The infamous Bioderma Sensibio H2O cleansing water has been reviewed by beauty bloggers the world over, and it is good. Very good. It is however a little pricey, especially if you have to clean makeup off a thousand faces which is what I found myself doing recently when I assisted on a photo shoot. While going through my precious bottle at an alarming rate, I decided to do a little research to see what else was available.

Recently I purchased the much more affordable L'Oreal version and I was interested to see what the differences were.

The Bioderma Sensibio H2O (250ml) version retails online for £9.99 / $29.99. The L'Oreal Paris Skin Perfection 3 in 1 Purifying Micellar Solution (200ml) retails online for £3.33 (currently on sale from £4.99). This doesn't seem to be available in Australia presently, but given the popularity of cleansing waters, I am sure it will be very soon.

Packing-wise, the slimline L'Oreal bottle is easier to fit into a makeup kit however, both the Bioderma and L'Oreal bottles don't have fantastic seals so I tend to wrap mine in a zip lock bag when transporting it to be on the safe side.

Both products remove all traces of makeup, including mascara with ease. For waterproof mascara you would need to use something stronger to prevent tugging at the skin. Neither product seems to dry out my skin. They are both non-fragrant and recommended for sensitive skin. While traveling recently I used the L'Oreal one for a month straight and had no problems with it on my combination skin.

I honestly can't find a large enough difference to justify the difference in price and the L'Oreal cleanser will be a makeup kit staple for me in the future.

Tip: If you are going to France, it is worthwhile picking up the Bioderma there as they often have special deals when you buy 2 x 500ml bottles. I found this deal here which is only £18.81 for 1 litre of the product as opposed to the price above, £9.99 for 250ml ....