As someone with dry to normal skin, I stick firmly to the non-foaming family of cleansers – i.e. Oils, balms, creams and hot cloth cleansers. Of these, oils and hot cloth cleansers are my favourites because they leave my skin feeling the cleanest, but not dried out. In addition these kinds of cleanser tend to melt makeup off quickly and efficiently, without needing lots of scrubbing away at the skin, while the action of the cloth provides a gentle manual exfoliation, which polishes the skin without damaging it.

Now obviously Liz Earle hot cloth cleanser has a well earned place as the queen of the hot cloth cleansers, but more and more pharmacy brands are cottoning on to their popularity - soap and glory do one for example, and most of the thicker cream clensers from any skincare range will work well with a muslin cloth to emulate the awesomness of hot cloth cleansing.

I’ve been hearing a lot on twitter and on other blogs about this bargainous Superdrug cleanser recently, so I headed down to my nearest one to pick one up and see what all the fuss was about, as my Liz Earle HC cleanser was on it’s last legs. I almost gave up on finding it, but then, I spotted it nestled in amongst the Vitamin E range – hurrah! At £3.99 for 200mls and comes with a muslin cloth (thats twice the amount you get in Liz Earle for £11.75 without a cloth, or £13.25 for a starter kit which comes with a cloth) 

So obviously that’s the first thing to stand out about this – the price seems totally unbeatable. The second obvious difference is the packaging – the Liz Earle version comes in a swishy pump, with definite “bathroom shelf appeal”, whereas the Superdrug version comes in a tube and has a less luxurious look about it… No biggie to me, as both are perfectly hygenic and functional modes of packaging.

If you’ve used the Liz Earle cleanser before, you’ll be familiar with the lovely herbal scent of it. The Superdrug version has a different, but in my opinion, pleasant scent of almonds. Now to me, it’s not too synthetic a scent – less marzipan, and more clean and creamy with an almondy overtone, but definitely give it a sniff before purchasing if you are opposed to such things…

l- Vitamin E, r - Liz Earle....

Texture and appearance wise, both cleansers are white creams - I’d say the Vitamin E cleanser is not as thick as the Liz Earle, but in a way this works in its favour as it melts into the skin faster. Both are just as effective as the other in removing makeup – although if you are using them to remove makeup, I’d always recommend cleansing twice – once to get the slap off, and once to cleanse the skin itself.

The only difference I’ve picked out in the two cleansers really in terms of performance, is that the Liz Earle seems to be a bit easier to remove from the skin, whereas the Superdrug version can be more prone to leaving a slight residue on the skin, and so needs to be more carefully removed with the cloth – I’d say it’s more important to use a toner with it just to be sure that all traces of the cleanser are gone.

In the week or so I’ve been using the Vitamin E cleanser, I’ve noticed that my skin definitely feels softer, and more even textured – the same changes in skin I noticed when first using the Liz Earle cleanser, so it seems just as effective in that way. I’d definitely say that the Liz Earle is more of an “All skin types” cleanser, whereas the Vitamin E is better for drier types due to the tendancy to leave a bit of residue – this could overload oilier skins and cause breakouts.

Vitamin E Cleanser Ingredients

Both cleansers are cruelty free as well – Liz Earle’s “contains no animal extracts”, whilst the Vitamin E is BUAV approved (All Superdrug’s own products are free of animal tested ingredients, which earns them major brownie points). The Liz Earle wins out in terms of a more natural ingredient list, whilst the Vitamin E cleanser contains parabens, and has a slightly less natural looking ingredient list…

Liz Earle Cleanser Ingredients

Oh and as for the muslin cloth, both versions seem fine to me, but I come from the “a muslin cloth is a muslin cloth” school of thought… they all work fine for me, and I have about seven on rotation, and I wash my cloths after 2 or 3 days use anyway… *shrugs shoulders*

Overall though, I’m pretty impressed with this cleanser – its a great budget alternative for hot cloth cleanser fans, and provided you’re skin is not oily, should work well for you… A definite repurchase for me, as this is working very well for my skin - please do bear in mind that this may be less successful for people with oilier or combination skins though… I always use a toner as standard anyway because I like my skin to feel refreshed after cleansing, but I’d say that’s definitely even more important with the Vitamin E cleanser.

Have you used this? What did you think? What other hot cloth cleansers on a budget do you recommend? Also do you recommend any other products from the Vitamin E range?