Who uses face wipes after a long day? Raise your hand. While I avoid using face wipes as a daily practice, I do use them often enough in my life. Face wipes for sensitive skin can be a challenge, but lucky for us brands are realizing we need gentle wipes for our sensitive skin. Here are today's weekly empties of five face wipes I've used up and how they perform specifically for my sensitive skin. Did any of them meet the standards to be called The Best Face Wipe For Sensitive Skin? Keep reading to find out.
FIVE EMPTIES
Weekly empties, where I share my trash. What better review can I give than after finishing a product? Check out last week's post HERE on sheet masks.
QUALITIES FOR THE BEST FACE WIPES FOR SENSITIVE SKIN
Alcohol?
Much like sheet masks, I always caution against wipes with alcohol. While alcohol is a great disinfectant, it's not something we want to put directly on our face. Not a big deal to use occasionally, but if you use face wipes daily or often enough, it might not be the best thing for your skin especially if there is any alcohol in the rest of your skincare. If you have sensitive skin, I highly discourage the use of alcohol.
**There are other types of alcohols, known as fatty alcohols, which are absolutely non-irritating and can be exceptionally beneficial for skin. Examples you'll see on ingredient labels include cetyl, stearyl, and cetearyl alcohol.
Fragrance?
I really wish companies would stop putting fragrances in skincare. It is one of the most irritating things for the skin. Fragrances is also where brands can hide a lot of the nasties without disclosing to the consumer. Unfortunately the beauty industry is just not regulated enough, but that's a whole other blog post. While all sheet masks have some sort of fragrance, I prefer essential oils, or sensitive skin friendly brands. You can still have a reaction to essential oils, but it's definitely not as harmful as synthetic fragrances. This is really where it gets dicey as a consumer. I'm lucky enough to be able to speak with brands and grill them on where they source their ingredients and the type of fragrance they use. This is not always information that is easily accessible to consumers.
I know I sound repetitive from last week, but these are the two main ingredients in our products that can irritate sensitive skin, but still used widely! WHY?!
PERSONAL PREFERENCES FOR FACE WIPES
Alcohol for me is a no go. If any of the ingredients listed contain Alcohol or mineral oils, I will not use it. My skin just does not like mineral oil and since eliminating it from my skincare, it cannot tolerate it. While my other skincare can contain alcohol, I do not use it in my face wipes. I find that face wipes containing alcohol irritate my sensitive skin and dry it out.
Garnier SkinActive Micellar Makeup Removing Towelettes All Skin Types - 25ct
These Garnier micellar face wipes are a great affordable option. I've used these to remove makeup before cleansing or to switch makeup looks. Garnier has been doing some amazing things in skincare and haircare lately. They've been eliminating many harmful ingredients from their product line and coming out with more natural and affordable options that are easily accessible to the public.
These wipes contains micellar water, Dermatologist Tested, oil-free, Sulfate-free, paraben-free, dye-free, and fluoride-free. While not the best for long lasting or waterproof eye makeup, I'm quite happy with the gentle face wipes perfect for sensitive skin.
$4.99 at Target. Click HERE to shop
Pacifica Berry Happy Cleansing Wipes
This coconut base face wipe is vegan and made with natural fibers. Pacifica also uses only all natural fragrances which are much less irritating than synthetic ones. The fragrance is very strong, so if you are sensitive to scents, be careful. While I love Pacifica, the wipes are not my favorite. I find the cloth to be a bit rough since the solution evaporates pretty quickly. It does just an okay job at removing makeup, so I save these for after workouts or no makeup days.
Pacifica wipes are available at Ulta for $6. Click HERE to shop.
Leader's Cosmetics LABOTICA BAMBOO WATER CLEANSING TISSUE
One of my favorite goto facial wipes and the best facial wipes for sensitive skin at an affordable cost. Perfect for dry sensitive skin, The Bamboo Water cleansing tissues softly remove makeup and dead skin cells while controlling the moisture and oil balance for perfect skin hydration. These wipes are both strong and gentle. Plenty of product to remove everyday makeup with one facial wipe. I highly recommend picking these up for sensitive skin.
Available at Leaders $8.50 click HERE to shop.
Neal's Yard Remedies Organic Facial Wipes
Enriched with soothing aloe vera and lavender, these face wipes are gentle enough to use every day. Not great at removing a full face of makeup with one wipe, but I like to keep these around for light makeup days and travel.
Unfortunately these are kind of hard to find in the US, but if you are UK bases, lucky you! Click HERE to shop.
KOH GEN DO Cleansing Spa Water Cloths
These are my all time favorite face wipes! I mean these are THE BEST FACE WIPES FOR SENSITIVE SKIN. Downside, they are quite pricey, but I keep a set around for travel and lazy days. These convenient, cotton Cleansing Spa Water Cloths remove waterproof makeup and impurities while nourishing skin with mineral-rich cleansing spa water. Infused with six essential herbs to protect and nurture skin—including rosemary leaf, sage leaf, lavender, artemsia princeps leaf, perilla ocymoides leaf, and ginger root—they replenish, refresh, and cleanse for a smooth, healthy-looking complexion.
Stock up during the Sephora VIB sale. Trust me! They are ultra gently for the most sensitive skin and also are highly effective at removing makeup. There's also no fragrance! I also like to recommend these wipes for after surgery, delivering a baby, or LASIK. Just because you can't get up to wash your face or have the time, doesn't mean you can't have good skin still.
You can find these wipes at Sephora. $43 for a pack of 3 10 count. So 30 wipes for $43. Click HERE to shop.
Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.
Do you use face wipes? What are some of your favorites? I'd love to hear your recommendations in the comments.
Make sure you sign up for my newsletter because this holiday season you'll want to be in the know. Chris, Karina, and I have been planning and working our butts off to hopefully pull off the best holiday season you've seen from us 🙂 Seriously so excited to count down the days with you! Also stay tuned for an exciting new project to be announced during the Holidays for the New Year.
I have always struggled with finding the right wipes for my uber sensitive skin, it is just so difficult. There is some great advice and I can’t wait to get some of these different wipes to try – love the look of Neal’s Yard ones & luckily I live in the UK so for once that is working to my advantage!
Holly from The Art of Being Holly xo
Similar to the Garnier micellar face wipes I really like the simple micellar ones. Really similar. I really like using a face wipe to get the first bit of gunk off my face and then going in with my cleanser. I love this series of your empties <3 Thanks so much for sharing!!
Author
The simple ones are really good!
yasss! love this babe!! always skin first and makeup second! thanks for sharing!!
XO, Jessi
https://www.mywhitet.com/my-dream-baby-shower/
Author
Thanks Jessi!
Love this post! I tend to use the Yes to Cucumber Eye Makeup Remover Pads & Yes to Coconuts makeup remover wipes to take my makeup off before cleansing at night. I’ve used the Garnier wipes, and they worked okay for the majority of my face, but didn’t really remove my eye makeup that well. Thanks for the post, I will check out some of the other wipes!!
Author
I like the Yes to coconuts, but didn’t find them to remove my eye makeup either. I think the Koh Gen Do are the only ones that really remove everything without irritating my skin. Thanks for stopping by and reading!
I’ve never used face wipes but I think they can be really useful when you’re travelling. I’, going to try some of them!
xx
http://www.mybeautrip.com
Author
Yes, I think they are best for on the go and when you can’t do a proper cleanse. Thanks for visiting!
I haven’t used face wipes for quite a while now. Though they are best for the times when you’re travelling. Thanks a lot for you post, I’ll note the brands worth looking for. 🙂
Author
Thanks for visiting!
I’d have to try those out for my lazy days haha. I haven’t broken out from the Sephora brand wipes, but they aren’t very “wet” and are too drying for my skin. I’ve actually enjoyed using the face Halo (I prefer it over the Makeup Eraser), which is one of those microfiber makeup removers that only require it to be wet. It actually works exceptionally well without harsh scrubbing, plus without harsh chemicals because it’s just water. Haven’t tried it with waterproof mascara, though it works for even my toughest none waterproof mascaras and eyeliners. I have to still cleanse my skin afterwards of course but it beats a make up wipe for me!
Author
Oh I’ll have to check out the face Halo! Thanks for the recommendation!