Simple and Anessa are distinct skincare houses that cater to different daily needs. The British brand founded in 1960 offers gentle moisturizers, makeup removers, cleansers, and toners with niacinamide and glycerin that suit oily skin and acne-prone skin best. Meanwhile, the Japanese brand founded in 1992 is widely loved for its advanced sunscreens and sophisticated formulas that suit all skin types best. They differ primarily in their core offerings, as the former focuses on foundational cleansing and hydration while the latter provides reliable daily protection.
Simple is a British skincare brand founded in 1960 and owned by Unilever PLC since 2011.
This page compares some of the most popular Simple and Anessa products; for every product of both brands, with a fit score for your own skin, use the Lovi app.
Simple and Anessa both offer fragrance-free products on this page, but they serve different needs since Simple features a wide range of gentle cleansers, toners, and moisturizers while Anessa focuses specifically on sunscreens. Niacinamide helps reduce skin pigmentation, and glycerin helps keep skin moisturized.
Simple offers a wide range of daily cleansers, makeup removers, toners, and moisturizers that fit oily, acne-prone, and mature skin best, whereas Anessa focuses exclusively on sunscreens. Both brands formulate their products on this page without any fragrance.
Which is more affordable, Simple or Anessa?
Simple features lightweight, value-friendly moisturizers among the products on this page, whereas Anessa does not offer budget-focused options.
Which causes fewer breakouts, Simple or Anessa?
Simple products on this page are sometimes noted by reviewers for causing breakouts, whereas Anessa features sunscreens with high Lovi fit levels for acne-prone skin and oily acne-prone skin.
Where and when were Simple and Anessa founded, and which parent companies own them?
Simple was founded in 1960 in the United Kingdom and is owned by Unilever PLC, while Anessa was founded in 1992 in Japan and is owned by Shiseido Company, Limited.
Which products from Simple and Anessa are best suited for sensitive skin according to their Lovi fit levels?
Simple features sensitive-skin-friendly products on this page like Micellar Cleansing Water, which has a High Lovi fit for sensitive skin, and Kind to Skin Soothing Facial Toner, which also has a High Lovi fit. Anessa offers sunscreens like Perfect UV Sunscreen Skincare Gel with a High Lovi fit for sensitive skin, while its Skincare Milk has an Average Lovi fit for sensitive skin.
Do any of the products from Simple or Anessa contain fragrance in their ingredients?
Every product on this page from both Simple and Anessa lists no fragrance in its ingredients.
Dipotassium glycyrrhizate · Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2026
Behind this comparison
Lovi compares products by their fit scores, calculated from the full ingredient list with brand-independent rules our dermatologists and cosmetic chemists build and review, and personalizes every pick with AI trained on the real results of millions of users. Lovi trains its fit score models on a proprietary dataset built from more than 10,000 expert-labeled products and more than 100,000 simulated examples, following an internally consistent methodology presented at Cosmoprof, AMWC, and Skin of Color Update.
