Let’s Talk About Cleansing Water: Garnier SkinActive and Lumene Lahde Micellar Cleansing Waters

Cleansing water really exploded last year. I hadn’t heard of it before then, so I decided to grab two of them to test, to see how I like them. After all, I love the idea of swiping a few cotton pads across my face and just going straight to bed, but does it really work? Is it really just water? I ended up picking up the Garnier SkinActive Micellar Cleansing Water All-in-1 Cleanser & Waterproof Makeup Remover ($8.99) and the Lumene Lahde Micellar Cleansing Water ($7.99).

My skin type

Oily. I also get hormonal acne. I am currently working on tracking exactly when I start to break out.

What it’s supposed to do

Clean all the makeup and other undesirables off your face. The Lumene cleansing water claims to hydrate (nah, dries me out and I have oily skin). The Garnier SkinActive Cleansing Water has a pretty obvious “oil” layer. Super strange because smack dab on the bottle it says no oil, alcohol, or fragrance… so what the heck is it then? There’s some kind of separation going on in the bottle. The Lumene Cleansing Water has no such layer and looks just like water.

I had to look up micellar to understand what it actually meant. After trying to get through online biochemistry lectures, I came across Lab Muffin’s article on it, which explained it for a regular person to understand! Have a look at the ingredients.

Ingredients

Garnier 

Aqua/Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Isohexadecane, Potassium Phosphate, Sodium Chloride, Hexylene Glycol, Dipotassium Phosphate, Disodium Edta, Decyl Glucoside, Polyaminopropyl Biguanide. F.I.L.# D178190/1

Lumene 

Aqua (Water), Butylene Glycol, Betula Alba (Birch) Juice, Rubus Chamaemorus (Cloudberry) Fruit Water, Poloxamer 184, Propanediol, Phenoxyethanol, Allantoin, Ethylhexylglycerin, Disodium Edta, Polysorbate 20, Citric Acid, Sodium Hydroxide.

How I use it

I take a few cotton squares and soak them in the cleansing water. I swipe my face until I see no makeup left on the cotton square. It usually takes me three or four cotton squares, plus a dry one.

What I like about it

I like the convenience of cleansing water. Theoretically, you don’t need to wash your face with water after (but that’s not real life; wash your face after if you want to remove all of your makeup). Just wipe, wipe, wipe, moisturize, and abruptly go night night. Many-a-drunken nights, these cleansing waters have been there for me.

What could be better

Well, I wish the cleansing waters didn’t leave me feeling like I still needed to wash my face. The Garnier one makes my face feel cleaner than the Lumene one, but it also makes my face feel drier than the Lumene one. Also, the Garnier cleansing water claims it can remove waterproof mascara. False. Neither of these do that, and I wouldn’t suggest you try to remove waterproof mascara with these. It doesn’t burn when I try to remove waterproof mascara, but it feels like something is going on in my eyes. Just use your favorite cleansing oil or cleansing balm. If  you never wear waterproof anything, you’re in luck and you’ll likely love cleansing water! All in all, I think makeup remover wipes do a better job if I am feeling that lazy.

Joy Factor

On a scale of 1-10, cleansing water is a 4. It should be lower because it doesn’t remove every trace of makeup, but I have found the cleansing waters to be quite convenient in that if I feel too lazy to get up and to a proper face cleaning (it happens more often than I’d like), then this on my bedside is a lifesaver! Something is better than nothing! However, once I run out of these I won’t be repurchasing.

Where to indulge

Ulta

-XX

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3 Comments

  1. May 7, 2022 / 10:35 pm

    Awseome article, I am a big believer in leaving comments on blogs to help the blog writers know that theyve added something useful to the innertubes!

  2. May 6, 2022 / 5:36 pm

    I really enjoy this template you have got going on on your site. What is the name of the template by the way? I was thinking of using this style for the blog I am going to create for my school project.

  3. Unknown
    Author
    March 20, 2018 / 2:36 am

    I totally get what you mean about the miscellar water wanting to make out feel like washing your face again. I shared the same sentiments when I bought the bought the Garnier miscellar water in the blue packaging but then i tried the one in the darker pink packaging for normal skin and fell head over heels. It makes removing makeup so quick and effortless and feels so gentle. I also found a place for the greasy blue one too! I use that in rotation with the argan oil miscellar water to remove stubborn eye makeup. These cleansing waters have completely turned me away from my harsh makeup wipes and make it ridiculously easy to remove my makeup.

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