I use L'Oreal Lash Paradise mascara which is very hard to remove (and hence, doesn't flake off.) I remove it with castor oil, which is indeed greasy, but supposed to be very good for growing longer eyelashes. Then I wash my whole face with Cetaphil, including eyelids. Micellar water doesn't work for me and bothers my eyes. But it did work wonders for getting a greasy charcoal stain out of my husband's wool sweater.

I got the travel size of it to try. I got the one with the green lid for waterproof makeup. I find that I don't see a whole lot of difference from just using the regular old dual phase style eye makeup remover really. I will just be sticking to those. Honestly, I feel like the dual phase does a little bit better job of removing the waterproof mascara. It is worth a try though, just buy the small one to see. Maybe it will not irritate your eyes. I didn't find it irritating.

I don't wear waterproof mascara, but I do use

Garnier SkinActive Micellar Cleansing Water, For All Skin Types -- the one with the pink lid. The blue lid is the one for waterproof mascara.

Having said all that, I bought both the bottle of the Micellar Water as well as a two-pack of the Garnier SkinActive Micellar Makeup Remover Wipes, For All Skin Types for times when we travel overnight and I don't want to have to pack the bottle.

I do find that it works best when I hold it against my lashes/eyelid for around 30 seconds before starting the wiping motion. And it does remove every spec of mascara.

Best eye makeup IMO is Makeup Forever‘s Sens’eyes. Like the name suggests, it’s gentle on sensitive eyes, yet removes really stubborn eye makeup. I squirt some on a Shiseido facial cotton, wipe my eye makeup off one eye, then flip the cotton over, squirt some remover on that side, and clean my other eye.

Lancôme Bifacil is also very effective, but I found it left a filmy residue behind. Sens’eyes doesn’t.

*FWIW, a pack of 160 facial cottons sells for $12 at both Sephora or Ulta, and a smaller size pack (?) costs $5. You can get them cheaper during sale or prestige coupon events). I like them way better than the inexpensive cotton rounds used years ago. They don’t leave cotton fibers behind like the cheaper ones did.

I ended up picking up the Garnier Miceller cleansing water, blue lid, for waterproof makeup...The check out girl at Target said she uses it and said it worked well. I used it tonight and I think I'm going to really like it. I washed my face in the shower using a new face wash (trader joes gel cleanser) to see how much the cleanser would take off, didn't take off enough of the mascara so I finished taking off the rest of the mascara with the miceller water on a cotton round and it worked like a charm. Wasn't greasy, didn't leave my eyes irritated or feeling like an oil slick.

AM update...not under eye smudges this morning. No irritated eyes, no oil slicks!! This is a winner in my book.