Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser Review

When I was offered the chance to give Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish a try, I pretty much bit the hand (metaphorically of course - I'm a good vegetarian girl) off of poor Andrea. It seems that every girl and her dog has used this except me, and it really wouldn't be the done thing to go for Afternoon Tea with Liz Earle (tomorrow... me... Liz Earle... Afternoon Tea - I think the excitement is a given don't you?) and not have given this a go. 

However, there was a certain element of fear rumbling under the surface. Why? Because my skin hates water. No, seriously. Whenever I try to use wash off cleansers for more than 2 days in a row, my skin starts screaming and shouting and the alcoholic esq red nose (see this post for reference) comes out with gusto. Despite this (and because I love you) I decided to give it a go anyway. So how did I get on?

Initial Impressions

The first thing that struck me was that Liz Earle really do make an effort. It feels like they want you to feel like this little ol' cleanser isn't just something to wash your face with but a luxurious experience to top and tail your day. And you know what? I feel like that. I love the fact that time and consideration had gone ito the wrapping of my product - beautiful tissue paper, expertly wrapped with a gorgeous silver seal glinting at me as I opened the jiffy bag. Then the lovely little pouch to store my cleanser and cloths - all just simple and beautiful and lovely.

The packaging itself is the same duck egg blue as the little zip bag, very easy on the eye and the sort of thing that will look gorgeous in any bathroom. But the thing I really loved - all the instructions are printed on the bottle itself in a)a reasonable sized font (*cougholdladyeyescough*) and b) plenty of detail. This made me very happy indeed - it really bugs me to get a new product but have literally no idea how to use it. Am I meant to wash it off? Flannel it off? Take it off with cotton wool? Do I even take it off at all?! Happily, this was far from the case with this little beauty and I felt safe and happy in the knowledge that I had all the information I needed. In fact, just for those of us who are super parinoid about how to use a product (that'd be me then), there's even a little card included which goes into even more detail:

Cut the waffle - what was it like?!

Sorry. Yeah, I get a little carried away with instructions apparently. Cleanse and Polish is a gorgeously thick rich cream, which you massage over dry skin and then take off with the muslin cloths (doused in hot water and then wrung out). It feels so lovely going on, and is removed quickly and easily - you aren't left with any gunkyness, just beautifully soft skin. I've been using this for nearly a week, and I can already see that my skin has a better texture to it (much smoother and less bumpy) and is feeling generally softer and cleaner. I've also noticed that some of the stubborn blocked porey things around my nose are starting to disappear. And you know what? The angry alcoholic-esq red nose hasn't appear once. My skin hasn't had a single reaction to this, but instead has behaved itself and even started to show signs of improvement!

Final thoughts

Cleanse and Polish is an excellent cleanser and I would really recommend it. I can definitely see why it's been a best seller for Liz Earle for all of this years! It's proving itself to be comforting in the cold harshness of winter and gentle but effective in its cleansing power. Go on, give it a try!

I give this ♥♥♥♥♥ out of 5 hearts

Would I use it again? Definitely. When this runs out, I think I'll be treating myself to a bottle

Price: £13 for the Hot Polish starter kit (includes 100ml bottle of Cleanse and Polish and 2 muslin cloths) from lizearle.com

Disclaimer: I was sent this sample for review purposes