makeup

MICELLAR WATER

TUTORIAL + PHOTOGRAPHY BY AMY NADINE, GRAPHIC DESIGN BY EUNICE CHUN

My hubby is French and every time we spend time at his friends’ homes in Paris, I talk to the women about their gorgeous skin. When it comes to makeup, we mostly use the same products. But none of them believe in “washing their faces.” No face wash, no splashing with water until it’s squeaky clean. That seems really weird and foreign to them. While to us, it seems crazy not to wash our face! Instead, they all use micellar water (or eau micellaire as they call it). Their mothers used it. Their grandmothers used it. It goes way back. So here’s the deal: “micelles” are minuscule little oil molecules suspended in water and they attract oil and dirt like a magnet and pull them to the cotton ball. Have you ever noticed in the bath tub that when oil molecules floating in the water approach other oil molecules floating that they join together and become a bigger oil mass? That’s the power oil always has on other oil. Yet it leaves behind the hydrating soft water from the solution so it doesn’t strip your skin like face wash does. Making it a lifesaver for sensitive and acne-prone skin. I switched to it in January (I still can’t believe I haven’t washed my face in five months!) and my skin is so much calmer, clearer and more balanced. My skin is actually cleaner than using a face wash. If you don’t believe me, wash your face, exfoliate it and then wipe a cotton pad soaked in micellar water and inspect it afterward. You’ll die at what it picked up that the face wash and scrub left behind! It’s wild that something moisturizing is also so powerful at cleansing.

FAVORITE MICELLAR WATERS:

• Biologique Recherche Eau Micellair Biosensible (used on Penelope above) ($$$)
• Koh Gen Do Cleansing Spa Water ($$)
• Caudalie Cleansing Water ($$)
• Simple Cleansing Micellar Water ($)

STEPS:

1. Pour/squeeze a small amount on the cotton square. You don’t need to douse it, just enough to wet half of the surface is fine.
2. Start wiping it all over. I typically start with a cheek then my forehead.
3. Continue across your lips if you need to remove lipstick and your eyes if you’re wearing eye makeup.
4. Wipe your nose and the sides of it.
5. Finish with the other cheek and your neck.

Because eye makeup has progressed through the years and most are longwear or waterproof formulas now, you might have to go back with a stronger eye makeup remover. I use coconut oil to remove mine (revisit this tutorial) but you can also use these serious eye makeup remover wipes.

When I’m showering, I remove my eye makeup with coconut oil before I get in the shower, then I wash everything BUT my face in the shower and use micellar water when I get out.