Micellar waters are a fairly recent addition to the common skincare regime. Their purpose is to be a one stop cleanser that removes make-up and tones at the same time. They have been around for a few years now and at first we thought they sounded amazing, a simple fast way to clean your face effectively. However, when we were developing our Nakin Natural Skincare Range we spent a long time looking into the products that we wanted to include in the range, and after lots of research and testing of products, we decided that we could not include a micellar water in our anti-ageing skincare range. We receive lots of comments from customers about micellar waters, so we thought it would be helpful to explain why we are not big fans of them, and why you don’t need a micellar water. The reason is that they can be drying and irritating to skin, and it is not the best way to cleanse the face. Micellar waters are applied to the face with cotton wool, and are not rinsed off the face. So, using them can mean that strong synthetic cleansing ingredients are left on the face and neck, which is where the problems can arise. At Nakin we only support products that help skin to flourish and thrive naturally, so this is why we do not recommend using micellar waters.

The Problems with Using Micellar Waters

The reason that we are not fans of micellar waters is because they contain surfactant cleansers like cetrimonium chloride, which is used for its cleansing action. This is not an ingredient that we would use in any Nakin product, as we have extremely high natural ingredient standards and synthetic cleansers like this do not meet our natural standards. Separate to this, the problem is that when cleansing ingredients like centimonium chloride are in micellar waters, they are then not washed off skin in the same way that cleansing milk and face washes are. Skin needs deep effective cleansing, and this is where problems can arise as harsh cleansing ingredients are effective at cleansing skin, but they can strip skin, throw it off balance and cause irritation. It is not something that you might notice until using them for a couple of weeks. If you have sensitive or dry skin you will most likely feel your skin is irritated and dry after the first use, or a couple of applications. If your skin is normal, oily or not sensitive then it might take a couple of weeks to notice that a micellar water is drying out your skin. By which time you might not even attribute the issues to the micellar water.

Micellar waters are designed to be excellent cleansers that remove oil, make-up dirt and grime effectively from skin. But it is by not washing off the effective cleansing ingredients that causes the problem. We should note that we are not saying that every micellar water will cause dryness or irritation to skin. This is because we have not studied the formula of every micellar water and therefore it would be unfair to say that every one of them is not great for skin. Instead, we are just making generalisations and offering advice to be aware of this issue. Usually effective cleansing ingredients that are powerful enough to remove make-up will need to be rinsed off skin afterwards, and they should not be left on the face and neck. Micellar waters are not to be confused with face toners, which are really boosting to skin. As a natural face toner is used after cleaning the face with a natural cleansing milk or wash, it does not include such powerful cleansing ingredients. The ingredients in toners include very gentle cleansers that and are more about reviving and freshening skin.

We feel that micellar waters are similar to using face wipes to cleanse skin. Face wipes also contain cleansing ingredients that are not removed from the face, this is why your face may feel that it has a kind of coating on after you have used a face wipe. The other reason that we don’t believe a micellar water is the best way to cleanse your face is because, just applying one cleansing product with a cotton wool pad to skin means that the face and neck do not benefit from the massaging action that is used when applying a cleansing milk or face wash. This massaging action helps to dislodge dirt and condition skin. As both products are also followed by a face toner; then skin still benefits from the toning, freshness and cleansing that a stay on liquid face toner offers.

The Alternatives to Micellar Waters

For daily morning and evening facial cleansing we believe that using a cleansing milk followed by a face toner is the best option to clean the face effectively, while still being kind to skin. We recommend a natural anti-ageing lotion like Nakin’s Advanced Cleansing Milk which we believe is one of the best face cleansers available. The silky soft lotion formula of a cleansing milk means that powerful plant actives can be easily incorporated into the ingredients, and they are greatly beneficial to skin when applied to the face. So skin is left clear, fresh, soft and hydrated. Follow this with Nakin’s Natural Purifying Face Toner which acts as a double cleanse, by removing the last traces of cleanser and preparing skin for the actives applied after cleansing. It is kind to sensitive skin and will not cause dryness or irritation to skin, like micellar waters can. This gentle but effective toner uses seaweed, aloe, witch hazel and hyaluronic acid to detox skin while comforting it at the same time.

Face washes are another alternative to micellar waters, but they can also be more stripping to skin, due to their foaming nature and the ingredients required for this. This can cause skin to go out of balance, and the drying nature of a face wash can cause it to produce more oils to compensate.

If you love your micellar water and cannot be parted with it, then we recommend that you only use a natural one with more gentle surfactant cleansers, and that you rinse it off after use in the shower, or with a wet cloth or cotton wool. This will ensure that the surfactant cleansers do not stay on skin and cause any irritation or dryness.

We hope that you found this feature useful. If you use a micellar water and have noticed dry skin patches or sensitivity on the eyes, face and neck then it could well be caused by your leave on micellar water. This can even happen to those that do not normally suffer from dry and sensitive skin issues.

To find out more about Nakin and our award winning natural anti-ageing skincare then visit us at www.nakinskincare.com The full Nakin range can be found in our face products section. Each product has been specially designed with the best skin loving plant actives, so they all work on a multitude of skin requirements. The silky textures and delicate natural aromas are kind to even very sensitive skin and are now the cult favourite of many. Using the full range will help your skin to be brighter, clearer, plump and glowing. They are also affordable to all, cruelty free and made in the UK.