THE #MBFWA MICELLAR WATER CLEANSING CHALLENGE

It’s Fashion Week, and after a 14-hour day, cleaning a full face of makeup before finally hitting the sack is always a drag. (Anything that delays getting into that cotton cocoon is a drag.)

Rather than using makeup wipes that all too often leave behind an astringent residue, this year, before embarking on the madness, we swiped 5 bottles of micellar water from the Gritty Pretty beauty cupboard to test. Quick recap: micellar water is a soap-free makeup remover containing active micelles or tiny oil particles suspended in water, so it’s gentle on skin but dissolves makeup as effectively as an oil. Curious? Longer recap, here.

To make this a fair test, we wore a similar face of makeup everyday – and here’s how each fared:

DAY 1: Model Co. Micellar Water

Model Co. launched their own micellar last month as part of their ever-expanding skincare range, and its consistency is the closest to water of any micellar water we’ve tried. Lightweight, pure and leaving no residue behind, their solution removes most of your makeup with three solution-soaked cotton pads. You’ll need to put some elbow grease behind your wipe to completely get rid of leftover shimmer specs, though.

DAY 2: Ultraceuticals Ultra B2 Micellar Water (Available 1st June).

This one cuts through layers of makeup like a champ, removing the majority of your coverage – even down to your primer – in one swift wipe. We also love that the liquid didn’t seem to evaporate or completely absorb into the cotton pad so a little goes a long way. This was also the only formula we tested all week that removed traces of shimmer with just one wipe. That’s what we’re talking ’bout.

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DAY 3: Nivea Sensitive Caring Micellar Cleansing Water

While others left our skin feeling bare, this Nivea micellar cleansing water made our skin feel soft and supple. Formulated with dexpanthenol, an active ingredient that helps moisturise dry, irritated skin, and antioxidant-rich grape seed oil, this gentle formula was exactly what our skin needed after three consecutive days of wearing a full face of makeup. Though calming and mild, it measures up against other micellar cleansers and took all of three drenched cotton pads to remove all traces of makeup.

DAY 4: Garnier Pure Active Micellar Water All in One

If you’re already a fan of Garnier’s hugely popular Micellar Water, you’ll love this one from their Pure Active range. Prescribed for oily/combination skin types, it’s great at pre-empting breakouts – perfect for Fashion Week. Fragrance free, dermatologically tested and safe on eyes (SO important when you’re only barely awake, cleansing after a late night), this inexpensive and reliable micellar gets the job done with two cotton pads. We’d also rate it as one of the better micellars for removing shimmery eye makeup.

DAY 5: Essano Rosehip Gentle Facial Cleansing Micellar Water

On day five, we used Essano’s rosehip oil and aloe vera-infused micellar water. This one was more emollient and tended to foam up so personally, we’d rinse off after use. The certified organic and pH-balanced solution won’t irritate skin and like others we tested it dissolves most makeup with two to three soaked cotton pads. A little effort was required to get rid of those pesky shimmer specs, but that’s ok when you’re using a formula as gentle as this one.

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Have you tried micellar water yet? No? What Are you waiting for?!