I Bought It Affiliate Links

In early May u/Lindsey_Mae asked the Asian Beauty subreddit if there is an Asian beauty alternative to Glamglow masks. The consensus was no, not really, but I stored the question away in my head because I like puzzles.

About a month ago, while searching for ingredients in a Re:cipe product in the Hwahae ingredient lookup app, I typed the first syllable block “레” and saw something strange in the realtime results list–something that looked like Glamglow Supermud, but was called Glow Rage (글로우 레이지 머드톡).

I consulted the ingredient list, compared it to the ingredient lists of the two most similar Glamglow products, and quickly realized that it’s a crossup dupe of Glamglow Supermud and Glamglow Youthmud–with a few kbeauty twists.

Here’s how I analyzed the lists:

1. Got lists for all products suspected of duping/being duped.

2. Put the ingredient lists in alphabetical order since I found that Korean ingredient order regulations aren’t the same as those of the U.S.; order isn’t going to help us find a dupe. Seriously, make like Elsa and let it go.

3. In the Glamglow columns I highlighted any ingredients used in Glow Rage to see which product Glow Rage is duping; it turns out that it’s both.

4. In the Glow Rage column I made any ingredients shared with either of the two Glamglows red and close shares magenta.

Conclusion: Glow Rage is a mashup dupe of Glamglow Supermud and Youthmud with the addition of parabens, one additional extract, one coloring agent, and some acids. I suspect that the acids are different due to Korea’s restrictions on the use of certain acids. Ok, cool, mashup dupe city helloooo.

Prices: No wonder people want a Glamglow alternative

So I had to buy some Glamglow. Jfc this shit is expensive! No wonder people want a dupe!!! I bought a set of both samples for $14.99 plus $4.95 for shipping at BeautyChoice.com. Worst use of the blog’s resources ever, but many thanks to you all for putting up with the ads and affiliate links on the blog–any income from that helps fund projects like this.

Then I ordered two jars of Glow Rage (along with a few other things–the second jar is for an uncoming giveaway here, ayyyy) using Avecko, the proxy Korean shipping service that I wrote about oh so long ago. I bought it for 14,900 won from Gmarket plus the handling fee plus international shipping. If you want to easy button this and avoid Avecko just buy it from K-beauty:holic (this isn’t an endorsement–I’ve never used the site) or whoever else decides to start selling this once I post the review. Seriously, give it, like, 10 days, and I suspect that at least one Korean eBayer or Amazon-er will offer this.

Let’s break down the prices:

Glow Rage Glamglow Supermud Glamglow Youthmud Jar price/grams about $26 (including shipping and handling)/80g $69/34g (1.2oz jar) $69/42g (1.7oz jar) or $19/14g (0.5oz jar) price per gram $0.33/g $2.03/g $1.64/g or $1.36/g

By the way, I contacted a few U.S.-based retailers about this discovery in hopes that they might want to import and offer this and they died laughing at the idea of selling Glow Rage in the U.S.; the packaging, name, and formulation are WAY too close to Glamglow’s trademarked stuff to make that possible, so expect to buy this from Korea.

On-the-face testing

Ok, so we know that Glow Rage is a cheap kbeauty dupe on paper, but how does it hold up versus the original Glam Glows?

First off, can we pause for a moment and ask when sticks, stems, and seeds became a good thing? I haven’t been keeping up with Western culture much, but I thought Snoop Dogg made that clear long ago, back when he was still Snoop Dogg:

For a company based on the West Coast that’s a significant oversight of the rap canon imo.

So there’s a bunch of organic matter in Glamglow. Well, good news if you like your mask as pure as your chronic or whatever the kids are calling it these days: there’s less of that mess in Glow Rage. Stay tuned for a protip that will protect your pipes, by the way. And by pipes I mean the ones in your house. [For someone who is into clean living aside from brown butter brownies this is a lot of drug references, LOL.]

Hold up, I feel a rant coming on: in what universe do companies think that we’re so stupid that they need to prove their naturalness and organicness or whatever (and Glamglow is neither of those things by the way) by putting a shitton of randomass mulch in their products? I’m not subtle at all and appreciate strong cues, but does that handful of crap from the park actually do anything other than clog pipes, potentially scratch my face, and destroy my patience?

Anyway…let’s break this down.

Differences (from most obvious to me to least):

Glow Rage has a much stronger scent (it’s like toothpaste mixed with the paste we used in Kindergarten and applied on construction paper with our fingers)

Glow Rage feels more tingly and cold on my skin

Glow Rage seems to more effectively calm nasty purging breakouts

Glow Rage contains fewer sticks and stems

Glow Rage dries a bit slower

Glow Rage is a bit more mud-like and less creamy-charcoaly than Glamglow Supermud

Glow Rage is significantly creamier and less gritty than Glamglow Youthmud (also darker, but I think you picked up on that)

There are a few reasons you might want to buy Glamglow at four to six times the price of Glow Rage:

you’re wealthy and don’t care about the price

you love Glamglow and don’t feel like switching things up

you are scared of non-luxury products

you are scared of products from Korea/Asia/not The West

you are put off by the complicated buying process

you don’t like the tingling/cold sensation and want less of it rather than more

you don’t like some of the ingredients in Glow Rage to the point that you’re willing to skip it

the description of the smell puts you off

I suspect that Glow Rage won’t be for everyone. But for those searching for a Korean beauty alternative to Glamglow at a much more affordable cost, here’s the stuff.

Protip: use a lame sheet mask to remove clay masks

Unless you’re a beauty fan paying $6 for sheet masks (please don’t do that), you probably have some fairly cheap cotton sheet masks that suck. I think that life is too short for bad masking, so I usually give sheet masks I don’t like away to people–now I have a way to use them.

Since all of these products have sticks and stems they could end up causing some plumbing issues. I mean, I live in a 100-year-old NYC rowhouse and pay quite a bit less than the market price for rent (I’m typing this in my sizable home office, yo); I do not want to make awkward calls to the landlady to get our delicate pipes sorted out after a masking session–it could set off a string of events that results in the rent going up or our house finally tipping over (the floors are a bit uneven, so I wonder).

After your clay mask is desert dry slap the crappy sheet mask on. Spread the essence from the envelope on the areas not covered by the mask to soften them, too. Give it, like, two minutes.

Remove the sheet mask once the clay/charcoal softens and use it as a wipe to gather the sticks and stems. Save your pipes/low rent/tippy old apartment.

The underlying, glowing truth: I think that all of these are shitty products

Honey, I think you can do better. *loving, slightly awkward forearm rub*

I found this product overdrying (I use a lot of acids, so there’s that), somewhat irritating to my skin, annoying to use on account of the organic matter, and unpleasant to wear due to the scent and crackiness of the clay on my skin.

If you love charcoal masks, Origins makes one that doesn’t have sticks and stems and is actually cheaper per gram than even Glow Rage if you buy the bigger tube domestically.

If you want a fun, skincaretainment clay mask try the amazing bubbling Elizavecca Milky Piggy Carbonated Bubble Clay Mask.

If you want exfoliation, make Paula’s Choice 10% AHA part of your life–I’m reviewing it very soon because it does SO MUCH to renew my skin and gently exfoliate. It’s mainly marketed for dry and normal skin, but my oily skin loves it, too.

If you need a spot treatment, I heartily recommend CosRX Acne Pimple Master Patches (here’s my review). They actually suck gross stuff out of whiteheads without irritation.

The best news? If you don’t count shipping and creatively deploy a few (available to everyone) discount codes, you could buy all of those fantastic products for less than a $69 jar of Glamglow.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Clicking those links before you shop means that fan-b receives a small commission, which helps to support the blog. Please see my full disclosure for more information.