Whether you’re sitting in an office all day, or out and about, your skin has undoubtedly been dealing with some less than clean situations.

You’ve had your makeup on for 12 hours, been sitting in an air conditioned room, and soaked up some environmental pollution as you crossed the street to get your lunchtime sushi fix. So before hitting the hay, it’s important to show your skin some love and wash the day away.

This week, beauty editor Lucy Slight gave her skin a little TLC with the new Estée Lauder Advanced Night Micro range. Read on to find out what she thought…

Estée Lauder Advanced Night Micro Cleansing Balm, $85

As a BIG fan of oil cleansers, it’s kind of a given that balms would be right up my alley. I have dry / combination skin, so using anything too foamy just strips all the much-needed oil away from my skin, leaving it tight and in desperate need of a cool drink of moisturiser. The new Estée Lauder Cleansing Balm is solid in the tub, so I scooped about a 20c piece worth with my fingers and massaged it onto dry skin.

Applying to dry skin is important when using balm and oil cleansers, as the oil needs time to warm up and melt away your makeup as you work it into the skin. I massaged in the balm for about 30 seconds (I get bored easily, so feel free to go for longer), then wet my hands with a little bit of lukewarm water and using circular motions, the water from my hands began to emulsify the balm. Thanks to the light, milky emulsion, you’re not left with any oily residue after rinsing. A good thing to note for oil cleansing virgins!

The end result? Every last scrap of makeup was gone with just one cleanse – even my mascara (which I often need to cleanse off twice). My skin felt clean, but not squeaky clean, and the massaging aspect helped to bring some colour and plumpness to my face straight away – so I’d say it’s the perfect way to cleanse the skin after a big night out.

Estée Lauder Advanced Night Micro Cleansing Foam, $70

If oil cleansers aren’t your thing (though, they really should be), Estée Lauder’s other newbie – Advanced Night Micro Cleansing Foam – provides a deep clean to wash the day away, again, without stripping the skin of those much-needed natural oils. Regardless of the formulation, I like to apply all cleansers to dry skin first so as not to dilute the product, so that’s exactly how I worked with this one.

The creamy formula glides easily across the skin and after an initial massage, adding in a little water with your fingertips helps to emulsify the cleanser into a beautifully silky, conditioning foam, which also washes off with no residue in just one rinse. It’s recommended to avoid the eye area with this one (whereas the Cleansing Balm is eye-friendly) – so if you have sensitive eyes, use an eye makeup remover first to gently remove any mascara and follow with the Cleansing Foam.

Again, my skin felt soft afterwards and completely clean, rather than tight. I followed with Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair serum and a nourishing night cream for an extra boost of moisture.