Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Review
This review is for the Glow Recipe Watermelon Set, which I snagged at Sephora. It includes the Watermelon Glow Pink Juice Moisturizer and the Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask. And, scroll down to see what my esthetician bestie had to say about the set. (If you think I'm keeping her in my friend circle without grilling her about every new product that makes it into my skincare arsenal, you are cray.)
Watermelon Glow Pink Juice Moisturizer
FEEL: 4/5 - Light and cooling. Absorbs easily.
IMMEDIATE EFFECT: 4/5 - Smooth, glowy skin!
LONG-TERM USE: 4/5 - Two weeks in: Slightly more even skin tone, smoothness.
Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask
FEEL: 4/5 - Light and cooling. Absorbs easily.
IMMEDIATE EFFECT: 5/5 - Silky skin that feels healed and cool.
LONG-TERM USE: 5/5 - Two weeks in: Smooth, bright and firmer skin.
PACKAGING: 5/5 - Cute, clean, and millennial pink.
FRAGRANCE: 5/5 - Delicious. Smells like a grown-up version of the Lip Smackers watermelon roll-on lipgloss of yesteryear. Not overly sweet or artificial, with a clean finish.
PRICE: $$ - Pretty awesome price when purchased as a set. $45 for a full sized moisturizer (regularly $39) and a mini Sleeping mask (full-size regularly $45).
FINAL WORD: OBSESSED. Will use these all summer, then switch to something heartier for cooler weather.
I went into Sephora for something completely different (as one does...) and ended up buying the Glow Recipe Watermelon Set, mostly because - I'm not ashamed to say - the packaging is on point. It's clean and simple, and yes, pink.
But beyond that, what really got me excited about trying it out was the prospect of a simple, two-step skincare routine for summer. There's this trend in beauty now, as K-Beauty becomes more of a thing, to go from a couple simple steps to a fourteen-product lineup that each addresses one concern; one serum for brightness, another for moisture, a toner for clarity, a spray for glow. Then you have to watch a million YouTube videos and read reviews and experiment with layering and scheduling and - Ain't nobody got time, or shelf space, for that!
So yes, I was beyond ready to pick up a box that basically spelled it out for me - "Use this one daily" and "Use this one while you sleep sometimes when you feel like it."
I had actually never heard of Glow Recipe or the Watermelon line before, but apparently there was at one point an 8,000 person wait list for the Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask, and it sold out in five hours. Sephora has 20k + 🖤's for it on their website. And frankly, I can see why.
I love that the Glow Set is a well-rounded, not hyper-specific, but effective one-two punch that starts with the super-light, water-based moisturizer for day and night, and an overnight, gel sleep mask that absorbs right away.
It's safe to say that I am obsessed with this product.
I took my set on its maiden voyage to the Outer Banks for summer vacation - my skin was getting beaten up by sun, sand, salt, wind, sweat -- you name it. Using the Watermelon Glow Pink Juice Moisturizer each morning was super cooling but light enough for me to go right outside into 95 degree weather without clogging my pores, and by the time I came inside for an afternoon nap in the air conditioning at 3 or 4 each afternoon, the Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask was perfect, and effective - I genuinely think using the sleeping mask each day (or sometimes at night when I couldn't sneak a nap in, but hey...) helped prevent against really bad sunburn, or at least helped heal it pretty quickly.
Both products are recommended for basically any type of skin - Normal, Oily, Dry, Combination and Sensitive Skin types all get the go-ahead from Sephora to use this.
A swoosh of the light, gel-based moisturizer.
The Watermelon Glow Pink Juice Moisturizer works best as a moisturizer for Oily or Combination skin or as a serum for Dry skin, as it's very light, so if you do have super dry skin, like I do, it's best to use this after a night of the sleep mask and underneath suncreen. A killer arsenal of ingredients like watermelon extract (rich in vitamins and amino acids), hyaluronic acid (plumps skin) and botanicals that sooth your skin, boosts glow, calms irritation (remember my suspicion that the line was helping what could have been mild sunburn?), brightens skin and fights free radicals.
The Mask, on the other hand, also boasts watermelon extract and hyaluronic acid for hydration, as well as exfoliating AHA's (alpha hydroxy acids), which basically "unglue" dead skin cells to make way for the mask's other moisturizing and nourishing ingredients to get into your pores and boost glow, softness and radiance from within. It also has the added benefit of blocking dry air, like harsh but oh-so-necessary air conditioning, from your skin.
Oh, and Glow Recipe is a woman-owned and operated company, founded by two pals, Sarah Lee and Christine Chang, who split their time between New York City, Seoul, Hong Kong and Paris. Not too shabby, right?
But is it esthetician (and BFF) approved?
I happen to have a dear friend who is a licensed esthetician, so when I find a new product, I'll take a quick pic of the ingredients and text it to her for an analysis. She had to memorize hundreds of ingredients, their sources, their effects and possible side-effects, and so on as part of her training to get her license, so, needless to say, she is on speed dial!
She gave Glow Recipe's Watermelon Glow Pink Juice Moisturizer and Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask an enthusiastic thumbs up, with some small reservations:
"It looks good, and has some credible active ingredients, except for a few questionable items - it has one binder, one or two synthetic oils and a fragrance which is always synthetic in the USA. But overall, as someone who reads ingredients lists every day, this one is a breath of fresh air. It's comparable to, for example, some baby products. 😱"
Her final word:
"I think it’s going to make a difference. I like the ingredients, I would use it!!" -ELENA K., Esthetician, Boston, MA: