Herbal Face Food is an anti-aging skincare line sold by a company called Self Health Revolution. The company describes their product line as "Radical Youth Concentrate," and claims their serum is "the most potent antioxidant, anti-aging skincare product on the market."
But does Herbal Face Food contain ingredients shown in research studies to have anti-aging effects on skin? Does the brand use any questionable additives? How do real users rate and describe the effects of Herbal Face Food? And which Herbal Face Food formulation is the best value?
In this article we'll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Herbal Face Food to give our take on whether or not it's likely to have anti-aging effects.
We'll feature unsponsored customer reviews of the brand, and give our take on which Herbal Face Food product offers the best value for the price.
Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in The Serum I (arguably Herbal Face Food's most popular product) are shown above.
This serum contains a large number of research-backed ingredients for promoting optimal skin health, and for supporting anti-aging processes.
Simmondsia chinensis seed extract was shown to have anti-inflammatory effects which are effective against skin aging in a 2013 medical review.
Haematococcus pluvialis contains a compound called astaxanthin which was shown to have anti-aging effects when applied topically in a meta-study published in the Nutrients journal.
Lavender is clinically shown to have anti-inflammatory effects on skin, as we documented in our article reviewing beef tallow moisturizer.
Vetiveria zizanioids root extract was described as able to support "overall renewal of skin lipids" in a 2021 clinical trial. The study authors concluded the following:
"...we confirmed in a panel of mature women the efficacy of the extract on increasing skin hydration, sebum content and decreasing of ageing signs."
There are a number of of other research-backed active ingredients in this formulation, but for the sake of brevity, we'll conclude this section by stating that this is arguably the most potent anti-aging serum we've reviewed to date on Illuminate Health.
We consider The Serum I highly likely to have anti-aging effects and to improve skin quality.
This formulation is also entirely free of unhealthy additive ingredients like fragrance which we often find in popular skincare products.
From a formulation perspective, we recommend this serum.
Real People Try Herbal Face Food
A YouTube creator named Barbara Boser has a video with Herbal Face Food customers who posted before-and-afters to a Facebook group:
A TikTok creator named Gabby Curtis shared her experience trying various Herbal Face Food products:
@gabbycurtis3 Replying to @Wendy Giron Sanchez ive been incorporating Herbal Face Food products into my skincare routine the past week and so far so good! Also i am not a partner with them this is mt honest opinion so far #firstimpressions #skincarereview #skincareproducts #skincare #herbalfacefood ♬ original sound - Gabby Curtis
Are the More Expensive Serums Better?
All Herbal Face Food products are relatively expensive, but some are more expensive than others.
The Serum I, which we reviewed in the Ingredient Analysis section, costs $204 for 50 milliliters (mL).
The Extreme Cure XX is branded as Herbal Face Food's most potent formulation, and currently costs $408 per 50 mL (which is equivalent to around $6,000 per pound!).
While The Extreme Cure XX does contain more research-backed anti-aging ingredients that we can identify than The Serum I, we consider The Serum I to be a better value because at some point, there's likely to be diminishing returns.
It's great for a skincare formulation to contain a variety of anti-aging botanicals, but unless the two formulations are clinically tested, we can't assume that a serum with 50 research-backed botanicals is necessarily more effective than a serum with 25 research-backed botanicals, particularly given the same dose.
Our Clean Anti-Aging Picks
Annie Mak Vitamin C Serum is our top anti-aging serum.
It contains hyaluronic acid which was described as a "skin-rejuvenating biomedicine" in a medical review due to its ability to reduce wrinkles and signs of facial aging.
Ritual HyaCera is our top anti-aging skin supplement.
It contains wheat oil extract which is clinically shown to "improve skin damages induced by aging."
HYDRAGLOW by CLEARSTEM is our top moisturizer pick.
It features bakuchiol as an active ingredient which was described in a 2014 clinical trial as "clinically proven to have anti-aging effects."
All of the products recommended in this section are entirely free of ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy.
Herbal Face Food Pros and Cons
Here are the pros and cons of Herbal Face Food in our opinion:
Pros:
- Highly potent formulations
- No unhealthy additives
- Arguably the best anti-aging formulation we've reviewed to date
- Should reduce visible signs of skin aging
- Should improve skin health
- Highly positive online customer reviews
Cons:
- Expensive