February 25, 2016

Simple Eye Makeup Remover Review

Affiliate / Purchased
I purchased this item and I receive a small commission if you shop using the links in this post.

Simple Eye Makeup Remover

I had my doubts about Simple Eye Makeup Remover removing waterproof mascara but I recently purchased it because my eyes were freaking out for some reason. Here’s the back story, recently my eyelids and high brow area experienced major dryness. I’m not sure what was going on but my eyelids were being really flaky and problematic. This was ongoing for at least a month and I blamed it on dry skin. It became even more dry when I recently when snowboarding about two weeks ago in the Catskills.

Oh lawd things got really crazy at that point since the weather was beyond cold that day. Anyway, after that I had to start applying Vaseline around my eye area each night and I had to stay away from my all my other skincare as using anything around the eye area caused the issue to become even more of an problem. I went to my dermatologist and he gave me a non-steroid salve that could be used around my eye but not on my lid (so it was kinda useless since my lid was the main problem).

Anyway…the Vaseline helped considerably so I stick with that. But makeup application was a pain and more importantly the removal process was a lot of drama. I decided to grab a bottle of Simple Eye Makeup Remover because it was created for sensitive skin plus it had pretty basic ingredients. Now even micellar water was giving me an issue and my lids would become dry even after using that. That was kinda my fall back product! I thought for sure Bioderma Sensibio Micellar Water would be for sure gentle enough to remove my eye makeup. Nope, my eyes didn’t like it or any other micellar water formula.

So Simple Eye Makeup Remover seemed the way to go.

I really like Simple Cleansing Micellar Water so it seemed logical that their eye makeup remover would be just as good. This also promised to remove waterproof mascara which had me skeptical since it isn’t a bi-phase formula but I was desperate at this point and decided to grab up a bottle.

It’s awful, evil, terrible stuff.

First let me rave it….it’s actually a very good makeup remover if your eyes are dry. This did a fairly good job of removing all my eye makeup and yes, it even broke up waterproof mascara pretty darn well which shocked me. I’d say it got about 90% of my eye makeup off including mascara plus it didn’t dry my eyes out further! Success! This was exactly what I needed while my eyes were being weird.

Problem….

First off I’ll never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever understand eye makeup remover that says “avoid getting into your eyes” on the back of the bottle. How do you not get some of it into your eyes!? I mean ok, fine your eyes are shut during removal but still some is bound to seep into your eyes.

Secondly, they were right! AVOID GETTING THIS INTO YOUR EYES! It stings horribly. It made my eyes blood shoot, watery, and it stung for about twenty minutes after using it.

It’s a real shame because this worked out great for my little dry lid issue and it also did a fairly good job removing my makeup but do avoid this one was it stings horribly.

The bottle says “Kind to Eyes” but more like hurtful to eyes!

Ugh.

Not good.

Tried it?

Do share your thoughts!

Simple Eye Makeup Remover3

Affiliate / Purchased
I purchased this item and I receive a small commission if you shop using the links in this post.

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • Ann Marie

    OMG thank you for the tip! I don’t get that either! Or “facial mists” that say don’t spray in your eyes also — btw do you have a good facial mist for problem eyes??

  • Claire L

    This is the reason I prefer using oily eye make up removers! I’ve sensitive eyes so it doesn’t take much to make them sting! Could it be blepharitis that you have? I have had it and the only way to get rid of it and keep it at bay is to wash off the flaky bits with baby shampoo once or twice a day. This is what my doctor advised and it does work. It can have a tendency to come back so you have to keep on top of it.

    • Isabella Muse

      Thankfully not! I thought that was what it was too because I was self diagnosing myself prior to heading to the doctor. But nope, just some weird dryness going on. thankfully it’s almost completely gone now but for a while it was a pain! :-/

  • Jana Parsons

    You might see if you have any allergies. Out of the blue, after 30 years of using all kinds of makeup, nail polish, etc, I developed symptoms exactly like yours and spent months and lots of money trying to figure it out. Finally had a patch test done and found I was allergic to a lot of ingedients in a lot of makeup and nail polish. I switched brands and the problems around my eyes cleared up pretty fast. After about a year I was able to go back to using all the old stuff except for some nail polishes.

    • Isabella Muse

      My skin has been awful weird lately! It’s typically very resilient but lately it’s more dry/sensitive. I’m going to do that, thanks Jane!

  • Christina D.

    Hey Sista…just my input based on past experience but it sounds like you were dealing with eczema. I’m no doctor, but 1% hydrocortisone cream from the drugstore will clear it up — unless you’ve gotten to the point that you need something stronger and that would require a prescription. I dealt with it around my eyes decades ago (I also threw away all my eye make up to play it safe), and my SO deals with it every time winter begins. He stubbornly refused to listen until I picked up a tube for him and viola! It cleared up and healed his skin. Men.

  • Christina D.

    Yes, I did use it around my eye area, careful not to get it into the eye. I’m a hypochondriac when it comes to my eyes, so after I had gone to the doctor and knew what it was, the doctor gave me a prescription which was for a stronger than OTC hydrocortisone. When that ran out, and for the occasional flares up, I bought OTC 1% cream and that worked fine.

    • Isabella Muse

      awesome! thanks girl! I’m going to try it if it comes back. So far, so good. I was using vaseline for a while and this helped but didn’t completely stop it until my doctor gave me something else which cleared it almost 98% now!

      • Maggie

        I have gotten that. It is why I will spend $$ on makeup removers and cleansers and am super picky about what goes on my face. I also use 1% hydrocortisone and skip on eye makeup and nail polish when I have flare-ups (it sounds crazy I know but wearing nail polish has been linked to eyelid dermatitis BC we apparently touch our eyes a lot). Any drying product, like long-lasting products with a lot of volatile silicones like cyclopentasiloxane (listed as one of first three ingredients) and no water, humectants, or emollients will cause this for me (so a lot of liquid or cream foundations, concealers, primers, removers will have this). I no longer use bi-phase removers for this reason: I use clinique take the day off cleansing Balm or take the day off cleansing oil. Or I just use plain old jojoba oil, massage into eye area, then tissue off. Fragrances on my face can cause this too so I am careful about not getting shampoo near my eyelids.

        • Isabella Muse

          I was intrigued you said you avoid bi-phase removers as this was one product I had to avoid the most during this odd flare up. I used the new Garnier Micellar Water (bi phase formula) to remove eye makeup one night and my eyes just went into freak out mode. Totally a flaky mess! I’m glad I’m not alone in this!

  • Anie

    I had a similar problem with this product. Got a tiny bit in my eyes, hurt like hell. Why I am sticking to the Neutrogena eye makeup remover, I’ve never had a problem with it getting into my eyes by mistake.

  • Kristin

    I developed severe eczema around my eyes a few years ago, out of the blue, and only during winter months. My eyes were red, the skin itched, they were swollen & dry…I literally had to switch to cream eye shadows, because powders wouldn’t stick to the lid. Besides moisturizing with Aquaphor (and hydrocortisone cream when it got unbearable) the only things that worked were asthma meds and cotton pads soaked in rosewater and Avene thermal water with an ice mask.

    • Isabella Muse

      My doctor was saying it a bit of dry skin, likely due to the cold and if it didn’t clear up to come back for a follow up! I think it’s a bit of eczema too, it’s slowly going away but for about two weeks I didn’t apply eye makeup and was switched up a lot of my skincare as I was unsure what was causing it :-/ You guys have given me a lot of helpful hints if it returns!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Paola

    I have the most sensitive eyes ever and the only two things that ever worked for me were MUFE sensitive eye makeup remover and any brand of the neutrogena makeup remover (store brands). You may have an eye allergy to something. My eyes were tearing so much at one point and so dry and it ended up being blepharitis! It was from leaving mascara on overnight (lazy!). TMI i know but warm compresses helped and the tearing and dryness went away

  • Victoria A.

    Oh god, so it’s not just me getting a defective bottle. Yeah, this stuff was horrible and I ended up tossing it. I can’t believe how badly it stings. I went right back to Sephora’s eye makeup remover.

  • Kenda B

    LOVE your blog!!

    Have you tried coconut oil for your dry patches? It’s suppose to be very healing and it’s so popular now you can pick up a jar almost anywhere. I had some dryness on the sides of my nose and they were gone after two applications of coconut oil. Just a thought.

    • Isabella Muse

      Thanks Kenda! 🙂 I haven’t but I’ll try it out 🙂 I’ll let ya know if it helps thanks for the rec!

  • Jaclyn

    Have you tried coconut oil to remove you eye makeup? It is extremely gentle and relatively inexpensive. It is also gentle for dry skin but also very friendly to oily skin. My best friend who has oiky skin uses coconut oil exclusively to remove her makeup. She does keep a seperate jar in the bathroom from the one she uses for cooking in the kitchen. Olive oil also removes makeup easily and gently. I primarily use my Epielle Cucum Makeup Remover wipes. I but them at big lots in a pack of 60 for $2. Theses wipes always remove all of my makeup easily with just one wipe. I find they work much much better than any other brand I’ve tried and are such a great price! Otherwise I’ll carefully use my nature republic Aragon oil cleanser that i bought for half price at a local Asian market. I’m just careful to not get any in my eyes and it removers even the most water proof or resistant makeup easily. I don’t think it is uncommon for products meant for use around the eye tho stipulate that said product shouldn’t get into ones eyes. Most eye creams I’ve used say as much. I think trying pure coconut oil or olive oil might be the most gentle thing you could try for the time being.

    • Isabella Muse

      Does it leave your vision cloudy Jaclyn? Curious minds!

  • Lydia Thompson

    I was thinking of trying this but after your post and the other comments here I definitely won’t. I’m prone to eczema in winter so using this sounds like a bad idea.

    I came across your blog the other day and now I’m binge reading. Love your product reviews!

    • Isabella Muse

      aw thanks Lydia so glad you’re enjoying the site 😀 Yeah, this one is a skip for sure!