Mermaid Beauty: Make-Up Remover

I am not the biggest girly-girl out there. I would rather sit in my jammies and play Final Fantasy than go for a mani-pedi. You know, that construct of femininity that society shoves down our throats. No thank you. Having said that, I do enjoy glamming up every now and then. I have some lovely make-up I've collected over the years. (I'm sure anyone who knows anything about make shelf life just cringed then!) At University, part of the going out ritual was getting glam; doing my hair, putting on my make-up, picking out a pair of ridiculous heels. Nowadays, I get glammed up for weddings and meals out.

Because I don't do it that often, I have not owned a make-up remover since the last one ran out and I do not even remember when that was! However, in doing research for making my own beauty products I found out that aloe vera can be used in make-up removers. Praise be the holy, multi-purpose aloe!

Mama Aloe before she got floppy

Looking into it, there are make-up remover recipes where you can combine it with other ingredients. Wellness Mama combines it with raw honey and oil to make a remover that wipes away make-up and impurities. I would like to try this, as it sounds like just the sort of pamper my face can get behind. However, I have a little confession: I am lazy and forgetful. Over the Christmas period, I went on a couple Christmas dinners all glammed up, conveniently forgetting that I do not have make-up remover. At least not until I got home and had to wash off a faceful of make-up! So I ended up making some on the fly, late at night and a little tipsy!

All I did was trim a juicy leaf from Mama Aloe and scoop out her gel. I then applied it directly on a cotton ball and wiped. It worked pretty well. It took a few wipes but most of the make-up was removed. I feel that this in part could be down to my wiping implement. In our bathroom, we had some loose cotton balls in one of the baskets and they had been there for quite some time. One of those "using up the last of" jobbies. So, they were a little dusty! Thankfully, they have now run out.

It is my intention to get some of the re-usable bamboo pads, like the ones from Cheeky Wipes, but they are low on my purchasing priority list at the moment. I will treat myself when I've got a new job! Therefore, I will have to retest the aloe gel when I do have some! Maybe I'll even do a comparison between plain aloe and honey aloe. 

For now, I will just have to take care of Mama Aloe and her babies to make sure I still have enough to play with.

What do you use to remove make-up? Do you know of any more aloe recipes? Have you used re-usable bamboo pads? Lemme know below!

Listening to: Lego Movie Soundtracks (just the good ones)