Battle of the Balms: Nía vs Clinique

Hi!

I'm always on the hunt for a new cleanser, I get bored of the same one really easily and I love trying new ones. I bought the Clinique Take the Day Off cleansing balm from Brown Thomas at the end of last year, and I bought the Nía on Dolledup.ie a couple of weeks ago.

Both are balm cleansers. Both are in round pots. Both are under €30 - so how do they compare?

Nía are an Irish brand that use natural ingredients. This is a Calendula & Orange Blossom cleansing balm that comes with 3 bio-degradable cleansing cloths and a little wooden spatula. The consistency is unusual for a cleanser, it almost felt like a whipped mousse. I could tell that there was Cocoa Butter in there. It's a two-step cleanser - it should be applied to face and neck, then rinsed off with a hot cloth. It removed makeup well, including everyday eye makeup, and didn't leave me with eye fog. It was smooth when applying, it felt like a moisturiser. The smell was really nice and not overpowering at all. This costs €20 for 100ml.

Clinique Take the Day Off is a cult favourite - it looks like lard, it's completely unscented, and it doesn't need a hot cloth to remove. It can be hard to scoop out if left in a cool place, but quickly melts to an oily liquid and removes all traces of makeup effectively. It always gives me temporary eye fog when I use it near my eyes so I use a separate eye makeup remover with this. This costs €29 for 125ml.

So - verdict? While the Clinique is a good cleanser, it's incredibly blah. It just feels like I'm removing my makeup with a lump of Frytex. I hate that it leaves my vision blurry, and I hate how it leaves an oily film on my hands. The Nía is much easier to scoop out, feels nicer on my skin, and works well with eye makeup too. I wasn't overly bothered with the biodegradable cloths that were included, nor did I use the spatula more than once - it's a nice idea, but I don't need the gimmick. The cleanser is more than enough on its own, and I'd be happy to pay the €20 for the pot of stuff with no extras.

Overall - I won't be repurchasing the Clinique. I'll keep using it until the pot is gone, but after that, I'm done with it. I will buy the Nía again - I like a nice hot cloth cleanser, I had been using Liz Earle but the scent is not my preferred one. Another bonus here is that the Nía is €9 cheaper - if you're ordering it from Dolledup.ie, I thoroughly recommend picking up a pack of these Human + Kind Deep Cleansing Cloths. They're so soft, they wash brilliantly and are fantastic for use with all types of cleanser.

A pack of two costs €6.95, so if you get the Nía and the cloths, you're still saving €2.05 compared to the Clinique.

I was not asked to write this post - I love finding new brands, especially Irish ones, and thought it would be nice to do a comparison!

What's your go-to cleanser at the moment? Have you tried either of these?