Battle of the Hot Cloth Cleansers: Liz Earle vs. Soap & Glory

After hearing so much praise for hot cloth cleansers at the end of last year I decided to give them a whirl myself. I started off with Soap & Glory's offering: 'The Fab Pore Hot Cloth Cleanser' which promises to "cleanse, smooth and melt away make-up" and boasts having panthenol (no, I don't know what that is either...), sweet almond and orange and lavender oils in it's ingredients. It came with a muslin cloth too. 

However, after using it for about three or four days I started to notice how dry my cheeks were looking and found that I was still having to remove my eye make-up separately after using the cleanser as it was too strong on my eyes. NOT things I was looking for in a supposed 'holy grail' of beauty. I do have quite sensitive skin BUT not to the extent that I expect products to literally remove that top layer of skin!

So the next weekend when I found myself in John Lewis I bought Liz Earle's 'Cleanse and Polish: Hot Cloth Cleanser' which like Soap & Glory's one contained natural ingredients such as: rosemary, chamomile, cocoa butter and eucalyptus oil. I was overwhelmed by how much more gentle the scent of the Liz Earle one was compared to the very perfumed Soap & Glory product. I know Soap & Glory are famous for their great smelling products but the one for the hot cloth cleanser just seemed a little too over-powering.

Here is both products swatched on my hand:

Don't they look really similar in appearance! Soap & Glory's has somewhat more of a 'sheen' than Liz Earle's. So then I trialed Liz Earle's for a week and I was overwhelmed by the fact that: 1) ALL of my make-up including mascara came off, 2) It wasn't too harsh on my eyes, 3) My skin didn't go too dry and 4) Just how smooth my skin felt after use.

So this is my final opinion of the products before revealing the winner (in my opinion!)

Soap & Glory

1) Scent: 7

2) Make-up removing ability: 6

3) Gentleness on skin: 4

4) Packaging: 7

5) Price: 8

6) Overall score: 6

Liz Earle

1) Scent: 9

2) Make-up removing ability: 10

3) Gentleness on skin: 9

4) Packaging: 9

5) Price: 7

6) Overall score: 9

Liz Earle is the overall winner for me due to the product being more gentle yet arguably more effective on my skin which is what I was looking for in a hot cloth cleanser. But if you have more resilient skin than me and like your products really perfumed then Soap & Glory's might be perfect for you!

Do you use either of these products? Or do you have another favourite hot cloth cleanser?

xxx 

A little beauty splurge

I'm definitely no beauty and make-up expert, but seeing all the hype surrounding Benefit's 'They're Real!' mascara with lots of positive reviews in the Blog-o-sphere and with Benefit's ambitious claims including "One sold every 20 seconds" and "94% of customers asked said they saw dramatic length and volume" I couldn't help but want to know more about this holy grail of mascaras. Luckily there was no Benefit rep at the stand whilst I was looking at the products when I was in Boots yesterday (not too keen on their 'friendly' help and feeling like you have to buy something).

Anyway, despite the pretty hefty price tag (£18.50) I decided to give Benefit a go as I've never used any of their other mascaras whilst thinking of the beauty blogger mantra- you ultimately get the quality that you pay for! I was really excited to get home and test it out and I'm really pleased to say I wasn't disappointed!

The brush is quite thin and has tiny bristles- Benefit say to get the best result to "Postition the wand horizontally and wiggle from side to side from the base to tip...layer generously as desired" this technique worked really well and I didn't need to apply another coat! With not a dreaded clump in sight....phew!

Now for the serious question-

Is it worth £18.50? 

In my opinion I think this is definitely worth that little bit more money than you would pay for the usual drug-store make-up brands such as Rimmel or Maybelline which normally won't set you back anything more than £10. This has clearly had the research put into it to make a mascara that isn't prone to smudge and does what women really want from a mascara- length and definition.

Whilst I was in Boots I also had a browse over the 'UNE' make-up stand which is one I haven't ever given much notice to at all, I bought the 'Blush Grand Air' in the 'Breezy Cheeks' shade. This is a creamy blusher with the appearance of being a powder yet goes creamy to the touch and applies excellently. I also bought their 'Blush Brush' which they recommended to apply the blush with, it's a tiny little thing but does just the job!

Have any of you got the Benefit 'They're Real!' mascara and are now a convert like me?

What UNE products do you have?