Almay Eye Makeup Remover

As a contact lens wearer (and admitedly, a gal obsessed with mascara), getting off my eye makeup each night can be a bit difficult, especially with waterproof formulas. As well, I tend to be lazy about my night time beauty product usage, so if it isn't fast and easy, chances are I'd rather just wake up with mascara on my pillow than spend the time.

My usual daily face wash is currently Neutrogena's Liquid Formulation (review coming soon). What I love about this cleanser is that it is gentle and doesn't strip off all oil on my skin, but is heavy duty enough to get off all of my makeup. This usually includes my mascara and eye liner as well. However, if I'm wearing waterproof mascara, the Neutrogena can't touch it. The result is eyelashes that are slightly gooey and stuck together. That's when I need to "call in the big guns," so to speak. I have two different formulations of eye makeup remover, both by Almay. In the past I have tried removers by Cover Girl, Revlon, L'Oreal, Lancome, Clinique and Maybelline, but I always return to my trusted Almay. All of the other formulations have left behind traces of the makeup, which with a few days use can build up into a sticky mess. In addition, I find that the eye area can become easily over cleansed, resulting in tight, dry skin a few minutes after rinsing.

Both of the Almay formulations are real standouts.

The gel remover is my heavy duty remover. I usually will use this one when I have a LOT of waterproof mascara on my lashes. I put a small squirt (about the size of a large pea) into my hands, close my eyes tightly, and rub the remover all over my already wet lids and lashes. I rinse quickly with just a few splashes of water. No traces of remover, or my mascara, remain. In addition, the area is not over-cleansed.

The pads are best used for clean up around the eye area with makeup application, or for days that I have on very minimal waterproof makeup. The pads are simply not tough enough to remove a larger amount of mascara, often 2-3 pads are required for that job (and there may still be residual mascara).

Almay Eye Makeup Remover Pads
Almay Eye Makeup Remover Gel