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How do you remove waterproof/long-wearing makeup?


How do you remove waterproof/long-wearing makeup? Share your favorite products/techniques!

I love shu uemura’s cleansing oil (the orange one), but most cleansing oils seem to do really well (Bobbi Brown, DHC, MAC) at breaking down long-wearing or waterproof makeup.  If I have a lot of heavy eye makeup or eyeliner on, I use Lancome’s Bi-Facil!

Thanks to Jill for today’s question!

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Jessi Avatar

I use a cleansing oil I bought at CVS from a brand called Lumene. It is one the cheapest and most readily available cleansing oils. I like that it removes all makeup, rinses away clean, and doesn’t have mineral oil as an ingredient.

Erica Avatar

I remove eye makeup with Makeup Forever’s Senseyes makeup remover and then I use a makeup removing wipe for the rest of my face (usually Pond’s but I’ve been experimenting with other brands).

eRiN Avatar

I am so broke that I just use my baby oil [that I keep for moisturizing my legs] on a cotton pad if needed! Then I follow with a normal makeup removing cloth to get rid of excess oil. Hey, it works 🙂

Melissa Avatar

I use Ponds cold cream to remove any waterproof liquid or gel liner. I don’t really use longwearing makeup on my face, but if I use something that was super difficult to remove I’d use Ponds too, and just make sure to wash really well after! I’ve never had any bad reactions to mineral oil, but I just like to make sure.

emi s. Avatar

I use jojoba oil – it removes absolutely everything with no tugging or pulling, plus it moisturizers. i love it so much!

Anna Feruglio Dal Dan Avatar

I like L’Oreal Absolute MakeUp Remover. I thought it was pricey the last time I checked the price, but a quick round of comparative shopping revealed it to be one of the cheapest. A lot less oily than the Mac bi-phase equivalent. Mind you, I use a clean face cloth to finish cleansing my face, so that takes care of any oil.
I tried the gel that becomes a cream, as well as various creams, and they leave a very unpleasant film on my eyes.

Lark Avatar

I’m a Believer in MAC Wipes. I MUST have them around at all times! Taking my make up off before washing up is so much better for my skin, the difference has been amazing. And one for eyes and lips, one for face is normal for me. For Color Stay maybe more- but it completely comes off.

Cleanse Off Oil is pushed hard, but I use a remover from Wal Mart that’s the Equate Brand (Wal Mart house brand) version of Neutrogena Make up remover for water proof mascara and such like. $3.50 and works great. I’m big on Hi-Low budgeting; Wipes are $30 for a hundred and worth it. The cheap waterproof remover ingredients read like the Lancome that’s so good so I save some bucks! And cotton pads from the Dollar Store (“Everythings A Dollar”) save a fortune over time. And- it all comes off before water hits my face.

Mariella Avatar

I’ve got several cleaning oils – Clarins Pure Melt, Clinique Take the Day Off balm and MAC’s Cleansng Oil – and while all of them are really good, I think I like MAC’s oil the best. It’s really good stuff.

Sarah Avatar

Bioderma Sebium H2O cleanser, after washing of what I can with a baby wipe. It is the best thing I’ve ever tried, and it is definitely worth the $18 price tag.

Teddy Avatar

Bioderma Sensibio H2O Soulution Micellaire! By far the best makeup remover I have ever used! I used to use the Lancome BiFacial and it leaves a really oily resedue on my skin. Bioderma gets off all my makeup and I do not feel like I need to wash my face after! I have heard it is hard to find in the US but in Canada you can find it in Shoppers Drug Mart or Pharma Plus. The large bottle is $22 CDN for 250 ml and $7 CDN for 100 ml. It actually works out cheaper if you buy the small bottles, but they are harder to find!

Michilicious ~ Avatar

Well I recently bought the waterproof version of Maybelline Volum Express Turbo Boost mascara (Major disappointed, thought that maybe it wouldn’t smudgge but it does… It’s just extremely hard to remove from around your eyes) and I don’t have one so I use olive oil lol.

Laura Avatar

Right now, I’m using the Mac Cleanse off Oil. However, I desperatly want to try Bioderma Crealine H20. I just can’t get it in the states 🙁

Carrie L2 Avatar

I use Make Up For Ever’s Sens’Eyes Waterproof Sensitive Eye Cleanser. It’s very creamy and it’s not greasy or oily. I follow it with Cera Ve Foaming Facial Cleanser.

Veronica Avatar

I love using MAC Wipes for removing everyday makeup but I swear by Estee Lauder Total Makeup Remover for waterproof makeup, it’s the only thing I’ve found that removes my Cover Girl Lash Blast Waterproof mascara 🙂

KG Avatar

I use a combination of baby oil and distilled water. I keep the mixture in a travel squeeze bottle and use a cotton pad to remove make-up. I started using this mixture several years ago after using Lancome’s Bi-Facil faithfully. The combination of water and oil is very similar to Bi-Facil and works just as well.

Maritza Avatar

Because I need to use waterproof mascara (if not, my eyelashes even with a curler go straight with regular mascara and I hate it, so in order to keep the curl I NEED waterproof) so I used to use lancome bi-facil and it’s awesome but pricey and I found mary kay eye makeup removal and works fantastic, gentle and gets rid of all waterproof makeup without a problem. I feel it’s as good as lancome and affordable 🙂 (in comparison with lancome’s)

jazziej Avatar

the Sephora brand waterproof makeup remover…is AMAZINGGGGGG !!!!!!! if u have not tried it ….be sure you do ! It takes of any kind of makeup !

Christina Avatar

Gentle, unscented St. Ives Moisturizing Lotion is my go-to for waterproof face make-up & mascara, too! It does double-duty by leaving a layer of lotion behind after I remove the gunk. Stubborn eye-makeup warrants the use of Bi-facil for sure.

Krista Avatar

Good ol’ Pond’s Cold Cream. I leave it on for a couple of minutes and wash it off with my cleanser to take off every bit of mascara and eyeliner. Works every single time. 🙂

Lilac Avatar

A while ago I decided to try out MAC’s Cleansing Oil and it´s really great for all kinds of face-MU. Even though this oil will dissolve with water as it’s some special version, I prefer to wash it all off with gentle soap (bar soap from Dr Bronners or Weleda). I used to be able to remove normal MU with soap or cleansing lotion only (like Select MU) but the new formulations are all silicone-heavy and practically all longwearing, not many water-based formulas around anymore, so basically everything is “waterproof / long-wearing” and requires special cleansers.
MAC’s product is perfect but expensive, so when it runs out, I will test how normal oil (jojoba and the likes) performs, but I`m not sure if it would be the same, as it´s not water-soluble like cleansing oil.

For eye-make up I use Nivea Remover-Lotion for waterproof makeup (and also rinse with light soap – on closed eyes of course) afterwards. I got a sample size of a bi-phase remover, too, it works fast as lightning but the oil always gets in my eyes and gives me a hazy vision for some minutes, I really do not like that at_all and I use it only when something won’t come off with the Nivea Remover (which is fortunately not very often).

Lilac Avatar

PS: forgot to mention, there is no cleansing oil in the drugstores of my country (thus the lack of inexpensive alternatives to MAC Cleansing Oil), only available from high-end brands – cleansing oil seems not to be very common yet; I suppose other people use remover wipes as those come in thousand varieties or they just have better luck than me using normal face cleansing lotion. I don’t like the wipes so much because due to their packaging and everything they require a lot of conservation agents and other stuff and they tend to leave a lot of residue, not of make-up but of the product that is on the cotton, like lotion or whatever. So I would use those only in a pinch. Also they are really great to scrub off perfume that was sampled in the store and which turns out to be awful 😀

Alethea Avatar

Almond oil. I apply with a cotton ball and leave on the eye for 30 seconds before gently massaging the lash area. Afterwards, I wash the eyes with baby shampoo.

beth maiorana Avatar

I remove my eye makeup each night with virgin olive oil- it removes even the toughest waterproof mascara no problem! I also massage it into my skin to deep cleanse initially, then follow with gentle cleansing milk. I do this every night …

Helena Avatar

I really wanted to like Bioderma but it broke me out 🙁 I’ve been using Vichy Pureté Thermale 3-in-1 Calming Cleansing Solution.. it is so gentle and effective on the skin, I can’t stop buying it! For mascara though, I use Lancome’s bi-Facil.

Adelita Avatar

1st step – Lancôme Bi Facil for eye makeup
2nd step – DHC Cleansing Oil for the whole face (and neck)
3rd step – Cetaphil for face & neck
4th step – Lush Fresh Farmacy or Coal Face (those has mild granule so it almost like a scrub).

I put moisturizing toner, Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid Lotion (they call toner as lotion in Japan), Clinique DDMG and Moisture Surge afterward. My skin is extremely oily but dehydrated and those steps doesn’t make my skin drier or anything.

kirsten Avatar

the best product ever (and I believe it is finally landing in NYC at Grand Central) is called Fabulous Face Oil, it is made by an Australian skincare company called AESOP and is actually a serum to be worn at night (it’s amazing! really!), it has an eye dropper and one drop will get off an entire eye. no need to wash it off as it is actually a skin moisturiser. I highly recommend!

Grace Chin Avatar

I use a jap or korean (not sure) brand called Cleansing Express. Even the water-based ones removes waterproof effortlessly!!

flinty Avatar

I haven’t tried many different products because one of the first products I tried (LUSH Ultra Bland) works great. I don’t like it as a regular cleanser, just when I need to remove waterproof stuff.

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