I don't tend to use soap on my face, the drying effects aren't a myth and my skin suffers if I use it instead of a moisturising cleanser. As they say though, there's an exception to every rule - Clinique's Face Soap is the exception. I first bought it when I had an allergic reaction to a foundation around three years ago, it wasn't a severe reaction but my skin was sore and nastily pink afterwards. A friend recommended the soap and after trying it once I was converted, I do think that Clinique are generally overpriced but this is definitely one of their best products and worth the £15 price tag for a variety of reasons.

The soap is lovely to use, it takes a bit of getting used to as you don't really get any lather at all out of it. Sometimes you can coax a thin looking layer of scum on your face, but usually it's like rubbing washing up liquid into dry skin. It doesn't feel like that, I'm talking about the appearance of the soap while using it - the texture is much better! I wouldn't say this is a highly luxurious soap to wash with but it feels like it's benefitting my skin every time I use it, it has a slightly clinical aroma which is lovely really but *very* Clinique.

The trick to get the best out of the Face Soap is to use very warm water and leave your skin completely wet before getting to it with the soap. It has a great shape, rounder than most bars of soap which helps you get the best possible grip. This is less important when using it as a facial soap, but the soap is a large enough size to use in the shower too and then the fist shaped semi-cylinder of soap is perfect to hold without continually having it slip out of your hands. Unlike the ridiculous wavy Dove which is honestly like trying to hold an eel in the shower.

I mainly use it as a face soap though, not all the time as my skin is pretty well behaved and I've a few reasonably priced tube cleansers which suit me perfectly - I save this Clinique offering for when my skin is feeling dull and less than its best. For this reason I'm happy that it's sold in a semi-reusable plastic holder as when stored correctly it'll last for ages between uses, if it was left open to the elements on the bathroom soap dish I think it would dry up quite quickly. I say semi-reusable but I don't know, I have a small pile of them in the bathroom now but haven't come up with a use for them yet as they're the wrong shape for 'normal' bars of soap. I refuse to throw them away though!

The soap is extremely gentle, I don't have sensitive skin but can still feel that it's doing me some good. Cleansers can be harsher than you'd think, and using Clinique's Face Soap shows me that my (cheaper) cleansers aren't as kind to my skin than I thought. The smell is soothing too, which sounds weird I know but it's refreshing to use such a prettily plain scented soap instead of the overdone (but gorgeous!) soaps from Lush, Body Shop etc.

There's only one thing I dislike about this soap and that is the fact that it takes a hell of a lot of rinsing before I feel that all the residue has gone. I use cold water to rinse as I love the healthy pink glow this leaves me with, my skin always feels lovely and smooth whenever I start using it again and after a few days it'll be visibly healthier in both appearance and feel.

When I first bought it I remember the lady on the counter telling me the soap is made to be as close as possible to the cleanser that is part of Clinique's 3-Step system. I don't think I've ever used that (apart from the odd sample) but can tell it's a quality product which is not only good for my skin but also a nice product to use.