5 Affordable Cleansing Balms Under £15

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Removing makeup might be everyone’s least favourite part of their skincare routine, but it’s for sure the most essential. If there’s one step in your nighttime routine that you shouldn’t skip, it’s the double cleanse! This is when you’re able to get rid of any impurities that have been sitting on your skin throughout the day, and really just give your skin a good clean.

Just don’t scrub too hard!

Since moving from micellar water to cleansing balms, I’ve managed to build up quite a collection. And as this is a product I use most days, I feel like it’s really important that the balms I reach for most are either from the drugstore or at least reasonably priced.

So I’ve put together a short list of some of my favourite affordable cleansing balms, in hopes that this will help you narrow down your search too. Try some of these out and let me know how you get on in the comments!

MY 5 FAVE AFFORDABLE CLEANSING BALMS:

1. The Body Shop Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter £11

The Body Shop’s Camomile Cleansing Butter is the perfect product for sensitive skin. It contains a number of soothing and nourishing ingredients like olive oil, shea butter and English chamomile. It’s also really gentle on the eyes.

This is a pretty solid balm, so it does take a bit of scooping to get it out of the pan. But I find that once you warm it up in your hands, it rubs into the skin really nicely and does an amazing job at removing even the most stubborn makeup.

Sustainability-wise, the tin packaging is an excellent idea. In terms of practicality, however, it does make things a little bit fiddly – closing the tin with greasy hands is pretty difficult.

THE GOOD 👍

• Really gentle on the skin and doesn’t sting if it goes in your eyes
• Removes makeup really easily

THE BAD 👎

• Fragranced
• The tin packaging means that it can get a little messy

Check out my full review of The Body Shop Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter here.

2. Q+A Grapefruit Cleansing Balm £9

The Q+A Grapefruit Cleansing Balm is formulated with grapefruit peel oil, cocoa butter and natural squalane. This means it has both cleansing AND moisturising properties. I’m a big fan of the citrusy scent and I find it to be sufficiently gentle for my sensitive skin.

This balm comes in a tube, which I LOVE because it makes it super easy to dispense. The consistency also isn’t so thick that it’s a struggle to squeeze the product out. Once on the skin, the balm rubs in really nicely and does a decent job at removing makeup. It sometimes has a bit of an issue with waterproof mascara, but it always comes off in the end!

This product can sometimes leave the skin feeling a bit sticky, a quick second cleanse is always able to fix this though. Overall, I think it’s a pretty solid cleanser and for the price you really can’t go wrong!

THE GOOD 👍

• Gorgeous citrusy scent
• Melts into the skin really nicely
• Tube makes the product easy to dispense

THE BAD 👎

• Leaves a bit of a film on the skin
• Can take a bit of rubbing to completely remove makeup
• Contains essential oils

You can read my full review of the Q+A Grapefruit Cleansing Balm here.

3. The INKEY List Oat Cleansing Balm £9.99

The INKEY List Oat Cleansing Balm contains 3% oat kernel oil and 1% colloidal oatmeal which are supposed to improve the skin’s natural barrier and reduce redness. This product has been designed with sensitive skin in mind so you’ll notice that it’s very gentle. Some have said that they have found the balm to be a little grainy, but I can’t say that I had any problems with this. For me, it was pretty smooth.

This product comes in a tube, so you would think this solves the messiness issue that other cleansing balms have (particularly the ones in pots). But unfortunately the balm tends to separate and you end up with oil leaking from the lid – not ideal!

I also find that this product leaves a residue on the skin. This generally comes away with the second (water-based) cleanse, but it’s still something to bear in mind if you’re not a fan of sticky or greasy textures.

THE GOOD 👍

• Really gentle on sensitive skin types
• Melts into the skin really nicely
• Contains no added fragrance

THE BAD 👎

• Leaves a tacky residue on the skin
• Product separates in the tube which means this does tend to leak
• Some people find this to be a bit grainy

Take a look at my full review of The INKEY List Oat Cleansing Balm here.

4. Heimish All Clean Balm £12.09*

The Heimish All Clean Balm is a relatively new find for me … and I absolutely love it. Texture-wise, it reminds me of The Body Shop’s Camomile Cleansing Butter – in that it’s a solid balm that requires quite a forceful scoop. However, that’s pretty much where the comparison ends.

The Body Shop cleansing balm doesn’t really change consistency when water is added, the Heimish one does. In fact, this product is meant to have a three-step texture: balm, oil and then milk. You’ll notice that the more water you add, the more liquidy it becomes. I quite like this because it means you can get away with just using your hands to remove makeup (instead of a cotton round or washcloth).

This has a herbal scent – mainly down to the essential oils that are included. I personally don’t find that this makes my skin sensitive, but if you’re someone who does have issues with essential oils, this might not be a great match for you.

THE GOOD 👍

• Melts down into a milky consistency which is really easy to wash off
• Does a great job at removing even the toughest of makeup
• Leaves no residue

THE BAD 👎

• Contains essential oils which some people may find irritating

For a complete review of the Heimish All Clean Balm, check out this post.

5. JUNO & Co. Clean 10 Cleansing Balm £12*

The Juno & Co. Clean 10 Cleansing Balm is the newest addition to my cleansing balm collection and I’m obsessed! The texture of this is really soft meaning that it’s a dream to scoop out. I also appreciate that this comes with it’s own little spoon so you’re not having to dig your fingers into the product.

The scent is light and citrusy – pretty similar to the Q+A cleansing balm – but not at all overpowering. I also don’t find that this stings when it gets into the eyes so that’s a definite plus!

The Clean 10 balm contains just ten ingredients (hence the name). This includes vitamin E and pearl barley which are supposed to moisturise and brighten the skin. Despite containing orange peel oil, I haven’t noticed any sensitivity with this product either.

I really like this one and will definitely be repurchasing when I’m done!

THE GOOD 👍

• Super soft texture which melts into the skin really quickly
• Light citrusy scent
• Contains brightening ingredients like Japanese pearl barley and vitamin E
• Removes makeup really easily

THE BAD 👎

• Contains orange peel oil (an essential oil)

Have you tried any of these cleansing balms? Which affordable cleansing balm is your favourite? Let me know in the comments.