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What is micellar water?
  • Elana44Elana44
    Lately i see a lot of brands coming out with something called micellar water. What are they, what do they do to skin? How are they different from regular water or a toner we all are used to see around? What do they put in there that makes it micellar? 
  • Ally E.Ally E.
    it's not toner at all, it's water+oil solution to remove makeup. the best one out there is Bioderma H20 Crealine and a lot of women like this kind of product to remove their eye makeup, I still however prefer hydrophilic oils
  • Right BrainRight Brain
    Micelles are just mixtures of oil, water and surfactant.
  • Elana44Elana44
    Оk, so what kind of oil and surfactant? And what makes it different from hydrophilic oils then?
  • Right BrainRight Brain
    Virtually any kind of oil, water and surfactant mixture will form some kind of micelles. That's just the technical term used to describe a drop of oil surrounded by surfactant and suspended in water. These companies are just using a cool sounding technical term to try to differentiate their products. You could pick up ANY shampoo, body wash, facial wash, etc that you have at home and you could say that they ALL have "Micellar Water." 

  • alchemist
    A quick look at some of the products claiming to be micellar waters, they're just essentially the following formula

    Water
    a Glycol (eg Hexylene Glycol, Pentylene Glycol) - acting both as a humectant and hydotrope (improves solubulity of the the makeup in the surfactant)
    Solubiliser (eg Polysorbate 20) - the surfactant that does the cleansing
    Preservative
    Fairy Dust


  • Elana44Elana44
    I see... Just checked 3 waters and all of them contain Poloxamer 184 as a surfactant. Is it safe? Any evidence of irritation, skin coming off and all?

    Alchemist, in your standart formula i don't notice oil though, of which Right Brain and Ally mentioned... 
    Or a Glycol acts as an oil? 
    Fairy Dust oh! can you name me one water that has it, i'd totally buy ;)))
  • alchemist
    To make a micelle you don't need oil, only a surfactant.

    Poloxamer 184 is very mild as surfactants go, not irritating to skin or eyes and not toxic.

    Fairy dust is the stuff that gets put in to try to sell you the stuff (vitamins, anti-oxidants, plant extracts etc).  Sometimes it works, other times it only works if you really really believe  ;)
  • Elana44Elana44
    Alchemist, thank you, relieved about Poloxamer 184 because i have itchy hands to try out Caudalie water.
    For those interested, complete list (oh yeah! fairy dust it has!)

    Aqua (Water), Poloxamer 184, Glycerin*, Peg-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil*, Myristamidopropyl Pg-Dimonium Chloride Phosphate, Cocamidopropyl Betainamide Meachloride*, Bisabolol*, Parfum (Fragrance), Polyaminopropyl Biguanide, Sodium Chloride, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Fruit Extract*

  • Right BrainRight Brain
    Alchemist is right you don't need oil to form micelles. However oil is usually the reason that you need micelles. That's because you're either trying to get rid of oil (as in a cleanser) or you're trying to deliver oil (as in a conditioner or lotion).
  • Right BrainRight Brain
    My guess, based on looking at ingredient s cited above, is that these products are very low foaming. Maybe that's their "hook." they're not regular cleansers that are all harsh and will get foam all over your face, they're just water filled with magical micelles that don't foam yet still clean.
  • Elana44Elana44
    Right Brain, this sounds good to me :) Now definitely this water is in my wish list, i despise harsh or greasy cleansers... 
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