After sharing my regular makeup-removal routine with you here, I thought of also sharing my current oil-based make-up cleanser in this post. 

Read More

Product Description

As per the company website, this soothing cleanser is blended with nourishing almond, safflower, sesame, neem and staff tree oils to dissolve heavy face and eye makeup easily and gently. Leaves skin silky-fresh.

Ingredients

Packaging

It comes in a regular Biotique bottle. On opening, there is a hole in the center to dispense the oil. I like the look of the packaging but it is definitely not travel-friendly.

How To Use

Price

 Rs 149. Available on Amazon.in

Quantity

120 ml/4.2 fl.oz.

Shelf Life

3 years

My Experience

The Biotique bottle has a hole in the center for taking the oil out. Now if you know Biotique, then you should be grateful to God and Biotique for this facility! Otherwise, you should see their other products like the Biotique Honey Water freshener with its big mouth and water consistency. Every time I open it, I am not sure whether I freshened my face or the floor. But in spite of the hole, it is still not travel-friendly and needs a separate container for carrying around. In fact, all Biotique products should carry a warning stating, "Contents of product highly leakable. Please also buy a travel-friendly container along with a Biotique purchase" . Otherwise, looks-wise, I do like their packaging, simple and nice.

Left - A Single, UnBlended Drop of Oil;                Right - Oil Blended and Instantly Absorbed

It is a light yellow-colored oil when seen inside the bottle but looks almost colorless to me when taken out. The smell - I can only smell castor oil sadly, which I hate; but since it has nicely been blended with other oils, the smell is very mild. If you poke your nose hard enough against the bottle opening and also long enough, you may get the faint smell of almonds, begging to be smelt! Or maybe, Biotique ran out of stock for almonds for this particular batch, I don't know! Funny thing is, if you look at their ingredients list, sesame oil constitutes the majority of this cleanser at 37.49% followed by castor oil ('arandi oil') at 27% and soya oil at 15%. And, the poor almond oil is a mere 3%.  So that explains something.


Considering that this is an oil, it has a very light and thin consistency. The bottle states that it is suited for normal to dry skin. But seeing its consistency, I strongly suggest that oily skin types give it a try. It is reasonably priced, so it will definitely not hurt your pocket.

1st pic - (L-R) Colorbar I-Glide, Chambor WaterProof Pencil, Colorbar LongWear Lipstick, Chambor Stay-On Lipstick 2nd pic - Oil Spread and Lightly Massaged 3rd pic - Washed with Lakme Strawberry FaceWash. All Traces of Makeup, even WaterProof and StayOn Types, GONE!

Performance-wise, it excels beautifully. It spreads easily, gets absorbed easily, and removes every trace of makeup, even waterproof makeup, and that too gently, without stretching or pulling your skin. You do not need a separate cleanser for eyes as this removes eye makeup too efficiently. For waterline, do take a little care and prevent the oil from entering your eyes. I am not sure if it would sting or burn since I am usually careful and have not let this happen, so I do not know that part. What's more, it also gives your skin a much-needed massage, softness and glow, all at the same time! The 2-step procedure of oil + facewash will not further dry out the skin of already-dry skin types. My skin is quite dry too but this has not accentuated dryness of my skin.

Pros

• Easy to spread, quick to absorb into skin
• Removes every trace of makeup, even waterproof makeup
• Can be used on eyes too. For waterline makeup, just take a little care and do not let it go inside your eyes.
• Light and thin consistency
• Should suit all skin types
• Reasonably priced and does its job beautifully
• Organically pure and preservative free
• Dermatologist tested
• No animal testing
• Ayurvedic, not cosmetic

Cons

• Packaging is not travel-friendly (though I appreciate the small opening in the bottle, please continue improvising and you will get there.... sooner or later!!!)
• Wrong naming - how can you name a sesame-and-castor-oil-filled product as 'Bio Almond Oil'. We need to have a new naming ceremony, please! 
• Even smell-wise, there are no almonds, not even an artificial almond fragrance! Okay, so the point, dear Biotique, is - I am not suggesting that you need to add artificial almond fragrance but that you need to add real almonds or almond oil in high proportions if you wish to retain the same name for this product!
• Requires a facewash to get rid of the oily feeling

Overall Impression

This is an excellent makeup cleanser . It is gentle on skin but tough on makeup! It is reasonably priced and should suit all skin types. It would have been a cafe star product but since I can find other oils too that do a similar job, I am not rating it as such. But definitely a winner in the makeup-cleanser category in the market.

Cafe-o-Meter Rating: 4.5/5