For this week’s skincare review I figured I could review a brand I haven’t mentioned before: Glow Recipe. This brand has been much hyped up and I was curious. So when I found a set of minis on Cult Beauty I decided that would be a great way to dip my toes in and see what the fuss is all about. Glow Recipe is a Western skincare brand that uses Asian skincare principles to market, formulate and create their products. In a way this brand boasts to use the best of both worlds and that is what intrigued me most. Let’s find out how these products worked for me.
Skincare Review: Glow Recipe Fruit Babies 3.0 mini bestseller kit
At present this kit is no longer for sale, but the products can be bought at full size. If you would like to try out the brand, I would surely advise to wait for the brand to do one of these kits again. They do them regularly and retail fro around the €30 mark. As the full size products retail for around €35 a piece that makes this a good value to sample some of the products and see if there is anything you might like. You can buy Glow Recipe from several retailers as well as their official website. In te EU, the brand is mainly sold through Cult Beauty. Unfortunately for me, I know I won’t be buying anymore products from the brand. While these are good skincare products and I like what they did for my skin, there is just one thing I can’t get past: the scent.
What does this set have to offer?
In this set there were 5 products: a face mask, a moisturizer, a cleanser, a toner and an eye mask. Of these products I have used up the moisturizer and cleanser. I have used the sleeping mask to the point where it has nearly running out as well. The only products that I haven’t used much are the toner and the eye cream. The eye cream is a product I do want to go back to as I like it enough to also use up the mini. The toner sadly isn’t for me and seems to dry out my skin even more.
For your information: I have dry/ dehydrated skin that can be sensitive and reactive to skincare products. I have never been able to figure out what I react to and have found that ingredients lists are only helpful about half the time. I have tried products that are ‘great for sensitive skin’ which left my skin looking red and irritated every single use and I have tried products that people would advise me to stay away from that I ended up loving and seeing great results with. Therefore, for me, skincare is truly a process of trial and error. I am also not a skincare specialist, dermatologist or cosmotologist. This review is therefore coming from a consumer’s user based experience.
Glow Recipe Blueberry Bounce Gentle Cleanser
The Blueberry Bounce cleanser sounded like it would be great for me. A full size product retails for around the €34 mark. A 30 ml mini is sold for $10 on the official website. The claims on this is that it is a 3-in-1 cleanser that should be able to take off makeup, cleanse the skin and work as a clarifying mask that hydrates the skin. It should help with the effectiveness of the rest of your skincare routine as well. It claims to help with dryness and be good for sensitive skin.
I already mentioned I quite liked these products, but I struggled using up this mini size. I mainly used this as a morning time cleanser. I felt the consistency wasn’t enough to break up my makeup. This being a mini size, I did take it on some work travels as the only cleanser I brought and it really struggled taking off waterproof mascara. So that’s why when I dedicated myself to using this up, I felt it was good enough to do a quick morning cleanse but this isn’t emolient enough to make light work of a full face of makeup like a cleansing balm would be. What made this product a struggle for me is the scent. All Glow Recipe products have fruity scents that go with the name. And I hated it. This smells so strong you can still smell it even after applying other products after it. It is therefore heavily fragranced and while my skin didn’t react to it, my nostrils most definitely did.
Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow PHA + BHA Pore-Tight Toner
The product I was the least excited to use was this toner. It didn’t seem to be something that I would love from the start, but since it was part of the set I decided to try it a few times just to experience it. It boasts watermelon extract (as many products in the line do) which should soothe irritation while adding vitamins and antioxidats. It contains hyaluronic acid to add hydrationg and it contains ingredients to help with the appearance of pores and congested skin, while also calming and clarifyin the skin. It retails for €35 for a full size, but smaller sizes are available as well.
With toners, I always hope they will help with my skin’s texture, but this sadly just made my skin feel dry. It must be the hyaluronic acid in this product that does nothing to benefit my already dry skin. Since HA often withdraws moisture, in my case it does so by withdrawing it from my skin. My only way of using an HA successfully if I really lock it in with multiple layers and with this my skin still didn’t feel great no matter how I used it. Add in a strong sour patch kids watermelon scent and we have a product that I would categorize as ‘not for me’.
Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Pink Juice Moisturizer
The second product I used up is the moisturizer. This product is the day time version of the sleeping mask which I will be reviewing for you below. It claims to be more geared towards oily, combinatio skin with similar ingredients as the toner to help with irritated ski, while adding vitamins and hydrated. The texture is quite thin and gel-like and again there is the incredibly strong fragrance which really isn’t mentioned enough on websites and by other reviewers. When you smell this, you will think most of it is fragrance. A full sized bottle retails for €22.
This being more so for oily, combition skin may explain why this isn’t the best for me. I felt this moisturizer left my skin wanting more. It’s just not rich and creamy enough to do enough for me. Luckily I have found that layering skincare works best for me and that way I could still use this up in a morning routine. It does sit nicely under makeup and it plays well with other skincare products. But I just need a little bit more oomph from a moisturizer to really make my skin happy.
Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask
The Sleeping Mask was the product I was perhaps the most excited for. It is available in two sizes which retail for €25 and €45 respectively. This is the night time version of the Pink Juice moisturizer. It can be put on as a mask for an instant boost, or you can leave it on during the night. Again like all the Watermelon Glow products this promises to soothe skin, restore it using vitamins and anti-oxidants and to add hydration through hyaluronic acid. It should boost your skin, leaving your skin soft and radiant as you wake up in the morning.
This was one of the better products for me. It has a fun jelly like texture and is easily applied to the skin. It made my skin feel great indeed and my skin truly felt more hydrating. As with the other watermelon product it was heavily fragranced and in the days where I used these products for travel and had nothing else with me, the fragrance really became too much of a good thing. If I just use one product it can still be okay, but I can smell this as well if I use it with other products. However, this is more of a last step for me anyway and the texture does warrant more than one layer. That means this product is quite expensive and you can go through it quite quickly. That, combined with the scent of this makes me not want to repurchase this.
Glow Recipe Avocado Melt Retinol Eye Sleeping Mask
Last but not least is the product I liked the most as I was testing this out. I have yet to go back to it though as I am currently using up a different eye treatment. This is different from the other products as it is from the avocado line. This products boasts hydration as well as anti-aging ingrediets. It contains Vitamin E and C and avocado oil to soothe and nourish the skin. This also contain niacinamide which should help with radiance and the appearance of fine lines. Lastly, this also contains retinol that is especially formulated to give all the benefits of a retinol but none of the harsh side effects. A full size retails for €47.20.
I love avocado in my eye creams! One of my favorites is the Kiehl’s Creamy Eye treatment is one of my long time favorites as it is the only thing that truly keeps my milia at bay in the eye area. This also doesn’t smell as strongly as the other products which I love. It feels rich, but not overly so and it feels pleasant. Since I haven’t used thing long term I am not sure this will be perfect for me. But if I were to be pressed which of these products I would repurchase in a full size, it would be this.
My final thoughts
Sadly, the Glow Recipe Fruit Babies kit didn’t give me exactly what I needed. Granted, not all of the products were geared towards my skin type, so I could go back and try some of their other products. However, given the strong fragrance of most of their products, I just know this isn’t my brand. Even though the fragrance doesn’t cause any irritation from what I can tell, I have never loved products that smell this strongly. The fruity scents may be fun for some, but to me it just smells artificial and really makes my experience using the products a negative rather than a positive one.
Would I recommend the Glow Recipe skincare products?
I think the line overall has a lot to offer. I am still kind of curious after their moisturizers that seem to be better for dry skin and also their niacinamide drops do still appeal to me. From what these products can do, I really would say: go for it if you are looking for effective skincare that is pricier but still isn’t hugely expensive. I would recommend starting with minis or a set to find what you like and then I think you can find some great products. However, if like me you do not love having super fragranced products, this may not be for you. Especially a full routine with just Glow Recipe would be a bit intense as all those scents would just combine into a bowl of articial fruit punch on your face.