When I last reviewed a cleansing oil I mentioned that it wasn’t much good at removing my waterproof eye makeup, but that I was not terribly fussed about it, because I no longer use cleansing oils around my eye area. Instead, these days, I use a separate eye makeup remover before using a cleansing oil which I then avoid using around my eye area.
Its nothing new, to be perfectly honest, but the ball as they say, has just dropped for me as to why I should be doing this. And it comes down to the fragile skin around the eyes and how cleansing oils may result in your having more lines around your eyes. Just my thoughts ok, nothing scientifically proven so don’t go jumping all over me 😉
The principle behind a lot of cleansing oils for the face is that you massage it into your skin in order for it to lift away the dirt from your skin and even deep cleanse your skin. Some cleansing oils are I find more effective than others in doing this, and when I do use it properly, I feel gritty bits under my fingers as I massage the oil on my skin.
The other benefit of using a cleansing oil is just how easy it is to have a 1 step process of makeup removal and face cleansing in one. I used to just step into the shower, slather cleansing oil all over my face and remove my makeup. However, I would notice that for the most part, eye makeup is one of the most stubborn to remove, especially when you use a waterproof mascara. Even if it says it removes easily, you will find that you have to massage the eye area a little more, to loosen up the mascara to be washed away.
This is what stuck in my mind one day as I was “rubbing” my eye area. No matter how gentle my actions were, the daily repeated rubbing/massaging and stretching of the skin around the eyes can’t be very beneficial. Goodness knows just how much damage I might have already done over the years 😛
On the other hand, when I use a separate eye makeup remover, I find that movement of the skin around the eye area is reduced. I usually wet a piece of cotton pad with eye makeup remover, place over my eye for a minute or so, then wipe off. And for the most part, it does wipe off most of my eye makeup. If my mascara is being stubborn, I rub it a little more but without rubbing the whole eye area – just the lashes.
Granted, makeup removal now takes a bit longer due to this extra step, but I personally believe that its more beneficial to my skin around the eyes in the long run. Oh one more thing. Some cleansing oils can lead to oil seeds or milia if not properly emulsified so that’s another reason not to use cleansing oils around the eye area 🙂
Do you also use a separate eye makeup remover? Or do you prefer to stick to cleansing oils for a quick one step process? Have you given this some thought? Like I said, this tip is probably nothing new, but something that’s just struck me so I hope its useful for someone 😉
Paris B
Hey Paris, before I found Bioderma, I was also using a separate makeup remover for my eyes! When I got Philosophy Purity Made Simple, I was told that it could be used on my eyes too. I tried once, but just as you said, as gentle as I can be, I’m still tugging on my eye area more than necessary when I massage the remover in. Bioderma is way cool though. It takes quite a while to remove waterproof mascara, but you can use it all over your face and afterwards it just feels so clean and purified!
Hiya Sunny! I tried Bioderma for the eye area but it was such an abject failure! I could only remove eyeshadow but never mascara. Maybe it just doesn’t work well for stubborn waterproof Asian mascara 😀 So I stick to the 2 step makeup removal process even with Bioderma 😉
Ah yeah, I wish it’d remove waterproof mascara faster (and a lot faster at that), but for such a simple combination of ingredients I was pretty surprised how fast my gel liner surrendered! I really love how I can remove everything so easily (without splashing water on my face) after a day, and then I can lounge around in front of my computer with a cleansed face till it’s time to wash my face, apply lotion, and go to bed!
I always use a separate eye makeup remover. I don’t think cleansing oils are sufficient in removing my eye makeup,especially mascara. Best to do an extra step for clean eyes 😛
Good idea! Most of my cleansing oils take everything off, but ever since I realized that it was also attributed to all that rubbing, I decided it was time to go separate ways 😛
I like the Mandom Cleansing Express eye makeup remover sold at Watson’s. I actually prefer Sasa’s Swiss Line eye makeup remover as it’s similar to Mandom, but more expensive.
I just got Eucerin’s eye makeup remover but it’s weird. It looks like a cleansing oil but behaves like a normal cleanser. You do not need to leave the cotton pad on your eye for a while before removing. After removing, the skin around the eyes feels slightly ‘stripped’. Will not repurchase.
To clarify, Eucerin actually looks like a bi-phase remover, but I don’t like the feel of it as I am more used to Asian bi-phase eye make-up removers.
Thanks for the heads up about Eucerin! I’ll be sure to avoid it LOL! I have a Mandom Cleansing Express somewhere. I’m going to dig it out and give it another go soon 😀
Mandom Cleansing Express is my favorite! 🙂 And yes, I use separate eye makeup remover too cause cleansing oil often gives me milia seeds. :/
You’re right about tugging the delicate eye area. I always use a separate eye makeup remover. I don’t stick to one, but I prefer something that can easily remove waterproof mascara without all the oiliness! Lancome Bifacil was good, Kanebo did the job too, and I’m now using Dior’s. These 3 agree with my eyes. Don’t sting!
Ooh I like the Kanebo one too 🙂 Haven’t tried the other two but I tend to go with pharmacy brands because I’m very liberal with my eye makeup remover 😀 The Biore one is actually not bad 😉
Huhu good point, but sometimes I really feel too lazy to take off eye makeup by itself before I snooze! I do have eye makeup remover but use it only when I’m removing heavy eye makeup. Should start changing that now.
Ooh apparently if you leave makeup on your skin too long or overnight, it can actually age your skin so yes, proper removal of all makeup is quite essential. No matter how tired I am, I make sure my face is clean before I fall into bed 😉
I am one who is guilty of this! 🙁 Never thought it was harmful but you are right. They must have created those eye makeup remover for a reason. So guess what? I made my way to Caring & got myself an eye makeup remover yesterday :))
Better keep those eye wrinkles at bay… thanks for this useful tip !
Woohoo! Good girl 😉 But I’m glad you found it useful or at least something to think about – which eye makeup remover did you end up getting? 🙂
I got the Simple Eye makeup remover. I’ve always liked their products ! 🙂
Was wondering if you could do a Mask post , something like 10 of your fav mask 🙂
I’ll bear your request in mind Jesslyn 🙂 Let me go and round them up (if I can find 10 >.< )
Ack I use a bi-phase makeup remover prior to cleansing oil but I still end up rubbing my eyes anyway, just in case I missed anyway. I will learn to stop now because all that massaging is bound to age me T___T
Yep! What I find useful is to soak the cotton pad, and then hold it against the eye area for a few seconds before wiping away. I find this helps dissolve the makeup better and there is less tugging. Then, just focus on the areas that have remainder makeup e.g liner or lashes. I find that folding the cotton pad in half so it forms an “edge” helps with detailed removal. Or a cotton bud works too 🙂
I can see where you are coming from but I think I’m too lazy haha. also I’ve played with other makeup removers rather than cleansing oils and I find it difficult to remove eyeliner from my upper waterline using a cotton pad. I have no idea why but I always end up with it in my eyes which kinda hurts. Cleansing oils is quick and painless, and if I use a generous amount of it the slip from the oil means I barely have to rub. just gentle massage.
Good to know oils work for you C 🙂 They do for me too, just that I feel better knowing that I’m not messing around too much with the eye area – not getting any younger 😉
I agree with you to not using cleansing oil to remove your eye makeup. For me personally, I have 3 cleansing step. First is removing my eyemakeup with L’Oreal eye & lip makeup remover because I feel cleansing oil takes too much time to remove my eye makeup, followed by DHC cleansing oil, and last step is rinsing the oil and wash it with Laneige Multi Cleanser. Sounds lot of thing to do, huh?! hahahaha.
But I’m a true believer, cleanse your face well is very2 important. 😉
I have to agree. It sounds like its a lot to do but once you get into a routine, it isn’t and doesn’t take too long either. A nice clean face is the best thing to absorb all that lovely skincare we lavish our faces with 😉
Can I also use Eye & Lip make up remover for face?
You probably could, except it’d cost too much. Better use a proper face makeup remover or cleansing oil.
Today, I really don’t feel like working, I am going through your blog archieve so you can expect a little bit more of ME today 🙂 I never use cleansing oil if I didn’t use foundation or spf containing stuff in that make up, I just use micellar solution (bioderma) instead. Also, except this month, I never used a waterproof mascara so even if I used cleansing oil, I didn’t need to act tough love on my eyes (lol!) but this month I got so crazy about smudged eyes (Thank you mediterrean humidity!) so I bought a waterproof mascara, and I can see your problem now. Although, I don’t wipe my eyes to remove is I just kind of only wipe my lashes to remove, but I am starting to lose some lash during the process (Hate you waterproof mascara, hata youu!!).. But I am not sure, if anything else removes waterproof make up as good as cleansing oils (I am using Kose’s cleasing oil).. Don’t tell me biphasic solutions they are just bigger grease mess!
I just use a general bi-phase eye makeup remover for waterproof mascara. I usually use either Biore or L’Oreal – affordable and does a good job! For the rest of my makeup I still use cleansing oils. Its quick 🙂
Sorry I know this post is quite old but I have to say, Paris you always have an answer to any of my skincare/makeup questions! I’ve been using a cleansing oil (shu’s ultime8) for about 2 months now and have also found that it is not at all effective at removing eye makeup. I even tried soaking a cotton pad with the the oil and pressing that to my lids but I still need to rub to get the more stubborn bits like waterproof eyeliner off. The oils also always get in my eyes giving me blurry vision which is annoying. The worst bit however was afterwards when my eyes would feel really dry, stingy and tired 🙁
So today I googled “Can you use cleansing oil to remove eye makeup” and your post came up! Will be popping by the shops later to pick up an eye makeup remover. I guess I was trying to cut down on the number of products I had (save money!) and hoped the cleansing oil would do everything 🙁 The Shu SA was very convinced that it would 🙁 Ah well. Thanks for always thinking and writing up such informative posts. They’ve been so helpful! Love your blog! 🙂
Hi Gwen, I’m terribly pleased to know that this tip worked well for you! Like you, I hated that blurry vision problem that comes with using cleansing oils to remove eye makeup. The first few times, I thought I’d killed my vision! Thank goodness it rinses out 😉 Anyway, with a separate eye makeup remover, there’s less chances of wrinkles – always a good thing 😉 Thanks for leaving a comment!
Hey guru!
I recently blogged bout cleansing (actually overly stressed upon) and my fren brought me to go shopping with her for a makeup remover.
She then asked me if she could use eye makeup remover to remove makeup all over the face, the foundation etc.
I dont do that personally but i did not know whats the proper answer to that. I mean, from a technical point of view, Is it okay? Does it cause harm? Is it less effective?
So here would like to ask for your opinion on this. I mean, other that the option of cleansing oil. It bothers me for not figuring out the technical ground on this!
Thank you so much and keep your beauty sharing and education going!
Xoxo
Hi there, no guru here 🙂 But to answer your question, I don’t think eye makeup remover can cause harm to the skin since its supposed to be gentle for the eye area anyway. However, it would be far too costly so it would be best limited to use around the eye. In a pinch, it would work, but for the long term, it would be too expensive and may not serve as good a function as a proper makeup remover for the rest of the face. Hope this helps 🙂
Hi! Would like to have your advice please. When I first learn about make up, I tried using cotton pad to remove eye liner. I have to wipe many times to make sure no traces of it left. It left my eye lids stinging. Found from youtube to use Q-tips but need to use a few and same result – stinging from too much rubbing. I changed to cleansing oil coz I thought I can just massage the eye very slightly open and it cleanses everything without having those pain and guilt of abusing my eye. I tested with eye makeup remover after using oil cleanser and no traces of it seen. After reading your post, I’m wondering whether I’m wrong? I did lots of searching but everyone seems to be able to clean with just one wipe. I tried with few types of make up remover but I always need to do it few times. Do you have any suggestion on how do I solve this?
Here’s a suggestion. Instead of wiping the remover many times over your eye (which is just as bad as rubbing it) saturate a piece of cotton with remover, place over your eye for a few seconds then wipe off. It should remove all makeup quite easily without rubbing. I find the Maybelline and Loreal eye and lip makeup remover very good and they aren’t expensive. That said, if cleansing oil works for you, no harm using it. I just personally felt it was bad for me, even if its very convenient. You didn’t do anything wrong, its just preference 😉
“cleansing oils may result in your having more lines around your eyes”
Grease, in general, will plump up the skin, resulting in less lines, not more. That’s why oily skin people show their age less, whereas dry skin people have more wrinkles and look older.
I hate that now everyone can write whatever they want on the internet, no matter how stupid it is.
Perhaps if you read the whole sentence, it might help our comprehension. The whole sentence reads “And it comes down to the fragile skin around the eyes and how cleansing oils may result in your having more lines around your eyes.” The one is the cause, the other the effect.
Secondly, oily skin shows age less, true, as it is oil from within the skin. Grease does not plump up the skin, as you put it so eloquently. You’re right. People can write anything they want on the internet, whether it makes sense or otherwise.