What it is: Rimmel Gentle Eye Make Up Remover
The “Gentle Factor”: Well, okay. The thing about makeup removers is that, like many other things that have to do with our eyes, they’re a very personal product. What works for me may not work for you, and vice-versa.
That said, I was pretty happy with the gentleness of Rimmel’s makeup remover! I found it to be just as easy on my eyes as — if not even slightly more easy than — The Body Shop’s Camomile remover (which, as I’ve mentioned, is often declared to be pretty much as gentle as it gets.) What does that mean, exactly? Well, it stings the skin around my eyes, but doesn’t irritate my eyes themselves any more than, say, water would.
The “Removal Factor”: Unfortunately, I’m docking points (theoretical points; we’re still resisting the trend to rate products with math-y formulas) for the marketing. From my experience, this does not remove waterproof products, despite Rimmel’s claims! However, for non-waterproof makeup, I’ve found it does a darn good job of removal. The trick (as with any remover, be it makeup or nail polish) is to let it work its magic for a few seconds: soak a cotton pad with remover, give it five seconds on your closed eye, then gently wipe it all away.
The proof: There are a lot of reviews talking about how Rimmel’s makeup remover doesn’t really… remove. So, I wanted to share some photo-evidence with you! I soaked a bit of a tissue to take off Monday’s eye, wiped my eye area a few times (without using more remover or another cotton pad, etc.) In seconds, it went from this…
…to this!
And just to prove that it really did get everything, I took a clean tissue, rubbed baby oil all over my eye area, and swiped again:
nada!
The ingredients: (It’s silicone- and paraben-free — however, I’d rather it didn’t have SLS…)
Water (aqua), Poloxamer 184, Sodium PCA, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Tetrasodium EDTA, DMDM Hydrantoin, Panthenol
The verdict? For around $6-8, I think this is a great buy — but it’s not something I’d kill attack a mother bear dash out of a meeting to go pick up. It’s non-greasy, scent free, and it does a great job of (gently!) removing makeup, but won’t work as well on waterproof or smudge-proof products.
Try it if…
- You want something to remove normal-wear products,
- You go through a lot of makeup remover (the cost of remover really adds up, especially as a beauty blogger!)
- You’re looking for something gentle, or
- You want something that’s easy to find, with well-made packaging and a zero-grease finish.
