Botanics Soothing Eye Make Up Remover

I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect eye makeup remover for a very long time. I love Lancôme Bi facile but it’s just too pricey for me to justify buying it over and over. Lots of my lovely readers suggested that I try this out and I’d seen enough favourable reviews of it to pick up a bottle. The bottle looks fairly small at 150ml however it has lasted me around 4 weeks with no signs of running out any time soon. Oh and it costs £2.99. BARGAIN! Excuse the photo nicked from Boots. My laptop appears to have nicked the photo I took of the bottle and it’s all grubby and half used up now. 

It doesn’t matter how cheap it is if it doesn’t work though so what is it like? It’s a bi phase remover so you have to shake it to get then two liquid levels to mix. It doesn’t have a strong scent which is a good thing in my book. My eyes themselves are not sensitive however the skin under them is. I recently had huge problems after using an Estee Lauder remover that ended up with the skin so dry that it was peeling. You can imagine how sexy my concealer looked over flaky skin! I’ve since been using this in conjunction with the Botanics eye cream and my skin has healed beautifully. 

This removes any eye makeup with ease. For waterproof mascara I just hold the cotton wool to my eye for 5-10 seconds before wiping away. It doesn’t sting or burn my eyes or my delicate skin. There is a slight oily residue left behind but this disappears with a splash of water. 

So is this a holy grail makeup remover? It may well be. I’m not going to lie, I’m always going to try others because that’s just what I’m like. I’m a product cheat. Always looking for the next best thing. But I do know I’ll always have a bottle of this in stock in case my latest trial product goes all Estee Lauder on me x

*I bought this myself*

Ow Ow Ow Ow

You know those big gift sets Estee Lauder come out with? I love those. Last time they were out my mum picked up a couple and I inherited one. It contained this rather lovely looking bottle of Gentle (yeah right) Eye makeup Remover. Bear in mind that a (100ml) bottle of this costs £17 so you’d expect it to be good. 

Erm... no? This stung my eyes like nothing else. I have extremely sensitive skin under my eyes and after desperately trying to use this up sp it wouldn’t go to waste the skin is tight, sore and flaky! My eyes were red more often than not after use.

Did it at least do a good job of removing eye makeup? Nope. It was ok but I wouldn’t use it with waterproof mascara. Or ever actually. After this and another disastrous product I’m now trying to rehabilitate my under eyes. I think I’ve found the right makeup remover (review coming soon) but I also need a seriously good under eye moisturiser. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated! Sorry I don’t really have anything else to say about this product. It was painful and it sucked. End of.

Finished! October Edition

Over the last month or so I’ve gotten to the bottom of a whole load of products. So many they wouldn’t all fit in the one photo. Is it sad that it fills me with a real sense of pride? Even sadder is the fact that there is a little basket under my desk that I put finished items in till  I’ve taken a photo of them for this blog... and occasionally wave it under hubbies nose to say ‘look I do use all this stuff!’ Anyhoo...

Treseme: Heat Defence Spray: Love this. Leaves my hair super soft and really reduces frizz. I have already repurchased. In fact I believe this was one of the first reviews I ever did!

Garnier Night Cream: I did like this however there is a scent and I think it’s the perfume that stung a little if my skin was feeling particularly sensitive. Most days it was fine though. I won’t be repurchasing simply because I prefer the Simple night cream. 

Carmex: (original): Love this stuff. Have gone through hundreds of these little tubes and no doubt will go through hundreds more. Most of the flavours have SPF but the original doesn’t so this is the one I keep on my bedside table. 

Simple Eye Cream: It was nice and cooling to apply. Again this lacks SPF so because the eye cream that I used at night. I have a few others to try first but I’d be happy to buy this again in future. It probably wouldn’t cut it if you were looking for some heavy duty anti ageing but for my 23 year old skin it was fab. 

Smashbox Lash DNA in Burgundy: Loved the colour but hated the giant wand. Seriously it was bigger than my eyes... IT stank of play dough when I got it and progressively got smellier throughout its life. Needless to say I won’t be repurchasing. 

Blistex: Smells, tastes and feels foul but for severely cracked lips there is no better product. I hate it but I’ll never be without it. It sinks in quickly leaving your lips feeling so much better. This is usually the lip balm I have on my dressing table. I apply it first thing in the morning and by the time I go to apply my lipstick it has totally sunken in. Fab/ horrid. 

No7 Cleanse and Care Eye makeup remover:  Got this as a freebie thankfully. I really didn’t like this. It took loads to remove any makeup and I always still woke up with panda eyes the next day. Would not purchase personally. 

ELF Clarifying Pressed Powder: Honestly for £1.50 I wasn’t expecting greatness and I certainly didn’t get it. Mattified ok but quickly started to look cakey and unnatural. Euch. 

Lancôme Day Cream SPF15: Another gift with purchase. I expected this to be too heavy for my skin but I experienced zero breakouts or irritation. Whilst it is a little heavy for summer for me I may well repurchase during the winter. 

Rimmel Stay Matte Mouse (foundation of Dooooooom): Thankfully I dropped this (by accident I swear) and over half of it fell out. Their lightest shade is, on me, the colour of a Wotsit. I managed to use it up by mixing it with a lot of sunscreen to lighten it. I am not sorry to see the back of this!

L’Oréal Absolute Eye and Lip Makeup Remover: This was ok actually but I’ve used better, cheaper products since so I won’t be repurchasing. Everyday makeup wasn’t a problem but it really struggled with anything waterproof. 

Not a bad month really! X

*I bought the above products myself*

Simple Kind to Eyes Eye Makeup Remover

Having used up my Superdrug Sensitive Eye Makeup Remover I went digging through my box of ‘to be used’ products and found this. Now I wear ALOT of eye makeup. And over the last few days it’s been waterproof for cat related reasons. Therefore a dedicated eye makeup remover that can cope with copious amounts of waterproof mascara is a must in my evening routine. I also have really quite sensitive skin under my eyes so I can’t be swiping away for half an hour in order to avoid panda eyes. According to the blurb on the bottle this should be right up my street then!


Erm no. Oh Simple, you promised to be kind to my eyes! And I quote, “effectively remove even waterproof mascara”. Ok so it does remove waterproof mascara but by the time it’s done this “effectively” the skin under my eyes is stinging. Bizarrely my eyes themselves are fine but it’s just not comfortable. It also makes my mascara come off in weird flakes which have a tendency to get in my eyes if I don’t make sure I get rid of every last flake.

Essentially I got this for free as part of a buy 2 get 1 free deal at Boots so I’m not bitter (honest) and I don’t remember the exact price but I *think* it’s less than £2 but honestly I wouldn’t repurchase. I hate throwing things away so I’ll use it (thank goodness it’s a fairly small bottle!) but I will do it with a sour expression on my face and mascara in my eyes. In short - DO NOT WANT.

Revlon 30 Second Eye Makeup Remover

Now you can’t buy this in the UK (thankfully) to the best of my knowledge. This is a little souvenir from my honeymoon in Thailand. Ah the Turtle Mart. The only shop I’ve ever been in where beer cost less than soft drinks. Good times! I ran out of eye makeup remover half way through the trip and this was all I could find. 

I really don’t have a lot to say about this apart from DO NOT WANT. It stings my eyes and does a half arsed job of removing mascara. I’m alternating this with my beloved Lancôme Bi Facil in an effort to use it up and I dread the days when I have to use this. If I use it every day it leaves my under eye area dry and flaky. 

I feel bad that I don’t have anything positive to say about it but I really don’t. I think I’ll stick to buying Revlon’s makeup thanks! x

MAC Pro Eye Makeup Remover

They say;

“A mega-effective remover that lifts off every look – from delicate to dramatic – without smudges, tears or aggression. Pro-quality, yet decidedly gentle; calms, hydrates and sooths skin with cucumber extract. Makeup can be immediately reapplied. A favourite of busy models.”

I say... nope? I have had no luck with this and waterproof mascara. In fact with some non water proof mascaras it gives up too. It costs £13.50 for 100ml of product that I only ever use to remove the last traces of eye makeup after I’ve had a shower. 

On the plus side it doesn’t irritate my eyes or my sensitive skin under the eyes. Oh and I can use the bottle for a back to MAC when I eventually finish it (if I ever do). It’s strange because I know a lot of people swear by this yet I cannot get it to work for me. I really don’t have anything else to say about this. FAIL. 

*I bought this with my own pennies*