From experience and from scouting around the internet and browsing the cosmetics shelves, I’ve noticed that “cleansing water” fall into 2 categories. One calls themselves “micellar cleansing water” and another calls itself just plain “cleansing water”. Some mention in passing that it should be rinsed off (few do) and others say it is a no-rinse formula.
But it is this latter no-rinse formula that really captures the imagination of many. How wonderful it must be to avoid washing your face in the morning or evening? Just wipe on a cotton pad to “cleanse” your face and continue with your skincare. You don’t even have to step into the bathroom or risk wetting the floor with your vigorous splashes of water in the sink. Yay!… or is it?
Most cleansing waters and micellar cleansing waters are stated to have a mild formula and are suitable for sensitive skin. They are usually a very liquid, water based product, that is basically like applying water on your skin. But they contain chemicals that help adhere to dirt and makeup on skin, which makes it easy to wipe off using a cotton pad. You can’t do that with just mere water.
It is this ability to cleanse the skin that makes it a popular makeup remover these days. It does feel more gentle on skin and less drying than makeup removers of yore. But because it feels like water and is said to be so gentle and cleanses your skin so well, that we are also told that you don’t have to rinse your face thereafter.
In some instances, I know people use this as their facial cleanser. They use a cotton pad to wipe the product on skin, then follow up with the rest of their skincare. Or, I’ve been told by people they use this as a toner. After regular cleansing, they wipe a cotton pad with cleansing water all over their skin and follow on with skincare.
When I ask them why they do so, the answer is usually that it’s so gentle and it feels so refreshing. Also, many formula including the popular Bioderma brand says that you can. There’s no need to rinse the product off, because it has already cleansed your skin.
I must say I’m not comfortable with this. So before I launch into my spiel, why don’t you share your thoughts with me on this issue. Do you wash your face after using a micellar cleansing water, or is that your facial cleanse? Please don’t feel embarrassed because I’m not an expert and this is just me talking based on my experience, and I am always open to hearing of other peoples’ experiences 🙂
Ok, I repeat, I’m no expert. I am not Caroline Hirons nor am I trained in chemistry and skincare and I do not work in this field. I’m not a skincare guru (please, gurus make me think of skinny old men wrapped in a loincloth meditating on the top of a mountain, and I like my clothes and earthly luxuries too much to abandon them to live in a barren cave, sorry) All I have going for me is logical thought, and perhaps a caustic, cynical view on the world 😛
Wash your face after using a micellar cleansing water
As you can guess therefore, my view is that you should rinse your skin with water or at least follow up with a cleanser AFTER using a micellar cleansing water.
One of my early experiments with cleansing water was with the famed Bioderma Micellar Cleansing Water which I’m less than blown away by to be honest. It removed my makeup well, I concede, but what got my goat was all the raves and reviews saying you could just wipe this on your skin and go to bed.
What I found from experience is that any brand of micellar cleansing water I use leaves a film on my skin. It may not be obvious or uncomfortable, but it’s there. If you cleanse your skin before stepping into the shower as I do, you will notice it. I find that when water comes in contact with my skin, the skin on my face feels slippery. If you don’t believe me, try it for yourself. Wipe some cleansing water on your skin then add some water to it. It feels slippery.
That’s when I realised that it wasn’t clean. Clean skin shouldn’t have that slippery feel to it.
Is your face really clean if you leave it on?
Secondly, when you use a cleansing balm or oil or facial cleanser, which may contain chemicals, and then rinse it off, the product is rinsed off your skin. Touch your skin. It isn’t slippery, but it’s clean.
Now, think for a minute about what makes up a cleansing water. It’s chemicals.
Although it looks clear like water (some don’t, but most popular brands make them clear) it isn’t water. It’s loaded with chemicals that react with dirt, oil and makeup on your skin to enable it to be lifted off.
I stand to be corrected but something that is supposed to “clean” shouldn’t remain on your skin unlike something that “treats” i.e the rest of your skincare.
Now, wouldn’t you want to rinse that off your skin?
Incidentally, I spoke to a representative of a French skincare brand recently and we got to speaking about micellar cleansing waters, which his company also makes. When I mentioned my view about having to rinse after using it, he told me that it was the right thing to do.
In fact, he was quite disparaging about the brands that advise you that micellar waters are a no-rinse formula, giving me that Gallic eye roll and flap of his hands that was so quintessentially French LOL! 😀 His was an organic and natural brand and even he told me “These cleansing waters have chemicals, you must rinse off with water and use a cleanser!” and since we know that micellar waters were popularised by French brands, that’s an alternative French viewpoint for you to consider! 😀
My final case for washing your face AFTER using a micellar cleansing water is this.
If you take a shower, won’t you rinse your face?
If micellar cleansing waters were so effective, why don’t we have one for the body? You still take a shower or a bath. You still wash dirt and sweat and oil off your skin under running water (at least I hope you do 😛 ).
I don’t see anyone rushing to skip this cleansing part of your day. Sure, skip it if you’re ill but everyday? So, why would you skip it for your face?
If your excuse is that your skin is so sensitive that you cannot use any cleanser, well from experience, there are many many options available out there in the market. You just need to find one that is suitable for you.
If you say your skin does not react well to scrubbing, then why the heck are you scrubbing your skin? Be gentle. Your face is not the floor that needs scrubbing and if you stop using face washing gadgets and just your hands, you may find that your hands are the most gentle of all gadgets.
I am a big advocate of face cloths and you can get some very lovely soft microfibre cloths that barely tug on your skin, yet leave it clean.
RELATED READING: How using face cloths helped transform my skin – READ HERE
Treat micellar water as your first cleanse, not your only cleanser
Above all, I will never use a cleansing water or micellar cleansing water, no matter how gentle they claim to be as my one and only cleanse. If you get your face cleanse right, that’s half your skincare and skin problems battle won. The rest of your products can only be effectively absorbed on clean skin.
So, why impede that absorption of your $$$ serum with a barrier of no-rinse micellar cleansing water?
But as I said, this is me and my case for washing your face after using a cleansing water. As deceptive as the name is, it isn’t water. It cleanses, yes. But it isn’t water and if you really want to cleanse your skin, you need good old-fashioned water to rinse it off and a cleanser of your choice after that.
Do you wash your face after using a micellar cleansing water? Do you feel that it’s ok not to?
As always, please feel free to disagree with me. I’m always open to discussion, which is what this is for anyway 🙂 I have my views and you will have yours so have your say!
Paris B
Oh yes! I rinse and follow up with my cleanser after using bioderma! It doesn’t feel ‘right’ in the same way as not washing off makeup remover.
The way I use bioderma is to remove makeup then follow up with bioderma to remove any other traces of makeup that my makeup remover failed to catch. I find that this is the most effective way to get all makeup traces off!
That’s pretty thorough. I find if I really want to get my makeup off, 1 pass with the cotton pad just isn’t enough. But I like using cleansing waters for removing most of the makeup. That way, I feel my cleanser doesn’t have to work as hard LOL! weird I know
I adore this Biore cleansing water too! Cheap and works well, can’t really ask for more 😀
I do follow up with facial cleanser after using this. Feels abit weird not to :/
Right? I don’t understand people who say they can use just cleansing water and go to bed. Like don’t you feel that weird film on your skin? 😛
Yes, absolutely! I need to rinse off after. It’s the same with face masks. I feel uncomfortable if I don’t splash water on my face after.
Face doesn’t feel as clean right? I don’t rinse off face masks though (sheet masks) because I treat them like a base since it’s supposed to be skincare anyway 😛 But I know of people who do and I can’t see a problem with that (unless you’re using SK2 in which case, don’t rinse!!) 😀
I do wash my face after using micellar cleansing water, I cant stand the feeling it left on my skin, like you said, a film. And yes my skin is slippery when I wash it after micellar/cleansing water. I think it’s bad to go straight to bed after micellar water, it doesnt make sense to me XD
I’m glad others think the same way I do hehe… that slippery feeling really got to me. I actually tried leaving on Bioderma you know. When I first used it, people said you can just clean your skin with it and follow up with your skincare. I only did it once and it felt too weird, I never did it again. I mention rinsing after but I’d get weird looks from people.
I do follow up with cleansing after removing my make up with micellar water, i agree that there’s this slippery feeling when i try to use water to rinse it off.
However, i on wipe off make up with cleansing water the moment i reached home, and then before i go to bed then i’ll follow by the cleansing water again (to get rid of dirt and in case any make up leftovers) cleanser, toner and moisturizer.
What do you think of my skin care routine at night? Do you think it’s okay? If there’s something wrong with it please do let me know!
Thank you!
Its funny how not many people mention this slippery feeling. I felt so weird the first time I experienced it. Your routine sounds fine to me 🙂 I sometimes do the same – wipe off makeup when i get home with a cleansing water, do my thing, have my shower and do my whole routine thereafter. I don’t re-wipe because it doesn’t matter to me since I double cleanse in the shower, but whatever works 🙂
Sure thing, I definitely cleanse my face after using a micellar water. If I didn’t, I don’t think I could get a wink of sleep that night, simply because I feel that my skin is still unclean. I even cleanse my face after using masks, etc.
I really don’t get the one time wipe thing, cause I’d rather go over my skin with a double or triple cleanse just to make sure my face is properly clean. I see a lot of beauty gurus on Youtube doing the one time micellar water wipe thing, and I just go, “GIRL you gotta wash yo face again cos that a’int clean!” To each their own I guess. 🙂
Another person who cleanses after a mask! Is this a sheet mask we’re talking about? I just find it fascinating 😀 I sometimes think Youtube is bad for this reason. Too many people out there spreading the wrong message and getting it out to a much wider audience than a blog. It scares the crap out of me that people believe it! 😛
My preference is to cleanse using a gel or cream product along with water BUT if I am in a rush in the mornings, I will just use my Bioderma micellar water to cleanse my skin as it is quick and efficient (two round cotton pads usually do the trick!). It takes some getting used to, but because I’m not removing makeup in the morning, I know my skin is fresh and cleansed properly (the second cotton pad I use, usually has no dirt on it, to show my skin is clean).
If I used micellar water to remove makeup in the evenings, I would still feel the need to cleanse my skin a second time afterwards. However, I don’t usually use it to remove all my face makeup (only eye makeup) 🙂
I suppose the morning cleanse is fine in that sense 🙂 But I still do the whole water thing in the morning. Need that splash of water to help me wake up! Before the splash of caffeine that follows, that is 😉
I definitely still wash my face after using any kind of cleansing water. After all, no matter how good the cleanser is, it still can’t compare to good ol’ water and some face wash!
Sounds like good practice to me Ari! 🙂
For me, like you experienced, the slippery feeling just bugs me. The only cleansing micelles solution that I have used is Bioderma. I honestly don’t see the point in these micelles waters as I’m more of a fan of duo-phase ones. This is due to the fact that the only time I use Bioderma is at night, to remove makeup. But, what’s the point if I am gonna double cleanse or even use an oil-like cleanser (Dior’s is excellent -on the blog) or even a balm to remove makeup and cleanse the skin anyways ( IMO if your cleanser does not remove makeup, get a new one). Save the effort and just use a duo phase one with oil to wipe away eye makeup. Less effort. The only other time I actually use Bioderma is when I make a mistake in makeup application for example, mascara smudges.
And uh, personally, these days whenever a person says ‘I used this because of caroline’ or ‘Caroline said…’, I just roll my eyes.
LOL!!! Yes Robert, I so feel you about the Caroline worshipping. I mean, she makes sense but boy do some of these fans take it to a different level or what?! 😛 But at least she condones the proper washing of faces so I’m very supportive of that. For me, micellar waters are nothing more than makeup removers, but that’s only because I like using a separate makeup remover. Not everyone does of course because it’s an extra step, but it makes sense for me. But those who use it AFTER they’re cleanser needs a new cleanser 😛
I just recently jumped on the cleansing water regime. I still have a few bottles of various brands of cleansing oils stashed here and there. So like you I still wash my face after the cleansing water. It’s a habit I’m happy to keep.
And probably if I really don’t want to wash it off with water. I might use more than 2 cotton puffs with the cleansing water to clean up. I think I might use up to 10. To make sure I’m extra clean. So I rather rinse again with water or some facial cleanser. Saves cost and the agony of thinking that the days worth of makeup is still stuck within your pores.. Eweeewww
Oh definitely, if you’re using it to remove makeup, definitely follow up with a cleanser. It get skin clean but you need to work at it, and honestly, I think it’s just easier to use a cleanser to properly cleanse the skin. I do use it mostly to remove my eye makeup. I don’t like using balms or oils near my eyes and this strikes that happy balance for me 🙂
Nothing beats that final douse-off with nature’s best tipple, the good old H2O. I double cleanse with product firstly with one that’s dedicated to removing makeup and then one to cleanse skin and it all comes off again with water.
Good practice,SG 🙂 Nothing beats water to get us really clean!
Micellar water is fine in the morning after just moisturizer or oil at night, but if I layered it on thickly.. I need a cleanser. It’s great for on the go but would never be JUST the only cleanser I use anymore.
I am thankful to have it for on-the-go purposes though. I’m going on a trip soon that will need me to use this due to lack of proper washing facilities and the only thing I could think of was “Thank goodness, there’s now cleansing water!”
I’m using the Biore Cleansing Water. I’m totally in love with it! I always use cleanser to follow up after using any remover, and this includes the Cleansing Water I’m currently using.
The Biore cleansing water is good stuff, I agree! 🙂 It’s good practice following up with another cleanser. Helps your face stay really clean!
I would never, ever use cleansing water if I\’m wearing heavy makeup/liquid foundation. I don\’t think cleansing water is sufficient to really cleanse the skin as it toted to being a gentle cleanser. One could argue that you can use cleansing water to remove liquid foundation; just repeat the step over and over until you skin is clean. But that would mean I\’d be rubbing my skin with cotton pads way too many times, thus over-exfoliating my skin unnecessarily. I only use cleansing water on days that I\’m wearing powder, either mineral or compact because it\’s more \’removable\’ than liquid foundation. Even then I\’d follow up with rinsing my face with water because there\’s no replacing the feel of \’real, fresh water\’ like, well, real water. I\’d only wash my face with cleanser before I go to bed and not a moment sooner, lol!
Nope, you’re right. For heavy makeup bring out the oil and balms! 😀 They’re the best way to remove heavy makeup for me. But my daily makeup is fairly light so a cleansing water wipe gets rid of the most of it, and then I really get into the rest of the routine 🙂 I suppose not wearing “long wearing” makeup helps me too coz those are more stubborn.
Would still wash my face even I used either of this 2 products. Just feel better with it, you know the “just in case” thingy” make sure there is no residue left on our skin.
I should try out the Biore Cleansing Water soon, loving the price tag!
Yeah especially when you feel all that slippery film on the skin. Yucks! The Biore cleansing water is worth a try. I don’t feel bad if I use a lot because it’s not expensive is it 😛
I’m with you on this one! I use Bioderma. I did try to just cleanse my face with this however, within half an hour, my face felt very oily and uncomfortable. It is not a “clean” clean if you get what I mean. Thus the best for me is, cleanse with micellar water to get especially the difficult waterproof stuff off my face and then follow up with a gentle face wash for a “cleaner” clean.
Ooh I experienced that strange uncomfortable feeling too when I left Bioderma on. Worse when I proceeded with my skincare after as they say you can. Felt even weirder! Never trying it again 😛
The cleansing water gets the makeup off, then I double cleanse after that. I commute into London and need to get the grub and filth off! Skin seems happy enough! (But I do cheat and not bother if I’m really tired)
Ooh London can be quite grimy! The Tube especially *shudder* Double cleansing is a good practice, but the hard water in the UK can play merry hell with skin doesn’t it?
Huh, I used to take the Bioderma claims at face value and be lazy but now I will use a face wash afterwards!
No ugly women, Kuri only lazy ones 😉 Wash wash wash!
Hi there, it seems like this micellar water product is largely used because of its make-up removal function. However, would it be fine if I do not wear make up and use it to clean off dirt in the middle of the day?
Yep, that’s perfectly fine to use in the day
Hello, my names Estelle and I’m not a professional in any way shape or form nor an expert in skincare. I’m just interested in skincare. I do my research into a lot of brands and invest quite a lot of money into different skin care lines as well. I bought the ‘bioderma Micellar water” because I was interested in buying a good makeup remover that wasn’t too harsh on my skin. The first time I used this I did notice it formed some sort of invisible mask? I am not quite sure how to best describe it but it was there. I didn’t know this at the time I used it as it had been a long day at work and all I wanted to do was wipe off my makeup and get into bed. No fuss. The next morning I woke up and i still didn’t notice much. Just my bare, clean skin as I looked into the mirror but when I rinsed my face (as I always do in the morning) I noticed halfway through that there was some sort of like white liquid kind of foam. (I can’t describe it very well but hopefully you get what I mean) I thought to myself, this is strange. I have slept with a mask of chemicals on my face all night. But the thing is, it didn’t do anything in terms of irritate or break out my skin. My skin looked clean none the less in the morning so I didn’t think it did any harm. I just didn’t really like the whole idea of sleeping with all this stuff on my face! But… Then I did my research into each of the different ingredients in the Micellar water and none came up harmful or irritating if they did stay on your skin. I know it is full of chemicals but I strongly believe that it isn’t going to affect your skin and I think it’s truly down to personal preference. I don’t mind washing it off but others might want to. It’s not harmful, won’t cause any rashes if it’s kept on, I just think it depends on what you would rather doing. But I keep it on and I still have lovely healthy glowing skin by morning so I do recommend leaving it on your skin and either continue with your skin care routine or straight to bed (as I do) but anyway I totally understand your concern as I was the same until I researched, asked people, asked my friend who is a dermatologist and all that about this issue so don’t be scared to leave it on. It’s fine for your skin! And if you are lazy like me then this is the perfect product. Also here are some duplicates for the bioderma cleansing water
Garnier Micellar cleansing water
Simple Micellar cleansing water
And there is more but these are the only ones that I strongly believe are a good buy. If you have any questions or want to make a comment please feel free as I will get back to you because this is quite an interesting subject that I wouldn’t mind discussing. Thanks, E Xx
If you’re feeling a film after using micellar water, it’s because micelles are tiny oil particles. Oil can’t be rinsed off with water….
I used to wash my face at night, then have to moisturize to combat dryness. I have been using micellar water for my nightly cleanse, and my skin looks so much nicer. I agree that it’s fine to leave it without rinsing. I have not had any issues and, if you think about it, everything you use to cleanse or moisturize has chemicals in it. I don’t see how micellar water is somehow worse for you than a mask, moisturizer, toner, or face wash.
It is just as bad, simply because there are still traces of debris caught in the oily film. If you go to bed with this on your skin, the extra debris that is picked up on your skin as you sleep, is trapped right along with what was not washed off before. I am a Licensed Esthetician, and I would never recommend using a Micellar Water as a cleanser. Just as I wouldn’t recommend only using an oil as a cleanser. Like attracts like. In this case, the oily chemicals in the “water” will help break up and remove either makeup and debris caught in it, or sweat and sebum mixed with debris. This clears the way for the cleanser, that is proper for your skin type and/or condition, to get in there and do it’s job and impeded.