Love Glossier? Good Light Is The New Cult Skincare Brand To Know

Once upon a time, all it took to shake up the skincare world was eye-catching packaging and a social media-friendly marketing approach. In 2021 we want all that and more: results-driven formulas that aren’t packed with confusing ingredients, accessible price points and a brand that actually stands for something. That's where good light skincare comes in.

The brainchild of David Yi, founder of personal care website Very Good Light, the brand is guaranteed to become your next skincare favourite. When launching Very Good Light in 2016, Yi’s goal was to create a digital platform that redefines gender; a safe space for people who felt ignored, misrepresented or like they didn’t belong in traditional beauty aisles. With good light skincare, he aims to do the very same.

Yi has created a brand which celebrates beauty beyond the binary and promotes the idea that personal care products have no gender identity or sexuality and should be inclusive of all. Messaging aside, the brand is also working to incorporate diversity into everything it does, whether that’s behind the scenes or through the models it collaborates with.

Launched in the USA earlier this year, good light has already amassed plenty of fans. Everything about the brand is catnip to skincare lovers: beautiful, Instagram-worthy packaging; cool, astrological-inspired names; vegan, cruelty-free and sustainably made products. Yi partnered with Michael Engert of Supergoop!, took feedback from the Very Good Light community and spent two years researching and developing each formula, so we're not surprised it's proving such a success. good light currently has only three products – cleanser, toning lotion and probiotic serum – but if we've learned anything, it's that you can't beat a minimal skincare routine.

good light skincare is all about celebrating your natural skin. With more and more people accepting their acne and sharing their natural, textured skin online, it’s a refreshing stance for a beauty company to take (especially when negative attitudes about acne persist). good light’s products are made to reinforce the skin’s natural barrier function, using ingredients that are anti-inflammatory, healing, hydrating, nourishing and softening.

Finally available in the UK at Cult Beauty, we’ve detailed everything you need to know about the products. Fans of Glossier, Skin Proud and Typology, listen up – your beauty cabinet is about to get a little more crowded.

good light skincare promises that none of its products contains BPA, phthalates, mineral oils, oxybenzone, microbeads, synthetic scents or mercury. For vegans concerned about good light skincare, the brand is Leaping Bunny certified. Its products include no animal-derived ingredients or byproducts including musks, oils and fats. For coeliacs, good light tells us that its products do not include gluten or gluten-derived ingredients.

Yes! Not only did good light skincare choose its ingredients specifically for sensitive skin, it also sent all its products for thorough testing at CPT Labs, an elite testing service that has become an industry standard. There, each product was put through rigorous patch tests. On a scale from 0 (no visible skin reaction) to 4 (severe), good light products tested at 0.

good light skincare’s range includes Cosmic Dew Water Cleanser, £17, Moon Glow Milky Toning Lotion, £21, and We Come In Peace Probiotic Serum, £23.

Kicking off your good light routine, the Cosmic Dew Water Cleanser is a gel-to-foam cleanser. Packaged in a sleek, baby pink tube, it's formulated not only to gently remove oil, dirt and impurities but also to be super hydrating, help with inflammation and strengthen sensitive skin. It leaves your face refreshed and glowing. How? All thanks to its hero ingredients: glycerin (which hydrates, heals and bolsters the skin’s barrier against irritants), laminaria japonica (a hydrating seaweed that eliminates toxins, plumps and rejuvenates skin) and hyaluronic acid (which increases moisture).

Ultra light and creamy, the Milky Toning Lotion is a dream for those with skin on the drier side and is to be used after cleansing. It’s super hydrating and soothing and works to protect and strengthen the skin. Ingredients are a concoction of meadowfoam seed oil (a fatty acid which helps to heal damaged skin’s barrier and prevent inflammation), snow mushroom (which is similar to hyaluronic acid and penetrates the skin with moisture), niacinamide (helps to minimise pores, reduces redness, regulates oil production and protects against sun damage) and ceramides, which lock moisture into the skin. That's before we've touched on the natural alpha hydroxy acids, which slough away dead skin cells. Bonus: the more sustainable glass packaging looks great in your bathroom.

This serum really is a super protector. Used daily after cleansing and toning, it’ll further hydrate, balance and protect your skin. It’s packed with probiotics to help reinforce your skin's barrier and to regulate the microbiome (the good bacteria keeping your skin healthy), and bakuchiol (an anti-ageing ingredient to help uncover better skin – much like retinol but without the irritation). Anti-inflammatory carrot seed and moringa seed oils remove bacteria and blue tansy oil is known to cool and soothe skin.

You can buy good light skincare at Cult Beauty and on the brand's own website now, including the Metamorphosis Skincare Set, £64, which includes all three products.