The Battle of the Makeup Removers

Knowing how much I love makeup, taking it off is five times more of a chore than putting it on. Putting on makeup since age 16 (although less pro than how I do now), I just thought plain ol' facial wash and water would do. As i got older (and wiser and more OC with my skin care), I figured that I do something more than just facial wash, because come on, admit it, can simple facial wash remove 10 coats of waterproof mascara? My cardinal rule is that I always remove makeup if I feel it has been sitting too long on my face and/or before hitting the sack.



One famous cleanser that has been through ages is cold cream.
Cold cream is very effective though, until now, I still have a (huge) jar of Walgreen's cold cream on my dresser. Cold cream has also been my best friend with avante garde makeup practice sessions and it can impeccably remove kohl from heavily-lined eyes (a feat that Marc had to go through when I did his flame makeup).

According to wikipedia, cold cream is

"an emulsion of water and certain fats, usually including beeswax and various scent agents, designed to smooth skin and remove makeup. The name derives from the cooling feeling that the cream leaves on the skin."

Meaning to say it does not just remove makeup (stubborn waterproof liquid liner, kohl pencil, and mascara included) but also moisturizes the skin. So how it works is that you massage it to the skin then tissue off, repeat until no makeup or dirt is left. It was great in removing makeup but it was too heavy so I needed a good facial wash after. Plus, it was quite a long procedure (I sometimes have to repeat the whole process thrice just to get that all off) and it can be taxing for someone who just wants to plop on the bed after a looong looong day. Nevertheless, it is quite efficient in terms of makeup removal.

I discovered cleansing oils when I tried the ever-so-famous Shu Uemura Cleansing Oil and its variants exactly a year ago. I got home 2 am from a function and I got a packet of cleansing oil with me. Surprisingly, it felt great on my skin and just 1-1/2 pumps removed all my makeup. Clearly, it was love at first touch since it was able to save me time and energy. I've been hesistant to use cleansing oils not because of the price (well yeah... that too) but because of the fact that it's oil. Actually, I found out that these cleansing oils are not like your regular olive oil or minola cooking oil or baby oil but a special oil with low mineral content that emulsifies upon contact with water. It's like a facial wash, except more potent.

I've also tried the more affordable brands. They also work quite well and I use them during my "practice" makeup sessions. They work quite effectively, although there are some brands that will require an extra step of foaming cleanser/facial wash. It could even remove spirit gum and plastowax for avante garde makeup. Cleansing oil works by massaging it onto the face then wetting the face emulsifying the product than rinsing it off. Surprisingly, in one step, it was able to remove as much as what I could remove in 2 rounds of cold cream and tissue. However, this didn't remove kohl pencil quite effectively as cold cream did.

As of now, I'm partial to the cleansing oil as they save me a lot of time and are lighter than cold cream. However, on occasion that I want a bit of pampering or on days that I use kohl pencil, I whip out my jar of cold cream.

Anyone share what cleansing products/makeup removers they use?