If there’s one thing I prioritize, it’s the health of my skin. Yes, anti-aging, dark spots, and wrinkles are all important too. But I’ve found that when my skin is healthy, it’s less likely to have breakouts and it’ll give me a much smoother surface than harsh exfoliants would.
But that’s not to say I don’t use a retinol and acid treatment each week. I definitely do: 2x a week retinol, 2x a week AHA/BHA.
Since I do put my skin through a lot each day, from SPF to makeup to “squeaky clean” cleansers (my vice, truly), I make sure I use barrier-restoring and repairing products in my routines. One product I’ve recently re-incorporated back into my routine is the Glow Recipe Avocado Ceramide Recovery Serum ($45, 30 ml).
Why This Ceramide Serum Is Worth It
Ceramides are honestly one of the most talked about skincare ingredients. And for good reason. They’re part of your skin barrier, thus improving moisture retention, protection from external affairs, and reduction of irritation from other products.
Lightweight Texture
The way this serum feels like a the lightest milky liquid ever is truly incredible. For reference, I have oily skin, and this thickness is just absolutely perfect for my skin. I truly love it, and it spreads so easily over my entire fact. I use about 1.5 pumps and it gets my face and neck.
I’ll usually wear this in a daytime and nighttime routine (toner, this serum, treatment oil, eye cream, moisturizer, SPF during the day). And it works well under my Summer Fridays ShadeDrops, layered with my Tatcha Silk Sunscreen (which is my “base makeup”), then my makeup of the day.
I think what I like most about this is that if I were using it when my skin is irritated, I actually prefer a lightweight (but highly effective) product over a thickly occlusive one where it feels gooey on top of my already-irritated skin.
Great Ingredients
Glow Recipe has positioned this product basically for acne and acne-prone skin (which I do not have). And what I thought was refreshing was their K-beauty approach to acne, where it’s focused on supporting the skin barrier instead of exfoliating the hell out of it.
The ingredient list is absolutely enormous, which is good and bad. It definitely shows they put a lot of thought into their product development, but it also has the potential to irritate more people’s skin if they have an allergy or reaction to specific ingredients.
Some of the key ingredient callouts for me:
5 types of ceramides
Tocopherol and allantoin: both of these are great for soothing skin and what you can find in a lot of drugstore products aimed at reducing redness
Ginger extract and turmeric extract: I liked the addition of these because as I mentioned before, my main priority is skin health and not dark spot removal. Having the ginger and turmeric extracts in this product help with that discoloration as an extra side benefit.
Chlorophyllin-copper complex: this is an interesting addition that I haven’t seen frequently. But it’s an antioxidant and gives a green color (potentially why the serum looks so nice).
Caprooyl Phytosphingosine, Caprooyl Sphingosine: similar to those other ceramides, these are a part of the skin barrier and will help improve moisturization
Cute Packaging, Functional Design
If there’s one thing Glow Recipe knows how to do, it’s create eye-catching products. Whether it is the actual formula or the packaging, they’re always fun and colorful.
The Avo Ceramide Recovery Serum is no different. It has a wonderful green color, and the formula is much more pleasant to look at than the previous avocado product: Avocado Melt Retinol Eye Cream. Side note: that eye product was not my favorite because it was way too thick and the jar was way too hard to get product out of.
And the best part of this avocado barrier repair serum is that the pump 1. is really easy to use (no excessive force to push it down, making the bottle slide out of your hand) and 2. dispenses an appropriate amount of product. One thing about me is I will always hate products that dispense way too much or way too little product for what you actually need.
What’s Not to Love about the Glow Recipe Repair Serum
As you know, I always have to offer an opposing view in all of my reviews. But I definitely struggled to find something negative about this one.
My main gripe would be the positioning around the product: for acne-prone skin. I originally didn’t even look at this product because I thought it was for acne treatment, which didn’t really resonate with me. But after hearing other creators talking about it for skin barrier repair, I was definitely more intrigued.
All of the before & after images were people who had a decent bit of acne or some rosacea. And that’s fine, but it makes it feel like this is not necessarily the product for me, so I skipped over it. MISTAKE (on my part).
As someone who doesn’t have acne but wants to improve barrier health, this is the product for me! And I am glad that I had a second introduction to the product. Or else I never would have known what I was missing out on.
Who’s this Serum for?
If you subscribe to the Korean beauty method of focusing on skin barrier health, this is the product for you. Regardless of your acne status, I think this product could work for you. Everyone can benefit from an improved skin barrier.
This serum is for you if:
You want to effective ingredients to get a better skin barrier (or you’re trying to fix a disrupted skin barrier, oop)
You want hydrated skin without stickiness
You want cute packaging on your vanity
This serum is not for you if:
You want to use this serum alone and have dry skin; it won’t be enough
You want harsh exfoliants and acne actives
You want to keep your skincare routine boring and beige. Glow Recipe just isn’t it for you.
Final Thoughts
All in all, this is a great option for everybody’s skin. I am very curious how it stacks up to the (semi-new) Youth to the People Superfood Skin Drip Smooth + Glow Barrier Serum ($39, 1 oz). They’re both super green and they give similar vibes of being barrier-forward. They both have ceramides and rely on soothing ingredients for their marketing claims… So stay tuned for when I crack that bottle open.
But if you want to try the Glow Recipe Barrier Serum ($45):
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