• Yes To Cucumbers Facial Towelettes // review •

Every now and then, I come across a product that confuses me;

a mind-boggling, annoying product.

Luckily this doesn't happen very often but recently I had a terrible experience with the Yes To Cucumbers Facial Towelettes. I received them in a Birchbox (which, by the way, is an absolutely FANTASTIC beauty box and I really recommend - check out my review here) and I was so excited when I saw these in the box. They promise to "pick up the slack, providing a portable source of cleansing and exfoliation when your sink and bathroom shelf are out of reach. In fact, with their natural, biodegradable ingredients, you don't even need a trashcan..." and go on to say "these 98% natural wipes pull triple-duty as a cleanser, exfoliator, and moisturiser, all in a handy pocket-sized package. Organic cucumber extract removes dead skin cells and relieves puffiness, while aloe vera soothes and hydrates skin. Green tea's dual antioxidant and astringent properties help to ease troubled skin and prevent unexpected breakouts." So instead of absolutely pulling apart their claims, I have to first say that everyone's skin is different - mine is combination, and yours may be combination, and my skin might hate this product, but yours might love this product. Now, onto the slating.

After just one day of using this product I broke out in a horrible spotty, red, sore rash. My face looked as though volcanoes were brewing underneath it. It was painful, dry and was sensitive to the touch. I decided to try the towelettes again, thinking that it can't have been them after only one use, and my face became even worse. On the third day, I used them to remove my make up once more, but then I swiped my Garnier Micellar Water over my face afterwards to calm it down a little. It was still a red, spotty mess. I made the right decision and decided to stop using them.

They're heavily scented which probably didn't bode well with my skin, so that may be why I reacted badly. But aside from the fragrance, they're very dry wipes with not a lot of moisture on them, which confuses me - why do they claim to be moisturising when the wipes themselves are dry?! They contain aloe vera (although I'm unsure as to the quantities) so my guess is that they should be soothing on my skin, but these wipes really sting like hell. My face was literally in pain. Now this could be due to the green tea which provides "astringent properties" to help "ease troubled skin and prevent unexpected breakouts" - funnily enough, after using this product, I've had no end of breakouts after a particularly good stint with my skin (which is absolutely gutting!)

After tweeting about my problems with this product, I had some interesting replies. A few other bloggers had received this in their Birchbox and also had the same problems as me. I was shocked, really, at the response I had - several girls had experienced breakouts and sore, dry skin. It seemed that no-one had a good word to say about the towelettes.

Now, after a week, my skin has only just started to calm down. I've been slathering on the Sudocrem before bed and I've been wearing less make up to try and give it a chance to breath. It's unfortunate that after a few months of good skin, my efforts have been ruined by this product. I'm hoping that soon my skin will go back to looking normal. In terms of trying new skincare, I'm still open to new things (which may shock a few of you!), however there's only one place for this and that's certainly not on my skincare shelf - to the bin they go.

Have you tried this product? What did you think of it?

Daniela