Drunk Elephant's New Cleansing Balm Transformed My Skin-Care Routine

After a long Thursday at the office (and the gym before that, and a post-work event after), the only thing I want to do is drag my tired self home and into my softest T-shirt and sweatpants. Maybe there's a glass of wine, and more often than not there's dinner out of a white foam takeaway box, but before I get to that, the first step to unwinding always involves washing the day off my face.

After years of using foaming face washes with sharp-edged exfoliating beads and scents that are more "Clorox wipes" than "petal fresh," I realised that my normal-to-dry skin actually prefers a nighttime rub-down with an oil-based balm cleanser. Currently, the formula it's loving most is Drunk Elephant's newest skin-care gem: the Slaai Makeup-Melting Butter Cleanser.

Now, this thick balm is not messing around when it says "butter." Upon unscrewing the bright-green lid for the first time, what I found inside the jar looked more like congealed candle wax than the creamy cleansing balms I'm used to. But as soon as I started massaging the unscented salve onto my dry face, using the genius magnetic spatula that lives on top of the jar, it emulsified into a smooth oil that magically melted away my Colorslide eyeliner and black mascara without irritating my very sensitive lash line. When I added water, the consistency transformed yet again — this time into a milk that rinsed away to leave my skin soft, clean, and dewy, thanks to the nourishing blend of oils (marula, baobab, kalahari melon, mongongo, and ximenia among them).

That's usually enough cleansing for me, but if you're looking for a deeper clean, don't miss the Bamboo Booster, which comes in a tiny add-on vial in the same box as the balm. Instead of rotating between two cleansers, one super-gentle and the other more intensive, the booster adds a customisation factor; just sprinkle some into your hand and combine with the balm whenever your skin needs a good polishing. As I've learned, much like wine and takeout, you can overdo it on the exfoliation — regardless of how right it feels at the time. But a makeup-melting, skin-coddling salve that guarantees a smooth, happy complexion? There's always room for that in my evening routine.

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