Simple and Principia are two distinct skincare collections known for thoughtful cleansers, gentle moisturizers, makeup removers, and precise formulas. The British brand is widely loved for products enriched with niacinamide and glycerin that suit acne-prone skin and oily skin best, while the other brand is favored for maintaining a healthy, balanced complexion across balanced to oily skin. They differ primarily in their exact product types, ingredient formulations, and historical origins.
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 Principia products; for every product of both brands, with a fit score for your own skin, use the Lovi app.
Simple is the better choice on this page because it offers a wide selection of fragrance-free cleansers, moisturizers, and makeup removers with high to average Lovi fit levels across most skin types, whereas Principia only features a single cleanser with cautious fits for dry skin. Glycerin helps provide hydration in Simple products.
What is the difference between Simple and Principia?
Simple offers a broad variety of fragrance-free products on this page, whereas Principia includes only a single cleanser. Lovi rates Simple as having high fit levels for several skin types, while Principia's cleanser ranges from average to caution.
Simple or Principia: which cleanser is better?
Simple offers better-fitting cleansers for most skin types, with its Refreshing Facial Wash receiving Average fits across various skin categories, whereas Principia's Gel de Limpeza GL-01 rates as Low or Caution for dry and acne-prone skin.
Which is more affordable, Simple or Principia?
Simple features lightweight, value-friendly moisturizers among the products on this page, whereas Principia does not list affordability details.
Which causes fewer breakouts, Simple or Principia?
Simple features fragrance-free products on this page that shoppers often find lightweight, but reviewers note that the brand still may cause breakouts or irritations. Principia only lists one cleanser on this page, which has a low fit for acne-prone skin.
When was each brand founded and who is the parent company of Simple versus Principia?
Simple was founded in 1960 in the United Kingdom and has been owned by Unilever PLC since 2011, while Principia was founded in 2020 and is owned by Viziera Participações Ltda..
How do the Lovi fit levels for cleansers compare between Simple and Principia for oily and dry skin?
For oily skin, Lovi gives Simple's Refreshing Facial Wash an Average fit and Principia's Gel de Limpeza GL-01 an Average fit. For dry skin, Simple has a Low fit while Principia receives a Caution rating. Niacinamide helps improve skin tone.
What do reviewers say about the moisturizers and makeup removers from Simple?
Reviewers say that Simple offers lightweight and value-friendly moisturizers alongside gentle, sensitive-skin-friendly makeup removers that work as effective daily cleansers. However, some users note that these products occasionally cause breakouts or irritations, struggle with heavy makeup, or lack sufficient hydration.
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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.
