Scrub Amnesty - Balance Me Cleanse and Smooth Face Balm

Let me start this by saying that I am, in principle, anti-scrub.  I'm usually one of their most vehement opponents, believing, quite rightly, that no good can come of treating your skin like a block of wood that needs sanding. They make skin feel super clean for ten minutes until oil production goes into overdrive to recover from all that sandblasting - thus beginning a dreadful cycle. 

However... there are those of you whose skins do perfectly well with a gentle physical exfoliant two or three times a week to remove dead skin, brighten up the complexion and add an extra glow. And there are those of you who will just refuse to toss out your gritty scrubs and like the feeling they give. So if you must scrub, I beg you - toss out your foaming walnut shell concoctions, and try something like Balance Me's lovely Cleanse and Smooth Face Balm instead.

A smooth, rich balm in a handy tube, it uses sweet almond, kukui nut, camellia and coconut oils to deep clean and dissolve dirt and makeup, while finely ground oatmeal polishes and exfoliates skin. I love the beautiful orange blossom-type scent and the glow it gives skin in the mornings. You can still feel the invigorating scrubby-effect, but aren't stripping your skin with quite such gusto, and the lovely oils will soothe and nourish along the way. The oatmeal will eventually clog up your sink a bit, and if you use it while staying over at friend's houses you won't be invited back. But we must all pay a price for beauty, and a clogged sink is a somewhat small one.

Balance Me is a fabulous new and fast-growing brand that makes pure, high-quality products with reasonable prices. The line is simple and easy to navigate, with cute, user-friendly packaging - it's a great place to start if you're looking to buy some skincare staples to "green up" your beauty cabinet this spring. Readers outside the US can buy from Look Fantastic, which offers free, albeit slow, international shipping.

So there you have it - a somewhat confusing message. Don't use scrubs! But if you must, use this one - it's lovely. 

So now's the time to spill your secrets below - what's the worst thing you've ever done to your face? For a time as a teen, I used an exfoliating pad from the Body Shop that had the exact texture of a Brillo pad. It somehow seemed like a good idea at the time...

*This product was a press sample. Samples in no way affect my opinion - if I don't like a product, I don't write about it.