Micellar cleansers are amazing: they look and feel like water, yet they get rid of even the most stubborn makeup without damaging the skin. The skin is also not sticky afterwards. The secret is that they have micelle molecules (tiny particles where the head interact with water and the tail with oil, nicely explained here), so it works with water-soluble as well as with oil-soluble dirt. It is suitable for all skin types
Micellar cleansers seem to be a French invention, and used to be a secret tip. However they seem to be getting pretty popular and gradually available outside France.
I have written a post about Micellar cleansers in the past but deleted it by accident, so I decided to write this post. Since that time I have tried several other nice micellar cleansers which I wanted to show you.
How to use a Micellar cleanser:
Wet a cotton pad or microfibre cloth with a bit of the micellar solution, and wipe your face with it. Repeat with a fresh pad / cloth till the skin is clean. You don't have to wash the micellar solution off, which makes it super practical for travels. I do however like to wipe my face with rose water to even out the pH level.My Favourite Micellar Cleansers:
DIY micellar cleanser for sensitive skin from Zrob Sobie Krem
I love this one because it is the gentlest of all the micellar cleansers I have tried. It is based on rose water (and contains no water), is full of moisturising ingredients, and doesn't irritate the eyes. If you add the preservatives, it will last till 6 months in the fridge. As all the ingredients are pre-measured and nicely packaged, all you need to do is mix everything together.Unfortunately the micellar cleanser does not yet appear on the english-language version of the site, but you can try shooting them an email or trawling your local DIY-cosmetic sites from a similar product.
Cattier Perle D'Eau Solution Micellaire Démaquillante
Finally a certified-natural micellar cleanser! It is gentle and effective, and at around 10€ for a bottle of 300ml it is quite affordable as far as micellar cleansers go. It contains no alcohol or perfume. It is the one I use when I can't get my hands on the one from Zrob Sobie Krem.Ecocert certified, and thus cruelty-free. You can get Cattier at Müller drugstore and many natural-food stores, and on their web site shipping is for free starting at 20€.
Ingredients: Aqua, Citrus Aurantium Amara Flower Water*, Rosa Damascena Flower Water*, Sodium Coco-glucoside Tartrate, Benzyl Alcohol, Sodium Benzoate, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract*, Sweet Almond Oil Polyglyceryl-6 Esters, Lactic Acid, Linalool.
Melvita Organic Rose Nectar Fresh Micellar Water
Another nice natural micellar cleanser, which however does not match up to the one from Cattier. At 13,90€ per 200ml it is much more expensive, it is also a tad less gentle than Cattier. It contains alcohol and also perfume (most probably essential oils as it is a certified natural product, however any kind of scent is superfluous in a cleansing product and has the potential to irritate the skin). The Melvita micellar water has to be used upwithin 3 months of opening, so it has a much shorter life than the others.Ecocert-certified, cruelty-free.
Ingredients: Aqua/Water - Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Fruit Water* - Glycerin - Alcohol* - Rosa Damascena Flower Water* - Rosa Canina Flower Extract* - Rosa Damascena Flower Oil - Caprylyl/Capryl Gluciside - Levulinic Acid - Sodium Levulinate - Sodium Benzoate - Potassium Sorbate - Parfum/Fragrance – Geraniol** - Citronellol** - Linalool** - Citral**. * Ingrédients issus de l’Agriculture Biologique / Ingredients from Organic Farming ** Constituants naturels du concentré aromatique / Natural components of fragrance
Bioderma Sensibio Micelle Solution (formerly Crealine)
I'm talking here about the Sensibio micellar cleanser from Bioderma, not the regular one which is much harsher. This is probably the gentlest of the conventional micellar cleansers that I know. I liked it quite a lot but the one from Cattier won in the price, ethics and ingredients department. Bioderma retails for ca 12€ for 250ml and can be bought at drugstores. Outside of Europe it is often ridiculously overpriced.Ingredients: Water (Aqua), PEG-6 Caprylic/Capric Glycerides, Propylene Glycol, Cucumis Sativus (Ccucumber) Fruit Extract, Mannitol, Xylitol, Rhamnose, Fructooligosaccharides, Disodium Edta, Certimonium Bromide.
If you can't get hold of any of these micellar solutions, it is worth taking a look at your local drugstores and cosmetic stores. You can be surprised at what you find -- in Poland a micellar solution form a cheap supermarket brand (Biedronka) is all the rage among beauty bloggers. And pssst, I asked the Alverde people to produce their own micellar water, wouldn't it be lovely if they actually did it?
Have you tried a micellar cleanser? Got any recommended products?
