Review: Simple Kind To Skin Exfoliating Facial Wipes

So far all of my reviews of Simple products have been overwhelmingly positive, but today I want to talk about a product I just didn't get on with. It didn't start well, seeing as I only bought this accidentally. I was stocking up on my beloved Simple face wipes and it was only when I got home that I realised I picked up the wrong ones. Instead of being smooth all over, these exfoliating wipes have one smooth side and one rough side which is meant to exfoliate while it cleanses.

Now, I don't know about you, but I buy face wipes for those days when I just cannot be bothered with my regular skincare routine. I use them when I come home tired or erm, slightly intoxicated and I can only just manage to remember to take my make-up off with a wipe before I collapse into bed. The problem with this scenario is that when it's dark and you're tired/drunk you have no way of telling which side is the smooth one and which side is the exfoliating one - until it's too late and you've already rubbed what feels like sandpaper over your eyes.

Now, don't get me wrong, because these wipes will certainly get your skin clean. Very clean. But I feel that rubbing my face with something that literally feels sharp just defeats the whole purpose and I'd rather not actually take my make-up off at all.

So, while the regular Simple wipes are still among my favourite beauty products ever, this exfoliating variety is not something I'll be repurchasing.

Simple Kind To Skin Exfoliating Facial Wipes retail at £3.55 a pack.

Monthly Favourites: April 2014

1) Simple Kind To Skin+ Illuminating Radiance Cream

I've literally just published a full review on this moisturiser here, so I don't want to go into too much detail, as I'd only be repeating myself. To sum things up, this is a great moisturiser which is light but nourishing and works great under make-up for the day time. It is rather on the shimmery side, but underneath foundation it gives the skin a gorgeous bit of lift and radiance.

2) L'Oreal L'Extraordinaire by Color Riche in Tangerine Sonate

I bought this less than a week ago, so it's a bit of a bold move to put it on my list of favourites already, but this lipstick/gloss/tint/balm hybrid is simply amazing. It's got the pigmentation of a lipstick and the shine of a gloss, but it's not at all sticky or tacky and feels light like a balm on the lips. The orange shade is surprisingly flattering and I've already had a lot of compliments while wearing it. It seems like this is a cult product for a very good reason.

3) Bourjois Elastic Mascara

I didn't have very high hopes for this mascara originally and to be honest I'm not even sure why I bought it anymore - but no matter, I'm glad I did! This does everything I look for in a mascara. It separates the lashes, it lengthens and the plastic wand makes sure that even the tiny little corner lashes get a nice even coating. It's not the greatest at giving volume, but I don't really care about that. What I'm looking for are long, fluttery lashes and that's exactly what I get from this mascara. It's not quite as good as my all-time favourite "They're Real!" mascara by Benefit, but it comes pretty darn close at a fraction of the price!

4) Benefit Browzings in Medium

You can probably see in the picture above that the packaging of this brow kit is pretty battered. In fact, it's the first brow product I've ever purchased, but at the time it was just too bold for me and got relegated in favour of the Suqqu eyebrow pencil and the HD Brows kit. I dug it out a few weeks ago just to mix things up a little and I've been really loving it again. I guess I kind of got used to filling in my brows and making them a bit bolder, so the high pigmentation is now a bonus rather than something that puts me off. The powder in this kit has slightly red undertones which I find work well in balancing out my yellow skin tone which can look a bit flat with ashy brow products.

Review: Simple Kind To Skin Illuminating Radiance Cream

"Illuminating" and "radiance" are two words that I used to run from when it comes to skincare. To me, they were nothing but euphemisms for "oil slick" or "glitter ball". But truth be told, as I'm getting older I am starting to see changes in my skin. I stopped using powder on my cheeks a while ago and am quite partial to strategically placed highlighter in my day to day make-up routine. So, the next step came naturally to add a bit of lightening into my moisturiser.

If you've seen any of my previous posts you will have gathered that I'm a huge fan of Simple. Not only is it an affordable and very easily accessible brand, but there's something in their products that my skin just seems to love. I honestly don't think I've come across a bad product from them before.

This moisturiser is no different. It feels light and very smoothing on the skin, providing the perfect amount of hydration for the day time while still letting my foundation grip to something.

The pump is not only hygienic, but also makes dispensing the perfect amount of product a breeze. The only downside to moisturiser pumps from my experience, however, is that you can never get that last bit of product out of the bottom, resulting in quite a bit of waste as you're getting to the end.

I've got to warn you that this cream does contain quite a lot of shimmer particles. You can't see them in the picture above, but if you look at your face through a magnifying mirror there's quite a lot of obvious shimmer, there. Under make-up it results in exactly what it claims on the box: A radiant and illuminated look to skin. I thought that without foundation it would be a bit too glittery, but without the magnifying mirror the result is a lot more subtle than I expected.

Overall a big fat thumbs up for this one!

Simple Kind To Skin Illuminating Radiance Cream retails at £7.99

Review: Simple Kind To Skin Perfecting BB Beauty Balm

I'm going to go all out here and say that BB creams are quite possibly one of the greatest beauty hypes of the last few years. I hate the weight of a heavy, full coverage foundation, but my skin isn't always that pixel perfect for me to bypass any base whatsoever. Tinted moisturisers tend to give too little coverage and are often also quite rich, but BB creams are the perfect middle ground.

It seems like everyone and their nan has brought out their version of a BB cream, which quite often doesn't have much in common with what the term was originally set out to mean (and don't even get me started on CCs and DDs and EEs and what-nots). But when Simple, which is probably my favourite affordable skincare brand, released a BB cream there was no way I wasn't going to give it a go.

There is only one shade to universally suit all skin tones and originally that had me a little worried. Then I opened the tube and thought there was absolutely no way that shade was going to suit my pale complexion - I thought the cream was a write-off before I'd even tried it. I started blending and my face went an unnatural orange colour. Then I blended some more - still orange. I blended some more and all of a sudden, like some sort of magic trick, the orange disappeared and I was left with skin that was slightly mattified but still had some of its natural luminosity peeking through. Evened out just enough to give that extra boost of confidence, but not so much that it would look unnatural.

Simple Kind To Skin Perfecting BB Beauty Balm; Left: unblended / Right: Blended in

As for the texture it's a lot less thick than all the other BBs I've tried before, which personally I think is a bonus. It might sound a bit vain, but I like to have a very light base on when I go to the gym or for a run, but it's imperative that it doesn't clog my pores when I get sweaty and this fits the bill absolutely perfectly. But also for days where I feel like my skin needs just a little pick-me-up instead of a lot of coverage, this does a great job. You can see me actually wearing this BB cream in this Face Of The Day post.

So in the end, what I thought would be a write-off turned out to be yet another great product. I still feel like adding two extra shades - one lighter and one darker - would be a good idea, just so that those of us with particularly light or very dark skin don't have to blend quite as much. But overall, this gets a big thumbs up from me!

Simple Kind To Skin Perfecting BB Beauty Balm retails at £8.99

Review: Simple Kind To Eyes Eye Make-up Remover

There are things that are worth splashing out on. And there are things that you can pick up for a fraction of the price at the drugstore, which do the job just as well, or perhaps even better. Make-up removers, in my humble opinion, belong to the latter category. I've tried products from Lancome, Clinique and Clarins and while I'd rank Lancome the highest out of the bunch, they all left my eyes in varying degrees of greasy to downright burning. While the much hyped up (and rightly so) Bioderma is probably my favourite for removing heavy eye make-up, there are a few drugstore products that do a very effective, but nevertheless gentle job with everyday make-up. This is one of them.

I wear contact lenses for several hours almost every day, so my eyes are definitely on the sensitive spectrum and often a little on the dry side. The last thing I need is a make-up remover that leaves me with an oil slick around my eyes, or worse even, dries them out even further leaving me with a red, burning mess.

None of this was an issue with this product. Make-up melted off without having to rub frantically - just soak two cotton pads and gently press them down on each eye for a few seconds and mascara, eye liner and shadow will just melt off. I could even use it on stubborn bits of liner on the inner water line without any irritation. Having said that I tend to avoid waterproof mascara, so I don't know how it would perform on that. With a very heavy smokey eye I found that I'd have to sometimes use two cotton pads per eye to really get everything off, but it's not often that I'll go that heavy on the make-up anyway, so it's not much of an issue. For everyday use, this is right up there with Garnier as my favourite drugstore make-up remover.

And the best bit? At £3.25 for a 125ml bottle it's an absolute bargain!

Review: Simple Vital Vitamin Night Cream

Simple is a brand I just keep on returning to whenever I'm in need of something that's cheap, but that I know will be good for my skin. There's just something about their products that works brilliantly with my skin type each and every time and this night cream is no different.

It comes in a lightweight plastic tub which while it's not particularly luxurious, isn't exactly cheap looking either.
My worries with night creams are that they're usually a tad too heavy and I find myself waking up in the morning with greasy face, but this one is surprisingly light for a night time moisturiser.

I'd even go as far as saying it's a touch too light in winter on my combination skin, but during the rest of the year it's absolutely perfect. If my skin's feeling a bit drier I'd either switch to a different moisturiser, or simply use a more nourishing serum underneath.

It doesn't perform any miracles on the skin, but it makes me wake up to a fresh face with soft skin that doesn't feel sticky or heavy and I just know that I'll keep going back to this, because it's affordable and delivers solid results.

Even though it's marketed for sensitive skin I know that many people with that skin type struggle with Simple products, but I've also read great reviews from others. If you do find that you tend to get adverse reactions from a lot of skincare products it's maybe best to test this one out first.
But for anyone without sensitivities, particularly for those with oily, normal or combination skin, I couldn't recommend this more.

Simple Vital Vitamin Night Cream is available at Boots for £5.99

Simple Kind To Skin Vital Vitamin Foaming Cleanser

It seems somehow unbelievable that less than a year ago I would not let any other cleanser other than Liz Earle's Cleanse and Polish so much as touch my skin. It took me moving to Germany, where it's incredibly hard to get hold of, to finally try out a different one and lo and behold I found my new holy grail cleanser: Biotherm's Eau Auto-Moussante. Needless to say, I am so over Cleanse and Polish now.
Fast-forward a few month's and now, back in the UK, I can't get hold of the Biotherm cleanser.
FML.
But when I saw this on the shelves of Boots my heart made a little somersault. Could this replace my beloved Biotherm foam? (And at a fraction of the price?? But shush, don't tell anyone!)

The basic idea is the same. This foaming cleanser is a water in the bottle and comes out of the pump as a foam. While the Biotherm cleanser turned into a milk once rubbed onto the skin, this one just sort of melts into the face. As a result it's easier to wash off, but doesn't feel quite as indulgent.

I find that this is a great cleanser if you're in a hurry. No lathering up, no rubbing, no faffing about with a muslin cloth makes for a quick morning and bedtime routine.
As is the case with Biotherm products, I find that the Simple Kind to Skin range just works really well with my skin and doesn't irritate it resulting in breakouts, pulling sensations or the dreaded film of grease.

While I cannot deny that this is a lovely, gentle cleanser, the downside is that it doesn't quite get my skin clean enough. A cotton pad soaked in toner doesn't come out crystal clean like it did with my Biotherm cleanser, but will show up leftover foundation and dirt. As a result using toner is not a step I can skip if I'm in a hurry.

For this reason my search for a new holy grail product continues. As much as I still love simple, I need my cleanser to, well, clean my face - the hint is sort of in the name. And while this is not a bad product, it's not thorough enough for my liking. (Maybe I just have a ridiculously dirty face, haha??)

The one thing that still speaks in its favour is the purse friendly price of £4.49 for 150ml which lasts forever.

If after all my raving, you still haven't heard enough about the Biotherm foaming cleanser, you can read a full review here.

What's your holy grail cleanser?

Monthly Favourites: January 13

I haven't been very good with posting monthly favourites so far - mainly because I just don't get through enough products to think of any month after month! But I will try to be better about it this year, as I've found loads of fantastic products just from reading these posts on other people's blogs and I hope I can do the same for you!

1) Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

I have to admit I was a bit weary about the hype surrounding both the Naked Palettes. In all honesty, how good can a bunch of brown eye shadows be? However, I found myself talking about it so much, that eventually I got it as a present (wooooo!) and even though it was no revelation of awesomeness at first, I realised that I've put pretty much all of my other eye shadows aside and now I'm only using this! It's just a really great selection of colours which will allow you to create a multitude of looks, the shadows are soft, very pigmented and last all day with a good primer. What's not to love?

2) Aussie 3 Minute Miracle

My hair has now been through a grand total of three bleaching sessions and unfortunately they have all taken their toll on my tresses. Trust Aussie to bring my hair back from almost certain death. It moisturises, repairs and just seems to undo all the damage I have caused through dying and heat styling. I cannot recommend this enough for anybody who has dry, brittle and/or damaged hair. I've already repurchased it twice and once this bottle is empty I'm getting another one. I'll write a full review on it soon.

3) Makebelieve Enhance Sunbeam Bronzer*

I've been reaching for this loads in the past few weeks, as my winter complexion is even ghostlier than usual. This bronzer gives a beautiful flush of colour and as it's not too shimmery it's the perfect contouring powder - I swear it makes my cheekbones as sharp as razorblades. What I love the most, however, is that it just settles to such a marvellously natural finish on my skin - no obvious bronzer or contour marks there at all. You can read a full review on this one here.

4) Simple Kind To Skin Cleansing Wipes

I can't believe I never wrote a blog post on these wipes. I think I may have mentioned them once in a Youtube video (haha, yeah....), but that's about it. Truth be told, I don't even remember how many times I've repurchased these. Let's be honest, sometimes you just haven't got the time or the energy (or you're just really, really drunk) to do a full skincare routine before bed, but the least you can do is take off your make-up. Nobody likes messy pillows and crusty eye lashes. I've tried a few other wipes from time to time, but none come close to these. They stay soft and moist forever, get all the crap off my face without being drying and most of all make sure I don't get breakouts caused by my laziness.

*PR Sample

What are your favourites for the month?

May Favourites

Simple Soothing Facial Toner

I wrote a review about this which you can read here, so I won't go into too much detail about this one. Basically a fantastic toner which does what it's supposed to do, doesn't irritate skin and comes at an amazingly low price.

Ich habe bereits eine Review über dieses Produkt geschrieben (ihr könnt sie hier lesen), also werde ich nicht allzu viel darüber erzählen. Es handelt sich um ein fantastisches Gesichtswasser, das hält, was es verspricht, die Haut nicht irritiert und wunderbar wenig kostet.


Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation (shade B10)

I tried liking another foundation, promise! I went to the beauty store and said I want to try a new foundation, so then the MUA spent ages trying to match me up with another brand, but nothing was pale enough! The lightest shade of Clinique Even Better came close, but it oxidised after a while and then it was too dark and orange again. Now the sun's been out I managed to catch a bit of a tan, so it's not that much of an issue, but this foundation still remains one of my all-time favourites, for just about the right amount of coverage and the gorgeous light-weight feel it leaves on the skin. And because it's one of the few foundations that matches my colouring.

Ich hab versucht, eine andere Foundation zu mögen, versprochen! Ich bin in die Parfümerie gegangen und wollte eine neue Foundation ausprobieren, also hat die Verkäuferin ewig probiert, eine zu finden, die zu meiner Hautfarbe passt, aber im gesamten Geschäft gab es nichts, das hell genug war! Die blasseste Farbe von Clinique Even Better passte beinahe, doch sie oxidierte nach einer Weile und war dann doch zu dunkel und zu orange. Jetzt, da sich die Sonne wieder gezeigt hat, habe ich doch noch etwas Bräune erwischt, also ist es nicht so ein Riesenproblem, aber dieses Make-up bleibt immer noch eins meiner All-Time-Favoriten. Sie bietet genau das richtige Maß an Deckkraft und fühlt sich herrlich leicht auf der Haut an - und sie ist eine der wenigen Foundations, die zu meinem Teint passen.

  
MAC Cremesheen Lipstick in Creme Cup

You can read a full review of this lipstick including pictures with lip and hand swatches here. Ever since I bought this one it's been my most used lipstick by far and I totally get where all the hype is coming from. I've been wearing this during the day time with neutral make-up and in the night time with smokey eyes and it just seems to match every make-up look perfectly.

Ihr könnt die zugehörige Review zusammen mit Tragebildern hier nachlesen. Seit ich diesen Lippenstift gekauft habe, habe ich zu keinem anderen öfter gegriffen und ich verstehe vollkommen, warum es so einen Hype um diese Farbe gibt. Ich habe ihn tagsüber mit neutralem Make-up und abends mit Smokey Eyes getragen und er passt einfach perfekt zu jedem Look.


Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner

I've actually had this for almost a year, but I always used it to create quite a thick line on my eyelids and wasn't a huge fan of that look (not quite Amy Winehouse-thick, but almost). It's a bit embarrassing to say this as a beauty blogger, but it's only been this month that I tried drawing just a teeny tiny thin line right at the roots of my eye lashes and I'm absolutely in love with the effect. The gel is actually starting to dry up a little bit, but it's doing amazingly well considering it's a drugstore product and I've had it this long! It easily survives a work day without running or creasing, so it will be a definite repurchase once this one dries out.

Eigentlich besitze ich diesen Liner schon fast ein Jahr, aber ich habe ihn immer dazu benutzt, um einen recht dicken Lidstrich aufzutragen und der Look gefiel mir nicht sonderlich (noch nicht ganz so wie bei Amy Winehouse, aber beinahe). Es ist schon etwas peinlich, so etwas als Beauty Blogger zuzugeben, aber erst letzten Monat habe ich mal probiert, nur eine hauchfeine, dünne Linie am Wimpernansatz zu zeichnen und ich bin verliebt in den Effekt. Das Gel trocknet jetzt zwar langsam etwas aus, aber es hält sich fantastisch, wenn man bedenkt, dass es ein Drogerieprodukt ist und ich es schon so lange habe! Es überlegt einen normalen Arbeitstag ohne zu verlaufen, also werde ich mir bestimmt noch einen kaufen, sobald dieser ausgetrocknet ist.

Simple Soothing Facial Toner Review

Ah yes, the age old question with toners... are they really a necessary step in a skincare regime or just a clever trick devised by beauty companies to drain more money out of their customers? When I first started looking after my skin and buying skincare every single girly magazine claimed they were absolutely essential, so the teenage me bought straight into it. Even though I question them now, I still feel like my morning and evening routine would be missing something if I didn't use a toner after cleansing. Nevertheless, I felt like maybe it wasn't completely necessary to spend upwards of £20 on them and decided to give this cheap and cheerful offering by Simple a go.

Ach ja, das uralte Dilemma mit Gesichtswassern... braucht man die wirklich, oder handelt es sich bei ihnen bloß um einen Trick der Kosmetikkonzerne, um noch mehr Geld aus ihren Kunden zu saugen? Als ich zum ersten Mal anfing, auf meine Haut zu achten und Kosmetikprodukte zu kaufen, behaupteten sämtliche Mädchenzeitschriften, dass Gesichtswasser unübergänglich ist und im zarten Teenager-Alter glaubte ich ihnen natürlich sofort. Obwohl ich mir mittlerweile nicht mehr ganz so sicher bin, glaube ich, ich würde es in meiner morgendlichen und abendlichen Routine vermissen. Trotzdem dachte ich mir, dass es wahrscheinlich nicht unbedingt notwendig ist, 25€ oder mehr für eine Flasche auszugeben und probierte dieses günstigere Angebot von Simple.

The Simple Soothing Facial Toner comes housed in a 200ml plastic bottle and will set you back a mere £2.99. The lid flips open to reveal a kind of squirty opening (yeah, I'm pretty sure that's the technical term for it...) which makes it easier to get the right amount out without spilling toner everywhere. I found this bottle just sturdy enough and it coped well with travelling without any spillage disasters in my suitcase.

Der Soothing Facial Toner von Simple ist in einer 200ml Plastikflasche verpackt und kostete mich bloß £2.99. Der Deckel kann aufgeklappt werden und darunter verbirgt sich so eine Spritzöffnung (ja, ich bin mir ziemlich sicher, dass das der Fachausdruck dafür ist...), wodurch es viel einfacher ist, die richtige Menge rauszubekommen, ohne dass später überall Gesichtswasser runtertropft. Meiner Erfahrung nach ist die Verpackung gerade stabil genug, dass sie auch Reisen gut vertrug ohne irgendwelche Tragödien in meinem Koffer zu veranstalten.

This is to be used by squirting a bit onto a cotton pad and wiping across the face after you take off your make-up and cleanse, but before moisturising. (Okay, you probably already knew that.) It claims to remove the last traces of make-up and refresh your skin in preparation for the following skincare step.
From my experience it does just that! Granted, my Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish does a great job at removing dirt and make-up, but this still manages to get the very last trace of rubbish out of my skin. It is colourless and almost scent-free (I can make out a very, very faint herbal scent if I stick my nose in the bottle) and unlike some other toners I've tried in the past it's neither sticky nor does it sting the skin in any delicate spots.

Man spritzt ein bisschen von diesem Gesichtswasser auf ein Wattepad und fährt damit übers Gesicht nachdem man das Make-up entfernt und das Gesicht gereinigt hat, aber bevor man eine Hautcreme aufträgt. (Okay, das wusstet ihr wahrscheinlich schon.) Es behauptet von sich, dass es letzte Make-up-Spuren entfernt und die Haut erfrischt in Vorbereitung auf den nächsten Schritt in der Hautpflege.
Meiner Erfahrung nach tut es genau das! Zugegeben, mein Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish lässt nicht viel Schmutz oder Make-up zurück, aber ich kriege hiermit trotzdem noch jede letzte Spur aus meiner Haut heraus. Es ist farb- und fast geruchlos (ich kann höchstens einen ganz, ganz schwachen Kräutergeruch wahrnehmen wenn ich meine Nase direkt in die Flasche stecke) und im Gegensatz zu anderen Gesichtswassern, die ich früher probiert hatte ist es weder klebrig, noch brennt es an empfindlichen Stellen der Haut.

This product is no miracle worker. It didn't transform my skin into a beauty model's post-Photoshop velvety blanket of perfection, but I highly doubt there's anything that would do that and I have to say fair play to Simple for not making any outrageous claims like some other companies do. This toner does exactly what it's supposed to do and I find it a pleasure to use.
It's so much cheaper than many inferior alternatives I've tried and it will last quite a long time, as well. I've had my bottle since the beginning of February and I've still got about three quarters left. Thumbs up for a solid, reliable and great quality product.

Dieser Toner ist kein Wunderprodukt. Es hat meine Haut nicht in das seidige Bild der Perketion verwandelt, dass auf Beautymodels nach einer guten Photoshopbehandlung zu sehen ist, aber so etwas gibt es schließlich nicht. Hut ab vor Simple, dass sie so einen Unsinn überhaupt nicht versprechen. Dieses Gesichtswasser tut genau das, was es verspricht und ich habe viel Vergnügen dabei, es zu benutzen.
Es ist so viel günstiger als andere, schlechtere Produkte die ich auch schon ausprobiert habe und reicht auch eine lange Zeit. Ich hatte diese Flasche schon seit Anfang Februar und es sind immer noch gute drei Viertel übrig. Daumen hoch für ein solides, verlässliches Produkt von toller Qualität. 

You can get a bottle of this from Boots, Superdrug and most supermarkets.

Ich habe mir eine Flasche davon bei Boots in England geholt, wo man es auch in anderen Drogerien oder Supermärkten kriegen kann. Simple wird momentan in Großbritannien, den USA und Kanada verkauft und ist leider in Deutschland (noch?) nicht erhältlich. Schade.

Favourite products in 2011

I've never done a favourites post before, but seeing as the year is nearing its end I thought I may as well do a round up of products I've either discovered or carried on loving this whole year. Rather than a regular post with lots of pictures I've made a video about this.
It's only my second ever Youtube video and there are still a lot of things that annoy me about it, but hopefully I'll learn and they'll keep getting better. In the meantime, enjoy and let me know about any thoughts or questions on any of the products mentioned: