Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm Review

I’ve been giving the new Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm a whirl for the past few weeks. I was previously using the Ren alternative which I must say, compared to some of the other products in the Ren line, it was somewhat of a disappointment as the texture was a bit lumpy. Yes, lumpy… strange for a balm? I know. Anyway, hence I was eager for a change, and when this little sample landed on my desk a few weeks ago, I was keen to get testing!

The texture of this is lovely, it’s really smooth and melts into my skin beautifully….

I love the way this cleans my skin and the way it leaves it feeling smooth, plumped and moisturised after use. I do however have a couple of bug-bears with this product. The first is the smell. It’s not necessarily a ‘bad’ smell. It’s very spa-like and I’m sure some would find it nice and relaxing, but to me something about it smells a bit sour, and god forbid you ever get any in your mouth… yuk!

Aside from the smell, the other issue I have with this is that it isn’t very effective as an eye makeup remover. Some would argue you should use a separate eye makeup remover anyway, but I’m the first to admit… I’m lazy when it comes to cleansing and in an ideal world, I would like a cleanser that ‘takes it all off’. This doesn’t. It doesn’t do a bad job of removing, but it doesn’t quite get it all and I find it leaves a bit of a residue on the eye area.

Overall. I love this as a cleanser, and will very happily use up the remainder of my little sample (which FYI is 20g, approx. 1/5 of the full-size 105g, which I would estimate to last me around 3 weeks, so the full size should last about 15 weeks when used once a day) but I don’t think I will be purchasing a full size. Partly because it’s priced at £39, and partly because I think I may finally cave and end up buying the over-blogged-about Emma Hardie alternative. I’ve tried to avoid it but there are just so many rave reviews out there, I might just have to give it a whirl when this runs out.

Do any of you use a cleansing balm? Which is your favourite?