REVIEW: BOTANICS HOT CLOTH CLEANSING BALM

Looking for a budget dupe for the Emma Hardie Amazing Face Moringa Cleansing Balm is hard work. There are plenty of products on the market that state they can help achieve the same feeling, cleanse and results as Emma Hardie can but are they simply trying to make us part with our money for bogus claims?

I'm not a fan of the Botanics range. Of the things I've tried from the various lines available I haven't liked a single thing. I suppose my expectations are high - I love my skincare to actually do what it says on the tin. I also don't mind paying more money for proven results. Still, when the pennies are flying out of the bank faster than they're making it in I have to cut my cloth accordingly. I'd been recommended this Botanics Hot Cloth Cleansing Balm by more than one trusted blogger and thought I might as well give it a go. If nothing else it's another cleanser I can strike off my list on the way to the holy grail. The packaging is the typical Botanics fare: simple but informative. The ingredients are mostly plant based with no questionable components. The product comes with a single muslim cloth which is double sided for different levels of exfoliation. It's a really flimsy cloth, doesn't exfoliate well whichever side you use, stains incredibly easily and needs to be chucked in the bin to be honest. The product itself is a light green balm that smells subtly herbal. It's a tolerable scent but it's not overly pleasant. 

The balm is quite hard to scoop out of the pot at first but instantly starts to melt from the body heat of fingers the moment it's rubbed together before being placed on the skin. I used the same massage techniques to rub this over my face when I applied to try and get the most out of it that I could. It cut through foundation easily enough although there was some residue left after the first cleanse so I felt the need to go back in and double cleans and it left stubborn eye makeup where it was. If you're looking for a product that removes everything on the first wash then this is definitely not it. I found it was far too heavy to use in the morning and have restricted it to evening use only. 

In comparison to EH this Botanics effort is passable but not brilliant. I feel like I'm getting real skin care when I used EH; it's smoother to massage into the face, smells luxurious, leaves my skin cleansed but hydrated and plump without any residue left behind. With the Botanics, whilst it's smooth to massage into the skin, the double cleanse makes for double the work when using it and whilst my skin does feel soft and smooth after use it does leave it feeling like a film has covered it.  I think if you're new to cleansing balms and don't have the money to spend on EH this Botanics Hot Cloth Cleansing Balm is a good place to start. It's not the most amazing cleanser I've come across and I haven't noticed a difference in my skin at all but then I think perhaps I've set my standards rather high.

Botanics Hot Cloth Cleansing Balm RRP £8.99 is available from Boots stores across the UK and Boots online. I can't find the Twitter or Facebook for this range so if you know of any social media links for them please let me know in the comments below.