At last, a cleanser that I can really love (Liz Earle Cleanser)

Member Name: sheri3004

Product:	Liz Earle Cleanser
Date:	11/01/06 (1690 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Leaves skin beautifully clean and soft

Disadvantages: Generally only available via mail order

Now, to the undoubted horror of beauty editors everywhere, I must admit I have never really settled down to a “skincare routine” of the type we are urged to adopt. It’s not that I haven’t tried. I must have spent a fortune on products over the years, ranging from the cheap and cheerful to the hideously expensive, but so far I have failed to find anything about which I thought, “This is great – I’m going to stick with this one.”. But having discovered Liz Earle’s Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser, I think my search – at least as far as cleansers are concerned – may finally be over.

I was encouraged to try the product, which I hadn’t previously come across, after reading the glowing reports of product testers in Sarah Stacey and Josephine Fairley’s “21st Century Beauty Bible” (indispensable reading for anyone confused by the bewildering array of beauty products on the market, by the way). One of the great things about this book is its focus on independent and honest (and certainly not always positive) experiences of various products by a wide range of women with various skin types, and I think Cleanse & Polish came out with the highest overall rating of any product in the entire book – 9.5 out of 10, with no testers reporting any negatives about it whatsoever. (Very unusual, as even the most highly-regarded products rarely agree with everyone!)

Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare offers a range of beauty products which, as the name implies, are produced using natural ingredients. Obviously this applies to many other products, but the difference seems to be that Liz’s products include these ingredients – plants, herbs, essential oils, vitamins – at levels which actually work, rather than just sounding attractive and looking pretty on the packaging.

The stated philosophy of Liz Earle’s company is “quality and service always”, and they state that this means sourcing the best quality naturally active ingredients which are, where possible, harvested from wild, sustainable sources or grown organically. The results are extremely gentle formulations suitable for all types, ages and colour skin.

Here’s what the company itself says about Cleanse & Polish: “This award-winning, concentrated cleanser quickly removes everyday grime and make-up, including stubborn mascara, to leave all skin types feeling healthy, clear and soft.” And here’s what Beauty Bible has to say: “Thank you to Liz and her team for creating a wonderful and affordable product that always delivers the goods for my skin, day in, day out."

So, what actually is this wonder product? The first thing you should probably know is that Cleanse & Polish comes with its own muslin cloth, which is used for the “polishing” stage of the process. The actual stuff itself is available in either a tube or a pump type container in Liz Earle’s distinctive pale green “Naturally Active Skincare” packaging. On examination, the cleanser proves to be a medium-thick white cream which is applied to the skin using fingertips. Next, the famous muslin cloth, soaked in hand-hot water, is used to gently remove the cleanser; the final stage of the process involves rinsing the face with cold water.

The cleanser contains cocoa butter to moisturise, eucalyptus oil to purify and chamomile to soothe the skin. It is extremely gentle and safe to use around the eyes to remove even hard-to-shift mascara. Liz Earle advises that Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser is best used with the muslin cloth, to leave skin “exceptionally clean and smooth”. I would have to agree – after first using the product, I was entranced with how clear and velvety smooth my skin seemed. I have now been using it regularly for about 5 weeks, and to my amazement the effect has continued. The cleanser really does leave your skin feeling very clean, and works wonders at removing make-up – or rather transferring it onto the muslin cloth, where it is easily rinsed away.

Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish is not the cheapest cleanser on the market, but neither is it prohibitively expensive. The product is available in various formats, but I chose to purchase the Starter Pack 100ml pump plus 2 muslin cloths, at a cost of £10.75, which is still going strong. The only disadvantage, possibly, is that the packaging makes it difficult to assess how much of the product is left, so I may get a nasty shock one morning when I find the container empty! I really must re-order…

Which brings me to the other “disadvantage”, if you can call it that, of Liz Earle’s products – generally, they are only available via mail order. You will not find them on the shelves of Boots. I say “generally” as according to the website, they are available over the counter in a very few places – Liz Earle’s own shop, “Union”, on the Isle of Wight, and a few outlets in London including Brown’s. The products are also available over the QVC Shopping Channel. However, I purchase mine via the website, www.lizearle.com , which is well-designed and easy to use. The company can be contacted by phone on 01983 813913.

I put “disadvantage” in inverted commas above as I don’t think it really is one, unless you’re in a desperate hurry. The mail order service provided by Liz Earle is excellent, with products arriving beautifully packaged and in good time. Customers can choose first or second-class postage, at a rate of £2.50 for orders under £20.00 and £3.00 for orders over £20.00 for second class, and £3.50/£4.50 for first class. Customers are kept up-to-date with products and news via regular newsletters and catalogues. My order was also accompanied by some trial-size samples of other products, which was nice.

I’m delighted to have discovered this lovely product, and plan to stick with it for the foreseeable future – I may diversify into other Liz Earle skincare products as well! (I can also recommend some of her bodycare products which I have tried and which are also excellent.)

Highly recommended.

Summary: Lovely skincare product which I only wish I'd discovered sooner