If you are into skincare you may have noticed that Kylie Jenner has recently launched her skin line, and oh my everything is already sold out. For today’s post, I thought it would be interesting that I break down the formulas and tell you if it is worth to invest or not.
Some brands are very trendy and receive a lot of attention despite the fact that their formulas are very average and sometimes can irritate your skin.
Kylie Skin Foaming Face Wash
If you are already following me you already know that having a good acidic cleanser is a staple of any routine (here). The Kylie Face wash use mild detergents and has an extract of kiwi at the very end of the ingredient list. I would except this formula to be acidic and gentle. There is no irritant but it has perfume. Perfume can trigger contact dermatitis aka an allergy reaction. It is not a break dealer as it is in a wash. If the foam is pleasant it is worth to give it a try. A similar product but much more affordable is the Hada Labo Foaming Face Wash and it is perfume free. The link is at the end of this post.
Kylie Skin Walnut face scrub
In general, I do prefer a good acid to exfoliate the skin rather than a scrub. It is easier to control the exfoliation process. I like scrubs for someone using prescribe medication for acne, mainly in teenagers. A gentle scrub helps to remove dead skin at the very surface and does not irritate the sore skin from the treatment when well formulated. Walnut or apricot shells can be very sharp and abrasive. I don’t like them for the face and prefer a gentle alternative. In addition, there are two essentials oils to give a “natural” scent. I am not a big fan of essential oils as they are notorious to irritate the skin. In a scrub form, it is a big no-no because the scrub “push” the essentials oils deep into the skin. If you are looking for a good exfoliant check my post on acids (here).
Kylie Skin Vanilla milk toner
I love a good toner or essence. I confuse the two because the difference for your skin is not important. I have written an article that deals with it (here). Toners are excellent to replenish the skin with humectants right after cleansing the face. The richer there are in humectants (glycerin, hyaluronic acid, complex sugars, amino acids…) the better. What is missing in lots of routines is humectants. This toner is an oil-based cleanser. It does contain glycerin though. Something that is recurrent in Kylie skin is the very low concentration of goodies. Indeed, you find phenoxyethanol at the 6th position. Phenoxyethanol is a preservative used at a maximum concentration of 1%, therefore all the rest of the ingredients are below 1% so the majority of the formula. Commonly you find phenoxyethanol at the end of a formula. You are paying for glycerin and squalane and that’s it. This toner is very reminiscent of the Drunk Elephant B-Hydra, where you pay $52 for glycerin! Again it contains perfume and Linalool both can be irritant. Linalool is a compound of a lot of essential oils. So this toner doesn’t provide any humectants and the formula is cheap so NO. Excellent alternatives are the Hada Labo alpha lotion (humectants + emollients), Klairs supple preparation unscented, Neogen Micro essence.
Kylie Skin Vitamin C serum
This serum contains a liposoluble derivative of vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate. This form seems to penetrate the skin but it is difficult to know how much of it is converted into L-ascorbic acid but it seems to have a nice brightening effect. Don’t expect anything crazy when using alone. What bothered me the most with this serum is that phenoxyethanol is in the third place! So the rest of the ingredients are below 1%. I would not pay 28% for such a simple formula. It is basically vitamin C with a tiny drop of vitamin E and ferric acid. I would go for the ordinary Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate Solution 20%, the one I use in my morning and evening routine (here and here).
Kylie Skin Eye cream
Like all the rest phenoxyethanol is in the top of the formula. So the two forms of vitamin C (palmitate and ethylate) and extract from tea won’t do much. This cream is a good moisturizer combining Jojoba oil and shea butter. Those two are excellent. The price range is also pretty good. If you want to give it a try go ahead.
Kylie Skin Face moisturizer
This time the phenoxyethanol is at the 15th position so it is a bit better but there are 23 more ingredients after it. The beginning of the formula looks fine Jojoba ester, shea butter and dimethicone are excellent to lock in the water. There is an extract of oat but likely at a very low concentration so I doubt it has any significant anti-inflammatory properties. And it has an extract of orange essential oils. This infuriated me because Kylie Skin claims it is fragrance-free!
My conclusion
The packaging and the overlook of the brand are very pretty but in terms of formulation, it is poorly done. The formulas are packed with some interesting ingredients but there are in tiny concentrations likely to lower the cost and still claim that they contain hyaluronic acid and so on.. So would I buy it? Absolutely not.
You can watch me if you want to have more details 🤓
Products I recommend
- 🧼 Water based cleansers
- Hada Labo Foaming cleanser ⎪ https://amzn.to/2K4TfMK
- 🌊 Toners / essences
- Neogen Micro essence ⎪https://amzn.to/2KAhqCc
- Hada labo alpha lotion⎪https://amzn.to/2Htm96W
- 🧪 Serum
- Ascorbic tretraisopalmitate 20% ⎪https://theordinary.com/product/rdn-ascorbyl-tetraisopalmitate-solution-20pct-in-vitamin-f-30ml?redir=1
- ⚱️Moisturizers
- Paula’s choice Clinical Ceramide-enriched ⎪https://amzn.to/2Ip7Pvy
Thank you for your time.
A bientôt,
Cyrille
