Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser

I thought I would throw a skincare post into the mix for good measure! I am still very new to the world of blogging but I knew it would not be long before I would have to give this product a mention. This is because this is the one product that I have been incredibly loyal to – I have been using this religiously since I was 20! Yikes, that was a very long time ago! It is, of course, the amazing Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser. I’m pretty sure that by now you have heard about this wonder cleanser but if you haven’t – where the hell have you been...!!?

This cleanser is regularly voted the best and has won several skincare/beauty awards. It tends to score highly in the ‘green’ categories and this is because it is derived from naturally active plant based ingredients (science bit!) making this incredibly gentle on the skin. Liz, herself, was a successful beauty journalist however, suffered with eczema over the years. One of the reasons she created this cleanser was to tackle her own skin problems and in doing so, she managed to create a cleanser which today sells one every 30 seconds! As I understand is also gently enough for those who suffer with psoriasis.

I have to say that I’m not especially surprised that this cleanser is as renowned as it is. I started using this product around 2005 and not many people had heard of the product or Liz Earle for that matter. I, myself learned about this wonder cleanser after purchasing the ‘Beauty Bible’ which was a book based on product reviews from normal folk who had been picked to sample a number of beauty products. The genius of this book was that a lot of the lower priced products trumped the premium brands, hence the reason I rushed out to grab a copy. I found that the Liz Earle products had generally scored highly so decided I’d give them a go, thus creating my own love affair with the brand. The ‘Beauty Bible’ was created by a pair of beauty journalists called Jo Fairley and Sarah Stacey – you can have a look at their website here Beauty Bible

Purchasing this book as a teen was a slightly dangerous gamble as I found that I wanted to own most of the winning products. I think it was around this time that my obsession for skincare products started and I properly started adhering to a skincare routine...

But back to the Cleanse & Polish. I recall I was using an Olay cleanser which I used to wipe off with a cotton pad but I realised the very first time I used Cleanse and Polish what I had been missing out on – I had never known clean and refreshed skin quite like it! The was amazed at how gentle it was and how my skin did not look red or feel completely stripped which is how it had felt previously when using the Olay cleanser. I knew I was onto a winner when I could gently rub this product in and around the eye area without any kind of stinging sensation, and then marvelled when every last trace of mascara and concealer was simply wiped away using the amazingly exfoliating muslin cloth.

This cleanser is basically a 2 step cleansing process. Phase 1 is the cleansing which requires you to apply the cleanser to your face and massage the product in circular motions. The cleanser itself is a white, creamy, almost mousse like consistency and once you start massaging in, it transforms to a clear, quite greasy looking consistency and this is when you need to grab your muslin cloth to wipe away the cleanser and the grime... And boy does the grime slide off and evidently so as your muslin goes from a beautiful white to a grubby cloth. I usually give the cloths a good rinsing under the water and the product build up does tend to wash out. You can pop them into the washing machine on a weekly basis so long as you don’t go too overboard on the detergent front as this would not be great for your skin. 

This cleanser also wins awards in the ‘best value’ category as it is an affordable cleanser. At £24 for a 200ml tube which does tend to last me a few months (using twice a day), this is not a great deal of money to spend. I prefer the 200ml tube because I have ultimate control over how much of the product  I will use and I can squeeze every last bit of product out meaning that for me, this really does end up being a good value buy =)

Everything about this cleanser is gentle, from the skin calming ingredients, to the moisturising texture on the skin and the beautiful smell! The muslin cloth provides you with a great clean not to mention the right amount of exfoliation to leave skin feeling smooth. 

I managed to find another use for this product which made me fall in love with it even more. In the last few years I have developed an allergy to animals (awful if like me you are a cat lover) to the point that if I stroke a cat and then accidentally touch my face, I breakout into hideously large, lumpy, itchy, angry looking bites on my face. The only way I can combat these and bring the redness down is simply by dabbing on some Cleanse and Polish onto the affected area. As if by magic it starts to work a treat and within half an hour, said bites will have disappeared with redness subsided. This, no doubt, is down to the antiseptic benefits of the cleanser which contains eucalyptus. Another two LE products which are great for similar symptoms are the ‘Spot On’ spot stick (link - Spot On) and the ‘Eye Bright Soothing Eye Lotion’ (link – Eye Bright) - I will do separate posts on these products. 
 

I follow my daily cleanse with a spritz of the Instant Boost Skin Tonic (link - Skin Tonic), which just wakes up the skin beautifully but I do not follow with a LE moisturiser because I prefer to wear one with an SPF. 

Those of you who may be flirting with the idea of trying this – do it! You will not be disappointed. From experience this cleanser makes a great xmas pressie for those who have not used it and I know this because everyone I have bought this for ended up being as loyal to the product as I am. One of the friends I purchased this for has oily skin and I was a little concerned that he may find the consistency of the cleanser far too greasy and therefore not enjoy using it, however, he is now a regular user. This cleanser really is suitable for all skin types. There have been jokes made by my pals that I should get a job in the Liz Earle PR department because I rave and rave so much about their cleanser but the fact is I could not imagine using another cleanser. I know of a couple of people who decided to switch cleansers out of sheer intrigue and they ended up reverting back to Cleanse and Polish because the other cleansers they used just did not live up to it. 

I realise that this blog post is now longer than even I had anticipated but I just wanted to add a couple of final thing about the Liz Earle brand itself. The experience of ordering online is an absolute dream. Their website is uber user friendly and incredibly informative but best of all when you get round to ordering, your order arrives in the most beautifully wrapped packaging. You don’t want to unwrap because it all looks so gorgeous! They also always send you a miniature sample of another of their products to try which is a great touch. The other point to mention is that Liz Earle is an advocate or using organic, botanical and ethically sourced ingredients. Whilst a lot of the ingredients are sourced from British farmers, the more exotic ingredients (argan oil, eucalyptus etc) are sourced from developing countries such as Morocco, Sudan and Kenya. It’s always good to know that a product you enjoy using was made ethically and responsibly :-)

If you couldn’t already tell, I LOVE LOVE LOVE this cleanser. This is my absolute Holy Grail beauty product. The one product I would simply struggle to get by without. It’s rather apt that I am blogging this because I am running dangerously low and MUST head to John Lewis tomorrow after work to stock up. I’m afraid I’ve left it too late to place on online order as I’m not likely to receive a beautifully wrapped package by tomorrow evening ;(

Best,

Rakhsana

xx