No BS Beauty has tested 50 products for combination skin, approving 38, giving 6 a mixed take, and skipping 6. That is a strong record. She gravitates toward lightweight textures that hydrate without leaving a film, and she is not shy about calling out when something fell flat.
What does No BS Beauty recommend for combination skin?
The theme running through her approvals is lightness you can actually feel. She praised the SkinFix Barrier Balancing Water Cream Moisturizer with Hyaluronic Acid for disappearing into skin even in hot, humid weather, which matters a lot when combination skin goes sticky fast. She also has a long loyalty to the Neogen Real Ferment Micro Serum, which she says she has repurchased four times for its plumping, smoothing effect. Sunscreen is a big deal to her. She calls out the Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun Gel SPF 50+ PA++++ for holding up through a period when many K-beauty SPFs were found to underperform their claims. Brightening ingredients come up often too. The Beauty of Joseon Glow Deep Serum: Propolis + Niacinamide won her over for stacking niacinamide, tranexamic acid, and glutathione in one lightweight formula she says works morning or evening.
In her words
"The Neogen Real Ferment Micro Serum, it's 30 bucks. It contains Bifida, Saccharomyces, rice ferment, and Aspergillus ferment. No scent in it. I've repurchased. I think this is my fourth bottle of it. It's really nice. Serummy texture to it, really good for plumping up skin and lots of good ingredients in it. So I really love this one from Neogen and I've been repurchasing this one for a long time, so years."
"A jar like this will last a long time because a little bit of it goes a very long way. It's nice. It's felt really nice during this humid weather. There's some moisturizer you put on and you go out when it's really humid out and you can feel it on your skin. This stuff doesn't do that, so it's really nice for the hot and humid weather we've had recently. I love it for that."
"Geek and Gorgeous came out with a sunscreen and I've been using this one a lot too, it's almost finished."
"Their sunscreen is great. They're hyaluronic watery sun gel. During sunscreen Armageddon, what was it now? Four, five, four or five years ago, when all these K beauty sunscreens were found out to be vastly underprotecting people for what they were advertising. The Isntree sunscreen stood the test of time there and didn't have any issues."
"Coming at 20 bucks is the Beauty of Joseon Glow Deep Serum with Propolis and Niacinamide, a newer one that just came to me a couple weeks ago. It's a brightening moisturizer, very nice and very light, but the nice thing is you can use this one morning or evening or both. In here we've got seabuckthorn, we've got niacinamide, we've got panthenol, tranexamic acid which is another great brightening ingredient in addition to the seabuckthorn extract, glutathione which is another nice brightening ingredient, and then bisabolol which is a nice soothing ingredient. This stuff is really nice. Joseon has done a pretty good job with a lot of their products and whenever they come out with some new stuff I'm always excited about it."
"It's wonderful so I bought it more as a body cleanser but it also did a great job for my face so it also remove makeup and things like that so I love it for 20 bucks"
How many products has No BS Beauty reviewed for combination skin?
No BS Beauty has reviewed 50 products for combination skin, for a Guru Score of 76%. 38 approved, 6 mixed, and 6 skipped.
What has No BS Beauty skipped for combination skin?
She skipped products when the ingredient list did not back up what the label promised. The AXIS-Y Dark Spot Correcting Glow Serum is a good example. She said it leaned almost entirely on niacinamide and delivered very little brightening benefit for her, calling it a disappointment and a loser despite its popularity. On sunscreen, she skipped the Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen SPF 40 over concerns about the accuracy of its SPF testing, which she linked to a broader story about a research lab's integrity. Texture got products skipped too. She simply said she hated the Beauty of Joseon Matte Sun Stick SPF 50, though she noted it worked for plenty of others.
"First Aid Beauty Coconut Water Cream, this was in my travel bag [...] and it's pretty much empty and I opened it and there's like it was just dried up so there's nothing left of that."
"I don't have the stick version because I hated that one. I'm just pretend like it didn't happen but it worked well for a lot of people so whatever."
"We've got our own sunscreen scandal, and this one's [...] going to involve a lot of brands, including some American sunscreens such as Supergoop. It sounds like this is coming down to [...] a research lab, [...] the Princeton Consumer Research Study. [...] There was a former employee who quit their job over doubts about the accuracy and integrity of the SPF testing."
"This one I was disappointed. I didn't find the ingredient list to be super loaded with brightening ingredients. I think the main ingredient might have been niacinamide, and that was really about it. I didn't find much benefit from it at all, so it was a disappointment. A lot of people love it, but if you have newer hyperpigmentation that's not stubborn, it might do the trick. For me, no, that was a loser."
What should you take from No BS Beauty's picks?
No BS Beauty is a useful guide for combination skin because she rewards formulas that actually feel weightless and skips anything where the marketing outpaces the ingredients. Her two Top Picks are the Purito Deep Sea Pure Water Cream and the Allies of Skin Mandelic Pigmentation Corrector Night Serum. Her Guru Score for this category sits at 76%, a generally confident record with a handful of clear misses she is happy to name out loud.
Watch No BS Beauty say it
Every verdict here comes from a video. These are the moments themselves, each one jumping straight to the bit about that product.
- Purito Deep Sea Pure Water CreamNamed a winnerWatch at 10:36
- Allies of Skin Mandelic Pigmentation Corrector Night SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 12:17
- First Aid Beauty Coconut Water CreamSkipped itWatch at 6:16
- Beauty of Joseon Matte Sun Stick SPF 50Skipped itWatch at 0:15
- Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen SPF 40Skipped itWatch at 0:38
- AXIS-Y Dark Spot Correcting Glow SerumSkipped itWatch at 6:09
- The Ordinary Vitamin C 23% SuspensionSkipped itWatch at 7:39
- Sunday Riley Good Genes All-In-One AHA Lactic Acid TreatmentSkipped itWatch at 7:44
- Neogen Real Ferment Micro SerumRated itWatch at 11:11
- SkinFix Barrier Balancing Water Cream Moisturizer with Hyaluronic AcidRated itWatch at 7:20
- Geek & Gorgeous 101 Zero Feel SPF 50 Day CreamRated itWatch at 0:37
- Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun Gel SPF 50+ PA++++Rated itWatch at 3:40
- Beauty of Joseon Glow Deep Serum: Propolis + NiacinamideRated itWatch at 2:54
- La Roche-Posay Toleriane Purifying Foaming CleanserRated itWatch at 4:04
- The INKEY List Omega Water CreamRated itWatch at 9:05
- Isntree Chestnut BHA 2% Clear LiquidRated itWatch at 6:13
- Aestura Atobarrier 365 Hydro EssenceRated itWatch at 5:35
- Purito Mighty Bamboo Panthenol CreamRated itWatch at 7:11
- CeraVe Skin Renewing Nightly Exfoliating TreatmentRated itWatch at 8:38
- Jumiso All Day Airy Fit Sunscreen SPF 50Rated itWatch at 6:31
- Summer Fridays Cloud Dew Gel Cream MoisturizerRated itWatch at 7:44
- April Skin Artemisia Squalene Hydra Gel CreamRated itWatch at 6:11
- Clinique Dramatically Different Hydrating JellyRated itWatch at 8:53
- PSA Skin Heroine Toner 5% NiacinamideRated itWatch at 2:55
About this expert
See everything No BS Beauty has reviewed
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This guide reflects what No BS Beauty said across their videos about 50 products for combination skin, aggregated by The Guru Index. Sponsored takes are excluded. The Guru Score is our read on how warmly they talk about them. It is general information, not medical advice.