Glow Recipe

For the holidays, Glow recipe released a gift set called “Let it Glow”. It was on sale at Sephora for $39 when I decided to pick one up. This was a steal for this brand because separately the items add up to $76. So this was an amazing opportunity to give the cult-favorite Korean skincare company a try. 

Gift set includes: 

– Blueberry Bounce Gentle Cleanser 1 oz $10 

– Watermelon Glow Pink Juice Moisturizer 2.7 oz $21

– Watermelon + AHA Glow Sleeping Mask 0.85oz $45

Glow Recipe only produces clean, vegan, and cruelty-free products. This means their products are free from parabens, minerals, sulfates, silicones, alcohol, and synthetic dyes. In general clean beauty products are supposed to be better for our health and the environment. As someone with sensitive skin, clean beauty seems like heaven because it is less likely to include ingredients that will irritate my skin. 

As I write this blog post, it has been 2 full months of using the products from this gift set regularly. I hate when I watch a review and they’ve only used the product once or for a week. I wanted to give my skin ample time to adjust to the products to give a fair review. 

I was extremely excited to try this brand. Just look at how cute they are. Before I had made my purchase, I only saw raving reviews from different beauty blogs including my favorite YouTubers. 

Overall Experience

After 2 months of strictly using this brand… I’m not impressed. And I really wanted to be. At the end of the two-month mark, I couldn’t help but look at my face and think that my skin looked like it did before I started my skincare journey. I felt like all the hard work I had put in before I started using Glow Recipe was wasted. Obviously, I was not happy about this regression. 

Before I give a product by product review, I want to tell you about this worst part of this experience. MY PURGE…

About a week into using the products, I experience what some call a skin purge. If the name reminds you at all of the 2018 movie The Purge, that’s because it’s very similar. See, your skin can have a bunch of build-up underneath the skin. You can see little bumps that look like they are not going anywhere. Literally no matter what you try the bumps stay or weeks or months. Then you decide to try something new. Let’s throw in an active ingredient like an AHA, a chemical exfoliator,  in my case and see what happens. And chaos is unleashed. Pimples everywhere wreaking havoc on our once peaceful life. You have no idea when it will end or how bad it will get. Blackheads and pimples that were sitting under my skin for who knows how long were now showing their evil little heads on the surface of my face at one time. 

The purge, although it might not seem like it during the process, is actually a good thing. All that stuff sitting under the skin needs to come out and unfortunately, that is how it happens. When the war on the face was over, I was left with acne scars. Despite my best efforts, all the pimples left a mark on my face so I would never forget. 

The Blueberry bounce cleanser- This cleanser has a gel or jelly-like consistency and it foams into a lather. It is supposed to be gentle enough to remove makeup while clarifying and hydrating the skin. The website says it is good for those with sensitive, oily, or combination skin. It helps with dryness, pores, and acne. It contains AHA, which can leave the skin soft, smooth, and bouncy. 

In my experience, this was not good for my dry sensitive skin. After using it, I noticed my skin was dry and itchy. It was begging me to move onto the next step in my routine and hydrate. I feel like a cleanser for dry skin should provide a bit of hydration and not leave the skin feeling stripped.

The Pink Juice- claims to provide long-lasting moisture, but after the 3rd use, I was sick of it. I had to force myself to keep going back to it. After an hour or so of wear, I found myself back in the bathroom seeking more lotion. Its texture is silky, but I don’t feel like the moisture penetrates the skin, it just sits on top. I do think, it dries like a layer of film on the skin, but I believe this gives the skin the ever so coveted glass-like effect, which I want, but I want to be hydrated as well. This could be a good way to seal your moisturizer and still get a glass skin effect.

 

The Sleeping Mask – If I was going to bet money on any of these products turning into a holy grail item for me it would have been the mask. For someone with dry skin, the idea of leaving something on my face overnight while I sleep to provide constant hydration is amazing. So when the time came, I put a generous amount on my face and got ready for bed. As I went to sleep, it felt hydrating and luxurious. It dries up a bit so you wild sleepers out there don’t have to worry about it getting on your pillows. In the morning, my skin did feel hydrated, but it wasn’t any more special than using a cheap night cream. I did not feel like my skin looked any brighter. 

I have to admit, I was disappointed to have to write a bad review. I feel like a hater because everyone loves their products. But everyone’s skin is different. I think someone with oily skin would enjoy this brand a lot more than I did, but I have to tell my truth. In my experience, the products are overpriced, especially for the sizes you get and seems gimmicky. I was expecting a skin transformation, but all I was left with was acne scars.