This review has sort of been a long time coming. Mainly because I have been trying to get myself to love this stuff, but alas! The Sunday Riley Blue Moon Tranquility Cleansing Balm has some real issues I just couldn’t overlook. To top that off, the joy factor is pretty low on this on too.
My skin type
Oily
What it’s supposed to do
Clean your face, and remove makeup.
Ingredients
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Sucrose Laurate, Jojoba Esters, Acacia Decurrens Flower Wax, Glycerin, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Wax, Polyglycerin-3, Glyceryl behenate, C10-18 Triglycerides, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, PEG-8 beeswax, Cetyl Alcohol , Ceteth-20, Steareth-20, Polyglyceryl-6, Polyglyceryl-3 Beeswax, Squalene, Tangerine (Citrus Tangerina) Oil, Citrus sinensis (Sweet Orange) Oil, Tanacetum annuum (Blue Tansy) Leaf Oil, Matricaria recutita (German Chamomile) Essential Oil, Vanilla planifolia fruit extract, Ylang ylang (Canaga Odorata) Flower Oil, Citrus aurantium var. Amara (Neroli) Flower Oil, Anthemis nobilis (Chamomile Roman) Flower Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Moringa Oil/ Hydrogenated Moringa Oil Esters (Moringa Butter), Chlorphenesin, Caprylyl Glycol.
How I use it
I dip my fingers in, scoop out a moderate amount, and slather it over a dry, made up face. I massage it in for longer than normal because it’s got those little “grits” in it that provide a gentle exfoliation; turns out they are grains of sugar wrapped in cocoa butter or something.
Results
I have come to the conclusion that this cleansing balm is effective for people that don’t wear a full face of makeup or waterproof makeup. I suspect those that wear minimal makeup such as powder, blush, and a lip product will like this.
I was on a Benefit They’re Real Mascara binge for a while (it’s a great mascara) and this cleansing balm always had a hard time of removing it… well, it never did to be concise. I often wear medium to full coverage foundation and I noticed when I used this and followed with a toner, there was still makeup coming off on the cotton pad. I was not pleased when I saw this. I basically had to rewash my face with something else to remove all traces of makeup. Because it barely removes makeup, I suspect that it also will not remove sunscreen.
Trying to remove mascara with this cleansing balm was a huge mistake — don’t do it! I had a piece of one of the little beads in my eye for DAYS and it was so uncomfortable. I won’t finish up this jar; so happy it was one of the sample-sized jars and not a full-sized one!
Joy Factor
On a scale of 1-10, this cleansing balm is a 3. It’s pretty, but it doesn’t bring me much joy to use it because it’s not all that effective. Also, the grain that would not come out of my eye was a huge turnoff. The agony!
Where to indulge
Sephora | Nordstrom | Barney’s | Anthropologie | Dermstore
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