Oh, the allure of wait lists, magazine and online features, and millennial pink in instagram shelfies: the buzz surrounding product launches can be both intriguing – and off-putting at the same time. At least, that’s how it goes for me: The more buzz-y, the warier I get. Add watermelon scent, and we have Glow Recipe’s Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask, and my rather disappointed verdict. But don’t be influenced by me – I’ll give you a lot of positive (and negative) impressions that’ll help you to come to your own verdict. Is the Glow Recipe Watermelon Mask worth it?!
What’s a sleeping mask supposed to do?
I feel that there’re as many types of sleeping masks (or sleeping packs) as there’re moisturisers. But it comes down to hydration – that’s the main raison d’etre of a sleeping mask. If your skin needs an additional hydration boost, you can’t go wrong with a sleeping mask, and, similarly to your go to moisturiser, you’ll do your skincare regimen first, and then add it on top. Because it’s supposed to be extra hydrating, there’ll be a lot of occlusives and film formers in the formula, and that’s a good thing.
The add-ons
Most sleeping masks also add some extra ingredients for a bit of glow and calming action – think niacinamides for brightening, for example. Sleeping masks come in all forms and sizes (and price ranges): You can find good ones from Korean road shops like The Saem, and good ones from Sulwhasoo that’ll send you into sticker shock. Glow Recipe is an US-brand founded by two American-Korean entrepeneurs and falls rather into the middle of that spectrum.
What I want in a sleeping mask
I’m easy: I want my sleeping mask to hydrate, calm and brighten. Nothing more. Now you’ll ask yourself ‘but Dorit, then why on earth did you buy the GR Watermelon Mask?!’ and I’ll answer ‘giiiiiiiirl, I don’t know!!! I was intrigued by the glowing reviews and it looked so pretty!’ and here we are.
What Glow Recipe says
“The Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask is a luxuriously bouncy, breathable sleeping mask that smoothes and perfects skin, overnight. This pillow-proof formula acts as a radiance-boosting hybrid hydrator, formulated with soothing, amino-acid rich Watermelon Extract, hydrating Hyaluronic Acid, and pore refining AHAs that work while you sleep to gently exfoliate and clarify.”
Ingredients (per Glow Recipe’s HP)
Water, Sodium Hyaluronate, Glycerin, Caulerpa Lentillifera (Seaweed) Extract, Simethicone, Citrullus Lanatus (Watermelon) Fruit, Silica, Propanediol, Glycolic Acid, Lactic Acid, Cucurbita Pepo (Pumpkin) Fruit Extract, Punica Granatum (Pomegranate) Fruit Extract, Musa Sapientum (Banana) Fruit Extract, Paeonia Suffruticosa (Peony) Root Extract, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Brassica Oleracea Capitata (Cabbage) Leaf Extract, Ipomoea Batatas (Sweet Potato) Root Extract, Betaine, Beta Glucan, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Xanthan Gum, Alcohol, Fragrance
Glow Recipe Watermelon Mask: the Good
Let’s start with the obvious: the packaging is awfully pretty, if you’re the millennial pink type of person. The jar is made of glass, which gives the whole thing a luxe appeal.
Hydration ftw!
The sleeping mask also does what it’s supposed to do: it hydrates. Holy crackers, that thing hydrates with a capital H. I measured my skin’s moisture levels with my trusty skin analyser each morning after using it, and it blows my other sleeping masks out of the water easily.
That’s the only mask that gives me moisture levels around the 50% mark, which is insane. (Usually, without a sleeping mask, I’ll reach levels around 35%. Cosrx’s sleeping masks (rice and honey) boost me up to 40% usually, and a new Paula’s Choice mask I trialled gave me 45%. With this one, though, I reach numbers between 45% and 50% every time, no matter what I used underneath. That’s what hyaluronic acid does to you, I guess.
Added benefits
There’re also a lot of antioxidants included – nice. Antioxidants help to neutralise free radicals that are the cause of skin aging, so that’s a plus. Also, watermelon is apparently an awesome skincare ingredient: full of healing and soothing AND anti-aging properties (some added insights here).
I’ve heard people complain over the mask’s texture that’s jelly-like and has to be stirred before use. Sure, it’ll leave a slightly sticky residue on your skin (in fact, I can kinda peel it off my skin the next morning), but it’s neither better or worse than all the sleeping masks I’ve tried.
Glow Recipe Watermelon Mask: the Bad
Not bad per se, but you HAVE to like watermelon scent to truly enjoy the sleeping mask – it’s strong, and it dissipates slooooooooowly. So, be warned.
A discourse: AHAs
On the GR site, you’ll read:
Gentle chemical exfoliators that buff away dead skin, smooth fine lines, soften texture, diminish dark spots, and clarify pores. In other words, they help your skin live its best life.
Hidden in the FAQs, you’ll find this:
Watermelon Glow contains gentle lactic and glycolic acids in a proprietary concentration that makes Watermelon Glow optimal for daily use and gently retexturizing. In order to avert sensitization, it was formulated with a pH level of about 6.5. We wanted Watermelon first and foremost to work as an overnight hydrating treatment and radiance booster (…) with gentle exfoliation as an added benefit to provide clarity and radiance to the skin over time.
This is not an exfoliating product
So, which is it, Glow Recipe?! The pH is too high for the AHAs to properly work, so all the ‘smooth fine lines, buff away dead skin’ etc. will be bullshit, and the only action on your skin WILL BE the smoothing action you get from hyaluronic acid and hydrators such as glycerin and propanediol which will make the skin appear plumper in the short run. That’s not particularly aimed at GR, but that kind of pulling the wool over customers’ eyes make me ragey.
Another discourse: US and EU ingredient lists – alcohol and fragrance
Glow Recipe recently launched at Douglas, and while researching for this post, I realised that the ingredients lists differ:
Wasser, Glycerin, Natriumhyaluronat, Caulerpa Lentillifera Extrakt, Simethicon, Citrullus Lanatus Fruchtextrakt, Kieselsäure, Propandiol, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Scutellaria Baicalensis Wurzelextrakt, Alkohol, Paeonia Suffruticosa Wurzelextrakt, Betain, Glycyrrhiza Glabra Wurzelextrakt, Beta-Glucan, Butylenglykol, Gummi Xanthan, Cucurbita Pepo Fruchtextrakt, Musa Sapientum Fruchtextrakt, Punica Granatum Fruchtextrakt, Parfum, Brassica Oleracea Capitata Blattextrakt, Glykolsäure, 1,2-Hexandiol, Benzylbenzoat, Ipomoea Batatas Wurzelextrakt, Milchsäure, Limonene.
After a lot of to-ing and fro-ing I had a chat with Lily from Glow Recipe’s CS (who was absolutely lovely and very helpful. Hi Lily!) who finally send me this:
“(…) the FDA here in the US, does not require that the elements of certain fragrance mixes be divulged and also classifies alcohol into much broader groups.”
Alcohol
While alcohol (and fragrance) comes last in the US inci list, we can see that it’s much higher in the EU version. In that one, there’re also some other forms of alcohol listed additionally (like butylene glycol). GR says on their site that the alcohol content is under 1% (and used for an enhanced penetration), but then, I can faintly smell and feel it on my skin. (Not a fan).
Fragrance
Speaking of fragrance: in the EU, companies have to declare possible allergens, so, instead of the unspecific ‘fragrance’ in the US inci list, we know from the EU one that limonene is included, a potential skin sensitizer.
In the end, if you’ve got sensitive skin, beware. Fragrance, alcohol and AHAs? Not a winning combo.
Maybe irrationally, if I’d seen the EU ingredients list first (I got the product a while ago via Sephora US), I wouldn’t have bought it.
Glow Recipe Watermelon Mask worth it?
Nah. It’s rather expensive for what it is, and you’ll get hydration without the side effects in better products. I rather regret that I spend my money on it. Shout out to their CS though, who actually really tried to help me. (A rare thing these days.)
Where to get it
US: Sephora or Glow Recipe’s own site, Europe can get it via Cult Beauty, Germany via Douglas. (I got the 80ml jar for $45.)
Please note that this review is not sponsored in any way. We buy products ourselves, with our own money, and don’t accept exchanging goods, or money, for reviews. We are completely independent, and our reviews reflect that.
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