Review: Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish - Or Cleanse and Rash?

I’ve been putting this review off for a long time, (a) because I wanted the size effects of this product to completely disappear first, and (b), I’m about to give a ‘cult classic’ a negative review.

Not so long ago Red Magazine was offering a wonderful freebie, which I’m sure boosted their sales no end. It was a 30ml tube of Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish with a muslin cloth, worth a sweet £5.90.

I’ll spare you the running commentary on what it does and ‘what they say' because you’ve probably heard it all before.

Anyway.

I bought the magazine and honestly completely forgot about it so it was a while before I used it. This was complete fete as I was attending a wedding a little while after I got it, and if I’d been using the C&P I would have been completely mortified.

As much as I complain about my skin, the occasional whitehead/s, and not to mention the blemishes, I know that I’m really lucky. My skin is so resilient, and while certain products do break me out I can get away with quite a lot. At least I could until the dreaded Cleanse & Polish came along …

The first day I used the cleanser I immediately fell in love. I was worried that I’d have the same issues that I had with the Decleor Aroma Cleansing Mousse – blogged here – but it was honestly much better. All of my makeup was removed and my face felt really soft and smooth afterwards.

A few days later, and thankfully after the family wedding, I noticed some bumps above my top lip. I didn’t think anything of it as I thought it might have been heat rash – not that it had even been hot... That evening I did one of my trusted Sudocrem Face Masks, but when I woke up in the morning nothing had changed. As the days went by I started using less products on my face, as I was unsure what was causing the rash – however, C&P stayed firmly in my repertoire! If only I knew …

As more time passed the rash got worse and worse, makeup wasn’t hiding it and people had begun to notice that I looked like I was just hitting puberty! Since I’d switched back to old products and cut out anything I thought was even slightly irritating, something clicked that the Liz Earle could be responsible. I googled it and after an absolute age of searching through blog & website reviews of women gushing over it, I came across this post.

 

Source

Sounds about right!

I’ll give Cleanse & Polish – and its fans –  its due; it is an amazing cleanser. It’s everything I look for in a makeup remover and does everything it says on the tin. But I’ll pass on the spots. Ta.

This is me a few days before the rash really took over – it got much worse unfortunately, and took about 10 days or so to clear up. Makeup didn’t cover it very well at all :(

Meet my hamster cheeks :)

Thankfully it was pretty much gone by the time my birthday shindig rolled around just under two weeks later, and what was left was easily covered with makeup.

I’m back to normal now with no lasting marks, however my face is a lot more sensitive than it used to be. I’m even worried to use my home microdermabrasion system just in case it’s too abrasive for my skin.

Anyone else on the ‘I Hate Cleanse & Polish’ bandwagon? Or are you a beloved fangirl? :)