We tried Gwyneth Paltrow’s lower-priced Good.clean.goop skincare — here’s our honest review
There’s no need to be a gazillionaire to get your hands on Gwyneth Paltrow’s new goop.
The actress-turned-entrepreneur’s lifestyle brand has always leaned luxurious with its product offerings, which have ranged from viral vagina candles priced at $75 a pop to a $15,000 vibrator crafted from 24-karat gold.
But last month, Paltrow and co. shocked shoppers with the launch of Good.clean.goop, a wallet-friendly wellness and beauty line available at Amazon and Target — and priced entirely under $40. (For comparison, the brand’s primary Goop Beauty range sells a Youth-Boost Peptide Serum for $150, and its signature Microderm Instant Glow Exfoliator costs $125.)
“We’ve learned a lot along the way as we’ve built Goop Beauty, and now we’re thrilled to be able to launch a new brand — Good.clean.goop — that meets our strict clean standards at an accessible price point,” Paltrow said in a press release.
“Good.clean.goop takes an innovative approach to classic skin care, leaning into clean hero ingredients that really work. I’m so excited for more people who are curious about clean beauty — or who simply appreciate a quality cream or a hardworking cleanser — to be able to try our new line of essentials.”
As someone who firmly believes the best skincare products come with drugstore price tags, I couldn’t wait to try it out for myself — so I called in the full range to test out for several weeks. Read on for my honest review of the line’s initial skincare and body care offerings.
The Daily Juice Cleanser
Billed as a “green juice for your face,” this gel-to-foam cleanser looks like the real deal, thanks to the formula’s chlorella and spinach leaf extracts (which also offer a dose of amino acids, vitamins and antioxidants). Other key ingredients include hydrating hyaluronic acid as well as papaya and pineapple enzymes for gentle exfoliation.
I was surprised and delighted that despite its gentle, jelly-like formula, this cleanser managed to remove my full face of makeup (even waterproof liquid eyeliner and stubborn mascara!) without leaving my skin feeling stripped.
What’s more, a little goes a long way; all I needed was a pea-sized drop or two to thoroughly wash my face. At $19.99 for a 4.2-oz tube of product, I’d call that a great deal — in fact, this might be my new go-to cleanser.
The Nutrient-Rich Daily Moisturizer
Upon unscrewing the lid, I was intrigued by how, well, goopy this moisturizer seemed. As someone with very dry skin, I typically gravitate toward ultra-thick face creams — the kind that stay perfectly in place even when you turn the open tub upside down, like a Dairy Queen Blizzard — particularly during cold, arid weather.
While I was concerned Good.clean.goop’s more liquid-like gel-cream wouldn’t pack enough of a punch in the hydration department, I needn’t have worried; the blend of hyaluronic acid, brightening niacinamide and nourishing raspberry seed oil and beetroot extract absorbed beautifully and left my face feeling soft and supple for hours.
A few caveats: Be careful when unscrewing the top of the tub to avoid spills — perhaps a tube or pump would’ve been a better way to package this product? — and note that the cream does have a scent, thanks to the natural oils in the ingredient list. I found it pretty pleasant, but my sensitive-nosed husband wasn’t a fan.
The Healthy Aging Serum
First things first: Thank you, Gwyneth, for calling this a healthy aging serum and not an anti-aging one. Verbiage aside, this product’s ingredients — including brightening tranexamic acid, gently exfoliating shikimic acid and vitamin-rich goji berry oil — promises to help improve the appearance of dark spots, fine lines and other visible signs of getting older.
While this won’t be replacing my dermatologist-prescribed retinoid, I really enjoyed using it; the serum glides on like silk, didn’t feel sticky and yielded a bright, hydrated, even-toned glow after several weeks of use.
Like the moisturizer, it does have a light, natural botanical scent, which I personally found soothing.
The Wide-Awake Eye Serum
While there’s a running joke in the beauty community that eye-specific creams and serums are just their full-face counterparts repackaged in tinier containers with higher prices, Good.clean.goop actually switched up the ingredient list here; its gel-like serum is formulated with firming peptides and reishi mushroom extract and caffeine to help reduce puffiness. We love to see it!
I really liked the product itself — after several weeks, the fine lines around my eyes seemed less noticeable, and my eyes looked bright and more awake overall. That said, I wasn’t a huge fan of the packaging; the pump dispensed too much product with each push, and it was difficult to control how much came out. (I wound up applying the extra between my brows.) Judging by the customer reviews on Target’s site, I’m not the only one with this particular gripe.
I’ll definitely keep using this eye serum, but it’d be nice to see the packaging reworked in the future.
The Illuminator 10% Glycolic Toner
While the word “toner” conjures (literally) stinging memories of the blue astringent I used to slather on in middle school in hopes of banishing my breakouts, this one was as gentle as the rest of the Good.clean.goop products I tested. Gentle yet effective, I should say — after each use, my face looked smooth, soft and radiant, and I swear my pores were less noticeable. And since it’s alcohol-free, it didn’t irritate my sensitive skin.
It’s made with exfoliating glycolic acid, as the name suggests, along with snow mushroom extract (a natural humectant) and glow-boosting black tea ferment. I’m guessing the latter contributes to the product’s scent, which reminded me of kombucha.
The directions suggest either applying the toner with a cotton pad or by patting it on with your hands; I found the former more effective. Oh, and definitely don’t forget the daily SPF if you try this — glycolic acid can make skin more photosensitive.
The Fruit Facial Exfoliating Scrub
Between manual exfoliants (like scrubs) and chemical ones (which are powered by acids or enzymes), I generally prefer the latter; I find they’re better tolerated by my sensitive skin. This product technically checks both boxes, as it incorporates both grape seed powder and glycolic acid.
And as far as grainy scrubs go, this one was a vast improvement on the gritty walnut variety I used to use in college. You only need a tiny amount to get the job done, and so long as you use a light touch, it should be suitable for most skin types. Between this scrub and the aforementioned toner, I’d pick the toner — but to each their own!
The Body Facial Exfoliating Scrub
While I’m lukewarm on face scrubs, I love a body scrub — especially during the dry, cold winter months when my legs and arms can get pretty parched. Like the line’s facial exfoliant, this includes both grape seed powder and alpha hydroxy acids to remove dead skin cells in two different ways, along with hydrating hyaluronic acid and vitamin E.
I liked that it rinsed off easily and didn’t leave my skin greasy or oily like old-fashioned salt scrubs tend to; just smooth and soft. Be sure to follow up with a good body cream (more on Good.clean.goop’s below!) to lock in moisture while your skin’s still damp.
Oh, and to make that 5-ounce tube go further, apply a quarter-sized amount to your loofah; it’ll suds up beautifully, double as a body wash and add even more exfoliation to the party.
The Body Smoother Replenishing Cream
Unlike the line’s more gel-like face cream, this body butter is thick and rich — just the thing to rescue my dry-as-a-desert legs, hands and feet from the early winter chill. Formulated with ceramides, niacinamide and nourishing cupuaçu butter along with avocado fruit oil, it both feels and smells luxurious and melts beautifully into the skin.
I do wish the tub was a wee bit bigger than four ounces, but when you consider that Goop Beauty’s Nourishing Repair Body Butter costs $65 for six ounces, it’s still a comparative bargain.
The Naked Elixir Body Oil
I don’t typically go for a body oil over a cream, as I hate greasy-feeling hands and feet. This one, however, absorbed remarkably fast and didn’t leave my limbs feeling slippery, just soft and supple.
Made with antioxidant-rich turmeric root extract and saffron extract in addition to skin-softening vitamin E, it’s a great way to seal in moisture after a hot shower or heal dry cuticles. Plus, it smells like a spa.
It’s a lighter hydrator than the line’s body cream, so I’d recommend layering the two together when the weather’s especially frigid and your skin needs the added TLC.
The Powerscrub Scalp Detox
The Himalayan Salt Scalp Scrub Shampoo ($55) is the first Goop product I ever tried and loved, so you can imagine how excited I was to test-drive a version that’s about half the price. Aside from changes in color and consistency — Goop’s is thick, whipped and pale pink, while Good.clean.goop’s is thinner and light green, thanks to the chlorella extract in the formula — the two are pretty similar in terms of performance.
The brand recommends using this once per week as a clarifying treatment; I tried it after a weeklong vacation in Miami, and it did a bang-up job of washing away scalp sunscreen, sweat and styling product buildup. After I followed it up with a rich conditioner, my hair was soft, shiny and somehow lighter. Good stuff.
Quick note for those with color- or chemically-treated hair: Just like the original Goop scalp scrub, this product — while sulfate-free — does contain sodium chloride (aka salt) as its first ingredient, which is excellent for exfoliation but could potentially interfere with hair color and smoothing treatments. I’ll be saving mine for some self-care when I’m in between keratin touch-ups!