Polysorbate-20 micellar water - 2nd try

I had another go at micellar water made with polysorbate-20 tonight. I kept with my super simple testing formula as follows:

1% surfactant (polysorbate-20, in this case)
q.s. preservative (used 0.5% liquid Germall Plus)
q.s distilled water to 100%

It is nice and clear, and doesn't foam or feel soapy on the skin or the cotton pad the way the decyl glucoside and the caprylyl/capryl glucoside did. It seemed to clean off my sunscreen and day's worth of oily-face adequately. The dry-down is nice, definitely not sticky, maybe a little powdery, even.

Compared to the Bioderma Sensibio, I feel the polysorbate-20 at 1% may be just a fraction more drying. I wouldn't call it a drying cleanser though; my face feels less dry after using this than it does after using one of my old standbys, Cliniderm Gentle Cleanser, which is designed for "senitive, allergic, reactive or dry skin." I'm in no particular rush to apply a moisturizer.

Plus, it doesn't burn on my face like my last try did, since there's no Optiphen in it, wooo!

Verdict: I like it. This is a good option for DIY micellar water. Polysorbate-20 is a common, easily accessible ingredient, it's pretty cheap, and it does the job nicely. I haven't done in-depth research on this, but I haven't heard of anyone being sensitive to it (not to say it never happens, people can be allergic to literally anything). It's gentle enough that it is the surfactant used in Bioderma's ABCDerm H2O micellar solution designed for baby skin. I bet my basic recipe could be prettied up with all kinds of things like aloe or allantoin or panthenol to make something fairly decent.

I don't know how it works on makeup, since I rarely wear any (I'm definitely more into skincare than makeup). If you try it, lemme know how it does!

Polysorbate-20 micellar water

After the unwanted foaminess with the caprylyl/capryl glucoside and decyl glucoside attempts, I decided to change course and go for a definitely-non-foaming surfactant, polysorbate-20.

I followed the same strategy and processing as in the decyl glucoside formula, with just water, surfactant, and preservative, at the same percentages.

I couldn't believe it when this one stung too! Polysorbate-20 is recommended at up to 20% of a formula (and is mostly used for leave-on products)! That's when I figured out it wasn't likely the surfactants stinging... it was the Optiphen. Looks like my skin prefers parabens and formaldehyde donors... on my face, anyway. Oh well, I'm not afraid of well-tested ingredients. I also feel like powdered Germall Plus is on its way to becoming my favourite preservative anyway; it's so much cheaper and you use so little of it!

My skin felt good after using this formula (after rinsing it off to stop the Optiphen sting), not crunchy like with the last one. So, I'll be trying this one again some time with a different preservative.