Simple Skincare Review

About a month or so ago Birchbox tweeted that they were looking for Birchbloggers to review some products from Simple Skincare, so I entered their random drawing to receive samples and I was picked!  I was excited to try Simple because I'd heard a lot about them, and I knew that they were a cruelty-free brand from the UK that specialized in skincare for sensitive skin.

Unfortunately, upon receiving the products I realized that they are owned by Unilever, which is a parent company that is not cruelty-free.  If you're interested in reading Unilever's official statement on their animal testing policy, you can do so by clicking here.  I'll save the debate for another time, but needless to say I prefer to purchase from companies that are entirely cruelty-free and not owned by parent companies that test, so I will not be using Simple Skincare in the future.

The first product I received was this pack of 30 Eye Make-Up Remover Pads.  They were just okay.  They're smaller than the average makeup remover wipes by a lot, which I guess is the only thing that really designates them as specifically for the eyes.  I used these as full facial wipes anyway, though, with one side for my eye makeup and the other for my face makeup.  They didn't do a very good job of removing all of my eye makeup (especially my mascara), so I wouldn't recommend these.

The Soothing Eye Balm is your standard eye cream.  I have so many eye creams, I don't know what to do with all of them.  I used this for a few days, but since I use eye creams for preventative care and not treatment of current issues, I can't really comment on whether or not it worked to improve the appearance of that area.  I can say that the consistency is very smooth, which makes it easy to apply, and a little went a long way.  I will probably give this away to my mom now because I have no use for it.

The third and final product I received was the Protecting Light Moisturizer.  It has SPF 15 in it, which is great, and is also oil-free.  Like the eye cream, it was pretty standard in comparison to other products like it. I'm picky about my moisturizers because my skin is combination and my T-zone gets so grossly oily throughout the day, so I aim for a moisturizer that's not too heavy.  This one wasn't heavy, but I did notice that my skin didn't feel as fresh throughout the day as it does when I use my regular moisturizer.  This is probably best for someone with normal to dry skin.

Bottom Line: I am really bummed that Simple Skincare is owned by Unilever, because I know that they were previously entirely cruelty-free.  Their products are also not natural by any means.  But if neither of those things are on your list of must-haves for skincare, then this line would probably be good for someone with sensitive skin because of its affordability.  I can't say that I'll ever use these products again, though.  I kind of feel terrible for even trying them in the first place.

*Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by Birchbox and the Birchbloggers program.  All opinions are my own.