Review: Clarins Daily Energizer Cleansing Gel

I have always loathed the skin on my face. Which sounds like an extreme statement but it's the truth. Whilst I did not suffer from acne as a teenager, my skin was always very spotty. It settled down a lot when I got to about 16/17 but it is still extremely reactive and unpredictable. As for skin type, parts of my face seem to be either oily, dry or sensitive so I guess that would pop me into the 'combination' category. As you can imagine, this makes finding the right skincare routine very tricky. Admittedly, I used to only use face wipes to take my makeup off which isn't ideal. So in the last few months, I have made it my mission to find the perfect routine.
This is where the Clarins Daily Energizer Cleansing Gel comes in (I know, took long enough!). I have been considering purchasing the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish after reading SO many rave reviews but it is a little out of my price range. So when I read this review, I knew I had to try the Clarins cleanser instead; particularly as it is £9.45 with free postage from Feel Unique.

I have been using this cleanser for almost three weeks. Unfortunately, I was really ill with a virus for the first two weeks and now I have a cold (lucky gal). I feel that the virus impacted on my skin as I was drained of energy and lost my appetite so I wanted to wait till I had recovered to give a fair judgement. Also, I only used to use my hands to apply the cleanser and rinse off. This was problematic as this cleanser is very gentle so although my skin felt clean, it didn't feel like it lifted all the makeup and dirt from under my skin.

This weekend past I had a brainwave and thought that perhaps if I used a muslin cloth that it may be more exfoliating for my skin. Annoyingly my local Boots did not have any muslin cloths so I had to settle for the No7 cleansing sponges (£3.50 for 2), pictured above. Additionally I purchased a mudd face mask as I felt my skin needed some TLC after my virus. That in itself was a barginous little miracle at 99p, my skin felt deeply cleaned and soft to the touch before I put any moisturiser on!

So now that my face had a fresh start, it was time to try the Clarins cleanser again with the cleansing sponge.....and it works so much better for me! It actually feels like I'm deeply yet gently cleansing my face and giving it the exfoliation it needs to avoid breaking out. 

(I should add that I ALWAYS take my makeup off before cleansing. Firstly because I have very sensitive eyes and I think it's less messy and hassle to remove it with a wipe or remover.)

Apologies for this long-winded review but I wanted to be thorough and honest! Oh and just to add that the No7 cleansing sponges can be purchased with the £5 voucher...which is good to know but I was annoyed that I didn't have one at the time- always the way!

Thanks for reading!

Smaz xx