Krave Beauty Great Barrier Relief Review: The Skin-Smoothing Serum I Use Daily

With copious amounts of products and an unfortunate knack for face-picking, I am no stranger to irritated, angry skin. Even today, with a pared down skincare routine and far fewer breakouts, I still struggle to find a balance between giving my skin what it needs without overwhelming my pores.

So, much like Lindsay, I’m skeptical when it comes to cult-favorite products—I’m not one to be swayed by buzz alone.

But when I heard about a serum that supposedly boosted the skin barrier (AKA the skin’s invisible shield) I have to admit I was intrigued. Here’s why: I’ve spent the last year shifting my focus from attacking the problems on my face to caring about the overall health and comfort of my skin.

And it’s worked, like, really well. So a serum claiming to help nourish and protect your skin kind of sounded like a dream to me.

I did my research, clicked order, and started incorporating Krave Beauty’s Great Barrier Relief to my skincare routine.

Here’s what you need to know.

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Krave Beauty Background

Liah Yoo, the founder of Krave, recognized a fundamental issue: the beauty industry has made skincare wildly confusing. Thousands of harsh products and hundreds of over-promising claims have trained consumers to apply more than what our skin needs, which, in turn, only ends up hurting us.

That’s why Krave’s motto is #PressReset. Their ethos is simple (because skincare should be just that): listen to the skin’s true needs and feed it what it craves. And with that, Krave Beauty was born.

Krave products feature skin-loving ingredients. Think no fragrances, essential oils, colorants, allergic sensitizers, or animal byproducts.

Their products aren’t all natural, because, quite frankly, they don’t believe that all natural skincare is necessarily always better for the skin (If you are interested in natural skincare, I’d suggest checking out Drunk Elephant and Cocokind.)

All products are, however, cruelty-free and vegan. Krave is a no BS brand with a goal of helping our skin do the most while using the least amount of product possible.

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Krave Beauty Great Barrier Relief Review

Best For:

Everyone. I’m totally serious, there is not a single person I can think of who would not benefit from this serum.

What does Great Barrier Relief do?

Above all, GBR is a reparative, skin-smoothing serum. It’s creamy in texture and calms signs of sensitivity without the greasy after-feeling. By fighting off environmental aggressors, Great Barrier Relief repairs damage in the skin barrier, which helps keep the good stuff in and the bad stuff out.

Price:

Great Barrier Relief costs $28 for a 1.52 OZ/45 ML bottle.

How to Use Great Barrier Relief:

I started incorporating GBR into my skincare routine slowly, as I would with any new product. Since I already knew the product was relatively gentle, I started using it once a day, every other day, applying it on dry skin immediately after cleansing. I quickly built up to using it twice a day, every day.

Do I actually use it every morning and night? Kind of, sometimes I’m lazy and just want to do the least, but if I’m putting any other serum on my skin, I’m probably putting GBR on before.

I pair GBR with a Vitamin C serum in the morning and at night, I apply it before a rotation of a few different treatments I use 2-4 times a week depending on how my skin’s feeling.

I follow with moisturizer and sometimes oil (and always SPF in the morning.)

The Results:

My skin is definitely calmer. I still get the occasional pimple because I’m human, but I find that any acne I do get is smaller and goes away more quickly than before.

I’ve noticed a slight difference in my dark spots, but nothing absolutely shocking (to be fair, I just finished a set of three chemical peels with my derm that were specifically focused on lightening those spots, so they were looking pretty good already.)

Using this, I find myself reaching for less and less products, simply because my skin doesn’t need them anymore.

The thing that makes this product so revolutionary is that there aren’t really any like it.

Sure, there are serums that claim to restore the skin’s barrier, but they tend to be a lot harsher (and more expensive!)

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Where to Buy Krave Beauty:

You can find Krave Beauty on Amazon or on their website!

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The Verdict:

If it’s not abundantly clear, allow me to spell it out for you: I like this product a lot. My skin feels a lot stabler than before. It hasn’t caused me any irritation—in fact, it’s done the exact opposite.

I feel like I can now use actives and not worry about any irritation or sensitivity, because I know that GBR has my back (well, technically my skin barrier.)

I love the texture, which I’d describe as a cream-serum hybrid. It just feels good on my face.

It immediately hydrates and plumps upon application and continues to work to repair the skin over time.

I think that pretty much every person can benefit from using Great Barrier Relief. It’s not so much about the product and more about knowing how much of it your skin needs.

As someone with fairly dehydrated skin who uses a lot of active ingredients, every day twice a day seems to be key for me.

Just looking for a little more radiance or simply want to protect your skin barrier? Maybe go with once a day or even every other day. Not looking to add another step to your routine? Keep it on hand for skin emergencies like serious irritations or painful breakouts.

What it comes down to is this: a happy skin barrier equals happy skin. Happy skin equals happy Dani.

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Danielle Cohen is assistant editor of all things Lindsay Silberman. She also runs her own beauty blog, Yellow Sweats Status, as a side hustle. When she’s not binging true crime podcasts, she can usually be found researching, testing, and raving about beauty products to people who didn’t ask. You can learn more about Dani and her favorite products on her Instagram and her blog.

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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. As always, I only recommend products that I truly love and would use myself.