Review: Boots Botanics Face Soothing Cleansing Balm

The Low Down
As you all may know I am a gigantic, raging Botanics devotee and I have been using their products since I can remember.  I think I've tried about 70% of their products and I am still finding little gems from their brand range once in a while.  My latest discovery from Botanics is this Organic Face Soothing Cleansing Balm which comes with a organic cotton cloth and is packaged in a fancy little box.  This is a product that is mainly used for cleansing the skin and removing make up from your face and what it attempts to do is to soothe the face with its natural ingredients.  This product also nourishes the skin and therefore its a good alternative for those who find some make up removers too harsh.  The additional cloth is designed to help remove the make up, exfoliate the face and by using it as a compress you could draw out impurities as well.

This product is of solid consistency and feels similarly to say something like Coconut Oil or Wax.  Having bought and used three of these babies already I have found crystal formation on the top of this product every time which is apparently very normal (they even have a slip in the box which tells you so).  The crystals melt away through warmth so it does not affect the effectiveness of the product. 

Originally I purchased this on the recommendation of a few friends on Youtube and I was intrigued because I had never even looked at this one properly.  At the same time I didn't feel the need to use another make-up removing product because I have plenty and I felt the usual Olive Oil trick worked for me just fine (bar the occasional residue that never quite came off).  However I gave it a go because it sounded amazing and for a small fortune I thought it would be good to try something new. 

And what do they claim?
This product contains Shea Butter which is widely used in West Africa for both cooking and skincare.  They say that Shea butter is both nourishing and conditioning to skin and hair.  Botanics also claim that when used together the organic cleansing balm and cloth gently and effectively cleanses and exfoliates to remove make-up and impurities, leaving the skin feeling soft, healthy and clean.

How did it work for Cherry?
You can probably already guess that I adore this product having repurchased over and over again.  I personally do not use the organic cloth because I find it harder to clean with and the make up is hard to wash off of the cloth.  Altogether I didn't like using it so I gave in and bought facial cleansing sponges instead. (I found the one from The Body Shop the best; I've used one from Superdrugs before and while it worked well, it just wasn't a good a quality as the Body Shop's and furthermore I found it needed discarding quick). 

This product leaves absolutely no trace of make up on the face and it does keep my skin feeling very nourished.  What I like about it is that it's a better cleanser than olive oil, it's organic, it smells wonderful and it's almost therapeutic to use. 

There are a few things I must make you aware of is that if this product gets into your eyes it's mildly uncomfortable; it won't blind you and it won't cause you agony but it's not nice to have in your eye at all.  Secondly if like me you use this once a day to cleanse off your make up you will find you have to repurchase this quite often.  However in saying that I think I may be the very few out there who goes through this stuff like a chocolate bar, for some reason I like to use quite a bit but that may be due to the fact that I do wear a lot of make up.  So it will vary between people but I would say if you love this, be ready to repurchase it sooner than you think.

 

How can you use this product?
I use this product in the shower and it's the first thing I do even before washing my hair.  You can take a small amount and start massaging it straight onto the face dry or wet.  Once you have massaged enough (I use my eyelashes as a bench mark - once all the mascara feels like its come off then I'm good to go), I will wet the sponge under very warm water and start massaging away in circular motions.  Then I keep run water over my face with the sponge still wiping away at my face until all make up residue has disappeared. 

After cleansing off my make-up I still find it a necessity to use a facial wash.  By using the cleanser you have cleaned off the first layer of make up and dirt that sits upon your skin but its still vital to deep cleanse. 

How much will it cost me?
You will find this product in Boots at £6.49.  Not a huge price to pay but definitely more expensive than some. 

Cherry’s Final Verdict
I really enjoy using this product but that doesn't mean I feel it's necessary; with this said I cannot stop using it and there is something about this product that makes me keep repurchasing.  The selling points for me is that it's organic, it's effective and does what it says on the box.  It's integrated well into my routine and I think if I had to go back to cleansing with a make up remover or olive oil then I would feel sad.  That's not to say I couldn't live without it but I do enjoy using this and until there becomes a reason not to then I probably won't stop using this. 

Finally I have to say that in the process of using the balm I did stop and started using pure Coconut Oil to see if it did the same job.  I purchased a large tub of solid coconut oil to use a cleanser (and for other home remedies such as hair masks) and it worked exactly the same.  It's also a solid form of oil and I have a hunch that solid oils probably cleanse better than liquid oils; don't ask me why but it seems this way).  The upside to using coconut oil is that it didn't feel half as uncomfortable as the cleansing balm when its accidentally rubbed into the eye.  What I missed about the cleansing balm is the smell and how it made me feel but the coconut oil cleanser worked equally as well and my skin still remained soft and nourished.  Furthermore, a gigantic tub of coconut oil from a health food shop such as Holland and Barretts costs around £11 and has a greater versatility as it can be used as a moisturiser for the skin and hair not to mention in your cooking. 
The reason I switched back to using the cleansing balm is purely because Boots often does good promotions on the Botanics ranges and I find it hard to resist.  Also by the time I reached near the end of the coconut oil it began to go slightly rancid (...I know) because I kept dipping my fingers in but it kept well for ages.  So providing I was a bit more sensible with the coconut oil next time, it could prove to be a much more frugal move on my part and in a sense it's even more natural.  I don't know whether this is the move I shall make next time; I think it depends on what kind of offers there are at Boots!  But if you feel that the cleansing balm is not for you because of either the price or perhaps the availability to you, then try coconut oil. 

Overall I am still awarding this product 4.5 Cherries because of it's effectiveness and great unique selling points.  It loses a point because I seem to use it up quickly and therefore it can cost me quite a far amount of money in a year.