By stufflovely
The final product of Good Light’s inaugural trio is the We Come in Peace Probiotic Serum. Out of all the products, it’s the most concentrated way to boost your skin’s barrier function. Lactococcus ferment lysate is to thank. The probiotic is the good kind of bacteria your complexion needs to restore its balance, so it more easily avoids dryness and irritation, according to Whitney Bowe, clinical assistant professor of dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City.
Bakuchiol, a gentle, plant-based alternative to retinol, is also featured in the serum. For those unfamiliar, “it works by increasing cell turnover, thereby stimulating collagen production and diminishing wrinkles, skin laxity, and overall photodamage,” explained board-certified dermatologist Ellen Marmur.
As magical as it sounds, the serum — nor the other products — doesn’t promise to be a quick route to glass skin, Yi points out. As much as he’s a champion for K-beauty, he finds glass skin and its many offshoots perpetuate unrealistic ideals of what skin texture should look like. (And let’s be real, you need a lot more than a serum to achieve porelessness.) Instead, Yi prefers to focus on the self-care elements of K-beauty that he learned from his parents.
“Five minutes of self-care and reflection in the mirror every day and night was healing [for them],” he shares. “That was a way of self-preservation in this very difficult new world of America. With every hug of your pores and every reflection in the mirror, you are giving yourself time to reflect on who you are. That is the way that I’ve been able to also survive so many years.”
Beauty Beyond the Binary
Most of all, Good Light Beauty isn’t a genderless skin-care line. You won’t see that wording anywhere in relation to the brand, mostly because Yi doesn’t ascribe to the philosophy of such. Sure, “genderless” means the products are for everyone, and skin care, in general, is a thing so it doesn’t have a gender. Labeling a brand as “genderless,” though, erases people’s long-fought-for gender identity, Yi explains.
“Gender shouldn’t be dismissed. Gender identity is so important to people’s lives,” he continues. “For us, we are beyond the binary. This is for all — no matter who you are, no matter what your skin tone is, no matter what your gender identity is, how you identify — this is for you. Skin, at the end of the day, is skin. We should all feel like we belong.”
Good Light Beauty launches on March 15 on goodlight.world.
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