Around a fortnight ago I received a set that I ordered from Liz Earle .
I’ve been a bit quiet about it as I wanted to give it a fair go, as with everything, before reviewing it. Please accept this review for what it is, my own personal opinion, you may have a very different experience with the range 
I ordered one of the Spring Offers, the “Essentials” Set as I felt it represented good value for money.
It arrived promptly, and well packed, little bonus of an additional free trial size product.
Contents Included were:
- Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser 100ml pump + 2 pure muslin cloth
- Instant Boost Skin Tonic 200ml bottle
- Skin Repair Moisturiser
- Gentle Face Exfoliator 70ml pump
For the first week I ignored the freebie exfoliator and used the Cleanse & Polish, Skin Tonic & Moisturiser. The Cleanse & Polish is pure luxury, smells divine, in fact everything smells gorgeous. You simply apply the cream direct to your face, massage it all over (no need to avoid the eyes), then soak the muslin cloth under warm water, wring it out and use it to gently wipe the cream polish away.
Next you soak a cotton pad with the Skin Tonic and sweep it all over your face.
Finally apply a liberal amount of the moisturiser. When purchasing you can pick from dry/sensitive, normal/ combination or Skin Repair Light. I went with the normal as I am classic combination.
Almost immediately my skin developed little red lumps, not spots as such as they had no heads and weren’t painful, more like little raised red bumps all over. They were easily covered by make-up, and after consulting with a friend who uses the range I decided it was probably just a teething issue with a new skincare regime and continued use.
I also googled my issues and it appears this is quite a well known side effect with Liz Earle but it settles within a few days use. I’m pleased to report it was exactly that and within 5 days my skin was clear, not a bump in sight.
Fast forward to today and I’m now considering halting use again. The skin under my eyes has become very tender as has my chin area. This occured several days ago and I immediately blamed the skin tonic as I find it quite astringent. I altered my regime slightly, leaving the delicate undereye area and chin out when using it and I thought it had improved slightly. However more and more I’m convinced the actual combination of products is to be blame rather than just the one.
My main issues are
- The muslin cloths are actually quite scratchy and I really have to be extremely light handed when wiping away the cleanser in order to avoid aggravating my existing dry patches
- The Skin Boost Tonic does not add moisture, it dries out the dry areas of my face even more leaving them raw
- The moisturiser doesn’t quench the dry part of my combo skin enough, after application of quite a generous amount it takes only a few minutes before my skin has fully absorbed, I’m left feeling my skin is still thirsty, so perhaps the dry moisturiser would have been a better buy
- My skin doesn’t look remarkably different in any good way. I don’t notice any added radiance or benefits that I wasn’t already getting from cheaper offerings
It wasn’t cheap and therefore I am going to soldier on and use it up, but I’m going to be substituting the muslim cloth for a soft facial sponge, remove the skin boost altogether in favour of a generous splash of cold water and slather myself in the moisturiser
So ladies I’m still on the search for brilliant combination skincare, if anyone has any suggestions I’d love to hear them. I’m especially interested in eye creams as my skin is suffering the most there in regards to lack of moisture.
Thank you in advance xxxxx
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting review…the first one I have seen that isn't totally positive, which I think is good. My skin is Combo too, classic as you say with a few dry patches here and there, so am quite glad I didn't go ahead any buy this set when we were thinking about it, I've suffered those problems with the regime I was trying, so have gone back to my trusty No7! x x x
Aw its a real pity to hear its not working out for you, as you know I am a big fan of aul Liz. I find the Muslim Cloths are much softer once they have been through the wash a few times. As for the skin tonic, I realised very quickly that you dont need much of this on the pad and using too much can leave my face feeling really slippy and take an age to dry. I got the dry moisturiser and I found it good and non greasy. I will say that I only use the cleanse and polish around my eyes not the skin tonic and I also use a separate eye gel as I have such dry skin and find the area very delicate in general. The eye gel I use is Vichy Aqua Thermal or something like that, I find it brilliant and thats saying something as I have psoriasis on my eye lids which has totally cleared up since I started using this.
I had some problems with Cleanse and Polish too, but I put that down to the hard water here in London and the fact that I usually use a cream cleanser due to my reptile like dry skin…but now I'm wondering?
I swear by her Intensive Nourishing Treatment Mask and her eye cream though, and I love the Skin Tonic in the summer as a refresher on hot days, but I usually use Olay for cleansing!
Ah hate that when something reacts badly for you.
I haven't jumped on the liz earle bandwagon yet so can't comment. Am using dermalogica at the minute.
That Aqua Thermal sounds very promising Karen, will definitely have a look for that when I'm in work on Saturday
Ams I only have QVC to blame, I was sucked in 3 weeks ago with an infomercial style showcase with Ms Earle herself! Saying that the products smell devine and I'm sure I'm in the minority in regards to a less than positive experience x
Laura, I'm afraid I had a similar experience with No7 in regards to drying out, I just seem to have little luck with skincare. LUSH Babyface remains my No1 for now!
Nikky, reptile skin
You do make me laugh!! Theres nothing wring with your skin! I always remember you having the strongest nails too! *jealous* much xx
I really hated the Liz Earle moisturiser, the packaging is unhygienic and it just sat on my skin and made me sweat – yeuch! I love the way the toner smells, but just ended up using it as a refreshing spray in summer. Cleanse and Polish is lovely, but I also found the muslin cloths very harsh and found it a faff to have a clean cloth every day (germs again).
I've got combo skin and I've been using a mixture of Origins Mega Mushroom cleanser and Neutrogena Visibly Clear oil free wash, as I've had a few breakouts. My skin feels great at the mo and I've had a few 'you look all glowy' compliments too. I occasionally use the Olay Definity scrub too.
Moisturiser-wise, I love Kiehl's Ultra lotion with SPF15 for the day – it's lovely and light but feels nourishing. During the colder months or when I'm a bit dryer, I use L'Occitane shea moisturiser SPF20, which is gorgeous. I've also used, and love, Elemis Pro Collagen Marine Cream, but it's very pricey.
The best eye cream I have found (and my undereye skin got very dry a few months ago) is the l'Occitane Shea butter one. It feels rich and light at the same time and I slather it on before bed and the skin feels lovely the next day.
In all honesty, I get bored really quickly though and I'm always looking out for the next miracle skincare product!
Hi there,
I do the PR for Clynol and was wondering if you'd be interested in receiving a sample to review? I love your blog and think it's great by the way!!
Lisa xxx
So sorry to hear the Liz Earle doesn't work well for you. I have very oily skin, little to no breakouts but here is what works well for me…a basic oil for removing makeup, Philosophy's Purity Cleanser (day & night), Paula's Choice BHA 2% gel (day) & AHA 8% (night)(which I know you really didn't like but maybe a similar product could work?), Shiseido's SPF55 cream(day) works remarkably well to keep oil at bay and a basic night time moisturizer for face & eyes. If my eyes are really dry…I like to use Badger Balms, Evolving and their Sleep balm have done well for me.
Best of luck in finding the products that work for you! It seems to change for me every few years (and seasons) or so since hitting my late 20's. Maybe my skin will accept what I'm putting on it for a while! Fingers crossed:)
i love liz earle- have all these products, the toner is my favourite skincare product ever!
I'm very jealous Hele, it just doesn't seem to suit my skin type at all
Hi Paige, the Badger Balms sound amazing, going to add that to the list of things to try
xox
Hi Claire, Funnily enough I lifted the Neutrogena Visibly Clear oil free wash in Superdrug a few days ago as it was on a deal, I'm using it now and its clearing everything up nicely.
We have a L'Occitane in the centre of Belfast, never actually been inside it! Going to remedy that soon and check out the Shea Moisturiser, sounds like something I'd love the smell of xxx
It is lovely and feels so nourishing, yet doesn't leave my skin feel at all greasy (I've found it a really good base for my Mat Lumiere, too). You should check out the Shea butter hand cream too – they do little tubes perfect for handags loving your new hot pink number).