I thought Garnier only made moisture creams and body lotions until I recently spotted this Refreshing Gel Wash in Superdrug recently priced at £1.49. As some of you will know from reading my old reviews, I used to only use Biore face washes until they brought out a 'new and improved' version (with different ingredients) and my skin went on strike (GP's/ antibiotics won't go into the details)- since then, I regularly buy different face washes depending upon what is on offer at the time. I try to go for sensitive skin washes and no longer think it is ok to spend £5+ on a face wash in case my skin dislikes it, then I'm wasting less money!.

Anyway, I have used Garnier day time moisturisers from the 'Fresh Essentials' range for a long time, so I thought it would be a safe enough bet to use the face wash from the same range on my skin (I wouldn't say I can only use sensitive skin products as it is a bit hit or miss with my skin). I was pleasantly surprised to find this on sale for £1.49 and have just looked up the price of this online and it is selling from £1 to £6 a tube so it does pay to look around (i'd try the high street chemists first and get loyalty store points).

*The Product*
For your money, you get a flip lid 150ml tube that stands on it's lid- cap side down. I found the gel (clear gel, very thick) hard to squeeze out of the tube. So time to do those hand exercises as you will need them! The gel is very thick and comes out of the tube very slowly. I found it hard to gauge how much to use, but I'd say if you squeeze about a walnut sized amount out and lather this up a little in your hand with a few drops of water, you will get the most out of the product and will waste less.

*Performance*
I use a powder based foundation and when I get in from work I like to wash all my my makeup off so my skin can breathe for a while. This means my face wash has to be able to remove foundation plus mascara and eyeliner. I used this gel wash as I would with any other face wash: squeeze, lather, apply to face, rinse off - and it removed a full face of make up including eye make up. I did not get panda eyes or a stripe of foundation down the centre of my nose that I then had to re-wash off- I was pleased that it did it's job.

*Anything to Note?*
As soon as I had dried my face, I felt my skin instantly beginning to feel dry and tight, so I know if I use this face wash I have to apply moisturiser as soon as possible afterwards to stop my skin from over-drying. As I have used moisturisers since I was about 14, my skin does need moisturiser- I can't use a face wash then wander around or my skin will feel really really dry within a few minutes. I did notice with this wash that the dry feeling was quite instantaneous- so I suspect if I used this on my skin all the time (day and night) when it did not have the job of removing a layer of makeup, it would probably dry my skin out. So, I would say, if you have dry or sensitive skin, proceed with caution here- or just use a tiny amount (unless you wear a decent amount of make-up that you need it to remove).

*Technical Stuff*
For normal to combination skin. Dermatologically Tested. Made in France, shelf life 12 months. Generally avoid getting into your eyes.

There are heaps of ingredients that I don't need to list here, but I did notice Salicylic Acid and various things with the word 'paraben' in them- I know some people can be sensitive to Salicylic Acid and I have heard some mentions of 'parabens' so if this means anything to any of you (ie you wish to avoid products containing these things) then this gel wash will not be any good for you.

*Overall*
For the price (cheap for Garnier products) and how it does work to do what I need it to (as my evening face wash - the one that has to remove the day's make-up) I would say if you have skin that errs on the side of being oily, then this is definitely worth a try.

*Point to Note/ Afterthought*
Just a slightly anecdotal point to add- this may be totally isolated to my tube, but the other day, I was squeezing and squeezing at the tube and nothing would come out. I was getting a bit annoyed at it and thinking, maybe the gel had solidified in the cold weather (err, no)-- when I had a closer look and found the bit inside the lid that acts as a stopper had broken off in the hole that the gel comes out of. After first trying to just squeeze the tube harder to try to shoot the 'bit' out of the tube (it didn't work), I eventually had to lever the bit out of the tube using my very short fingernails and a lot of ''ow'-ing.

So, now this means I cannot leave the tube stood on its lid for fear of the gel seeping out all over the cupboard (as you know it will as soon as i'm not looking!). I'm not sure if this is an isolated incident, but if anyone else buys this and find the inner-lid 'bit' snaps off in the hole, then please write to Garnier to tell them about it.