I can’t even express how excited I was to trial this. There has been so much hype in the land of internet recently about micellar waters, and this Garnier one particularly. It definitely lives up to the majority of the hype, but there’s just one thing that lets it down for me (ooh the suspense!!)…
This comes in such a generous sized, sturdy bottle, which is going to last forever given how little I have to use every time. I love that it’s clear, as that makes it easy to see how much is left. The dispenser is just a drip-through-the-hole type of one, but it works well, and I haven’t had any problems with it going everywhere.
I’ve used this with cotton-wool balls and round cotton pads, and the latter definitely work better. I squirt enough of the micellar water on to the pad so that it’s nice and soaked (the info card thingy said about half a teaspoon, which sounds about right), and then wipe it all over my face. It doesn’t sting, it doesn’t have any scent, it doesn’t foam up or turn a different colour… in short, it feels exactly like water. Soothing but refreshing. And damp. (Just thought I should clarify that :P)
In terms of removing my face makeup and eyeshadow, this stuff is magical. It seriously just melts it off – I don’t know how it can do it so easily! (well, I’ve read up on micellar water, but I still maintain it’s magic). I use one or two cotton pads for my entire face, depending on how much makeup I’m wearing, and when I follow up with toner not a speck of makeup comes off on that cotton pad. It literally takes me less than 30 seconds to get all my face makeup off, and that is pretty darn amazing.
I don’t find it leaves any residue, so although I have been following up with toner, I haven’t felt the need to rinse it off. I haven’t experienced any irritation or breakouts since starting to use this, and most importantly I haven’t had dry patches – something which is caused by a lot of cleansers for me.
All in all, this is amazing. Except. This makes me so sad. I wear a waterproof mascara, which I love. Unfortunately this just doesn’t do anything to remove it – I’ve tried using it so many ways, and even resorted to the dreaded scrubbing, and it just doesn’t do anything to budge it. Now, this probably speaks more for the mascara than the micellar water, but I’d read so many places that this would remove waterproof eye makeup super easily, so it was disappointing. What I’ve ended up doing is using a tiny bit of my oil cleanser just to get my mascara off, and then wiping that residue away with the micellar water. It works, it just adds an extra step to what otherwise is an amazingly quick and easy method of makeup removal.
Will I repurchase? Yes! Would I recommend to others? Definitely! Just be aware that if you have a stubborn waterproof mascara, this may not quite hit the mark.
I was so excited to trial this product because of all the hype surrounding it, and I am really impressed!
Firstly, I love how big the bottle is, and how small the price tag is. This is definitely something I can afford to buy again without thinking too much about it.
I do not wear a heap of makeup, usually just BB cream, mineral foundation powder, mascara and sometimes lippie. This miracle water does SUCH a fantastic job of removing this and leaves my skin feeling clean, refreshed and soft. No dryness at all.
I have been using a round cotton pad (both sides remove everything), soaked in probably about a 1/2 teaspoon of the liquid.
Overall, this is a very handy and effective product that I feel I will be getting a lot of use out of. I will definitely be recommending it to friends.