Micellar waters are a very fancy name for a mild cleanser with the following characteristics: they have mild surfactants (or cleaning agents); are non-foaming and contain moisturising ingredients.
You can read about the technical detail on how micellar water or facial cleansers work at this BLOG.
What am I testing and why?
I am road-testing the Forest Essential micellar water, specifically the claim that it removes make-up.
Before photo
After applying a copious mix of waterproof, pigmented and shiny make-up, my forearm looked like this:
I then pressed down a pre-soaked (in micellar water) cotton pad on the above patch and counted to 5. Finally, I wiped over this area (quite firmly) exactly 4 times.
After photo
The results are good: what remains are the pigmented lipsticks and small remnants of the eye primer. Looking at the ingredients label, I am not surprised by the product’s good performance…
The ingredients
The primary surfactant is Decyl glucoside, which as an alkyl glucoside is moderately mild…its not as mild as Avene though. But the challenge with natural products such as this, is that they have to use Decyl glucoside, because of its plant origin.
I’d also mention that the product has Glycerin as the 4th ingredient. Glycerin is a humectant and its job is to attract water or draw water from the deeper epidermis and dermis allowing the skin to feel smoother (source: Draelos)
To buy, or not to buy?
This product clearly is a good make-up remover and I don’t think we can hold it against FE if it falls flat against Pat McGrath’s lipsticks, which undoubtedly are the most pigmented lipsticks on this planet.
This is not a product that I would be happy to repurchase. In the course of testing, I have used this product multiple times to remove eye make-up and each time I have lost about 3 -4 eyelashes. It’s the only product that does this.
Also, while no residue is left, it leaves my skin extremely tight and with a heavy feeling. The presence of excessive amounts of rose water and Ashwagandha extract (both of which are astringents) may explain this.
Finally, I completely appreciate this is a natural product, but why does a micellar water need SO MANY ingredients?!
SourceL Draelos ZD, The science behind skin care: Moisturizers. J. Cosmet Dermatol. 2018; 17:138-144