Several months ago, I covered skincare guru Liah Yoo’s Matcha Hemp Cleanser, a gentle yet incredibly effective face wash that I, to this day, still use religiously.
Not too long ago, Liah released a new product to her Core Series in her skincare line, KraveBeauty.
If you do not know what KraveBeauty is, it is a skincare line created and led by Korean beauty and skincare guru Liah Yoo.
While the products are influenced by Korean methods, the company has branches in both Korea and the United States. KraveBeauty’s philosophy centers around clean and simple skincare.
However, what makes KraveBeauty so groundbreaking for people is its absolute transparency to its users.
As people become more knowledgeable about what’s good for the skin and what’s not, they look into the products they’re using and the companies that make them.
People tend to distrust skincare companies who are not transparent or honest about their products or philosophy.
Actions made by shady skincare companies that should be red flags to its consumers include:
- Not disclosing their ingredients to the public
- Adding many unnecessary ingredients in the products that could be potentially harmful
- Purposefully market to audiences who want to improve their skin but are also more impressionable or uninformed (ex. young teenagers who start developing acne) for dishonest reasons
Thankfully, KraveBeauty does none of these things—the polar opposite, actually!
Additionally, they are also admired for their humanitarian and environmentalist values, such as donating the profits of certain products to environmental organizations.
Their philosophy and values shone through when they released their first moisturizer, Oat So Simple Water Cream.
Price | $28.00
Best for | All skin types
Suitable for Sensitive Skin? | Yes
1. What is this?
KraveBeauty’s Oat So Simple Water Cream is a moisturizer that is oh, so simple and is for anyone who’s craving for good old-fashioned hydration.
It can easily blend into everyone and anyone’s skincare routine without a single worry or problem.
If you’re looking for a moisturizer that simply gets the job done without the extra frills, this is the product for you!
It is gentle enough for everyone and anyone with any skin condition, even those with fungal acne, eczema, sensitivity, congestion, and hyperpigmentation.
2. What are the ingredients and what do they do?
This moisturizer is created with only ten ingredients, which fits KraveBeauty’s clean beauty philosophy very well.
You will not find fragrance, essential oil, or colorant in this water cream. Here is their full ingredient list, as stated on their website:
Water, Butylene Glycol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Squalane, 1,2-Hexanediol, Behenyl Alcohol, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/VP Copolymer, Avena Sativa (Oat) Meal Extract, Ethylhexylglycerin
Are you also surprised by how short the list was? I certainly was.
We’ve seen so many conventional moisturizers with a complicated, mile-long list of ingredients and after reading it, we have even more questions.
Will this affect my acne negatively? Will it work for my skin? However, Oat So Simple is straight to the point with its intended use and ingredients that it won’t clash with any other products you’re using.
Here is a more detailed list of the most important ingredient in the water cream and what benefits they offer to your skin:
- Oats – also known as avena sativa, oats are a well-known natural skin-calmer that is meant to soothe. Our skin goes through a lot in a single day, from pollutants and UV rays to internal and external stressors, and oats have many natural benefits that relieve the skin, including its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
3. How do you use the product?
I use the product twice a day, once in the morning under my makeup and once before bed.
It even comes with a little scoop so that you can avoid contaminating your water cream with bacteria if you had used your fingers instead, which I thought was very handy.
You may choose to use it as it is, but you can be creative with it as well!
As listed on their product page, here are some ways you can use the Oat So Simple Water Cream:
- Use it as is
- Layer it multiple times, if necessary
- Mix it with your facial oil
- Mix it with your Great Barrier Relief
- Mix it with your retinol, AHA, vitamin C powders!
4. Is the product worth the price?
One container of the Oat So Simple Water Cream costs $28.00, which is a little pricey for some people, but you do get 2.7 fluid ounces of product (or 80 ml) out of it.
I think it was a little expensive for such a simple moisturizer, but I had a really good experience with it, so I think it gave enough bang to my buck.
However, since it is relatively up there for a moisturizer, I would try to prolong using the product for as long as I possibly can.
Would I buy it again? Most likely.
While there are cheaper alternatives at my local drugstore or Target, I fully trust Liah and her company—so much so that I wouldn’t hesitate to put in a little more money towards their products, knowing full well that I would get exactly what they say I’ll get.
5. How does it smell?
The water cream does not have any added fragrance or essential oils, which is great news for sensitive skin users!
Such ingredients tend to irritate the skin and create damage in the long run if used extensively.
However, you’ll find no trace of fragrance and therefore the product has no distinct smell to it.
6. How does it feel on the skin initially?
I cannot describe the feeling when I had first put it on my skin, other than absolute bliss.
It was so smooth, cool, and lightweight when I scooped up a dime-sized portion and applied it to my skin, which glided so effortlessly as I rubbed the cream into my cheeks and forehead.
It melted instantly on my skin like water. There are no other words to describe the feeling other than refreshing and revitalizing.
7. How well does it moisturize my skin?
Finally, the big question: how well does the moisturizer work on my skin?
It was as if I had just come across an oasis in the middle of a dry, sweltering desert after being in it for days upon days.
Okay, I’ll be a little less dramatic but that doesn’t change the fact it was still that good. And guess what? I don’t even have dry skin—heck, I’m the complete and polar opposite!
My skin could make enough oil to fuel my car and the thought of moisturizing my face when it was already super oily in itself made me recoil.
However, despite the feeling, I spontaneously and instantly bought the moisturizer the day it was released, and I do not regret my purchase whatsoever.
Because my skin gets slightly drier during the winter season despite it being a whole oil deposit, I needed a way to hydrate my skin and I couldn’t find a moisturizer that wasn’t heavy or wouldn’t leave me greasy.
Somehow, in some way, the Oat So Simple Water Cream did exactly what I wanted.
I typically wore the moisturizer under my everyday makeup as a primer.
As I applied my foundation and concealer over it, to my surprise, my skin ended up looking dewy and healthy, which mostly remained like that throughout the day and I was shocked.
Rather than looking like a glazed donut, I looked like the glowy goddess I aspired to be for the longest time.
8. Anything else I should know about the moisturizer?
Remember what I said about KraveBeauty being environmentally-friendly like the woke company that they are?
They’ve made every bit of the packaging, from the paper cardboard box to the container, 100% recyclable.
They even had a simple and easy-to-follow recycling guide in their product description online!
All you have to do is rinse out your empty container and toss it in the recycling bin.
However, some cities can’t recycle certain plastics, which KraveBeauty pointed out in their guide, and they even give you further instructions on how to recycle your empty product containers if your city can’t recycle certain materials!
They truly think of everything for their products beyond the actual product themselves.
You can read more about KraveBeauty and what sustainability means to them here.
Overall Rating | ☆☆☆☆☆
Liah describes the water cream as “that friend that’s not the loudest but is always there and reliable; that lifts you up, and respects your choices and decisions,” and if that doesn’t make you want to pull up the website and buy the moisturizer immediately, then I don’t even know what to say other than “Go buy it now!”
If you want to hear a more in-depth review of the moisturizer, you can listen to Liah herself talk about it here!
If you want to try it out for yourself, you can buy the Oat So Simple Water Cream here!