Drugstore Smackdown is a new series where we put drugstore products up against their more spendy versions and see if we should spend the money or just save the money!
Whether you are looking to save money on products you already love, or you want to try a type of product for less… and we all want to try products for less… then this is the series for you! So much fun to be had trying to save money!!!
In this Drugstore Smackdown we have two Cleansing Balm’s that have a lot of organic ingredients. I fell in In a deep like with Beatutycounters Cleaning Balm when we received them in Popsugar Must Have. The jar looks a little different but it is the exact same product. I checked the ingredients to be sure. Anyway at $80 there was no way I would be able to keep the habit up! I needed to find out if I could get something less expensive but still nourishing enough to soften my skin while taking the grime off.
Not gonna lie, I gotta a lot of grime on my skin
During a sale at Target I came across Boots Botanics Cleaning Balm and it looked pretty similar. It was during the one day 20% off beauty sale and it stacked with their current (at the time of posting) sale of buy 1 get one 50% off. Fancy! At full price $8.49 isn’t bad if the product works. However if you jump on the current sale you can snap these up for $12.74 for two or $6.37 each!
Obviously the chance to find a deal was so alluring I could not help but jump on the deal. I know I am swimming in beauty products but I told myself that I would write a post about it. Unlike most times I do this, I actually am doing it! Yay!
I ended up getting 20% off of $6.37 making each jar $5.10!
Beautycounter Cleaning Balm: Lets take a closer look at the more expensive version. As you can see there is no color and the balm is solid without being really waxy. The muslin cloth is large and made really well. It is thin and see through like a hot nightie on date night! The directions are to apply an small amount of balm to your face and neck in circular motions and then using warm water and the cloth to remove. Then rinse with cool water. They say you can do this every night! Fancy!
Boots Botanics Cleaning Balm: The jar feels less luxurious and I won’t be Getting any ooks of envy having this out in the bathroom. The consistency is very close to that of the more expensive version. It has a color though, but it must be from the green ingredients as there is no fragrance or color added to this (again like the expensive version). The directions are similar. You put it on your dry face, rub in a circular motion, then take off with a the cloth in warm water. They do say you can put the warm cloth on your face and let it sit there, and then use cold water and the cloth to remove.
SMACKDOWN TIME!
Beautycounter | Boots Botanics | |
Price: | $80.00 | $8.49 |
Size: | 1.5 oz. | 2.1 oz. |
Cost Per oz.: | $53.33 | $4.04 |
Certified Organic Ingredients | Yes, not all | Yes, not all (97%) |
Made in: | USA | UK |
Cloth: | Yes, Muslin | Yes, Muslin |
Scouper: | Yes, Plastic | No, use your paw |
Jar Material: | Glass | Plastic |
Beauty Balm | Shared | Boots |
Caprylic/Capric Triglceride | Olea Europea (Olive) Fruit Oil | |
Prunus Armenaca (Apricot) | Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil | Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil |
Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter | Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter | Cera Alba (Beeswax) |
Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Wax | Prunus amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil | Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter |
Cetearyl Alcohol | Cetearyl Alcohol | Prunus amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil |
Glyceryl Stearate SE | Cetearyl Alcohol | |
Polyglyceryl-3 Cocoate | Rosa Canina seed oil | |
Silica Silylate | Limonene | |
Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter | Citrnellol | |
Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil | Pelagronium Graveolens Leaf Oil | |
Simmondsia Chinesis (Jojoba) Seed Oil | Geraniol | |
Vitis Vinifera (Grape Seed) Oil | Citrus Aurantium Sinensis Peel Extract | |
Rubus Idaeus (Raspberry) Seed Oil | Linalool | |
Vaccinium Macrocarpon (Cranberry) Seed Oil | Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (Bergamot) Fruit oil | |
Aqua (Water) | Citral | |
Tocopheral (Vit E) | Citrus Limmon (lemon) Peel Oil | |
Tetrahexldecyl Ascorbate | ||
Alchohol | ||
Mimosa Tenuiflora Bark Extract | ||
Artemisia Pallens (Davana) Flower Oil | ||
Anthemis Nobilis (Roman Chamomile) Flower Oil | ||
Prunus Amygdalis Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil | ||
Rosa Damascena (Rose) Flower Oil | Note: Rose Flower Oil Contains Citronellol, Citral, Carvone, Citronellyl Acetate, Eugenol, Ethanol, Farnesol, Stearpoten, Methyl Eugenol, Nerol, Nonanol, Nonanal, Phenyl Acetaldehyde, Phenylmenthyl Acetate and Phenyl Geraniol. | |
Magnolia Champaca (Magnolia) Flower Oil | ||
Phenoxyethanol |
And The Winner Is…… Boots Botanic Cleansing Balm!!!
Both work at cleaning and making my skin soft. Beautycounter’s cleansing balm is just not $70 better than Boots. They both use a lot of organic and healthy ingredients. II did a test between them a few times testing each on one side of my face. After I could not tell the difference between them (don’t worry I wrote on my hand which side I had put what!). BEAUTYCOUNTER is a great brand but way out of my budget for most items. If you are looking to try a cleaning balm that is super close to the expensive stuff then Boots is a great option!
I hope you enjoyed this series and feel free to email me at subscriptionista@gmail.com if you have your own smackdowns or dupes you want to share with the rest of us!
No affiliate links in this post!
Awesome post!
Thank you so much!!! 🙂
I love this idea! I found that the Burts Bees cleansing balm from the Target box in May has a really nice smell and works just as well.
Thanks! I bet you could do some amazing head to heads! If you should ever wanna write one!
Very helpful! Thank you for laying this out for us!
Thank you so much and thanks for reading it! I was worried it would be boring.
Great comparison! I hope to see more like this in the future. And I’d pick Boots just because it’s a good name for a kitty!
Thank you sdbear!!! I like the name “Boots” as well. I also like to say things are “bootsy”
I love it! Awesome post.
Thank you so much for reading is Sub Bella! You and Mailbox Junkie are pretty much my favorites for natural beauty reads so it means a lot! 🙂 Remember when you told me about parabens?!? hahaha I was like “Wait why do people care?”
Ah-mazing post! Dont judge me but I was shoveling cheesecake in my mouth while I read this being like, uh-huh yes. . .
I think this a great comparison because if you notice Beauty Counter actually has ALOT more synthetic ingredients so just from a natural perspective I would say Boots wins!
Thank you so much!!! I was anxious because I am not as into organic stuff or whatever and I am always afraid I am going to miss something big. But I did notice that there were a ton of stuff in BC’s that Boots didn’t have and that while I would like more fancy oils, I don’t want them $70 more. I use it for cleaning and to help with dryness. Not so much anti aging…
Awesome post and great series idea!!!
Thank you girlie!!!!
Love this kind of post! I’m not very diligent about using all natural things, but I fell in love with that balm! I’m almost finished with it, so I will definitely be running out to buy the Boots! I hope that you do more posts like this in the future!
Great post! Very detailed and informative! I lol’d at the scooper comparison.
Thanks LC! I think this will be a fun series we can all get in on!!!
This is great to know! The Beauty Counter balm works great (although I never got the cloth), but $70 more great? I think not! Thank you for the comparison!
Thank you for reading and that sucks you didn’t get the cloth… did you get the dipper at least so that you didn’t have to sully your paw?
What a great post! I love it! Thanks.
I think I have to get myself excited enough to write out ingredients because I found mistakes on websites when doing this and was like whoa, I am glad I looked at the actual package!
I love this post too! More comparisons!! <3
🙂 I am looking for some and am thinking something sassy…
Wow! Thank you so much! Have you compared any other products between the two that you can blog about?
Thank you!!! I have so many to get done but yes I will have some more for sure. Let’s just say I have soooooooo much to review heh!
This is awesome I really appreciate this break down! Do you have more Beauty Counter comparisons? I want to find something that is similar to their Countermatch intense Moisturizer.
Disclaimer: I am in no way posting this to discredit you or your research. And I totally agree that $80 is a rather steep price.
I simply just wanted to mention that you actually have the travel size Beautycounter Cleansing Balm in your pictures. The travel size is indeed 1.5oz but it is not regularly sold on Beautycounter’s website. They had it available to purchase during the holidays as a gift set for $38. The $80 version of the Cleansing Balm that is always for sale on Beautycounter’s website is actually 2.75 fl. oz. That is all and thanks for reading!
Hey Emily! WHOOPS lol I guess I kinda screwed that up. I think Popsugar told us at the time of getting this that it was full size. I have no idea now. I think you make a great point and thanks for correcting an error in a thoughtful and helpful way!!!
I can’t say that it’s still worth the money but I can say that my Beautycounter one did last a really long time. 🙂
Thanks again!