Not to be too hyperbolic here, but honestly, just round up all your coffee scrubs and all your salt scrubs and pretty much every other type of scrub you might have, before we get started here, and just bin them (ok please don't do that!). I have seen the light, and that light is... green and... fabricy.

Yes, the light I've seen is the Korean Italy Towel, and I implore you to read on and find out why you simply must have one.

What on earth is an Italy Towel?

Well, it's an exfoliating mitt, used in Korean spas and found in many households all across Korea. The name Italy Towel came about as the original mitts were created from a form of viscose imported from... Italy.

The mitt itself is an abrasive, exfoliating towel, which basically scrubs off the dead skin from your body. They remind me a little bit of the mitts you might find in a hammam, like the Rituals Kessa glove, but the fabric is a bit thinner, a bit lighter and isn't half as painful.

They come in a variety of colours, which denote a different level of abrasiveness. The green one I purchased is the most common, and can be used on most areas of the body. There's a yellow one, which is the most abrasive. The pink one is the least abrasive, and usually saved for the face.

So why do I need one?

Because they're really, really good! Ever since I've started using the towels, the skin on my body is almost unrecognisable in places. One area in particular, where the mitts have made a huge difference is my back. It's been a problem area for me since I was a teenager, constantly bumpy and seemingly nothing I could do to resolve it. Weekly scrubs would never make a long-term impact, I was continually chasing smooth skin, and it was always just beyond reach.

But after using the Italy Towel once, and I really do mean once, my back felt different. The bumps had gone, just like that, never to return (ok hyperbole again). In all seriousness though, my back has been completely transformed, to the point where it feels like it's someone else's back, so smooth, and when moisturised, my skin glistens!

And how do I use it?

For best results, soak your skin for at least 15 minutes in the bath or shower. Then you put on the mitt, and start scrubbing to your heart's content, either in circular or up-and-down motions. Just remember, it is abrasive, and if you start to feel any pain or discomfort, go a little easier on yourself or stop altogether.

The first time I used it, I felt that abrasive sensation, and debris started rolling off my skin - dead skin! So I continued, scrubbing all over my body, including my feet and hands. After scrubbing, just rinse yourself off. You can then apply toner, moisturiser or whatever your usual routine is.

Afterwards, I expected that my skin might feel dehydrated or taut, but it didn't - it felt silky and smooth, almost as glassy as the skin on my face! Also note, that the mitt starts to shrink as you use it for the first time, supposedly to fit nicely on your hand. It feels like mine may have shrunk a little too much, but you can stretch it out when wet.

Guidance I've found online varies as to how often you should use it, anywhere from weekly to monthly, but I've found the best approach is to listen to my skin, see how it's feeling and use when necessary. As I type this, I last used the towel two weeks ago and my skin feels in need of a bit of a scrub.

Where can I buy one?

The great thing about this is, it's so easy to get hold of. You can pick up a pack of 5 on Amazon* for £5.93. Yes, that's five pounds and ninety three pence for five!

*Note that this is an affiliate link, and I may receive commission on any purchases made. There are plenty of other places to buy online though, so always do your research :)

Recently I reviewed the K-beauty cult classic Banila Co Clean It Zero Cleansing Balm Original, which is usually the go-to cleansing balm for those at the beginning of their Asian Beauty journey. It really is a great product, and I can easily understand its popularity, but there is a little bit of doubt on it's cruelty free status. All is not lost though, as there are many K-beauty cruelty free options - one being the All Clean Cleansing Balm from Heimish. 

The product was originally referred to me by a lovely follower of mine on Instagram called Shabana - she said that she preferred Heimish's All Clean Cleansing Balm to Banila Co's, so after picking myself back up off the floor, I figured I'd better find out why that might be. I had a look online at the ingredients, which all seemed to be far superior to Clean It Zero, so I purchased mine from a Korean seller on eBay, and was really excited to give it a try!

What is it? 

Just like Clean It Zero, Heimish's All Clean Balm is a solid cleansing balm, although this feels just a little firmer, and just like Clean It Zero, it quickly melts on the palm of your hand in to a silky, almost buttery oil. The end results are similar, in that they both take off pretty much everything, but that's really where the similarities end. The experience of using the All Clean Balm is far superior - it feels much more luxurious and expensive, much more gentle on the skin, and the scent is really quite dreamy. And that kind of describes it well - using this product is an experience that leaves your skin feeling great, whereas Clean It Zero is just a product that does a job.

Packaging

The packaging of this product is quite ingenious. To start with, it's just a standard round tub, containing 120ml of product, which incidentally, is more than the regular sized Clean It Zero. Why is it ingenious though? Well this is going to sound a little strange, but I absolutely love the lid design. Yep, the lid. If I were to ask you out of all the times you've had a product that comes with a spatula, how many of those times have you lost it almost immediately? The answer will more than likely be always.

Well Heimish have a solution for that - their magic lid! It's kind of split into two sections, you can twist it to open, revealing a plastic layer protecting the product, and containing the spatula. You just lift that up and there's your product. BUT, there's also another section, where you can flip the top half of the lid, revealing the same plastic player and spatula. The genius is, once you've cleansed your face, flipping the lid just makes it that little bit easier to put the spatula back. There are literally no excuses for losing this one, lads.

Application, texture and performance 

I'd say that the texture is slightly thicker than Clean It Zero, but it certainly doesn't feel heavy. I apply this direct to a dry face, using it as my first cleanse, to dissolve any makeup and sunscreen that I might be wearing. I'll spread it all over my face, start to massage it in, and within seconds I'll notice that my makeup is already starting to melt and dissolve. No matter how stubborn you think your makeup might be, the All Clean Cleansing balm laughs in the face of it - waterproof mascara, cosmetic emulsions, layer upon layer of sunscreen, this will make light work of it without stripping the skin of it's natural oils. It's also free of parabens, sulphate, alcohol, silicone and mineral oil. 

And back to those essential oils, I was a little worried that this would prove problematic to my sensitive eyes, particularly in the summer period, but as with Clean It Zero, this didn't even so much as give me a light tingling around the eyes. And because the product is a bit thicker, I tend to find that when rinsing off it doesn't get into my eyes quite so easily, and therefore I don't get that momentary cloudy vision these products can often give you.

When it comes to removing it, it's really easy, you just wet your hands with a couple of drops of water and apply to your face, where the product will then emulsify and turn milky. At this point you can rinse it off, but just bear in mind that this product may need a bit of extra water to emulsify - possibly because it's thicker and gives a more thorough cleanse. 

When rinsed off, my skin feels soft, smooth and comfortable, as if the product hasn't touched or damaged my skin barrier, no tightness of the skin either, almost as if I haven't just washed my face, and it doesn't even leave any residue behind. But at the same time, there are times where I've not even needed to go in with a second cleanse, because it's just taken everything off.

Anything else?

Fragrance - as soon as you twist or flip open the magic lid, your nostrils are filled with the gentle aroma of essential oils, and they've got that just about spot on - it's not an assault on your senses at all, it's just pleasantly scented. It's quite a luxurious scent, lightly citrus, of the kind you may find at a spa. The Elemis Pro Collagen Cleansing balm is an example of something that really is an assault on your nostrils, whilst Heimish have decided that their product is best used when you're not in a complete daze.

Cruelty Free - good news here, unlike Clean It Zero, the All Clean Cleansing Balm is cruelty free! It isn't sold in China at present, and there are numerous reports online stating that they are cruelty free. You may also see some sites claiming that this is not vegan, but those are likely outdated claims from back when Heimish included donkey milk in the formula - this is no longer the case, and more up to date reports can verify it is now vegan.

Ingredients - this product actually used to contain donkey milk, but they've removed that from the formula now thankfully. It contains shea butter, which is an emollient that moisturises, soothes the skin and is rich in anti-oxidants. In addition it contains Vitamin E and a number of essential oils: lavender oil, orange peel oil, teatree leaf oil, eucalyptus leaf oil as well as several others. If you are sensitive to essential oils, this might not be the one for you, but I will say again, the scent is not overbearing to me.

Generally, when using this product, the texture, fragrance and performance of it always gives the impression that I'm using a luxurious, expensive product, when in actual fact, it isn't really all that expensive at all. It also feels very much like a winter product, just because the aroma is so uplifting, it really makes me feel like I'm taking care of my skin and treating myself. 

It's very unlikely that you'll find this on the shelves of any stores in the UK, so you'll have to look on online. The links below with an asterisk are affiliate links, so if you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission. Of course, feel free to shop around and look elsewhere.

YesStyle* sell the 120ml tub for £14.24 (free shipping on UK orders over £40)

Stylevana* have the 120ml tub for £10.99 (free shipping on UK orders over £39)

PureSeoul also sell the 120ml for £13.80 (free shipping on UK orders over £30, and they are UK-based)

Beauty and Seoul have the 120ml for £15 (free shipping on UK overs over £25, also UK-based)

You can also get the 120ml tub for £12.04 on eBay* (free shipping, directly from Korea)

And finally, would I repurchase? Yes, absolutely! It's so luxurious, and in many places actually works out cheaper than Banila Co's Clean It Zero too, so for the time being, it's a no-brainer for me!

It's been a hot minute since I last blogged, but I intend to get through a huge backlog of posts that have been building up!

Korean and Japanese skincare has scaled new heights of popularity in the UK recently, ironically at a time when getting hold of them has become little more difficult and expensive due to Covid-19. But it seems as though people are developing more of an understanding beneath the hype that surrounds Asian Beauty.

I've found over the past couple of years I'm getting more and more questions on Twitter and Instagram about particular products, and it started to get a bit much, to the point where I can't respond to everyone, so it makes much more sense to put my thoughts up in a blog post, and just direct people here!

So to kick it all off, I thought I'd go with the outrageously popular Clean It Zero cleansing balm from Banila Co. In fact, it's so popular, it's even made it to the Morphe website. Its a bit expensive there, but more on that later...

I came across Clean It Zero when I first embarked on my Asian beauty adventures after visiting Japan. I experienced some amazing results from Japanese products, and heard that Korean skincare products were every bit as good as their Japanese counterparts. From scouring the internet, one product kept coming up over and over again, and that product was Clean It Zero, so I just had to get my hands on it, and I've never looked back since.

At that time, the formula was a little lumpy, but these lumps would melt away in the summer, think coconut oil! It still did the job of course, and it wasn't unpleasant, but the lumps were noticeable. The new formula has moved away from mineral oil to another type of oil that's an emollient which gives richness to the formula, and makes it milder and much more pleasant on the skin.

Packaging

First thing's first. The packaging, is an aesthetic dream. When I first used it, the packaging was pretty garish though, really outdated and looked like it was straight out of the 90s, and not in that good retro kind of way. But, as I mentioned above, they reformulated the product, and as part of that, introduced new packaging to fit in with the pastel dream aesthetic of their stores. Now, it really is a thing of beauty.

So what actually is Clean It Zero? 

Well, it's one of the first cleansers that K-beauty newbies pick up on, just because of its popularity and the rave reviews it tends to get. They actually have a whole range of cleansing balms - there are Revitalising, Nourishing and Purifying editions, but the one I'm looking it is the original.

To summarise, it's a cleansing balm. Banila Co describe it as a 'sherbet' that transforms into an oil, but I'm not sure what they mean by sherbet. I'd describe the texture as more of a sorbet, but when it's applied to the face, or comes into contact with warmth, it melts down into an oil. 

And when it's time to rinse off, you just add a couple of drops of water, the oil starts to turn a milky colour and it emulsifies, making it easy to rinse off, ready for your second cleanse. If you're not a fan of emulsifying though, you can just use a damp muslin cloth to wipe it off.

So why the cult status?

Quite simply, it does the job. It removes pretty much any makeup with ease, even waterproof emulsion paints, and it takes off layers of sunscreen. But if that wasn't enough for you, it manages to do all this without giving that horrible stripping feeling you can get on your face with some cleansers. It actually feels pleasant to use, the texture is soft and buttery, and they've added the likes of Vitamin E and Acerola extract, which is exfoliating and rich in vitamin C.

Personally, I'm always layering on sunscreen, and I can go pretty heavy with the makeup too. If you've ever seen my Instagram, you'll be aware that I post creative looks quite frequently, often featuring glitter and cosmetic emulsion paints, which can all be quite tricky to remove. Not for Clean It Zero though, it just melts off almost effortlessly, without any tugging on the skin at all.

To add to that, the area around my eyes become quite sensitive in summer in particular, yet somehow this doesn't cause any irritation or stinging in that area. It also requires only a small amount of product to cleanse your face, even for the must stubborn makeup, so a single tub will last you a long time.

Anything else I need to know?

Fragrance - there is a slight fragrance to the product, though in truth, I'd never really noticed it until I came to write this review, and I've been using it for years! I've used the Elemis pro-collagen cleansing balm in the past, which has a really heavy fragrance to it - Clean It Zero is nothing like that at all. However, if fragrance free is what you're after, the Purifying Clean It Zero (the baby blue tub) is fragrance free, it also contains additional beneficial ingredients for the skin, such as the calming Centella Asiatica and brightening Licorice. 

Cruelty Free - it's complicated. They do sell in China, but they state that they don't test on animals as part of the product development process, and the product is also vegan. But if that isn't satisfying to you, there is an almost identical Korean product that has been confirmed as cruelty-free. The brand is called Heimish and the product is called the All Clean Balm. It's quite popular in Korea, but not on the same level as Banila. The ingredients in that one are superior and it does basically the same thing. I'll review that in a later post.

So where can I get it from?

Ah, the golden question! I bought mine from the Banila Co store in Seoul as part of a set back in March 2019, and I still haven't finished both of the tubs that came with it, which really does go to show that it lasts.

You can either purchase the Jumbo tub at 180ml or the regular at 100ml - either will last you quite some time. The number of places in the UK selling K-Beauty is starting to increase now, with the likes of Selfridges and Morphe starting to cater to the demand, both tend to hyper-inflate the prices, but if you want it now, then they serve their purpose.

Personally, I get all of my K-beauty from YesStyle, Stylevana or eBay. I've heard rumours of fakes doing the rounds on eBay, but to counteract that, if you're going to buy K-beauty or J-beauty from eBay, make sure the seller is located in Korea or Japan. If they're based in China for example, the risk of buying a fake is far greater. In fact, the only fake Korean beauty product I've ever came across was purchased from a UK based seller on eBay. 

The plus side, is when you do find a Korean or Japanese seller you can often get the products cheaper on eBay, so my advice on purchasing from eBay, is to buy from a seller based in the country of origin of that product. But if you'd rather not take the risk, Stylevana or YesStyle have got your back.

Note that all of the links below are affiliate links, and I will get a small commission if you purchase through these, but please feel free to do your own research and purchase elsewhere if you prefer:

eBay - 100ml £11.48 + free postage (shipped directly from South Korea) 

eBay - 180 ml £17.94 + free postage (shipped directly from South Korea) 

YesStyle - 100ml £14.24 - free shipping if you spend over £43

YesStyle - 180ml £24.37 - free shipping if you spend over £43

Stylevana - 100ml £13.69 - free shipping if you spend over £39

Stylevana - 180ml £19.39 - free shipping if you spend over £43

If you do decide to give Banila Co's Clean It Zero a try, I would love to know how it works for you!