It seems like everyone is gaga over the Clarisonic. I like it but I’m part of that percentage where it didn’t really change the state of my skin like it has with some people. And that’s ok. So in looking at the phenom of using a tool of some sort to assist in the cleansing of the skin, I wanted to explore other vehicles, so to speak, that cleanse and exfoliate that won’t break the bank, and here are some I came up with that you may want to consider.

DEW PUFF Asian Clay ($7 @ walgreens.com) – made from the root of konjac (a plant native to Asia), this puff feels more like a rock than a soft puff through the packaging but not to fret, once it hits water, it soften up nicely.; almost to a jelly-like state. Use with or without cleanser and just replace it every 3 months.

WONDER CLOTH All Natural Make-Up Remover Cloth ($15 @ amazon.com) – seems to be modeled after the muslin a little bit. This one removes makeup and cleanses the skin nicely, not to mention it feels better running across my skin than a washcloth, and can be used over and over. And the biggest bonus is that the white cloth doesn’t stain! It says on the box that it, “removes makeup instantly with just water,” but I found I had to use some kind of cleanser/makeup remover. I love the cloth though. 

I’ve also discovered that there’s a whole underground dedication to the Muslin Cloth. The Muslin Cloth is a specially woven thin cloth made with 100% cotton that was introduced to Europe from the Middle East. It’s used in dress making, culinary, theater set backdrops (it holds dye well) and even medicine as a type of gauze. I’m not sure when people started using it in beauty but the trend seems to be gaining steam. And it’s funny because part of what I like about beauty is how things look i.e. packaging, design etc and these just look like thin pieces of white or beige cloth. So they are nothing really to look at as you can see from the below photo.

From what I’ve gathered, this kind of cloth is an excellent facial exfoliator and I must agree as my face feels really soft when I just use it with my regular face cleanser a few times a week. The only downside I’ve come across from using these is that they stain really easily if you have makeup on. So what I do is remove my makeup first and then use it to clean my skin. But of course some makeup still seems to find its way onto the cloth and no amount of washings in the washing machine seem to get it out. Oh well, it’s good that they are not expensive.

I first became aware of them through the Liz Earle line a few years ago and right now, which I’ve shown in the above photo, and I only know of three major beauty brands that make them that I list below but I also did a google search and see that amazon sells some no name muslins here.

LIZ EARLE Pure Muslin Cloths - $6/2 cloths, $15/3 x 2 cloths @ birchbox.com.

EVE LOM Muslin Cleansing Cloths - $22/3 cloths @ nordstrom.com. 

NEAL’S YARD REMEDIES Organic Muslin Cloth – currently you can only get their cloth when you purchase their Wild Rose Beauty Balm unless you purchase from their UK site here. Not sure why this be but it be. You can get the twosome on their site @ nyorganic.com. 

Is this muslin cloth or any of these something you are curious to try? 

Disclosure: Some of these items were provided for review purposes. Some I bought.