Blogmas: Festive Liz Earle

Rosalia Temmuz 11, 2021

There are some products which act as a right of passage for any woman and the Hot Cloth Cleanser from Liz Earle is one of those products. When I was at University and first getting into beauty, Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser was one of the first luxury skincare items I ever tried. Before this cleanser I did not understand why anyone would spend loads of money on a skincare product but from the first moment of using the original Hot Cloth Cleanser, I got it and I hardly ever go back to cheaper brands for a cleanser. Why would I need to when I have Liz Earle in my life?

Over my years of using this product I have taken it upon myself to gift the Hot Cloth Cleanser to all of my friends so that they too can understand why everyone talks about this product. Liz Earle create some amazing Christmas gift sets each year and they usually have a pretty decent discount when you buy the boxes however I have always opted for the single mini Hot Cloth Cleanser to give as a gift so that they can try it. I do not want to force my fancy habits on other people.

As well as buying gifts, I always end up buying myself a bottle of Hot Cloth Cleanser at Christmas. As part of their festive collection they always include a limited edition scent and I love trying these limited editions. This year they have launched a new scent and for today's Blogmas post I thought I would tell you all about it.

Cleansers of Christmas Past

I have tried quite a few of the Christmas limited editions over the years and they have been received with varying success. I did buy Last years' edition and to be honest it wasn't my favourite, it was Pink Pepper and Mint. When I started using it at home (in my own space) the scent just wasn't for me. When I tried it in store I thought it smelt more minty but when I got home I really picked up on the spicy note from the pepper, it wasn't sweet enough for me. I wrote a blog post on this scent last year if you want to read more about it: Pink Pepper and Mint but this limited edition was not my favourite and thankfully is no longer available.

In 2018 the scent was Winter Rose which I adored, it was a very mild rose scent but it was quite a woody rose scent rather than sweet but the key thing for me was that it had that floral element which I like in my cleanser. I didn't write about Winter Rose as I bought it after I had written all of my posts for Blogmas in 2018 so you will have to trust me when I say it was beautiful.

The two years prior contained Orange as one of the key parts of the scent. In 2016 it was Sweet Orange & Clove and the year after was Sweet Orange & Mint. The Mint one I missed out on but Orange & Clove will always remain one of my favourites, it just summed up the festive season so perfectly. I love a spiced orange scent for this time of year and that combined with one of my favourite skincare products was a win win.

As you can see the scents have varied over the years and in my eyes some have been more successful than others but throughout all of these different scents, the product has maintained its incredible formula.

This Year

This year's edition has made a return to a floral scent but it is not the type of floral you expect, it is Neroli. Neroli is an essential oil that comes from the small white flowers on the Bitter Orange tree. The Bitter Orange tree is also the plant that creates Vetiver so there is a limited amount of waste from the tree.

Neroli is a floral but it is very citrus so it is quite sharp when you first smell it and it is very earthy, there is a strong green note to the smell of this cleanser. It does mean that this cleanser smells incredibly clean and the scent is a lot softer than the aromatic, herbaceous smell that the classic Hot Cloth Cleanser has. I really enjoy the classic scent and it is very nostalgic for me as I used it when I was at University. Sometimes when the limited edition is absolutely amazing I think the limited edition is worth trying first but in this case I would actually say stick to the original scent.

I do like this Neroli version but I have to say Neroli has never been one of my favourite scents, I have tried Tom Ford's Neroli Portofino many times but I just cannot get on board with the sharp citrus that is almost piercing and its green note smells too much like the outdoors for me. However if you like a fresh, incredibly clean smelling product that is hardly floral, this could be a good cleanser for you.

You can buy this cleanser in two different sizes these days. It used to be that you could only get a 150ml bottle with 2 cloths but they have changed up the sizes you can get. You can buy a miniature size for £12 which is a cute little 50ml, the perfect trial size or even travel size and then you can get the big 200ml which is a real commitment to the product and the scent.

I bought the 200ml version as I was in John Lewis and that was all I could get as the miniature size is a Boots exclusive! With both sizes you get two cloths (the cloths are great) and this year you get a little hanger so you can hang up your cloths once you have used them. I like the idea but I feel like it is similar to the hooks you get with your razors, they end up in the bin never to be used. I love that they have made this a squeezy tube rather than a pump but that is as far as this product goes in its superiority to the classic Hot Cloth Cleanser.

Hot Cloth Cleanser does make a beautiful gift and I like that Liz Earle have tried to make this more of a gift set but the cleanser on its own is gift enough. If you are a bit stuck on what to get someone this Christmas season, take a look at some Liz Earle's gift sets as they have plenty of amazing sets.

If you would like to try the iconic Hot Cloth Cleanser but you cannot afford the price tag, Superdrug do a cheaper alternative which is actually quite nice and it works just as well. I wrote a blog post comparing the two a few years ago so if you want to read about them, here is a link: Battle of the Hot Cloth Cleansers