Right now, I have two cleansers sitting in my shower. Both are made by American companies that partner with South Korean manufacturers, and both highlight green tea as a key ingredient. They're both green gels housed in tall, slim squeeze tubes. And, lined up on my crowded shelf, the Krave Beauty Matcha Hemp Hydrating Cleanser and the Whamisa by Glow Recipe Green Tea Foaming Cleansing Gel are long overdue for a thorough comparison.
Like my left and right eyebrows, these cleansers resemble siblings rather than identical twins.
The items featured here were initially supplied by the brands. This post includes one affiliate link (marked with an asterisk*), which may earn me a small commission on purchases made through it.
Here's an amusing anecdote. About 18 months ago, at my first KCON event, I had dinner with the creators of both products: Christine Chang and Sarah Lee (founders of online K-beauty retailer and skincare brand Glow Recipe) and Liah Yoo (the skincare and makeup YouTuber behind the recently launched Krave Beauty). If this were a movie, that dinner would carry some deep dramatic or metaphorical weight—or at least heavy-handed foreshadowing. But life isn't a film. No narrative tricks here. Just green tea cleansers.
Purpose: Both the Krave Beauty Matcha Hemp Hydrating Cleanser and the Whamisa by Glow Recipe Green Tea Foaming Cleansing Gel are water-soluble facial washes that claim to deliver antioxidants and thoroughly cleanse without stripping or drying the skin.
Best suited for: The Krave cleanser works best for normal to combination-dry or dry skin. The Glow Recipe cleanser is ideal for normal to combination-oily or oily skin.
Do not use if: You're sensitive to glycols (found in the Krave cleanser), fragrant essential oils (present in the Whamisa by Glow Recipe cleanser), or any other ingredient in your chosen product.
When and how to use: Use as your primary cleanser in the morning and/or as the second step after an oil or balm cleanser in your evening double cleanse. Wet your face and hands. Work the cleanser into a lather in your palms or apply directly to your face. Gently massage, then rinse thoroughly.
Sections
Ingredients comparison
Krave Beauty Matcha Hemp Hydrating Cleanser ingredients: Camellia sinensis leaf water, water, glycerin, coco betaine, methyl gluceth-10, ethoxydiglycol, dipropylene glycol, methylpropanediol, sodium chloride, butoxydiglycol, diglycerin, glycereth-26, xanthan gum, camellia sinensis leaf powder, quillaja saponaria bark extract, prunus amygdalus dulcis (sweet almond) oil, cannabis sativa (hemp) seed oil, avena sativa (oat) kernel extract, diethoxydiglycol, coco glucoside, caprylyl glycol, glyceryl caprylate, decyl glucoside, pentylene glycol, 1,2-hexanediol, sodium cocoyl isethionate, butylene glycol, octanediol, panthenol, citric acid, ethylhexylglycerin, caprylic/capric triglyceride, sodium PCA, disodium EDTA
CosDNA analysis
Whamisa by Glow Recipe Green Tea Foaming Cleansing Gel ingredients: Camellia sinensis leaf water, brassica oleracea acephala leaf extract, aspalathus linearis leaf extract, palm kernel/coco glucoside, sodium hyaluronate, spinacia oleracea (spinach) leaf extract, brassica oleracea italica (broccoli) extract, apium graveolens (celery) extract, vitis vinifera (grape) seed oil, diglycerin, camellia sinensis seed oil, lactobacillus/camellia sinensis leaf ferment filtrate, spirulina platensis extract, camellia sinensis leaf powder, scutellaria baicalensis root extract, paeonia suffruticosa root extract, glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice) root extract, aniba rosaeodora (rosewood) wood oil, citrus aurantium bergamia (bergamot) fruit oil, sodium chloride, geranium maculatum oil, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf oil
CosDNA analysis
I sometimes play a little game when typing out ingredient lists: "Skincare or Salad?" The Whamisa by Glow Recipe cleanser made for a fun round—spinach, broccoli, and celery? Where's the olive oil, vinegar, and croutons? (And hard-boiled egg and grated cheese?)
Krave's cleanser isn't as heavy on the greens, but the brand takes a similar marketing angle, emphasizing the antioxidants in its star ingredients: matcha (green tea) and hemp.
If these were leave-on products, I'd be far more excited about the Whamisa by Glow Recipe cleanser's extract-rich formula. But they're wash-off products, meaning most of those potentially beneficial ingredients will rinse away. If they didn't, the cleansers wouldn't be effective.
For cleansers, I focus instead on the cleansing agents. Neither brand uses harsh sulfates. Both rely on gentler surfactants. Krave Beauty's main surfactant is coco betaine, while Whamisa by Glow Recipe's is coco glucoside—both milder than SLS or SLES. At this point, it's a wash (pun intended).
Looking closer, though, you'll spot fragrant essential oils in the Glow Recipe cleanser, while the Krave cleanser is labeled essential oil–free. I personally don't have issues with fragrant oils, but they're known irritants for many. Additionally, Krave markets its cleanser as vegan and cruelty-free. I find those qualities more meaningful than Whamisa by Glow Recipe's avoidance of parabens and mineral oil, since I agree with Chel from Holy Snails that parabens in skincare are fine—and mineral oil doesn't bother me either. So I award the ingredients point to Krave Beauty.
Score: Krave 1, Glow Recipe 0
pH comparison
One of the best moves I've made for my skin was paying attention to cleanser pH. I won't dive deep here—you can read my cleanser pH primer and find links to extensive discussions—but I'll note that prolonged use of any cleanser with a pH above 7 always leaves my skin tight, dry, and irritated to the point of redness (or worse). Meanwhile, while I can find plenty of reasons to dislike a low-pH cleanser, stripped and sensitized skin won't be among them.
If your skin tolerates alkaline cleansers well, I envy you. You can have my rejected high-pH products. I'll be over here clutching my pH strips, searching for face washes with a pH of 7 or below.
I used my trusty Macherey-Nagel four-color pH testing strips* to check the pH of both cleansers.
Krave Beauty prints the pH of the Matcha Hemp Hydrating Cleanser right on the box, listing it between 5.0 and 6.0. Slight batch variations can cause minor differences from tube to tube, and it's refreshingly honest of the brand to acknowledge that. My tube tested at about 6. Pretty decent and consistent with the product's claim of being gentle on the skin barrier.
Sometimes I'm tempted to carry my pH strips everywhere in case I encounter a cleanser in the wild.
Whamisa by Glow Recipe's Green Tea Foaming Cleansing Gel tests at a 7, which exactly matches the number Glow Recipe gave me when I asked. Some pH purists consider 7 too high. My skin is fine with it, but 7 is my upper limit, so this cleanser sits right on the edge of acceptability, pH-wise.
I really love these pH strips.
The lower pH gives the point to Krave once again.
Score: Krave 2, Glow Recipe 0
Performance comparison
Now we're getting to the heart of it. The Krave Beauty Matcha Hemp Hydrating Cleanser and the Whamisa by Glow Recipe Green Tea Foaming Cleansing Gel may sound similar on paper, but in practice, they're surprisingly different.
The Krave cleanser comes out as a thick, jiggly, noticeably lumpy jelly. It stubbornly holds that jelly-like consistency even when mixed with water, creating an unusual slippery feel when massaged onto skin. It's like rubbing lightly lathered lube all over your face—and I mean that as a compliment. Zero drag, zero pull. The glide minimizes any irritation cleansing might cause. Yes, it looks a bit like snot, and no one in my house likes the musty, earthy scent, but it feels like liquid silk.
Whamisa by Glow Recipe's Green Tea Foaming Cleansing Gel has a standard gel consistency and mixes more easily with water into a moderate lather. One interesting note: this cleanser contains powdered green tea, which can settle unevenly. Sometimes you'll get a clump so full of powder that it provides mild exfoliation along with cleansing. Other times, no powder at all. The lather glides easily over skin, though without the Krave cleanser's Astroglide-like feel. This cleanser has a subtle, fresh green scent.
Since Krave's cleanser feels amazing but smells unpleasant to me, while Glow Recipe's feels fine and smells fine, I score them equally here.
Score: Krave 3, Glow Recipe 1
Finally, let's get down to cleansing abilities.
Krave Beauty's cleanser is, as advertised, gentle and barrier-friendly. After consistent twice-daily use over several weeks, my skin barrier feels just as healthy as when I started. I wouldn't say it actively hydrates, but it leaves my skin as soft and supple as possible after washing—it allows my skin to retain its own moisture, a great quality in a cleanser.
However, when I've worn heavier skincare, sunscreen, or makeup than usual, the Krave cleanser can fall short of getting my skin completely clean. I've felt a slight residue or discovered some leftover product on a cotton pad of toner after use, as if it isn't fully equipped to handle long-wearing cosmetics (even after cleansing oil) or extra-thick nighttime moisturizers and sleeping packs.
As expected for a line targeting oilier complexions, Whamisa by Glow Recipe's cleanser cleanses more thoroughly. I never notice any leftover gunk on my skin after using it, no matter how intense my sunscreen and makeup were during the day or how heavy my occlusive layer was the night before. The trade-off in gentleness isn't major either. While my skin feels more deeply cleansed and slightly less bouncy after using this product compared to Krave's, it never feels stripped or sensitized, even after going through a tube and a half. There's a reason I rushed to buy a second tube when my first PR-provided one ran low.
Since a cleanser's primary job is to cleanse, I give the cleansing point to the Whamisa by Glow Recipe cleanser.
This is also the cleanser that Lord Fiddy and the young master prefer.
Final score: Krave 3, Glow Recipe 2
Conclusion: Neither cleanser is a holy grail for me. They lack the spectacular quality of something like Sulwhasoo's Snowise cleanser, but they also lack that product's spectacular price. Both green tea cleansers have plenty of good points, which is why both stay in my shower.
Krave Beauty's Matcha Hemp Hydrating Cleanser offers a more pleasurable experience overall and lives up to its promise of being gentle on skin. I'd comfortably recommend it even for very dry or sensitive skin. But when I need thorough cleansing, I reach for Whamisa by Glow Recipe's Green Tea Foaming Cleansing Gel—and my skin doesn't squeak or suffer because of it.
Which one is right for you? Ultimately, it depends on whether you need a little extra gentleness or a little extra cleansing power.
If I had to pick one to repurchase right now, despite my preference for the ingredients, pH, and skinfeel of Krave's cleanser, I'd choose Whamisa by Glow Recipe's due to its greater practicality.
Also, one final bonus question I've been asked several times:
How does Krave Beauty Matcha Hemp Hydrating Cleanser compare to Glossier Milky Jelly Cleanser?
I like Krave's cleanser much better than Glossier's. The intense slip makes it far more comfortable to use, and I prefer the earthy smell over Glossier's oddly plasticky rose scent. It leaves my skin just as soft and rinses off more easily.
Where can I buy Krave Beauty Matcha Hemp Hydrating Cleanser or Whamisa by Glow Recipe Green Tea Foaming Cleansing Gel?
You can find Krave Beauty Matcha Hemp Hydrating Cleanser at the Krave Beauty website. Likewise, you can find Whamisa by Glow Recipe Green Tea Foaming Cleansing Gel at Glow Recipe.
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