Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Philosophy Purity Made Simple One-step Facial cleanser Review

Image from google.
Yeah, it's not even worth taking a picture of.

Price: $10 for 3 0z.

What it is:
A highly effective one-step facial cleanser.

What it is formulated to do:
Philosophy Purity Made Simple is a ph-balanced formula that rapidly dissolves dirt and makeup while deep cleaning pores. The best-selling cleanser contains infusions of sage, chamomile, and carrot.

What else you need to know:
Purity Made Simple is part of a collection of Philosophy products designed to soothe even the most dry and sensitive skin. Best of Sephora Winner 2008

Ingredients:
Water, Sodium Lauroamphoacetate, Sodium Trideceth Sulfate, Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Coco-Glucoside, Coconut Alcohol, Peg-120 Methyl Glucose Dioleate, Aniba Rosaeodora (Rosewood) Wood Oil, Geranium Maculatum Oil, Guaiac (Guaiacum Officinale) Extract, Cymbopogon Martini Oil, Rosa Damascena Extract, Amyris Balsamifera Bark Oil, Santalum Album (Sandalwood) Oil, Salvia Officinalis (Sage) Oil, Cinnamomum Cassia Leaf Oil, Anthemis Nobilis Flower Oil, Daucus Carota Sativa (Carrot) Seed Oil, Piper Nigrum (Pepper) Seed Extract, Polysorbate 20, Glycerin, Carbomer, Triethanolamine, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Imidazolidinyl Urea, Yellow 5 (Ci 19140).

The good stuff:

  • Various sizes, if you just want to try it out I suggest you get this one!
  • SUPER gentle, milky texture
  • Leaves skin feeling somewhat clean & soft (only when NOT wearing makeup)
  • Did not irritate MY skin

The low-down:

  • DID NOT REMOVE MY MAKEUP!
  • Skin does not feel clean after repeated use (when wearing makeup)
  • Strong scent... I didn't care for the smell
  • Expensive for a mediocre cleanser
  • Doesn't lather
  • Contains parabens & imidazolidinyl urea

My take: I finally caved and bought this, after listening to all the hype. It's really starting to seem to me like Philosophy is ONLY hype. This cleanser sucks. While it boasts being "all natural," there's like 83415426 ingredients! So many fucking oils. I feel like all those oils only contribute to fragrance, really. It also contains parabens & imidazolidinyl urea, which probably accounts for the allergic reactions mentioned in reviews on MUA.

The biggest reason I bought this was because I'd read that it removes makeup really well. Well, it DID NOT remove my makeup at all!! Highly effective, my ass! While the texture is milky and gentle, this cleanser does not lather at all and I was left with greasy-feeling skin, and the WORST raccoon eyes. I even tried just taking some on a tissue and wiping it over my eyes. This worked a little better but I still needed to use m/u remover to get it all off, and then cleanse my face with my regular cleanser to get the greasy feeling off. Dude, it is supposed to be a ONE-STEP cleanser, not a 10-Step program, damnit!

The scent was also a turnoff for me... smells like... pumpkin pie spice? Idunno. I don't like it. The good thing is that it did not break me out or otherwise irritate my skin (lots of bad reviews about this on MUA... beware!), but it feels like it's TOO gentle for me! Feels like it basically does nothing! I used it a few times in the morning (when I have no makeup on) and it does a decent job at making my skin feel clean and soft... but nothing mind-blowing. There's plenty of other cleansers out there that are a lot cheaper and give you a lot more product, AND better results.

Would I repurchase/recommend?
NO, I would not buy this product again. As for recommend, I would say it's up to you! I've heard it works but then again my personal experience was negative. This cleanser was crap IMHO but some people who don't wear much makeup or have sensitive skin and want an uber gentle cleanser might like it and have a better experience with it. Still, I suggest reading the reviews on MUA to get more insight, especially about the allergic reactions.



16 comments :

  1. i really do read mixed reviews for this one. i guess it goes to show that not all 'expensive' stuff are that effective,right?

    thanks for the honest review!
    ^_^

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  2. I agree, it did nothing for me, I bought it from QVC a couple years ago, returned it FAST!

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  3. i like your reviews. This was one of the products i was looking forward to purchasing when Sephora opens in my area. :/ Now i think i need to look for another cleanser, because i was also very attracted to it because it claimed to remove make up....Is there any other one you would recommend?

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  4. Thank you for doing this review! I was considering this cleanser when I was trying to decide which cleanser to buy when I travel around here, but now that you said its not great, I'm just going to skip it. They do have a foaming version of it though, I wonder how that plays up.

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  5. hmm. sorry to hear this did not work out for you at all. I find a lot of brands they sell at Sephora is all hype, I tried Philosophy before and it wasn't that spectacular and it was a lot more expensive than others. Thanks for the heads up!

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  6. Thanks for your review.. I've been wanting to try it after seeing some reviews. I need a cleanser that removes makeup.

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  7. sucks that this didn't work out for you, I have the foaming version and it's decent but not great either!

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  8. I heard so many good things about this, I actually have a sample bottle from like, a year ago (do you think it's still good? lol). I've been meaning to try this, but I just haven't.

    I have a huge problems with things that don't lather :\

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  9. This cleanser didn't work for me either. Same goes for their Hope In A Jar moisturizer. They irritated my skin. =(

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  10. philosophy brand should just stick to making hand/body lotions... as for the scent, people are either super in love with it or hate it. i havent tried this cleanser though... and probably never will, im loyal to lush lol

    <3

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  11. i'm not sure if they had redid their formula but when i was using it back in 2006 it washed off all my makeup. i recently picked up a small bottle from sephora (bc i needed to fill up my cart to get free shipping) and i don't feel like it works the same.

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  12. Bummer that this cleanser didn't work for you. I've found that it works fine for me but I do use another cleanser after this at night. I agree that it isn't a one-step cleaner. It worked for me when taking off makeup. I like how it's gentle enough that I can open my eyes and clean under my eyes [while removing eye make up]. I've had make up remover sting and burn my eyes. Maybe they did change the formula. I've had my large bottle for awhile.

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  13. Yea. I am not a fan of Philosophy products. I do really love the oils in this cleanser and I think a lot of them are fantastic, but they're really suited more to being in a moisturizer where they can actually nourish the skin rather than being in a cleanser which you wash off...

    Purity is an oil-based cleanser and as such it's not *supposed* to lather, but it was such a mediocre product I guess it doesn't even matter in the end.

    I used up a whole small bottle of it and I wasn't really impressed either. It was ok but I didn't feel like it cleaned my skin any better than something like Dr. Bronner's castille soap. I wasn't using waterproof anything though, so I didn't have issues with it not taking off my makeup.

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  14. oh man! and I bought the bigger bottle :( Haven't used it yet though

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  15. Great review! I did not like this product either and thought it was all hype as well. It did not remove my sunscreen too well. I have theirfamous 3 in 1 shower gels (Red Velvet Cake) and I don't even think it's that great of a product either (not the best foaming action or moisturizing), just smells good but the scent fades very quickly. Bah I don't think I'll buy anything else from the company.

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  16. I'm on your side! lol. This cleanser is "CRAP!!!" bought the bigger size of this. I was sooooo disappointed, it did nothin! I'm oily and it didn't remove the dirt on face. Also did nothing when I washed my makeup. Take note I only had powder and concealer on my face. Too bad I can't return it cuz here in my country, we can't return stuff. boo :(

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