Youth To The People is a popular cosmetics brand, and Superfood Cleanser is one of their best-sellers. The brand describes this product as “the daily green juice cleanse for your face.”

But does your face really need green juice slathered on it every day? Are the ingredients in Superfood Cleanser shown in research studies to improve skin quality? Does the product contain any questionable additive ingredients? And how do real users rate and describe its effects?

In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Youth To The People’s popular cleanser based on medical studies to give our take on whether the product is likely to improve skin quality, or if it’s a waste of money.

We’ll also feature unsponsored customer reviews and provide a cost comparison to show which retailer sells this product for the best price.

Ingredient Analysis

The ingredients in Superfood Cleanser are shown above.

First, let's address the vegetable ingredients highlighted in the brand’s marketing: aloe vera, kale, spinach and green tea.

Aloe vera is clinically shown to help restore the skin and repair the skin barrier.

Green tea was shown to significantly increase skin moisture content in a 2013 clinical trial.

We can’t find any clinical evidence that kale or spinach support skin health when applied to the skin, nor does Youth To The People cite any studies proving such on their product page.

There are several other research-backed ingredients in this cleanser.

Vitamin C was shown in a clinical trial published in the Dermatologic Surgery journal to significantly reduce visible signs of skin aging when applied topically. It does this by increasing the production of new collagen.

Glycerin is a naturally-derived skin moisturizer, as we documented in our Bubble Moisturizer reviews article.

Jasmine fruit extract was shown to reduce skin damage from sun exposure by 86% in a 2023 clinical trial, and is one of the most photoprotective plant compounds we’ve come across in any Illuminate Health review.

While there are a number of active ingredients we consider likely to be effective, there are also several inactive ingredients that may be questionable from a health perspective.

Fragrance is a broad categorical descriptor that fails to identify the specific flavoring chemicals used. A medical review published in the Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health journal analyzed safety data on fragranced consumer products and concluded the following:

“Results of this study provide compelling evidence that everyday fragranced products can impose serious risks to human health, environmental quality, businesses, and society.”

Phenoxyethanol is a synthetic preservative that was shown to be toxic to human cells in a 2020 clinical trial.

There are a number of other fragrance and preservative compounds that may be irritating to the skin, including hexyl cinnamal, linalool, limonene, sodium hydroxide and sodium benzoate. Some of these are common contact allergens.

Overall, we consider Youth To The People Superfood Cleanser likely to protect the skin from the sun and to improve skin quality generally. From an effectiveness standpoint, it’s a well-formulated product and the green juices do appear to have some beneficial effect.

We don’t currently recommend this product due to the inactive ingredients highlighted above.

But how do real users rate and describe the effects of Superfood Cleanser? We’ll feature some unsponsored user reviews in the next section.

Real Users Try Superfood Cleanser

A popular skincare influencer named Hyram explains why he considers Youth To The People’s cleanser to be the best he’s ever used in a video with over 570,000 views:

A YouTube creator named “MellyMel The Muse” shares her opinion on the cleanser:

Where to Buy Superfood Cleanser for the Best Price

Superfood Cleanser is sold at a variety of online retailers. Here’s a price breakdown for the 8-ounce bottle at the time of publishing this article:

Sephora: $39 (free shipping, link)

Amazon: $39 (free shipping and returns, link to official Amazon listing)

Brand website: $29.25 (plus shipping, link)

Amazon and Sephora currently have the best prices on Superfood Cleanser when factoring in shipping fees, but only Amazon offers free returns.

Dermatologist Reviews Superfood Cleanser

A board-certified dermatologist and popular YouTube creator named "Dr Dray" reviewed Superfood Cleanser in a video with over 120,000 views:

Real Customers Review Superfood Cleanser

Amazon is a better resource for honest customer reviews than a brand's website in our opinion.

Superfood Cleanser has been reviewed over 5,700 times and currently has an average review rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars.

The top positive review comes from a user named "allissa mclean" who gave the product a 5/5 star rating and likes the effect and product experience:

"it leaves my face feeling fresh and clean. it smells like spinach but im ok with that I like it and I rather it smell like spinach than chemicals. Typically face washes and other skin products give me rashes but this doesnt!"

The top negative review is written by a user named "Genesis palacios" who gave the cleanser a 1/5 star rating and claims it caused side effects:

"I don’t usually write negative comments.. but I wasn’t accepting a chemical burn to my skin. Once I applied small amount started to burn .. then after while I looked in mirror again and my cheek was still red and still hurt to touch, I returned this item."

Youth To The People has an average review rating of 2/5 stars on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) page, and has failed to respond to every single customer complaint which is concerning in our opinion.

Youth To The People has an average review rating of 4.2/5 on Facebook.

Our Clean Skincare Picks

There are skincare products containing ingredients shown in clinical trials to be effective for reducing wrinkles and improving skin quality.

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.

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." 

Bulletproof Collagen Powder is our top skin supplement.

Collagen supplementation was shown in a medical review published in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology to reduce visible signs of skin aging as well as improve skin elasticity and skin hydration.

All of the products recommended in this section are entirely free of ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy or unsafe.

Pros and Cons of Superfood Cleanser

Here are the pros and cons of Superfood Cleanser in our opinion:

Pros:

• Many research-backed ingredients
• Should hydrate skin
• Should support skin barrier
• Should improve skin quality
• May protect skin from sun
• Mostly positive online customer reviews

Cons:

• Contains fragrance
• Contains phenoxyethanol
• Contains fragrance and preservative ingredients that may irritate skin
• Expensive for product category
• Brand website charges for shipping

Conclusion

Youth To The People Superfood Cleanser is likely to be effective because it contains a large number of active ingredients with research backing.

We don’t currently recommend this product because it contains a large number of inactive ingredients that may be unhealthy or damaging to the skin.

While some of the "superfood" ingredients highlighted in Youth To The People's marketing have clinical backing, we can't find any evidence that kale or spinach improve skin quality when applied to the face.

At the time of publishing this article, Amazon has the best price on this product.