How to wipe away PANDA EYES this party season
DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE
Nivea Double Effective Make-up Remover, 125 ml, £3.89 most mascaras and eyeliners are a mix of colour pigments, mineral oils and preservatives to stop bacteria growing and causing eye infections.
Waterproof formulations have the same ingredients, but also contain extra glues — or polymer films — to maintain colour and keep out water.
to take off waterproof cosmetics, eye make-up removers usually need a variety of ingredients — such as alcohols and solvents as well as oils.
I had high hopes for this product considering the latest TV ad campaign claims its ‘unique’ double effect works in two phases — the oily layer separates to the top to dissolve make-up, while the watery one underneath is designed to help to condition lashes.
It also claims to be double quick, too. the commercial shows a model’s eye — covered in heavy mascara and dark blue eye shadow — being cleaned with no more of a ‘shake’ of the bottle and a single wipe with a cotton wool pad.
However, it took a good four wipes for me to achieve the same effect. WIPE COUNT: 4
QUICK AS A FLASH
Vichy Purete Thermale, Waterproof Eye Make-up remover, 150 ml, £11 Like the Nivea remover, the odourless blue liquid in this bottle is designed to separate into an oily layer on top — but it also felt slightly greasy.
as soon as I applied the lotion to the pad and swiped it over my eye, a much bigger splodge was lifted off. a similar amount came off with the second pad, leaving my eye completely clean.
although it was the best performer, at £11, it was also one of the more expensive products.
But the fact that it contains gentler ingredients, such as isopropyl palmitate derived from coconuts, rather than oil, is likely to be the reason it glided on my skin so easily and removed the mascara so quickly. WIPE COUNT: 2
FEELING STUNG
Garnier Skin Naturals Simply Essentials — 25 High Efficiency Quilted Wipes, £2.69 I assumed the texture of these quilted wipes would help remove my eye make-up more easily.
However, when I tried them, although it took off my undereye concealer with my first wipe, the mascara only lifted away in dribs and drabs after that.
all in all, I needed six different wipes to get my eyes clean.
Worse still, after the first two, my eyes started to sting, probably due to the ammonia which appeared high up on the list of ingredients. WIPE COUNT: 6
OILY MESS
Quickies, 20 Eye Make-Up Remover Pads, £1.50 although these wipes come in a handy handbag-size pack, it was off-putting to see the main ingredient was liquid paraffin — a refined form of petrol.
like most wipes, this product also contained preservatives to stop fungal growth between the pads — and preservatives can irritate the skin.
the first wipe mainly seemed to remove my under- eye concealer and eye shadow, but didn’t make much progress on the mascara.
In all, I needed four more attempts to get my eyes clean. Worse, the pads were so oily that I had to wash my fingers and face again afterwards. WIPE COUNT: 5
HOW IRRITATING!
L’Oreal Gentle Eye Make-Up Remover 125 ml, £3.49 this was a clear liquid which promised to gently and effectively remove eye make-up.
on the front of the bottle, it also said it contained a plant extract called allantoin, which is supposed to calm irritation. Indeed, it needed to.
Hardly any make-up came off with the first pad, and my lashes continued to feel so clumpy that I needed to use seven pads in all.
even worse, my eye started to sting after the fourth wipe, perhaps because it was the only product which contained several types of sodium laureth sulfates, a kind of detergent which has been linked to skin irritation. WIPE COUNT: 7
COSTLY MISTAKE
No 7 Beautiful Skin Eye Make-Up Remover, 100 ml, £8.50 this was another dual-action formula. But this one came in an annoyingly designed bottle with a large opening so it was hard to control how much came out.
as well as being a vivid shade of blue, the product also looked greasy — with large oily bubbles floating around inside.
most of the concealer came off with the first wipe, but a more substantial amount of mascara only came off with the second wipe — and then I still needed another two to finish the job.
It wasn’t clear why this product was more than twice as expensive as some of the others. WIPE COUNT: 4
SMOOTH AS SILK
Shiseido Instant Eye and Lip Make-up Remover, 125ml, £24 THE most expensive of the products, this was a lightly-fragranced clear liquid which came in a well-designed bottle.
I was sceptical that it could be worth £24, but impressed when most of my waterproof mascara came off on the first pad. after that, I needed just two more to finish the job.
Its secret appears to be that its second largest component was a good-quality silicone.
silicone makes the skin more slippery — and allows make-up to slide off more easily — while leaving a softer, more luxurious feel than the other products. WIPE COUNT: 3
COMING UP ROSES
Clarins Instant Eye Make-up Remover, for Waterproof and Heavy Make-up 125 ml, £19 THE Clarins eye make- up remover was also separated into an oily blue and watery clear layer, but had a lovely floral scent of rose damask.
as soon as I applied the first pad, so much mascara and concealer came off that I only needed a second to finish the job, making it the quickest of all the cleansers.
the most likely reason it worked so efficiently was that it contained a similar good- quality silicone to the shiseido remover.
the higher price of £19 also reflected the fact it contained lighter, gentler oils derived from plants, rather than more manmade ingredients. WIPE COUNT: 2