Punkee Tries: The Body Shop Cleansing Balm That Your Skin Will Slurp Up
Okay, I have a question for my former self: Why the hell have I been sleeping on cleansing balms?
I’ve been a devoted cream, foaming and even an occasional oil cleansing girlie for years, wary that balms were tricky to use and would feel less luxurious as you have to scoop them out with your clammy claws. But man was I wrong. Balms are by and far the most superior of the cleansing forms.
At least that’s what I discovered when testing out The Body Shop’s Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter for a month. But to paint a proper picture, here’s my honest review of this little tin of goodness.
What does it claim to do?
The Body Shop knows who it’s dealing with: Sleepy girlies who want beauty products that work hard for them, so they can trot off to bed faster. And that’s exactly what the Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter offers – melting away makeup and giving your skin a swift refresh and a smack of hydration.
This means that you can drop the million steps usually involved with de-facing after a night out, and just slather this cleansing butter on and let it remove all your makeup and clean your pores.
It also claims to be damn good for people who wear contact lenses or have delicate, sensitive skin.
My first impressions…
Honestly, when I first clocked this cleanser I was taken aback that it was in a… tin. I just haven’t had anything other than kidney beans and tuna in a tin, so it wasn’t in my brain that skincare could be tin-able. But it’s kind of a vibe!
It sits shining in my bathroom caddy and is fully recyclable, which is more than I can say for the graveyard of plastic bottles I have surrounding this tiny tin.
Once I pop off the lid, the butter inside looks more like a candle than anything else. It’s so smooth and part of me doesn’t want to ruin it, but then the nosey side of me overrides that ASAP and I slide my finger over the top of it. The balm instantly melts with the heat of my hand and makes a super silky consistency. Okay, this feels very fancy.
AND THE SMELL. I MUST TALK ABOUT THE SMELL. If I’m honest, I didn’t really know what camomile smelt like, but after a whiff of this, it now holds the spot of the most calming smell to me. It’s like the scent of fresh laundry muddled with a sunshiney day.
In the thick of the roadtest…
Okay, so how did I go with actually using The Body Shop’s Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter? I am happy to report, it all went rather well!
The cleansing balm really does melt off makeup brilliantly, and because it’s such a sensitive formulation, I never copped the classic ‘burning eyeballs’ when trying to get off my mascara.
After using it for makeup removal (even though I don’t technically need to do this), I treat myself to a second cleanse with it – massaging it into my face and neck, letting it soak into my skin and then washing it off to leave a velvety finish. It smells SO good that I almost don’t want to use a serum and moisturiser afterwards, but I also want to lock in this hydration and goodness. Ahh the daily dilemmas of a skincare girlie.
I do eventually follow up with my The Body Shop Edelweiss Daily Serum Concentrate and a slick of moisturiser, heading off to bed looking like a happy little glazed doughnut and smelling like a fresh forest. Then I rinse and repeat this process for an entire month, so I can really put this cleansing butter to the test for you.
The verdict…
After using The Body Shop’s Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter morning and night for a full month I have come to the conclusion that I was a prized idiot for not getting onto the cleansing balm bandwagon for so long. My skin LOVES it.
And it has fallen hard and fast for this camomile formula. My face feels properly clean but not at all stripped – leaving it feeling smooth, soft and stuffed with goodness.
Also, after twice-daily use for a month, I’m only one-quarter of my way through the tin! Which makes me very happy because that means I have many more months with this perfect pot. A romance for the ages.
This piece is an unbiased editorial piece, but we do have commercial partnerships with The Body Shop
Image credits: Supplied + Punkee