My honest thoughts after trying out Everglow for the first time
I don’t know about you guys — but, I am always on the hunt for good skincare products. Even when I have already perfected my four-step skincare routine (cleansing, exfoliating, moisturizing, and applying SPF), I still look for products that cater to my skin concerns. That’s when I found a Filipina-owned skincare brand, Everglow. Upon research, their products claim to help out your skin to look and feel healthy. So, naturally, I just have to try them out.
Trying out Everglow for the first time, an honest review
I found out about Everglow when a college friend of mine shared it on their Instagram Story. So, I decided to try them out. As far as I know, Everglow has two collections and one standalone product. They have The Glow Collection, The Fresh Collection, and the Cloudberry Whipp Bar. The brand remains transparent with the ingredients they use for the products. With no lightening or whitening or harmful ingredients, I knew I can trust the brand.
THE GLOW COLLECTION
- Jelly Glow Face Wash
The Jelly Glow Face Wash cleanses and exfoliates your skin. According to their description, it is a pH-balanced and gentle jelly wash that works for any skin type. Infused with ingredients, it also soothes skin and improves texture without tightening.
The pH level of face washes is important. If a face wash isn’t pH balanced, using it can weaken the structure of your skin’s acid mantle which refers to the protective barrier on the skin. With Everglow’s Jelly Glow Face Wash, aside from soothing skin, it will also be less likely to irritate your skin.
- Dewy Glow Toner
The Dewy Glow Toner is a multi-tasking liquid that refreshes and mildly exfoliates as it tones and preps the skin for the rest of your routine. Exfoliation removes the buildup of dead skin from the top layer of the skin. However, the act damages the skin barrier. So, I recommend using mild exfoliators with gentle ingredients like the Dewy Glow Toner.
- Morning Glow Cream
Morning Glow Cream instantly blurs the visible appearance of pores and uneven texture, leaving a soft-focus morning glow finish. I tried it out last November 16, Wednesday, under my makeup. It gave my makeup a silky blend which is perfect for me.
- Milky Grow Serum
Milky Glow Serum easily hydrates and firms the skin. It brightens dark spots and helps even skin tone for a brighter and glowy complexion. I used it the night before my event on November 15, Tuesday. Aside from feeling as if it soothed my skin, it also helped with making it feel smoother.
THE FRESH COLLECTION
- Fresh Tonic Toner
The Fresh Tonic Toner is exfoliating toner enriched with natural enzymes and apple fruit extracts. This helps with skin turnover to effectively remove dead skin cells for fresh and clearer skin. Just like the other, this is also a gentle exfoliator that is mind on the skin.
- Fresh Sunny Gel and Fresh Moon Cream
The Fresh Sunny Gel shields the skin from aging and damaging rays from the sun. It effectively blocks both UVA and UVB for broad-spectrum protection. This, of course, is a must since we live in a tropical country. The skin quickly absorbs its lightweight gel formula which results in a fresher feel.
The Fresh Moon Cream, on the other hand, delivers rich nourishment and moisture to exfoliated skin while keeping it fresh and hydrated. The skin’s oil production peaks at midday and there is less oil production at night. Therefore, when you lose that protective layer of natural oils, your skin loses more water. So, it’s really important to replenish the water loss with a moisturizer overnight.
- Fresh Milky Bar
The Fresh Milky Bar is a vitamin-packed milky bar that freshens up the skin without any dryness. You can use it for your face and body. Milky bars gently exfoliate the skin while infusing it with active ingredients that moisturize and even out dark spots and sun damage. Aside from that, it also helps skin to look brighter, more radiant, and healthier skin after washing.
CLOUDBERRY WHIPP BAR
Unfortunately, this is the only product from Everglow that I didn’t try out. But, according to their description, Cloudberry Whipp Bar reduces freckles, removes scars, and removes dead skin. Aside from that, it also lightens dark spots, reduces blemishes, and fades stretch marks. The reason why I didn’t use it will be mentioned below. However, I asked my sister to try it out and it helped out on lightly whitening her knees, elbows, and nape.
Everglow addresses my skin concerns
I am naturally curious about the making of skincare products. And, as a writer, I figured why not write my honest thoughts down and reach out to them with a short interview to learn more. With their answers completely catching me off guard, I wanted to shine a light on their brand as a form of thank you for catering to my skin concerns. I talked to the main person for Everglow’s birth, the brand’s Managing Director Mishal Uriel Arnaiz.
My struggles with colorism.
When I was younger, I hated how dark I looked. Due to colorism, I hated my brown skin and my classmates would bully me about something I was born with. Aside from that, I also started seeing advertisements and commercials for whitening products. These ads would label whitened skin as pretty and divine while they would dub my brown skin as dirty and dull. I would cry about it and… then, thankfully, I stopped.
Having grown up in the Philippines, Mishal has also witnessed how Filipino beauty standards affected a person’s whole life.
The Filipino beauty standard is heavily focused on having ‘whiter’ skin. Even though we live in a tropical country where the weather is usually hot and we would have to get accustomed to being out in the sun. Filipinos usually have a naturally beautiful brown skin tone and yet we are forced to change it to what our society deems as ‘beautiful.’ I’ve grown tired of basing one’s beauty on the color or fairness of their skin and I was done seeing other people become affected by this.
Everglow has whitening products for those Filipinas who wanted to feel confident with their skin.
Lightening or whitening refers to reducing pigmentation. Brightening, on the other hand, revolves around restoring vibrancy to the skin. Although there isn’t anything wrong with other people wanting to have lighter skin, I just didn’t want it with mine. I had to go on a long journey just to fall in love with my skin. And, I’m proud of it. So, seeing a Filipino-owned skincare brand like Everglow is a breath of fresh air.
Everglow is a brand that promotes bringing out people’s natural glow. We, as a brand, firmly believe that everyone is already beautiful and we hope to make our consumers feel this way as well by promoting skincare that will make them feel in charge of their own skin, we want our Glowbabes to feel like they own the word ‘beautiful’ and that whatever that means depends on them, because it does.
We do not subscribe to the idea of ‘white beauty’ being the only standard of beauty. Like I said earlier, every skin tone is beautiful and deserves to be taken care of. Although we also have whitening products, this is for the Filipinas who want to feel more confident after using those products and we do not promote those products in a way where one may think that they SHOULD use those. We want to cater to every Filipina’s needs and we want them to feel like they are the boss of their own skin, because they are.
Subscribing to products that help me out with my skin condition.
During the interview, I also told them about my skin condition called lichen simplex chronicus, defined as a common form of chronic neurodermatitis. Chronic itching and scratching usually cause this skin condition. This causes skin patches with leathery and scaly textures. However, I only have this at the back of my neck and on my elbow. My face isn’t necessarily sensitive since I don’t really get acne or pimples quite often. But, I love to use gentle products. That way, I could avoid having the itchy and sometimes painful patches on my face.
So, I let them know about my skin condition and wondered if their products were safe for those with more sensitive skin than mine. When asked whether this was a part of their decision process – to cater to every skin type as much as possible, they answered:
Our products actually contain ingredients that target redness, itchiness, and inflammation that help skin issues like eczema. Our products are formulated not only to focus on making the skin fairer and brighter by bringing out our consumer’s natural glow, but also to give them the moisture, hydration, and protection that their skin needs.
New Everglow product?
With their answers in mind, I was truly excited about the new products that they are planning to release. And, of course, they are planning on having a new exciting product that I want in my makeup bag right away. It’s essential, something that Filipinas truly need, especially living in a tropical country.
We’re planning to release a new exciting product: tinted sunscreen! As you might know, our brand already has sunscreen in our list of products but we want to take it to the next level and make it a tinted sunscreen that is perfect for everyday use. Not only can it benefit your skin by being a handy addition to your everyday skincare routine, but it can now also be the perfect addition to your makeup routine.
At the end of the day, I was glad that I tried out Everglow for the first time. They cater to my skin concerns and those of others. They deserve to have the spotlight. I will definitely finish off every bit of the products from their collection. Special thank you to Mishal Uriel Arnaiz for starting this brand and for helping Filipinas’ natural glow!
If you wish to know more about Everglow, don’t hesitate to look them up on their social media accounts like Facebook and Instagram. And, if you wanted to try them out, you can check them out on their official store on Shopee. Aside from that, Everglow is also available at MSE on its website and all MSE branches nationwide.
