I’m sure you’ve heard a great deal about Bioderma’s Crealine H20. It’s the makeup remover of choice by makeup artists and it’s so gentle on the skin that it won’t sting the eyes, is fantastic on sensitive skin, will remove your makeup in a jiffy, refresh your skin AND you don’t even have to rinse your face after using it (even though I still do a very quick one). It’s a great product and is one that sits proudly on my bathroom shelf.
I’ve tried other micellar waters after using the Crealine H20 and sadly, they didn’t deliver as well as the Bioderma did. That was until I stumbled upon Garnier’s Micellar Cleansing Water. Oh boy, does Bioderma have some competition on her hands or what.
Straight up, I couldn’t tell any physical difference between the two. Some people noted that the Garnier Micellar Water has a very subtle soap-like consistency whereas the Bioderma is just like water. As for me, I didn’t notice that soapy consistency. It cleansed and refreshed my skin exactly like the Crealine H20. Just like the Bioderma, it doesn’t contain any fragrance. It didn’t sting my skin nor break me out. I’ve used it to remove eye makeup, with and without contact lenses, and it didn’t irritate my eyes at all.
Like the Bioderma, it doesn’t remove waterproof eye makeup well. I wouldn’t bother using this to remove waterproof eyeliner or mascara because you’ll be rubbing that delicate skin unnecessarily when an oil-based 2-phase makeup remover can do a much better job. But other than that, it takes off face and lip makeup well.
If you take a look at both list of ingredients, you’ll see that the Garnier Micellar Water actually contains less ingredients compared to the Bioderma and it still does pretty much the same job. One thing that I’ve noticed is that if you shake both bottles at the same time, the bubbles in the Crealine H20 take longer to settle compared to the Garnier Micellar Water.
Here comes the important question: is Garnier’s Micellar Water a replacement of the Bioderma Crealine H20? For me, it can be. They’re so similar to each other yet the price point of the Garnier Micellar Water is so much better than the Crealine H20 (half the price. If it’s on sale, then it can be 1/3 the price of the Bioderma). Having said that, I do love my Bioderma and have bottles of it stocked up. So what I do is that I use the Bioderma on my face and the Garnier one to remove my makeup swatches on my hand/arm. I used to use the Crealine H20 to remove makeup swatches and many a time, I find it’s such a waste on my hand/arm because it’s expensive in Australia. When I’m finally done with all of my stocked up Bioderma, I may just stick to the Garnier Micellar Water after all.
Garnier’s Micellar Cleansing Water retails at AU$11.99 for 400ml and is available at Priceline, Target, Big W, Kmart, major supermarkets and selected pharmacies nationally. At the time of writing, Priceline is having a 20% discount on the micellar water so if you hurry, you’ll be able to snap this up for under a tenner. That was how I got this! 🙂
What I like about it: Incredibly similar to the popular Bioderma Crealine H20, gentle on my skin and eyes, a very good price for 400ml of product.
What I do not like about it: The Crealine H20 comes sealed but the Garnier Micellar Water does not. Imagine the number of people who may have opened the lid, sniffed the bottle and closed the lid. This is a big minus point. Garnier, please seal the bottles properly. It may be dermatologically and opthalmologically tested but it’s not human sniff-proof.
I’m tempted now! I refuse to buy the Bioderma just because of its mark up when I know how “cheap” it is in France!
Sigh I know right? I walked past pharmacies in Paris with promotions of 2x500ml for 15 euros! ARGH!
If you wait for the Priceline 40% off skincare sales, now that they have the 500ml bottles, you can get Bioderma for about $23-$24, which ain’t half bad! I personally don’t find the Garnier one removes my makeup as well as the Bioderma can. I bought the Garnier when it came out because I was so excited at the prospect of a dupe that was 1/3 of the price, but was unfortunately disappointed.
I would definitely pay the extra few bucks and buy the Bioderma in bulk when Priceline has the 40% off skincare sales!
In slovakia, I buy 2 x 500 ml bottles for 18 euros. But that’s just online. In pharmacies, it costs up to 20 euros a bottle. Horrendous…
I just bought Bioderma Sensibio H2O two weeks ago as they are just made available in Malaysia in March. Now let’s hope Garnier one will reach our shore 🙂
Fingers crossed it does. You’ll save a whole lot of money! 😀
Wonder if we will get the Garnier one in Malaysia? Really hope so because I would love to try it just to compare it with Bioderma which I really love. As Fiona mentioned, Bioderma just became available in Malaysia and the price is actually cheaper compared with Singapore although still nothing compared to how cheap it is in France. LOL.
I hope so too *fingers crossed*. It’s a lot cheaper and is comparable to the popular Bioderma micellar water. Nah, it won’t be anything even close to French prices. It’s so ridiculously cheap there. No wonder people stock up in Europe and then sell them back in their home countries!
I have a confession to make, I’d never heard of these waters until now *ducking for cover*. This couldn’t have come at a better time though, as I am in no-mans-land with my makeup removers. I do need a little extra oomph before my cleanser, so this is something I am absolutely going to try.
My purse thanks you 😉
Kaye x
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Hahahaha where have you been, woman??? 😛
Kaye’s purse, you’re so welcome. x
Great review! They seem like great products but I guess i will go for Garnier. Its cheaper and it works the same with Bioderma. I will surely check on this.
Both are good but for a wallet-friendly option, then the Garnier one works 🙂
Great review! I have both, and I’ve found that Bioderma can be a little drying on my skin if I don’t wash it off (even though you it claims that you don’t have to), but the Garnier one is totally fine 🙂
I reach for the Garnier one much more frequently and use it just about everyday haha
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I always rinse the Bioderma off my face even though I don’t have to. Just in case, you never know. 😛
I love the Garnier as I’ve always been put off the price of the Bioderma. It’s a staple in my everyday routine and I couldn’t live without it!
Awesome, good to know! Plus you get more deals with Garnier at Priceline compared to Bioderma (which so very rarely goes on sale).
I am so glad to hear this! I was stingy and originally bought the 100mL bottle of Bioderma to try (still $20!!!) but now I know for sure that Garnier is as good I’ll be sticking with that instead 🙂
Out of interest, do you have a favourite oil-based cleanser? I had been using the Neutrogena dual-phase cleanser which looks, feels and seems like oil but… is oil-free? Just wondered if you knew of something great that I’m missing out on 😉
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Yikes, $20 for 100ml?? :O
Oil-based cleanser as in makeup remover? Okay, assuming you meant makeup remover, then my Holy Grail of makeup removers is the cheapie Face of Australia eye makeup remover. Absolutely love it. I stock up each time FOA goes on sale. I’ve not tried the L’Oreal or Maybelline one but the FOA makeup remover is much cheaper anyway and I’m sticking to it! 🙂
If it’s an oil cleanser (to use for double cleansing) that you’re talking about, then I like Shu Uemura’s cleansing oil (the whiteffient one. Not the original yellow formula) and Dermalogica’s Precleanse. Love those. These days, I’m very into cleansing balms and I’m loving the one by Antipodes and Eve Lom.
Not human sniff proof!!! LOLOLOL!! I have yet to pop open my Garnier micellar water. Cannot.wait.to.try.it!
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Ahem. I’m one of those who have itchy fingers and nose and must open beauty products and sniff if I can.
Can’t help it! 😛
Great write up Tine, I’m only just recently starting to get on the Bioderma bandwagon since I tend to just use my cleanser to wash off all my makeup (laziness) but I find it leaves my skin so much cleaner than cleansing alone. Love to know that there is a much more wallet friendly alternative out there!
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Thanks Megan. I’m waiting for Michelle (Labmuffin) to do a scientific analysis and comparison of the two. Her write-up on micellar waters was fantastic! Yeah, the Garnier one is definitely a lot friendlier on the wallet. Get it during sales and it’s 1/3 the price of the Bioderma!
Hey ladies. Just purchased garnier water along with garnier miracle cream for £9.00 at a tesco supermarket in the UK. They do have a website but not too sure if they will ship so far. Feeling like I’ve got a real bargain right now. Face feels lovely and refreshed also after trying it 🙂
Woohoo score! 🙂
Why do you recommend a beauty product that is carcinogen?! The product from granier have polyaminopropyl, which is carcinogen.. You should be more carefull by posting whatever without even checking if the product can damage your health. Think before you post anything!!!!!!! Shame on you!
The poison is in the dose. There are plenty of everyday things that potentially contain carcinogens as well. As with everything you use on a daily basis, everything should be used in moderation. I do not normally advocate the Environmental Working Group for their fear-mongering activities but even they have classified polyaminopropyl biguanide as low-risk. There’s polyaminopropyl biguanide in contact lens solutions as well. Should we also ban those?
Thank you so much for posting this in-depth review! I’ve never had the urge to try the Bioderma before because it’s simply not budget friendly. But now thanks to your review, I must try the Garnier version! Thank you 🙂
It was my pleasure; glad you found it helpful! While I love Bioderma’s micellar water, I can’t help but find the Garnier one so very similar that to be honest, if not for the taste, I wouldn’t be able to tell the two apart. I didn’t mention it in the blog post come to think of it but Bioderma’s micellar water tastes foul. 😛
Hi 🙂
I have sent you an email some days ago, regarding Garnier Miceller Cleansing Water.
I haven´t recieved any answer, so I wonder if you prefer that I write the questions here instead?:)
Kindly regards, Erica
Hi Erica, I’ve checked and I’m afraid I didn’t get the email. Could you please resend to tine@beautyholicsanonymous.com? Or if you like, you can write them here too. 🙂
Bioderma may contain more ingredients than Garnier but Bioderma still would be the better option as in contains Xylitol, mannitol and other compounds which boost your skin’s naturalike health whereas Garnier although containing of fewer ingredients is not doing too good to your skin. But Bioderma all the way! Have you tried their face wash and moisturizer?
I prefer Bioderma too even though, technically speaking, I couldn’t tell the difference between the two other than the smell and taste. Bioderma’s taste foul but I still prefer it. 😛
I’ve tried their Sebium matte moisturiser several years ago. Good stuff!
Mine is sealed. I bought it during my visit to Thailand.
Biotherm also has micellar water when i started to use them back in 2013? it is amazing too, not oily and need not to clean the face after using. I am thinking to switch to garnier coz it is cheap.. anyone ever used biotherm’s micellar water? need a comparison pls.. Thanks.
I heard the Garnier one has an ingredient that could be cancer causing, even if it’s a small percentage, I refuse to put it on my face, I will use bioderma since also European countries have a lot more restrictions when it comes to what they put on their products than America does.
I think you should be careful using Garnier since it contains an ingredient called polyaminopropyl biguanide which is potentially cancer causing and is banned in several European countries:
http://kemi.taenk.dk/bliv-groennere/banned-and-potentially-cancer-causing-substance-still-found-personal-care-products
There’s a Garnier micellar water in blue packaging that is for waterproof makeup which you may want to try. Its my personal favorite.