Glow Recipe

Glow Recipe Strawberry BHA Pore Smooth Blur Drops.

Masks & Peels

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About this product

A silicone-free primer with encapsulated BHA, tapioca, and rice designed to blur pores, control oil, and create a smooth base for makeup application.

Full ingredients

Water/Aqua/Eau, Tapioca Starch, Isopentyldiol, Nylon-12, C9-12 Alkane, Distarch Phosphate, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/VP Copolymer, Saccharide Isomerate, Fragaria Vesca (Strawberry) Leaf Extract, Salicylic Acid, Salix Alba Bark Extract, Fragaria Vesca (Strawberry) Fruit Extract, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Bisabolol, Coco-Caprylate/Caprate, Triheptanoin, Butylene Glycol, Pentylene Glycol, Propanediol, Caprylyl Glycol, Polyglyceryl-10 Dioleate, Dilinoleic Acid/Butanediol Copolymer, Polyglyceryl-10 Dipalmitate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Hydroxide, 1,2-Hexanediol, Phenoxyethanol, Castor Oil/Ipdi Copolymer, Citric Acid, Fragrance/Parfum

Guru Score

56%

Mixed

4 experts · Moderate agreement

4Gurus

2Yay

0Mixed

2Nay

What they liked

Gentle BHA that doesn't irritate
Absorbs oil without feeling heavy
Blurs pores and refines skin over time

What they flagged

Strong unpleasant smell

What the gurus are saying

Encapsulated BHA in this product proves gentle enough not to irritate, and the tapioca and rice work to visibly blur pores and absorb excess oil without feeling heavy under makeup. The formula balances makeup grip and longevity with breathability, so skin feels respected rather than suffocated by a thick primer layer. That said, anyone not wearing makeup regularly may not see much reason to use it, since the benefits show most when layered under foundation.

Synthesized from 4 expert reviews · most recent take April 2025

Best for

Oily skin Acne-prone skin

Type

Masks & PeelsDrops & dropper

Key actives

Hyaluronic acid Salicylic acid (BHA)

Formula notes

Contains fragranceNo drying alcohol

Where to buy

Amazon → Google →

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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.

All takes Yay takes Nay takes Mixed takes Hide sponsored

Kelly Driscoll

90k subs

~Yay

"This is the Glow Recipe Strawberry BHA Pore Smooth Blur Drops. It does say it has salicylic acid in it, BHA, but I honestly don't find this irritating."

All 3 takes from Kelly Driscoll

GRWM YouTube Creator Collective 2025 | Skincare, Hair, Makeup + Outfit!

"This is the Glow Recipe Strawberry BHA Pore Smooth Blur Drops. It does say it has salicylic acid in it, BHA, but I honestly don't find this irritating."

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"This is really a nice primer. [...] It is definitely something that is meant to grip onto your makeup, make it last longer, make it apply a lot smoother while still allowing your skin to breathe. It has a little bit of oil controlling property to it, helps your makeup not break up in the middle of the day, but it's not spacky and silicone to the point where it feels like you have this thick layer on top of your skin before you've even done your makeup. I think that it really is skin respectful."

Filming Routine | Do Skincare, Hair and Makeup With Me!

"This is a really lightweight type of primer so it doesn't have that spackle dry feeling that some of those thicker primers can have. [...] I like how this feels like a skincare product. It feels light and hydrating. It doesn't weigh my skin down but it does just the right amount of smoothing for my skin and just the right amount of grip without feeling uncomfortable."

AliceintheRabbitHole

59k subs

~Nay

"This is the Strawberry BHA Pore Smooth Blur Drops, [...] and I'm so glad I didn't buy it, I only got it as a sample. This smells truly terrible, it just smells so bad, and I'm not the only one who has felt this way. If you [...] want a salicylic acid containing primer, there are options that don't smell nearly as bad as this one. [...] This is a brand where overall the products smell nice, so I don't know what happened here."

No BS Beauty

89k subs

~Nay

"This brand gets a lot of hype. I put it on my hand and it felt nice, so I bought it. It did feel really nice on my hand and smoothing and everything. But I purchased this probably two months ago and it hasn't left the box here yet. So that feels like a total waste of time and money. It's just too expensive to go to waste."

James Welsh

1.58M subs

~Yay

"The finish is very much like a matte natural finish, which I do quite like. The blurring results are hard to see on camera, but I can see this side where I've used it looks a little bit more blurred than this side. I'm going to not exfoliate for three weeks and just use this so we can see [...] the exfoliating effects. As for [...] an exfoliating treatment, I'll see. I'm excited to try more of it."

All 2 takes from James Welsh

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"It has Encapsulated BHA and Strawberry enzyme and plant derived pore minimizer and Strawberry leaf extract. I don't use this. I don't really feel the need to. I don't wear makeup really that much, and when I do, I barely ever use a primer. But why not have skincare benefits in all of your steps? I don't really have much to say about it because I don't really use it. It's probably the product I use the least because I never really have to."

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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

Humectants and emollients

Ingredients like these draw water into the surface layers and slow how fast it leaves. The evidence is for comfort, softness and hydration rather than for changing the structure of the skin.

Source: DermNet

Frequently asked.

What is Glow Recipe Strawberry BHA Pore Smooth Blur Drops?

A silicone-free primer with encapsulated BHA, tapioca, and rice designed to blur pores, control oil, and create a smooth base for makeup application.

Is Glow Recipe Strawberry BHA Pore Smooth Blur Drops worth it?

The gurus are split. 2 of the 4 gurus give it their stamp of approval while 2 would skip it, which lands it in the middle at a Guru Score of 56%.

What is Glow Recipe Strawberry BHA Pore Smooth Blur Drops's Guru Score?

Glow Recipe Strawberry BHA Pore Smooth Blur Drops holds a Guru Score of 56%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 4 expert reviewers we have collected.