Since Clinique are one of my favourite brands (due to the fact that they cater well to my skin and are animal friendly) their rinse-off eye makeup solvent seemed too good to be true.
The blurb claims that it is a “fast, water-rinsable eye makeup dissolver” which “cleans up eyes easily without disturbing other makeup”. The question is, can any product really clean up eye makeup without making you look like a panda, and without interfering with any other makeup you might be wearing?

Upon first application of the solvent, which you apply with a cotton wool pad or ball, it feels quite nice and cooling. It does not leave any oily residue and can indeed be a lifesaver if you need to remove a splodge of mascara or excess eye shadow. Neither does it smudge. You need only slightly rinse the area with water– this dissolves the eye makeup sufficiently so you can reapply virtually straight over it. It removes every trace of the offending makeup without the need for harsh rubbing. However, when I first tried this out I had only used a little under my eyes to remove any faint traces of eye shadow dust that had decided to stray. On that particular day I was going out so was in a hurry – this had proved indispensable. So where is this fault I was talking about then? I hear you cry.

Sometimes I can be fairly lazy as I’m sure most of us have gone to bed without thoroughly removing eye makeup (I think I can safely say this doesn’t apply to blokes though) as soap and water aren’t always very effective at doing this. Added to the fact that soap can sting our eyes. I can say with certainty that getting soap in your eyes is a nicer experience than using this. It is truly lethal. As mentioned, I continued to use some of it before I realised that my eyes were suffering from a reaction to it and not due to tiredness; new eye shadow or mascara. If I used this to clean my eyes just before going to bed after my normal cleansing routine, then I felt it unnecessary to wash off (yes, I know you are meant to rinse it off but a couple of splashes of water would surely suffice). However, having then woken up with eyes that would barely open they felt so sore, I thought I’d get into the habit of fully washing it off my eyes and see if that helped. It didn’t. Splashing lots of cold water over my eyes did nothing to cool them down or stop the burning and redness.

So then, you would not be surprised that I wouldn’t recommend this product. Whilst it is brilliant at removing makeup, and it does indeed live up to its claims, the results I suffered are just not worth it. If you don’t have sensitive skin or eyes and don’t mind spending the money then by all means try it – you may be one of the lucky ones. However, I personally feel that it is not worth the risk when 99% of it will invariably be poured down the sink or passed on to some other poor unsuspecting soul. As mentioned earlier, Clinique are one of my favourite brands so I was especially disappointed with it. It may be effective and it may well be worthy of its price as it will last a long time for those who can use it safely, but it is not a product that will grace my bathroom shelves ever again.