Simple, basic. works but no stars or fireworks. (Simple Facial Cleansing Wipes)

Member Name: I-tried-this

Product:	Simple Facial Cleansing Wipes
Date:	17/08/08 (62 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: does do an OK job, doenst hurt/ is useable for sensitive skin

Disadvantages: Takes some scrubbing for eye makeup, and when not on offer as expensive as Clinique

On offer at the moment in Tesco and Sainsburys, 2 simple products (from a selected range) for £4 seemed like a good offer- the products I wanted to buy were £3 for the cleansing wipes I am about to review and £4 for another product so I was saving money, and bought this and another Simple product. (Reviewed later).

I had read the description on them, cleansing wipes, said to take off all dirt and even water proof make-up too..."removes all make-up even waterproof mascara"- this seemed like a fantastic product, and was the reason I wanted to try it. It was going to be used to wipe over my face after cleaning with a facial wash (to the more experienced, this is called toning) and also mean that I didn't have to folk out another £11 for eye make-up remover from Clinique. (The only one I have found that works with mascara to get it off quickly.) They also come endorsed by a little pink sticker which says they are the "no.1 UK Cleanser Brand 52 weeks prior to 08/08/07"

The whole ethos with Simple- for those of you who turn off when the ad breaks start, is that they are not scented, not coloured and very innocent in their ingredients. The are not irritant, are PH balanced, not animal tested and are very pared down and easy to understand and caring to use.

These are also apparently oil and alcohol free. Though reading the ingredient, I can appreciate that everything is named by its Latin name but for effect, why not just call water, water and not "Aqua" and so on. There are one or two more chemical sounding names here, (ceteareth-20, disodium EDTA, 2-Bromo 2-Nitropropane...for example) maybe that's why. I also read in the ingredients there is alcohol_ "Cetwaryl Alcohol" I am not sure what that is in layman's terms but to me, it says "alcohol" and on the front sticker, it specifically says "100% alcohol free.... An explanation from Simple as to why this is allowed in and what it is would be great, as would why they are claiming its 100% alcohol free.

If you need them, there are instructions to wipe your face, eyelids and neck, just in case you weren't sure what to do with these. (In which case why buy a product called a facial wipe) but hey, it adds to the packaging.

I used these after running out of Johnsons facial wipes and have to say, they are much better. The wipe itself is much smoother/less scratchy then the Johnsons ones but still I wouldn't say smooth. I did use after washing with a facial cleaner and still pulled off some dirt so I do think it works as a cleanser as this is exactly what my toner is there to do. This I was pleased with.

On eye make-up removing, it feels a little dry, so am not so sure about this as my eyes where the make-up is, are also dry, how is this supposed to work?

It did remover quite a fair amount of mascara. I cant say they are better then the Clinique make-up remover for eyes that I usually use but it does seem to do something and is still better then the Johnsons eye make-up remover pads I bought and trialled here a month ago. The Simple wipes actually pick up a fair amount of mascara and all the eye shadow, but they don't get 100% of it off the way the Clinique remover does. It also takes quite a bit of rubbing too. Again, its not as bad as the Johnsons type where I was there with 2 or 3 pads full of mascara per one eye (so in effect using 4 to 6 per day), instead I only use one to two wipes per day. Instead with the Simple wipes, its only 1 or 2 required per day.

But the rubbing is slightly painful, at first its fine, then after about 5 or 6 rubbing and lifting attempts, you start to feel that your eyes are slightly sore because the wipe is not as smooth as it perhaps could be, defiantly not as smooth as cotton wool, sure this is good for picking up dirt on your face, but on eyes it can jar very quickly as the skin there is far more delicate. It was my upper eye-line that hurt more then anywhere. You could say that I was rubbing too hard- but if I hadn't been rubbing then no mascara would have come off. And I wasn't rubbing that hard!

The Simple wipes did leave my skin feeling soft, not at all sticky- which I know can happen with some wipes (Tesco Value facial wipes for example) and they didn't have a scent at all, so didn't have the added complication of deciding if I was able to get used to the scent. I guess this is a bonus, even if I do like my products to smell great. I suppose it saves me the additional irritation of an entire pack being bought and then working out I cant stand the scent (L'oreal facial wipes for example).

Would I buy these again? Well, lets see, I get 25 wipes for £3 when they are not on offer, this would last me about 20 days, 25 at a push, this works out at 15p to 12p a day. The Clinique eye make-up remover that I feel works better is £11 and lasts me around 3 months, so 12.2p per day. So its around the same price. In that respect, I would prefer the Clinique, as its less irritant and the removal effect is much quicker. I do have to say these are much much much better then the Johnsons cleansing wipes which are so harsh it actually made not just my eyes sting, but my cheeks and neck sting too (?!), but I don't really think these will be top of my shopping list unless they are on offer again. Which in this case would have worked out £2 per pack and been a daily expenditure of between 8p to 10p. A 33% saving.

They are OK to use, they work, but they are nothing that special. And personally, I want to feel that I am being treated like a V.I.P when cleaning my face, otherwise I get bored and I forget to use the product, or don't enjoy using it. And if its my cash I am spending, I need to know its being spent wisely and I am going to get my moneys worth from it.

Summary: Overall a decent product, just nothing special.