Micellar Water

[hellymedic]

Isn't this just hype for water with a trace of soap or detergent?
Micelles might be what hold fat/grease/oil in a way we can absorb/wash away these things in water but this ain't SPECIAL, is it?

[citoyen]

Do you even need to ask?

I keep seeing this stuff advertised but haven't the faintest clue what it's supposed to be for. Likewise 'serums'.

[hellymedic]

I vaguely know what micelles are; that's the point! My washing-up water is full of them!

Serum is blood plasma without the clotting factors to the doctor; it's the clear stuff left when a mass of blood clots and your remove the clot...

[Mrs Pingu]

Putting 'fatty water' on your face doesn't sound as 'luxe' or worth ££££ though.

[hellymedic]

Andrex bum wipes have micellar water too...

[citoyen]

I vaguely know what micelles are; that's the point! My washing-up water is full of them!

But “washing up water” isn’t quite as marketable, unfortunately!

Serum is blood plasma without the clotting factors to the doctor; it's the clear stuff left when a mass of blood clots and your remove the clot...

Apparently, they’re also a vital part of your skincare regime - which should involve nine steps in total, each requiring different specific product.

[Kim]

Have I Wowbaggered some advertising again?

[ian]

Isn't this just hype for water with a trace of soap or detergent?
Micelles might be what hold fat/grease/oil in a way we can absorb/wash away these things in water but this ain't SPECIAL, is it?

Indeed, it's soapy water, but I'm sure costs a lot more.

[hellymedic]

Isn't this just hype for water with a trace of soap or detergent?
Micelles might be what hold fat/grease/oil in a way we can absorb/wash away these things in water but this ain't SPECIAL, is it?

Indeed, it's soapy water, but I'm sure costs a lot more.

It couldn't cost any LESS really, could it?
One drop of washing-up liquid costs around 0.01p and would treat >100ml...
2 soap flakes wouldn't break the bank either...

[Pingu]

I suspect the bubble will burst soon.

[hellymedic]

I suspect the bubble will burst soon.

[T42]

Anyone who wants to wash their face in the water that trickles under our cellar door when there's heavy rain is welcome.

[Lightning Phil]

Maybe I need to bottle up and sell my shower run off.

[citoyen]

I just wish the snake oil pedlars would settle on a pronunciation they can agree on. There’s one current tv ad where it’s pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable, MISS-uh-luh, and another where it’s my-CELL-uh, and at least one more where it’s something in between.

That’s the trouble with made up words.

[Mrs Pingu]

It's not a made up word though, it has a proper basis in science.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micelle
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micellar_solutions
Unlike whatever the cosmetics industry is trying to claim...

[Kim]

It's not a made up word though, it has a proper basis in science.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micelle
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micellar_solutions
Unlike whatever the cosmetics industry is trying to claim...

A school friend of mine coined the term "Shampoo chemistry" for this sort of thing, after the mixture of overly-scientific-sounding names for the mundane and deliberately obfuscated terms for the controversial that you tend to find in the ingredients list on shampoo bottles.

[citoyen]

overly-scientific-sounding names for the mundane

“Aqua” is my favourite

[Cudzoziemiec]

I vaguely know what micelles are; that's the point! My washing-up water is full of them!

But “washing up water” isn’t quite as marketable, unfortunately!

This reminds me of my late FiL telling me (in a conversation about BSE!) how when he was a kid in the 1950s in an isolated village, the washing up water, which didn't use detergent of any form, used to drain into a trough the cows drank from. If only they'd realised how valuable it was, they could have bottled it and made their fortune!

[sojournermike]

‘ micelles, a term borrowed from biology and popularized by G.S. Hartley in his classic book Paraffin Chain Salts: A Study in Micelle Formation’


Whatever the cosmetic industry wishes to sell you, you can rely on it being a very expensive way to buy water and some undesirable chemistry.

[hellymedic]

I suppose soapy water makes sense in bum wipes.
Hype will always be hype...

[sojournermike]

‘ First, let me explain what micellar cleansing water is. Micellar water is basically soft water with tiny balls of cleansing oils embedded inside.

So that’s it? It’s just oil in water? Nope, listen here: These unique oils are attracted to the oils and dirt on your face. When they make contact with your skin, they draw out all that gunk and dirt without stripping. At the same time, micellar water hydrates your skin and can also be used as a moisturizer.’ - https://www.collegefashion.net/beauty-and-hair/my-holy-grail-makeup-remover-and-toner/


Oh my word - probably not a science major. At what point do you explain that the oils stay in a ball because at the end of the oily chain is a hydrophilic molecule - say a sodium ion. You can make these molecules by adding sodium hydroxide to your favourite oil (Shea butter!), which is a bit like making soap...

I despair - and need to have a word with my college student...