Clarins Instant Eye Make-up Remover

...department store and visit the Clarins counter. I have bought several products from Clarins and really liked them. They are expensive but they are lovely to use. I had a sample of the eye make-up remover before and it was effective but it was the cost that had put me off buying it before. However having been unable to obtain a suitable cheaper alternative I decided I would go and buy it.

The lady at the counter explained that they ...
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Clarins began in 1954 as a French company making quality products made entirely from plant extracts. By 1981 it had started selling products in USA and by 1990 had become the European leader in premium skin care products. It now has a wide range of skin products, make-up, perfume and in 2002 launched ClarinsMen a new skincare range for men. In addition to its products it also has many "studios" offering a ... more

I had been struggling for some time to find an eye make-up remover that would remove my waterproof mascara easily without irritating my eyes. Having tried a few different products which were cheap but which weren't very successful I decided to go to my local department store and visit the Clarins counter. I have bought several products from Clarins and really liked them. They are expensive but they are lovely to use. I had a sample of the eye make-up remover before and it was effective but it was the cost that had put me off buying it before. However having been unable to obtain a suitable cheaper alternative I decided I would go and buy it.

The lady at the counter explained that they made two eye make-up removers and the one she recommended for me was the heavy make-up remover as this was good at removing waterproof mascara.

The Company
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Clarins began in 1954 as a French company making quality products made entirely from plant extracts. By 1981 it had started selling products in USA and by 1990 had become the European leader in premium skin care products. It now has a wide range of skin products, make-up, perfume and in 2002 launched ClarinsMen a new skincare range for men. In addition to its products it also has many "studios" offering a range of treatments including massage, facials and exfoliations.

The Cost
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My bottle cost me £13, I know a lot of you will be screaming at your computers "£13 for some eye make-up remover, are you mad?" Well I would say no, read on! It is 125ml. You can get it on internet sites for a few pounds cheaper.

The Bottle
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The bottle is clear plastic with a white screw top lid with gold trim. The product is oil-based and at rest the product separates into a clear layer on top and a blue layer on the bottom. The clear layer is the oily layer which dissolves the make-up while the blue layer removes any oil then moisturises, soothes and refreshes the skin. Before using the product you must shake the bottle so the two layers mix together.

There is a quite large hole at the top for dispensing the product. As the product is liquid I think the hole could have been smaller to avoid dispensing to much of the product at one time. Having said that I have never poured too much out at a time (maybe I am over cautious as I know how much it costs!).

The bottle comes inside the traditional Clarins White cardboard box (is all this packaging necessary?), inside which there is also instructions and further information about the product.

The Test
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Although this product is for heavy make-up I have to admit that I don't actually wear heavy eye make-up, on a normal day I would wear some black waterproof mascara and a little concealer underneath my eyes. I think that most eye make-up removers (even plain old water) will remove eye-shadow the main test is whether it can remove waterproof mascara.

I shake the bottle and put a small amount onto a cotton wool pad. You are supposed to use a separate cotton wool pad for each eye, this avoids spreading any infection from one eye to the other. I don't know how many women (or men) keep to this advice, I have to confess that I don't and I have never had any eye infections (so far!). I guess if you are prone to eye problems then it would be good advice to follow.

I wipe the cotton wool pad across my eye and look at it. Where the blue make-up remover was on the cotton wool is now black with the waterproof mascara - success. One wipe is not enough to remove all the mascara however it does come off after a little dab on the more stubborn bits.

Now all the mascara is removed and I can go to bed safe in the knowledge that I will not wake up the next morning with panda eyes from my mascara. The only downside is that your eyelids do feel a little oily after using this product. The product description from Clarins says that the product in non-oily but I would have to disagree. That isn't a big problem when you are removing your eye make-up at the end of the day, but if you were putting your make-up on and made mistake and wanted to take it off and reapply then it might cause some problems.

My Thoughts
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If you want an eye make-up remover that removes waterproof mascara then I would definitely recommend this product. I have not used another product that is as effective as this one. The main downside is the price but then sometimes you pay for what you get. I tried some cheaper products and I wasn't happy with the results but with this product it removes the mascara every time. I think if you can afford it then its worth every penny and I think the bottle will last quite a long time as you only use a very small amount each time. In my opinion it's another top quality product from Clarins and one I will continue to use.

© AJ26 2005
 

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