Top 5 Best Cleansing Balms To Melt Your Makeup Right Off
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Are you on the hunt for the best cleansing balms around that will easily remove stubborn makeup after a long day?We’re about to give you the lowdown on our top 5 picks of the best cleansing balms on the market that carry some serious hype and a huge cult following (with thousands of raving reviews!).
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For those of you who just want answers straight away, here’s our top 5 shortlist of the best cleansing balms:
Clinique – Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm
Farmacy – Green Clean Makeup Meltaway Cleansing Balm
Banila Co – Clean It Zero Cleansing Balm
Elemis – Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm
Emma Hardie – Moringa Cleansing Balm
You know that feeling after a long day when you get home and just want to take the day off and get into your comfy clothes? Then you realise that you have a face full of makeup and you can literally feel the sweat and oils that have built up in the day and know if you decide to sleep without removing your makeup (we’ve all been there!) you’re going to regret it the next morning (hello zit!).
If you don’t already own a cleansing balm, we’re about to completely change the game for you once you realise how much you need this skincare staple in your life and we’re going to make your search for the best face balm so much easier and less overwhelming! A balm cleanser will literally melt away your makeup so quickly and effortlessly and leave your skin feeling squeaky clean and soft like butter!
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This article is all about the Best Cleansing Balms to remove makeup.
What is a Cleansing Balm?
Cleansing balms (also known as balm cleansers) are one of the most satisfying skincare products to use and the perfect way to start your nighttime skincare routine and double cleanse. After a long day, sometimes you just want to skip on your 7-step skincare routine and just use something quick and effective to quite literally melt all of your makeup off and then finish up with your daily cleanser. This is absolutely fine, just as long as you’re not going to bed with a face full of makeup and daily grime build up.
A cleansing balm is ideal for all skin types including those with dry, sensitive and acne prone skin due to their formulation of natural oils that will keep skin moisturised and not strip the skin of its natural oils too. This multi-tasking product can help break down your makeup and remove dirt and excess oils, resulting in squeaky clean, refreshed skin.
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Cleansing Balms vs Oil
Cleansing balms (as opposed to liquid oil cleansers) are solid oil-based cleansers that are so simple to use and melt into an oil when warmed up between your fingertips and massaged onto your skin. Not only is it the perfect makeup remover and first step cleanser, but it can actually revolutionise your skincare routine by deeply cleansing your skin to allow for better absorption of serums and creams too.
We’re a huge advocate of multi-purpose products that are effective and save busy bodies time and just generally make their lives easier! Plus the fact that balm cleansers feel so luxurious when used is an added bonus! After much due diligence of the best cleansing balms around, we’ve rounded up the ultimate top five best-selling cleansing balms on the market to help you shop smarter on your search for a truly game-changing skincare product for your daily skincare routine.
Best Cleansing Balms: The Haul of Fame
1. Clinique Take the Day Off Cleansing Balm
The Clinique cleansing balm is one of the most loved and best cleansing balms in the UK and US (and worldwide too!) and one of Clinique’s hero products too.
The Clinique cleansing balm is the perfect make up remover that transforms from a velvety balm to a lightweight oil and dissolves even the darkest and most stubborn eye makeup.
The safflower seed oil breaks down your makeup without leaving a greasy feel to your skin.
This balm cleanser is consistently voted the best by magazines like Harper’s Bazaar.
If you’re considering incorporating a cleansing balm into your skincare routine and are struggling to make a decision, we’re so sure that this top cleansing balm won’t disappoint!
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2. Farmacy Green Clean Cleansing Balm
If you happen to find this product in stock, grab it! It is the best clean cleansing balm around.
The must-have, cult-favourite clean cleansing balm by Farmacy is formulated with papaya extract, which gently retextures your skin with its exfoliating properties (making it the best cleansing balm for acne prone skin from our round up), while the sunflower oil makes make up removal effortless, sliding your make up right off.
The Green Clean Makeup Meltaway Cleansing Balm has an invigorating citrus scent comprising of orange, bergamot and lime essential oils that will help awaken your senses.
For this reason, Green Clean also works great as a morning cleansing balm too to really wake you up and freshen you up for the day!
This product is one of the most popular solid oil cleansers on the market and is natural, clean and green (made from the freshest potent ingredients, with a 100% recyclable jar too!).
The Farmacy cleansing balm is one of the brand’s hero products and is paraben, phthalate and cruelty free.
Scoop a generous amount onto the spatula provided and massage onto your skin. Wash away or wipe off with a damp cloth.
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3. Banila Co Clean It Zero Cleansing Balm
K-beauty is slowly taking over the skincare world with more and more consumers longing to have the perfectly translucent, glass skin that Koreans are so well-known for.
The Korean beauty industry invests heavily in research and development which results in K-beauty products always being 10 steps ahead when it comes to innovation and releasing ground-breaking products.
The Clean It Zero Cleansing Balm is the best Korean cleansing balm worldwide. It’s so popular that one sells every 3.1 seconds globally.
Clean It Zero is a 3-in-1 cleanser formulated for all skin types and even loved by those with sensitive skin.
This product is packed full of nourishing ingredients, including vitamin C to help brighten skin, vitamin E and hot springs water. Free from parabens, sulfates and phthalates and is one of the best cleansing balms without polyethylene.
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4. Elemis Pro Collagen Cleansing Balm
The Elemis cleansing balm is another extremely popular and well-known contender for the best cleansing balm for makeup removal.
The Elemis Pro Collagen Cleansing Balm is a Hyram-approved cleansing balm with him vouching for it being one of the best cleansing balms around with its focus on hydrating ingredients that dissolve makeup and impurities without drying or stripping your skin.
It is a must-have for anyone who wants glowing and dewy skin.
Packed full of anti-ageing ingredients, the Elemis cleansing balm will leave your skin feeling plump and firm as well as fresh and rejuvenated with its spa-like scent and luxurious velvety consistency.
It really is the cleansing balm of choice to give your skin an extra touch of TLC. It really is one of the best balm makeup removers around.
The Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm also doubles up as a mask. Leave it on for 10 minutes for an added moisture boost or even overnight to really absorb into your skin and wake up to the most radiant, soft and smooth skin by morning!
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5. Emma Hardie Moringa Cleansing Balm
The multi-award winning cleansing balm that needs no introduction. The Emma Hardie Cleansing Balm is definitely one of the OG balm cleansers on the market and probably the most luxurious too (which shows in the price tag too!) according to skincare guru, Caroline Hirons, who has been a huge fan of the product for years!
This Moringa Cleansing Balm can be used anywhere on your body as a rescue remedy for extra dry patches. It can help you achieve a natural facelift and doubles as a face mask if you leave it on for ten minutes.
The Emma Hardie balm cleanser is one of the best cleansing balms for dry skin because of its focus on highly moisturizing ingredients, and is also suitable for acne-prone skin, balancing, purifying and minimising pores with its formulation of moringa seed extract, wild sea fennel and vitamin E.
The moringa balm cleanser also comes with a dual-action cleansing cloth with a muslin side for exfoliation and a softer micro-fibre side for polishing and finishing so you can even further maximise the benefits of your cleansing balm.
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What Is The Best Budget Cleansing Balm UK?
The Body Shop – Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter
Honourable mentions go to The Body Shop Cleansing Balm, which is the best cleansing balm UK and the best cleansing balm for sensitive skin (and super affordable too!). It’s so popular than one sells every 22 seconds globally!
Caroline Hirons reports that it’s the best-selling skincare product in Japan, and features the Body Shop Cleansing Butter numerous times in her best selling book ‘Skincare’! This buttery balm cleanser doesn’t come with a cleansing cloth like most of the other cleansing balms featured, but Caroline Hirons highly recommends the 100% organic Body Shop Muslin Cloth to remove the cleansing butter with.
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Our Final Pick Of The Top Rated Cleansing Balms
Eve Lom Cleanser
Another honourable mention goes to the Eve Lom Cleanser, which was developed by one of the world’s leading facialists and described by Vogue as “probably the best cleanser in the world”.
The Eve Lom Cleansing Balm was the first solid oil cleanser ever developed and Eve Lom was the first to place great emphasis on the need to use a hot cleansing cloth to remove your cleanser with.
It should be noted that the Eve Lom Cleanser contains mineral oil and so may not be advisable for those with sensitive or acne prone skin at the risk of causing breakouts or irritation.
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Q&A
Struggling To Decide! Elemis or Clinique Cleansing Balm?
This is such a tough one as both of these cleansing balms are really great and are incredibly popular worldwide! We’d personally say Elemis would be our top pick between the two as it’s a cleansing balm Hyram very much approves of and vouches for.
Another reason we love it is because it can double up as a mask too (10 minutes or overnight!) for that added touch of luxury and serious hydration!
I Can’t Pick! Farmacy Green Clean vs Clinique Take The Day Off
Another difficult choice as the two cleansing balms are very similar in price point and in effectiveness at removing and dissolving makeup.
The Green Clean Cleansing Balm has recently taken the lead in popularity however as being the better cleansing balm to remove waterproof mascara and is generally better for sensitive skin too. A lot of reviewers had been completely converted after switching from Clinique to Farmacy stating that Farmacy Green Clean felt more luxurious and that they wouldn’t go back to Clinique after using it.
The Farmacy Green Clean Cleansing Balm may be the slightly more expensive option but its definitely worth it (and even more so when its on sale at Sephora!). It also smells of key lime pie too, because who doesn’t love that?!
These are the best cleanising balms! Elemis cleansing balm is my favorite.
I’ve been looking for the best cleansing balm for so long now and this post made it clear for me what are the best ones for my skin type. Thank you so much for this.