Welcome to the second instalment of ‘Budget Beauty Buys’ where I test and review a few beauty bargains.
First up is Micellar Cleansing Water from Garnier (currently £3 in Boots). I’ve seen micellar water crop up in magazines and on TV over the last few weeks and I thought I’d give it a go.
So what is micellar water? Apparently, it has been widely available in French pharmacies for eons and I’m told it’s a well kept secret among make-up artists. Miscellar water cleanses your skin and removes makeup without the need for rinsing (or so it says on the bottle). It’s a very gentle formulation made up of ‘micelles’ which are tiny cleansing molecules that float in the water. The micelles are attracted to the make up and oil on your skin and allow it to be sweep away effortlessly.
How was it? Well, it’s pretty good and it doesn’t sting or leave my skin feeling dry and tight. I do need to use about 8 cotton pads to get a good clean though. It removes eye makeup quite efficiently as well. The packaging states that 400ml (one bottle) will cleanse your face 200 times. I beg to differ but over all, not bad.
Waitrose Pure Face Polish – I had high hopes for this but I was disappointed. The smell is a bit off-putting too, it doesn’t smell bad as such but it is a bit odd. The label claims that it contains shea butter and coconut oil but none of the richness I would expect from these ingredients was evident to me. It feels quite drying and very ‘scrubby’ which I actually don’t mind because I like a coarse textured face scrub but it left my skin slightly irritated and dry. Sorry Waitrose, it’s a no from me.
Why do I love it? Don’t get me wrong this is not a great nail polish but it totally meets my needs. Nails are always a bit of an after thought for me because I have rubbish nails. They are brittle and short and always look awful, I don’t have time for regular manicures and if I do have spare time for some extra pampering, I’d rather have a blow dry! The appeal for me and anyone else looking to give their nails a quick coat of poslish is that it dries so quickly that you can literally paint some on as you are dashing out the door. It won’t last more than a day but it does the job in a hurry.
Let me know about your latest beauty buys, I’d love to hear from you!
Antonia x
