[amazon_link id=”B000WN6N56″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link] Clinique Take the Day Off Cleansing Balm

This review will be on the Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm.

I had originally been using Lush’s Ultrabland to remove my makeup, which worked really well, but it tends to be a bit messy and you need to use a wet washcloth to remove it. If you don’t use a washcloth, it will leave a thin film on your face from the product. After that ran out, I decided to try makeup wipes again. I purchased the Neutrogena ones (I had used them before and have always liked them) but they didn’t seem very cost effective at all. $7.99 for a one month pack would amount to around $96 per year. Eek! Plus, I wasn’t really a fan of tugging at my skin everyday with a wipe…they come in handy more-so at like 2am on those drunk Saturday nights where I don’t want to deal with a face washing routine =p So after doing some research on Beautypedia, I came across this makeup removing balm which was highly recommended. I also checked out a number of other reviews and Youtube videos on the product, and they all raved about it, so I figured I would give this a shot!

The price of this is $27.50 (so close to $30 with tax), but you get a huge tub of it and you only need a little bit. I can easily see this lasting close to a year, if not a whole year. My tub of Ultrabland from Lush (which wasn’t as big as this) lasted 8 months, so I can see this product lasting at least that long. Much cheaper in the long run than spending 8 bucks on wipes every month! The product is a solid balm that turns into a oily cream consistency on contact. You are supposed to apply it to your face when its dry, which I was super hesitant about because I had tried that before with Ultrabland (which you are also supposed to apply dry) and it was so difficult and messy and would not spread around my face unless it was wet. I figured I’d give this product the benefit of the doubt, though, and massaged a little bit onto my dry face, making sure to rub it onto my eyelashes to remove mascara. It was SO easy to do…I was extremely surprised. Of course I was positive there would be some sort of film left on my face from not using a washcloth to remove it, but again it surprised me! All I did was splash water on my face a few times and it felt super clean with no residue at all.

As for makeup removal, it does a stellar job! I usually follow this up with my regular cleanser (the Olay Foaming face wash) and my Olay Pro-X Cleansing brush, but there are some days I’ll just use the Clinique balm to remove my makeup and head out the door to the gym. My face towels are white, so if there’s any makeup left on my face I’d see it, and almost always there is nothing on the towel! The trick with this balm, though, is to make sure you’ve covered your face completely with it to remove all makeup. There are times I’ve missed places like under my chin and I’ll end up seeing the makeup on the towel after. If you make sure to get all areas, though, this balm will remove everything, including mascara. No raccoon eyes! And also as an added plus, this balm did not make me breakout at all. I was really worried about it doing that (my forehead is super breakout-prone), but I’ve been using this for a few weeks now and have not broken out at all! The only small downside I have for this is that I’m not a huge fan of having to dip my fingers in the product to get it out, but its not that big a deal to me at all. Overall, I’d highly recommend Clinique’s Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm as a makeup remover.