Skin & Tonic London Steam Clean

The one thing about beauty boxes that I absolutely love, is the opportunity and chance to try products that I might never come across. The beauty world is awash with lotions, potions, gels, scrub, rubs, serums, creams and liquids all promising to rewind time and leave you with baby soft skin.

Skin and Tonic London Steam Clean is one product I have absolutely loved using and I came across it in this Libbie Club box. Josh and Sarah created Skin & Tonic London after Sarah was diagnosed with endometriosis and began a journey of looking into what she was putting onto her skin and into her body. So Sarah began making her own skincare and finding herself unable to find a single product that was completely free from synthetics and preservatives, or silly-frilly names and promises. Instead, all I found was overt gender discrimination and huge amounts of excess packaging. There was nothing out there that was simple, straight-talking, organic and cool and decided to do something about it. She quit her career in TV and re-trained in Aromatherapy and Skincare Formulation and the end result was - Skin & Tonic was born.

Skin & Tonic London Steam Clean is a solid cleansing balm that thoroughly cleanses the skin. Not only that but it is a versatile little balm that can also be used as a nourishing moisturiser for dry skin and chapped lips too. What I love about this balm is that it contains only six ingredients: Beeswax, Grapeseed Oil, Thistle Oil, Borage Oil, Eucalyptus Essential Oil and Spearmint Essential Oil which all work together to lift dirt and grime, rejuvenate dull and tired skin and it smells absolutely divine. All of the ingredients are certified organic and contain no little nasties. It is also made by hand right here in the UK.

As you can imagine, the use of both Spearmint and Eucalyptus Oil gives this cleansing balm an amazing fresh mint scent which if you happen to be bunged up with a cold can act s a decongestant if you mix it with warm water and inhale the steam! On the skin, which is its main use, you need only a small amount to melt between your palms before gently massaging it onto dry skin. I also pre-wash my face first to remove any surface dirt and grime and to allow the balm to penetrate deeper into the skin to push everything out. Once on the skin, I leave it to sink in and work its magic for a good few minutes before washing it off using a warm clean face cloth. It works incredibly well at removing make-up and even waterproof mascara, it simple melts everything off to leave clean, soft skin which feels amazingly hydrated. It doesn't strip my skin to leave it feeling dry or dehydrated and nor does it irritate my skin, it is just a delight to use.

If you are looking to try a new balm cleanser then I cannot recommend Skin & Tonic London Steam Clean enough, plus there is a whole range of products to try alongside this one. The Balm costs £27 via Skin & Tonic London.

Merumaya Melting Cleansing Balm

MeruMaya is a brand I have read a lot about and not tried until I selected it as one of my choices in my January You Beauty Discovery Box.  Since then, I have pretty much used it every day, if not every other day, that is how much I love it.  Cleansing Balms are something new to me, I know a lot of people rave about Emma Hardie and it is on my wishlist, but it has to be seriously amazing to replace this product.

The tube I have is 30ml, so it has lasted over a month which is quite impressive and I still have just under half a tube left to use before it runs out.  The claims are at "The Melting Cleansing Balm claims to efficaciously removes all traces of make up and grime and leaves the skin feeling velvety soft".  I am delighted this balm comes in a tube too, makes it much easier to use.

Merumaya recommends that you massage the balm on to dry skin and you really only need a small blob because as sayings go, a little goes a long way. In the tube, the balm looks every bit like you would expect a balm to look, it is thicker than your average Micellar water and thinner in texture than a face mask.  Once you begin to massage the balm onto your face, it immediately begins to melt and as you massage it in, you can see your mascara, foundation and other products on your face simply melt along with dirt and grime from your day.  After massaging, you add water and for a another minute or two, further massage your face and you will notice that the balm now becomes like a cleansing milk, it is at this point that I grab a clean Muslin cloth to wipe my face clean.  Afterwards my skin feels absolutely amazing, soft and smooth to the touch, clean and incredibly moisturised, all in what is effectively less than 5 minutes of my time. 

I absolutely love the scent of this balm which adds to the number of reasons why I love it already. It has three main active ingredients which are:

• RevitElix™ is Echium oil providing Omega 3, 6 & 9 to reduce lines and wrinkles, improve elasticity and participate in barrier repair. It helps rebuild the hydro lipid film as the skins surface and is also anti-irritant.
• Sucragel™ which contains Sweet Almond Oil and acts as a ‘wash on’ moisturiser and leaves a velvety finish while thoroughly cleansing
• Mangosteen Fruit Extract which is rich in vitamins and polyphenols providing anti-oxidant protection

All of those ingredients, plus a few others come together to leave your skin feeling soft, clean, hydrated and as though it can breathe. As you can see, not only is this a great budget friendly cleansing balm that doesn't strip the skin, it feels luxurious and works so effectively at what it is meant to do, what more could you want? I would happily try everything else in the range.

If you are looking for a new Cleansing Balm and haven't yet tried this one, I cannot recommend Merumaya enough, it is a complete bargain at £15.50 for 100ml. 

Monu Cleansing Balm

I am quite new to the world of cleansing balms having only ever used one in my entire life, so when the chance to try and test out the Monu Essential Care Cleansing Balm I jumped at the chance. Monu is a brand that I have come to really like and one I have mentioned on my blog a few times now.

So the cleansing balm is said to be "An indulgent melting balm that works to cleanse skin and remove make-up for an instant boost of radiance and vitality" and is suitable for all skin types. What you get inside this rather luxurious looking box is a 150g tub of the balm and a muslin cloth which is really soft and smooth and so white I didn't want to use it.

When it comes to use it, you are told to warm the balm in the palm of your hands before gently massaging it over your face and neck with your fingertips.  As you do this the balm is said to efficiently melt into the pores to dissolve all traces of make-up and any impurities. You then add water to emulsify the balm into a luxuriously rich and creamy milk that is said to leave your skin feeling vitalised, conditioned and utterly flawless from morning to night.

This balm smells absolutely amazing, it combimes the aromatic secent of Rose and Geranium essential oils which awaked your senses and work to stimulate their skin.  There is also Evening Primrose, Blackcurrent and Rosehip Seed Oil, all of which work together to help 

"maintain a youthful suppleness and elasticity to the skins appearance, helping you to look and feel refined all day long. The added effects of comforting Wheat Germ, Apricot and Almond oils will help calm and clean the skin".

As soon as I began to massage this into my skin I loved it. Not quite as solid as I was expecting it to be considering it is called a balm, it is quite runny so you don't need to use very much at all, it is definitely a case of a little goes a long way, the scent is simply divine, more so than I can describe to you, but think spa-like scent and you are almost there. What it does do is everything it claims to do and that is dissolve every ounce of make-up on your face including any bits of dirt and grime that you didn't think was there! Trust me, it finds it and dissolves it and that includes the quite stubborn to remove They're Real from Benefit, literally nothing gets in its way.

Then when it does come into contact with water, it emulsifies quickly and completely and washes away without leaving any residue on my face, my hands or in sink, which I am thankful for, infact the only dirt that is left behind is on poor old Mr Muslin cloth which you can put in the washing machine anyway.  As for my skin afterwards, my face is so soft and smooth I don't feel the need to run for my moisturising cream and cover myself in it, but old habits are hard to stop and as i always would do, I apply my moisturiser, safe in the knowledge that there are no nasties on my skin stopping it from doing its job.

So, if you are on the look out for a cleansing balm that will do exactly what it tells you it will do, is paraben free, not tested on animals, has no animal derivatives and consists of a 100% natural fragrance then you are reading about it right here, right now and it costs £38 for this huge tub and I cannot recommend it highly enough.