Product Review: Indie Lee Brightening Cleanser

May 20, 2021

You know by now how important I feel it is to wash your face. But, in case you are meeting me for the first time, or just stumbled across this blog by accident, I will give you the Reader’s Digest version.

I believe the most important step to achieving youthful-looking, healthy, and glowing skin is to cleanse. What do I mean by cleanse? I mean… wash your face, WITH A CLEANSER, every day, AM and PM.

Yet, let’s not overthink this step. Pick a cleanser that you like. Here are a few things to consider when picking a cleanser:

• Smell (scent)
• Feel (texture)
• Skin feeling good after using

 

Picking a cleanser is subjective.

Liking your cleanser is the best way to feel motivated to wash your face, especially when you don’t want to wash your face. It doesn’t matter if the cleanser is the “right” one for your skin, at this point just using a cleanser is a win. Most cleansers won’t upset the balance of your skin’s barrier, it just isn’t on your skin long enough. If you can’t find YOUR best cleanser, reach out to me, I will be happy to help you find one that works. 

Lately, I  have been using a cleanser that I have recommended to a few of my skincare coaching clients. It’s called Brightening Cleanser by Indie Lee. It costs $34 at Sephora or at the Indie Lee site. (Not the cheapest cleanser but not the most expensive either.)

I appreciate Indie Lee’s company philosophy and commitment to sustainability. Here’s what they say:

“To us, clean beauty means products that are mindfully and honestly created, produced and offered without the use of any ingredients that are proven or suspected of causing harm. When in doubt, formulate out. In addition, those products should be made from ethically sourced ingredients with the health of the user and the preservation of the environment in mind.”

Plus, I love their tagline:

“Products grounded in nature, supported through science, and inspired by life.”

The main “active” ingredients in The Brightening Cleanser are:

• Strawberry Seed Oil provides vitamins A, B, C, E, and Omega 3 to help protect, brighten and hydrate.
• Hydrolyzed Wheat Proteins help balance moisture.
• Tomato Extract provides antioxidants and is high in vitamins A, C, and K with gentle astringent and exfoliating properties.

 

Here are the things I like about this cleanser:

• The Smell – it has a light strawberry scent that smells refreshing (not like a Strawberry Shortcake doll)
• The Texture – it’s a gel that foams up a little bit, (not Santa foamy – which you know I love) but just enough that it feels like it’s cleaning my skin while removing my makeup and mascara. It also leaves a little residual product on my skin making it feel soft and hydrated. 
• It’s a Glass bottle – making it eco-friendly. You can recycle it with your regular recycling or you can mail it back to Indie Lee and take advantage of their recycling rewards program. 
• It’s Vegan – (all of their products are vegan, with the exception of 2 that contain beeswax). That’s a win for my vegan clients.
• Cruelty-free – they are Leaping Bunny Certified and ensure that no animal testing was done at any stage of the formulation process.

 

Here are my additional observations about this cleanser:

• The Glass Bottle – I like it because it’s eco-friendly, but I am concerned that if I drop it, I will have a real mess on my hands, ie: glass shards everywhere. Also, when the product gets low, I will have to turn the bottle upside down to get the remainder of the cleanser out. I could add water to use up the last of it, but diluting the product changes the formulation and its efficacy.
• It’s Not Gluten Free – I don’t personally have a gluten allergy but it’s something I look for when recommending products to clients that do have a gluten allergy. (Not all gluten allergies manifest topically, but better safe than sorry for my clients with Celiac.)
• It has a Plastic Pump – not super eco-friendly, but the good news is that you can mail the pump (and the box) back to Indie Lee and they will recycle it for you, plus you get rewards when you do. 
• Another Pump observation – the cleanser is a gel formula, after pumping it out a little leftover product remains in the spout and congeals blocking the product the next time it is used. This is not a deal-breaker as it is easy to peel the product out of the spout but it’s something I noticed when using. (Lots of skincare products have design flaws in their packaging, it’s a tough thing for companies to perfect.)

 

If you decide to audition this cleanser, make it risk-free.

Here are my 3 cents about purchasing:

1. I encourage you to keep your receipt so you can return your skincare, in case the product doesn’t check all your boxes or worse you have a reaction to it. 
2. If you purchase from Sephora, you can return the product (within 30-60 days) easily if you don’t like it or have a reaction. Also, Sephora currently offers free shipping with the promo code FREESHIP.
3. If you purchase directly from the Indie Lee website you will get free shipping when you purchase $50 or more. If you want 15% off your purchase, I can email you a referral code (which will give me points to use toward a future purchase). The catch is if you don’t like the product you only have 30 days to return it and they deduct the shipping costs. 

 

My overall impression

I like the Indie Lee Brightening Cleanser. I would recommend it to someone with normal or sensitive skin that isn’t overly dry and isn’t super oily. As long as you don’t have any allergies to coconut oil or tomato this cleanser could be a great choice or even an amazing 2nd cleanser if you are the kind of person that has multiple products for each step (like me). 

If you are unsure about this cleanser and want to see if it might work for you feel free to reach out to me. If we decide it’s not a perfect fit we can find you a different cleanser that excites you to cleanse morning and night.