Glow Recipe’s moving into makeup (but don’t you dare call this blush a blush)
K-Beauty’s response to blush blindness is here
Makeup-meets-skincare is a category we beauty fiends have long been immensely grateful for. Any colour cosmetic diluted with a touch of skin care helps the product to grace skin significantly more seamlessly, whilst also taking away the discomfort/guilt that comes with wearing a heavier face.
But when a brand known for playing solely in one beauty arena branches out into another, it’s big. Remember when Drunk Elephant hit the haircare industry like a bus thanks to formulas that took the same nourishing, refreshing approach to shampoo as they did to serum? With all the wisdom they’ve learned in one area, our favourite skin care brands can soon end up being equally as stellar in other categories.
And the latest to nudge out of their original niche is none other than Glow Recipe, the fruit-focused skin care brand responsible for dewy, glassy faces across the globe. Kickstarting a K-beauty takeover with their OG Watermelon Glow range (which launched with a serum and moisturiser, and has since expanded to include a gentle toner, clay mask, body cream and more), they’ve now made the freshest addition yet to the line-up.
A… blush? Okay, no. Let’s start there. As co-founders Christine Chang and Sarah Lee explained in a chat with Business of Fashion, the brand are billing the product (which looks and works like a blush if you ask us, but hey we’re all for coining a cooler category) as “not a blush, but a flush”. Sure! Chic!
It's called the Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dewy Flush, it comes in different shades for different skin tones and palette preferences, and it's just skyrocketed straight to the top of our entire team's wishlist.
So why a 'flush' instead of a 'blush'? Basically, the blush blind aesthetic isn’t the goal here - a natural, believable wash of cheek colour is what’s on offer. Ironic (in the best way), considering the formula is loaded with centella asiatica, an ingredient with a big focus on calming redness. But as we blush (sorry, flush) wearers well know, there’s a giant difference between the bad kind of flush (AKA when you look like you just did a full DIY rendition of The Eras Tour) and the pretty kind (a juicy touch of face-freshening colour).
The fresh finish comes from the skin care-first approach - one that many brands have tried - but Glow Recipe can truly be trusted with. “The construction is skin care”, Chang said of the launch, noting that “even the pigments care for your skin”. That’s the magic of Glow Recipe - it’s not skin care meets makeup with them - it’s skin care that just happens to include a covetable hit of colour. Like, pigments literally coated in hydrating jojoba oil.
“The flushed, natural, soft pink tone is what people in Korea are absolutely in love with”, Lee explained around the duo's approach to their foray into flush. “But we haven't seen a formula that started with a skin care base.”
That’s not all on the cards, either - this launch is just the beginning for the brand’s colour-takeover-to-come. “We want everyone to really feel excited about the new strategy, the new innovation pipeline that’s to come even beyond Dewy Flush", Chang teased.
As for Dewy Flush itself, the formula hits U.S. retailers Feb 10 (via Sephora’s app) and Feb 11 (on the Glow Recipe and Sephora sites)... but unfortunately we Aussies will have to wait a little longer.
Don’t worry, we’ll be the first to flag when/where/how you can grab a bottle of flush for yourself. In the meantime, let’s work on banishing ‘blush’ from our vocabs when discussing it, shall we?
Main image: Glow Recipe via Business of Fashion
Want to know more about blush blindness? Whilst we’re not as against the aesthetic as Glow Recipe, you still need to know how to approach it…
Delaney began her career in the Australian beauty media industry in 2015, landing amidst the glossy world of women’s lifestyle magazines (or more literally, in their beauty cupboards). Since then, she has gone on to write across a multitude of beloved Australian media brands, including OK!, NW, InStyle, and Harper’s BAZAAR. She’s covered every side of beauty content, from directing beauty editorial shoots to rounding up the best glossy serums for golden hour skin. Having spent nearly a decade immersed in the beauty realm, Delaney’s knowledge of beauty is as extensive as her collection of tinted lip oils (read: extremely extensive). Delaney is currently the Digital Managing Editor of BEAUTYcrew, and her beauty wisdom also appears across beautyheaven, ELLE and Marie Claire. She enjoys channelling her personal hobby (testing beauty products) into her professional work (talking about testing beauty products), and considers perfecting the art of a cat eye in a moving car her life’s greatest accomplishment.