Speed Review: Espa Gentle Eye Make-Up Remover

I have to admit that eye make-up remover is not exactly a product which I get excited about. I want it to do the job of easily removing my often-dramatic eye makeup but other than that, I give it very little thought. For me, it's not a luxury item and certainly not one which I want to spend a great deal of money on. This year, I've mostly been using a liquid eye make-up remover from Amie Skincare which I've found to be gentle and effective whilst offering value for money. However, I've recently finished the last drop and decided to crack open the rather more grown-up Espa Gentle Eye Make-Up Remover which has been sitting in my "to try" box.

I haven't tried a great deal of products from spa brand, Espa but I have really enjoyed those which I have had the pleasure of using. As with all of Espa's products, the packaging of Gentle Eye Make-Up Remover is luxurious with a nod towards the spa heritage for which they are known. Opening the maroon box, the frosted glass bottle with stone inspired lid feels weighty and expensive. Appearance wise, it's far more impressive than the packaging of any other eye makeup remover I've tried previously. Personally, I'd prefer a different format to the screw top.
The Eye Make-Up Remover itself is a lightweight lotion which needs to be dispensed onto damp cotton wool, placed on the eyelids and then swept away.
I don't wear waterproof mascara so I can't comment on Espa Gentle Eye Make-Up Remover's effectiveness at removing it although I did find it to be effective at removing my heavy, smoky eye makeup. I only needed to use the smallest amount so I feel that the bottle will last quite some time. Having said this, I did need to sweep the cotton pad over my eyes quite a few times to remove every trace (although I didnt need to apply any more product to the pad). I felt that it was dissolving and loosening the makeup rather than removing in one clean sweep as is usually the case with my liquid based remover and found it to be a bit of a faff. This might put me off using it again as quick, convenient products are important to me.
In terms of the gentle claims, I feel that I'm in a good position to comment on this as I've recently suffered from a bout of eczema on my eyelids and although (touch wood) it's cleared up, I'm remaining cautious about using anything which may set off another flare up. Combining aromatherapy ingredients including pure essential oils of Bulgarian Rose Otto (which has the addded benefit of providing a pleasant fragrance) and Benzoin for their balancing and soothing properties, I found it lived up to the gentle claims although I'd prefer a more natural product (for example, this contains parabens). In particular, I liked the cooling, soothing sensation of placing the damp cotton wool pads onto my eyelids. One word of warning- my cotton wool pad was quite saturated on my first use and some of the product trickled into my eye which made it sting like crazy!
At £20 for 100ml, I'm not convinced that I'd pay this much for the product when I prefer the convenience of a liquid eye make up remover which I can pick up far more cheaply. However, I really liked the formula and it's definitely made me want to check out their skincare range- if I'm going to invest, I'd rather it be in a cleanser or moisturiser.