Micellar Waters: A Comparison

So what is this magic water? Well, it all began in France where Bioderma became a HUGE success. Micellar water, or cleansing waters as we call it, here in the U.S. became popular because it's a new way of taking off your makeup, without having to wash your face afterwards and without the harsh chemicals.

But what IS micellar water/cleansing water? Well, I found a nice blog that has great pictures that explains it better than I do, so let's go over to Lab Muffin and check out her hand drawings and all!

In short, using micellar water to remove your makeup is more gentle for your face and will eliminate the use of soap and water! Below I will compare 4 products I've tested and give you my opinions and hopes that it will give you some ideas of these makeup removers!

The Contestants

Up Close

Bioderma Sensibio H2O: You can find this product in various sizes and various prices. There is the travel sizes in 100ml, 250ml or the large size (shown here) in 500ml. Since this product is originally from France, buying it from the U.S. where I'm from, is not easy. Prices can vary greatly. I usually get mine from Amazon or Escentual. 500ml will run between $25-$35.

Bioderma, I feel like, is a must-first-try if being introduced to micellar water. I agree to an extent. If you're in the U.S. it's easily assessable, it's fragrance-free, it's alcohol-free, it's overall a great product to try for a micellar water. You have the option to choose from a small travel size and also choose from different skin type options as well. Can't go wrong with that! I've been using Bioderma for quiet a while now and I have no complaints.

L'Oreal 3 in 1 Purifying Micellar Solution: This was hands down the cheapest of the 4 cleansing waters. At the time, I bought it from a UK website for less than $5 dollars (unfortunately, they no longer carry the product). This product is currently not available in the U.S. to my knowledge, but you can get in the UK at any drugstore (think Boots or Superdrug) for around 3 pounds. It comes only in one size, 200ml, so it's not very travel friendly.  

I wasn't a huge fan of this for a few reasons. The pour spout is really poorly designed. You will most likely over saturate your cotton pad and waste water unless you transfer to a smaller bottle. The water I feel, is a little bit more harsh than the other 3, and I feel like this can be felt in the price. 

Caudalie's Cleansing Water: Being a French company, of course Caudalie will also have a cleansing water as well. At 3.38oz for a small travel size, the $14 cleansing water is definitely on the pricey side. You can get a 6.7oz for $28 if you'd like, but there's no real money saved there.

I love the smell (it made with organic grape water, amongst other things) and the compactness of Caudalie. This particular cleansing water pairs so well with the Caudalie Beauty Elixir it's like a match made in heaven. If you are on a budget, I'd say go with Bioderma instead.

Koh Gen Do's Cleansing Spa Water: This is a product that's definitely not talked about very often. That's probably because it's from Asia! Well, Asia introduced the BB cream fever and that took over the world, but let me tell you, they also did a good job with cleansing waters. This particular water is marketed as made with hot springs water harvested on 3 weeks out of the year...a product like this is definitely not cheap. A 3.38oz for a travel size will cost you $13 and a larger one (10.15oz) will set you back $39.

This is my new favorite. The small travel size is perfect for, well, traveling. I feel like it takes my makeup off better than Bioderma and makes my skin feel better after it's done. Overall, since I can purchase this and the travel size at Sephora (and I can't purchase Bioderma there), I will be purchasing this, instead of Bioderma from now on.

Well guys...this is it, I hope you've enjoyed my comparison! Please let me know if you have any questions!

One Haul to Rule Them All

Sephora has their Friends and Family event going on right now....which means if you're a friend of someone that works at Sephora, you get a nice little discount! I was able to snag a little discount and went on a little shopping spree! Expect in-depth review later to come, but for now, get ready for some pic heavy HAUL pictures! I'll list what I got and then I'm just going to dive right into the pictures.

*This is not a review of any of the items, it's simply just a haul and swatch post*

Pictures were taken in artificial lighting (I normally take them in natural lighting, but I had use artificial lighting this time, I am leaving for a vacation and will not be back for at least a week and wanted to post this). Swatches were on NC25 skintone.

Items in order of pictures:

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette
Illamasqua Powder Blusher in Hussy
Bobbi Brown Bronzing Powder in Natural
Dior Diorskin Shimmer Star in Amber Diamond
NARS Guy Bourdin Holiday Collection Limited Edition Cheek Palette in One Night Stand
LORAC PRO To Go Eye/Cheek Palette
beautyblender Solid Sponge Cleanser

MUJI Update:

Remember when I mentioned 2 posts ago here that my one of my MUJI drawers came in broken on the side? Well I sent an email to MUJI along with pictures the same evening and within 10 business days, I received a new replacement! I also got to keep my broken MUJI drawer as well! MUJI has great customer service and responded to my email within 24 hours. Great job! Here's a shot of what my vanity looks like now:

You can find this product at Muji USA for $27.95

All Things Lips: Organization

Here's a sneak peak into my organization of my lipsticks/lip glosses. I will admit I do have a lot more tucked away and these are just the pretties/in seasons.

This is the view in front of me:

This is a top view:

Top Drawer:

Second Drawer:

Third Drawer

Last Drawer (of the lip stuff, there are 5 drawers total in the Muji unit):

Make Up For Ever Aqua Brow

I recently bought the Make Up For Ever (MUFE) Aqua Brow. Let me tell you....what a difference a set of brows makes!

Here are some pros and cons of the MUFE Aqua Brow:

The PROS:
It will last forever (the tube itself in size is a lot of product)
It's waterproof
For the price (compared to other mid-end brands, it's very good in size of product)
It dries and sets very fast


The CONS:
It takes a long time to apply the product
You will have to clean your brush after every application (at least it's not after every brow?)
It dries and sets very fast

Here are some pictures..I tried to get this blog post up as soon as possible after work, so I only had time to do one eyebrow and snapped pictures as soon as I can before the sun went down:

I use my Sigma E65 Small Angle brush to apply it. The shade I have is in 25. Sephora's website has 4 color options and MUFE's website offers 7 shades.

This amount will cover both brows. The tube shelf life says 12 months (FYI)

Before:

 After:

Another before and after for comparison:

You can find this product at Sephora or MUFE for $20

I give this product a 8/10

Muji Drawers

UPDATE: I have updated this post in a new blog post here regarding the broken drawer.

So I'm in the process of redoing my vanity/desk area again. This means I am cleaning my counter desk space and organizing my most used makeup items in a more centralized area and getting my less used makeup out of the way. Here's where the famous Muji drawers come in. Muji is a company in Japan and they are famous for their acrylic drawers. They come in a variety of sizes, but their most famous ones are their 5 drawers, 3 drawers, and 2 drawers. Their 2 drawers also have ones with flip lids (top lids come up). I got my hands on two of their 5 drawers.

The drawers are acrylic, but VERY sturdy. The 5 drawers dimension is 10.2 x 6.9 x 6.3 (for the entire case).

Here are some guides for what can and can't fit in the 5 drawers:

FITS:
Color Tattoos, lipsticks, mascaras, Mac MSF and compacts, newer Mac Pigments

DOES NOT FIT:
Mac Paint Pots (it does fit, but it scrapes the top of my lid/drawer), most bottled foundations, most tubes of primers (the lid doesn't fit usually).

Shipping:

The shipping was super fast (and expensive, unfortunately) and I received my drawers within 3 business days. As you can see from my pictures, the case came heavily bubble wrapped. The outside of the box also said Fragile on it. However, it is unfortunate that 1 of the 2 cases I bought was damaged. The entire left side was cracked and the corner was chipped. I've emailed their customer service the same evening and I've sent them the same pictures (here) and they've replied next day. I'll update you guys with what happens!

PICTURE TIME: 

Oh so neatly wrapped. I've been to Japan and I can definitely tell that this is a Japanese brand company (even though they shipped it from NY). The wrapping was PERFECT.

A quick look inside, so snug and safe...or so I thought...

Unboxing: still has a plastic cover on it...

 Just a closer look, you can see it's called a Cubby Box and it's 2000yen (Japanese currency) which is about $20.56 (Keep in mind that Muji's website sells this for $27.95, this includes the $4.00 handling fee, but not the shipping fee.

The crack in the front

The chip on the back corner

This is the second one...in perfect condition

Don't judge...this is a MESSY before of my makeup haven (you can see all the details of my "makeup room" in this post here.

Here is just a close up of the 2 Muji drawers in action! Isn't it a beaut! I will be buying more of these Muji drawers (maybe the 2 drawers) and I will be posting a more update of my makeup area! Stay tuned!

You can find this product at Muji USA for $27.95