Surrey Homes | SH61 | November 2019 | Gift supplement inside

Beauty
Balmy Army
Jo Fairley sings the praises of the latest soothing multi-taskers
There’s so much talk currently
about cutting down (beauty)
consumption, reducing our carbon
footprint, buying organic and natural.
And there is one type of product that
ticks all those boxes at once: the balm.
Balms are amazing multi-taskers. Frankly,
everyone needs one (or more) of these
one-pot wonders in their life. They truly
are your ‘desert island beauty must-haves’:
products that do everything from nourish
cuticles to removing make-up via getting
rid of scaly elbows. I once lost my luggage
on a trip to the US (well, it turned up
four days late, on the wrong side of the
continent), and in the meantime
I managed to get away with
using a single product for
cleansing, moisturising face
and body, AND as a lip
balm. Oh, and I also used it
to add texture to my hair.
Balms don’t contain water,
which eliminates the need for
preservatives. All the following are based
on natural blends of oils and beeswax or
carnauba wax, but with different textures.
It is the blend of aromatherapeutic
essential oils, in some cases, which
single a product out for one particular
use – but really, choice comes down
in many cases to preference. Some of
us like a thick, unctuous balm; others
prefer something light and whipped.
But here’s the thing: when a balm’s
created for a specific purpose – such
as cleansing – chances are you can
multi-task with it even if doesn’t
say so on the packaging.
Experiment! But the bottom
line is there’s a balm for
everyone – and they’re a salve
to your eco-conscience, too.
Here are some of my favourites.
Elemis Supersize Neroli Pro-
Collagen Cleansing Balm, £58 for
200g (exclusive to QVC). This is
probably my favourite-ever cleansing
balm, a wonderful orange blossomscented
version of their award-winning
cleanser. It makes make-up removal
heaven-on-earth, melting it away – and
this vast size is going to last months and
months more, and I started it in July. (It’s
also great for softening elbows, I’ve found,
but the scent means I wouldn’t use it on lips.)
Emma Hardie Moringa Cleansing
Balm, £47 for 100ml. This was
the Gold Beauty Bible Award
2019 winner in the cleansing
balm category, notching up a
really high score. As well as
cleansing skin with its blend
of ultra-nourishing moringa
oil, it offers fennel, rose oil and
vitamin E. You can leave it
on for 10 minutes as a deep
treat – or even use it as an
overnight facial treatment.
Beauty Kitchen Natruline, £2.99
for 20g. This looks like A Very Well-
Known Product, whose name ends in
‘line’, in its blue and white, handbagfriendly
tin. And it feels like a Very
Well-Known Product, acting as the most
brilliant barrier. This, however, is NOT
created from petroleum jelly; instead, it’s
a blend of castor seed oil, carnauba and
beeswax (and there’s a vegan version,
which skips the beeswax). And it
does everything that other ‘line’
does, from smoothing cuticles to
protecting grazes.
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