I have to admit - I'm a bit of a cleansing balm fanatic at the moment and I sometimes feel like I'm determined to try every one that's out there on the market. Why? Because, as I've said a million times before, I'm a little bit obsessed with my cleansing routine and I really want it to feature the best possible product. Obviously, it's no surprised that I picked up the Physicians Formula The Perfect Matcha Cleansing Balm as soon as I saw it in store. It was always going to happen. I suspect that we're going to start seeing more and more cleansing balms coming at the drugstore in the near future and I am really, really excited about that fact - I'll almost certainly review them all. 

So, how does it stack up? Keep reading for more!

The Physicians Formula The Perfect Matcha 3-in-1 Melting Cleansing Balm has a light, fresh scent that's really pleasant, almost spa like, and isn't at all overwhelming. Personally, I think it's a really lovely smell and the lightness of it definitely adds to the experience of the cleansing routine. The texture is actually quite thin and it quickly melts into the skin. I've tried cleansing balms that are a little bit richer in texture and tend to prefer those, but the smooth feeling of this on the skin and the way it really works into the skin easily is quite enjoyable as well, if a little bit less luxurious. 

For me, cleansing balms are my preferred first step in my nighttime cleansing routine and I need something that's really going to break down and remove makeup to prep for my second cleanse. This one does a seriously good job of that and really gets in there and breaks everything up. Though they do say to rinse this, my preference is definitely to work it into the skin until it feels like everything is broken up and then remove it with a warm washcloth. You can also emulsify it with some water, if that's what you're into, but I've never tested it that way because I absolutely loathe the feeling of emulsified oil on my hands and face. After removing it with a washcloth, I do find that it removes pretty much all of my makeup with ease and no need to scrub or use makeup remover. The only exception to this, in my testing experience, has been waterproof mascara. While it does mostly break up and remove my mascara, I do tend to have to go in with a micellar water afterwards to really get every trace.

I feel like I would be remiss if I didn't mention the elephant in the room with this cleanser, which is the question of whether or not it's a dupe for the Farmacy Green Clean Makeup Removing Cleansing Balm. Honestly, I think that the design of this product was likely intended to draw those comparisons, which you can do with what you will. These types of things are becoming more and more of a hot button lately and I'm still sort of figuring out where I fall on it. 

As for the practical comparison, I actually did test these two against each other, with each product on one half of my face, and found that they are very, very similar both in how they feel and how they perform. Personally, I have to say that the Farmacy Green Clean still edges this out as my favorite, whether it's because of the fresh lime scent or a little bit more richness in the texture. Still, they really do perform very, very similarly and I think people who like the Farmacy will likely enjoy this one as well. 

Overall, I'm really, really happy with this product and quite enjoy using it. Like I said, it hasn't quite reached the level of my favorite higher end cleansing balms, but I think that for the price this is a really, really good option. That being said, I think we're going to see a lot of drugstore cleansing balms emerging in the market in the upcoming year and I'm really curious to see how they stack up, particularly because this is a little spendy for drugstore considering the volume of product that you get, and I think it'll soon start seeing more competition. 

The Physicians Formula The Perfect Matcha 3-in-1 Melting Cleansing Balm is widely available now  and it definitely gets my recommend!

Thanks for reading!