Micellar Water Cleansing Solution

I've been keen to try a Micellar Water for quite a while now.  I decided to hold off buying one until I'd been away on holiday as I'd heard that they were generally much cheaper in France so I was hoping Spain was the same.

I was initially trying to track down the now infamous Bioderm version (Bioderma Créaline H2O Micelle Solution) which everyone seems to have blogged about but nowhere seemed to stock it, although they did stock Bioderm products.  After several unsuccessful visits to various pharmacies and cosmetics stores I stumbled across this in the beauty section of a local Carrefour (a Spanish supermarket). 

It was 5,90 euros for the 500ml bottle so I decided to give it a try as it seemed very similar ingredient wise to all the others I have seen reviewed and looked to be a very similar product.

I used the Agua Micelar (I think we can safely assume this is the Spanish for Micellar Water, although I'm not 100% sure ;) ) for the majority of the 10 days I was away and although it felt nice enough on my skin and definitely didn't cause any break outs I really wasn't blown away initially.

I found for removing eye make up it really wasn't up to the job, it was fairly poor at removing eyeliner (I wear Urban Decay 24/7 liners around 95% of the time)  and in the end I resorted to removing my eye make up as normal and then using the Micellar Water afterwards.  It took off skin make up like foundation and powder fairly well, but the fact that it didn't remove all my eye make up put me off a bit.

However, I persevered and in time I have actually grown to really like this product.  I think initially my problem with eye makeup removal was that I was being too impatient.  I now find that when I thoroughly soak a cotton pad in the cleanser and hold it over my eye for a good few seconds it does remove the eye liner pretty well, with the bonus of being very gentle and not stinging my eyes at all.

It's definitely a very gentle product, and totally scent free, which may appeal to some people but doesn't really appeal to me.  I like my products scented and I like to feel they are really working and with this product there was no scent and it really did feel like rubbing a bit of water on my face which isn't conducive to me feeling like I have a squeaky clean, make up free face.

So, a mixed review in all.  I do like this product and I do use it a lot although I don't think it's suitable to be used alone to remove all your make up and complete your skin care routine (which Micellar Waters are sometimes sold as doing).  Personally, I like to use it either before properly cleansing my face or after I have already used a wash off cleanser, it does remove make up well and it is very gentle on my skin, I suppose the most telling thing is that I have asked my mum to bring me a second bottle over from Spain when she visits, so it can't be doing that badly.

Here's a final bottle shot just because it looks lovely in evening sun:

Have you tried another version of a similar product?  How did you find it?  Are they all similar or is it worth trying another brand when this bottle eventually runs out?