The £3.99 Balm Cleanser for Winter Skin Needs

Olay Cleanse Nourishing Cleansing Balm Review

Somewhere along the line, I temporarily became a little snobbish towards high street brands and stopped paying attention to dare I say it – budget beauty launches. I partly blame lockdown, not being out and about, meant I mostly just bought and therefore used, tried and true products. Over the last 6 months purchases of this nature in general, have been sparse and frankly my interest did somewhat wane; it simply felt wrong to spend a lot of money on such frivolous items, when financially things weren’t great for 99.9% of the population – myself included.
Said guilt has somewhat dissipated and I have been into Superdrug at least twice since lockdown restrictions were lifted (bear in mind I live in Scotland). In a way, it was nice to just fritter away a little of the day pouring over new launches but at the same time, I was conscious that I don’t need to try everything new and shiny. However with Winter now knocking on our doors, I’d be doing the beauty world a disservice if I didn’t sit down and share a few thoughts on the Olay Cleanse Nourishing Cleansing Balm.
Olay Cleanse Nourishing Cleansing Balm Review

Now that it is getting colder outside, you may be starting to re-think your current skincare routine? It is always around this time of the year, that I reconsider what I use to cleanse (and of course moisturise) my face, favouring more nourishing options. Previously I had been using a CeraVe Cleanser and as good as it was, I found combined with the suddenly chilly weather, with each passing use, my skin was beginning to feel tight immediately after rinsing clean. As such, I knew it was time to switch to a cleansing balm and with Olay Cleanse Nourishing Cleansing Balm sat pretty in the wings, there really was no time quite like the present.
Although described as a cleansing balm, the texture of Olay Cleanse Nourishing Cleansing Balm is more akin to a cleansing milk; it is a light, loose, liquid not a firm balm. In a way this sort of adds to its charm, not to mention ease of use. Sure it’s not as luxurious as say the Emma Hardie Cleansing Balm but it doesn’t pretend to be, nor is it remotely close in terms of price. Due to the liquid-like texture, it effortlessly glides onto the skin, feeling both calming and moisturising. To remove you simply wipe clean with a hot flannel, taking off all traces of make-up, dirt and grime.
Olay Cleanse Nourishing Cleansing Balm Review

Admittedly the Olay Cleanse Nourishing Cleansing Balm is targeted at dry skin types, however I’ve been using it fairly consistently for a good few weeks now and it has not caused my typically oily/acne prone skin any issues. If anything, I find it to be rather comforting on my often stressed out complexion. I also must vouch that it does entirely live up to the “no clogged pores” claim, as well as not resulting in dry or tight skin.
Rather annoyingly, Olay Cleanse Nourishing Cleansing Balm are a tad vague in terms of describing what each core ingredient within the product does but the heavy hitters are: Vitamin E (an antioxidant that helps strengthen the skin barrier), Vitamin B3 (helps to retain moisture) and Pro-Vitamin B5 (helps to smooth and soften the texture of the skin). There is also the addition of the rather ambiguous “caring oils” which really is open to interpretation to what they may be?
Olay Cleanse Nourishing Cleansing Balm Review
Olay Cleanse Nourishing Cleansing Balm

Now here is where I do have to be blunt in stating that you must remove every scrap of the Olay Cleanse Nourishing Cleansing Balm, each and every time you use it, as it contains a fairly decent amount of Petroleum (the third ingredient overall). If any traces of such ingredient is left to fester on the skin you will break out sooner or later. As previously mentioned, I have experienced no issues with this balm whatsoever but I am diligent in the removal process.
Is Olay Cleanse Nourishing Cleansing Balm my all time favourite cleanser of its type? In a word no. I however, truly do believe you would be hard pushed to find a better cleansing balm suited to weather beaten skin.
Olay Cleanse Nourishing Cleansing Balm £3.99/150ml – link.

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Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Palette – Dolce Vita / Bella Sofia

Charlotte Tilbury is such a mega hyped brand with a great social media presence which has definitely helped boost the brand’s profile. I really like that Charlotte Tilbury has ten ‘iconic looks’ which are promoted on their website and on the counters, alongside the products required to create each look.

It’s a genius concept as it does make people more likely to want the collection which goes with their favourite look. I first tried the Charlotte Tilbury eyeshadows with the Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Glow Instant Look In a Palette, and it was love at first try so I’ve been dying to try more of her eyeshadows so I was delighted when a very special friend of mine gifted me the Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Palette in Dolce Vita as she’d read a comment I made saying how much I liked the shades.

There are at least nine different versions of the Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Palette to choose from, and I have the Dolce Vita version of the palette, which you can purchase individually for £39 or as part of the Dolce Vita kit for £80 alongside a mascara and eyeliner. There’s a tutorial over on the Charlotte Tilbury website showing you how to create the ‘Dolce Vita’ makeup look – although it’s now called the Bella Sofia Kit. Charlotte Tilbury recently renamed the Dolce Vita Palette as the Bella Sofia Palette but the packaging, shades and everything else haven’t changed at all.

Darlings, my Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Palette eyeshadow in The Dolce Vita / Bella Sofia features luxurious copper-toned, bronze and champagne colours in an easy to use eyeshadow quad. 

• Get 3 fabulous looks in seconds, depending on the occasion and intensity you want!

• Each shade in the eyeshadow quad is full of colour-rich pigments

• The velvety soft formula keeps your eyeshadow in place all day.

• Ideal if you want an easy to use eyeshadow routine that will take you to any occasion.”

The Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Palette has such stunning packaging, but let’s face it.. the whole makeup range is beautifully packaged with an art deco theme of rose gold and burgundy which is now synonymous with the brand. The Charlotte Tilbury Bella Sofia Luxury Palette is a shiny burgundy plastic compact with a rose gold metal base holding the four eyeshadow pans.

The four shades are given individual names across the whole Luxury Palette collection with shade one being the “Prime” shade, second the “Enhance”, the third is “Pop” whilst the “Smoke” shade is the fourth. All of the quads have the same layout but of course you use the shades how you see fit, but I like the layout as it helps give direction on how the palette can be used.

Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Palette – Dolce Vita / Bella Sofia Review / Swatches

The swatches are as always, two circles in each pan with a dry fingertip onto dry and unprimed skin but I usually only have to one swipe of my fingertip but with this palette I did have to do more than one swipe for all four shades. I think this is down to how firmly pressed the four shadows are, but they don’t swatch very well however they perform a lot better when applied with a brush which is all that matters as we’re not going to wear eyeshadow on our hands/wrists.

The Prime shade is a very pale champagne shimmer, the Enhance is a shimmery reddy toned brown, the Pop shade is a chunky, glitter gold and the Smoke shade is a deep chocolate brown satin which sometimes almost looks like a khaki shade in some lights. £39 is expensive for four eyeshadows when you compare it to the likes of other brands with palettes around the £40 mark for 12 shades but the packaging is undeniably luxurious so it’s definitely a splurge purchase.

There are no mattes in this particular Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Palette so I wouldn’t recommend it if you prefer mattes over shimmers, but as far as shimmers go, they are flattering as they’re very smooth and don’t accentuate texture. I do think the Pop shade could be improved as it’s very chunky and prone to fallout, and I know the pop shade is designed to give a pop of brightness to the look but the texture isn’t the easiest to work with unless you’ve got a dampened flat eyeshadow brush or fingertips.

I only ever apply the Pop shade with my finger as I feel like it flattens the chunky pieces down for a more foiled effect, but the other three have a beautiful texture and colour payoff. It’s a very beautiful eyeshadow quad, and the packaging is simply stunning and whilst it’s not the best eyeshadow formula I’ve ever tried (the shadows in the Beauty Glow Palette are far, far superior) it’s still a quad I get a lot of wear from as the shades are so versatile and easy to wear.

Have you ever tried one of the Charlotte Tilbury eyeshadow palettes?