Today we're talking cleansing! Honestly, when you're into wearing makeup like I am, nothing is more important than removing all of it before bed. When I switched from sheer coverage foundations to medium-full coverage ones (Revlon Colorstay, at the time), I immediately noticed that my regular cleansing milk just didn't cut it anymore - my skin started to break out because it wasn't thoroughly clean at the end of the day. I started looking for a product that would take all of my longwearing makeup off without having to combine 20 steps or without having to rub my face (sensitive skin right here), and oil cleansers solved all of my problems. I usually use two: a liquid one for my eye makeup, and a thicker, balm type product for my face. Let me introduce you to my current favourites: the Take the Day off cleansing duo by Clinique!
I've really come to love Clinique products since I got to know the brand a bit better. Soft on my redness-prone, dry-mixed skintype, effective, and at a reasonable pricetag. These cleansers are no exception. I've already told you that I love them, but words only say so much. Allow me to demonstrate.
I applied some of my favourite long wearing products along my forearm, letting the swatches dry before I grabbed the cleansers. From left to right: Limecrime Pumpkin, Milani Matterialistic, Kylie Candy K, Hema's Long Lasting Colour in 106, a Dior waterproof metallic eyeliner, and my MAC Extreme Dimension waterproof mascara.
Next, I grabbed the Clinique take the day off makeup remover for lids, lashes and lips. This is an oil-water emulsion that you shake well before drizzling some on a cotton pad, after which you press the cotton pad to the area that needs cleaning, letting the cleanser loosen everything up. After about 10 seconds, you wipe away all of that gunk, going in for a second soak-and-swipe if necessary.
I used this on just for the eye makeup products I had swatched to the right: the waterproof eyeliner and mascara. This is the result after pressing the cotton pad on for about 10 seconds and then just wiping the product off:
As you can see, not all of the product is gone, but about 95% of it is. Considering that these two products are waterproof and arguably my hardest-to-remove eyemakeup items, I find that pretty impressive. Just one more swipe, and all of it was gone.
Next, I went to town on the liquid lipsticks. I chose a couple of red based colours because those are always hardest to remove for me, they generally leave a stain behind. For this part, I used the Clinique take the day off cleansing balm.
The balm seems solid in the jar, but once it coms in contact with your body heat through your fingertips, it dissolves into a clear, odorless oil.
It's mostly plant based oil, really, and a nice and short list of ingredients. I really used a tiny bit and just massaged it in to get all of those swatches off.
This is after massaging the balm in for about ten seconds. Everything is loosened up nicely. As a final step, I grab a damp washcloth and gently wipe off the residu.
Et voila! The only thing that's left is a tiiiiny bit of staining left by the Hema long lasting colour - that product really is a pain in the ass to remove. Still, I'm very impressed by the cleansing balm, it's my favourite out of the two Take the Day off products. If I'm not using waterproof makeup, I use it on my entire face, including for my eye makeup. I enjoy the sensation of massaging it in, stimulating circulation in my skin, and it really does an amazing job at getting everything off. I used it once after wearing my Maybelline Lash Sensational Luscious oil blend mascara (which is awesome but incredibly hard to get everything off), and for once I didn't wake up with panda eyes the next morning. Definitely proved its effectiveness to me.
The Clinique Take the Day off cleansers are available online, or at cosmetics stores such as Inno or Ici Paris Xl at €27.50 for the cleansing balm, and €20 for the eye makeup remover. The balm especially will last you for ages since you only need so little product. I can't recommend these enough for sensitive skintypes, especially if you have dry skin.
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