Makeup removers

When I was younger and had serious acne problem, I always envy girls with good complexions who look good with or without makeup. Given the sensitivity of my face whereby it will turn red easily, I always will need a good foundation to even out the redness of my face. But my concern then was also if the application of makeup will aggravate the acne condition. I consulted this salesgirl from Clinique many years ago (I became her regular regular customer as I was using alot of Clinique stuffs when I was younger and she is someone who gives genuine advices and not out to make the extra bucks from me) and she said it is important to properly remove the makeup for everyone, regardless of whether they had good kin or bad.

Even since then, I always have placed an important emphasis on getting a good makeup remover which can thoroughly cleanse and remove away the makeup without the harsh effect on the skin. There are basically a few types of makeup removers: Oil, Rinse away in gel / foam version, Lotion and Water. And there is also the more convenient makeup removal wipes. I have tried the different versions and below are the brands that I have tried and tested.

1: Rinse away version

Clinique Wash Away Gel Cleanser was my 1st makeup remover that I have tried. Back then which was years ago, I have oily and acne prone skin thus I need something that is stronger and gel based so that it doesn't feel oily on my skin. Using this cleanser is similar to using any normal cleanser, squeeze the gel out from the tube, massage on the face and then rinse off, it's that easy. Then followed by the normal cleanser. IT IS IMPORTANT TO DOUBLE CLEANSE.

I stopped using this cleanser after the 1st tube as I found it too strong and drying for me.

2. Lotion

Lotion form makeup removers are usually creamy in texture and more moisturising thus this will allow your skin to feel more comfortable and not drying after wash. However, it is usually non rinseable due to the creamy texture thus after massaging the lotion on the face, we have to use cotton pads or tissue papers to wipe then off before we followed with our usual daily cleanser.

Clarins Cleansing Milk for combination skin was what I tried and although it's texture is creamy, it is not overly oily. Like all other Clarins products, it comes with a light fragrance (which I like). It does remove makeup thoroughly (except for waterproof mascara) but I dislike the hassle of using tissue papers to wipe off the lotion thus I did not continue with this anymore.

3. Water

The new technology in makeup removing is using cleansing water. I have tried a trial size of Cleansing Express Bright Up. The selling point of this makeup remover is that it is a makeup remover and cleanser in 1, thus double cleanse is not necessary. However, I still followed with my normal cleanser after using this as I feel the cleansing water alone will not remove ALL traces of makeup. The instruction usage is to pour the cleansing water on cotton pads and wipe the makeup off the face. For full makeup, we will need approximately 4  pads to remove all makeup thoroughly. Like lotions and rinse off formula, it doesn't remove waterproof mascara well as well. What I dislike about this is that I ended up using ALOT of the cleansing water to remove my makeup and I end up finishing the product very fast (my habit is to keep wiping until the cotton pad remains clear and thus i easily use 4 - 5 pads when removing full makeup).

However, when you are on a makeupless day (only will sunblock), this will be a good cleanser as 1 - 2 pads is sufficient to remove the sunblock. (PS: You do know you need to double cleanse even when you only apply sunblock right???).

4. Oil

We always think that oily skin should not use oil based makeup removers but we are WRONG! Oil based makeup removers can remove makeup better than any other form of makeup removers and cleanser for oily skin as 'oil removes oil'. So the oil cleanser not only removes the makeup but the oil on the skin. My personal favourite is oil based make up remover like Fancl's Mild Cleansing Oil which can even remove waterproof mascara all in one (ie I do not need a separate eye makeup remover for my eye makeup ).

1 tip when using oil based makeup remover is our hands and face must be dry so that when we massage the oil onto the face, it does not emulsify 1st. After massaging, wet your hands and using your damp hands, massage your face again and that's when you see the oil changing into milky coloured water. After which, you can rinse off and VIOLA!!! your makeup is remove. Your face will not feel oily in anyway and feels totally clean but not tight. Fancl is my favorite makeup remover and I have been using it bottles after bottles.

Have also tried Biore's Hydra-Clear Makeup remover and Kose Seikisho Perfect Cleansing Oil but they don't remove waterproof mascara well enough like Fancl thus Fancl is still the best!