Geek & Gorgeous Cheer Up 5% Mandelic Acid plus 1% BHA.

Masks & Peels

About this product

A dual-acid product combining mandelic acid and salicylic acid, designed to treat acne-prone and sensitive skin while improving texture and reducing discoloration.

Full ingredients

Water, Propanediol, Mandelic Acid, Salicylic Acid, Xylitylglucoside, Anhydroxylitol, Xylitol, Sarcosine, Butylene Glycol, Pentylene Glycol, Glucose, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Hydroxide, Phenoxyethanol

Guru Score

77%

Yay

4 experts · Moderate agreement

What the gurus are saying

This dual-acid formula combines mandelic and salicylic acids but stays gentle because the 5% mandelic acid has large molecules that don't penetrate deeply, working more like a polyhydroxy acid than a stronger exfoliant. That gentleness makes it a good fit for sensitive, oily, or acne-prone skin. Gurus praise how it speeds the fade of acne-related discoloration and improves overall texture.

Synthesized from 4 expert reviews · most recent take April 2026

What they liked

Gentle enough for sensitive skin
Helps fade post-acne marks
Suits oily and acne-prone skin

What they flagged

Nothing. None of the experts who reviewed it raised a problem.

Best for

Sensitive skin Acne-prone skin

Type

Masks & PeelsLiquid

Key actives

Salicylic acid (BHA)AHA

Formula notes

Fragrance-freeNo drying alcohol

Where to buy

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What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

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No BS Beauty

89k subs

✓Yay

"Geek & Gorgeous Cheer Up liquid exfoliant is also a nice option. [...] And that one just happens to be one of the ones that works great for me."

All 4 takes from No BS Beauty

6 Steps I Used to Win My Fight Against Dark Spots, Melasma, & Hyperpigmentation

"Geek & Gorgeous Cheer Up liquid exfoliant is also a nice option. [...] And that one just happens to be one of the ones that works great for me."

Geek & Gorgeous Top Picks 🙌🤗😍 Effective, Affordable, Science Based Skincare Favorites

"The Cheer Up one is nice for acne prone skin. It's got mandelic acid and salicylic acid which are great. [...] I typically will use it every night or every third night of the week and I'll just pat on the skin and a bottle of this stuff lasts me probably three or four months or even actually probably even longer than that because sometimes I'll rotate depending on what my skin needs."

I Love You, I Love You Not Skincare 💔 What I'm Giving To Those I Love & What I'm Giving My Haters

"The Geek & Gorgeous Cheer Up Liquid exfoliant has mandelic acid and BHA. It's really wonderful and really effective and it really does a nice job kind of calming skin and smoothing it without being too harsh or irritating, and really nice effective proper pH all that stuff is in line. It's really wonderful. Geek & Gorgeous has some of the most amazing liquid exfoliants and there's a great formula for every skin type."

The Only Exfoliants I've Repurchased - Exfoliants for Every Skin Issue: Aging, Acne, Tone & Texture

"This is their Cheer Up, which contains mandelic acid and BHA, which is great for acne prone and sensitive skin. Wonderful."

Doctor Anne

56k subs

✓Mixed

"I think I prefer separate products with a stronger salicylic acid to keep congestion at bay and then maybe only a mandelic acid. But if your skin isn't as congestion prone as mine, you might find it works pretty well for the summertime. Especially if you're more on the sensitive side, the mandelic acid is a good choice as an alpha hydroxy acid because it doesn't penetrate too deeply and is perceived as gentler than other acids. But still, not something that I would use twice a day."

Dr Dray

2.69M subs

✓Yay

"Cheer Up has 5% mandelic acid, which is [...] quite large and doesn't penetrate very deeply into the skin, so it's [...] very very gentle, almost as gentle as polyhydroxy acids. It helps with accelerating the rate of hyperpigmentation clearance and improves overall skin texture. [...] This particular product [...] is a good one if you have sensitive, oily, or sensitive acne-prone skin or sensitive skin that heals with discoloration."

Gothamista

683k subs

✓Yay

"I just think mandelic is that perfect combination of AHA and BHA functions. It's less irritating than a lot of AHAs because of its larger molecule size, but it still exfoliates. But also it's oil soluble so it can get down in the pores as well. This is a gentle formula that was developed for those with normal to oily skin, so it works really well for combination skin as well. With the BHA, it's just a great combination for keeping the pores clear."

What the evidence says.

Independent of what the gurus think, this is what the published research supports about the main active ingredients here.

Salicylic acid

Salicylic acid dissolves in oil, so it can get into a pore rather than just working on the surface. That is why it has long-standing evidence for blackheads and milder acne.

Source: DermNet

Alpha hydroxy acids

Alpha hydroxy acids loosen the bonds holding dead cells at the surface. The evidence supports smoother texture and more even tone over time, and they can leave skin more sensitive to sun.

Source: NIH, National Library of Medicine

Frequently asked.

What is Geek & Gorgeous Cheer Up 5% Mandelic Acid plus 1% BHA?

A dual-acid product combining mandelic acid and salicylic acid, designed to treat acne-prone and sensitive skin while improving texture and reducing discoloration.

Is Geek & Gorgeous Cheer Up 5% Mandelic Acid plus 1% BHA worth it?

Mostly yes. 3 of the 4 gurus who reviewed it give it their stamp of approval, for a Guru Score of 77%.

What is Geek & Gorgeous Cheer Up 5% Mandelic Acid plus 1% BHA's Guru Score?

Geek & Gorgeous Cheer Up 5% Mandelic Acid plus 1% BHA holds a Guru Score of 77%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 4 expert reviewers we have collected.