Best of Natural Skincare...Balmology

I was introduced to this brand through a facialist based in the Oxford area called Victoria Partridge (I will be visiting her at the end of October so look out for an upcoming blog post!). When sharing her skin routines/favourites on her Instagram page it nearly always includes a product from Balmology, so I was intrigued to try them. After all, if an experienced facialist recommends them then they must be half good! ;)

The first thing that strikes me about this brand is how non-comprising they are when it comes to ingredients. Every single product in their range is 100% natural and is 99% certified organic, you won’t find any synthetics, fillers or preservatives. All the ingredients are cultivated without chemical pesticides or synthetic fertilisers and are processed at lower temperatures, the reason for this is Catherine (the owner and creator) believes they are ‘quite simply superior, gentler on our skin and kinder to the environment’. There are also no ‘bulking out’ ingredients like water which apparently can account for as much as 80% in creams and lotions in many skincare formulations! So the fact that the range is waterless has a certain appeal.

Now you won’t find tons of products available as Catherine has kept the range small but excellent. It consists of the following:

·         Hot Cloth Cleansing Balm 50ml - £27.00

·         Nourishing Beauty Balm 50ml - £29.00

·         Soothing Comfort Balm 50ml - £24.00

·         Post Shave Balm 50ml - £28.00

·         Rose Beauty Oil 30ml - £30.00

·         Discovery Set (3 balms – cleanse, nourish and comfort all in 15ml jars)

Each of the products are hand blended in small batches to ensure that all nutrients and the potency of active components are not lost in the process. This means you know you are receiving the freshest possible products!

Having done my research, I decided I wanted to try all products available apart from the Post Shave Balm! Aside from ordering direct with Balmology you can also pick them up through Naturismo. Seeing as I had a 10% discount with Naturismo, I placed my order through them. I purchased the Discovery Set as it meant I could ‘try before I buy’ and paid for a small vial of the Rose Oil. I wish more brands would do sample sets, so you avoid spending money on something you don’t know will work for you! It also sends out a message of confidence and belief in their brand as well.

Following my positive experience with the Discovery Set which I have trialled so far for just over 2 weeks, I decided to go ahead and buy the full sizes of each product direct with Balmology. They came in 1 day! Yes, that’s right, 1 working day! Excellent! Now onto the reviews…

Left-Right (Cleansing Balm, Comfort Balm, Nourishing Balm)

Hot Cloth Cleansing Balm – Organic Neroli and Sweet Basil

Oh my! This balm is so luxurious to use, its thick and unctuous with the most beautiful scent! I love massaging this onto already cleansed dry skin as a 2^nd cleanse to rid any excess makeup and deeply nourish. You can use this as a makeup remover but I feel the skin is likely to absorb more of the nutrients if it’s used as a morning or 2^nd cleanse. Due to there being no emulsifiers in the ingredients you won’t be able to simply ‘rinse off’ this balm. Removing with a hot cloth is essential, but this provides the most delightful experience! The scent really comes alive and inhaling it really de-stresses and relaxes you ready for bed time or the day ahead.

I honestly cannot recommend this product enough, there are so many cleansing balms on the market but there are few that I enjoy more than this at the moment. It leaves skin super glowy and seems to help decongest and brighten it up when its dull or tired. Only a small amount is required so it will also last ages!

Full Ingredients:

Simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) oil*, Prunus armeniaca (apricot) oil*, Ricinus communis (castor) oil*, Persea gratissima (avocado) oil*, Cera alba (beeswax)*, Tocopherol, Citrus aurantium var. amara. (neroli)*, Citrus reticulata (mandarin)*, Ocimum basilicum (sweet basil)*, citral**, citronellol**, eugenol**, farnesol**, geraniol**, limonene**, linalool**.

*Certified Organic. **Naturally occurring in essential oils.

Nourishing Beauty Balm – Organic Neroli and Frankincense

This product is labelled to be used as an intensive overnight treatment or if you have particularly dry skin. You can also use it sparingly during the day to give your skin a boost of hydration. For me I prefer using this as a nighttime moisturiser over the top of my serum and oil. Like with all the Balmology products, the scent is amazing, really natural and soothing.

Only a small amount is needed to give a fantastic massage, it does sit on the skin for a little while before fully absorbing leaving a completely hydrated, nourished complexion. I notice a difference every time I wake up after using this, my skin looks calm and dewy without a patch of dryness. I was a little hesitant about using it at first because it’s so thick and I thought it may break me out, but I haven’t any issues yet! I think due to the high quality ingredients my skin just loves it! This would be excellent during the winter months and can see it becoming a ‘rescue’ product for me.

Full Ingredients:

Simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) oil*, Prunus armeniaca (apricot) oil*, Cera alba (beeswax)*, Macadamia ternifolia (macadamia) oil*, Persea gratissima (avocado) oil*, Punica granatum (pomegranate) oil*, Rosa canina (rosehip) oil*, Tocopherol, Citrus aurantium (neroli)*, Boswellia carterii (frankincense)*, Citrus reticulata (mandarin)*, Lavandula angustifolia (lavender)*, citral**, citronellol**, farnesol**, geraniol**, limonene**, linalool**.

*Certified Organic. **Naturally occurring in essential oils.

Soothing Comfort Balm – Organic Calendula and Chamomile

When I saw that this was targeted for itchy, sore and irritated skin I immediately contacted Catherine via Instagram to find out if this would be suitable for eczema. My son has had bad eczema all his life and it tends to go and up and down in severity. It’s extremely frustrating and upsetting to see him suffer so I am forever on the lookout for something that helps ease his discomfort.

Catherine replied very quickly and said that this balm was actually formulated for a little boy with bad eczema and apparently it helped significantly. It’s also won a Gold Award for problem skin in the FreeFrom Skincare Awards this year so I was really excited to try it out on Charlie!

I did a patch test on his neck first which didn’t show any signs of irritation after 24hrs, so proceeded to massage it onto his bad areas. The first thing he said to me was ‘wow mum, this stuff smells amazing! I really think this is going to be good for me, I just want to massage it all over my body’, so certainly a positive start!! After applying this in the morning come evening his skin looked so much calmer and less red. I’m not going to say the eczema disappeared because it didn’t, the skin just looked much happier.

Due to the size of the pot I am reluctant to use this all over his body every day as I feel that his prescribed creams hydrate well enough. But I do use this when he has a flare up or if he is feeling itchy as it does an amazing job at keeping his skin ‘on track’ without the use of harsh steroids. I will continue to buy this for that reason alone.

I have also tried this balm myself and mixed it with the nourishing balm when my skin was feeling a little sensitive, it seemed to work for me as well. Certainly didn’t break me out and calmed some redness that was on my forehead. Such an excellent product!

Full Ingredients:

Prunus armeniaca (apricot) oil*, Simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) oil*, Cera alba (beeswax)*, Butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter*, Persea gratissima (avocado) oil*, Rosa canina (rosehip) oil*, Tocopherol, Calendula officinalis, simmondsia chinensis (marigold) extract*, Matricaria chamomilla, Simmondsia chinensis (chamomile) extract*, Helichrysum italicum (immortelle)*, Lavandula angustifolia (lavender)*, benzyl cinnamate**, geraniol**, limonene**, linalool**.

*Certified Organic. **Naturally occurring in essential oils.

Rose Beauty Oil:

I absolutely love using facial oils every evening and I have also come to incorporate them into my morning routine as well because I feel they balance out my oily skin. I was really excited to try this as I love the smell of roses but previous history tells me my skin doesn’t particularly like rose as an ingredient. It tends to break me out and cause irritation, but since trying this one and another quality brand, I have discovered it must have previously been down to low quality ingredients.

But I can now officially say my skin loves rose, like proper quality rosehip oil! Especially this one! Yay!! I have been using a small amount at night and it’s wonderful. This oil smells like a million fresh roses have been crammed into the bottle. You can get a really good massage with it as it’s not too thick or gloopy and it absorbs beautifully. I can use the nourish balm on top and it doesn’t feel too much. I even went overboard and used what I thought was ‘too much’ the other evening but nothing drastic happened apart from my skin looked amazing come morning!! 

The past week or so I have started using this as my morning moisturiser, I just use more than I usually would (1 – 2 full pumps) and really massage it in before applying SPF over the top. I thought it would cause excess oil but in fact it does the opposite, really balances and hydrates.

For the price this is a fantastic oil and I will be re-purchasing this again for sure.

Full Ingredients:

Argania spinosa kernel (argan) oil*, Macadamia ternifolia (macadamia) oil*, Corylus avellana (hazelnut) oil*, Rosa canina (rosehip) oil*, Persea gratissima (avocado) oil*, Tocopherol, Cymbopogon martini (palmarosa)*, Pelargonium graveolens roseum (geranium bourbon)*, Boswellia carterii (frankincense)*, Rosa damascena (rose otto)*, citral**, citronellol**, eugenol**, farnesol**, geraniol**, limonene**, linalool**.

So all in all I am in love with Balmology, as I am sure you can tell! They are a simple, no fuss, high quality brand and I feel happy to be slathering their products all over my face without the fear that there will be any damaging side effects. It’s rare to find such a natural effective skincare brand that provides fantastic customer service, and I will most certainly continue to support them.

Have you tried Balmology or do you have any ‘green beauty’ favourites?

Buy here; www.balmology.co.uk/shop

Thanks for reading

xx