Spring Cleanser Facial Cleanser

For those of you who watch my weekly videos about the Kitchen menu, you'll know that I was stuck between a rock and a hard place when it came to Spring Cleanser Facial Cleanser. Near enough every review I was able to find online convinced me that I was going to hate the product - that I was going to be left with a greasy face and rocking a smell that wouldn't exactly help me to make any new friends. 

In situations such as this, a normal consumer would no doubt turn their nose up at purchasing any of the product in question, and opt to save their money for something that sounded more promising. Given that I'm neither normal, nor would I be considered a 'normal consumer', I chose to invest in a couple of bottles, and in hindsight I wish I'd ordered more.

This golden oldie, which has been hidden from the public for a good number of years, is definitely an acquired taste, and I can understand why so many people have slated it for its smell. While it's in no way disgusting, it did take me a few mornings to get used to the fact that I was using something so foodie-smelling, instead of my usual 9 To 5 that I have been using for years.

With the key ingredient being a cucumber infusion, and also featuring fresh cucumber juice in the mix, it's no wonder that the cleanser has a strong but equally refreshing cucumber aroma. It's easily the strongest element to the fragrance, and while the salad vegetable is not known for having an overly potent scent to begin with, its crisp and very clean aroma is definitely at the forefront of this limited edition lotion.

Imagine blending together an entire cucumber and adding in a spoonful of chamomile oil to give the mixture a delicate floral aroma, and you may just get a sense of what this cleanser smells like. It reminds me slightly of the fragrant cucumber facial wipes you can purchase in any regular supermarket, yet this has a more impressive longevity, is better for the environment and features less nasty chemicals.

As with 9 To 5, I use this in one of two ways. Most days, I collect a small grape-size amount on my fingers and massage the lotion across my face - using a flat cotton pad to remove any make-up present before applying my toner spray and moisturiser. However, at times when I am heavily made up, I tend to squirt an amount directly onto the cotton pad, which saturates the material and offers me a little more product to work with. 

With Spring Cleanser, I found that it took a little more pressure to remove any stubborn make up around my eyes, and I found myself using a little more of the product to achieve the same results as my aforementioned favourite cleanser. Consistency wise, this lotion is very slightly thicker than 9 To 5 but thinner than Starcraft, and very easy to apply to the skin.

In its favour, it leaves your skin feeling really cool and crisp afterwards, and made my face feel like it had a light layer of oils across the surface for protection throughout the day. My complexion definitely seemed a little more radiant than usual after using this, and my skin seemed plumper, smoother and slightly suppler. 

While the foodie smell does remain for a short time after application, I noticed that the fragrance faded dramatically after I had applied my facial moisturiser, and within an hour of being at work, I could no longer detect the cucumber at all. However, the impact of the cleanser remained with me for the most part of the day, and after using this product every day for a good many weeks, I found that the condition of my face began to improve a little and become more naturally radiant. 

With ingredients to cleanse, soften and brighten the skin, Spring Cleanser made a much better impression on me than I was initially expecting it to. Not only did it clean out my pores and clear traces of any make-up that was still attached at the end of the day, the inclusion of chamomile offered a soothing respite to go to bed with. Although I would not choose this product over my normal staple cleanser, it's definitely far from the awful product I was expecting it to be, and it'll make a welcome difference to my routine for the next six months. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Fresh Cucumber Infusion, Fresh Spring Water, Almond Oil, Stearic Acid, Fresh Cucumber juice, Violet Leaf Absolute, Fennel Oil, Oakmoss Absolute, Chamomile Blue Oil, Triethanolamine Cetearyl Alcohol, Oakmoss Extract, *Linalool, Perfume, Methylparaben Propylparaben.

Vegan?: Yes.

2016 Price: £10.25 for 20g.

Year Of Original Release: ?