Puzzled About Micellar Water

"La Cage Aux Folles" has provoked me to learn more about cosmetics, in general.

I'm puzzled about "cleansing water" and the amazing way it just strips makeup right off. It seems to be a fairly-new innovation, and depends on micelles formed in the water. When did it get introduced into use?

Soap also depends on micelles. So, is "cleansing water" just a form of soap?

Google runs into all sorts of impediments with a field as old and diverse as "cosmetics." People have used various cleansing solutions and ointments on makeup since the Egyptians raised the Pyramids....