I mentioned it briefly in my hospital bag post, and shortly thereafter a full sized version of the Sensai Gentle Make-up Remover showed up on my door step to try out. It arrived pretty early in the morning, and let me tell you that I was gleeful. Really.
I skipped up to my vanity (well, as much as a 9 month pregnant person can skip, this was a month ago) and started plotting. I was going to trip up this eye makeup remover. I proceeded to put on everything that other removers (even Lancome’s Bi-Facil) had struggled to removed. Stila’s Stay all Day Waterproof Liquid Liner and MAC’s Splashproof Lash and that was just for starters. For days I tried different combinations of products that had caused issues in the past, requiring me to scrub my eyes. Nothing stopped the Sensai. Literally, I would swipe my eye with the cotton round… and nothing would be left on my skin or on my lashes. One swipe.
Next I decided to try a comparison with the Lancome Bi-Facil. I continued my obsession with all things waterproof, and started removing with Bi-Facil on one eye before the Sensai. As before, I needed only one swipe to remove everything with the Sensai (though I admit I do 2-3 just to be sure). However, the Bi-Facil was struggling. I would need many swipes and more than one cotton round on occasion. I would then follow up by switching eyes and recleaning each. So, a cotton round of Sensai to the eye jut cleaned with Lancome, and vice versa. Nothing ever appeared on the cotton round as being left behind by Sensai, but the Lancome definitely seemed to have issues with some of the waterproof formulas, and I was able to easily remove the extra with Sensai.
Finally, I had to put the lippie removal to the test. When I swatch products on my arm for posts, I have big issues removing most of them from my arm despite trying many different makeup removers, soaps, etc. Scrubbing at all turns my arm red, and with my super pale skin my time swatching is very limited. So, having something that easily removes lippies from my arm (and hence minimizes scrubbing and redness) means I can swatch more!
Anyways, I found that Sensai is not quite as good at removing lippies. Which means it needs a few extra swipes to take care of the most stubborn lip sticks or sticky lip glosses. My arm definitely loved the Sensai, since I was able to swatch a huge number of lippies in one day (a quantity that should have taken several days) and never needed to scrub!
So, I would say that the Sensai is definitely the best product I’ve ever used at removing both eye and lip makeup. It has a light orange scent (OMG, so amazing) and it leaves only an extremely faint oily residue behind. It easily washes away with just a splash of water.
All of this means that I have a new Holy Grail Eye Make-Up Remover. Yes, it is even harder to get a hold of than the Lancome (and more expensive), but it seriously out performs everything else out there. I’ll be keeping a bottle of this on-hand at all times!
Sensai Gentle Make-up Remover for Eye and Lip
I’m a doctor, a mommy and a bit of a beauty addict. If you let me, I can take 2 hours to get ready in the morning. Really. I'm on a quest for faster beauty that works!
Now I'm really curious! where do you get sensai? I don't think I've ever seen it, and you are the only person I know who has mentioned it.
Have you every tried the Bliss gel remover? it's my current holy grail, and pretty easy to get since sephora stocks it.
Hi!
You can get Sensai at Bergdorf Goodman, Kanebo.com, NeimanMarcus.com (pretty sure I've seen it in store there too) and BergdorfGoodman.com. It's a Japanese brand that's pretty common over there, and I have to admit that I want their entire line now since I've had such great success with the products that I've tried.
I haven't tried the Bliss Gel Remover yet, I'll add it to my list of things to try out. Thanks for the rec!
Have you tried the Nyx eye & lip makeup remover? It's my favorite and seems to work better for me than anything else.
I love Bliss – been using for a long time – used to use a Japanese brand related to Sensai that I got on Strawberrynet.com & loved it. Bliss is so cooling & you don't have to shake – no oil – Oil drys your eyes out – never knew that until my eye doctor said your eyes are extremely dry – what kind of remover do you use – I was using Chanel/Lancome/Clinque that you had to shake up – She said don't use it as you get older it drys out your eyes – always thought oil was good – Anyhow love Bliss – Nordies & Sephora have it all the time – Check it out & I'll look for yours on Strawberry – Do you have to shake it up? Thanks
Interesting that your eye doctor said that! I'm not sure why that would be, I'll have to ask my cousin about that (he's an OD). The sensai has a few essential oils in it (I remember orange oil was in the ingredients, I can't remember the others off hand right now), but it isn't separated like the products you've mentioned and doesn't need to be shaken up.
I'll definitely check the Bliss one out, thanks! 😀
Are these ingredients in “Eye Scrub Eye Makeup Remover Wipes” pregnancy safe? Ingredients list: Hydrogenated Glyceryl Palmate, Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, Cocamido Propyl Amine Oxide, PEG-80 Glyceryl Cocoate, Benzyl Alcohol and Edetate Disodium.
Thanks for all you do, Doctor, Sarah
This is fine for pregnancy and nursing