Taking It All Off...

Real Girl has found a new staple. This one’s staying in my makeup bag, living there like a happy pup nestled in a blanketed box. And like a puppy, I will pet it and love it and not get too angry when it pees in the kitchen. Wait…eh, you get the drift.

We’re used to glamour products here. Products that give you tawny color, shiny lips, flowy hair, perfect brows. I mean, when you read about real estate, you’re looking for the number of bedrooms, the asking price, the luxury amenities. You’re not aching to know what cleaning product the realtor uses. When you see a girl on the subway in the best fitted blazer ever, you’ve got to know who makes it and where she got it. Not where she goes for dry cleaning.

So forgive me if this entry doesn’t reek of glamour. What it does have—in spades—is necessity. I will never again wear mascara without using my new can’t-live-without Clinique Naturally Gentle Eye Makeup Remover. Ohhhh, I need it. I love it. I have to have it. Hey, Clinique Makeup Remover! Stop peeing in my kitchen.

Ok. Teeny confession here. One I do not recommend you follow in the future. I sort of used this product before I read the directions. Here’s how Clinique says you should use the remover: “Use day or night, cleansing one eye area at a time. Apply a drop to 100% cotton ball. With eye closed, massage gently over lid and lashes. Wipe up then down, then open the eye and wipe underneath. Tissue off, or rinse off any residue with water.”

Here’s how Real Girl used the remover: "Use day or night, squeezing out a healthy glob into your hands and using like a cleanser over eyes. Massage until your eye area resembles a racoon’s. Rinse off the ton of residue with water. Follow with actual cleanser."

Right. If you have really sensitive skin, I don’t recommend using my method. Otherwise, I think that’s the only way to go. Because here’s one of the reasons I love the product: Normally, I hate makeup remover precisely because you’ve got to use a cotton ball, or because you’re using an already prepared makeup pad. That means rubbing the eye area. And as we all know, RUBBING THE EYE AREA IS BAD. However, this lightweight-lotion-like product has enough slipperiness that when you rub it over eyes directly (lightly, people!!), you’re rubbing only the product and not your delicate eye area. Honestly, it feels like cleanser. (Another perk? None of that oily makeup remover feel.) And I get an extra kick out of the way my eyes look surrounded by dissolving mascara. I made Real Boy look at my raccoon face too. We laughed. What’s more, followed by cleanser, I had not a speck of mascara to be found.

But maybe you’ve got a makeup remover you love more? Or you know of a cleanser that’s both gentle enough not to irritate but effective enough to remove mascara? Or you just want to talk about your puppy? You know we love to hear you.

With love,
From one Real Girl to another.
xx