I’ve been edging up to do a like for like comparison on these two micellar waters, but guess what? They’re exactly the same thing. Honestly.
Except for a couple of crucial things. The price and the labels. The L’Oreal Paris micellar is currently on offer at Boots for £3.99 but at it’s usual price it’s £4.99 for 200ml. The Garnier Micellar is £4.99 for 400ml.
So, the claims. L’Oreal Paris Skin Perfection 3-in-1 Purifying Micellar Solution claims to dissolve make up, unclog pores and remove impurities and tone and smooth the skin. It claims to be suitable for sensitive skin. Garnier Skin Naturals flags up the ‘for sensitive skin’ right on the label, and claims to remove make up, cleanse and sooth with no rinsing. I’ve had this checked over by a formulator and they confirm that despite a little variation on the ingredient names, they are, essentially exactly the same.
This makes me feel screamy as a consumer. L’Oreal are producing some amazing, amazing things right now, so this feels like a bit of a screw up when you look at it as a customer trust issue. A reader flagged this up to me – people are much more savvy than clearly L’Oreal thinks. In a fit of sulking about this I’d suggest you buy neither.
And in case you’re wondering how these compare to Bioderma, the Bioderma ingredient list is:
WATER (AQUA), PEG-6 CAPRYLIC/CAPRIC GLYCERIDES, PROPYLENE GLYCOL, CUCUMIS SATIVUS (CUCUMBER) FRUIT EXTRACT, MANNITOL, XYLITOL, RHAMNOSE, FRUCTOOLIGOSACCHARIDES, DISODIUM EDTA, CETRIMONIUM BROMIDE.A different line-up but again, achieving the same thing. Key players are the surfactants, PEG-6 CAPRYLIC/CAPRIC GLYCERIDES in the Bioderma product and POLOXAMER 184 in the L’Oreal formulas.
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