little white truths

You may remember that I recently reviewed Simple's Radiance Brightening Facial Wash (reviewed here), which I loved so much that it made my September favourites post (see here).

Both that cleanser and this one were given to me by my sister-in-law and I opened them at around the same time (January this year), it's just that I've almost finished the other one but this one is still going strong - for the simple (ha) reason that I love the other one and this one's meh.

Verdict

This product is ok but I'm not enjoying using it and it's not one I would buy.

It's a gel product that's a little on the gluggy side and it has no scent. It does contain little grains, but these are very soft and there aren't many of them so I don't think they do anything and I'm not sure why they've been included.

I generally use this as my in-shower cleanser and it works ok for that purpose but it's nothing to write home about. The directions suggest that this product lathers, but it doesn't for me - not as I understand the word anyway. I also don't think that it does much so my face doesn't feel particularly clean or soft after use, nor does it look fresher or brighter: it just feels and looks the same.

I've also tried this as a morning cleanser and as my first cleanser in the evening to remove my makeup. Again, it works ok for those purposes but I do find that it's a bugger to remove with plain water (it just doesn't want to rinse off - it's like it sticks to the skin) so I need a cloth to remove it or I won't get anywhere.

This is meant to be an oil-balancing wash so I was a little worried that it would strip my dry skin or dry it out, but it hasn't done that and a lot of the reviews I've read say this product does nothing to control or balance oil. I can't speak to that because I don't have oily skin, but I can certainly imagine that it wouldn't do anything because it hasn't dried my skin out.

Also, I don't think this should be called an 'exfoliating wash' because the soft, sparse grains mentioned above are pretty useless and I don't feel that they serve any purpose. I'm not the first person to have said this so that's something to be aware of.

In other news my pH strips rate this product at somewhere between a five and a six, so at least it's not astringent and I agree that it should suit sensitive skin because it's so gentle.

Overall I don't like this product and I can't recommend it, but it's not terrible so I'll likely leave it in the shower for occasional use and I can see myself throwing it into Project Pan next year, just to get through it.

Not for me.