Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm

I did a post on cleansers the other day and I don't know how I forgot about this gem of a product. My friend Ami used to rave about this cleansing balm, but for some reason I'd never used it before. I guess when you're in the beauty business you just take the obvious options for granted and try to hunt out the more obscure products that no one has ever heard of. At least I work that way. But today the Clinique publicist texted me to ask what if I would post about this product. Now, I never post anything that I truly don't believe in. And because I hadn't tried it (yet) I texted her saying that I would put it up on Instagram with the usual 'thank you Clinique blah, blah, blah..."

But then I remembered that I had a face full of makeup from the tutorial videos that I had been shooting all day. So it was the perfect opportunity to try this balm. Before I tried it I added a couple of swipes of dark, long lasting lipstick, mascara, bronzer, powder over my existing makeup, which consisted of a super-dark smokey eye with gel eyeliner. And then I decided to research the product - 4.2 out of 5 from 608 reviews on Makeupalley.com! Bloody hell! Talk about being late to the party. It seemed like everyone had tried (and loved it) except for me.  

I scooped out a bit of product, which by the way is a lot less dense than the balms now available in the market. This makes it more easy to spread. And immediately it starts dissolving your makeup, including mascara, dark lipstick, base etc. Then you take a bit of water to emulsify it. Remember that cleansing oil video? You have to use it in the exact way. I have to say that I haven't seen any balm or oil emulsify as well as this one. It turns white, dissolving every trace of product from your face. I don't think that you need to double cleanse when you use this product because it literally does take the day off, without rubbing, almost instantaneously.