Tuesday 28 July 2015

Micellar Waters: Tried & Tested

Unless you have been hiding under a rock for the last few months, you will most likely have heard about micellar water. Pronounced  "me-sellaire", the French brand Bioderma was the first one I came to know of over a year ago. However since then, bloggers and YouTubers have also been raving about one high street brand or another that has introduced this latest make-up remover/cleansing product to their line.
I am ashamed to admit that before I came across micellar water, I was a fan of good old baby wipes to take off my face at the end of the day. I'm not talking about a once in a blue moon type thing, after a few too many drinks, when wipes are the only conceivable option. Let's face it, after a night on the vino, removing any scrap of make-up at all deserves a high five, how you do it is irrelevant. No, in my case I am, WAS a lazy sod when it came to my skin care routine. I'm not going to pretend that I am a whole lot better, however now in my household, baby wipes are for the baby, kids and removing make-up swatches from the back of my hand. The new and (slightly) improved me, uses my new skin care favourite product to wipe away the grime before bed.
As someone who has very sensitive skin, the fact that there is no alcohol in this product meant I could confidently work my way through a range of different brands without caution. Regardless of which brand I have tried, I haven't been left with a stinging face or eyes.
So which brands have I tried and tested? Well, not a whole lot as I found my perfect brand early on in my mission to find the one for me. I began with L'Oreal's Skin Perfection Micellar Water, followed by Nivea's 3 in 1 Cleansing Water and ended with Garnier's version of the product.

Dipping my toes into the adult world of appropriate skin care, L'Oreal's water was a nice place to start.

There was no redness or discomfort during the removal process. My only dislke was that my face felt a little tight afterwards (and I do mean only a little), though nothing a moisturiser didn't sort out. I happily finished the bottle before moving onto the next brand. And that was...

Nivea. As a fan of their moisturisers I looked forward to giving this one a go and I wasn't dissappointed.

As with the L'Oreal one, there were no downsides when using the product and there was no taut feeling once I'd finished either. In fact, I would say my face felt like it had a layer of protective film over it and the feeling of clean skin and moisture felt comforting.

My journey ended with the Garnier Micellar Water.

It was the only one out of all three that gave me a sensation whilst using, and not a good one I might add. It wasn't bad or awful by any means, however given how the other brands felt on my face, I just didn't like the mild tingly feeling it gave  me, nor the tightness of the skin I was left with when done. I also found that my face became a tad red in appearance too so I didn't even get half way through this product, never mind finish the bottle.

After seeing the results of the Garnier brand, I realised how well the Nivea 3 in 1 Cleansing Micellar Water worked for me and haven't looked back since. 

The only thing that can tear me away from my favourite make-up remover would be the Bioderma brand. However at around three times the cost to purchase (which is still not expensive for skin care), I'm in no hurry to turn my back on something that works so well for me just yet.

What brand do you use? Let me know!
Lou xxx