Heimish All Clean Balm

I finished CLE Cosmetics Melting Cleanser in record time, folks, around three weeks(!!), and moved on to this 120mL jar of Heimish All Clean Balm a few weeks ago. Even then, I picked this balm only because it was leaking in its packaging.




Yes, you read that right, a leaking cleansing balm. Don't ask me how that happened. Just like the Nature Republic Cleansing Oils, it arrived in perfect condition. I bought it last winter too, and at no point did it sit under direct sunlight or even near a source of heat! And yet by the time I got around to taking photos, the packaging already showed signs of leakage. Sure enough, it had leaked when I opened it up. Thinking about it now, I realized were times when it melted just sitting on the shelf in my master bathroom, in cool room temperature (about 72F or 22C), not inside the shower where the temperature and humidity fluctuated, mind you.

If the fact that this cleansing balm had leaked in its packaging and would randomly melt didn't earn it a strike, the smell definitely did. It had an herbal scented that was innocent enough. However, as soon as I applied the cleansing balm to my face, the herbal scent was quickly overpowered by something else not so pleasant--the odor of cardboard. You know how cardboard boxes have this stink to them? Yeah, that smell. No, the whole jar wasn't rancid or had somehow gone bad. The expiration date printed at the bottom says June 13, 2020. I found the cardboard smell weird and disturbing, and I will never ever buy this stuff again. It wasn't even one of those products I was glad to try before moving on, because every time I used it I questioned what I was putting on my face. That, and it contained polyethylene, a third strike for sure.

Other than the three strikes above, the balm-to-oil worked well. It melted off my sunscreen and rinsed decently, not completely clean but it didn't leave too much of a film either. But you know what, I've used dozens of other cleansing oils that did the same if not better, and without any strikes against the packaging or the fragrance.