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Our Brand Journey

 

gr family.pngDear Glow Family,

It was just over 4 years ago, as we sat drinking wine and sheet masking, that we came up with the idea to start the first natural K-beauty destination. We pooled our savings together and launched Glow Recipe in the winter of 2014. The first batch of orders were mostly from friends and family, and we shipped products and hand wrote thank you cards for every order.  

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Since then it’s been a whirlwind journey and we’ve loved growing this together with you. In line with our beliefs that the act of caring for your skin is so much more than product itself, we introduced new concepts like 7 Skin Method, splash masks, and glass skin and were completely blown away by your response. Your feedback told us our passion for clean, quality skincare and an educational approach to beauty was the right direction. You cheered us on through a Shark Tank appearance, partnering with Sephora on their first K-beauty animation, our first QVC segment, bi-coastal popups, a warehouse move, and many more. We’re proud of what GlowRecipe.com has become today thanks to your support — a meticulously hand-picked curation of clean, gentle skin-care, filled with K-beauty brands that the Glow Recipe team has worked alongside for years.

We launched our namesake brand Glow Recipe Skincare in 2017 as part of our continued mission to provide sensorial, innovative skin-care to make your routine effective, easy and unapologetically fun. We were one of the first to use watermelon in skin-care and you guys helped make Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask one of the most liked skin-care products in the history of Sephora.com.

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Recently, we’ve been hearing that you want to see even more from Glow Recipe Skincare — more products and more tutorials. With this groundswell of demand, we recognized this is a critical time for us to shape the future of Glow Recipe. Starting July 1, we will no longer be curating K-beauty brands. Until then, we want to make sure you’re able to get your hands on your favorite products, so we’ll be offering some of your beloved brands with significant discounts. Our Glow Miles program will be continuing and you’ll be able to redeem and accumulate points on all your purchases.

With this evolution, our team is better able to bring you next-generation product innovation and skincare education, continue to create disruptive online and offline experiences, and expand internationally to more countries (we hear you!).  We can’t wait for you all to experience the new skincare launches that we’ve spent months and even years perfecting.  We’re also excited to be sharing even more content and tutorials that will serve to make your skin-care routine more fun, easy, and approachable.

We’re incredibly grateful for the partnerships with the curated brands and so proud of the some of the brands we’ve incubated over the years. Our strong relationships and collaborations have been critical to our growth and also for the brands to enter into the global market. We are excited to see them continue to grow and flourish in the US, and for you to continue to have access to them, so we have connected many of them to retailers here.

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We’re still in the early stages of our journey to help everyone glow with skin-care — and beyond. Nothing makes us happier than to see Glow Recipe Skincare in your shelfies, or hearing that our skin-care tips have changed your routine for the better. We’re honored to be part of your daily self-care rituals, in what we hope are the most pampering, relaxing moments of your day. Thanks for being a part of our story and here’s to the many more exciting chapters to come.

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P.S. Join us on our Instagram today, June 10, at 4pm EST where we’ll go live to answer your questions. You can also shop our Glow All Out sale here.

 

 

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23 Comments

  • Amanda Jun 26, 2019 9:56 pm

    Well, it was fun while it lasted. I had a feeling this was coming. The last two reviews I left on products mentioned that I would keep buying them so long as Glow Recipe stocked them. Surprise!!! A couple months later you're done with anything that isn't proprietary. I get it, you want to grow your brand, but I am not a fan of your products. So, no more shopping at Glow Recipe. Fine. I am really glad I found alternative domestic websites to shop with since all my "Glow Mile" points will go to waste as they can't be used on other brands during your "all out sale" and you will no longer offer anything I want. Thanks for the intro to K-Beauty and education on products. Best of luck; I wish you both success in future. May you cultivate brand loyalty by focusing on customer satisfaction.

    • The Glow Recipe Team Jun 27, 2019 11:46 am

      Thanks for understanding and respecting our need to grow as a brand, and see our vision through. We appreciate the support you've shown us throughout the years.

  • Debbie McCune Jun 21, 2019 8:17 pm

    I am sure the majority of your customers feel the same way i do but don't wish to create alot of perceived negativity. I am angry and feel tricked. I have a lost order from almost a year ago that i have still not received a store credit for. I also have collected Glow Miles knowing i could always buy the things I wanted with the miles. Now I will just lose all of that money!!! (I will indeed insist on a refund for the order that was "lost" due to packaging that did not hold up in the mail.) I personally don't like your namesake products. Sorry, but they all made me break out! You add too many irritants, fragrance and color, etc. They are not clean in my scientific opinion. The textures are sticky and do not play well with other products. The one Glow Recipe product I do like is much easier for me to pick up at Sephora here in Canada. I think you are too obsessed with your products being fruity and cute, instead of truly clean and effective. This move is not at all beneficial to your loyal customer base. It is a move for your own personal financial gain. That is fine, but don't dress it up as something positive for the customer. You are pretending it is easy to find your best products at other one stop shopping K beauty online stores when it is not.

    • The Glow Recipe Team Jun 23, 2019 8:54 pm

      Hi Debbie! We're so sorry you feel this way, and thank you for your feedback. We responded to your last email in December of 2018 and never heard back. Like any brand, Glow Recipe carries a specific point of view and brand ethos – in our instance it is unique, plant and fruit-based everyday products. The background of our founders means that having their own skincare line and devoting all time and energy into expanding and perfecting that was the natural progression for them, and we’re excited to see their combined 20+ year goal come to fruition. We completely understand that many people like to stick to a product they’ve known and loved for months/years, and we wouldn’t blame anyone for doing the best thing for their skin. Thanks for taking this journey with us, we truly appreciate your support ?

  • Nuala Jun 19, 2019 1:37 am

    I’m sooo excited for more GLOW RECIPE products! My skincare routine is glow recipe all the way. I love the tutorials and that I can always reach out to you if I have a skincare question. The products I’ll miss the most are the Prem sunscreen and the Whamisa organic flowers toner. Using sunscreen everyday has made such a difference in my skincare routine and I now know how important it is to wear sunscreen on my face and neck. I have sensitive skin and could never find a sunscreen that worked for me. So I really hope you’re working on a glow recipe sunscreen product soon and a toner as well! I will definitely be purchasing if so. Looking forward to what’s in store and will always be a loyal glow recipe customer ?

    • The Glow Recipe Team Jun 19, 2019 10:18 am

      Thank you so much, Nuala! We're glad you're a dedicated SPF user, so many do not realize how important sun protection is! We will be formulating products this year, to fill in the space left by some of the brands we're discontinuing. Thanks so much for taking this journey with us!

  • Susan Owens Jun 13, 2019 11:30 am

    Will you still be selling you K-beauty kits? Like the one that is currently sold out?

    • The Glow Recipe Team Jun 13, 2019 12:04 pm

      Hi Susan! We will continue to create kits filled with our products such as travel kits, and the Glass Skin Kits. Once the sale is over, you will see more of these ?

  • elizabeth Szivos Jun 12, 2019 7:13 pm

    Look, GlowRecipe brand products are "fine," but you have helped so many people fall in-love with the K-Beauty genre. This feels like a betrayal. I WAS preparing to try the Avocado Mask next, but I'm so irritated that I'm reluctant to purchase GlowRecipe Brand products altogether! All this has done is put me off. Call me a "Downer" w/e, but I promise I'm not the only one who feels this way.......... Excuse me while I start hunting the whole dang internet for my favorite products that have now vanished.

    • The Glow Recipe Team Jun 13, 2019 11:20 am

      Hi Elizabeth! Thanks for your feedback. We have several new products planned this year to fill in the space left by some of the brands we will no longer carry. Like any brand, Glow Recipe carries a specific point of view and brand ethos - in our instance it is unique, plant and fruit-based everyday products. We now want to manufacture them ourselves exclusively, instead of finding them already made from another brand. This gives us complete control over the process and will inherently make it more transparent for our customers. The background of our founders means that having their own skincare line and devoting all time and energy into expanding and perfecting that was the natural progression for them, and we're excited to see their combined 20+ year goal come to fruition. We completely understand that many people like to stick to a product they've known and loved for months/years, and we wouldn't blame anyone for doing the best thing for their skin. We'll be providing more information at the end of this month, for where you can purchase your Korean favorites now that we will no longer carry them. Thanks for taking this journey with us, we truly appreciate your support :)

  • mobbp Jun 12, 2019 10:06 am

    hi your article is very very nice i have read it thank you for sharing this article i wish that you write more blog like this thank you

  • Jean Jun 11, 2019 6:44 pm

    Stop being "negative Nancys"! Glow is not leaving the planet. They are just doing what they do best. K-Beauty has gone commercial and its time for Glow to restate its unique position as one of the most innovative skin care retailers out there. Super excited to see what's next!

    • The Glow Recipe Team Jun 12, 2019 10:03 am

      Thanks so much, Jean! We really appreciate your longtime support of Glow Recipe! We’re so excited to focus on developing more innovative and exciting K-beauty-inspired products and share more tips and tricks with you. Stay tuned!

  • Allison A. Jun 10, 2019 4:57 pm

    Very exciting stuff!! I'm sad to lose a few products you've stocked, but this was bound to happen at some point. And it's a good thing! I'm very happy Glow Recipe is doing so well. There are so many products that I wish you made so I could use yours vs other brands. Just yesterday I was thinking, "What if Glow Recipe made Makeup?" Crazy right?... Maybe not! Good luck on your new path wherever it may take you!

    • The Glow Recipe Team Jun 10, 2019 5:37 pm

      Hi Allison! We appreciate your support, and we hope you stay tuned for the exciting developments we have in the works.

  • Susan Jun 10, 2019 3:15 pm

    This is bittersweet! I’m so sad that I won’t have access to my k-beauty favs on your site but at the same time looking foward to what new products Glow Recipe has in store for us!

    • The Glow Recipe Team Jun 10, 2019 5:38 pm

      Thanks so much Susan! We're excited to grow and make Glow Recipe Skincare even better

  • supernaturallifeblog Jun 10, 2019 2:31 pm

    I’m pretty disappointed with this news. Your site helped us learn about a full range of beauty products we generally did not have access to before. You made skincare approachable and friendly. I appreciate the discount to stock up on our favorites - giving us time to find other products and sites to shop from.

    • The Glow Recipe Team Jun 10, 2019 5:41 pm

      Hi! We really do appreciate your support throughout our growth as a retailer and, most importantly, a brand. Even through we're focusing on our namesake Glow Recipe skincare, select curated brands will still be available through Sephora and Jet.com. We'll let you know as soon as we have updates!

  • Elizabeth Jun 10, 2019 1:32 pm

    I am SO upset by this news!!! My poor skin has been on a drugstore journey my entire life, beset by products promising results but delivering only chemicals and disappointment. When I was a teen and focused on natural products, my skin saw its first meaningful improvement.... But nothing has had a more profound impact on myskincare than these K-Beauty products! Discovering them through GlowRecipe was a pivotal event, a breakthrough. I am DIRT-POOR, so I want you to appreciate what it takes for me to save the money to purchase each cherished item. It is almost impossible to find some of these products on the web (from legitimate sources, and in English). As overjoyed as I was to discover K-Beauty is as wrenching to discover you are no longer providing it. This decision is a mistake... one that may cost you a loyal customer.

    • The Glow Recipe Team Jun 10, 2019 5:39 pm

      Hi Elizabeth! We appreciate your support throughout our journey as a brand and online retailer. Select brands will still be available on Sephora and Jet.com, so we'll keep you updated as soon as we have news!

      • Elizabeth Jun 10, 2019 6:50 pm

        Don't get me started on Sephora... Some of my worst Buyer's Regrets were from that store. $29 for a "multi-tasking" lip balm that sat on my lips like gloop, didn't even work, and smelled like fake sour apple! While the representative explains "This is our best-selling (blah-blah-blah)." One quality product often shares a shelf with twenty garbage products. They over-emphasize trends, and rely on meaningless marketing words like "Luxe" to push many cosmetics . Its not possible for me to shop there without combing through hundreds of reviews first... Just exhausting! GlowRecipe was a reliable platform where I could readily purchase ANYthing new and it's always a home run. I will have to dust off my old Sephora card... when I would rather endorse YOU. I'm sorry, but your reply provides little reassurance. GlowRecipe has become a SELLOUT. **sobs for the death of all good things**

        • The Glow Recipe Team Jun 11, 2019 1:42 pm

          Thanks so much for your support Elizabeth - as we focus on our namesake brand, we hope that means we will be able to bring you even more products you can trust and love!