Tesco Bnatural Organic Cream Cleanser

Organic skincare ranges have been around for a while now, but seem to have really taken off lately thanks to the negative press surrounding the use of parabens and their perceived link to premature aging. Parabens are a preservative used in almost all off the shelf cosmetics, the most common being methylparaben and propylparaben, used to extend the shelf life of products. Look in almost any regular skincare or makeup item and I almost guarantee you'll ...
...Most scientific research has concluded that the small amount of methylparaben used in cosmetics is unlikely to be harmful, I've become interested in discovering brands that have made the decision to 'go organic' and exclude parabens from their products. After all, anything that you apply on your skin is absorbed into the blood stream, so it's good to know that there is nothing potentially harmful in the products that you're using.

Bnatural ... more

Organic skincare ranges have been around for a while now, but seem to have really taken off lately thanks to the negative press surrounding the use of parabens and their perceived link to premature aging. Parabens are a preservative used in almost all off the shelf cosmetics, the most common being methylparaben and propylparaben, used to extend the shelf life of products. Look in almost any regular skincare or makeup item and I almost guarantee you'll see methylparaben lurking at the bottom of the ingredient list. Most scientific research has concluded that the small amount of methylparaben used in cosmetics is unlikely to be harmful, I've become interested in discovering brands that have made the decision to 'go organic' and exclude parabens from their products. After all, anything that you apply on your skin is absorbed into the blood stream, so it's good to know that there is nothing potentially harmful in the products that you're using.

Bnatural is a relatively new range, launched in 2007 by Tesco, and which aims to use as high a percentage of certified organic ingredients as possible and the range contains 95% certified organic ingredients, no mineral oil or parabens, 100% natural fragrance, and like all Tesco's own brand beauty products, it's not tested on animals. Best of all in these credit crunched times, the range also puts a strong emphasis on being affordable - the Organic Cream Cleanser costs just £3.69 for 150ml.

The Organic Cream Cleanser contains geranium essential oil, a natural cleanser, to help balance and refresh the skin, and aloe vera for its soothing and moisturising properties. It also contains organic cocoa butter, organic shea butter, organic avocado oil, and organic rosehip seed oil, all of which work to condition the skin. It seems to have recently been renamed and was previously called Skin Brightening Cleanser and was marketed as being a cheaper alternative to Liz Earle's Cleanse and Polish.

The packaging of the range is great - the cleanser comes in a tall, chunky 150ml plastic bottle which has a pump dispenser. The colour scheme is lovely - cream and pink, and very low key and classy. The packaging makes the product look far more expensive than it is, and it's a product that I actually keep out by the sink as it looks so good (not something that even my premium brand cosmetics normally get treated to)

To use, you simply dispense a 5p sized amount onto your fingers and massage over your face working in circles using your fingertips. You then rinse off - the instructions recommend using their own muslin cloth, but I have used it with a regular face flannel and just rinsing off with my fingers, and can't really say I've noticed a difference.

The pump dispenser makes it easy to get just the amount you need from the bottle meaning minimum wastage. The cleanser is white in colour and really thick and creamy and feels silky on your fingertips. Despite feeling thick it spreads well over the face and feels really rich when applying - you can definitely notice the moisturising presence of the cocoa and shea butter. I suffer from the dreaded combination skin, and it can be difficult to find products that work to tackle the oily patches without irritating the areas that tend to be drier. In that respect this is a great product: on rinsing off my skin doesn't feel at all tight or dry as it normally does with cheaper cleansers - it feels clean but nourished. This works fantastically whenever I am suffering from a bit of a dry patch as it really feels like it's taking care of the skin, and it quickly eliminates any flakiness.

My normal issue with cream or liquid cleansers is that I find they are not very deep cleansing and I can see a large amount of dirt left behind when I use a toner which often leads to breakouts further down the line. However, this seems to be very deep cleansing as well as nourishing as my toner doesn't seem to pick up any dirt at all after I've used this.

My only issue with this product is the smell. The fragrance is 100% natural and this is put across as a good plus point to the product. The smell is certainly natural smelling, hard to put my finger on it, but the rosehip seems to be the dominant scent, but I personally find it quite musty.

However, I find this product so good in every other aspect that I'm prepared to overlook a smell that's not quite to my taste. I would rate this cleanser as being up there with lots of the premium brand products I use, proving that you don't need to spend a fortune to have good looking skin. 

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