Who Nose: Farmacy Green Clean Makeup Meltaway Cleansing Balm Review

Why do I love Farmacy Green Clean AND why will I not repurchase?

The scent.

After sniffing 4 tubs of this cleansing balm, I concluded that the scent (the true joy factor) is extremely inconsistent from batch to batch. With an unreliable joy factor, this is just not worth the risk to buy.

I actually loved this on first smell when Bella Noir Beauty (her review here) let me try hers after raving about the scent: key lime pie mixed with heaven. Throw in the creamy lime color, and there was SO MUCH JOY that I resolved to buy this the next time I needed to restock cleansing balm. I also recommended this to a few of you during the fall Sephora sale based on pure yumminess.

Joy factor aside, it’s an excellent product (and $34 for 3.2 fl. oz./90ml). It has a devoted spatula space, fully dissolves waterproof eye makeup, and rinses away completely–leaving skin soft and clean. And maybe that’s all you’re seeking in a cleansing balm. But lots of Korean sherbets do that and do it for cheaper (Botanic Farm, Banila Co.), so the standout feature is really the scent.

To my surprise, the balm that I bought had hardly any lime scent and smelled like wax. Farmacy sent a replacement after I politely inquired about whether the formula had changed. Welp, the replacement had a stronger lime scent but still nowhere near the one I originally sniffed.

What happened?! It was like reuniting with an old clubbing buddy only to discover she can’t stop talking about her kids. Zzzzz…

If any of you have this balm and find that your scent experience doesn’t match up to reviews, this might explain why!

Who nose what yours will smell like or what it’s even supposed to smell like. Sephora’s product page refers to an “aromatic blend of lime, bergamot and orange essential oils”—but how aromatic?

I’ve sniffed 4 tubs so far and they’ve each varied:

1. 100% lime-y lusciousness in Bella Noir Beauty’s 1st tub (the one that spurred me to recommend it and buy it for myself).
2. 75% in her 2nd tub.
3. 30% in my 2nd tub (the replacement from Farmacy).
4. 5% in my 1st tub. Seriously. Zero joy.

Sad to say, but I will not be repurchasing or recommending Green Clean until Farmacy steps up the quality assurance…or unless I can get free sniffs of a new tub at Sephora without getting escorted out.

Farmacy Green Clean Ingredients