Emma Hardie Amazing Face Natural Lift and Sculpt Moringa Cleansing Balm

I was lucky enough to win the Emma Hardie Amazing Face Natural Lift and Sculpt Moringa Cleansing Balm in a giveaway contest by Beauty By The Geeks (I love their blog and Instagram page too!)

I have used it roughly every night for 3 weeks now so I thought a review on this was much needed. This cleansing balm claims be ‘a balanced daily cleanser that thoroughly cleanse deep in the pores, moisturises and calms all skin types. Grape Seed Oil and sweet almond oil rich in essential fatty acids help to plump and soften. Moringa seed extract, wild sea fennel and vitamin E balance, purify and help to minimise the appearance of open pores. Essential oils of orange, neroli and mandarin rejuvenate and revitalise the skin whilst calming the senses. Jasmine and rose help to recondition dull, dry, dehydrated and mature skins'. 

 The product comes in a heavy glass jar which looks and feels luxurious. I quite like that you can see all of the product and you can scrape every bit out of it too! The texture is quite solid when cold but becomes much softer when its warmed up in the hands. The scent is quite heavy with the main ingredient, moringa. This along with other flower and plant ingredients makes it smell very exotic and reminds me of India strangely! To use the balm, I take a small amount and lightly warm it in my hand before applying it to my face. The consistency then turns to what is very similar to an oil and massages into the skin beautifully. As I use it in the evening, I like to take to take a bit of extra time to really work it into my skin. The product comes with a cleansing cloth which is dual sided, one side is muslin which is to exfoliate dry, thickened and congested areas and the other side is micro-fibre for more delicate areas. I really like this cloth and its great quality too and it is perfect for removal. That being said, on days where I put this cloth in the wash, I use other muslin clothes that I have accumulated and they seem to do a pretty decent job too.

As the product claims to lift and sculpt the face, it’s key to use the cloth certain way and this is in a upwards motion from your chin to your temple. You really want to swipe upwards in all areas of the face as well as the neck too, this goes with any cleansing balm really. I have noticed that my face does seem slightly more sculpted and toned but I wouldn’t say this is one of the balms main highlights. The things I love are...

• One of the best products to use when you want to give yourself a good facial massage and is honestly a pleasure to use
• Does a great job of removing all make up and it is gentle enough to use around the eye and lip area too
• Cleanses and purifies the skin perfectly without being harsh or irritating the skin
• Provides just the right amount of moisture and plumpness to my skin
• Doesn’t leave an oily/tacky residue (if removed properly!)
• Rejuvenates the appearance my skin and leaves me with a beautifully clean glow
• After continued use, my skin is left smoother, more clarified and with an improvement in my skins texture
• For days when you really need it (or for extra dry skin types),  you can use it as a deep hydration treatment mask by just leaving it on the skin for 10 mins

I think there quite a lot to love really! However, I do have some slight niggles. There are some days where I just feel this is slightly too heavy for my skin. It is summer right now and I do have combination skin (more oiler then dry) and there a days where I want my skin to feel fresh and not so deeply nourished. I think that this will be fantastic the winter where this is much more needed! I have read some reviews that due to all the essential oils, it may cause you to have breakouts. I (touch wood!) haven’t had this problem as my skin wouldn’t be classed as ‘blemish prone’ and it’s not very sensitive either.  As everyone has different skin and it reacts differently to products, I can’t really guarantee that this won’t give you spots but it’s worth checking out to see if you may have any reactions or allergies to the ingredients before you decide to purchase it.  

For those with oilier skin types, I believe that you can still use this product but just more sparingly. I would never recommend anything that strips the skin of every single bit of oil, your skin will just produce more oil to compensate and your left with more oilier skin than you had in the first place. The aim with any cleanser is to balance the oils in the skin, whatever your skin type. The main reason why I use it in the evening is that it does require the extra effort to really get the benefits. I personally don’t have time in the morning for the application and removal processes involved! So if you are after a totally fuss-free cleanser then I’m not sure you will appreciate the time you will have to spend using this. 

As I mentioned, I didn’t have to pay for this product but if I did it would cost me £38 for 100ml. Obviously this is not cheap and if you are in the habit of buying cleansers for a couple of quid then this may seem very steep or just out of your budget. That being said, I do think the product will last you quite some time. In the time that I have used it, I have made just a little dent in it. I would guesstimate that if I used it once on a daily basis then it would last me between 4 to 6 months, which is pretty good in my books. You don’t have to use it every day like I do, even 2 or 3 times a week will really help to improve your skin, this way it will last you even longer too! If you really want to try this cleanser but aren’t quite ready to splurge £38 on this cleansing balm, it may be worth considering trying the ‘starter kit’ which contains a smaller size of the balm (50ml), the cloth and a 15ml age support treatment cream. I just had a look online and M&S are currently offering this starter kit for £18.40 (usually £23) on their website which is very good value for money!

To conclude this review, whilst I really do enjoy using this cleansing balm and works beautifully for my skin, I’m not 100% sure if I would immediately repurchase it after I run out. I love trying out new products and there are still many balms I would really like to try out (such as Eve Lom)… butif all else fails and I’m left feeling disappointed at least I know I can come back to this one!

Hope you found this helpful, if you have any questions, suggestion or comments I would love to read them below!

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