REVIEW: ESTEE LAUDER PERFECTLY CLEAN SPLASH AWAY FOAMING CLEANSER

I am a massive Estee Lauder fan - you all know this. I have a collection of products from this eponymous brand could rival that of Aerin Lauder herself. Last month I emptied out my bathroom cabinet and came across this sample of the Estee Lauder Perfectly Clean Foaming Cleanser. 

Having recently gotten into skincare in a massive way - to the point of obsession when it comes to my routine at the moment - I was expecting great things from this. Unfortunately it wasn't to be.

It's like a cream when first applied to dry skin but quickly foams when even a small amount of water is applied. A pea-sized amount is enough to cleanse the whole face and it does seem to cut through make-up well. There isn't much of a scent unless you count that 'soap' smell I tend to associate with pensioner's bathrooms. My skin seemed to really love this product at first but I'm glad I trialed it over a longer period of time. After continued use - twice a day - I started to notice that my already dehydrated skin was feeling very tight, even after moisturizing. Although my blemishes were disappearing I was noticing the fine lines around my eyes becoming slightly more prominent because of how dry my face was - with all of the expressions I make during the day the thinner and more delicate areas of my skin were the becoming the equivalent of a piece of crepe paper being scrunched about in someone's hand. Not only that, my T-Zone, because it was so cleansed, was over producing oil which, whilst it wasn't causing break-outs it was making me look shiny across my forehead and chin which meant using more powder to stay matte.

I developed a love-hate relationship with it. It cleansed away my blemishes but left me worrying I looked dry and lined in places as well as slightly greasy with oil in others.

Once I'd used it all up I was in two minds and, after much deliberation, I decided that I wouldn't recommend it: as much as I love clear skin I'm willing to brave a few spots and hyper-pigmentation marks for the sake of soft and hydrated skin. Soon after this I discovered Caroline Hirons. Oh yes - the skincare guru who doesn't recommend foaming cleansers and definitely wouldn't approve of this one for my skin type - or any skin type in fact. I wish I'd have known this sooner. It would have saved me testing out this product and umming and arhhhing over it when I could have simply put it in the bin.