Review: Biore Makeup Removing Towelettes with Green Tea

As many of you know, I got these Biore Makeup Removing Towelettes with Green Tea for a very good price at my local CVS last week (practically for free, as I explained in detail here) and right now there are also instant $1 off coupons attached to this product. The regular retail price is pretty pricey at $7.99 for a pack of 30, so if you want these, it definitely pays to wait for a sale.

I'm a huge fan of makeup removing towelettes. My number one favorite is Epielle Cleansing Tissues, which are around a $1 for 30 tissues and can be found at Big Lots and various dollar stores. They are super soft and extremely effective without being drying (in my experience--I know that they are drying for some). If I don't have Epielle tissues on hand, I also really love using baby wipes to remove my makeup on lazy nights when I'm just too tired to wash my face (which is why I always keep a pack in the living room so I can remove my makeup while watching tv). It's funny because I probably do this 2 or 3 times a week and Mr. R always gets in on the action and "freshens up" his face with one too (he's gonna be mad that I outed him for that one).

As far as using baby wipes, my favorite brand is Fresh & Easy's house brand of baby wipes. Those wipes are HUGE, super effective and cheap. For those of you who don't have Fresh & Easy grocery stores in your area, I also like Target's house brand Up & Up Unscented Baby Wipes and also Huggies Natural Care Fragrance-Free Baby Wipes. Basically most unscented, fragrance-free baby wipes will work, but my only word of caution is to try and avoid the sensitive-skin formulas that contain extra aloe or anything like that, because a lot of times they will leave a weird film on your face.

One more note about using baby wipes: I've found that it's best to purchase the refills as opposed to the wipes that are in a hard plastic container. The ones in the refill packets don't dry out nearly as quickly as the ones in the hard plastic containers.

Sorry for the tanget! Let's move on to these Biore towelettes:

There are some interesting ingredients in these towelettes. I have never seen another towelette that contains coconut water, which seems pretty neat.

The first thing that hit me when I opened this package was the fragrance. WOW! These towelettes are definitely not subtle. If you don't like a fragranced towelette, stay far away from these. The scent is STRONG. Luckily I actually like the scent of synthetic, imitation green tea (most green tea-scented products don't smell a thing like true green tea, but I actually like fake green tea scents so it was cool for me).

Funny story: At my former job, I worked with a business partner who visited our office frequently from Hong Kong. We worked together for many years and became good friends. One day I was applying one of the many lotions I kept at my desk as he walked up. This particular lotion was "green tea-scented" and I said to him, "What do you think of this lotion? Does it smell like green tea to you?" He took one whiff and I will never forget the look on his face. He basically said, "Why would anyone say this is green tea?" Haha!

Let's take a look at the actual cloths:

As you can see, these are pretty standard with the more exfoliating or "deep cleansing" side and then the softer texture on the other side. The size of these towelettes is pretty standard (not gigantic but not small enough to require four five cloths to remove all your makeup). I found that I could get away with using one cloth on light makeup days and two clothes on heavier makeup days.

I will say that these Biore towelettes lived up to their claim. They removed my makeup, including stubborn mascara, with ease. I didn't have to scrub my face to remove everything, which is definitely a plus. Also, my skin didn't feel terribly dry or tight after using these.

But where these towelettes failed me is in the formula. I don't generally have sensitive skin, although as I get older my skin seems to be a tad more sensitive than it was in the days where I could put any and all new products on my face and not feel one tiny side-effect. But man, these towelettes sting my skin AND my eyes. The first time I used one, by the end of my makeup removal process my skin and eyes felt like they were on fire. And on the days when I required two clothes, I was practically in tears from the pain. I'm not sure what ingredient is making my face sting when I use these, but I'm guessing it might be the fragrance. I was terribly disappointed that this product stung my eyes as well, because really, what good is a makeup removing towelette if you can't get it near your eyes?

Anyway, I am certainly not saying that these will sting your face (in fact, I know a lot of people who use and love these towelettes) but I just want to share my individual experience with them. If you are sensitive to fragrance, I might skip these. But if you have normal or pretty bullet-proof skin, these might work wonderfully for you. They truly remove any and all makeup with ease but, for me, they just aren't worth the stinging.

Since I don't want to throw these away, I think I'll keep them in my car and use them as hand-wipes. The pleasant fragrance definitely lingers on the hands, which will be nice when I want to freshen up in the car.

So, do use Biore Makeup Removing Towelettes with Green Tea? Do you like them? If not, what towelettes do you use?