Simple Oil Balancing Exfoliating Wash Review

My Problem Areas: Oily skin. Breakouts. Irritated skin, especially by harsh face washes. I actually used a Face Wash yesterday that I bought some time ago from Lidl, and I know I hate my oily skin, but this one just dried it out so much that it felt absolutely awful, even after I had moisturised. 

What I was looking for: Over the past few months, I've become very aware of oil-free products that are non-comedegenic, meaning that they won't clog my pores with crap/oil/harsh chemicals etc. So, I've been browsing the market to find out what different types of oil-free products there actually are out there, and I have to say that I've been amazed at how much there is. 

Ultimately, I want to move towards changing my Skin Care Regime completely, so whilst I already have a Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisturiser, which I reviewed back in April, I was looking for a Face Wash, Cleanser, Toner and Eye Make Up Remover that were all oil-free, ensuring that my skin is looked after, rather than clogged up by products that don't suit my skin type.

Why I chose the Simple Range: Well, as regular readers of my blog might remember, on my quest to find the best Oil-Free products for my skin, I picked up some Simple Oil-Balancing Cleansing Wipes (for more details about why I chose Simple more specifically, check out the review for the Wipes!), and following that discovery, I loved the wipes so much, that I decided to try out something else from the range, and since I needed a Face Wash, I ended up buying this one!

How it Works: You just massage a small amount of product into your wet skin, and then rinse away. The Zinc PCA "gently absorbs excess oil" so eradicating shine, and that horrible feeling of greasy skin, whilst the natural Antibacterial qualities help to "reduce blemishes". Since the product contains no oils, soaps or any kind of harsh and unnecessary chemicals, it will moisturise your skin in the perfect balance, ensuring that whilst it's removing excess oil, it won't dry your skin out, like so many Face Washes do (and boy, do I know it!)

Did it Sort out my Problem Areas: Funny thing really. After I first used this product, a couple of weeks ago, I turned to my boyfriend and said: "Wow. So this is what it's like not to have greasy skin..." I should probably also have said "...or really dry skin", since with nature and harsh products, there never appears to be a suitable middle ground. But, this Face Wash left my skin feeling absolutely amazing, and I just couldn't believe it.

I never thought that I'd ever be able to find a Face Wash that would be consistently good, because so many Face Washes in the past, have been great on first use, but seem to lose a certain quality after a while. With Simple's Face Wash, however, every time I use it, I seem to get the same result. So, I am very happy to say that yes, it did sort out my problem areas: My skin is not greasy, I haven't had any major breakouts, and my skin definitely doesn't feel irritated.

Any Downsides: As usual. The price. It's £3.99 in most places, although Simple seem to always be on offer somewhere or other, if you're willing to shop around. I actually bought this from Boots, but I've since found it in a 3 for the price of 2 offer in SuperDrug. But, most of the best Face Washes are around this price, so it's not really a huge deal.

When it comes to Simple products, a lot of people complain about the price, and I think it really is a case of shopping around. ASDA appear to be cheaper than most places for getting products like this, but I recently found a lot of Simple products being sold for around £1 in a branch of Savers, in Sheffield. In fact, my mum bought some Oil Balancing Cleansing Wipes for £1 from that Savers, so I was pretty impressed. I haven't seen if my local Savers sells them cheap, but fingers crossed!