In need of a cleanser and a pre-payday shopping fix last week, I took myself off to my nearest Boots and picked up a tube of The Sanctuary's Perfectly Polished Hot Cloth cleanser. I actually wanted to get Time Delay Massaging Cleansing Balm, sister product to the one Kirstie posted about a while back, but typically that's only available in bigger branches.
Bah.
The Sanctuary product is another one of those massage on, muslin cloth off cleansers that I gravitate towards. First impressions were mixed: a rich white cream, it contains beeswax, chamomile, and hemp oil which that it smells herby and gorgeous - not a million miles away from Liz Earle's version in either texture or scent. Which is perhaps not too shocking, given the definite similarities in the names. A single, fairly weeny muslin cloth accompanies the cleanser - it's only barely big enough to cover your face - but it's a bit more roughly woven than others I've used which I like and which gives it an edge on the exfoliation front
Advertised
I had no pesky dry patches cropping up with this, whereas I found the Liz Earle was inclined to make my skin flakier than filo pastry. However, I also had no luck in removing a full face of slap in one fell swoop. The Sanctuary bill this as a cleanser that can remove even mascara with one application, but it takes a minimum of two goes for me to properly take off a day's worth of Double Wear Light and Inimitable. Part of the issue seems to be that when you apply your hot muslin cloth to your full-o'cleanser face, most of the cleanser comes away on the cloth leaving very little behind on your skin to polish away impurities and make-up.
Still, for €14.95, Hot Cloth Cleanser performs pretty well for its price... once you don't mind putting in a bit of elbow grease.
