"Why I started using" I have always been quite lucky with my skin except for it's sensitivity. For years I was even using E45 as a moisturiser as anything else just felt as if it aggravated my skin, making it "nippy" upon application. I tried Dermalogica products being assured that the products are free of common irritants - obviously my skin doesn't just react to the common irritants as I still found my skin prone to flare ups and aggravated by the products at times.
In my desperation during a particular bad breakout of blotches and irritiated skin, I was looking through the Ciao reviews and found the glowing recommendations for the Liz Earle Skin Care regime. I decided to investigate further by visiting the Liz Earle Website; http://uk.lizearle.com/
The website was thankfully easy to navigate and provided detailed information on the products. It was revealed that the cleanse and polish had won numerous rewards and contained (the website contains all this information);
a) beeswax to sooth skin b) chamomile to sooth and act as an anti-inflammatory c) cocoa butter to moisturise d) d-panthenol to moisturise and also because of it's cellular renewal properties e) eucalyptus to provide a cooling and invigorating effect f) Glycerin to help hydrate the skin g) Hops to soothe and strengthen skin h) Rosemary to stimulate the circulation amongst other reasons All this together sounded nice and I was eager to give the product a try.
"Purchasing" As I'm nowhere near the Isle
of Wight or any of the few stores that stock Liz Earle products, I was happy to buy the products online. The Cleanse and Polish comes in a variety of formats, sizes and thus varying prices. These include (prices correct as of Jul 09); Starter Kit 100ml pump + 2 muslin cloths - £12.50 Starter Kit 200ml tube + 2 muslin cloths - £21.75 100ml pump - £11.00 200ml tube - £20.25 3 x 100ml pump - £30.00 30ml tube - £4.50 As I was looking at trying the full skin care regime, I opted for the convenient trial size "Try-Me" kit, Kit contents are; Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser 30ml Instant Boost Skin Tonic 50ml Bottle Skin Repair Dry/Sensitive 15ml Skin Repair Normal/Combination 15ml 1 Pure Muslin Cloth All for the price of £19.75. I thought this was a genius idea! It allowed me trial the cleanser, toner and moisturiser for a while before committing to a larger spend on full size products. I promptly entered my payment details and it took no longer than 5 minuntes for the full process of registering, selecting the products, entering payment information and sending the order. I received a confirmation e-mail with a reference number for my order and eagerly sat back and waited.
"Delivery" The day after I had placed the order for my products, I received an e-mail informing me of their dispatch. Two days later, I received a card from the post office informing my I had a parcel to pick up. Off I trotted and collected the package - undamaged and well sealed. When I opened it up, I had details of the order, who had packed my order and *THIS IS THE BEST BIT* all the products come individually wrapped in lovely paper so it felt like I was opening a present! This kit comes within a handy bag to store it all and takes up very little space in the bathroom. Although I had ordered a trial size kit, I also received a"complimentary" trial size eye product - delighted! I've been ordering these products for a few years now, and receive a free trial size product everytime. It varies as to what it is and they're fabulous for creating travel kits!
"Use" Silly I know, but I wanted to try it right away, so went straight to the bathroom and read the instructions. Now, don't be put of by "instructions" it's very straightforward and I only ever looked at them twice. Well, you always read the back of a new product to find out how to best use it - don't you?! Instructions for usage were along the lines of;
1. Massage the Cleanse and polish Cleanser gently onto dry skin. Well, like a good girl, I dispensed a small amount into my hand and began to rub the cleanser onto my face - mmmmm!!! - it smells lovely and almost felt like I was rubbing on a moisturiser! No "nipping" - all good so far!
2. Rinse the muslin cloth in hand-hot water and wring out before using to remove the cleanser. I promptly ran my hot tap and soaked the cloth before wringing out. I used it to remove the cleanser, rinsing and wringing as I went. This felt lovely - the muslin cloth is so gentle - do NOT use a flannel or remove with water - it will not provide the same benefits. Through time, I've learnt that as gentle as this cloth is, it acts like a little scrub on your skin, gently removing any dead skin cells. You also feel like your face is actually clean without it immediately tightening up! Refreshing.
3. Splash your face with cold water and dry off. Does what it says, closes your pores back up, wakes you up some more and then you dry off. I dabbed gently with the towel to dry - no point in all this loveliness then scrubbing at my face!! Now, previous cleansers all either smelt funny, didnt' feel like a proper clean, caused my skin to react or made my skin feel all tight. This did none of those things. My skin felt soothed, refreshed and clean - and all this before the toner and moisturiser!
"Continued Use" I'm pleased to say I was happy also with the toner and dry/sensitive moisturiser - I no longer feel like I've an unbreathable mask on my face (E45) or like my skin is drying out (too m any products to mention). I've used the Cleanse and Polish, toner and moisturiser for about 3 years now and just can't live without it! I've tried both the pump and the tube formats - personally, I prefer the pump as it dispenses convenient amounts (I feel like I end up wasting some with the tube). One pump for normal use, two pumps for removing make-up. I come to the only bad thing - the pump format is impossible to tell when it's coming to the end of the tube - you maybe get a days warning, but that's it - empty! And no mattter how hard you try - you can't get into the pump to use the last while you're waiting on delivery of the next set. I usually make sure I now have one back up - even a trial size one. I actually forgot my toiletry bag on honeymoon and for two and a half weeks had to use dermalogica cleanser. As nice as it was - I was sooooooo happy when I came home and had a proper clean of my face!
"Make-Up Removal" Removal of make-up is fabulous! It removes it all swiftly and it's oddly reassuring to see the make up coming off onto the cloth. You can tell once you've removed it all as there's nothing else coming onto the cloth! I used to really suffer after wearing make up - even if it was for a short time and removed with a good cleanser afterwards. Since I switched to Liz Earle, I do still get the odd sensitive skin day afterwards, but very rarely.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
This is an exceptional review, I use most of the LizEarle range and find the whole lot are very gentle and beneficial to the skin, i am complimented time and time again about my skin, so great stuff, this explained all the steps of the regime perfectly, thank you
TheHairyGodmother 02.10.2009 16:50
Great review! Keep them coming!
Munchkin2009 02.07.2009 13:21
I don't think I could use this product, as I am wary of chamomile as it's a claimed sedative, and I am not sure I would want to put anything containing eucalyptus on my face. Exceptional review by the way.
Advantages: Feels super luxurious, leaves skin glowing, easy to use! Disadvantages: Possibly not ideal for oily or spot-prone skin...
nina_in_the_bedroom 11.02.2008 (11.02.2008)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish
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