REVIEW || Garnier SkinActive Review || Micellar Water + Wake-Up Hydra-Gel Moisturizer

Thanks to ChickAdvisor, I finally got to try out a product I've been wanting to try for a while now, but wasn't available in Canada until recently (I think): the Garnier Micellar Water! They also sent me the Garnier SkinActive Wake-Up Hydra-Gel Moisturizer, an adorable little mug, and a bag of tea from DavidsTea that was an awesome surprise! Of course, my review of these products isn't biased, and is completely honest and my own, as per usual. =)

Here's a look at what I got:

I have a mug addiction, and I love this one, even though it's tiny. It's the perfect size for my Keurig coffee, so it all works out =P... Also, the tea is pretty tasty. It's a black tea, so it has caffine, which makes sense with the wake-up theme of this box, to go with the moisturizer gel. The tea also smells great and tastes fruity and delicate. Yay, free tea!

Garnier Skin Active Micellar Cleansing Water

As it was the thing I was most excited to try out, let's start with the Micellar water. As you may or may not know, I have purchased the Bioderma micellar water before, so I do have something to compare the Garnier one too. Personally, while I liked the Bioderma, I did find it could sting my eyes a bit, and took some rubbing to remove stain-y lipsticks, and mostly didn't try to remove waterproof mascara. It was okay, but it didn't impress me.

That said, I prefer the Garnier one. It's far from perfect; it doesn't remove all my waterproof mascara, but it does give it a go... it works great on even red lipstick, and I feel like it removes all my face and eye makeup (aside from mascara) without much effort, and without stinging my eyes or leaving my skin feeling tight, which was another slight drawback of the Bioderma for me. Both cleansing waters are scentless and claim to be great for sensitive skin, but I do think the Garnier has a slight edge.

On top of that, the Garnier bottle is almost twice the size of the Bioderma (which I know comes in a larger size), but for much less money. The 500 ml Bioderma costs $27 (at London Drugs), while the 400 ml Garnier costs only $10!

Also, I only got to try the pink, regular Garnier Micellar water, but they also have a blue bottle that claims to remove even waterproof mascara... which I'll have to give a go next!

Garnier SkinActive Wake-Up Hydra-Gel Moisturizer

You may already know that I love my gel moisturizers, so I was pretty happy to be testing this one out! Gels are usually great because they are light, absorb quickly, and feel cool on the skin, where creams and oils can make my skin feel hot. This one is meant to be a day moisturizer, to make skin appear plump, fresh, and awake, containing wild berry extract, vitamin C and E, and hydro-glycerin. It also contains no parabens, and is supposed to absorb quickly and work well under makeup.

I do quite like this moisturizer. It is light, refreshing, and has a light refreshing scent to go with it (which not everyone will like, but I like the scent, personally). I don't honestly have too much to say about this, though. The biggest complaint I had is that it doesn't absorb quite as quickly as I wanted, but I found it was hydrating enough to be a pretty nice nighttime moisturizer, as well as a good one for use under makeup, if you give it a little time to set. I like it, and if you like gel moisturizers, this could be a good choice.

Let me know if you've tried either of these, and what your thoughts were! Thanks for reading!