Sunday Riley Pricey Cleansing Balm.

Oct 14, 2015

Shelley W.

Those who have been on BL for awhile know that I'm a skincare junkie. While I love makeup I find skincare to be far more valuable than the latest lippie or eyeshadow palette. Recently I managed to snag a decent sized sample of Sunday Riley's new Cleansing Balm-called Blue Moon.

Those not familiar with Sunday Riley...let me share some background. Sunday Riley is a line designed using botanical based ingredients combined with advanced chemistry. The line hit the public in 2009 with a strong focus on preventative and corrective anti-aging infused with cellular detoxification. Her star product...the beloved Juno Hydroactive Cellular Face Oil which is loaded with Omega-3,6 and 9 along with Vitamin C and a few other beneficial ingredients to assist with anti-aging.

I dived into this line at the very beginning when her website was wonky at times and there was limited distribution. She has since expanded and grown by leaps and bounds. While some of her products in her line up have disappointed me (Luna Sleeping Night Oil) overall I've had nothing but great experiences with everything else.

Back to this Blue Moon Cleansing Balm. I'm big on double cleansing. I use a liquid oil to break up my makeup and then follow up with a gel cleanser that lathers up (SLS free). It's kept my oily/combo aging skin balanced and free from irritation. I rotate cleansers sometimes but for the most part it's my routine especially if I'm wearing makeup. When I first learned about this new cleansing balm I was super excited till I saw MSRP. For 3.4 ounces of product at $50. Yes, you read correctly...$50 for a cleansing balm. Don't get me wrong...the balm does a great job at removing and it's rinses free from the skin without using a baby wash cloth to remove film but I was kind of taken back by the price considering what makes up the cleansing balm.

While I have no issue plunking down money on pricey skincare I kinda balk at pricey cleansers. $45 is pushing it for me and I do have one that expensive but I'm getting 8oz of product versus 3.4 oz.

As much as I love the cleansing balm with its lovely ingredients such as chamomile,cocoa butter, mornings butter, squalene...I can't stomach the price tag. That money can be better spent on a serum that has far more reaching benefits than a cleanser.

In grand scheme of things I always advise beauties to spend money on core products that will give them true results...serums, moisturizers and targeted treatments such as peels. Go affordable when it comes to your toners and cleansers.

P.S. My sample I received from a fave SA who went thru product training on this new product but best believe if a full size press release hits my mailbox I will be using it without any complaints. Lol.

What skincare products do you beauties like to splurge on and what are your affordable products?

Oct 14, 2015

Rebecca J.

I was interested in trying this until I saw the price! But I would gladly accept it if it was gifted to me :-) I think I will stick with my clinique take the day off cleansing balm and the body shop balm cleanser. I like to splurge on facial oils, serums and moisturisers. I'm currently using L'Occitane hydra vital moisturiser which is really helping my dry patches and adding lots of moisture to my oily areas. I'm still working my way through the hydraluron serum (still not enjoying it too much, I just don't notice a difference when combined with my moisturisers vs not using it at all). The facial oil I'm using is clarins blue orchid oil, I love it and will buy it again. I use affordable cleansers when I don't have my clinique ttdo balm, affordable eye creams as I'm only concerned with hydrating the area currently, facial sprays such as avene and la roche posay serozinc and toners which is whatever I can get my hands on.

What cleansing oil are you using? can you recommend some good affordable ones for me? I'm interested in trying them again.

Oct 14, 2015

Shelley W.

Thank you Talei. I'm a fan of Sunday Riley's Good Genes Treatment which brightens the skin and smooths out the texture as it contains lactic acid and licorice. It contains a few other key items but those are the ones that stand out to me. The Juno Oil is awesome with its antioxidant properties. And I love the Cashmere SPF 30+ Sun Defense but the $125 price tag doesn't justify constant purchase for me because I go thru SPF like water so it doesn't offer me the best bang for my buck but it certainly works well with all my foundation formulas and it doesn't leave behind a white cast on my skin.

Oct 14, 2015

Shelley W.

Rebecca...yes...the price had me take a serious pause.The Clinique Cleansing Balm is just as good as the Sunday Riley so your skin is in definitely good hands. There are actually several cleansing oils that I have in rotation. Josie Maran Argan Cleansing Oil, Bobbi Brown Soothing Cleansing Oil and NUDE Skincare Perfect Cleanse Omega Cleansing Jelly. I believe that the one from Bobbi Brown is in the $42 range and Josie Maran is the cheapest one out of the bunch. Garnier I believe came out with a cleansing oil. I have yet to try it because it's always sold out but I heard nothing but good things about it and that can be had for under $10 bucks.

Oct 15, 2015

Shelley W.

Aryana...Good Genes is awesome! Core products like that...yes...if you can afford it is definitely worth it. I think once I go thru my current stash and exhaust everything I will probably go and repurchase that one because it definitely fulfilled its claims. I also like the fact that you can also use it as a mask too.

Oct 15, 2015

Angela J.

If anybody is wondering about the garnier oil Shelley mentioned, it is AMAZING. I actually prefer it over the Josie Maran and probably would say it's tied with my old fave DHC...however the price difference is a real tie breaker. My last bottle was less than $5 with a coupon at Target!

Oct 15, 2015

Shelley W.

Angela...now I really want that Garnier Cleansing Oil. Let the stalking begin!!

Oct 15, 2015

Rebecca J.

I will have to check out the garnier cleansing oil soon :-) thanks for the recommendations. Now I'm interested in the good genes treatment, I've been hearing great things about it but I don't know if I can jusyify the price tag... I may add it to my Christmas list...

Oct 15, 2015

Kitty K.

I love cleansing balms mainly because they don't leave behind an oily film, hearing that it's similar to Clinique's take the day off cleansing balm is wonderful!
I am still iffy on what skin care goodies to try out until next pay period. I'm just focusing on getting these minor marks off my face, which was doing fine with chemical peels but now I'm in sunlight for 11.5 hours a day so I have to hold off and wear SPF like a mad woman so its good to hear her line helps with those issues.

Oct 15, 2015

Shelley W.

Talei...the Simple skincare line has a gel based cleanser. It's just hard to get because it sells out as soon as it hits the shelf. Pacifica Sea Foam Complete Face Wash and Yes To Cucumbers Daily Gel Cleanser. All super affordable and concentrated so a lil goes a long way.

Oct 15, 2015

Shelley W.

Kitty...I love them too and as soon as I run thru my liquid cleansing oils I'm going to stock up on some cleansing balms. I do have one from NUDE Skincare and love it I want to try some different one's. But the Clinique Cleansing Balm...super nice. Always sold out at my Sephora.

Oct 15, 2015

Shelley W.

Talei...I just make sure to use a particular item for a few weeks versus for a few days. And if something doesn't work out...like a moisturizer for example...I repurpose it. It becomes a hand cream or a neck/chest treatment.