These Four Rhode Skin Products Are Actually Worth Your Money

Elle

a day ago

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Welcome to Glam Room, where we put celeb-founded beauty brands to the test. As A-listers continue to launch new ranges, we're using our beauty editor expertise to sniff out which products from the line are worth the hype. Our latest contestant: Rhode Skin, created by Hailey Bieber.
It's been more than two years since Hailey Bieber launched Rhode Skin and created the Peptide Lip Treatment, the lip balm that every celebrity now carries around in their bag, or better yet, on the back of their Rhode iPhone case. (Note: The launch of Rhode's Lip Case even made me want to upgrade my iPhone–I'm not immune to being influenced.) Along with it, Rhode launched other skin care products: a daily moisturizer called the Barrier Restore Cream, Pineapple Refresh, a cleanser, Barrier Butter cream, a moisturizier, and the Peptide Glazing Fluid, a hydrating serum.
Since the brand's inception, it feels like Rhode has done the near-impossible, bypassing the celebrity-founded-beauty-brand pitfalls. People (not just influencers) seem to actually use this brand, re-purchasing their creams and glosses when they run out. For a while, the brand was in their 'everything is out of stock' era, where the products were nearly impossible to purchase. But now, Rhode products seemingly live in makeup bags and medicine cabinets everywhere. Even someone like me, who is always suspicious of celebrity-founded brands (see: this column), had high hopes when Rhode launched. This has less to do with Hailey Bieber's flawless skin and more to do with the fact that, over the years, I've noticed that she has good taste. Since I regularly zoom in on the background of celebrities' videos to spot the products that really live on their vanities, I knew that Bieber was a fan of an esthetician-founded brand called Biba Los Angeles, a personal favorite of mine that will endear me to almost anyone. Plus, with a team of formulators like Ron Robinson—a cosmetic chemist who founded the skin care brand Beautystat—behind Bieber, I was optimistic that Rhode wouldn't be a flop.
The ethos of Rhode seems to follow in the footsteps of Glossier (a brand that, coincidentally or not, also launched with skin care and lip products before moving onto color cosmetics): Your skin but better. This year, Rhode sold for a nice sum of money to e.l.f. beauty and ventured more fully into the makeup world, launching a tinted version of their Peptide Lip Treatment, a contour lip pen, and a cream blush. Does the sheer number of glow-packed products exhaust and bewilder me? It sure does. That being said, months of testing revealed four products from Rhode's range that truly stood out.
I never fully appreciated Rhode's Peptide Lip Treatment. It comes in many iterations—one unscented, three scented (caramel, watermelon, and vanilla, which are tragically all to0 sweet for me), four tinted versions, and a limited-edition glittery peppermint option that feels like rubbing bits of minty sand on my lips. As a hydrating lip balm, this product misses the mark for me on account of the sticky factor. However, I reached for it often to use as a clear lip gloss that pairs beautifully with a lip liner. Now, I too find myself fishing multiple versions out of my purse. (Rhode, please, make a Lip Case for those of us who haven't bought a new iPhone since 2020.)
Milky toners that hydrate and help your skin retain water are all the rage these days. I actually believe that Rhode's version is a clear standout. It is incredibly soothing and hydrating, thanks to ceramides, and sinks into the skin while leaving behind an undeniable glow. This is also one of the products that I see people re-purchase the most as a primer for both skin care and makeup. I know I'm not alone in being impressed. It helps that the 4.7-ounce bottle sells for $30, which is a generous amount of product for the price. In my experience, it is well worth the money. After a month of twice-daily use, I feel like I've barely made a dent.
I am a cream blush snob, but the first time I swiped on Rhode's Pocket Blush in the shade Toasted Teddy, I audibly said, 'Whoa,' to an audience of no one. The pigment makes an impact. It's creamy, can be worn on both lips and cheeks, and does an impressive job of lasting throughout the day. My one complaint? The packaging. The product itself is about half the bulk, and the rest is taken up by bulbous plastic (post-consumer recycled, but still.) Pocket? Yeah, right. The only pocket this fits into is in a pair of 2021 cargo pants. It makes zipping up my makeup bag a massive headache. But is the blush good enough that I'll get over it? Yup.
I won't lie to you, when I first heard the news that Rhode was launching a thick cream, I was disappointed. Allow me to explain: Beyond the fact that I think the brand is reaching its hydration limit, as someone with acne-prone skin, my regular routine simply doesn't include slathering on a Murumuru seed butter that could clog my pores and cause breakouts. For the sake of science, I persisted in my testing.
It is always a surprise and a delight when a product you expect to hate swoops in to collect the award. After the first week of testing, I fell deeply in love with the Barrier Butter. It's not just that I never once had a breakout while wearing it, it's also because it leaves a glow that lasts well into the next day. I actually believe that it has made my skin look better—healthier, brighter, and obviously, less dry. It reminded me of a product from Biba Los Angeles that Bieber herself has used in the past, a cult-favorite moisturizer called the Onerta Barrier Face Cream that celebs like Billie Eilish and Miley Cyrus have gushed about. The ingredients differ from Rhode's version, but the texture and barrier-repairing quality is very similar, and I wouldn't be surprised if Bieber took inspiration. The one big difference? Biba's version is $95 for 1.7 ounces, and Rhode's is $38 for a whopping 5 ounces.
The gigantic bottle means that I don't feel the need to be sparing, and I now happily go to bed with a thick layer that my skin drinks up throughout the night. Have I accidentally reached for Rhode's Pineapple Refresh cleanser instead, since the two bottles look identical? I sure have. But I'll give Rhode a pass since my skin has never looked this glowy. I already have a second tube waiting for when I finally finish the first.
Here's the thing about Rhode that I don't think all celebrity-founded brands can claim: I believe that Bieber truly cares about the quality of the products she puts out, and she genuinely uses the line herself. That in and of itself makes the brand a standout. I may not be obsessed with every single product, but none of them are flops (except for the glittery Peptide Lip Treatment, let's figure that out!). Overall, from the price points to the formulas, Rhode has done an excellent job creating a line that I believe could exist with or without Bieber's face in the campaigns—not that I want her perfect skin to vanish from my feed just yet. In the meantime, I will rock my glazed-donut glow and impatiently wait to see what Rhode creates next.