Sassy and Chic: Eye Makeup Remover

When I saw this eye makeup remover at my local dollar store, I was slightly intrigued. When I read "Compare to Maybelline Expert Eyes" on the package, it went straight into my basket. For those who haven't tried the Maybelline makeup remover, it can cost you $4 to $5, which isn't expensive but saving a few bucks is always a win in my book. I have purchased Sassy + Chic products from dollar stores before, but never an actual face product; it's always been a pumice stone or foot cream.

This makeup remover is advertised as oil and fragrance free, which I appreciate since I have sensitive skin. The directions instruct you to apply the product to a cotton ball or tissue, dab on the eye area, gently wipe makeup away, and then rinse the eye area with water. I have never seen a makeup remover that instructs you to wash away the product after use, so this was a bit of a red flag for me. If this product doesn't leave behind "an oily residue" then why would I need to rinse it off?

Since I wasn't certain how well this makeup remover would work, I first tried it on my arm. To really test the makeup-removing power, I applied a variety of products. Here is foundation, liquid lipstick, lipgloss, lip liner, eyeshadow, liquid eyeliner, kohl eyeliner, mascara, and concealer ("swatched" in that order). Then I followed the instructions on the package exactly. Dabbing did absolutely nothing. Gently wiping did a little, but not enough. This is the result I got with scrubbing and rinsing with warm water.

As you can see, the foundation and concealer (on either side of the colored swatches) did wipe away, without much scrubbing. The eyeshadow, liquid eyeliner, and the mascara were removed, but they did take more scrubbing. For some reason, the kohl eyeliner and the lip liner did fade, but would not disappear. The liquid lipstick and the lipgloss were barely affected, even with a lot of scrubbing. These results were especially surprising because the package says that it removes "washable makeup and non-waterproof mascara," and some of the products that were not removed were washable while some of the products that were removed are advertised as "long-wear" or "waterproof."

I'm not going to lie. After the amount of work it took to get these terrible results and after the redness that appeared on my arm later on that day, I'm not comfortable using this makeup remover on my face, especially not near my eyes. I do apologize because I like to test products more than once before reviewing them, but I'm going with the old adage "safety first" here.

I'd skip this eye makeup remover if I were you. I will definitely not be using it in the future.