Removing makeup is something many of us don’t necessarily look forward to at the end of the day. Sure, we like to wear makeup to give us that extra confidence boost, but eventually, we have to head home and pretty much scrub away everything we caked on earlier in the day.
Even worse, some makeup can dive deep into the pores and become almost impossible to remove without serious rubbing and scrubbing. Add to that the fact that the skin on your face is more sensitive than elsewhere, and you have an uncomfortable situation that is unfortunately also all too common.
Thankfully, makeup removal doesn’t have to be harsh or uncomfortable. In fact, all-natural makeup removers can do the same job of traditional cleansers and wipes without stripping your skin of healthy oils or rubbing your skin so raw that it looks red when you go to bed.
Let’s break down our favorite and all-natural makeup removers now.
How Does Makeup Remover Work?
Makeup removers come in many different types, but they all primarily work through a process called dissolution. This just means that they dissolve makeup and make it easier to wash off and down the drain.
Dissolution can be accomplished in several ways.
For instance, some people remove their makeup using a warm washcloth and regular soap. Of course, this particular method comes with several side effects, like the possibility of drying out your skin or the washcloth scrubbing being too harsh on sensitive facial skin. In fact, you’ll often damage your skin if you try to remove makeup this way.
Specialized makeup removal products use certain products or chemicals to dissolve the makeup at the molecular level. Depending on the makeup used, different makeup removal products may work better.
For example, water-based makeup removers work best for water-based makeup, and vice versa for oil-based makeup because the remover must be able to break the interaction between the skin and the makeup in question to cause dissolution.
What to Look for in a Natural Makeup Remover
Contrary to popular belief, you can find plenty of all-natural makeup removers that don’t come with the same potential side effects or harm to your skin as synthetic products. There are lots of reasons to avoid synthetic products:
- For starters, many of them contain SLS, or sodium laurel sulfate. This is known to cause skin irritations and can even cause damage to the thin and sensitive skin around your eyes. Some people have particularly bad allergic reactions to this compound but just attribute the reaction to having sensitive skin since SLS is such a common ingredient.
- Synthetic makeup removal products also often contain unnecessary fragrances that can clog your pores and that do nothing to increase the efficacy of the product. Why, after all, do you need your makeup remover to smell nice when its only purpose should be to get rid of the makeup on your face?
- Other makeup removers will come with stabilizers called phthalates, which are chemicals that have been known to cause a variety of side effects, such as causing damage to internal organs. Still, more might come with parabens, which are preservative compounds linked to certain types of cancer.
All in all, it's much better to just look for natural makeup removers made with organic, wholesome ingredients.
Green Goo only uses the best natural ingredients in all of our products, including our natural makeup removers.
- Calendula oil is included in our Face Wash. This flower is particularly rich in antioxidants and works well as a skin protector.
- Jojoba seed oil also has lots of antioxidants, but it’s also high in fatty acids and can moisturize the skin -- you can find it in both our Face Wash and Castile Soap.
- Lavender adds a variety of helpful nutrients that can soothe and relax the skin, not to mention a nice all-natural fragrance. You can find it in both our Face Wash and Castile Soap.
- Sunflower seed oil plays a similar role, although it also contains a variety of vitamins and minerals your skin can use to revitalize itself after a day of wearing heavy makeup. It’s in both Castile Soap and Face Wash.
- We can’t forget vitamin E. This critical antioxidant can moisturize and hydrate the skin, easily absorbed to be able to provide regenerative benefits. It plays a key role in our Castile Soap and Face Wash.
Our Favorite All Natural Makeup Removers
Green Goo’s Face Wash
Green Goo’s Face Wash is one of the best all-natural makeup removers you can use, partially because it simply includes excellent ingredients, like vitamin E and calendula-infused olive oil. But, it’s also because of how those ingredients interact with one another.
You see, our Face Wash can clean and moisturize your skin simultaneously. This, in turn, may offer additional support for your skin if it’s a little irritated or dry after a long day while wearing makeup.
Even better, our Face Wash serves not only as a good makeup remover, but as a general everyday facial cleanser. You can use this to get rid of the deeply embedded dirt and oil that clogs pores, without the excessive drying that a lot of other cleansers can cause.
All in all, it’s a perfect makeup remover and face wash product that does both jobs effectively. Note that, as an oil-based product, this is particularly good for getting rid of oil-based makeup (i.e. all of your waterproof makeup products!).
Green Goo’s Castile Soap
Castile soap? How does that help you remove makeup?
It’s all because of how castile soap was created in the first place. This type of soap is created through vegetable oils instead of through harsher astringents and synthetic cleaning ingredients.
The resulting soap is perfect for cleaning away dirt and debris without discomfort when applied to the skin.
Indeed, our Castile Soap is versatile and affordable, and it comes in a variety of different fragrances, all naturally-derived, of course! Unlike other soap products, these fragrances are only added with natural ingredients like flower oils. Or, you can get our Unscented Castile Soap if you just want plain cleansing action without the extra aroma.
Rest assured, our castile soap products can do a great job of removing makeup. Again, since they're created using vegetable oils, they're particularly good at getting rid of oil-based makeup. Even better, these soap options are also a great choice because you can use castile soap for a variety of cleaning duties on top of washing your face, including:
- as a vegetable rinse
- as pet shampoo or child shampoo
- as a cleaning solution for a variety of household services
- as laundry detergent
- as shaving cream
Suffice it to say that castile soap is one of the best natural cleaning solutions on the market today for almost everything, natural makeup removal included. Just be sure to dilute it first--castile soap is concentrated and needs to be watered down so it’s a little gentler on your face. Additionally, while castile soap works great to remove makeup, we don’t recommend you use it as part of your daily skincare routine as it can be a little drying if used too frequently on your face’s sensitive skin.
Summary
In the end, all-natural makeup removers are much better choices than synthetic or overly harsh products that tend to dry out the skin and irritate skin cells leaving your skin feeling raw. Removing makeup ought to be easy and soothing: a perfect capstone to the day.
Using all-natural makeup removers will help you look forward to taking your makeup off instead of dreading it. Plus, it’ll keep your skin feeling nourished as you move on to the rest of your skincare routine.
Try our Castile Soap and Face Wash – you won’t be disappointed!
Sources
https://www.healthline.com/health/beauty-skin-care/sulfates#safety
https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/cosmetic-ingredients/parabens-cosmetics