Review: REN Clearcalm 3 Clarifying Clay Cleanser

In the last couple of weeks, my skin has been acting up. I'm going to go ahead and make a totally crazy assumption, and say that it has to do with going back to school. I'm waking up early, I'm constantly on the run, I have what feels like a never-ending supply of homework, I'm staying up later to finish said homework, I'm probably not eating the best, and I'm drinking between three and five cups of coffee a day. And my skin looks as stressed out as I feel.

In comes the REN Clearcalm 3 Clarifying Clay Cleanser.

I'll be honest, before this cleanser entered my life, the idea of a cleanser that didn't foam was an entirely foreign concept. Before I got into higher end skincare, I just used Neutrogena and Clean and Clear cleansers. And they stripped my face of every natural oil that I had. I'm so glad I've been introduced to nice products since then.

Anyways, I was relying entirely on gel cleansers. My favorite was my Clinique cleanser (Liquid Facial Soap). I used it in conjunction with my Clarisonic. But then I got bored and I had some money sitting around, so I bought ALL the skincare. This one one of the face washes that I was drawn to, but I didn't really understand how it worked without foaming. I know, I can be dense sometimes.

So I got a sample of it from my local Sephora, and honestly, the second that I smelled it, I knew it was over. I needed to own it. Like with most products that don't have an immediately obvious scent, I can't tell you what in the heck this smells like. But it smells delicious. Earthy and clay-like, the smell is almost edible. I probably shouldn't eat this, though, so I can't really tell you what it tastes like.

I've said it about REN before and I'll say it again. I love REN packaging. Love, love, love. Even the boxes that the products come in are beautiful. The first time I opened a REN box was when I bought this cleanser, and this beautiful, flow-y, sort of flowery inner packaging appeared. True love.

If you're interested in the ingredients, here they are! What strikes me is that the first ingredient is chamomile, so this is definitely a soothing wash (something I can definitely attest to).

One thing that people love about REN is that it's "clean" skincare. It doesn't contain any sulfates, parabens, or synthetic fragrance, etc. I think it's pretty cool, but it isn't a deal breaker for me. But it does help to explain the high price we pay for REN (in addition to it being a British brand--I feel like they hike up prices when they send things overseas--think Soap and Glory, a British drugstore brand that we pay Sephora prices for).

Anyways, the Clearcalm 3 Clay Cleanser has a thick, creamy consistency. It has a slight brown-grey color to it. As I've said, it doesn't foam, but it definitely leaves my skin feeling clean and more soothed. Knowing that I have this product on my side makes me feel a lot better about my skin acting up.

I will give one criticism, although I don't think it even counts as a criticism. I wouldn't use it to remove makeup. That just isn't the function that it's meant to do. Women complain about it, but there's a simple solution. Take off your makeup before using this, or use this as your morning cleanser. Personally, I never wash my face with makeup on. I either use a makeup removing wipe or I use a cleansing balm (the one I really like lately is Julep's new Bare Face Cleansing Oil). I think that expecting your face wash to be able to do everything is just not realistic. Your face wash can remove makeup, or combat acne, or brighten your skin, or exfoliate. But it can't do everything at once. It's sort of like mascara. Mascaras that focus on one thing (lengthening, volumizing, water-proofing) are the most effective. Expecting one mascara to do everything under the sun is just going to leave you disappointed.

Now that I've waxed poetic on mascara uses, this REN cleanser retails for $32 for 5.1 oz. I love it. I'll recommend it to anyone asking what face wash they should use for acne prone skin. I even used it with my Clarisonic the other night! It felt strange, because there was no foam/anything even remotely like foam involved. But after I washed the clay cleanser off, I can honestly say that my face felt more clean and smooth and soft than it does any time I use a foaming gel cleanser. I'm a convert to the Clarisonic with clay cleanser!

Review: Clinique Liquid Facial Soap Dry Combination

In either February or March of this year, I finally got off of my lazy butt and picked up a skincare regimen. Before my life-changing trip to Sephora, I was using a drugstore cleanser in the shower and just removed my makeup (sometimes) at night with a makeup removing wipe.

After that fateful trip to Sephora, I came back to my dorm with a Clinique skincare set and a Clarisonic. While I rarely use the toner I got in the set, the moisturizer and cleanser became regulars in my life.

If you read my post about how I have a serious skincare obsession, you'll already know, but I actually have two bottles of this cleanser. Back in the day when I was in a traditional dorm, one bottle hung out by the sink in my room (so I could wash my face at night) and one hung out in my shower caddy. That way, I didn't have to carry one bottle back and forth to the shower with me. But now that I have my own bathroom in what is basically a studio apartment, having two bottles just seems silly.

This is a clear cleanser that foams when I use it in conjunction with my Clarisonic. Personally, when I'm using my Clarisonic, I love it when a face wash foams a bit. Otherwise, I just feel like the Clarisonic bristles are digging into my skin all awkwardly. So this face was is optimal for my purposes. In the last few months I've found foaming cleansers that I like more than this one, but all of them have some sort of a secondary use (other than just removing makeup). I have anti-acne cleansers, anti-aging ones, etc. But this is a great basic cleanser, one that I use with particular frequency when I'm planning on doing a mask or some sort of complicated serum/moisturizer process at night. When I'm afraid that an agent in one of my other cleansers will interact poorly with my mask/moisturizer, I always find myself reaching for this Clinique Liquid Facial Soap.

And coming in at $16.50 for 6.7 oz, it's definitely one of the most price-concious cleansers you can find inside a Sephora. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a basic, foaming cleanser.

I Have a Problem

To begin, I just finished up my first full week of classes at Rhodes. And let me say, this semester is going to HURT. Currently, I'm trying to force my way through Christopher Clark's new book, The Sleepwalkers. I have to have the entire 560+ pages read for Thursday, so I'm reading 80 pages per day. That's like 3 hours of reading. For ONE of my classes. Basically, I need to crawl under a rock and never come out.

It's a good book, but it's kicking my ass. But I will go down fighting (and posting blog posts).

To the actual topic of this post: I have a problem. At some point during the summer, I began purchasing cleansers/exfoliators/masks at an alarming rate. And now, I don't really have the space to store them.

 It's a miracle I could even fit it all on that entertainment unit thing.

First, the cleansers. I have two bottles of the Clinique Liquid Face Soap Oily Skin Formula. I know, I know. Who needs two bottles of the same cleanser? Apparently, the answer is me. This was my first real cleanser purchase, and I had two bottles because one stayed in my shower caddy and one stayed in my room by my sink back in the day when I was living in a traditional dorm without my own shower. Now, though, I'm just annoyed that I have that much more cleanser to go through. I recently received samples of the Ole Henriksen African Red Tea Foaming Cleanser, the Murad Clarifying Cleanser, and the First Aid Beauty Facial Cleanser. Then there's The Body Shop Seaweed Deep Cleansing Facial Wash and Tea Tree Cool & Creamy Wash. Finally, the REN. My favorite. I have the Clearcalm 3 Clarifying Clay Cleanser (one of my favorites) and I just bought the Ultra Moisture Cleansing Milk. I know, I have a problem.

Then there are the exfoliators. Right to left there's the Aveeno Positively Radiant Skin Brightening Daily Scrub. I'm trying to use this one up (so close!!). Then there's the Korres Pomegranate Deep Cleansing Scrub, the Lush Ocean Salt and Herbalism, The Body Shop Seaweed Pore Cleansing Facial Exfoliator, the Yes to Blueberries Age Refresh Softening Facial Exfoliator, the Kate Somerville ExfoliKate, and the REN Micro Polish Cleanser.

Finally, the masks. Left to right: REN Glycol Lactic Radiance Renewal Mask, the Clearcalm 3 Acne Treatment Mask, and the Invisible Pores Detox Mask. Then there are The Body Shop Tea Tree Face Mask, Seaweek Ionic Clay Mask, and the Blue Corn 3-in-1 Deep Cleansing Mask. Origins Clear Improvements Mask in next, followed up with the Boscia Clarifying Detox Mask, and finally the Garnier The Ultimate Cleanser 3-Way Clean. 

I know, guys. I have a problem. My goal over the next month or so is to review all of these products, then to use them up so I stop feeling like a crazy person. Seriously, I don't have eight faces, I only have one. And a person with only one face simply does not need this number of washes/exfoliators/masks. 

Is there a skincare anonymous I can join?