The Latest Addition to the Glow Recipe Family Is a Clay Mask That Doesn't Dry

Glow Recipe is back with a new launch, adding another addition to the Watermelon Glow family. Meet the Watermelon Glow Hyaluronic Clay Pore-Tight Facial ($40), a luxurious and creamy 5-minute clay mask treatment that aims to decongest pores, exfoliate, and smooth texture. The best part is that the proprietary hyaluronic-infused formula doesn’t make skin feel dry or squeaky after use. 

Glow Recipe’s entire product line focuses heavily on—well, glowy skin. And clay masks traditionally don’t promote themselves as products that give you a hydrated and dewy appearance. But this clay mask is, as the kids say, built different.

The Inspiration

“Our community has been asking for a wash-off treatment for some time, and we’ve been looking to expand our pore-tight franchise, especially after our Watermelon PHA+BHA Pore-Tight Toner ($15) became one of our best sellers,” Glow Recipe co-founder and co-CEO, Sarah Lee told Byrdie. “Kaolin clay is known for its pore-clearing properties and helps to draw out excess oil and impurities. We’ve always loved these benefits of clay, especially for oily skin. Still, traditional clay treatments tend to be quite harsh on all skin types, especially dry, sensitive skin, often leaving skin dry, tight, or with irritation."

"Dry, sensitive skin types can experience pore buildup as well, and we wanted to find a solution to clear and decongest pores while infusing hydration into the skin to avoid drying skin out, making this suitable for all skin types," says Lee. "Rinsing off clay masks have also been challenging—we all experienced having almost to scrape off the dry, firm clay from our faces and wash the face for a very long time until all traces of clay were gone.” 

The Formula

As you may know, Glow Recipe's Watermelon Glow line has a bit of a cult following. When the Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask first hit shelves, it seemed like it couldn’t stay stock for long if it tried. But this new clay mask offers something entirely different—while sporting all the winning qualities of its older sibling. It has the same watermelon enzymes from fermented watermelon and the fan-favorite natural watermelon scent, plus PHA and BHA for smoothing texture and ultra-fine blueberry seed powder for gentle physical exfoliation.

“This formula takes a staple skincare ingredient, clay, and by infusing it with hyaluronic acid, transforms it into a brand-new, elevated experience, and eliminates its typically drying, irritating characteristics,” says co-founder and CEO Christine Chang. “We were able to create this first-to-market hyaluronic clay with our labs for a treatment that could effectively treat pores for all skin types, even dry and sensitive, and leave skin clear, decongested, and still hydrated. Combined with chemical and physical exfoliants such as Watermelon Enzymes, BHA, PHA, and micronized blueberry seed powder, experience post-facial results and a fresh-faced skin reset with this unique facial.”

Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Hyaluronic Clay PHA + BHA Resurfacing Facial Mask $40.00

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How to Use It

Rest assured, if you already love your Watermelon Glow lineup, the new member of the GR family isn’t here to disrupt your flow. It actually fits right in. Chang recommends using it after the Watermelon Glow Pore-Tight Toner ($14) and following it with the Niacinamide Dew Drops ($34) and the Pink Juice Moisturizer ($39). “We’re excited to expand our Watermelon Glow family by leveraging our holy grail antioxidant, watermelon extract, and pairing it with proven actives such as PHA, BHA, Niacinamide, etc. with each launch,” Chang said. “Watermelon Facial should be used on cleansed, moist skin. The mask can be used morning or night—it’s a great facial treatment to help instantly smooth the skin before makeup application in the daytime or reset and decongest the skin before your nighttime skincare routine. We recommend that you start by using it a few times a week, and it's efficacious yet gentle enough to be used daily.”

The Review

The mask’s claims (a deep cleaning clay that doesn’t dry you out) are definitely accurate. The mask has a hybrid mask-lotion texture, and even on the times I left it on longer than five minutes, it still never tugged at my face or dried my skin to the point that it became difficult to move. I’m not traditionally a big physical exfoliant girl myself, but the blueberry seeds here were gentle enough that I didn’t have a problem with them at all. I don’t have sensitive skin, but I found the effects of the hydroxy acids to be very mild, and I personally didn’t feel the tingle or sting that I often experience with those molecules. I find that it’s best applied with a mask brush since it is a bit thick, but I prefer mask brushes anyway for the sake of hygiene.