By Jessica Ye (Jessica Yap)
A certain kind of shine has been creeping back into beauty.
Not the thick vinyl gloss of early 2000s makeup, but something softer. Skin looks hydrated rather than heavily perfected. Colour appears as a sheer flush instead of opaque pigment layered across the face.
The aesthetic feels closer to skincare than traditional makeup. Increasingly, that is exactly where many beauty brands want to sit.
For Glow Recipe, that territory has always been familiar. Known for fruit-powered formulas and glow-focused skincare rooted in Korean beauty philosophy, the brand has steadily moved toward products that blur the line between treatment and colour.
Its latest launch continues that direction.
Following a debut that reportedly generated a 35,000-person waitlist, Glow Recipe is expanding its Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dewy Flush range with two new shades: Cherry Flush and Dragon Fruit Flush. Priced at SGD40, the product sits somewhere between a cheek tint and a skincare serum, delivering colour through a texture that feels closer to a lightweight treatment than traditional makeup.
Glow Recipe expands its Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dewy Flush range with two new shades, Cherry Flush (left) and Dragon Fruit Flush (right) | Images: Glow Recipe
The formula leans heavily on skincare ingredients. Niacinamide helps improve skin tone and texture, while hyaluronic acid and centella asiatica work to hydrate and calm. Microfine pigments coated in jojoba oil create the visible flush, allowing colour to blend seamlessly into the skin rather than sitting on top of it.
The effect is deliberately subtle. Cherry Flush introduces a sheer cherry red designed to mimic naturally flushed cheeks, while Dragon Fruit Flush offers a brighter translucent pink that catches light across the high points of the face.
Alongside the cheek tint expansion, Glow Recipe is also introducing two new shades of its Glass Balm Lip Treatments, priced at SGD34.
The glossy hybrid draws inspiration from the crystalline look of Korean shaved ice desserts known as bingsoo. The formula combines shine with skincare benefits, using hyaluronic microspheres and glycerin to retain moisture while antioxidant-rich fruit extracts reinforce the brand’s fruit-driven ingredient philosophy.
The new shades follow the same softly tinted approach as the Dewy Flush products. Coconut Bingsoo appears as a sheer cool brown that subtly defines the lips, while Dragon Fruit Bingsoo delivers a brighter pink that feels playful without becoming opaque.
Together, the additions expand one of Glow Recipe’s most recognisable product families. Fruit-inspired ingredients, glossy textures and skin that looks luminous rather than perfected continue to define the brand’s visual language.
More importantly, the products reflect a broader shift in beauty routines.
Instead of separating skincare and makeup into distinct steps, formulas like Dewy Flush and Glass Balm sit comfortably somewhere in between. They add colour, but they also promise hydration and long-term skin benefits.
In an industry that once revolved around full coverage and sculpted contours, the current moment feels far more interested in something else entirely: makeup that simply enhances skin that already looks healthy.
For Glow Recipe, that glow has always been the point.
The Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dewy Flush (SGS40) and Glass Balm Lip Treatments (SGD34) are now available online and in stores at Sephora in Singapore.
