Beauty Summer Goody Bag

I received this over the weekend. A plethora of skin and makeup products, some full size, some sample sizes and some teeny tiny, but too cute.

I was keen to try the Fiberwig Mascara, and the Nudestix Lip and Cheek Colour. I am currently on an SPF50 obsessive journey so the Alpha H is a welcome addition to try and the Anastasia Clear Brow Gel is already a staple.

The bag is a beautiful ocean blue, certainly no ocean lapping on British shores is this colour! 

I am a bit of a sucker for a good bag and have to say that having purchased each of the Cult Beauty Bags from winter of last year and spring of this year, each time they have not disappointed, and the bags themselves are very good quality.

In order to qualify for this (free with a £95 or over spend), I purchased Tata Harper Refreshing Cleanser (£60) and Omorovicza Mineral Concealer (£35).

I have wanted to try Tata Harper cleansers for a while and this one piqued my fancy - I have tried it as a second cleanse although I do have these sorts of cleansers coming out of my ears. So far so like but I need to try it more in order to decide if it is a repurchase or not.

The Omorovicza Mineral Concealer was another longed for but un-needed purchase, but searching for concealers like searching for bases is a long and arduous task and one does need to try and experiment and reject many before finding a success. On my first few trials I like the shade - Ivory is a yellow but a neutral yellow to my eye. The texture is cream to powder and the coverage is good. Again I need to try for longer to give a full review. The packaging is glorious.

Cult Beauty Summer Goody Bag

I received this over the weekend. A plethora of skin and makeup products, some full size, some sample sizes and some teeny tiny, but too cute.

I was keen to try the Fiberwig Mascara, and the Nudestix Lip and Cheek Colour. I am currently on an SPF50 obsessive journey so the Alpha H is a welcome addition to try and the Anastasia Clear Brow Gel is already a staple.

The bag is a beautiful ocean blue, certainly no ocean lapping on British shores is this colour! 

I am a bit of a sucker for a good bag and have to say that having purchased each of the Cult Beauty Bags from winter of last year and spring of this year, each time they have not disappointed, and the bags themselves are very good quality.

In order to qualify for this (free with a £95 or over spend), I purchased Tata Harper Refreshing Cleanser (£60) and Omorovicza Mineral Concealer (£35).

I have wanted to try Tata Harper cleansers for a while and this one piqued my fancy - I have tried it as a second cleanse although I do have these sorts of cleansers coming out of my ears. So far so like but I need to try it more in order to decide if it is a repurchase or not.

The Omorovicza Mineral Concealer was another longed for but un-needed purchase, but searching for concealers like searching for bases is a long and arduous task and one does need to try and experiment and reject many before finding a success. On my first few trials I like the shade - Ivory is a yellow but a neutral yellow to my eye. The texture is cream to powder and the coverage is good. Again I need to try for longer to give a full review. The packaging is glorious.

Sunday Riley Good Genes

So I have finished this up after around 6 months of use - it was a bit stop/start because I wasn't really sure how and when to use it, more about that later.

I wanted to try it because it is purported to be good for all those niggly irritations that my nearly fifty year old skin has in spades, thus hyperpigmentation, open pores, redness, dullness. And if I am honest, every product that I have tried from Sunday Riley has given results.

It has a slightly gel like tacky sort of texture with a strong lactic acid scent, and on me it does tingle, a bit, not much but it is there, even after regular use.

The full list of ingredients are as follows - Prickly Pear Extract, Blue Agave Extract, Lady's Slipper Orchid Extract, Cactus Extract, Aloe Leaf Extract, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Butylene Glycol, Cyclomethicone, Dimethicone, PPG-12/SMDI Copolymer, Stearic Acid, PEG-100 Stearate, PEG-75 Meadowsol, Glycyrrhiza Glabra Extract, Triethanolamine, Xanthan Gum, Phenoxyethanol, Steareth-20, Methyl Paraben, Propyl Paraben, DMDM Hydantoin

Touted as both a serum and a mask, the idea is to apply post cleanse on clean dry skin and leave to do its magic overnight, or one can apply a layer as a mask, and then remover, or one can add a pump to a pump of Sunday Riley's Ceramic Slip Cleanser.

I got a bit confused. It doesn't take much. I got confused about how much to pump out, 1 pump seemed rather paltry but 2 pumps seemed somewhat excessive. I applied it as a mask and sort of tentatively patted it into my skin, but then decided to stop being such a wuss and massaged it in more vigorously. And I used it a couple of times and was not really bowled over, and felt the tingle designed to make me feel like it was doing something, so back into the cupboard it went.

Then I read a bit more about it and decided that I would up the use a bit, so used it regularly as a mask.

However for me I think that it is best used as a nightly serum, post cleanse, pre oil (although apparently if one is using Sunday Riley Luna Sleeping Oil one needs to apply that first and then Good Genes). This is what I have been doing for the past 3 weeks or so. And I have found that my skin is generally brighter, however I think that the Luna Sleeping Oil is a significant factor.

At £85 for 30mls this is a considered purchase for me. I am currently considering a re-purchase.

Omorovicza Thermal Cleansing Balm

It is indeed a sad old day when one comes to the end of a product, or specifically in my case a cleanser, or even more specifically a balm cleanser.

For me, this is the closest that I get to a treatment cleanser, a cleanser with knobs on, a product which does the biz and the rest, it goes the extra mile if you like. 

It is a balm in that one needs to scoop it out of the reassuringly heavy glass jar, but this is not a mimsy flim flam of a balm which emulsifies at the merest whiff of water - not that there is anything wrong with those sorts of balm cleansers - no this is a full on oily balm which needs to be massaged on and hot clothed off, no water necessary.

To my nose, the scent has a bit of orangey blossomness and mud, for Hungarian mud is a high up ingredient, pleasant, warming, comforting.

The texture looks granular, a little like one has taken a pumice and ground it up, but whilst there is a texture, it is a whisper, the feel on the skin is one of an rich oily balm.

And it is grey, and it applies grey to the face, which is somewhat disconcerting. 

Now this is my third empty jar of this product. Initially I savoured it, for at £46 for 50mls it is not conducive to my usual twice or thrice pm application. But goodness it is such a joy to use, it really is an absolute pleasure, from the glass jar, to the richness, to the scent, to the texture and feel on the skin, I get huge pleasure at every sensorial level, my skin feels cosseted, and I feel satisfied.

So I don't use it regularly for my first pm cleanse, sometimes I do but invariably I will go in with another balm cleanser and then luxuriate in this cleanser.

Fortunately I have another jar waiting in the wings.

Currently £46 for 50mls

Summer Feet

All I want for summer is a pair of acceptable feet. I don't want them to be beautiful, but I would like them to be viewable, to be on public display without shame. For me, caring for my feet is a step (no pun intended) too far, they feel too far away, and I am not particularly tall - 5' 7'' apparently the same height as Kate Moss but other than both also being female, that is where our shared characteristics end. 

I have fiddled about with various unguents and implements to scrub and soothe the hard bits but to be frank it is all a bit of a faff. Until now.

I have used the Diamancel Diamond Foot Buffer #11 for aeons - infact a quick swizz over to Makeupalley and I reviewed mine in 2005 so 10years. And it works fantastically well, but one needs to apply a decent foot cream to seal the good smoothing work and I have yet to find one that works.

Margaret Dabbs Foot Hygiene Cream was a recent Beauty Pick of the Month on QVCUK and I hummed and hawwed over whether to purchase or not given the glowing reviews, and in the meantime it sold out twice and then could not be had for love nor money anywhere.

I tracked it down on Cult Beauty and have applied nightly for the past month and it is fantastic.

It is a stiff thick anhydrous balm ie no water. It melts at room temperature and smells reassuringly medicinal and tea treeey.

I found that a couple of goes over my feet with the Diamancel Foot Buffer, followed with I a fingerful applied nightly completely eradicated the dry cracks and crevices on my heels. As time went on I did not need to use the Diamancel and I found that my toe nails were softer and easier to cut and the fungal infection (sorry if too much information) I have on one of my big toes is actually lessening.

My feet look rejuvinated, and I now would not be without this product. 

Currently £18 for 100mls

Charlotte Tilbury Multi-Miracle Glow Cleanser

It was my birthday last week, it was a wet rather grim day and I wanted to purchase something glamorous and indulgent and this was the result.

I need a new cleanser like a hole in the head but I wanted something to cheer and this has been a joy to use.

The jar is large, 100mls worth and chunky if not particularly heavy, being thick plastic rather than glass. The rose gold jar with deep chocolate font is pleasing.

The product is a light fluffy gel balm. It has a gentle scent, not really roses to me, more herbally and maybe a bit powdery, which I like. To me it is comforting and calming and pleasurable, a scent that makes me want to use it.

It is a definite gel when applied initially, but it becomes an oil but not a drippy thin oil, more of an ever so slightly warming thicker oil.There is a good amount of slip to allow enough of a massage. 

I can use it around my eyes and it does remove all of my makeup and whilst it is a dry hands dry face application, it does emulsify with water.

I initially thought that I would use it as a second pm cleanse but to be honest I have enjoyed using it so much that I use it as a first, and a second cleanse and tend to leave it on after the second cleanse whilst I get in the shower in the evening and then remove.

I like the fact that water is not the first ingredient.

This is currently £45 for a 100mls jar.

Minatures

I have a thing about minatures, not samples but minatures of the full size product, down to the glass jar (thank-you Omorovicza and Oskia) or glass bottle (thank-you Aurelia). 

Sometimes the minature is an improved version on the full size - Sunday Riley Start Over Eye Cream I am looking at you with your metal applicator missing from the full size.

Above is a small selection of some of my gift with purchase products.

Clarins Gentle Exfoliator Brightening Toner

Sometimes I look at my poor old face with its broken capillaries and redness and open pores and discolouration and think, maybe it needs a bit of TLC and a break from all the acid toners and double cleansing.

This is when I reach for this product for it is truly lovely. The texture is quite thick, a bit like a jelly serum and I find that I can apply and there is no tingle whatsoever, it is almost a comfort to apply and it has some level of hydration and soothingness on my skin.

This is currently £26 for 125mls, and is probably a staple for me, I forget how good it is.

Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm

So I am coming to the end of this 200mls cleansing balm - I am scraping the so called barrel, although it is a plastic jar.

I rather like the jar, yes it is plastic, but it is a sturdy, solid plastic with a silver lid and importantly for me it is wider than it is tall, not by much, but enough to allow easy access for those final scrapings.

The texture is oily buttery, a bit like butter that has been refridgerated, there is a solidity to it, so that it does not immediately turn into an oil which I rather commend it for. There is sufficient slip for a decent massage.

It emulsifies into a thick milk. And it removes makeup efficiently, a couple of passes but that is to be expected.

It is strongly scented, to my nose geranium comes to the fore, and this is my problem, it is just too strongly scented for me.

Which is sad because this is a good cleansing balm - maybe a little on the drying side post cleanse, but I like the texture and the packaging and the effectiveness, just not the smell and often that is the deal breaker.

It does come with two excellent face cloths, denser than most and a little on the small size their close weave makes them both effective but gentle.

Currently £39.50 for 105g but I purchased mine from QVC for £44.52 (+ £4.95 p+p) for 200g.