Philosophy Purity One Step Facial Cleanser

This particular product was on a few different "Best of" compilations so I thought I might try it. Most prominently it's on Allure beauty list. I never really pay attention to things that win awards but I thought it would be fun to try a well loved product for myself. I paid almost twenty bucks for it and it's usual price is $23. I bought the eight ounce but it does come in a travel/sample size and also a HUGE bottle that has a pump. 

Philosophy claims:

our award-winning daily facial skin cleanser is formulated to gently cleanse, tone and melt away all face and eye makeup in one simple step, while lightly hydrating the skin.

philosophy: purity is natural. we come into this world with all the right instincts. we are innocent and, therefore, perceive things as they should be, rather than how they are. our conscience is clear, our hands clean and the world at large is truly beautiful. it is at this time we feel most blessed. to begin feeling young again, we must begin with the most basic step of all, the daily ritual of cleansing.

So I'll start with one thing I really really hate about this product. It's called "purity". So you might think it's pure but it actually has quite a lot of chemicals and parabens and other stuff I wouldn't consider "pure". I  can't lie, it is great marketing but it would be nice if the product lived up to its name.

Moving On.

It claims it is unscented but it actually does have a scent. It's faintly lemony. It doesn't linger and it doesn't bother me one way or the other.

The first time I used it, I was really impressed. It does an amazing job of really lifting the makeup off the skin.  It actually is more like a cream cleanser but I find it does foam if I use it with my Clarisonic. And it does a nice job with washable mascara and makeup plus it doesn't sting my eyes.  It didn't get off the NARS I was using but that stuff is the most stubborn stuff in the world to get off. My skin looked all calm and happy when I was done washing it..and it felt really smooth.

Fasto forward about a week and I noticed really nasty looking dry patches around my mouth area. As moisturizing as it seems, it actually dries my skin out. I have to pile the moisturizer on. And forget washing and running out the house. It looks like I am impersonating Santa with all the dry white flakes around my mouth area. Gross.

It's supposed to be a toner and a moisturizer. I'm a bit skeptical of the claims. I don't really use toner. And I MUST moisturize if I use this. 

Another complain, I hate the bottle. It's that hard plastic that makes squeezing the product out difficult.

Ingredients:

water (aqua), sodium lauroamphoacetate, sodium trideceth sulfate, limnanthes alba (meadowfoam) seed oil, coco-glucoside, cocos nucifera (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, citric acid, imidazolidinyl urea, yellow 5 (ci 19140).

This product just didn't work for me. Actually I haven't been impressed with any of the Philosophy products I have tried. And it's too bad because I really wanted to love them. I love their philosophy and I love that it's made in the USA. 

Not for me. 

Have you tried it? Do you like it? Love Philosophy products? Any recommendations?