Glow Recipe is the ultimate aesthetic brand whose products are largely focused around fruit and cute pastel colours. When their Banana Soufflé Cream launched, their first moisturiser, there was a lot of excitement from die hard fans and beauty enthusiasts alike. I was interested to try it for myself and see how it fared on dry, sensitive skin.
Claims
The claims for this moisturiser seem to be to fix every skincare issue under the sun. It addresses:
- Dehydration
- Irritation
- Sensitivity
- Redness
- Stressed out skin
It is also supposedly non-comedogenic and non-acnegenic (which I thought were basically the same thing but there we go).
They also claim that this is good for all skin types. I’m always a bit weary of products that claim that they are perfect for all skin types as the needs for each one can vary so widely. This moisturiser basically promises to suit every skin type and concern, which I just don’t believe.
The scent
The first thing you will notice is the scent. If you can’t stand heavily fragranced products, this probably won’t be for you. Quite obviously it’s scented like bananas. Quite a few people have said that they hate the artificial banana smell but like this smell? I hate both and would rather this were unscented or at least dialled down because the smell is not what I want to be spreading on my face. It is definitely bearable despite the smell, but it certainly wouldn’t be my choice of scent. It does dissipate pretty quickly – once it’s dried down you can’t smell it anymore which is something at least.
More recently I’ve been trying to stay away from fragranced products as they’ve been irritating my skin, but surprisingly this one didn’t. A few of my other friends who have sensitive skin have been able to use this, but that’s not to say that it will work for everyone who is sensitive to fragrance.
The ingredients
If you take a look at the ingredients, you’ll see they’re actually pretty good. There are no added nasties here (no added fragrance/parfum, limolene, linalool, citronellol or essential oils) which is excellent to see. These are the main offenders when it comes to skin irritation. Although there is a very strong smell, it seems to come from the addition of Banana water.
This is backed full of skin soothing and anti-inflammatory ingredients, such as centella asiatica, turmeric root extract and aloe vera leaf juice. The addition of turmeric root extract also helps to brighten skin. It also contains hyaluronic acid to keep skin hydrated and squalane to moisturise the skin without feeling greasy.
Looking at the ingredients, I can see why Glow Recipe claims that this could work for all skin types and could cover a wide array of issues, but ultimately its thickness limits the skin types it could work for.
Performance
This moisturiser is very thin and runny. A little bit goes a very long way and I never quite felt like I could rub it in as it doesn’t dry down enough for you to stop being able to move it around. Even though the claims say that this will suit all skin types, I don’t agree with that. I don’t usually find that moisturisers this thin give me the level of moisture that I’m after. This did perform better than I was expecting in that my skin didn’t feel dry or desperately thirsty afterwards, but at the same time it didn’t feel quenched either. I usually prefer thicker gels or cream moisturisers that are targeted more towards dry skin types. Though I didn’t feel any tightness, after a few days of consistent use I started to get dry patches in both corners of my mouth where this moisturiser just wasn’t quite enough (I used to have eczema there when I was younger, so I think it made it come back). When I stopped using this, the dry patches disappeared and when I started again they came back. They’re not only dry patches but they’re areas of discolouration too which look a bit unsightly. As a result, I couldn’t use this as my sole moisturiser. However, I still wanted to use it up, so used the Pixi Rose Ceramide Cream after. I first started using this in March when it was still cold and I just thought that it wasn’t enough for the time of year. However, even in summer, this wasn’t enough for me. I think this would be really well suited for normal-oily skin, or those with dry skin that is more towards the normal end of the spectrum.
This moisturiser supposedly addresses sensitivity, stressed out skin and redness (among heaps of other things). I can’t say that I noticed any real difference in redness while using this product. I also wouldn’t say that this really addressed sensitivity or stressed out skin either. I had a few breakouts caused by testing new products and I didn’t feel like this was the hero product in bringing my skin back to normal. I usually apply this after lightly misting my face and I would find that it would leave a weird stinging/tingling feeling that was pretty unpleasant but would disappear when I used my Pixi moisturiser on top. If you have sensitised skin or quite sensitive skin, definitely read reviews and look into the ingredients before purchasing this to make sure it will be okay for you to use.
I’m pretty sure some people won’t be a fan of the fact this is in a jar rather than a tube. From a hygiene point of view, it’s not the best to be dunking your fingers into a jar full of product every day and it would be much cleaner to squeeze product out of a tube. Obviously you can use a mini spatula to scoop out the amount you need, but my little spatulas always go missing.
Price
Let’s just talk briefly about the price. This costs £36 for 50ml. Personally, I think that’s pretty high and it was the price that was the major put-off of me buying this originally. I think you would be able to find a better moisturiser or at least one that performs equally as well for a lower price. My fave Pixi moisturiser is £24 for the same amount. Just saying.
Overview
If your skin is more normal-dry, this could be workable for you. I have a few friends with drier skin types that swear by this moisturiser but unfortunately it wasn’t quite what I was after. I can imagine this working very well for oilier/combination skin types because it is so thin and light. If you have dry-very dry skin or any eczema on your face, I don’t think this is the moisturiser for you. I didn’t find that it was heavy enough for me, even in summer, and would leave me with eczema-like patches either side of my mouth. However, I can imagine it being a pretty good go-to in the hotter months for others. I managed to use it all up in the end, but I would have to apply this moisturiser first and follow it up with a thicker one. I’m glad I was able to use it all up, but I won’t be repurchasing this in the future.
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