December 10, 2011

Cleansing Waters & Oils: the BEST way to remove your makeup

a story about a girl named Ali:

up until recently, like many girls out there, Ali would remove her makeup at night with a Neutrogena cleansing wipe, rubbing and scrubbing at her sensitive skin with the harsh little cloth, black stuff streaming from her eyes, and a stinging sensation on top of it all. then she would wash her face thoroughly, like all good girls do every night, dry off with a washcloth, or wipe her face with a toner-soaked cotton pad, only to see remnants of makeup still coming off her pretty little face. 

bottom line: though makeup-removing wipes like the Neutrogena ones may seem like the easiest method of getting your skin clean at night, it is not the most effective.

a discovery of cleansing waters and oils has completely changed my routine at night. it is easier, gentler, and works better than ANYTHING i have ever tried before. 

i started with using cleansing waters, because with my oily skin, i could not imagine rubbing an oil all over my face. it still makes me cringe. 

i purchased a micellar water from one of my favorite skincare brands, La Roche Posay.
La Roche Posay Physiological Micellar Solution
i would squirt this cleansing water all over a cotton round and wipe it over my face and neck to remove makeup. it did a great job, but it did not effectively remove eye makeup. i used my favorite eye makeup removers afterwards. 

this cleansing water has a fresh scent and feels cooling and clean on the skin. you can use this in the morning in place of your regular cleanser to freshen up- you do not need to rinse this product off. this is a nice product to have on hand for quick cleansing in the morning or just to rid your face grime throughout a day without makeup, but as for removing all of my makeup at the end of the day, i needed something a little more powerful.



i took the plunge and tried a cleansing oil... and i haven't looked back since.

there are many cleansing oils on the market, but most are in the slightly higher price range, and without being completely sold on the whole rubbing-oil-all-over-my-acne-prone-skin-thing, i wanted a less expensive alternative to try out. 

my local CVS stocks the skincare brand Lumene, and i noticed they had a cleansing oil in their line that cost about $10. [after purchasing the second to last bottle of this product on the shelf, i noticed they have not been re-stocked and the website does not list this product. it may be being discontinued or repackaged. let's hope its the latter.]


Lumene Revitalizing Cleansing Oil



the Lumene cleansing oil comes in a 200 ml pink bottle with a locking pump. it claims to be clarifying and soothing, and is an efficient but gentle makeup remover for the eyes and face. the product is geared towards dry skin, stating to massage the oil on and then rinse with warm water. for extra dry skin, this would be fine. for oily skin, an actual cleanser afterwards removes any excess oil. i agree that this oil is soothing and gentle, and extremely effective at removing eye and face makeup. it does have a scent, which at first, i really did not like. after using it for a few days, i got used to the smell and it doesnt bother me.

how i use cleansing oil: 

-- on dry hands, with a dry, fully made up face, i pump 3 or 4 pumps of the cleansing oil into my hands and rub them together. [depending on the oil and the size of the pumps, how many needed will vary! this pump puts out a very small amount of product- i would say i use about a quarter size of oil] 
-- i apply the oil all over my face, including, carefully, over my eye lids to remove my eye makeup. i then wet and rinse off my hands. you can SEE the oil breaking up the makeup on your face instantly. 
-- i rub my wet hands all over my face to emulsify the oil with the water, which most cleansing oils recommend you do. it turns the oil into a milky white liquid. this is good. 
-- once the oil is completely white, i massage the liquid into my skin, getting all areas of my face. then i go on to cleanse with my Cetaphil cleanser. 

after i cleanse, my face does not feel oily at all, the cleanser completely removes all of the oil. when i dry off my face, there is not a TRACE of makeup on the towel. literally, nothing. before i used a cleansing oil, either before or after i used my Cetaphil cleanser, i would go in with eye makeup remover on a cotton pad to get off my mascara and liner. when i use this oil, i dont  need to do that. everything is completely gone, mascara included!




once i finish the Lumene oil, i will be purchasing others to try.

as all of us American girls do, i WISH i could get my hands on Bioderma, although it is a cleansing water, it is supposed to be A-MAZ-ING at removing makeup, comes in huge bottles... and pixiwoo uses it, so, thats enough for me! does any site ship Bioderma to the US?

the only other oils that i know of are Boscia's Makeup Breakup Cool Cleansing Oil, and the Shiseido cleansing oils. i have heard great things about both; but i would like something in a big bottle and in a medium price range. pretty please tell me about any other oils out there!







<3

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