Guerlain Secret de Purete Cleansing Milk Review

Hey gorgeous gals,

Today’s review is on a well-loved brand – Guerlain. They do have some top-notch makeup products in their line. I love their “Rouge G lipsticks” as well as quite a few of their face powders – from powder foundations to setting powders, but the review today is on a product from their skin care line. I had heard a lot of hype around their products and picked up a couple of them some time back. This Guerlain Secret de Purete Cleansing Milk was one of the products. Let us see how this one performed.

Product Description:
For those who need the most hydration possible, this creamy fluid removes all traces of dirt and makeup (even waterproof formulas) from the face, eyes and lips, and leaves behind a moisturized feeling.
Price:
USD $78/INR 3775 for 200 ml – which will last you a while.

Ingredients:

My Experience with Guerlain Secret de Purete Cleansing Milk:

Packaging:
 The product comes packaged in a huge white pump bottle with gold detailing. It is so wonderful to have a pump dispenser on a product. Makes for a pleasant, fuss-free application. The bottle itself is packaged in a blue cardboard exterior box.

My skin type:  Combination to oily/dehydrated/skin pigmentation/periodic acne and acne scars. I either wear a full face of makeup or am sans any.

Texture: The texture of the product is creamy, smooth and like a lotion. It is easy to spread onto your face and massage your face with.

Fragrance: While discussing most products, I take up their fragrance more as an after-thought – towards the end of the review. However, in case of this Guerlain product, fragrance has to be moved right up. With Guerlain being a perfume house, most of their products – makeup and skincare – are fragranced and that too – heavily. And it isn’t the soft fruity or floral fragrance which would dissipate quickly. No! The fragrance in this product is fairly heavy, quite potent and lingers on. If you are sensitive to fragrance or have sensitive skin, I would suggest you avoid this product entirely.

Application: The cleansing milk can be used how they were used traditionally – take a pump or 2 on cotton rounds and wipe your face with that. Alternatively, you can take a pump or two on your hand and gently massage it on your face – just like a cleansing oil or balm. It spreads easily across the skin.

Efficacy: The brand claims that the product will remove all dirt and makeup from the skin – even waterproof makeup – while keeping your skin feeling moisturized and not stripping off its natural oils. Does the product do that? Hmmmm…. And this is truly the crux of it all. The product does squat in removing makeup from the skin! If I massage it all over my face with the palms of my hand – my makeup remains just as it is. It does nothing to break it down. Only about 20% of the makeup gets removed. So, I did try using it with cotton round instead, that seemed to work a bit better. I was able to remove about 60% of my makeup with it, but it seemed to work more as a result of the abrasive action of the cotton on my skin, rather than the product itself. And mind you, I am not even talking about waterproof makeup here. No! This is definitely not my idea of a makeup remover. So, I tried it a few times and felt very frustrated and gave up on it. About a week or so back, I decided to try it again; however, this time as the second step of a double cleanse ritual – aka – Pixi and Caroline Hirons Double Cleanse. So, I use a cleansing oil as my first step to remove all dirt and makeup from my face. And then I use a couple of pumps of this to massage my face. Once massaged, I gently wipe this off with a damp cloth. It leaves my skin feeling moisturized and plump. While I am able to get use out of the product this way, it does not fulfill its main purpose – that of makeup removal.

Pros of Guerlain Secret de Purete Cleansing Milk:

• Gentle on the skin.
• Does not leave the skin feeling stretchy or stripped off of all natural oils.
• Does not break me out.
• Did not irritate my skin, but considering how heavily it is fragranced, this is not a thumb rule.
• Packaging, aesthetically pleasing and functionally effective.

Cons of Guerlain Secret de Purete Cleansing Milk:

• Heavily fragranced.
• Does not remove makeup effectively!!!
• Not suitable for sensitive skin.

IMBB Rating:
A 1.5/5 product (Just for the moisturizing bit).

I just don’t get this product. It isn’t like the brand has made tall claims. It hasn’t. The product has two jobs – remove makeup and keep skin moisturized while removing makeup. Simple? And yet, the product does not deliver on that. Go Figure! Also, two things to remember here – one, though I use it like the Pixi and Caroline Hirons Cleansing Cream from the Double Cleanse – it is not close to the performance of the Pixi product. Two, while I am massaging the product, the fragrance of it is so over-powering-ly nauseating!! Not my weapon of choice. If only I could get 200ml of the Pixi Cleansing Cream in this bottle – I would be one happy cookie!

I do recommend Guerlain Secret de Purete Cleansing Milk.

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