Review: Simple Smoothing Facial Scrub

So I figured since I had a stellar experience with Simple's Facial Cleansing Wipes, I would give another one of their products a try. I opted for their Smoothing Facial Scrub and didn't think to give the ingredients a quick once-over before purchasing it. Unfortunately I was rather disappointed :( Read on to find out why!

Price: $6.97 from Walmart

What they say:

Our Smoothing Facial Scrub gently lifts dry, dead skin cells to help your skin look brighter and more even textured, plus it's a perfect blend of our purest possible skin loving ingredients with added vitamins.

SIMPLE GOODNESS

• 2 ADDED VITAMINS: PRO-VITAMIN B5 known to help restore, soften and smooth, VITAMIN E known to moisturize to improve skin condition
• 1 SKIN LOVING EXFOLIATOR: RICE GRANULES help gently exfoliate and brighten
• NO DYES
• NO ARTIFICIAL PERFUMES
• NO HARSH IRRITANTS to upset skin
• Dermatologist tested
• Noncomedogenic
• Hypoallergenic
• PRODUCT SIZE: 5 FL OZ (150mL)

What's in it: Water (Aqua, Eau), Mineral Oil (Paraffinum Liquidum, Huile Minerale), Coco-Glucoside, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Powder, Polyethylene, Vegetable Oil (Olus, Huile Vegetale), Panthenol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Pelargonium Graveolens Oil, Anthemis Nobilis Flower Oil, Acrylates Copolymer, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Sodium Hydroxymethylglycinate, Dipropylene Glycol, Disodium EDTA, Methylparaben

The good stuff:

• Natural ingredients
• Did seem to smoothen and soften my skin
  

The low-down:

• Feels greasy on skin, even after washing it off
• Smells terrible!!!
• Contains mineral oil and vegetable oil
• Not as exfoliating as I'd like
  

My take: The first thing that really stood out to me about this product was that after going over the list of ingredients, I found that "vegetable oil" was on the list. This just made me think of vegetable cooking oil, and it was just an instant turn-off :/ Also mineral oil was second on the list. Although I've had some success with cleansers with mineral oil as one of the main ingredients, it's still an ingredient I'm wary of, as it sits on your skin and can clog your pores.

To me, this cleanser has a greasy sort of feel to it, that stays on your face even after you wash it off. There is not enough rice granules in it and they aren't rough enough to have much of an exfoliating effect in my opinion. I did seem to notice that my skin looked a bit smoother and more even textured after using this cleanser, but I only used it for about a week before I noticed I was starting to break out. Now, I partially attribute this to my raging hormones (aughhh), but I do think the fact that this cleanser is mostly mineral oil contributed to my acne. After stopping using this cleanser, the severity of the breakouts lessened.

Another thing I don't like about this cleanser is the smell!!!! I understand that there are NO perfumes or dyes in this cleanser, but I can only describe the smell as... terrible. It literally smells like bleach to me, and it is VERY strong in my opinion. I just can't stand the smell combined with rubbing such a greasy feeling on my face... this cleanser's just not for me :/

Would I repurchase/recommend?: I personally would not repurchase this product... I still have a pretty full tube, actually :/ I wouldn't recommend it to anyone with oily skin, anyone who knows they are sensitive to mineral oil, and anyone who doesn't like strongly scented products. Perhaps if your skin is not sensitive and you're interested in natural products, it would be worth a shot to try this cleanser out, as it does seem to have some skin-smoothing effect as promised.

The Rundown:

Packaging: 5/5
Standard squeeze tube.

Product: 2/5
A nice concept but just didn't work all that well for me.
Plus I hate the smell!

Price: 5/5
Wallet-friendly.

Overall:

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