Emma Hardie Cleansing Balm: Moldy?!

As you may know from my previous post, I've been fairly consistently using the Emma Hardie Cleansing Balm since I purchased it a year ago. Well, I was out for vacation for about a month and didn't bring along my big tub, only to return and find that it'd gone moldy! You can't quite see it in the picture, but it smells akin to how moldy food would in the fridge and I'm pretty sure can't be safely used anymore.

It's quite disappointing since most of you know this is not a cheap product, and I had quite a bit left. I suppose it has almost been a year, but still it's surprising. I think the main reason was probably because some water had gotten into the container (inevitable considering the tub-like packaging). I had decanted a small amount into a separate container for travel, and that one's still fine, so not really sure what went on with the big tub.

It's probably for the best since I wasn't very in love with this product. It doesn't do much of anything to remove makeup (I'd always find clumps of foundation still on my skin, and don't even get me started on eye makeup) and requires quite a bit of rubbing into the skin while using, which I think does more harm than good. Some people claim miraculous results on the texture of their skin, but for me? Meh, saw no difference even after a year, and feel like it even harmed my eye area what with all the rubbing required.

This is definitely going on the Products I Regret Buying list for 1) poor packaging, 2) exorbitant price, and 3) mediocre use.