I must admit I had never heard of this brand until I received this product. I think I got this in an advent calendar or a beauty box. Gatineau is a luxury Parisian skincare brand which has been around for a while. Their ethos is simple: natural ingredients combined with latest technologies.
Their Gentle Silk Cleanser is one of their best selling products and is enriched with silk and cotton extracts and sweet almond oil. They promise nourished and soft skin whilst removing all traces of makeup.
Experience
So this would be my first time using a milky cleanser. The Gentle Cleanser doesn’t lather or foam and I massage a fair amount on dry skin for a few seconds before rinsing off. For a cleanser suitable for sensitive skin, I was not expecting it to be scented but the Gentle Cleanser is heavily scented with something that reminds me of powder and older mature women. (I don’t even mean that in a bad way)
In terms of its cleansing power, I was very let down. To remove daily grime, SPF and oils it’s an ok cleanser although my skin feels like it’s not as clean as it should be. In terms of makeup removal, Gatineau promises it removes all traces of makeup but I did not experience that. It struggles and it is not effective. I used it once to try to remove glitter and matte lipstick and it was inadequate. It pushed the glitter around my face, and failed against the lipstick. The lipstick was the ultra-matte formula from ColourPop which is difficult to remove but I do have cleansers that do not struggle with it. It was ok with complexion makeup but again I was not confident on how well it removed it. After two rinses and still not satisfied (still had mascara bits), I grabbed my NipFab cleansing Fix to finish the job. The cleanser does feel very silky on the skin and my skin is left softened and hydrated after use. It does feel very gentle on the skin and doesn’t strip the skin of any moisture.
Verdict
A big of a let-down regarding this cleanser. I didn’t find it effective enough. For a cult classic I am disappointed but I won’t let this deter me from trying their other products although there is nothing in particular I am interested in. I am happy I have the travel size bottle and I am actually almost out of it.
Gatineau Gentle Milk Cleanser (50ml) is £6 on LookFantastic the full size is £21
sarah fynn 