Go-To Skincare honest review 2024: Is it worth it?
Popular for their playful and fuss-free approach to the complicated world of skincare, I tried eight Go-To skincare products to see if they stack up to their popularity.
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The world of skincare is incredibly vast and can be daunting for those wanting to dabble into it but don’t quite know where (or how) to start.
Just take a look at social media: every week there’s a new skincare trend to wrap your head around from 10-step skincare routines to ‘glass skin’ and ‘oil slugging’. While these trends seem to work for many, they definitely make you think: Will this exact routine work for me? Does my routine need to have as many as 10 steps or as little as 3 steps?
One brand that I see all over my socials that has always piqued my interest is Go-To Skincare. Founded by beauty guru Zoe Foster Blake, the well-known Australian skincare brand has been around for a decade and strangely enough, I had never tried out any of their products despite the fact my colleagues are constantly in my ears singing their praises. So I let the FOMO get the best of me and decided to go all out and try a whole line-up of Go-To Skincare products over two months – including the cult favourite face oil, Face Hero, which over 5k rate.
HOW WE TESTED GO-TO PRODUCTS
At news.com.au checkout, it’s our mission to help you make informed shopping decisions. To ensure you buy the right product at the best price, we rigorously test products so you don’t have to. We also spoke to Dermal Therapist, Yadira Cauchi, for their expert advice and recommendations when it comes to choosing the right products and developing a skincare routine.
I tested a line-up of eight Go-To Skincare products over the course of two months every morning and night to really see if they were worth the hype or not.
THE SKINCARE ROUTINE I FOLLOWED
Having a solid skincare routine for morning and night is important – it is great for ridding your skin of any build-up and impurities that may have developed during the day or night, and they serve as much-needed ‘me time’.
Morning skincare is all about refreshing and prepping your skin for the day with a cleanser and vitamin C, and ensuring it’s protected with sunscreen.
In this exact order, I used Go-To’s Juicy Gel, Prep Step, Much Brighter Skin, Very Useful Face Cream and Nifty Fifty in the morning.
Night-time skincare is important for letting your skin relax and repair; this is the perfect time to remove the day by double cleansing and reviving your skin with rich and nourishing skincare products like face oils.
At night I used Go-To’s Fancy Face and Juicy Gel to double cleanse, Prep Step, Much Plumper Skin, Very Useful Face Cream and Face Hero to top it all off.
Scroll on for my in-depth review of each product.
FACE OIL
Face Hero, $45 at Go-To Skincare
Face Hero
What You Need To Know
Go-To’s MVP, Face Hero, has got to be my all-time favourite of the bunch. I’ve heard many good things about this guy and it’s truly the star of the show.
This face oil is incredibly lightweight and blends out very nicely – it doesn’t leave that thick sticky feeling and doesn’t feel like it’s just sitting on top of my skin.
Formulated with a potent blend of plant and nut oils, vitamins and antioxidants, it boasts anti-inflammatory properties and truly hydrates, repairs and soothes my skin.
I like to apply it in the morning if I’m staying at home and before bed to really let it soak in and do it’s magic while I’m asleep. When I wake up, my skin looks and feels smooth, glowy and overall healthy.
For me, Face Hero is definitely worth the hype and is well-deserving of it’s cult status – so if you’ve been on the fence, let this be your sign to snap it up as you’ll regret nothing.
Still not convinced? Face Hero sells one bottle every two minutes and has racked up a 4.9-star rating with over 5000 five-star reviews on their website.
One five-star reviewer hailed it “heaven in a bottle”, writing: “Face hero is my number one favourite part of winding down for bed, leaves my skin so glowy and hydrated, smells scrumptious and I wake up with the smoothest skin that’s still glowing! A dream! Also something about the dropper makes it so fun to apply. LOVE!”
CLEANSERS
Juicy Gel, $39 at Go-To Skincare
Juicy Gel
What You Need To Know
As someone who suffers from dry skin, facial cleansers that leave my skin feeling even drier than it already was is a huge red-flag for me. I’ve tested a number of cleansers in my lifetime with hopes that I’ll get through an entire day without my face feeling tight and dry, and let me tell you, it isn’t easy.
However, Juicy Gel is one of few that exceeded my expectations. It has a jelly-like consistency that I really like – it spreads evenly and a little definitely goes a long way. It’s formulated with ingredients like cucumber extract to hydrate and cool the skin, lotus root water to condition the skin and aloe vera leaf juice which is rich in vitamin C and E, and helps to fend of dryness and keep the skin feeling supple.
It’s incredibly gentle which is great for those (me) with sensitive skin and equally effective at cleansing my skin and removing any impurities. I’ve used the Juicy Gel solo and as the second step for a double-cleanse, and my skin is always left feeling squeaky clean and refreshed.
It has a citrusy scent (grapefruit, patchouli and petitgrain) that is ‘uplifting’ but it is quite strong, so if you’re hypersensitive to fragrances, this cleanser might not be the best choice for you.
The packaging is cute, however, I did find that even with the slightest squeeze of the bottle the lid dispenses a lot more product than needed so be careful.
Fancy Face, $45 at Go-To Skincare
Fancy Face
What You Need To Know
I love double cleansing at night and one of the most important things for this method really working is having a good oil cleanser. Fancy Face is a fairly simple oil cleanser – it’s thicker than other oil cleansers I’ve used and it comes with a muslin cloth to help you clean your skin effectively.
It takes a few pumps to get a good amount of product that will cover my face and it didn’t emulsify well with water (which is what I prefer in an oil cleanser) but it did it’s job – it broke down my makeup easily and didn’t leave me with panda eyes when removing my mascara.
Fancy Face is made up of a combination of botanical plant oils like camellia seed oil, sunflower oil and sweet almond oil, fatty acids and antioxidants like vitamin E; it’s very nourishing and didn’t leave my skin feeling tight or dry.
FACE MIST
Prep Step, $29 at Go-To Skincare
Prep Step
What You Need To Know
I like to spray Prep Step on my face before my skincare and on days where my skin just needs an instant pick-me-up. While it isn’t the most game-changing product in the world, I appreciate how quickly it ‘revives’ my skin – we’re talking plump, hydrated and smooth.
This pH-balanced formula is a concoction of sodium hyaluronate, Tasmanian lanceolate fruit and leaf extract, and wild rosella extract which helps to enhance product absorption as well as hydrate and calm the skin.
Something to note with this product is that it has a pungent scent which I’m not a fan of – I personally think it smells similar to apple cider vinegar (take that as you will), however, I made some of my colleagues smell it and they didn’t get that at all.
Another thing is that it requires quite a few sprays here and there as the nozzle doesn’t dispense enough to cover the whole face which is my main gripe because it means you need to use a lot more product.
The Prep Step is nice to have but I wouldn’t call it an essential in a skincare routine.
SERUMS
Much Brighter Skin, $59 at Go-To Skincare
Much Brighter SKin
What You Need To Know
I’ve only ever tried one other vitamin C serum (which was in the form of an oil) but I can confidently say Much Brighter Skin takes the cake. It’s an incredibly lightweight, gel-like formula that’s so gentle (yay for sensitive skin girlies), blends in very smoothly and absorbs into the skin effortlessly, plus it has made one heck of a difference to my complexion and skin texture.
I’ve noticed that my skin’s a lot brighter and less dull, my dark spots from previous acne have faded and my overall skin texture is incredibly smooth and supple which is truly all I could ever want.
This serum is jam-packed with a mix of antioxidants like vitamin C (obviously), niacinamide and hyaluronic acid, as well as kakadu plum extract, vitamin E and other goodies.
Do be warned, the scent is quite strong but not unpleasant – it’s very citrusy and a little gingery. Other than that, I truly have no complaints.
Much Plumper Skin, $48 at Go-To Skincare
Much Plumper Skin
What You Need To Know
I’m a huge sucker for hydrating serums and the Much Plumper Skin is now one of my favourites. It’s packed with four types of hyaluronic acid, peptides and provitamin B5 to deeply replenish dry and dehydrated skin.
As mentioned before, I have very dry skin and this serum worked incredibly well for me – it was very cooling and soothing, and provided great hydration to my skin.
It’s a thick serum that blends out so effortlessly, and feels lightweight on the skin, it has no scent and it absorbs into the skin almost instantly.
MOISTURISER
Very Useful Face Cream, $78 at Go-To Skincare
Very Useful Face Cream
What You Need To Know
Made up of a combination of fatty acids, vitamins and antioxidants including coenzyme Q10, apricot kernel oil and amla berry extract for an incredibly nourishing, softening and soothing formula, I had high hopes for the best selling Very Useful Face Cream.
I love a rich face cream as much as the next person but unfortunately, this product just didn’t quite do it for me.
It has a thick buttery texture that blends seamlessly but feels very heavy, greasy and sticky on the skin, which I personally don’t love.
It’s marketed as a cream you can use in the morning and night, however, I’ve tried it in the morning but couldn’t get past the sticky feeling so I’ve been using it at night because the cream takes a while to really absorb into the skin.
Although this product did fall a bit short for me, don’t let that deter you from trying it out. It’s a bestseller that has earned tonnes of rave reviews. One five-star reviewer wrote: “I’ve been using Very Useful Face cream for years and still love it. It feels hydrating, agrees with my sensitive skin, feels lovely going on, and makes my skin feel smooth. Very calming to put on before bed too!”
SUNSCREEN
Nifty Fifty, $45 at Go-To Skincare
Nifty Fifty
What You Need To Know
It’s not a skincare routine if it doesn’t feature some sort of sunscreen – one of Go-To’s bestsellers, the Nifty Fifty, offers SPF 50 and will protect your skin from damaging UVA/UVB rays.
Formulated with antioxidants like Kakadu Plum extract, Aloe Vera extract and Coenzyme Q10 and next gen SPF filters like Tinosorb S, Univul A Plus, Univul T150 and Tinosorb A2B for optimal UV protection, the Nifty Fifty is another product I really wanted to love but didn’t.
I’ve tried my fair share of sunscreens and this one unfortunately did not agree with my skin. The formula has a peachy tint, is very lightweight, smooth and quite hydrating, but whether layered on top of other skincare, under make-up or worn alone, this sunscreen pilled.
I tried different ways of applying it to really give it a fair shot and it unfortunately still pilled.
Although I’m unable to speak on how it wears throughout the day, I can still happily say that it blends out really well, leaves no white cast and has no oily or sticky feeling.
So, while it didn’t necessarily work for me, that doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. Go-To thankfully offers a 30-day money back guarantee – which means you can give it a try and easily return it if you’re not happy.
One five-star reviewer left a review titled “Absolute. Best”, reading:
“This is the best facial sunscreen I’ve used. It actually works, feels nice on your face, doesn’t leave a weird residue and washes off nicely at the end of the day. It’s changed my routine from wearing sunscreen on my face occasionally to wearing it every day!”
Always read the label and follow directions for use. Avoid prolonged exposure in the sun and wear protective clothing, hats and eyewear when exposed to the sun. Frequent reapplication is required for effective sun protection.
OUR FINAL VERDICT: IS GO-TO SKINCARE WORTH IT?
Known for their playful, peachy and fuss-free answer to the complicated world of skincare, I can now say that Go-To Skincare is a brand that truly deserves its popularity. However, do I think all their products are worth it? Yes and no.
My personal favourites of the line-up were – Juicy Gel ($39), Face Hero ($45), Much Brighter Skin ($59) and Much Plumper Skin ($48).
These worked really well on my skin and produced noticeable results hence why I rate them so highly and can confidently say they’re worth your time and money.
I personally wasn’t the biggest fan of Fancy Face ($45), Nifty Fifty ($45) and Very Useful Face Cream ($78) as they didn’t quite work for me and my skin. But keep in mind, everyone has different skin and what didn’t work for me might work for you.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
WHAT TO CONSIDER WHEN STARTING A SKINCARE ROUTINE
Starting a skincare routine can be tricky when you’re new to the skincare world.
Dermal Therapist, Yadira Cauchi, says “the first step [to starting your skincare routine] is to think about your concerns and what you are trying to treat.”
“Start with the basics – cleanser, moisturiser, exfoliant (for most skin types) and SPF – then build from there. If you have no idea – book in with a dermal therapist who can help!” she adds.
So, it is important to get to know your skin to a T. Is it dry, oily, normal or a combination? Is it sensitive to alcohol or fragrances? Is it acne-prone? These are a few questions you should think about because what might work for someone with oily skin may not necessarily work for someone with dry skin and vice versa.
I’M A BEGINNER, HOW DO I GET INTO A SKINCARE ROUTINE?
New to the skincare game? Yadira recommends talking to a professional. “It is our job and we can help guide you so you don’t overuse actives, use the wrong skincare etc,” she says.
But if that’s not possible, she advises to “start with the foundational products” like a cleanser, moisturiser and SPF.
HOW MANY STEPS SHOULD A GENERAL SKINCARE ROUTINE HAVE AND WHAT TYPE OF PRODUCTS SHOULD IT CONSIST OF?
There’s no hard and fast rule for how many steps or products a skincare routine should have but it’s important not overdo do it as too many products can do more harm than good to your skin.
Yadira recommends SPF, cleanser, moisturiser and the right exfoliant for a basic routine.
“Serums are the products that are going to treat specific concerns, and can be incorporated on top of these basics. These are tailored specifically. Honestly every one is different though, lifestyles and budgets are important factors to consider,” she says.
WHAT ARE THE NON-NEGOTIABLE MUST-HAVE PRODUCTS FOR A SKINCARE ROUTINE?
At minimum, Yadira says every skincare routine should have “SPF, cleanser, moisturiser and the right exfoliant.”
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