Don’t worry — I’m still alive! 

How are you all doing? I apologize if I’ve been MIA and this took a long time for me to post. I promised myself I’ll post every week but the past few weeks have been extremely busy that it took a toll on my skin as well. I’m currently experiencing a major breakout on my left cheek and I’d like to believe it’s because of a mixture of stress (just had a 10 day work steak with no weekends at all), no sleep, change of weather (summer to fall transition) and hormonal imbalances. It’s all good now since I’m back to my regular schedule. Thank God.  

Another reason for the delay is because I wanted to make a segment with my product reviews — which explains the title name. I volunteer myself as a guinea pig to help you guys with your beauty choices, starting with skincare. There are products that are worth the investment but others, not so much, so I’m here to help you decide if it’s a total go or a flat out no (i love how it rhymes lol).

I’m going to cut to the chase and get on with it. I hope you enjoy reading! 

THE HEIMISH ALL CLEAN BALM 120 mL ($17.50)

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I’ve been looking for a new make-up remover for months now because I feel like the 9 to 5 cleanser from lush wasn’t really effective as a remover. I did my research and noticed almost all Youtube influencers (e.g. Reneé aka Gothamista, Morgan aka The Beauty Breakdown) I follow had good reviews on this product. I have combination skin but lately, my skin has been really dry. I read that this product has moisturizing benefits apart from its make up removing duty. So as an emerging K-beauty fan, I immediately bought it and tried it for myself. Here are my thoughts:

Price

This product is only $17.50 for a 120 mL jar and it’s comparable to the famous Clinique’s Take The Day Off ($29.50) and Banila Co. Clean It Zero ($19.80). I personally haven’t tried the two other products mentioned but based on price, Heimish All Clean balm definitely wins.

Ingredients

This section can help you decide if this product is a hit or miss for you. Heimish takes pride for not containing these products: mineral oil, parabens and added fragrance. As you can see from the ingredients list down below, it has an impressive list of botanical ingredients that contain antioxidants and vitamins that help hydrate, nourish and calm the skin. The latter part of the list contains essential oils for fragrance purposes, and tea tree oil to calm breakouts. 

**Update as of August 17, 2017, they removed donkey milk to make it a vegan product (yay!) and they updated the packaging to a more eco-friendly design.

However, it contains two products that are highly comodegenic: Ethylhexyl Palmitate and Shea Butter. Shea butter is an ingredient more suitable for dry skin types so it could be comedogenic for people with oily skin. For those of you who are prone to breakouts, I don’t think you’re going to want to buy this product for yourself but if you really are interested, I suggest you do a patch test or if you could get a sample, do that first. This personally did not worsen the breakout I’m currently dealing with. It actually cleansed and helped me calm my skin throughout my breakout experience.

Ingredients: Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Cetyl Ethylhexanoate, PEG-20 Glyceryl Triisostearate, Polyethylene, PEG-8 Isostearate, Shea Butter, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Fruit Extract, Citrus Aurantifolia (Lime) Fruit Extract, Freesia Refracta (Freesia) Extract, Iris Versicolor (Blueflag Iris) Extract, Jasminum Officinale (Jasmine) Extract, Lilium Tigrinum (Asian Lily) Extract, Leontopodium Alpinum (Edelweiss) Extract, Nelumbium Speciosum (Lotus Flower) Extract, Narcissus Flower Extract, Rose Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil, Lavender Oil, Pelargonium Graveolens Extract, Amyris Balsamifera Bark Oil, Citrus Paradisi (Grapefruit) Peel Oil, Eucalyptus Globulus Leaf Oil, Tea Tree Leaf Oil, Juniperus Mexicana Oil, Frankincense (Boswellia Carterii) Oil, Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (Bergamot) Fruit Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate, 1,2-Hexanediol

Effectiveness

Honestly, I think this product REALLY works. I love how fun it is to use and how it can easily glide onto your skin. It melts all your make-up out as you massage it onto your skin and you can see how much product it removes off your face once you rinse your hands with water. What actually sold me is the fact that it removed my waterproof mascara with just ONE rinse! I’ve always struggled with finding the right make-up remover, since most take me two washes just to remove waterproof mascara off my eyes (the struggle is real), so it amazes me that this product could do so instantly. 

Overall, I love this product. Heimish All Clean Balm is simply a make-up remover, and I didn’t expect much benefits from it other than removing make-up so the fact that it went beyond expectations definitely makes it… 

WORTH THE SPLURGE 

A bang for your buck 😉 

Do you think so too? What other products do you want to me to include in this series? Comment down below! 

Till next time, 

Kath ♡