I didn't have high expectations due to my past experience with a product from the same brand so I was pleasantly surprised when it worked a treat on my oily sensitive skin. I only bought this because Garnier Micellar was sold out in my local supermarket and this was the only cleansing water available that I believed wouldn't cause my skin to react.
I've been using it for the past 2 weeks and I've had no signs of a rash, redness or dry skin which are sure signs of reacting to a product for me. It leaves my face feeling clean - I'm not too sure about "hydrated" because proceed with the rest of skincare routine which means more cleansing products. I probably go through 3-4 cotton pads to clean my face which doesn't bother me because like all cleansing water products I don't expect it to completely clean my face. I still go in with my cleanser and exfoliating cleanser afterwards.
I've used this with minimal and heavy makeup and it's worked really well. I can see the product easily removes the layers and I want to emphasise layers. It doesn't remove (say for example) all 3 layers of concealer, liquid foundation and powder you have on but it really makes a good attempt at it. I don't use this on my eyes or lips because my eye makeup remover does a better job of that than any other product I've come across.
With continued use I feel like this might actually take the place of Garnier Micellar. The only downside I have is the scent. Simple claims that this has no artificial fragrance - I wish it did. It smells like this flax in the islands that when it's soggy it doesn't smell too pleasant. It's not a disgusting scent but when I'm cleansing near my nose I always make a face. Apart from that I'm quite happy with it particularly because it's readily available in the supermarket for an affordable price.
I am a big fan of the Simple range as there products always feel so gentle on my sensitive skin. So I purchased the micellar water about a month ago and I honestly will never use another toner or makeup remover. This has replaced both of those for me. It is super affordable and I find that after using it for so long, my skin is much clearer and it takes half the time it usually does removing my makeup at night.
It doesn't have a strong chemical smell and feels super light on my skin. I use it in the morning with cotton pads to give my skin that "extra clean" feeling after I use my cream cleanser and at night with cotton pads to remove my eye makeup. It takes only two pads (one for each eye) to remove heavy eye makeup, rather than my usual four to five. And it never dries out my skin.
I love this product and I recommend it to ANYONE with sensitive skin that is easily irritated. This will definitely have a permanent place in my bathroom cabinet.
Tips: When using as a makeup remover apply a generous amount to one cotton pad and wait for the pad to absorb most of it then hold gently over your eye for 10-15 seconds. Then gently wipe away. This should remove the majority of your eye makeup and then just wipe away the little bit left behind with a clean wash cloth.