Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser

This is one of those products that everyone and their cat raves about. Impossibly glamorous girls on Youtube go through tube after tube singing its praises and so it was inevitable that one day I would succumb to the hype and I would try it for myself. When I saw this 30ml tube (along with muslin cloth) as a freebie with Red Magazine in April I grabbed it without giving it a second thought! A 100ml tube normally costs £12.75.

For those not familiar with the concept of a hot cloth cleanser this is a cream cleanser that you massage into dry skin and then polish off with a hot, damp (ooh er) muslin cloth. The removes every scrap of grime and the cloth also exfoliates the skin. It is, in essence, a mini facial and I really enjoy the sense of faux luxury you get in your own bathroom. Top tip: I only have the one muslin cloth (this one actually) so I normally actually use good old fashioned flannels! Washable (and therefore eco friendly!) and they are so handy to have about. Caroline from Beauty Mouth is a champion of the flannel and what she says about skin care is gospel to me.

This feels very thick and creamy on the skin, it is heavenly to massage in. The scent is quite earthy and herbal. At first I didn’t like it but it’s grown on me. It feels really quite nourishing and my skin certainly doesn’t feel at all stripped after use. It does a good job of removing every scrap of face makeup although you will of course need a separate eye makeup remover. The muslin cloth is fantastic quality too. It’s soft but does exfoliate and it has survived several trips through the washing machine. But sadly all is not well with my skin....

A colleague of mine told me that she had tried this and had suffered horrendous break outs. She is *cough* a little older than me with dry skin and very rarely if ever has spots. I have more combination skin which is normally clear with the odd hormonal breakout on my chin. After 5 days of use I was horrified to discover spots EVERYWHERE. Down my neck, my temples, my nose. In short everywhere that I never normally get blemishes. I stopped using the Liz Earle and they healed. After a few days I went back and tried again. There is a spot on my cheek so large I’ve named him Rambo. Mother F***** just won’t die.

In short I love it but my skin whole heartedly disagrees. It’s a real shame as I know so many people have given this holy grail status but as usual my skin has to go and throw a spanner in the works.