HUMANRACE | HUMIDIFYING CREAM

One of the things that’s uniquely New York is that we’re kind of all on top of each other, co-mingling out in the world. We’re just humans going about our day. No matter who you are, however famous or infamous, you put your pants on one leg at a time. When you gotta go out and get a loaf of bread, you walk to the corner market. It is what it is.

During most of my time working at Kiehl’s, our home offices were in the West Village. The neighborhood sandwiched between Greenwich Village and the Hudson River is home to numerous celebs. During many lunch outings with co-workers, we had celebrity sightings with our chicken salads. Edie Falco shopped in the health food store across from the Kiehl’s office. Her Sopranos hubby, James Gandolfini, lived up the block. Unassumingly, Heath Ledger would pop into one of our favorite lunch joints.

Sure it was cool, but I’ve never really been one to much care about celebrity. I like people (or don’t) based on who they really are. When I worked at Barneys in the 90s as a cosmetic department manager, Faye Dunaway was a frequent patron. She was quite nasty. I’ve never forgotten it.

And I’m always skeptical about celebrity skincare lines.

I’ve perhaps said some not-so-kind things about Kylie Jenner’s Kylie Skin. The products aren’t awful; but, as expected, they’re not great either. I reviewed Kylie’s relatively average skin care over a year ago in my blog article titled, My Fall Empties: Hydrating Serums, Anti-Aging Serums, Facial Cleansers & More! which you can catch here.

Madonna’s MDNA, on the other hand, is surprisingly good. The formulas are of superior quality, made in Japan by a Japanese skincare conglomerate. But what credibility does either Madonna or Kylie bring to skin care? Madonna has had quite a bit of work done. She looks great. But, trust me, her plump, contoured and glowing complexion has nothing to do with her namesake skin care — as good as her formulas are.

So when Pharrell Williams announced he was introducing a skincare range, I thought every celebrity and their mother has a skincare brand, why not Pharrell?! I happen to really love everything Pharrell is involved in. His Billionaire Boys Club streetwear is one of my favorite clothing brands. So I was excited and more hopeful than usual.

WATCH MY VIDEO REVIEW OF

HUMANRACE - PHARRELL WILLIAMS' SURPRISINGLY CLEAN, SUSTAINABLE & REFILLABLE SKINCARE

ON MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL HERE

And I gotta say, I think Pharrell nailed it with Humanrace. It’s a sustainable skincare brand comprising three products, each of which is natural, vegan, pro-skin health — and, most importantly, easy to use and understand.

It seems to me that the intent of Pharrell’s Humanrace is to provide someone who may be a causal skincare user (or doesn’t use skin care at all) with an ideal, simplified routine, something that’s easy to stick to day after day.

Each of the three products — a face cleanser, weekly exfoliator and moisturizer — is really well formulated. But it’s not as basic as it sounds. The face cleanser is a cleansing powder, one of my favorite types of cleansers and perhaps the least common face cleanser. The weekly exfoliator is powered by fruit enzymes and an 8% concentration of Glycolic Acid, not exactly for lightweights. (That’s even a lot for me!) And the daily face cream is infused with humectants, non-fragrant plant oils and antioxidants vitamins. Nary a fragrant component in sight. It’s really an impressive formula.

“Humanrace is a product company founded by Pharrell Williams with a mission to empower all people in their pursuit of wellbeing. Guided by experiences from his own wellness journey, Pharrell created Humanrace in the belief that taking better care of ourselves can teach us to take better care of each other.

Humanrace provides useful products and perspectives to help all individuals deepen their understanding of themselves and enrich their commitment to every day wellness. We believe that wellbeing is our most valuable resource, and are working to create a future where it is accessible to everyone.”

And, interestingly, each of the products is refillable! You can purchase refills as needed or enroll in the Humanrace subscription service. For $100, you can purchase what’s called the “Three-Minute Facial Routine Pack” — full sizes of each of the three products. Then, on a regular basis, you receive a refill insert at a slightly reduced price. As an example, the first time you purchase the Rice Powder Cleanser, it’s $32. Subsequent refills are $30. No extra plastic you don’t need. The original brilliant green containers are quite substantial and should last years.

Let’s take a look at each of the Humanrace products in detail…

Humanrace | Humidifying Face Cream

To wrap up the simplified Humanrace three-product routine, the brand offers its aptly named Humidifying Face Cream. It’s one of those product names that makes me wish I’d come up with it myself. Seriously, it’s brilliant. But while the name is amazing, the formula does live up to the oomph behind the name.

Humidifying Face Cream is a thick, velvety daily moisturizer that’s loaded with pro-skin health goodness including multiple hydrating extracts, among them two power humectants Snow Mushroom Extract and Sodium Hyaluronate — the salt form of Hyaluronic Acid that’s more compatible with the skin.

It feels so rich and luxurious on skin, yet somehow isn’t at all oily. Humidifying Face Cream’s most notable moisturizing actives include Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (derived from coconut oil and glycerin) and olive oil-derived Squalane.

But there are several really intriguing hydrating ingredients that are rarely seen in the INCI’s of even the best face creams for dehydrated skin. Nourishing Rice Bran Water is, of course, most common to J-beauty — and is often found at the heart of many skincare products across Asian Beauty brands.

Humanrace Humidifying Face Cream is also infused with hydrating Coconut Fruit Juice and Coconut Water. All of these combine with Centella Asiatica Leaf Extract and the aforementioned humectants to create an extraordinarily refreshing hydrating moisturizer. It’s as though Pharrell said to the labs, “This stuff better be the best hydrating face cream possible!” It kinda is.

I love Humidifying Face Cream. It’s just so refreshing and a real pleasure to use. There are, notably, several potent antioxidants in the formula as well — among them Niacinamide (Vitamin B3), Apple Fruit Extract, Centella Asiatica Leaf Extract, and Tocopheryl Acetate, or Vitamin E.

But…because Humidifying Face Cream is housed in an conventional jar, the sensitive antioxidants begin to lose their potency the first time you remove the lid.

Each and every time after that, presumably twice a day, the formula is further exposed to oxidation and breaking down, losing potency and efficacy like a slow drip.

I like to think of antioxidants in a moisturizer as a new car. The moment you drive it off the lot, it loses significant value. Antioxidants in a jar moisturizer are that car.

On a positive note, Humanrace intends that you use its daily face cream up within a month and replace the empty well with a fresh, new cream. Again, that’s great for the environment and quite unique in skin care.

SHOP THE BLOG: Purchase the Humanrace Humidifying Face Cream for just $48 here.

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