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.

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.

Merumaya Melting Cleansing Balm

I bought the Merumaya Moringa Cleansing Balm after there was a flurry of interest on the internet, and primarily after a post by facegoop in the Guardian  - I think what really appealed to me was its extremely reasonable £14.50 for 100mls (at the time) and the fact that it came in a tube. The Emma Hardie Moringa Cleansing Balm, had to get in on the action as seen above, for a comparison.

It indeed comes in a squeezy tube, and the instructions are essentially apply with dry hands to a dry face, massage to allow for makeup and grim breakdown and then add water to emulsify and ultimately rinse away, so far, so any other cleansing balm.

Merumaya Melting Cleansing Balm on left and Moringa Cleansing Balm on the right on an extremely dehydrated hand.

To me, the Merumaya Balm is a light gel texture, whereas the Moringa Balm is more of an oily buttery texture.

When water is added, the Merumaya Balm becomes a thin milk and the Moringa Balm becomes a thick milk.

The product removes makeup easily, its texture does afford a massage, and it does not irritate my skin at all.

As with any product it is ultimately horses for courses. I find the Merumaya Balm has a somewhat medicinal scent which coupled with a thinner texture means that my pm cleanse where I can massage away in a reverie of thick textures and gentle scents, becomes somewhat fraught with an almost Vick's like invigorating smell, and I am instantly on the alert as my fingers skid around my face and up my nose and in my eyes as the thinner texture needs less pressure than I am used to. I also find that when I add water the product has run off my face, onto my hands and up my arms in a flash which is irritating to say the least.

Ingredients; INCI - CAPRYLIC/CAPRIC TRIGLYCERIDE, GLYCERIN, PRUNUS AMYGDALUS DULCIS (SWEET ALMOND) OIL, AQUA (WATER), SUCROSE LAURATE, GLYCERYL DIBEHENATE, ECHIUM PLANTAGINEUM SEED OIL, PHENOXYETHANOL, SUCROSE PALMITATE, PARFUM (FRAGRANCE), SUCROSE COCOATE, SUCROSE STEARATE, CITRONELLOL, ETHYLHEXYLGLYCERIN, GARCINIA MANGOSTANA FRUIT EXTRACT, LIMONENE, LINALOOL, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, CHLORPHENESIN, TETRASODIUM EDTA, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, HEXYLENE GLYCOL.

Currently £15.50 for 100mls