Right. I promised we’d get back to beauty, after my worrying spell of brain freeze, and so please let me introduce you to the little pot of balm that re-ignited my passion for product testing. Darphin’s Aromatic Renewing Balm* almost escaped my notice due to its diminutive size (it was one of the products in their amazing Black Friday deal last year) but thankfully I plonked it onto the testing shelf rather than into my miniatures collection. I had no idea what it did or when I should use it, but a swift Google session whilst on the loo (come on, we all do it) revealed that it was, in fact, a potent face treat promising to soothe, nourish and strengthen the skin.
On that particular week, my face was pretty done in – weather-beaten, slightly spotty from a cheese-board marathon and more than a little irritated from the frantic exfoliant testing I had been doing in the vain attempt to generate some notes for a feature on peels. (It’s coming.) A balm that dangled the dream scenario of radiant, comforted skin could not be resisted. And so I unscrewed the little lid from the cute glass jar and delved straight in.
Now listen. It’s no secret that I’m a heavy user of Darphin’s Aromatic Cleansing Balm; you can read the full review here but suffice to say, for fear of repeating myself, that it’s just the silkiest, most luxurious cleansing balm I can think of. It’s more of a treat balm than your more “functional” cle...