A few weeks ago the Right Brain blogged about products containing micellar water. In another example of great minds thinking alike, one of our fellow beauty blogging scientists, Colin, has also written on the subject on his blog Colin’s Beauty Pages.
More on micelles
Not to diss my fellow Beauty Brain but I really like Collin’s explanation better. His description of micelles as liquid crystals was very helpful, especially with the picture he included. In addition, he identified a practical benefit of these products that the Right Brain neglected to mention: that micelles can lower irritation from surfactants. For example, he pointed out that higher concentrations of Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) can be less irritating than lower concentrations. That’s because above the critical micelle concentration the SLS molecules form agglomerates which are less likely to penetrate skin.
Still, I don’t think any of Colin’s additional information contradicts the Right Brain’s main point that these micellar water products seem horribly overpriced. I think Colin would agree with that.
Image credit: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Surfactant.jpg
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The pricing does seem pretty steep. Then again, they are not that much more expensive than some other make up removers, which I mostly can’t use due to irritation. I think that the price should ultimately be judged based on whether you can get the same results using cheaper products. For instance, many basic moisturizers are overpriced because you can get great basic moisturizers very cheaply, but nothing comes to mind when it comes to removing make up on the go without irritating skin.