Glow Recipe

Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow PHA+BHA Pore-Tight Toner.

Q: Is Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow PHA+BHA Pore-Tight Toner worth it?

The gurus are split. 8 of the 11 gurus give it their stamp of approval while 2 would skip it, which lands it in the middle at a Guru Score of 72%.

Q: What is Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow PHA+BHA Pore-Tight Toner's Guru Score?

Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow PHA+BHA Pore-Tight Toner holds a Guru Score of 72%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 11 expert reviewers we have collected.

Q: Who is Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow PHA+BHA Pore-Tight Toner best for?

Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow PHA+BHA Pore-Tight Toner is generally suited to oily skin, combination skin and acne-prone skin.

Toners

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About this product

A gentle chemical exfoliating toner combining PHAs and BHAs with watermelon extract, hydrating ingredients, and a pronounced watermelon fragrance.

Full ingredients

Opuntia Ficus-Indica (Cactus) Extract, Citrullus Lanatus (Watermelon) Fruit Extract, Glycerin, Hyaluronic Acid, Gluconolactone, Sodium Polyglutamate, Betaine Salicylate, Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Extract, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Extract, Hibiscus Sabdariffa Flower Extract, Lactobacillus/Watermelon Fruit Ferment Extract, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Saccharum Officinarum (Sugarcane) Extract, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract, Paeonia Suffruticosa Root Extract, Brassica Oleracea Capitata (Cabbage) Leaf Extract, Ipomoea Batatas Root Extract, Sorbitan Oleate, Levulinic Acid, Sodium Levulinate, Fragrance/Parfum

Guru Score

72%

Mixed

11 experts · Strong agreement

11Gurus

8Yay

1Mixed

2Nay

What they liked

Hydrating texture that feels supple and juicy
Watermelon scent and pleasant sensory experience

What they flagged

Betaine salicylate is milder than salicylic acid

What the gurus are saying

The watermelon scent is the toner's most polarizing feature, gurus who love it praise the supple, glowing skin and gentle exfoliation, especially for those with sensitive or dry skin. Those put off by the fragrance (even when they like the formula) find it overwhelming with layering. Beneath the scent sits a genuinely effective, hydrating exfoliant: dermatologists and estheticians highlight the gentle PHA-BHA blend, ceramides, and hyaluronic acid working together to refine pores and smooth texture without irritation.

Synthesized from 11 expert reviews · most recent take July 2026

Best for

Oily skin Combination skin Acne-prone skin

Type

TonersLiquid

Key actives

Hyaluronic acid Salicylic acid (BHA)

Formula notes

Contains fragranceNo drying alcohol

Where to buy

Sephora → 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

AliceintheRabbitHole

59k subs

~Yay

"I finished off another Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow PHA and BHA Pore Tight Toner. I keep saying I'm going to quit buying this, but I do like Glow Recipe, even though I know a lot of people don't like them for being a cute brand."

All 4 takes from AliceintheRabbitHole

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"It's not necessarily my favorite product but it is a unique product and I do still like it. It's high in glycerin, which is a humectant, plus three percent PHA gluconolactone, betaine salicylate as a gentle BHA, and tea tree, all in an incredible thicker than water texture. I really feel like it would take about five different toners [...] to replace this one single toner, so it does deserve all of the hype it's had. It won't be for everyone, but I do like it and it's truly a standout product."

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"This is not my absolute favorite product in existence, however it is a product that I think is very difficult to dupe. In a video talking about Glow Recipe I pulled out five different toners, all of which had characteristics that remind me of certain aspects of this product, five in total to dupe one product."

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"I used to love this. I did like this product, I liked Glow Recipe, and I feel like Glow Recipe is one of those brands where I really liked them for a long time, but more recently I've moved away from them. I still think the products are cute, they're really fun to use, I will absolutely say that."

CYoung

95k subs

~Mixed

"Even though they call this an exfoliating PHA toner it's actually pretty heavy, so if you're more on the dry side or have a little more mature skin this one is better for you. I like the watermelon scent and overall I like this one."

Dr. Vanita Rattan

1.23M subs

~Nay

"It's actually a bit sickening the smell, it's just too much. It's just too much. Can you imagine layering this on top of each other over and over all day long? It does feel refreshing, no irritation, it is actually an enjoyable experience just because of how light it feels. But [...] I don't know why they've gone to town with this fragrance on this thing."

All 2 takes from Dr. Vanita Rattan

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"The smell, [...] it's just too much. Can you imagine layering this on top of each other over and over all day long? It does feel refreshing, no irritation, it is actually an enjoyable experience just because of how light it feels. Peach CHS are beautiful and non-irritating, great if you have sensitive skin. [...] But I don't know why they've gone to town with this fragrance on this thing. [...] The first ingredient here is a pantia extract which I love, it's high in antioxidants, very hydrating."

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The Style and Beauty Doctor

221k subs

~Yay

"I got to give it to Glow Recipe on this one. Even with the funky ass watermelon scent, the glow I cannot deny. How supple and juicy my skin feels. I would use this product if they ever came up with something unscented. [...] I'm not quite sure if a product can be unscented with the watermelon fruit extract in it. I don't know if they could ever come up with something that didn't have the scent, or if that's even possible given what's used in the products."

April Basi

72k subs

~Yay

"For toner, Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow, so gentle and smells amazing."

Caroline Hirons

250k subs

~Yay

"My favorite product from there is and my most used is their Watermelon Glow PHA+BHA Pore-Tight Toner. It's one of the only exfoliants I can use that's gentle and I can actually see an effect from."

All 2 takes from Caroline Hirons

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"My favorite product from there is and my most used is their Watermelon Glow PHA+BHA Pore-Tight Toner. It's one of the only exfoliants I can use that's gentle and I can actually see an effect from."

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"My favorite product from their and my most used is their Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow PHA+BHA Pore-Tight Toner. It's one of the only exfoliants I can use that's gentle and I can actually see an effect from. There are brands like Karx which I do love but it's maybe a bit too gentle because I have a mix of a very oily T-Zone but I need a good BHA kind of thing so they just do that perfectly like a good mix of gentle but effective."

Kelly Driscoll

90k subs

~Yay

"I love it. You're paying for a bit of an experience here, a beautiful aesthetic bottle, the pink color, the scent. [...] I think the ingredients for what's available at Sephora are fairly unique. I'm loving the use of PHA here, it's a new generation AHA, so it's all about getting those dead skin cells off the top surface of your skin, making your skin a lot more smooth, helping to address texture and pores, and helping to give your skin a really beautiful bright glow."

All 2 takes from Kelly Driscoll

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"Generally my opinion of this is pretty good. [...] It didn't blow my mind, it's not my favorite toner, it's not even like my middle-of-the-pack favorite toner, but that doesn't mean that I don't like this product. [...] For me it wasn't super impressive but there's nothing here that I'm very critical about. [...] I'm pretty neutral to it. I think that it is a very fun experience."

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Dr. Mamina

282k subs

~Yay

"This toner by Glow Recipe I think it's nice, it has like a gentle blend of PHAs, polyhydroxy acids, and BHAs. Polyhydroxy acids are great form of exfoliating acids for people who have like dry or sensitive skin. I think this one also has some ceramides and it's part of the watermelon line so it also has like hydrating properties from watermelon. This toner also has hyaluronic acid, so it's like soothing, hydrating, and gently exfoliating."

Cassandra Bankson

2.46M subs

~Yay

"I was hesitant because it has citrus and my skin doesn't always do well with citrus, specifically bergamot and grapefruit. But I kept seeing people talk about this online, so I decided to try it. This is very different from their watermelon toner. I like their watermelon toner, but it's more of a niacinamide active for me, whereas this actually has CoQ10 as well as some vitamin C ingredients, and they say it's safe for sensitive skin. I tried this and I have fallen in love."

Hyram

4.34M subs

~Nay

"The Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow PHA+BHA Pore-Tight Toner, I think pass, if I remember right, because I believe they do use natural fragrance. Their fragrance components aren't super bad, but I usually prefer products without fragrance, so I'm going to have to say pass, but I do love Glow Recipe."

All 3 takes from Hyram

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"I don't love the fragrant components that they use in some of their other products, like this one, for example. But it's still a formula that's chalk full of a lot of antioxidant ingredients. And as far as risk of fragrance sensitivity goes, they're on the very low end of the spectrum because they use more natural extracts rather than like perfume fragrance in their formulas."

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"Okay glow recipe I believe she's using the glow recipe toner and then the serum as well"

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James Welsh

1.58M subs

~Yay

"I absolutely love still, but this is like the evolution of snail mucin without the snail... [...] it's nice that we have this alternative and especially for those people who really kind of like focus more so on what it is and is put off by the amazing benefits that mucin can have. I feel like this is such a good thing to do have this kind of like cruelty-free alternative."