I’m not usually a huge fan of sweet-smelling beauty products, but it’s truly impossible not to love the scent of Glow Recipe’s watermelon line. (It smells like a watermelon Jolly Rancher!) And if there’s only one product you have to try, it’s this subtly plumping, gently exfoliating overnight mask—which racked up a 5,000-person wait list at Sephora after it first launched (and a Glamour Beauty Award in our Readers’ Choice category). That’s how strong the word of mouth is on this gem. The words sleeping mask might
make you think of a thick night cream, but the consistency is more like a gel that instantly sinks into your skin. I put it on before bed, let its combo of amino-acid-rich watermelon extract, hyaluronic acid, and gentle AHAs go to work, and wake up with noticeably dewier-looking skin. —Lindsay Schallon, contributor
Glow Recipe Guava Vitamin C Dark Spot Treatment Serum
Dark-spot treatments tend to be too harsh for my sensitive skin, but I’m happy to report this formula is anything but. It’s packed with five (!!) types of vitamin C—in both water- and oil-soluble form to minimize irritation—that work together to brighten and even out texture from hyperpigmentation or acne scars, and deliver a dewy glow overnight no matter what skin type you have. I use this once or twice a week at night before applying my moisturizer, and wake up with a face that looks noticeably refreshed. —Talia Abbas, associate commerce editor
Glow Recipe Watermelon Lip Pop
I love a good lipstick but also suffer from chronically dry lips, so wearing it becomes a whole thing. This all-in-one from Glow Recipe combines lip scrub, lip balm, and tint to make it a little easier. The scrub gently exfoliates flakes before dissolving away, and the balm it leaves behind keeps my lips coated in moisture all day. My favorite part (besides the watermelon scent) is the poppy-pink tint for that perfect Popsicle flush. —Bella Cacciatore, beauty writer
Glow Recipe Banana Soufflé Moisture Cream
If you love bakery-style banana pudding as much as I do, you will be overjoyed when you unscrew the lid of this cream and smell dessert. Even though it looks dense, it’s more bouncy gel-cream than buttery lotion, which means it spreads into the thinnest of layers despite being packed with anti-inflammatory ingredients like centella asiatica and turmeric. Miraculously, it achieves the same level of hydration that usually takes me several serums to accomplish, taking my dehydrated skin from parched to plump and keeping it that way. Truly, this is how the universe intended bananas to be used. —Sarah Wu, contributor
Glow Recipe Plum Plump Hyaluronic Acid Serum
At this point in my career, I’ve gamely volunteered to try every single product Glow Recipe has to offer. This time around I was most curious to see how Plum Plump would differ from other hydrating serums in the brand’s lineup, such as Watermelon Pink Juice or Pineapple Glow. When I received the lilac glass bottle, I added a small pump to my morning routine, right after patting on toner. The faint scent—best described as an idealized, icy version of fresh plums—dissipated almost immediately, and the lightweight gel sank in just as quickly. The most noticeable difference from previous Glow Recipe serums I’ve tried was the dramatic plumping, smoothing effect—especially on the dry sections of skin around my nose and cheeks. A combination of irritation and overly drying acne treatments has left the lower half of my complexion in less than ideal condition, but a few days (and nights) of Plum Plump later, and you wouldn’t even know it. It erased every flaky patch in sight, didn’t clog my pores, and gently put me back on the path to the coveted chok-chok skin I thought was beyond my reach. —S.W.
