Ranking The Best + Worst Skincare At Sephora ✖ James Welsh
Hello everybody, welcome back to my channel, where skincare is all about progression over perfection. Because, perfection doesn’t exist. Today, we’re going to do another tier ranking kind of video. I love watching these K-Pop ones, the K-Pop tier rankings, and Hiram did the skincare one, so now I am jumping on the bandwagon again, of doing a skincare tear thingy.
You seem to enjoy them, I enjoy just ranting, and talking about products, so we’re going to do it, and today we’re going to concentrate on skincare at Sephora. I was going to do the Clean Beauty at Sephora but I just don’t want to give Clean Beauty the time of day, to be honest with you.
And I’m only going to be ranking skincare brands I’ve actually used, so let’s get on with it, and let’s start ranking skincare at Sephora. My computer’s down here, you should be able to see the big rank here.
Let’s talk first of all… where’s my mouse? There it is. I want to talk first of all about First Aid Beauty. Now, this is going to be more of a first impressions really, because I’ve only used one or two products of theirs, after seeing so many people be so impressed with their products, and to be honest, I’m yet to see anyone say anything negative about them.
Obviously their products aren’t foolproof, no brands products are. So I’ve been using the Ultra Repair Cream, and that’s nice. It’s definitely soothing, and calming. It does say it’s hydrating but it’s a little bit under hydrating for me, when I think hydrating, I want to be dewy, and glowing, and feel very, very hydrated.
That cream leaves me somewhat matte but I I get its benefits, and I enjoy its benefits. It’s perfectly hydrating but I like to be glowy, oily even. I’m excited to try the Facial Radiance… hang on, what’s it called? Facial Radiance Niacinamide Dark Spot Serum, with Niacinamide, and Licorice Root.
Because I’ve seen dermatologists absolutely love this, and whilst I’m not really in the market for trying yet another new Niacinamide serum, it, this one seems a little bit more interesting to me. The whole concentration of dark spot, seems interesting.
Their products all seem very, what’s the word, very gentle, and great for all skin types. Very much fragrance free, clean, you know, all that kind of stuff. Doctor approved. Everything that people seem to want in skincare nowadays.
So I’m so far impressed, and I can’t wait to try more. So I’m gonna put them in, oh is it moving, I’m gonna put them on S’nice, for now. It’s nice, because it is nice, I like it, I like it. Okay, next let’s talk about Farmacy.
Farmacy is the creator of one of my favorite balm cleansers of all time ever, I absolutely love it, that’s the Green… Green Clean Farmacy Cleansing Balm. I don’t know, it’s called green clean something.
Their Honey Cleanser is also very, very nice, and I’ve started recently using their Deep Sweep 2% BHA toner thing, and again, I really, really like that one too. Oh, and the Daily Greens Moisturizer, which I do like.
It’s a little bit of, it’s got a weird smell to it. I don’t like their honey moisturizers very much, it has that very artificial honey smell to me, that you would expect from like, a honey scented candle at like a craft fair, you know like, or like, a make your own candle kit.
I don’t really like the smell of it, and it’s not because it’s got fragrance in it, it’s because the smell is personally, for me, a little bit too overwhelming in some of their products but overall, I really like this brand.
They’re a great example of a brand who merges the best of natural ingredients, and science together. Ethically, and environmentally they’re also very, very good. They work with a lot of independent farms, to kind of source their own materials.
I believe they got a new farm now, where they keep all their own bees, and grow their own ingredients, natural ingredients. They’re kind of like what you think of when you think of a real “clean”, clean brand.
Clean doesn’t mean anything, it has no definition, we all know that, but when we think of brands, how we want them to take a bit more responsibility, when it comes to the impacts of the environment, I feel like Farmacy are way up there with what they’re doing.
As I mentioned, the smell of some of the products can put me off a little bit. I do like their Daily Greens Moisturizer, as far as texture, and feel on the skin, and finish but it’s just got a certain smell to it that I’m not enjoying, but it’s not fully putting me off.
But again, I’m going to put in S’nice, because they’re not Get On My Face now, like, if they were to… not wishing anything upon anyone, but if they were to disappear, I wouldn’t miss them, but whilst I have them, I’m enjoying them, definitely.
Okay, I really quick, really quickly, talk about Glow Recipe. We all know I love Glow Recipe, I’m having a bit of like, a bingeing Glow Recipe moment. I’ve actually ranked them in both my other tier videos I believe, so go and check those out but they’re Get On My Face Now, so if you want to know why, check out the other ones.
Dr Jart. Dr Jart is a K-beauty brand. In my, in in my experience, I can count on one hand how many Dr Jart products I actually enjoyed using, for my skin, personally, the products that my skin reacted best to.
Not because they’re bad, they are popular for a reason but my skin just didn’t like them, and I feel like they’re popular for two things, Rubber Shot Shake Masks, shot…. shake, you know the ones, who like, the baby face with the straw coming out, they were huge, they were everywhere on like, the K-beauty scene.
Product wise, they were fine to use but they’re also very, very popular for their Cica and Tiger Grass line, which I’ve tried a few products of but I need to try more. But my skin enjoys the ones I’ve used but as far as everything else, I’m a bit like, they’re fine.
As a brand I quite like their overall philosophy, and they, they mainly concentrate on skin barrier repair, which we know is important, and they’ve always talked about this. I always say how skin, skin barrier repair is going to be a big trend of 2021, because brands have stopped, well, will probably stop trying to sell us all these stupidly high actives but Dr Jart have been there the whole time, trying to look after your skin barrier.
Overall, I think their products are good. I wouldn’t recommend against trying them but I also don’t think you’re missing out if you haven’t tried them. I’m gonna put them in like, Meh, because they’re all right.
I think they’re fine. They’re nice, they’re fine. Their products are good. I know a lot of people swear by their products, for me personally, meh. Peace Out. Okay, so I feel like I’m flying through this one today.
Whenever I talk about Peace Out, I feel like it’s for two seconds in a video, and that’s weird for a brand that I actually use, quite consistently. So Peace Out do hydrocolloid patches, they do the pimple patches but they also do the bigger patches right.
They have like, forehead ones, they have ones especially designed for the nose area, so they look like the nose pore strips, so they’re in that shape, so they can actually mold around your nose but unlike nose pore strips, they don’t tear away at stuff, they come off gently, and your nose looks poreless.
Literally, like, no exaggeration. It looks poreless once you use it, so I would use it overnight, then take it off in the day but other than that, these are just hydrocolloid patches, which a lot of people are now just going to like, the pharmacy and buying.
The $4 band-aid ones, you know. They do also do, like Anti-Wrinkle Micro Dart patches, pimple patches with micro darts, and they do the biggest size pimple patches I’ve ever seen, because a lot of pimple patches you get, are like medium to small right, but they do these huge ones, which are quite good.
They also do the micro needles for dark spots as well. So I mean, overall, oh, they’ve gone into Skincare Now, as well. So they have a serum, they have a Retinol Eye Stick which I’ve been loving recently.
I don’t use retinol on like, the rest of my face because it kind of irritates my rosacea a bit, but I’m loving the Retinol Eye Stick, and they have a cleansing balm I believe as well. So overall, they’re good.
They’re a little bit pricey for what they are. Now people are literally just getting, as I said, $3-$4 hydrocolloid patches, and putting them on their face, which is essentially what these are. I’m gonna put them in S’nice though, because I, I do enjoy their products.
They stick on your skin, they don’t fall off, they’re not quite invisible, like a lot of other brands but yeah, it’s nice. Oh, let’s do Youth To The People, because, I think this is gonna be a little bit of a controversial opinion.
But I really wanted to like this brand, but I just do not get along with the majority of the products of there’s that I’ve tried. I think as a brand, they’re amazing when it comes to how they are creating their products, how they’re being more environmentally conscious.
They’re one of the only brands I’ve seen, that not only talk about their skincare brand, and ethos, and philosophy but they have a whole social justice page on their website. And again, they’re, they’re considered clean at Sephora but this is what I mean, like, they’re only considered clean, because they don’t have certain things in, and they don’t have Parabens, they’re a bit more natural.
But I feel like, again, this is what we, people want is a responsible brand, not a clean brand, and I feel like Youth To People do take that to another level. I’ve been using their Superfood Cleanser, and to be honest, I’ve found it quite drying.
They, as a brand they made the decision to put the majority of their skincare products into glass packaging. I hate, hate, hate glass packaging in the bathroom. I do not want to take glass into the shower with me.
I bought the mini trial versions of some of their products. So when I’m in the shower, to have to unscrew that little top bit, and pour it into my hand, and then put the glass back down, and it’s just a whole faff, and if I smash that in the bathroom, that’s it, I’m cutting my feet, you know.
They do have a pump version, which is probably better but again, water, glass, slippery. I just, I just do not like the idea of glass in the shower. And, you know, it’s been kind of like talked about that glass necessarily isn’t the most environmentally conscious choice.
A lot of people think it’s, it is, because it’s easily recyclable. That’s another, a whole other section but as a brand, that works for them, so they made that decision. For me, no glass in the bathroom, I hate it.
I’ve also tried their Adaptogen Soothe and Hydrate Activated Mist, which is fine, I won’t be buying it again, because it’s not as hydrating as a lot of other mists I’ve used, and it also smells like arsehole, to be honest.
It’s horrible. I hate the smell of it. I’m going through it but it’s just not the most hydrating thing I’ve ever used. I’m actually gonna do Giveaway/Donate, because these aren’t bad products. My skin just doesn’t get along with them, and I feel like they’re a bit more hyped up for me, I think I hyped them up in my own head, so I’m slightly disappointed but I feel like other people could benefit from these, and would like them.
Supergoop. I love Supergoop’s Unseen Sunscreen, it’s the first clear sunscreen I’ve ever used. A bit stingy on the eyes, a little bit sting on the eyes, a little bit oily and sheeny, but for me, that’s more of a dewy glow.
A lot of the other sunscreens I’ve used are the aerosol ones, with Zinc in. Body ones, on my brown hairy arms, it just, it didn’t work. Like you spray on it, gets up in the hair, and it doesn’t rub in, and it’s, it’s, you know, it just looks white on me.
But from what I’ve tried, oh I tried their lip balms as well. Though the products I have tried, I really, really enjoy. I really want to try a lot of their other more moisturizing products. I’m a little bit dubious, I don’t know if that’s the right word, about their serum sunscreens, because I just think the marketing is weird.
I think the wording is weird, I think it’s a little bit confusing, I don’t know why you’d want to use a serum for a moisturizer, it’s, it’s all these weird, and then not reapply, it’s, you know. I, I don’t like the way that was done, personal opinion obviously.
I’m not a huge fan of that concept. To put sunscreen in a serum, for people who aren’t really, really into skincare, know a lot about sunscreens, you would think, oh I only need two to three drops put that on my face, once a day, I’m done.
And really, that’s not how we should be approaching sunscreen, or educating on how to use sunscreen, and the importance of re-application, and using it in the right place in your routine. I mean, some people are like, well really, it’s just a lightweight moisturizer.
Then call it a lightweight moisturizer. If that’s what it is, call it that, not a serum. It’s misleading. It’s confusing. They came out with a hand cream recently, and someone on Twitter, I can’t remember who it was, I’ll try and find the tweet.
I don’t think I’ll be able to though. Basically said, Supergoop’s thing is, skincare step, plus sunscreen, and I feel like they are going that way. They’re not going to release like a cleanser with sunscreen in, but you know, I feel like I need to try way more of their products, and I do, I still want to try a lot more of their products.
So I’m actually going to put them on, S’nice because they are S’nice. The products that I’ve used, I’ve liked so far. I should have known the zinc ones weren’t right for me. No, I’m sorry, I’m gonna put them in Meh, like, I just, they’re, I’ve thinking about, they’ve very good sunscreens, do you need them? Definitely not, I’ve used better sunscreens with a nicer finish, and more affordable as well.
So yeah, they’ve actually gone down a little bit. Oh, Wishful. This brand is not for me at all, at all. And if you’ve watched my videos before, you know how I already feel about this brand. First of all, it’s not my demographic.
I do feel like the demographic is younger women, pre-teen’s to maybe, early 20’s. And I do think, in all fairness, Wishful have a good set of products, for a full routine, for their demographic. Obviously, I know a lot of people were like, but they don’t have sunscreen.
Sunscreens, we know, it’s difficult to formulate. We know it’s difficult to launch with a sunscreen, it’s a lot of work, it’s a lot of money. So I don’t always see that as like, a negative, necessarily, we just hope that they come out with a sunscreen one day.
Do I like them? No. I really dislike the packaging, it looks a little bit cheap, in my opinion. Everything smells like something that doesn’t belong on the face, and all the smells are overpowering as well.
All the products are 100% based on iconic products from within Asian skincare. The Firming Master Cleansing Balms, the Peeling Gels but I feel, in my personal opinion, like Wishful kind of make it look like they’ve reinvented the wheel.
Like they’ve invented these products themselves. No, I’m not saying with, you know, they have to be like, and this is inspired by this but they’ve not even nodded to the fact that, you know, this brand is inspired by some of the most popular products in Asian skincare, you know.
It’s just kind of annoying, that I feel like the brand are trying to pass off these as their own inventions. I don’t know. I’m using the Hyaluronic Acid Serum of theirs, because Boots sent it to me, and it’s fine.
I’m not using it on my face, I’m actually just using it on my lips, before I put lip balm on, and it’s fine, it’s an okay Hyaluronic Acid but pretty basic to be honest. For me, it’s a Donate/Giveaway situation, because I don’t need these products.
I don’t want these products. Okay, finally, Glamglow. I cannot sugarcoat this, I f*cking hate this brand. Oh my god, I hate them so much. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I know a lot of people love these but this is peak 2010, glam skincare, glam, sexy glam.
Every single product I’ve personally tried from this brand, has been shocking. Absolutely shocking for my skin. I feel like, mud masks, clay masks, a lot of these like different masks are kind of outdated by now.
I don’t think anybody looks for skin changing magical ingredients within a clay mask, or within a wash-off mask anymore. People are way more educated on actives, how to use products, what products are really needed, and people don’t really care about all those added extra add-on products anymore.
People kind of just want the most basic routine they can get, while still getting benefits from their routine, and I don’t feel like any of their products do this. Their toners are incredibly drying. When I first tried this, back in 2010, no.
.. when did… I don’t know, when their toner came out, it was definitely when I was younger. I had a very oily t-zone, and I thought, oh perfect, like this is going to be fine for my very oily skin. This dried me the f*c k out, so quick.
And I had insanely oily skin. It was just horrible. Not one of their masks didn’t sting my skin, they all hurt so, so bad. And no matter what the product said it did, hydrating, firming, radiance, everything was just drying, and irritating for my face.
This really isn’t for me, to be honest, and I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone else. I wouldn’t want to put anyone through the experience, that my skin went through. I’m gonna Bin It, and Burn It, because I just don’t, I don’t want anyone else using these products.
If they’re, if they’re even likely to have the tiniest bit of the reaction my skin had, or the, the journey that my skin had with Glamglow, I don’t want them to do that. I don’t want them to go have to go through that, it’s just awful.
And their marketing is ter… I couldn’t. No. It doesn’t, you know, what it doesn’t matter. I think that was pretty quick today, I kind of rushed through those but those are nine brands from Sephora that I’ve been able to shop on recently, because I’ve been using a VPN, and I’ve been loving or hating, and experimenting with.
Let me know your honest, honest opinions down below. Let me know if you think I’m wrong anywhere as well, tell me about myself. You can watch more ranking videos here, and some general light entertainment here as well, and I’ll see you over there.
