Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Style and beauty

Looking for style advice? Chat all about it here. For the latest discounts on fashion and beauty, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

Original poster

Micellar water

41 replies

sonata1 · 18/08/2015 23:37

What does it do? I bought a big bottle of Garnier Micellar water half price but don't think it is good enough on its own to remove make up.I think someone else uses it after the BS camomile butter to remove all last traces of oil. Is it astringent like Nip and Fab? What is it made up of? Who uses it and in what way?

OP posts:
Floisme · 18/08/2015 23:39

It does nowt. Except sting a bit. I can't believe I fell for the hype Blush

BumWad · 19/08/2015 05:42

What is micellar water anyway? What's the difference between that and normal water?

ohidoliketobe · 19/08/2015 06:17

I've started using it recently and it's left my skin lovely and soft. The Garnier one too.
I use it in place of a toner and moisturiser as my cream was making my skin greasy. It does a good job of removing any final traces of make up and moisturising lightly.

dexter73 · 19/08/2015 07:26

I use it to remove make up and clean my face. It seems to do a good job and leaves my skin soft.
BumWad - it is water with tiny droplets of oil in it.

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 19/08/2015 07:38

What Flo said. It's good for cleaning make-up brushes though.

YouMakeMyDreams · 19/08/2015 07:46

I have no idea how I'm supposed to use the one I bought at the weekend I just tries it to get my make up off. I take my make up off with it then use a hot cloth cleanser afterwards to give my face a proper clean then tone and moisturise as normal. Don't have a scooby if I'm using it correctly but my skin is looking good so far and I need all the help I can get right now.

lndomitabIe · 19/08/2015 07:56

Isn't "micellar water" just detergent? When fairy liquid is mixed with grease, the emulsifying detergent surrounds the fat droplets in a coat of detergent molecules (i.e. Forming micells) to stop the fat joining up together into a blob, and instead dispersing the fat in the water so it can be washed away.

So isn't this just a ridiculous name that mean: weak detergent for your face?

homebythesea · 19/08/2015 08:08

I use it at night to get the worst of the makeup off before hot cloth cleanser. It's a useful extra step I think

MadHackedOffGnome · 19/08/2015 08:15

I have the LRP one, it smells lovely and I use it to take as much foundation and eye make up off as I can before tackling my face with a hot flannel and cleanser.

It is ridiculously overpriced though.

reallybadidea · 19/08/2015 08:16

No, the micelles are dispersed in the water already.

I really like it. It gets rid of my make up nicely and then I just splash with water and use moisturiser after. I think it would struggle to remove waterproof mascara, but it is otherwise great and much less faff than other methods. Oil cleansing method wrecked my face, it went so dry and flaky and it's only just recovered.

Ledkr · 19/08/2015 08:28

I do the same as above, it even gets off the benefit non budging eyeliner

Valsoldknickers · 19/08/2015 08:34

I use it both morning and night and rate it much higher than my old routine of double cleansing with cream/milk and toning.

My only complaint is that despite using two brands, Garnier and LRP Gel (overpriced as mentioned by PP above but excellent at night for removing foundation etc), there's something about it that makes my eyes incredibly sore. I now also use separate eye makeup remover. I have taken to sticking my face under the shower in the morning too. My skin is doing pretty well from the routine change!

Floisme · 19/08/2015 08:39

I'm suspicious of anything that instantly makes my skin feel soft. It normally means it's coated in something dubious.

Whoknows thanks for the tip - I was going to chuck it down the sink but that's a much better idea Smile

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 19/08/2015 09:50

The micelles of detergent have greater solubilising powers than separate molecules of detergent floating around in water. The detergent molecules are long chains with a polar and non-polar end. Water is polar, oil is non-polar, so in water at the right concentration the molecules form into little balls with the non-polar (oily) ends inwards away from the water. As it is the oily part of the detergent molecule that solubilises the make-up and oils from our skins, these are also drawn into the centres of the micelles and stay there instead of loose in the water. IYSWIM.

Vals - yes, both LRP and Garnier stung my eyelids very badly, the effect lasted days too.

Original poster
sonata1 · 19/08/2015 13:52

Thank you for all your input MNers. When I used it all over my face without rinsing my skin looked very flat with no glow. I think I am going to use it on my central zone only and see how it goes. I have those pesky sebaceous filaments on my nose so let's see if it makes any difference.

OP posts:
lndomitabIe · 19/08/2015 22:14

Whoknows that was almost a textbook chemistry answer but you've missed out the two key words used to label the parts of the emulsifier molecule!

Hydro...

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 19/08/2015 23:56

I have indeed, but wanted to keep it fairly simple Grin.

BitOfFun · 19/08/2015 23:59

So explain it again- is it good or bad? Grin

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 20/08/2015 00:03

In theory really good, in practice too harsh for my skin. Which is pretty sensitive, especially round the eyes. Of course the irritation could be down to fragrance or similar but having found two brands too harsh I'm not trying any more.

Limer · 20/08/2015 00:05

It's just diluted soap. They saw you coming.

LadyErrant · 20/08/2015 10:48

I use the Garnier one and really like it, it takes 3 cotton wool pads to remove all my make up (including waterproof mascara) and it doesn't irritate my skin at all.

I emailed Garnier to ask them the PH balance of it but they wouldn't tell me Confused so I've ordered some litmus paper and intend to test it myself.

If it does come up with a similar PH to soap I'll be very surprised as it seems very gentle. Even so I want to be sure!

Valsoldknickers · 20/08/2015 10:53

Would you mind letting us know your findings please LadyErrant?

Just curious as I would never wash my face with soap, don't know why, it's something that has subconsciously been drilled into me. Probably completely wrong (?) but I'd like to be informed.

BabCNesbitt · 20/08/2015 10:55

I've been using the Superdrug B micellar water for a while now - on to my 3rd bottle, and I've never paid more than four quid for it - and though I'm a little bit suspicious about how alcoholic it smells (a bit like that Clinique Clarifying Lotion), it doesn't seem to be drying my skin out. And it does get all the gunk off at the end of the day, which is pretty much all I'm looking for in a cleanser.

LadyErrant · 20/08/2015 11:55

Valsoldknickers yes I'll report back with the results! Soap generally is very alkaline on the PH scale and our skin veers towards an acidic balance so I'd imagine you're right not to use standard soap on your face.

MeganChips · 20/08/2015 12:37

I think it's great stuff. I'm using the superdrug pure one at the moment, followed by an acid toner and then superdrug pure serum. I got the cleanser and serum both for £3 so a real bargain.

My skin has never looked better. I struggle badly with most cleansers, they either make my skin scaly dry or spotty but don't react at all to Micellar.