A closer look at Yadah: gentle products for troubled skin
Written By Jenny Wu on
If you have troubled or acne-prone skin, you’ve probably used products with ingredients like salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, or tea tree oil. While they’re super effective at treating acne, they can also irritate your skin. The Korean brand Yadah offers a different solution.
A little background story
Yadah is a Korean brand developed by Eun Mi Kang specifically for sensitive and troubled skin. Each of their products contain very minimal chemical ingredients and instead relies on anti-inflammatory plant extracts to soothe and treat even the most sensitive skin.
While I’m not against “chemical” ingredients (because let’s be real, all ingredients are composed of chemical elements regardless of their origin), I do love seeing favorites like centella asiatica and chamomile extracts, especially in anti-acne treatments which are typically harsher on the skin.
My 2 weeks with Yadah
I received the following 3 products to try out, and you can view the detailed review by clicking on the product name:
- Anti Trouble Bubble Cleanser – A low pH, self-foaming, amino-acid based cleanser. It feels gentle on the skin but it didn’t prevent breakouts completely. I still ended up with a couple pimples on my forehead, though they may be hormonal or the result of me purging from Curology.
→ Purchase on Amazon for $19.98 - Anti-T Red Zero Spot Cream – A gentle spot treatment with loads of soothing plant extracts to minimize any red spots. Doesn’t work on acne but is great for redness from inflammation or to minimize post-acne scarring.
→ Purchase on Amazon for $18.98 - Oh My Sun Slush SPF50+ PA+++ – A light yet hydrating sunscreen with 56% prickly pear cactus extract! This was my first Korean sunscreen and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this.
→ Purchase on Amazon for $16.68
All the above products were extremely gentle on the skin and loaded with wonderful plant extracts. If you browse the ingredient lists you’ll see that they really do make an effort to minimize the number of chemicals in each product without sacrificing scent or texture. But because they’re so gentle, they’re not very effective at actually treating acne, though regular usage can help calm your skin and decrease the chances of future breakouts.
After 2 weeks of testing these products, I find they work best in conjunction with traditional acne treatments. You have the power ingredients like salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide to clear your pores and kill the acne-causing bacteria, while the anti-inflammatory ingredients in Yadah’s Anti Trouble line help repair the skin and minimize any irritations. Even if you don’t have acne-prone skin, I think all skin types can benefit from the soothing nature of Yadah’s products.
Overall I’m pretty happy with each of the 3 products, and I think they are great and affordable options for those with sensitive and/or troubled skin. Hope you enjoyed this brand overview, and let me know what your favorite anti-acne products are in the comments below (lucky you if you don’t break out at all)! Have a great week!
Passionate about science-based skincare. Tested hundreds if not thousands of products since my 20's. Working regularly with brands like iHerb, Ulta, CurrentBody, and MedStar Health to share my knowledge and experience in all things beauty. Learn more.
Skin profile: 35+, dry/combination, focused on well-aging, hydration, and a healthy glow ✨
Comments & Questions
Stephanie | thefantasia.com
Yadah was a brand that I've been hearing about over and over again recently! This will be so helpful for my sister who struggles with very acne-prone skin and will definitely find any acne/oily skincare products to be highly beneficial!
Jenny Wu
They're definitely more gentle than your typical acne products, so I think it helps balance out the harshness of salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide :)
Shireen L. Platt
Hmm...I think the only product that I will enjoy is the sunscreen. I am lucky to have pretty good skin but I like my skincare products to give me the 'wow!' factor. I don't think I have the patience with gentle products.
Jenny Wu
Yep, these definitely don't offer immediate results, except the spot cream which is great for healing acne scars, but that's moot for people who don't break out (˶‾᷄ ⁻̫ ‾᷅˵) Skincare with wow factors are rare for me, I'm still on the search for them! （＾∇＾）
Caked To The Nines
These sound awesome! I try to stick to skincare products that have a good amount of plant extracts in them, and it's not all chemicals because they can irritate my skin. Love the sound of this line!
xx
Nida | Caked To The Nines
Jenny Wu
Thanks for stopping by Nida! It's always exciting to see more brands, like Yadah, incorporating plant extracts in their products - some of them have great skin benefits :)
Ela
I find it awesome that your review was completely honest. I'll definitely be on the lookout for more reviews from you in the future. xo
Jenny Wu
Thank you for the kind comment Ela! It's a personal pet-peeve of mine when sponsored posts are always 100% positive (because let's be real, nothing is perfect), so I try to avoid doing that myself :)
Emily
Luckily my skin isn't too sensitive, but it definitely is acne prone. That sucks the first one gave you some pimples. I am always weary of foaming products because they usually contain SLS. But I'd be interested to see what other good ingredients are in there. I need to up my Korean skin care game! There's always so much to choose from that I never know where to start! Haha.
-Emily www.coatandcoffee.com
Jenny Wu
Hopefully it didn't give me pimples, but it definitely didn't prevent them completely, which is a bummer :/ It doesn't have SLS though, which is a plus. Korean brands are so definitely ahead of the curve when it comes to using new ingredients and experimenting with different formats of skincare products, plus they're constantly releasing new products, it's hard to keep up!
Liz
I've heard so many wonderful things about Korean skincare! I must give it a try x
Liz | LotsofLoveLiz ♥
Jenny Wu
Thanks for reading Liz! Korean brands are really innovative when it comes to skincare, so you can always count on them to come out with really interesting products! :)
Camilla
I enjoyed these products as well! I ended up giving the cleanser to my sister who needed a gentle anti-acne cleanser and she loves it. The red spot cream doesn't seem to shrink my pimples but it's got some great anti-inflammatory extracts in it and I've been using it to speed healing of pink spots after a blemish flattens out. It's surprisingly moisturizing for a spot cream.
Jenny Wu
I agree! I've also used it on dry peeling skin (accidentally went overboard with benzoyl peroxide and a huge patch of my neck started flaking...) and it works wonderfully. They really should make the directions on the red spot cream more clear!
Face to Curls
I love Korean skincare and these sound awesome! While I do like gentle products, I find that they also take time which isn't a bad time. People with sensitive skin will definitely benefit from this. xx
Ann-Marie | http://facetocurls.com
Jenny Wu
Yep, I'm starting to appreciate gentle products more now - better to wait for the results than to rush things and irritate the skin in the process!
Naya
I am very new to the brand, but it sure sounds love. I love tea tree oil! Thanks for the introduction xx
Naya // www.partyparrotblog.com
Jenny Wu
You're so welcome Naya, thank you for reading! Tea tree oil is one of my favorite natural anti-acne ingredients :)