Facial wipes might be convenient, but how good are they really at removing all traces of your makeup?
You can blame it on a long day at work, or a fun night out with the girls, but sometimes you just don’t feel like washing off your makeup before going to bed. That’s usually when most of us reach for makeup removing wipes. I’m not going to lie, I do have a few boxes worth of facial wipes; they usually come in handy when I’m actually doing my makeup (to clean the eyeshadow fall out, to even out the eyeliner or to change my lipstick color at the last minute). One thing that I stopped doing a few years a go, was using them to remove my makeup at night. Here’s why.
After many years of suffering from acne and being way too harsh with my skin, I did my fair amount of research and I finally realized that you have to be as gentle with your skin as possible- especially when suffering from acne. When I used to use makeup removing wipes, my skin would burn, every single time, and I, for some strange reason, thought it was a good thing. I would rub and tug on my skin, which obviously irritated it and left it red and sensitive. When you use those wipes, it’s not like washing your face with water- in order for the makeup to “lift” you have to really wipe (or scrub) the makeup off which can really inflame your skin. Some wipes contain fragrance which also causes irritation. Another reason for which makeup removing wipes might not be ideal is they don’t actually remove all traces of makeup, even though it might seem like they do. I’ve tried lots of different facial wipes, and they all left that that sticky residue on my skin. This is because after removing makeup, the active ingredients in those wipes stay on your skin. For those who love and can’t give up the use of makeup-removing wipes (and let’s face it, even if you’re against it as much as I am, you will probably end up having to use them once in a while) the best and safest way to do it is to use a gentle cleanser right after to wash off the rest of your makeup and to remove those active ingredients left behind by the wipes. It sort of defeats the whole purpose and convenience factor of using the wipes in the first place, but if you care about your skin, it is necessary.
Now that you know why I don’t use makeup removing wipes, I’ll tell you all about my favorite products that I use to pre-cleanse my skin. I usually remove my makeup using any of these products, and then most of the time I follow up with a gentle cleanser.
During recent months I couldn’t stop raving about No.7’s Beautiful Skin Cleansing Balm. It’s one of my favorite products that I’ve discovered this year. It’s perfect for dry skin, it has a soft, balmy and creamy formula and it leaves my skin feeling very soft and smooth. This is something that I reach for when I’m wearing minimal makeup. This is nice for removing BB creams and tinted moisturizers, etc., but it doesn’t work that great when it comes to removing heavy makeup.
Another balm that I like to use to remove my makeup is the very well-known Clinique’s Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm. This is definitely a close match to No.7’s Skin Cleansing Balm. Although Take The Day Off is not as moisturizing, it is a little better at removing makeup, it’s also fragrance free and the formula is more “balmy” as well.
Another awesome cleansing balm, and one that’s great to try when you’re on a budget is Pond’s Cucumber Cleanser. This is also one of my favorite drugstore skincare products. You can find my review on this right here. I just want to point out that this stuff is great to use during winter when my skin gets dry.
Another thing that I’ve been doing for a few years now, is using oils as part of my skincare routine. Few weeks a go I raved about Garnier’s Clean Nourishing Cleansing Oil and I still love it. You can find my full review right here, but all you really need to know is that it’s great at removing makeup. I think that the packaging might be a bit misleading as it suggests that this is a mix of macadamia and jojoba oils, when in fact it’s mostly just mineral oil (which is totally fine by me, since mineral oil is awesome at removing makeup). Despite of what you might have heard, mineral oil is not actually bad for your skin, but even if you’re still skeptical you can totally this oil a try because it rinses very well.
Speaking of oils, my go-to for heavy makeup (especially eye makeup) is pure Jojoba oil. I get mine at Trader Joe’s. This is once again great especially in winter when my skin gets dry. This Jojoba oil definitely has a thicker consistency that the Garnier oil, but it’s absolutely great at removing all traces of makeup, even waterproof mascara.
What kind of products do you guys like to use for removing your makeup?