Marvellous miscellar

For more than a century, French women have been using micellar water to clean their faces, giving them that radiant complexion that is the envy of everyone else. In recent years this magical beauty product has become all the rage in America. But one question has remained: can it replace cleanser?

Yes it can, is the answer from a majority of beauty experts, though a few say it might not clean oily skin as well as you’d like. But since micellar water can’t harm your skin in any way, the obvious solution is to try it and see what you think.

The product consists of micelles, or tiny balls of oil, suspended in water. Like sponges, these balls draw dirt and make-up from the pores. Unlike toners, micellar water contains no alcohol and won’t dry out your skin. Instead, the oil moisturises, making it perfect for dry, irritable or acne-prone skin. Micellar water is also a time-saver, lightens your make-up travel bag and is handy when you’re roughing it and running water isn’t easy to get to.

For the French, micellar was the way to cut their region’s harsh water from their cleansing routine. Hard water contains a lot of heavy metals like iron, copper, zinc and nickel. It can cause redness and irritation. Lather some soap under a tap to see how hard your water is. Easy lathering means soft water. Soap that doesn’t lather up, means hard water – good reason to go the micellar way.

A few drops of micellar water on a cotton pad is all you need. Wipe gently across your face. You may need an extra remover for some mascaras – especially the water-proof kind – but no rinsing is required.

We’ve also recently been using Garnier’s SkinActive Micellar Oil-infused Cleansing Wipes, R59,95. Each wipe offers a deep cleanse and opens up your pores leaving your skin feeling refreshed. So far were super impressed and these will definitely be thrown in the basket again on our next beauty shop.

And there it is. One product, a few wipes and your face is clean, hydrated and moisturised.

Also try:

Sorbet Salon Skin 3-in-1 Micellar Water (100ml), R60

Garnier Micellar Oil-Infused Cleansing Water (400ml), R89,95

Bioderma Sensibio H2O Solution Micellaire, R190