12 best reusable make-up remover pads that are helping to wipe out single-use skincare

Face Halo is famous for a reason, racking up a huge number of fans – including the likes of Victoria Beckham. These pads may be expensive, working out at around £6 each, but we found they magically removed all make-up with just a splash of water.

The secret is in the HaloTech technology, a mystery fabric that’s 100 times finer than human hair and can trap make-up, dirt and daily grime within the fibres as you rub it across your face. They’re super soft on the skin, but we did prefer using them with a cleanser to really get them to glide. Tackling waterproof mascara, lip liner and foundation, they wiped away all make-up with ease, and a good, hot cycle in the washing machine cleaned them up spick and span.

Aurelia produces basic beauty essentials with a luxury twist – to give you an idea of just how swanky it is, it’s even stocked on Net-a-Porter. Although a little bit on the pricier side, coming in at £1.60 per pad, these certainly aren’t the most expensive buy in this round-up.

Very similar in shape to a large, classic cotton pad, they look and feel almost like the originals. Made from bamboo and cotton, they’re super soft and have a handy tab for you to put your fingers in – reducing the risk of transferring bacteria, and making them easier to hold.

They wiped away mascara like a dream with just water. But the brand does recommend you use them with cleanser or micellar water for a thorough clean, and we certainly found this helped with face make-up. Pop them in the wash at 30C, but don’t expect them to come out gleaming white once used.

If you’re looking to get a sustainable beauty present for someone, the Aurelia bamboo muslins worked in a similar way and come in their own gift box (£24, Aurelialondon.com).

Where most reusable make-up pads claim to work with just water, Garnier recommends you use micellar water with these pads – when you do, the results are fantastic. In fact, every reusable make-up remover pad we tried worked better when doused in micellar water. It removes any skin tugging by providing a lubricant between the cloth and the face, and also helps to whisk away all traces of dirt and make-up.

Super-soft, these pads feel like a baby blanket. One side is pink, the other white, but this seems to be more for aesthetics rather than function. They’re thin enough to fold into any crevice – under the eye and along the nose – to remove make-up and grime from all areas of the face. When used with just water, though, we found they didn’t perform too well. So, use as recommended – we opted for the Bioderma sensibio H2O biphasic micellar make-up remover (£9, Boots.com) – and we’re sure you’ll be thrilled. Throw the pads in the washing machine on a normal cycle, and they’ll come out just as soft and fresh.

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These make-up remover pads are incredibly thick, giving them a super-soft, luxurious feel. But while we loved the sensation of the fabric on our face, they were actually so thick they couldn’t be bent to reach narrow gaps, such as under the eyes or along the nose, meaning make-up remained in these areas. That small gripe aside, the great thing about these pads is they have a finger slot, making them easier to hold – especially if you have a long manicure – and reducing the risk of nicking your skin with any sharp nails.

To get these pads to work most effectively, we’d recommend pairing them with a cleanser, as, although they claim to work with just warm water, they proved to cleanse much more deeply with a little helping hand. With all of this in mind, we’d use these to create an at-home spa day – swiping them over the face to remove any masks or skincare products, rather than make-up.

The brand advises you to hand wash these, but we found they came up clean in a washing machine on a regular cycle.

The first thing we loved about this ESPA pack is that it comes in a matching tie-up bag, providing the perfect place to house them. The second thing is that these are made from 100 per cent cotton, so there’s no fluffy feeling of the polyester pads, which is going to be a relief for some people. Plus, with two sides – one terry cloth and one waffle – there’s certainly more of an exfoliating feel. Because of this, we’d use these more in our skincare routine rather than for removing make-up.

In the morning, these pads worked wonderfully with our cleanser to provide a deeper clean – and even removed stubborn fake tan remnants, too – but they did feel a little bit harsh when scrubbing away foundation. With a small tab to place your fingers, they were easy to hold on to yet thin enough to reach every part of the face.

A quick hand wash with soap and warm water did clean them up a fair amount, though you can also put them in a very gentle cycle – just make sure you put them in a net bag first, as a regular bag-free wash left ours torn.

With seven mini face rounds, one face towel, an exfoliator sponge and a zip mesh wash bag, there’s a lot in this little kit. But when it came to removing make-up, the mini face rounds certainly weren’t the best of the bunch. What they were great for was applying toner post-wash and working alongside a cleanser and warm water for a slightly deeper clean.

What we loved about this set was the number of things in the pack. The face towel was incredibly handy when cleansing every morning and night, and the exfoliating sponge was extremely helpful in removing traces of fake tan, too. While you won’t want to throw away your cleanser when opting for this pack – we encourage you not to do this anyway, no matter what set you opt for – it did provide a reusable alternative to your regular cotton pads with no problem. We found they washed up a dream in the washing machine too.

The best thing about these pads is the fact they come in a bamboo holder, meaning they’re kept clean, and you don’t have to hunt around the bathroom for that one spare pad (hopefully). The pads are the most similar in size, shape and feel to a regular cotton pad. Yet, made from three-ply bamboo and cotton, they can be used 1,000 times, drastically slashing the single-use aspect of the originals.

The brand recommends you use them with a cleansing product, and that’s how they work best, although we did find they removed mascara with just warm water. Although they don’t have a fluffy baby-blanket texture, they’re soft on the skin, and can be hand-washed quickly or thrown in the machine without worry.

You can also buy just the pads without the case, if you already have a home for them or are looking for a top-up (16 for £12.99, Lookfantastic.com).

The worst thing about reusable pads is the fact you have to wash them. So, if you’re the sort of person who regularly goes weeks (or months) before cleaning your make-up brushes, you’re going to need a fair few of these pads. Otherwise, you’ll be doing more harm than good with dirty ones.

With 14 in a pack, this Botanics set is a great option. There are 10 named velvet pads, which are to be used for everyday cleansing, and four scrub pads, which offer an exfoliating effect. But all of them need a cleansing product to work effectively. We loved the number included in the pack, which for the price, brought them down to just under 90p each. The velvet pads remained super soft after a tumble around the washing machine, and the scrub pads didn’t lose any scrubbing impact either.

These Skin Proud pads are the softest ones in this round-up. And trust us when we say they’re soft – like a super-fluffy blanket on your face, we never wanted to stop swiping them across our skin. But, while the feel of them was second-to-none, how well did they remove make-up?

With a cleanser, perfectly. Which is similar to many other pads in this round-up. To really get them to work with just water, as advertised, you need to soak these in warm water and apply to the eye for a good 30 seconds before wiping away mascara. But when it came to foundation, we still had to reach for the cleanser. Of course, opting for a cleanser is never a bad idea for a deeper clean, and with the soft feel of these pads, they were a joy to use.

Coming in at just over £6 each, they’re one of the pricier picks of the bunch, so be sure to chuck them in the washing machine on a regular cycle to have them come up all clean, fluffy and like-new again.

For anyone who struggles to keep track of laundry day, days of the week or often forgets whether they brushed their teeth that morning (guilty as charged), these reusable make-up remover pads have a handy, helpful trick: the days of the week listed on each one. Yes, just like your pants at school, you can now track each day with the helping hand of your reusable cleansing pads.

The instructions state the pads should be used with a cleanser, whether a liquid oil or butter, and then rubbed over the face for a deeper clean. Which was exactly what we did, and we couldn’t fault them. Impressively, they also seemed to take off mascara with just water, and just one double-sided pad was enough to clean our face, foundation and all.

We threw these into the wash on a normal cycle, but as they’re bright white, a hot wash may give them a deeper clean to remove all traces of foundation and mascara.

Crafted from hemp, these make-up remover pads actually get softer the longer you use them – hurrah! Unlike most of the other options, these are cream in colour as opposed to bright white, which helped to make foundation marks less visible. And, even better, they’re biodegradable, too.

Made from three layers of fabric, they’re super-soft, but we’d recommend using a cleanser or toner, so they can glide across the skin for a really deep clean, sans any tugging. The pads are thin enough to reach any parts of the face, and we loved the slightly spongey inside.

To wash, simply rinse with soap and warm water, or pop in the bag (included) and machine-wash on a regular cycle.

B.U. Beauty is an online retailer stocking a small range of products with strict rules on eco-credentials. Everything is vegan, cruelty-free, hypoallergenic, non-toxic and suitable for sensitive skin, including these make-up remover pads.

In a large, square shape, they’re similar in style to the Skin Proud pick, but in a black-and-white colourway. The brand claims you just need to add warm water to remove any make-up, and this was certainly true for mascara, which was whisked away with ease. For face make-up, though, a cleanser was needed to thoroughly remove every bit of foundation and concealer.

These pads washed up lovely in the machine, and we can certainly see these becoming a great addition to our bathroom cabinets. It’s always nice to support a small business, too, right?