Beauty expert’s favourite facial cleansing balms to comfort stressed out skin!

Beautifying balms for stressed skin!

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Beauty buddies, brace yourself for an onslaught of balm-anything, the latest fad to hit the aisles.

As voluptuously velvety as their mouthwatering monicker suggests, most balms are designed to calm and comfort your distressed and dehydrated dermis – with the bonus of being skin-tinglingly sensuous to the touch, like the fluffiest of butters fondling your face.

Even better, my personal pick of plush potions – all of which work much like cleansing oils by emulsifying the filth on your face so that it rinses right off – all come “zhng-ed up” with brightening botanicals for an incomparably incandescent complexion.

Because remember: At the end of the day (and I use that phrase quite literally), cleanliness really is right next to gorgeousness. Have fun, and #HappyShopping!

Image illustration: Sharmaine Khor.

Want more? Discover if your period-related pimple problems are telling you something about your health, and find out if you’re guilty of this surprisingly common sleeping quirk which may be the cause of fine lines and wrinkles the morning after. Get your daily dose of beauty at www.herworldplus.com/beauty.

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Micro Cleansing Balm, $56

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OMG, obsessed. If you’re an ahem, parched prune like me, you’ll adore this incredibly creamy concoction, made all the more covetable by its gilded gold casing (don’t sue us for being picky about packaging!)

Stuffed with acne-alleviating algae and other splotch-squelching soothers, bonus points must be bestowed for this sexy salve’s titillating texture. Massaging this into your mien at the end of an exhausting day of back-to-back meetings will transform a tedious chore into a remarkably relaxing me-time ritual.

Tactile pleasure aside, the biggest plus has got to be the smooth-as-silk finish of your face once you’re done splashing off your face with warm water. Speaking as someone who has torpedoed through two tubs of this beautifying balm and counting, I can attest to the exquisite elixir’s claim of melting away makeup and revving up the skin’s renewal process without rocking its natural pH balance. Lauder lovers, check this out, stat!

Want more? Discover if your period-related pimple problems are telling you something about your health, and find out if you’re guilty of this surprisingly common sleeping quirk which may be the cause of fine lines and wrinkles the morning after. Get your daily dose of beauty at www.herworldplus.com/beauty.

RMK Moist Cleansing Balm, $49

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Stuffed with sugarcane squalene, botanical butters and opulent oils the likes of rosehip and avocado, this J-Beauty jewel is superb at scouring skin of dirt and debris while inhibiting irritation and reducing redness.

Another big beauty bonus: This product more than passes the smell test. Inhaling in this subtly scented salve – ravishingly romantic and redolent of roses – is ridiculously relaxing, especially when it’s hot as blazes outside.

And yes, it makes good on its promise of sopping up sebum, sunscreen and the day’s debris in one fell swoop, although topping up with a conventional cleanser is probably par for the course for budge-proof eyeshadow. That said, the moisture magnets in this thirst-quencher will positively drench the desert of your dermis with moisture – simply smooth in and wash off for wobbly tofu skin.

Want more? Discover if your period-related pimple problems are telling you something about your health, and find out if you’re guilty of this surprisingly common sleeping quirk which may be the cause of fine lines and wrinkles the morning after. Get your daily dose of beauty at www.herworldplus.com/beauty.

Shu Uemura Ultime8 Sublime Beauty Cleansing Balm, $125

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Mm, I adore this amber ambrosia so very much. For starters, the beautifully blendable balm does an ace job of clarifying my complexion, thanks to a carefully calibrated cocktail of sludge-sloughing botanical brighteners the likes of jojoba, ginger root and olive.

It’s fast-acting too, melting instantly into my mien and metamorphosising into a milky emulsion that gets straight to work, sweeping away dullness, blackheads and other loathsome lumps and bumps without leaving my face agonisingly taut and tense in the way inferior products tend to do.

As for the results proper, this does a decent job of actually wiping out my warpaint. I’m happy to report that even the most waterproof of mascaras quiver in its wake: Spidery clumps come straight off without any tugging and toiling on my part. It makes for a perfect prepping agent as well, with the pampering pillowy oils leaving my face delightfully dewy and primed for the potions and poultices to follow. 

Right, then. Keep a mascaraed eye out for these skin smoothers the next time you’re browsing the beauty aisles – and do me a favour by bookmarking this story for easy reference. Happy beauty shopping, and cheers to clearer (and cleaner) complexion!

Want more? Discover if your period-related pimple problems are telling you something about your health, and find out if you’re guilty of this surprisingly common sleeping quirk which may be the cause of fine lines and wrinkles the morning after. Get your daily dose of beauty at www.herworldplus.com/beauty.