Micellar Waters, Cleansing Waters. What are they?

One of the most important steps in taking care of our skin is cleansing it. Sunscreen, makeup and dirt have to come off at night. How we like to do it is totally personal and the choice of products is made according to one's skin type. I have 4 different cleansers in my cabinet. Unscented baby oil, a creamy cleanser, a foaming cleanser and a cleansing water.

What are they?

These cleansers also known as Eau Micellaire or Micellar Water, have gained quite a following in the past few years. It seems that every cosmetic company out there is coming out with one and for good reason since they are very convenient. They are a mixture of water and extremely fine oil particles without emulsifier so they give the skin the freshness of water, paired with the efficacy of oil with no need to rinse off. 

Read on for reviews of the ones I've tried so far...........



How to use them? Just like a toner. I use a large cotton pad and do a few swipes all over my face, neck and décolleté. I use a small cotton round for the eye area. This is one of the perks of micellar waters, they can remove eye makeup but if you wear waterproof mascara, you may need an oilier cleanser of just plain oil. You can remove the excess oil with your micellar water. I find this works well for me. I rarely wear waterproof mascara and when I use oil for removal I always need to remove the excess otherwise it ends up in my eyes. I used to use water for this but once in a while, would still get blurry vision. I no longer have that issue with my micellar water.

They can be used on sensitive skin but just be careful, do not press too hard and do put enough micellar water on your pad otherwise it may end up being irritating.

Now years ago I worked for Jeanne Gatineau which is known these days as simply Gatineau. This was when I fell in love with the one step cleanser/toner for morning. The Lotion Tonique Capucine promoted as a toner, was used by many who used this brand of skin care, in the morning, as a refresher/cleanser. In those days I was pretty oily and this did a perfect job removing oil accumulated at the surface of the skin during the night, gently and without irritation. I guess in a way, it was my first "micellar" like cleanser.

Gatineau, Lotion Tonique Capucine,

 part of the Moderactive^TM  line 

In the next few days, I'll be posting my reviews of the ones I've tried so far. RoC, Bioderma, Avène, Caudalie and Nuxe.

RoC   

Bioderma

Avène

Caudalie

Nuxe / Nuxe New Micellar Water

Biotherm

Marcelle

Boots No 7 Beautiful Skin Cleansing Water

Sephora Triple Action Cleansing Water

Klorane

L'Oréal



Photo credit: Tsukubai at Ryoan-ji, it is traditional for Buddhist temples for visitors to purify with the ritual washing of hands and mouth, water running from a tube called a kakei.