Humanrace Skincare - A Complete Review
Pharrell’s latest project, Humanrace Skincare, took us all by storm.. and it’s pretty damn good.
General Overview
Humanrace is a three-step skincare routine that covers most bases for a pretty solid skincare routine. You have a cleanser, an exfoliator and a daily moisturizer. The products are cruelty-free, vegan and also fragrance-free. Humanrace was designed to only take three minutes or so, both morning and night, and I think they hit the mark with that. In a skincare world with thousands and thousands of products, ingredient profiles and more, it’s cool to see a simple three-step line made to take care of 90% of what you need. On top of that, the individual packaging for each product is refillable — that’s part of what caught my eye. If you can find a way to create less waste, I’m happy.
For the purpose of this review, I used Humanrace consistently, morning and night for two straight weeks. During this time, the only additional product I used was sunscreen (because you need SPF always). Let’s get into the breakdown.
Rice Powder Cleanser
This was my first experience with any sort of powder cleanser — ever. I didn’t know what to expect, honestly, but overall it works very well. The packaging has a small hole at the top that releases a light amount of powder with each shake. The instructions say to shake out a coin sized amount — I found that the product worked best using a large coin sized amount (roughly 4-5 shakes). I also have a big ass head, so for someone with a smaller face, start with the recommended amount and go from there. Once mixed with water, it lathers into a slightly creamy paste — not like a traditional soapy cleanser. As with every other cleanser I use, a 60-second face wash (including letting the cleanser sit on your face a bit) is my preferred method of cleansing and I kept it the same here. After rinsing it off, my face felt smooth, soft and most importantly, clean.
Overall, I like the Rice Powder Cleanser. It works well, does what it’s supposed to do with a beautiful ingredient profile, but it’ll probably take me a while to get used to the powder format and texture. It can get a little messy and hard to tell how much I need at times. 7.5/10
Lotus Enzyme Exfoliator
Between the three Humanrace products offered, this is the star of the show — bar none. The blend of 8% glycolic acid, 2% fruit AHAs, micronized rice particles and fruit enzymes really worked together perfectly to give me a nice, non-irritating exfoliation. The packaging here is awesome — you have a wonderful press-down pump that lets you swipe the product with your fingertips, so you aren’t wasting any product. Pretty efficient. Reading the ingredient list initially, I was slightly worried about the rice particles because I didn’t want something that felt like a scrub that may give me micro-tears, but that wasn’t the case here. The texture is SUPER smooth and creamy, but slightly thickens up enough as you start to rub it around your face more to get you a good scrub going. I saw the best results by rubbing it in a circular motion for about a minute or so, then letting it sit on my face another minute. Once I washed this off… MAN. Y’all ever see those episodes of SpongeBob where Squidward became Handsome Squidward? Shiny, perfect face? That’s me after every use. No hype.
I’ve used plenty of exfoliators over time, but this one is easily my favorite. From the first use, I saw results and I don’t really get to say that often. As with any other acids or chemicals, you want to make sure you only use this product a few times a week to gauge how your skin reacts. Also, please make sure you apply some sort of SPF at the end of your skincare routine daily, multiple times a day. Overall, this is the one. Brand new skin every single time. 10/10
Humidifying Cream
This is an A1 moisturizing cream, specifically because of three bomb ass ingredients — snow mushroom extract, hyaluronic acid and squalane. Squalane’s a hydrating, plant based oil that really helps give you that extra moisture. It’s something I really look for in a lot of my products nowadays after I was introduced to it by Skin-Sthetics. Hyaluronic acid is known to really hydrate and plump the skin up — super important here. Snow mushroom extract is something new in my world, but again, it’s a major player for moisture and hydration. Three powerhouses! The texture is has a medium-weight (not too heavy, not too light) consistency and it applies so smoothly. This gets applied every morning and night and it’s also one of the best moisturizing creams I’ve used this year. Pretty big claim, but between the texture, ingredient profile, moisturizing ability and how my skin feels after? They did one hell of a job with this cream.
A little goes a long way, so don’t use too much at once — no need. I do wish it was just a liiiitle bit thicker. In the winter months, I may layer it with a face oil for a little extra hydration. (it’s great as-is, just personal preference.) 9/10
If you only buy one product out of the three…
Get the Lotus Enzyme Exfoliator. It’s been a while since I’ve been so overly impressed by a product, but I’m telling you — this is the one if you’re looking for great skin.
Final Verdict
Overall, I’m impressed. Celebrity product lines, co-signs and more don’t always equal quality products and history tells us this. Pharrell and his team definitely broke that stereotype with Humanrace, though. It’s well thought out, easy for the average person to pick up and use, but still such high quality that seasoned skincare vets should be happy as well. I’m no expert, but I’m no rookie either — and I’m telling you, this is a quality cop if you’re somebody who wants to have a pretty easy, no-frills skincare routine. Combine this with a quality SPF that I’ve recommended before and most people will be good to go with nothing else needed. Outside of the products themselves, sustainable packaging is also impressive as you can just buy the refills you need without tossing the main canisters. All in all, great job.
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