Creamy Cleansers to Love

I’m so over foaming cleansers, face washes and anything that promises to ‘strip your skin clean’. I was big on cleansing oils for a bit, but these days I’m all for balms and creams. The kind you massage into your skin,  then wipe off with a hot wash cloth. The beauty of this is not just the product itself but the ritual. My friend Kavita Khosa, founder Purearth, and one of my favourite skincare gurus, talks about her ritual with Eve Lom’s Cleanser, the crowned leader of the cleansing crowd. “I remember coming back home from a ball in Hong Kong, sitting in the car and just dreaming of going home and using this product meditatively. It was almost like a ritual.” My affair with REN’s Rosa Centifolia Hot Cloth Cleanser is similar. The buttery texture and divine rose scent (more herbaceous than sweet) envelops your skin. It cleans thoroughly and puts back the moistness in your skin. And when I wipe my face with the wash cloth? I get sordid pleasure from looking at my makeup smeared on a hot, damp cloth. And eureka! Completely clean, glowing skin.

What do you put after a cleansing balm? Nothing. I’m taking a cue from Kavita who says. “Its so pampering and nourishing that I don’t put anything on my face and just let my skin breathe.”

My recommendations:

Ananda Gentle Cleansing Cream for Normal to Dry Skin

REN Rosa Centifolia Hot Cloth Cleanser

The Body Shop Sumptuous Cleansing Butter

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