Amala Hydrating Cream Cleanser

RRP: £42/200ml at www.beingcontent.com
--What does the promo say?--
"Hydrate dry skin while gently removing makeup and impurities with thiscomforting cleansing cream from Amala. The whole botanical ingredients help sootheand restore moisture for clean, soft, radiant skin.
Formulated with Amala's organic milk emulsifier, this natural and organic cleanser contains
* Jasmine: helps nourish, moisturise and soften dry skin, while providing antioxidant protection.
* Papaya: deeply hydrates skin, helping to strengthen skin's moisture barrier with essential fatty acids.
* White Clay: helps remove makeup, impurities and dead skin cells."

--Packaging--
Looks like it has just left a luxury spa to come and live in your bathroom: the opaque white plastic of the sample tube and the copper-coloured lid makes for a simple and elegant package.

--Application--
Wet your face using a damp flannel, and then one pump of this means you're ready to go. Rub the dose of cleanser over your wet face, and then rinse off, again using a wet flannel. Once your face has dried, proceed with your usual routine.

--Appearance--
A light yellow cream that is even in colour and leaves no visible residue on the skin.

--Scent--
The jasmine in this is very obvious, so if you don't like the smell of this particular flower then you might be better off trying something else.

--Texture/consistency--
Creamy and luxurious, but light at the same time. It glides over the skin with ease, and washes off without a fight.

--Effects on the skin--
Skin seems smoother, calmer, and less red. Usually when a product wants to hydrate my skin, I send up a prayer to the god of skincare (surely my skin is oily enough without needing to be hydrated more, and this is bound to go badly?!), but I could breathe a sigh of relief: while no miracles were achieved, I definitely saw some improvement in my skin condition during the use of this product (probably thanks to the white clay it contains, which is also used in many acne-fighting products).

--Value for money--
Now here's the snag: at £42 for 200ml, this certainly isn't cheap. However, my skin is absurdly soft thanks to the use of this product line, so I can imagine that the product's target group (=those with dry or sensitive skin) would benefit enormously from it. It also gives me confidence that the purifying range would work well on my acne (though I'd steer clear of the regenerating range, which is almost twice as expensive as these other two lines). Finally, the tiny sample tube that www.beingcontent.com sent me only contained 5ml, which has lasted me at least 2 weeks. This means that a 200ml tube would last you MORE THAN A YEAR, and that the product would ultimately cost you less than £1 a week (in fact, probably closer to 50p). I'd therefore definitely recommend it: a simply gorgeous, effective, organic treat.

perfect partners
Hydrating Toner, £42/100ml
Hydrating Face Cream, £60/30ml