Quickie Review: Bioderma Crealine H2O Micelle Solution (Makeup Remover)

I’ve been umm-ing and aah-ing over whether to buy this product for a while. It’s easy to buy into products that there is so much hype about, and for around £20 a bottle it’s not the cheapest remover in the world, either. I finally found a decent price online (I went with leguidesante.co.uk and got a 100ml and a 500ml bottle with shipping for £19.47, give or take a penny) so I took the plunge.

…So, what is a micelle solution? LeGuideSante.co.uk writes that it’s a “Solution of fatty acid esters, both emulgatory and filmogenous, enables dirt to be emulsified and surface hydrolipidic film to be reconstituted.” That sounds like…someone has swallowed a thesaurus, no? Well, I’m buggered if I can explain it properly either, but apparently a micelle is a type of molecular cluster where one end is hydrophilic and one end is hydrophobic (one end attracts water, and the other repels it). Apparently bashing these clusters around on your skin causes them to suck up anything that isn’t water – so makeup, dirt, oil, etc.   Sounds pretty darn perfect, right? One would assume from that it’s good for dry skin, it’s also got no fragrance or alcohol, so good for sensitive skin, and t’internet let me know that you can apply makeup straight away after using Bioderma as well. ALL THESE THINGS SOUNDED GOOD.

So…. is it as awesome as everyone says? In a word… yes. In two words, UH, YES. It really does the job – taking of makeup – amazingly well. I’ve used it on everything from long-wearing foundation to mascara to gel liner and paint pots and it makes pretty darn short work of them all. You may need a little more work than others on say, waterproof mascara, but it really does the trick – even models I’ve used it on have commented on how good it is! It dries super quickly and doesn’t leave a residue, so you can apply makeup straight away again afterwards – it’s a life saver for correcting lipstick/liner whoopsies! (Not that I ever make any, of course >.> ) It doesn't dry out my already dry skin at all, either. I do still cleanse my face after using it, as my cleanser has other benefits than just taking my face off.

The only tiny negative is that where the consistency is almost exactly like water, you do need to be careful not to totally soak your cotton pad when you’re taking your eye makeup off, or when you press it onto your eye, you’ll get the product in your eye. It doesn’t hurt at all, sting or make your eyes red, it’s just not exactly pleasant!

While it isn’t the cheapest, you get tons for your money, a little goes a long way and it’s really a bloody good product.

(P.S…Who wants me to attempt a dodgy Union flag look for the Jubilee?)