I bought some sample Shu Uemura cleansing oils off trademe.co.nz recently. Shu is ordinarily a very expensive brand, and elusive in NZ (though you can buy from Kosmakit in Auckland). So I was eager to try this High Performance Balancing Cleansing Oil.

This cleansing oil is supposed to cleanse skin and remove waterproof makeup leaving skin fresh and refined. According to beautypedia.com, this product actually contains a skin-irritating menthol derivative that creates only the illusion of freshness.

But is it  a good cleanser? I pitted it against Garnier Clean & Sensitive (which I’ve previously reviewed here) and I don’t think it was nearly as good. It left a lot of mascara residue on my skin and felt even more oily than the Garnier.

So Garnier wins this one. Check out our Winningest Products page for more reviews.

The first row of cotton pads  shows the results of the first swipe of the eye for each product. Both products removed most makeup, but the Shu Uemura left mascara residue on my skin.