NIOD Sanskrit Saponins

I have come to the end of this, this strange, yeasty like cleanser, all 90mls of it squeezed out and spread over my face for most evenings of the last two and a half months or so. 

I am a re-convert to the NIOD range. I tried products before in a starter kit and found them alien and strange, the watery textures and neutral scents gave nothing sensorial back to me. And the packages give little information other than ingredients, which is fine but I want a bit more, so it is word of mouth and the excellent Victoria Health website for the extra bits and pieces.

This is a cleansing balm I suppose, not a makeup remover though and instructions are very clear on that, designed to be applied post makeup removal to cleanse the face. And that I can cope with, I like to remove makeup and then go in with a second cleanse to clean my face.
The texture is somewhat sticky, and I like that too.  It can be massaged into the skin and with the addition of water does emulsify to a certain extent.

And how does it feel on the skin? Well to me it feels quite gentle, but thorough, I hesitate to say it but it does almost feel as if a vacuum is being created, and it is sucking up the remainding (cue new word or should that be tense? - ie remainder + remaining = remainding). Maybe what I mean is that the yeasty effervescentness feels as if it is pacmanning its way through my pores and emptying them of debris.

It does have a tendency to force itself through the opening, which adds to the feeling that it is alive!

I have enjoyed this so much that I have bought the mothership - all 180mls

I bought mine from Deciem, but Victoria Health also carries the larger size. Currently £34 

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 Cleanser

I first used this cleanser some 23 years ago. I remember reading an article in the much missed Marie Claire Health and Beauty magazine about spending £50 on a beauty regime (shows how long ago it was). I bought and I was hooked. 

To my mind this is the first of the balm cleansers, and if I am honest the benchmark with which I compare all newcomers.

So, a thick, somewhat grainy textured balm, someone likened it to goosefat in texture and look and I would agree. The scent is herbal and slightly medicinal, to me, not unpleasant, but distinctive. 

This is not a cleanser for those who like something quick, which emulsifies and removes grime with a quick addition of water and a quick rinse away, although it does emulsify if water is added. No this is a "dry hands, dry face" and massage away, a fingerful should suffice.

I have thin, aged skin with a fair smattering of thread veins and general redness and I have never had a reaction to this product, it is the most effective makeup remover for my skin and my makeup that I have used, on a single pass.

Of course the elephant in the room is that mineral oil is large component of this product. I am no scientist, all that I know about mineral oil is from my aromatherapy training (I completed 3 out of the 4 modules of a professional aromatherapy course with Penny Price) and mineral oil was dismissed as a carrier oil because the molecules are too large to penetrate the skin, not that anything can get in very deep, they just sit on the skin's surface. For a far more eloquent and knowledgeable post please read Colin's post here 

Of course balm cleansers have moved on in the intervening years, and I use many, and enjoy them all.

This was a limited edition 500mls pot from QVCUK, one can purchase 450mls from the Eve Lom official website for £140.