Caudalie Make-Up Remover Cleansing Water

THE STATS: $14 for 3.38 oz and $28 for 6.7 oz at Sephora USA.

If you follow beauty blogs regularly, you’ll know that a lot of people looooove cleansing waters, especially Bioderma’s Créaline Micellar Water.  According to Beautylish, cleansing or micellar water consists of

micelles, (a small cluster of cleansing molecules mixed in a liquid) which help dissolve the impurities in your skin (similar to how detergent breaks down oil) so you can rinse or wipe them away.

The same article also specifically recommends this Caudalie Cleansing Water for being similar to Bioderma and especially suitable for sensitive skin.

Sorry the white-on-clear text is hard to read!

Caudalie’s formula includes two different ingredients sourced from grapes, their signature ingredient, which is listed as grape “water” and grape “juice.”

Like all cleansing waters, you apply this by using a saturated cotton pad, and it doesn’t require further rinsing.  From my experience, it is safe for use on eyelids and lips.

I made 2 sets of test swatches. For both the lipstick and the pencil eyeliner, the top swatch was left untouched, the second swatch was cleansed with Caudalie, and the bottom swatch was cleansed with Origins Make A Difference toner.

From the swatch test, you can tell that it removes product somewhat effectively.  It is more powerful than a toner, but clearly doesn’t remove as cleanly as make up remover.  It doesn’t leave a film or otherwise change the feel of your skin, and is very refreshing.

But to be honest, I really don’t enjoy using this cleansing water.  The smell is off-putting, and although I can usually suck it up if the product shows good results, since you do not rinse off the cleansing water, the smell lingers for quite a while.

THE VERDICT: While I can’t deny the relatively effective cleansing, the smell stinks, literally.