I’m a religious double cleanser. If I have makeup or even just sunscreen on during the day, then double-cleansing with an oil cleanser is a must for me. It’s not that I don’t trust my cleanser (okay, I don’t trust my cleanser), but I find the act of removing foundation with an oil cleanser, especially when seeing the ick come off my face, particularly cathartic. I even decant cleansing oils into small bottles for travelling (always have to double bag it as my Shu Uemura one leaked a couple of times. Oil in bag, EEEYYUUCCK!).

As I’ve been using liquid oil cleansers for so long, it didn’t come across my mind to try something new. I’ve seen cleansing balms around but never took to them because when I tested one out at the beauty counters (I think the one I tested was Clinique’s Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm), it was thick and heavy. I didn’t like the texture at all. I tested the popular Eve Lom cleansing balm at Mecca Cosmetica. Ugh, so thick and oily! Nope, not trying it at all.

Well, that was until Paris B came to Melbourne and stayed a few nights at my place. I saw her small jar of Eve Lom cleanser on the sink and had to ask her just how the heck she used it because I found it so thick and oily. She taught me the way she used the cleansing balm and it was the best method she found that worked very well for her. I don’t have a muslin cloth but it was okay because she found that a face washer towel worked better than a muslin cloth. Bless her, she left that Eve Lom jar for me to try out when she left Melbourne.

I tried it out and oh my, I’m a convert. I really am.

See, it goes to show that just checking it out and drawing conclusions based on that alone don’t always work. You have to learn how to bloody use it! 😛

As Eve Lom’s cleanser is crazy expensive, Paris B also recommended a cheaper alternative, and that’s the Antipodes Grapeseed Butter Cleanser. Since I’ve only started using that small jar of Eve Lom cleanser and already absolutely loved it, I decided to get the Antipodes one to try out too just to save the Eve Lom one for future travels.

Looking at the two of them, the surface of the balms look pretty darn similar. Both have tiny beads and they feel quite similar to the touch. When you first apply the Eve Lom balm on your skin and massage it in, the beads don’t disappear. They actually still stay on the skin. The ones in the Antipodes balm disappear as you apply it on the skin.

Both are good. I achieved the same results after cleansing my skin with the balms and that’s super soft and clean skin. The Antipodes one is slightly oilier and does dissolve onto the skin like cleansing oils do whereas the Eve Lom one’s feels slightly grittier when it’s on the skin. In terms of achieving clean skin, I actually prefer Eve Lom’s cleanser because the Antipodes ones does leave a hint of oiliness on the skin. I still use a regular cleanser after that (even when I used Eve Lom’s) so it wasn’t an issue for me.

The only issue is the price difference. Eve Lom’s cleanser costs AU$115 for 100ml whereas you can get a 75g jar of the Antipodes cleanser for AU$46. As much as I’d love a full-sized jar of the Eve Lom cleanser, I’m sticking to the one by Antipodes for now as it gives me the same results anyway.

Oh, I forgot to tell you how I use this! Duh! *facepalm*

For both cleansing balms, I used the same method that Paris B taught me:

1. Apply cleansing balm on the face. You don’t need a lot. Massage the balm onto the skin. You’ll see the balm lifting the muck off your face (mine turns beige!).
2. Run your face washer in hot water and squeeze dry.
3. Put the towel on your face and gently press in. Do not wipe your face, just press the towel in gently around the nose, cheeks, forehead and chin.
4. When you remove the towel, you’ll see your foundation on it. Quite gross but man, it feels good seeing it come off.
5. Rinse your face washer, run in under hot water again, squeeze dry and place it on your face again. Don’t wipe your face; again, just gently press in.
6. The third time you do this, gently wipe all of the gunk off.
7. Hey presto! Clean and super soft skin, thanks to the balm and exfoliation from the face washer.

Granted, it’s a lot more work than just using good ol’ cleansing oil so I may or may not do this on a daily basis, depending on my laziness factor. But I’m definitely doing this at least twice a week because the hot towel and exfoliation of the skin feel really good. It’s certainly a method to pamper yourself, don’t you think? 🙂

Cleansing balms are definitely more travel-friendly. I wouldn’t have to worry about exploding oil all over my toiletries bag, that’s for sure. When I’ve finished the Eve Lom cleanser, I’ll be scooping some of the Antipodes one in there since the jar is small and easy to pack.

When I’m done with the Antipodes cleansing balm, I’m going to check out the Clinique one again next. I’m sure it’s not as thick and icky when used correctly, right? Or perhaps try out the Emma Hardie one instead. Ooh decisions, decisions.

Have you tried cleansing balms before? Did you like them? How do you use yours to its fullest potential?