Product Review- Body Shop Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter

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 The Body Shop Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter

In brief: A great starter balm

Pros: Moisturising, gentle on skin, removes standard makeup. 

Cons: Can't lift heavy eye makeup, doesn't foam/liquify very much. 

Price: A very reasonable $21.95 for 90ml

Purpose: Cleansing and makeup removal

Packaging: Good- easy to travel, lightweight. 

RePurchase:  In theory, yes, however I am now keen to compare to the more expensive alternatives. 

Review

I'd heard a lot of good things about cleansing butters/balms, and was very interested in the concept of a hydrating way to remove makeup at the end of the day. That said, I was hesitant to shell out for one of the cult favourites (this or this) until I knew whether I liked the concept of a cleansing balm, so the Body Shop seemed like a good first step.

Externals

Packaging is nice and light, and fits easily within your palm, which makes it much easier to pack and travel with than the Clinique Balm. Only negative is that the labelling starts to pucker and move a little with exposure to water, which you can see is starting to happen at the corners of mine. 

Ingredients

I'll list full ingredients down the bottom of the post, but a few key ones

- No alcohols or mineral oils which is nice (I'll do a post on mineral oils soon)

- Whole range of natural cleansing oils, including shea butter which is a deeply moisturising product- can clog pores though. 

- Some fragrance, but it's far down on the list which means there's not so much of it and I haven't found it to be a problem or irritant. 

The fragrance itself is lovely and very subtle- I don't imagine anyone would find it unpleasant or overpowering. 

Use

I've outlined my process in more detail within my routine post, but essentially, this is a very easy product to use. 

You can see in the photo below, it's a real 'balm' consistency- it sits as a solid form in the packet, but is a soft product, making it very easy to take a small amount off. I would say it's most similar in consistency to a solid lip balm- such as Burts Bees. 

On the skin, it sits like a moisturiser, until you add a bit of water and start to work in. It doesn't really form a lather, in fact I tried to take a photo of it on my face and scrapped it because you couldn't see anything.

I prefer a product with a bit more movement that goes quite milky on the face, as I feel it allows me to do a bit of facial massage to work product off, so the lack of lather was a drawback for me. 

Performance

I've really enjoyed using a cleansing balm, and now I have a strong preference to use this kind of nourishing cleanser at the end of the day.

I haven't yet experienced any breakouts, even though the product does contain Shea Butter which is a heavy moisturiser, I think if you wash it off properly though it should be fine. 

The women at the Body Shop told me that this is their go-to product for removing makeup, as it is non-irritant and great on all kinds of skin, and I'd certainly agree with that, haven't had any reactions to it and my skin feels very healthy. 

I found it too difficult to get heavy duty eye makeup off with this, so I needed to use a makeup remover on my eyes before cleansing with the balm. Aside from that, I found this product performed really well for daily cleansing, after rinsing it off, my face was very soft and moisturised. 

Give it a go if

You're keen to try a balm and haven't used one before, it's a terrific first balm to get to know this kind of product, and at a great price. 

Ingredients

Ethylhexyl Palmitate (Skin Conditioning Agent), Synthetic Wax (Binder/Emollient), PEG-20 Glyceryl Triisostearate (Skin Conditioning Agent), Olea Europaea Fruit Oil/Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil (Emollient), Butyrospermum Parkii Butter/Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter (Skin Conditioning Agent - Emollient), Caprylyl Glycol (Skin Conditioning Agent), Tocopherol (Antioxidant), Parfum/Fragrance (Fragrance), Aqua/Water (Solvent/Diluent), Linalool (Fragrance Ingredient), Limonene (Fragrance Ingredient), Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil/Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil (Emollient), Anthemis Nobilis Flower Extract (Natural Additive), Citric Acid (pH Adjuster).