When you get into makeup, you quickly realize that along with having good makeup skills and products that work for you, you also need to have a nice canvas for the makeup.
Knowing your skin type and what your needs are will help a lot, but won't necessarily get rid of the guesswork. Unfortunately, the journey to figuring out what products will work for your skin is a perilous, often expensive one. You really have to buy different products and really test them out to see how your skin will react. After around 2 years of trial and error, I've found that my skin likes things simple - natural ingredients and multi-purpose products.
Given that I have pretty oily skin, I've found that I can't really use creams that are too rich, lest I break out. So my skin care routine is washing my face twice a day, sunscreen in the morning and moisturizer at night. Eye cream at least once a day. A mask or two once a week. That's it.
I was in the market for some locally made skin care products that didn't really have a lot of artificial ingredients because I found that my skin doesn't like a lot of synthetic stuff either. So in addition to Beach Born PH, I discovered Hello Gorgeous and decided to give them a try.
The Good, The Bad, The Brand
Related to Skinline, Hello Gorgeous is all about homemade products that are IG-friendly and relevant. They are one of the few local brands that offer their own versions of popular international beauty product trends (glitter peel off masks, magnetic lashes, and more). Moreover, their products seem to be marketed more for teenagers and young adults.
Another thing I noticed about this brand is that, while they do have nice products, I do find some of their business practices a bit strange and questionable. I'm not sure if it's just a lack of awareness or if it's deliberate.
For one thing, I notice that when the brand reposts someone else's photo, they don't tag the account of the person who took it. Take what happened with this post made by IG user asian.glowup:
Two days later, the picture gets reposted on the Hello Gorgeous IG account. But asian.glowup is not mentioned nor tagged in the photo:
While I'm unsure if this was reposted with the original person's permission, the fact that they're not tagged is still weird to me. This isn't a one-off thing as well. The owner of the photo is not tagged in the few reposted photos on the Hello Gorgeous IG account.
Also, their store staff don't seem to be on the same page about their store policies. When I first tried to get the plastic container discount, I was sort of forced to repurchase everything. Even if that's not what Hello Gorgeous stated in their post. And, I was contacted by the staff of another store to clarify it:
You can definitely just buy their products online to avoid this but going to the store is still more convenient for some. And they don't deserve to deal with employees who aren't informed on their own policies. Not exactly the most organized of businesses in my opinion, but that doesn't mean their products are necessarily bad too.
THE PRODUCTS
I heard of Hello Gorgeous sometime in late 2017, and have been using all these products (some even repurchased), for well over a year now. Given that time frame, my thoughts on each product come from months of using it continuously and the results that I've seen on my own face.
Facial Mask Detox
Because I wear a full face of makeup frequently and have to work in a big city, my face is exposed to a lot of crap over the week. No matter how great you might clean your face everyday, it's still good to use a mask that will suck out whatever is deeply embedded in your pores so you don't get breakouts and keep your skin really clean.
Pros:
Dries down really fast, as all good masks should be
Your skin does feel a lot less greasy and cleaner after you wash it off
Keeps breakouts at bay, so it's especially nice to use when you have a lot of breakouts
Cons:
Since this is a charcoal mask, this is black and will make a mess if you wash it in the shower, best to do it over the sink
I definitely do not recommend this for people with dry skin, back when I still had combination skin, this did irritate the dryer parts of my face
This is hard to spread out thinly using a silicone spatula, it's best that you use the spatula to scoop it out of the tub and spread it on the rest of your face with your hands
Facial Mask Purifying
While the charcoal mask is for getting rid of excess oil and deep-seated dirt from your skin, this purifying mask dries up blemishes and keeps your skin clear. The active ingredient is tea tree oil, which is known to be good for clearing your skin up.
Pros:
This did dry up my pimples
Based on my experience, tea tree oil seems to work a lot better for guys with oily skin, so this is a nice gift for a male loved one who wants a nice face mask
Cons:
For some reason, this mask had a runnier consistency compared to the other clay masks, so it never really dried down and was messy to work with
This mask always causes burns on my skin because tea tree oil is just too intense for me
I also had a hard time washing this off my face, I definitely would not repurchase this
UV Shield Gel
Given the fact that I am probably a vampire, I use sunscreen religiously, every day. I use it under my makeup or just on my face before I leave the house. This was originally in a tub like the masks, and it was changed to a pump bottle, which I like a lot more.
Pros:
This is a reef-friendly sunscreen because it doesn't contain any nano particles
Since this is a gel formula, it is more oily skin friendly because it dries down matte and isn't greasy
I also think this looks nice under makeup and doesn't disrupt whatever primer I use too
If you wear this while you're swimming or just on vacation, it doesn't wash off or sweat off easily
Cons:
This sunscreen leaves a white cast that is so intense you will need to blend it out well if you plan to wear it by itself
Unicorn Brush Wash
This is a locally made solid brush cleanser that you can use to deep clean your brushes. The unicorn is there as a sort of scrubber before you use an actual brush mat or brush egg to really get your brushes clean.
Pros:
The soap creates really nice suds, which is contrary to the common gripe some people have with natural soaps
Works well with removing pigmented particles from really fluffy brushes - I rarely get eye and face brushes with stained bristles when I use this
Lasts a long time and is really affordable
Cons:
Since this is a natural soap, it has food grade stuff in it and frequently attracts ants
While the unicorn is cute, I find it gimmicky as a scubber because it's not textured enough and I've gone through enough of these to know that it's not stuck down enough and breaks off easily
I don't recommend using this with your denser brushes because the product is hard to completely wash off and it leaves behind a residue that just smells rancid on your brushes. Instead, I use a shampoo bar for my denser brushes.
You need to let this soap dry completely. You can seal it but the downside is that it won't dry correctly and will start to soften over time and takes a lot longer to dry the more you use it
Brightening Facial Cream
So this is meant to be a day and night cream that you can use to brighten your complexion. I can't really tell if this is supposed to make your skin tone lighter. because it does contain ingredients that are used in most whitening products (includes papain enzyme and Kojic and Ascorbic acid).
For transparency, I only use this as a night cream so I'm mostly after its hydrating qualities. I am not using this for its lightening products, because I'm am already very fair-skinned due to being mixed race. I want to clarify that before I go into this product.
Pros:
This has a nice and rich consistency that does leave your face feeling more moisturized after application
You do wake up the next day with more glowing and plump skin, but you'll also look really greasy if you have oily skin - always wash your face in the morning
If you're a pale princess and you're proud of it, this cream will help maintain the lightness of your skin and while it does take a long time, it does fade scars
Cons:
This doesn't have the longest shelf life - it doesn't keep very well and begins to look and smell horrible when it goes bad - use this as fast as possible
Has a slight stinging sensation, mainly because it has lightening properties, so it's not for people with really sensitive skin
Facial Mask Rose
When you have oily skin, sometimes those rich moisturizing creams won't work for you. Many moisturizing masks have ingredients can clog your pores and cause you to break out instead of keep you hydrated. Enter clay masks - and your skin prayers are answered.
Kaolin clay is known to absorb excess oil from your skin so the principle behind this mask is that it can get rid of excess oil, keep your face hydrated, and improve your complexion. It seemed like a lot for a product to fulfill so I decided to try it.
Pros:
This is a really nice nourishing mask for your face, you can use this when you feel that your face is too dry or just needs some TLC
This dries down pretty well and washes off without leaving a mess
It doesn't just work well on your face, it works all over your body too. I sometimes use this on my chest or back and my skin in those areas always feels really nice afterwards.
Cons:
While I don't think this product always breaks me out, it does when I use it for the recommended 2-3 times a week (likely for people with dryer skin) - maybe use this once a week to see what happens
This mask smells very strongly of rose essence and it lingers, so it's not the nicest smelling of the masks
My Final Thoughts
I haven't really explored all of the products that Hello Gorgeous has to offer because their skin care appeals to me but their makeup doesn't. Besides, after seeing this blog post that Rika Nobela wrote, I don't think I want to buy their makeup. I really do like most of their skin care and masks, and until recently, I found it annoying that I'd end up with so many empty containers.
However, I love that they followed in the footsteps of Lush and started a campaign where people who return empty containers and get a discount in return. So if you run out of one product that you love, you can just bring the empty container to branch near you and get 10% off your next purchase, just remember to keep the stickers on the containers. You get to repurchase your faves and try new products at a discount, and reduce your plastic waste.
While I do think Hello Gorgeous still has a lot to improve on as a brand, I admire what they do and think that they make nice skin care products. They're also pretty accessible as they have branches in many SM malls and have a huge online presence as well.
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